Chapter Ten: Archbattle

Callum and Rayla's orders had been simple. Rayla would go to Ezran's court and warn them, send word out immediately to evacuate the capital. Callum would be flying from town to town warning others, as his face would probably be more trusted then Rayla's among people who hadn't met them. A legion of dragons would be in his company to carry people to a safe place – the foot of the Storm Spire, guarded by another dragon who had been appointed to protect their human visitors. Hopefully, Sol Regem would be stopped, but one couldn't be too careful.

"Sol Regem!" a loud roar penetrated the air, gaining the old archdragon's attention. Despite his inability to see, he turned around to where the voice had come from in acknowledgement, feeling the queen's body landing on the ground near him. He could feel her eyes on him. Above them, a horde of dragons flew overhead, toward the human lands. Given the Queen's tone, he could imagine what they were doing. "Stand down!"

"Zubeia." He greeted.

"Queen Zubeia to you." She snarled.

"You are no queen of mine." Sol Regem growled. "You allow humans to return to Xadia and look what has happened. The human lovers are disgraceful enough, but what is this of dark mages? Invading our lands, slaying our elves, stealing magic. All on your watch, practically with your blessing!"

"The crimes of a few does not warrant the death of thousands of innocence!"

"No human is innocent." The old dragon growled. "A Moonshadow elf called a human friend, and this 'friend' still reeked of dark magic." Zubeia roared and lunged at Sol Regem, wings open and lightening emerging from her body.

Rayla thanked her lucky stars that the castle guards had as least seen her before, this would be so much worse if she was being stopped every five steps and interrogated about her intentions, or worse apprehended as a prisoner before she could get to Ezran. Another thing she could be thankful for was that it wasn't that late. She ignored their perplexed and questioning looks and was startled when she felt someone grab her arm to stop her.

"Whoa, what's the emergency?" Corvus asked.

"We need to get to Ezran." Rayla panted. "You're under attack!" No further words were needed as Corvus joined Rayla in running to the throne room.

Callum, on the other hand, had not been having much luck so far. His first stop had been the snow village at the foot of the Cursed Caldera. From which, only Ellis, Ava, the vet who had assisted him and Ezran with the dying egg and about forty or fifty others had heard him out and promptly hopped onto a dragon's back to be flown to safety. Most of the villagers, though, either dismissed Callum as talking nonsense or flat-out refused to leave their homes and lives for something that might not even happen. He wished so badly that he could have more time to convince the rest of the village, but time was of the essence; he had to move on.

Sol Regem was reeling from the shock and almost without thinking sent a stream of fire Zubeia's way. By the quick swooshing sound, the sound of wings, she had taken to the sky to avoid it. All dragons had to have a recovery period after using their primal magic, so at least he wouldn't be shocked again for a while. He took to the sky after her, his flight far more clumsy and slower, being much older and with holes and nicks in his once brilliant wings. In a way, it was easier in the sky, allowing him to hear the constant swooping sound of her wings. He knew it was her; their battle was an archbattle – a face-off between two archdragons, a duel in which no other being was allowed to intrude lest they be instantly killed by one or both combatants.

Sol Regem went for Zubeia, gnashing his teeth when she moved her tail out of their way and used the moment of confusion to slam a great paw into the back of his neck. The distraction of the blow allowed her to get away for the moment.

Back at the spire, things were calmer. The prince had at least stopped his whimpering, only because he found his pleads unanswered. He was taking great comfort in Ibis's presence, resting his chin on the elves lap. Braise sat with them, stroking his mane in long, slow sweeps, looking very concerned at him. Zym was too scared to notice. Why did that mean archdragon have to burn the humans? Where was his mother? Where were Callum and Rayla? Would Ezran be okay? From what the little dragonling understood, fire could hurt humans. He didn't want any of them to be hurt. Only a few of them were mean, most of them were so nice.

"This is my kingdom. I have to protect it in whatever way I can." Ezran insisted, the castle staff and their families now on five dragons, ready to take off. Amaya had been the last to board, having disappeared for a minute of two to retrieve some sort of picture. "Get yourselves to safety, I'll catch up later."

"I'm staying." Soren insisted, looking unwavering and unusually serious. Ezran allowed this only because Soren seemed to have his own reasons for this, not just his duties as a crown guard, and there was no more time to argue.

"Go, now!" Ezran demanded, stunningly authoritative for an eleven-year-old, and the human-laden dragons rose into the sky, ignoring the frightened protests of several of their passengers. There was a single dragon left, the one Rayla had ridden in on, meant to fly them to wherever they needed to be. The three wordlessly climbed and settled themselves on the dragon and it took off in the opposite direction to the others, leaving the capital of Katolis totally empty for the first time since it's construction.

At the Storm Spire, the collection of frightened humans grew. There were maybe a thousand of them with more on the way. Some humans were searching for friends or family, those who had found each other making every effort to stay together in the massive mob. Several were berating stubborn relatives who had refused to come. Parents tried to calm their frightened children. They had all flown over the archbattle, and every one of them now knew that these strangers and their king had spoken the truth. Everything was dark, but the moon and stars were out, so it wasn't completely black.

"Moonshadow Elves!" A shout rang out. Perhaps by instinct, fear rose up. The Moonshadow elf in the company of the king had seemed friendly enough, but she was only one elf. There were five of them, looking as young as that very elf, coming at the humans with weapons and hatred in their eyes.

A massive tail slammed down before the elves could get too close. The dragon swept his tail away from the humans and into the elves, carrying them to his body before he tightly wrapped his tail around his form like a cat, trapping the elves between his tail and flank. The dragon turned toward the spire and let out loud enough noises that they carried up the massive mountain, but not loud enough to deafen their human guests. A few brave children broke free from the crowd and went to investigate, against the alarmed protests of their parents.

For all of them, it was the first time they'd seen an elf or dragon up close, and the dragon tightened his tale, watching closely to make sure nothing happened. Most of the kids were frightened at the looks they were getting from the elves, deep scowls and eyes glowing with rage. Their elders looked on in amazement as three Skywing elves flew down from the spire. The kids looked at the trio, two winged elves on either side of a darkly colored elf whose wings melted into arms.

These three seemed far more peaceful then the Moonshadow elves as they approached them. The now wingless elf drew a spiraling rune and the kids watched in wonder has he performed a spell with a curious incantation. "Ventus Sparalis."

The kids were stunned as they themselves where caught up in the spell, maybe thanks to being so close to the caster. They each could feel a rush of air entering their bodies, but other than that, nothing seemed to happen.

"So, you five are back." the caster spoke. "Lesson unlearned, I see."

"Go die in a pit!" one of them snarled. This request was unheeded as he and another elf were apprehended by the two winged elves, who bolted up into the clouds. By now, the other humans had joined the children in watching the spectacle. Another one of the Moonshadow elves seemed to take up the burden of complaining in the absence of his friend. "These are humans! We already have our own troubles as it is, let the lower creatures fend for themselves!"

By now, the illusion of threat was waning for many of the humans. These Moonshadow elves weren't the same deadly assassins who had stealthily infiltrated their lands and murdered their old king; they were little more than a band of whiny teenagers, barely even adults. The Skywing elves seemed to share their sentiments as they returned and took two more, leaving the last elf trapped beneath a tail.

"For the time being, they are our guests at the Storm Spire and are not to be harmed." the Skywing elf said. "You five, on the other hand. This is the second time you've tried to invade the Storm Spire itself in the name of some petty vendetta. Queen Zubeia will decide your fate when she returns. Until then, I'm sure your father will want to hear all about your travels." As if on cue, the remaining elves returned yet again and both were needed to restrain this one as he kicked and struggled like a madman. They flew up the mountain the third time as the dragon finally let its tail rest.

The elf turned back to the humans, giving them a peaceful look. Some of them backed away when he spread his arms out and spoke a longer incantation that made the runes on his arms light up. The humans watched in amazement, the children in excitement, as feathers emerged from his arms, which shaped themselves into huge black wings. With a massive flap, he shot into the sky like an arrow, quickly disappearing into the clouds.

The two powerful dragons fell from the sky over Katolis in a heap. Sol Regem roared as Zubeia bit him in his neck, her jaws clamping harder and harder until, finally, his hard neck plates had been punctured. The taste of blood was on her teeth. Sol Regem broke free by swiping a claw across her face, leaving a decently sized gash near her eye; not life-threatening, but it would scar. As the queen let go and reeled in pain, Sol Regem pounced, holding her down, a claw pressing her face into the ground. He was larger and stronger; struggling was useless. A low, menacing laugh entered her ears.

"Watch, young one. Watch justice in the making." Sol Regem growled and Zubeia saw that they had fallen so near the capital of Katolis. She watched helplessly as the sun dragon let loose a huge stream of fire, lighting up the capitol like a massive torch. When he moved his head, the surrounding landscapes were also set ablaze. This was bad; Katolis, she knew was heavily forested. The whole kingdom would be on fire in moments. Above them, her fellow dragons hovered, watching in terror as the fire spread quicker than any fire they had ever seen.

Sol Regem didn't stop. His attack had never gone on this long. His throat was burning, and Zubeia saw flames spurting out of the plates she had bitten. Then, she understood. Those protective plates also protected him from his own fire, kept it on a proper course. Those holes were allowing the flames to escape, burning the old dragon. Sol Regem was dying, and he was letting loose everything he had, all of his rage, before he cooked himself from the inside out.

Soon, Sol Regem ran out of both fire and strength. Zubeia quickly pushed him off of her, letting him fall onto the ground. She took to the sky, fleeing. There was nothing more that could be done here in the current state of things. Sol Regem listened to her go, exhausted and burning. He laughed wickedly. He had done it; an entire kingdom of humans was now gone. He didn't care when he felt his wings disintegrating in the flames, the fire burning his body. He had won this one. Sol Regem gathered his strength to lift his massive head and, despite his charred, damaged throat, let out a roar of victory and triumph, which echoed around him as he was finally engulfed in his own flames.

Zubeia flew to an outcropping, on which stood the four heroes of the hour; Callum, Rayla, Ezran and Soren, who had done all they could in evacuating the humans. She landed next to them, trying to hide her own exhaustion, particularly from the humans. Callum, Soren and Ezran were in shock seeing their home, the entire kingdom, burning uncontrollably. Rayla could only look in sympathy, not feeling qualified to join in their sorrow. The smoke it gave off was enough to easily be seen from the Storm Spire; there was no question that the humans who had been saved now knew what had become of their kingdom.

Zubeia laid down a few feet from them with a heavy heart. She had failed. The sound of flying followed by the feel of another dragon landing beside her made her open her eyes. It was the water dragon from before. With authoritative warbles, she ordered him to gather all the water dragons he could; put out that fire and keep it from spreading to the other kingdoms. He was off like a shot.

Hidden from all eyes were a pair of elves, one unaware of the other. The visible elf looked on in horror. What had gone wrong? He hadn't meant for this to happen. He honestly just thought he'd give the humans a little scare when they heard that King Ezran was in danger, maybe even finally drive them apart by implicating the elves somehow. But he hadn't wanted this. His heart heavy, he turned around and ran; all that was left to do was to get back to the spire and, as his father would have put it, face is punishment like a man. He couldn't summon a dragon from where he was, they'd see him before he was ready. He was too scared to risk it; he'd pluck up his courage on the way over to the spire. The invisible elf just smiled at the carnage before him. This was just too perfect.

"We need to get out of here." Callum's voice was small and distant. He placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder as they stared at the fiery remains of their father's kingdom. The water dragon had returned with several others of his kind, along with Pyrrah to help transport the humans to the Storm Spire. Callum's previous declaration of needing to leave was all that was said for the entirety of the trip.

Author's Notes: The next chapter was intended to be the final chapter with a sequel, until I realized there is no reason to do that, why not just make it one long story that changes? So, there will just be a time skip between chapters eleven and twelve. Since some of you are having trouble finding my poll on Aaravos and I have no idea how to fix it, this time I'll just ask your suggestions right here; both on that and how long the time skip should be. Review.