The Dragon Queen of Thelvadore

The sky glistened with the spellwork that Tizanta had spun across the capital, magic bouncing off and flying into the distance, erupting with disastrous effects. If it weren’t for the threat lingering outside our walls, it would have been a beautiful sight. Reminiscent of the old fireworks back on earth.

The fighting had been going on for days by this point, leaving our troops demoralised and exhausted. At first things had gone mostly the way we expected, but soon they began to spiral out of control, rendering more and more of our contingencies moot or too dangerous to even attempt.

With an inward sigh, I watched the scrying mirror that was displaying the madness out there, interrupted every now and then by flickering interference, a result of all the magic being thrown around.

Once upon a time, Thelvadore had been a peaceful place, a city undisturbed by the wars in distant lands. We’d been fighting for ages, pretty much since I founded the kingdom with my friends some two and a half millennia ago. Back then our goal had been only to win the war against the human slavers to our north, but over the years things had spiralled out of control until anything had become fair game. Thelvadore was meant as a means to an end, a Kingdom to protect those without a place left to hide, to crush those that sought to oppress others.

Yet, here we were, with the forces we were meant to protect our people from at the gates of the very city that was meant to be the final bastion.

We had been at war for ages, yet for most of the people in the capital that had been a distant worry. Something far removed from them. Until now, at least.

Despite my best efforts, I snarled, angry at myself for my failings. It was my duty as their Queen to protect them, but the enemy had outplayed us. Feigned weakness so we expended the resources to push, only to be overrun by a blitz tactic.

If only I could have moved myself. I hated sitting on my throne, waiting for things to come to ahead. My place was right there at the front with everyone else. But I couldn’t.

The enemy had the support of two Diamond Rankers. Each of them alone was a match for me, but if I moved on one, the other had free reign to run over all our defences and make a beeline for our capital. My power was vast, but I couldn’t fight two battles of that scale at the same time, especially not over those distances.

So I stayed here in the capital while the enemy ravaged our lands. And now they stood at our doorstep.

I sighed deeply, trying to come to terms with where we ended up. Rage was an easy ally, but also a lie. No matter how powerful you thought yourself when anger was eating your insides, all it did was impede your judgement. That was a lesson I had learned long ago, back when I was but a fledgling wyrmling in the grasp of the guild, but to this day I tried to be mindful of it.

There had been times when we had almost won. A nation of former slaves and refugees, the survivors of the horrors south of the Dragonpeak Mountains, finally free from the burdens of the past.

Now? We were about to lose it all. We had been… complacent. We had thought ourselves superior in every way, our victory all but guaranteed. We had been foolish.

There came a time, for any monarch, when they had to accept that their people were suffering. The question was how would they react to it. I’d seen many monarchs run, throwing their population under the bus just to get a chance at escape.

I’d killed most of those monarchs myself for their cowardice and greed.

With a shake of my head, I dismissed the scrying mirror back into the shadows and stood up from my throne, a giant thing made of obsidian, with lavish decorations in the style of draconic beings. It was an object of pure authority, blessed by myself, a very clear indicator who the ruler of this place was. During the entirety of my rule I had made it a point to make it as uncomfortable as possible, to remind myself that I had a responsibility. That being a Queen was not a luxury, it was a duty.

“Tizanta isk Thesekar,” I spoke, voice free of the emotions I felt. They were the first word spoken into the long silence of the throne room; a simple fact none present could miss.

My lover looked at me, standing next to the dias. We had thought of many contingencies for this exact situation, but nobody could have estimated for things to be this dire. Our fortresses had fallen in record time, our enemy pushing us behind our last line of defence.

“Yes, your Majesty?” Tizanta’s soft tone belied the worry that her aura held, easily visible for me.

“Their forces will arrive here soon. Prepare the palace to take in any survivors who make it here in time.” I took the three steps down the dias my throne nested upon, “Then prepare the ritual. We can delay no longer.”

Her eyes widened just a smidgeon at my words, a detail lost to anyone who wasn’t as perceptive as I was.

It was the last of our contingencies, a plan so insane that it was reserved for the most dire of circumstances, but things couldn’t become more dire even if they tried. We had arrived at the end, from here there were precious few ways out. If there were any at all.

“As you wish, your Majesty. Might I inquire as to what you plan to do?” Her voice was courteous, but her aura reeked of anxiety, of worry.

I let my own aura flare out, blanketing her in calm support as I spoke, grim determination in my voice. “I will make sure that you have the time you need.”

The atmosphere in the throne room became heavy. Only Tizanta was clued into what exactly we planned on doing, but my tone of voice and the statement itself made the implications clear to everyone present.

With a heavy heart I looked over to the Captain of my Queen’s Guard. He’d been with me for nearly as long as the kingdom had existed, and together we had fought many battles. I trusted him to do what was necessary to keep our people alive.

“Captain, inform your men to start helping with the city evacuation. I am unsure of how events will turn out after today, but however things go, it won’t be pretty. I want you to make sure they are safe.”

“Your Majesty,” the man said, voice as grim as my own, “Please let us help you. It is our duty to protect you, and we can’t do that if you go out there alone.”

Noone else would dare to speak up against my orders, but despite the comment I couldn’t help but give him a warm smile. The man knew exactly what was at stake, and yet he was determined to do his job. “I know, Captain. But this is not a fight you can join me on. Your help is more needed elsewhere.”

Despite the Queen’s Guard's best efforts to control themselves, I could feel their displeasure and the hint of fear they tried to squash. The last time I had gone out on my own a kingdom had been wiped from the map. A small kingdom, certainly, but a kingdom nonetheless.

The oldest of our people could still remember the time during which I had sat upon the throne not as a queen, but the patron deity of this kingdom. Back then I had most often settled disputes myself, especially if the enemy forces were overwhelming.

Of course that was old history, long left behind. While I still served as the patron deity I did so from hiding. But from that time legends were forged of my deeds, many had long since become part of me. Now it was time to let those old legends come to life once more.

With a respectful nod I dismissed the guards, sending them on their way to help the people who truly needed it. They were skilled, no doubt, otherwise I wouldn’t let them be part of the Queen’s Guard. But I was in an entirely different league; even outclassing most of my friends, any one of whom could easily go toe to toe with the entire Queen’s Guard at once.

No further words were necessary, action was all that was required. I walked down the long hall from my throne to the main gates; every guard I came across saluting me. These were people from all walks of life, picked personally by me for their skill and knowledge. Neither nobility, nor money, had any sway over my decision. These people were the best of the best; they knew what it meant when I chose to go without them.

I didn’t dwell on how things would go in the palace, I trusted Tizanta and my council implicitly. They could run the entire Kingdom by themselves and come out on top in most cases. I was a figurehead mostly, nothing more than a beacon of hope to those that had nothing left to give.

At least until we had to deal with forces as powerful as the ones currently on our doorstep.

My steps were measured and precise, not in a rush but not slow either. Once I crossed the threshold of the giant gates that marked the entrance to the palace I looked around. People were already moving, grouping up and helping each other. I saw those too weak to walk on their own be carried, from the smallest child to the eldest dragon in human form; everyone worked in harmony.

Deep down I knew that most would not survive what was to come. The grim reality was that even with all my power I might not be able to protect this city from two diamond rankers.

But I pushed those thoughts aside. Right now what these people needed was hope, as long as there was hope for a future they would endure. Thelvadore always endured.

Despite the anxiety nagging at me, I nodded in satisfaction. This was the paradise I had built over the years with the help of my friends and all those that had stood by my side. Time and again we had put our life on the line to achieve this goal, and here the adversary was, so close to stamping it out once and for all.

A last look at the spell shield above revealed the cracks forming in the defensive structure. As powerful as it was, it had reached the limits of its capabilities. I had no time to waste.

For the longest time I had hidden my true power from all but my closest circle. Once patron goddess, now I was just one more dragon amongst peers in the eyes of the populace. They knew that I was powerful, but only those that were long lived enough to have experienced history themselves remembered my true might.

Giving the capital a final glance I closed my eyes, taking a long breath and slowly letting it out. And with it I let loose all those shackles I had placed upon my own powers over the years.

I was a diamond ranker, a being so powerful that my existence alone was enough to shape the fate of continents. Power such as that had to be used carefully, lest you upset the magick animating the world.

Here at the end, however, there was no longer room to be restrained. Be it by my hand or the hand of my enemies, fate would unravel today.

Power unimaginable to even the most powerful mortal sorcerers bubbled up from deep within me, my aura flaring out and blanketing the countryside, smothering those that stood opposed to me while protecting those under my rule.

Divine authority flared into the world, taking hold of the magick surrounding us, commanding it to obey me. Tizanta’s spellwork shattered, a rainbow lightshow of magick unable to bear the sheer weight of my authority.

No mortal sorcerer would survive such a blatant attempt to control the organic magick, chaos incarnate. But I was no mere mortal.

I was Shade Dragon Vuthe de Thal, Dragon Queen of Thelvadore, first of the name.

I was Shade Dragon Vuthe de Thal, Saviour of Uterin, duty bound.

I was Shiarex, Goddess of the Shadow Armory, holder of divine authority, and champion of the shadows.

Where I stood, the world knelt to my whim.

Join my patreon to read up to five chapters ahead!