Chapter 67: To Dethrone a King
(Warning: as this is still a battle, there will be some violent content in this chapter, as well as some description of injuries)
(Warning: as this is still a battle, there will be some violent content in this chapter, as well as some description of injuries)
Kyra flew back, her mask flying off. She had been able to hold off the emperor for a while, but even her illusion magic combined with Kulshan was not enough to hold it off forever. Deep scratches laced her body, though the emperor sported a few of its own thanks to Kyra's tactics.
The emperor roared, and made a move on the dragons scattering below. It snatched a few smaller prisoners in its mouths and swallowed them whole.
"Everyone! Fall back into the barrier!" Nymph ordered. Everyone heeded her call, and soon the members of Windkeep Tower were safely inside. That was when Nymph realized the prisoners were still outside. She swore.
"We can't leave them out there! Whoever is able to fight, let's stand by their side!" Nymph called, and emerged through the barrier. "Quartz, if you are going to do any good, get out there and give the most injured ones the rune until they all have the option to return to safety!"
Quartz, looking shaken up, was almost about to refuse, then he lay eyes on Runeclaw's body, still left outside. He owed it to them, for messing up so badly. With a nod, he finished wrapping a bandage around his cuts and took flight to help the dragons he had once imprisoned.
Nymph followed shortly after him, directing the prisoners to Quartz and then taking to the skies to distract the emperor. She flew around it in high circles, though she only distracted one head. Mercer's head let out a blast of shadow magic towards the barrier. It shattered, the magical fragments disintegrating as the spell fell apart. Windkeep Tower was open, and no one was safe.
The dragons who had been cowering inside raced out. Some took to the skies or the hills, trying to get away from the mass destruction the emperor was causing. Others surged forward, hoping to help defeat the raging beast. Others were frozen, cowering in fear and unsure which they wanted.
"Move!" Juliette shouted at Thorburn, who was staring wide-eyed at the emperor. he had not joined in on the fighting, and he now seemed terrified to have his safe haven destroyed.
Thorburn seemed not to hear Juliette, and simply stared at the emperor as Mercer's head powered up another charge in his direction.
"You idiot!" Juliette shrieked, and bowled him out of the way just seconds before Mercer hurled another bolt of shadow energy, turning the grass beneath it to black sludge. The pair tumbled across the ground and Juliette landed on top of him.
"Stand and fight, or run and hide!" She shouted at the bogsneak. "You gain nothing being a useless lump!"
Thorburn simply stared at her, wide-eyed, as if he was seeing her for the first time. "You saved my life." He murmured.
"Yes, and I'm not doing it again, you are on your own!" Juliette took the the skies and began to help her aunt heard dragons into the tower in the hopes of giving them a safe place to be for just a bit longer. Thorburn huffed and began to make his way towards the battle, ignoring the pain on his finger. The ring had been burning since the start of the battle, Daisy Mae's message to kill Quartz. He felt something on the edge of his consciousness, and he fought to hold it off.
"Mercer, you have destroyed my life once, I am not letting you do it again!" Carmen hissed as she calmly walked towards what remained of her husband. Sparks were flying around her and dark clouds were forming. A big storm was coming, and Carmen was the center of it all. She stood with no fear, for the first time in many years, facing the very dragon who had plagued her since she was a young thing recovering from battle trauma.
She shot lightning at the emperor and it roared in pain, a hole seared through its chest. Yet, the undead being moved ever forward, only slightly hindered. The storm still raged around Carmen, she was letting everything loose.
Suddenly, there was a gust of icy wind, swirling the storm around and creating a vortex of storm. Rubywing and Rhowen flew next to Carmen, and the skydancer began to push her magic to push forward the storm until it completely surrounded the emperor.
The wind began to get colder and colder and Rhowen let more and more of his power break lose from within him. Ruby smiled at him and continued to swirl the storm around the emperor until it was encased in a vortex of magic that is was unable to break free of.
"Thanks for your help." Carmen said, exchanging a meaningful look with Rhowen. "It's good to see you on our side."
"Always." Rhowen smirked. "Now, what do you say we encase this bad boy in ice and send him off to join the Icewarden's collection?"
"That sounds like an excellent plan." Rubywing said, her face breaking into a smirk as well. "If I never see an emperor again, it will be too soon."
"Can you concentrate your ice powers enough to get through the storm?" Carmen asked. The vortex was getting big enough that the wind was beginning to buffet the three dragons creating it. They had to pin their wings close to their bodies to stop from being swept away in the gale.
"We can help." A voice sounded behind them. A spiral and a mirror joined the line of dragons. "Let down the storm and we can bind it in place long enough for you to turn it into a popsicle!"
It was the spiral who had spoken. "I'm Moira by the way, the spirit of the bamboo forest that once grew where the tower stands. I have vowed to protect this land no matter what."
"And we are Schism." The mirror said, looking to where she thought the other dragons were. It was clear that she was unable to see in the usual sense. "Sorry, I am Schism. It's a bit difficult in here. If I can harness the shade's power long enough to use it but not be taken over by it, I can hold it in place."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's be rid of Mercer for once and for all!" Carmen said, cracking a rare smile. She let go of her control of the storm, letting the clouds disperse and the static fly outwards. Ruby was the next, slowly bringing the vortex to a halt.
The moment the air was still enough to act, Schism sent forwards a dark shadow, darker than anything natural. The darkness wrapped around the Emperor. It struggled to break free, snapping a few of the shade tendrils, but it was too much. Moira flew forwards and began to perform a dance before its eyes. It attempted to snap at her with both mouths, but she dodged out of the way. Soon, its eyelids began to droop and it stopped its snapping and thrashing.
"Now!" Moira exclaimed.
Rhowen sprung into action. "Stand back everyone, I may not be able to control this one as well as I'd like to." And with that, he released all the ice magic within him, letting down the walls he held to keep it inside. He had enough control of it left to direct it towards the emperor. Moira dove out of the way just in time. By the time the beam stopped, the emperor, as well as a large portion of the ground beneath it, was frozen solid.
The dragons of Windkeep Tower and the prisoners began to gather around the frozen beast and the dragons who had taken it down. A cheer rose through the air. Rhowen collapsed to the ground and Ruby rushed to his side.
"I'm... fine..." He panted. "I just need... to rest for... a loooong time...."
"You were amazing! I can see why they wanted you safely locked away!" Ruby laughed. "But we did it! We won the war!"
"I guess we did, didn't we?" Rhowen said with a smile. "you've earned your freedom, that's for sure."
"Now we just need to deal with him." Ruby said, catching sight of her father flying towards them, slower than usual. Blood was soaking through his bandages and he landed right next to his daughter.
"Rubywing!" Quartz gasped.
"I don't want to hear it!" Ruby shot back. "We have nothing to say to each other. Not after what you did to Runeclaw! Don't try to deny it was you, I know your magical signature. Leave us in peace before you cause even more trouble."
Quartz flinched, and he opened his mouth to respond when Fenn flew up to the gathered dragons.
"You all fought well. Now, before any more tempers get lost, why don't we all get our wounds treated." Fenn ordered. "There will be much to discuss later, especially with you, Quartz."
The gathered dragons began to disperse, and Rubywing helped Rhowen to his feet. She did not look at her father while she escorted Rhowen to the treatment area. Quartz looked down at the ground, feeling guilt and grief drill down deeper into his very being than he had ever let it before. What was going to become of him?
@CleverDual @Alwaid @zzzhorses @Skyeset @ScrivenerRook @Kizzan @clarax @lilastar @tigressRising @Disillusionist @Aetherstorm @rainphee @RiaFire11
And here we are! The battle is over and the war is won! There will just be a few more updates to wrap up this arc, to wrap up the last of the lose ends. I hope you all have been enjoying this arc! I know I have, and I'm excited for what is coming next!
Also, this past week I've put all the chapters into a word document so I can see how much I've written for The Stories of Windkeep Tower, and as of this update, we've now reached over 76,944 which is the length of Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone! So The Stories of Windkeep Tower is longer than the first Harry Potter book!
