The Grand Marshal, Reginald, woke up to a splitting headache and a body full of soot. The dragon attack had been so unexpected that he barely had any time to put his defences up.

He could hear the nobles groaning in pain, and he could understand them, dragon fire packed a terrible punch.

"Damn it..." he groaned.

What was going on? Why had a dragon spawned out of nowhere?

’Is this part of the undead’s plan?’

No, that would make no sense. Reginald could not imagine a single scenario where a dragon would side with those foul creatures...

’Then what is this?’ He thought as he stood up from rubble, burned concrete falling off his body.

’Damnation!’ He cursed once again.

Did the dragon’s singular attack really get him that good? Why was he here debating what was going on instead of sorting out the attack?

It was as though a veil was lifted from his eyes, and that was when he saw the king and prince at the shattered window, already climbing over it.

"Wait!" He screamed, pulling their attention to him as he raced towards them. "What are you two doing?!"

"What does it look like I am doing, Reginald?! I am going to confront that beast!" King Darius barked, clearly irritated.

’Why is he so difficult?’

The king was their best line of defence, the strongest warrior in the kingdom. He had told him countless times about how valuable he was.

It was not that Reginald did not believe he could not defeat the dragon, in fact, he was confident that he could.

But when two powerful foes clash, there was no telling what injury one would sustain. If the king got seriously wounded, then there would be no one to take on the leader of the undead.

The war would be lost before it even began.

"Please, my King and Prince, let us handle this. We will bring that beast to its knees..."

’Even at the cost of our lives.’ 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The king was clearly irritated, but he hissed and turned away. "I will be watching you Reginald, if you falter even once, I will step in."

Reginald bowed. "Understood."

He glanced at the room, a dark look on his face. "Warren?"

The shadows by the wall flickered, and his brother stepped out of it. He was just as fresh as the moment he stepped into the room, not even a spec of dust on his hair.

"Shall we?" Reginald asked.

Warren nodded, and then they leaped out of the window, soaring right through the air.

Reginald flicked his wrist, and then the air below his and his brother’s feet solidified, allowing them to run across it as they raced towards the battlements, the wind blowing past them.

"How do you propose we deal with the beast, brother?" Warren asked in a composed voice. "This is a dragon, not a wyvern."

"The castle has long been equipped for aerial battle, there are more than four wizards in the castle as well. We just have to launch a joint attack with them."

Dragons hated injuries because they could become prey to other dragons. If they could show a reasonable amount of force, they may be able to drive the beast away.

Reginald stepped on the last foot hold they had in the sky, and then they leaped up, heading straight for the castle battlements.

BANG!

They landed side by side, causing a tremor to spread through the walls, dust shrouding their vision.

The knights that had been on the wall were on high alert, their swords already drawn and pointed towards them.

When the dust cleared, they were greeted by quite the sight. Two brothers whose grey hair was more than enough to announce them.

The first one was coated with a veil of shadows, his eyes giving off a purple light, as dark lightning coursed around his body.

He was the dual elemental mage, the Lord of Rothekther, and the Kingdom’s Shadow.

While the second had calamitous streaks of silver wind swirling around him like a vortex. He was the Grand Marshal of the Kingdom Of Donia, the Son Of Chaos Winds!

— The Silver Streak brothers?!

One of the knights screamed out in shock.

— We are saved!

— Let’s show that dragon hell! The Grand Marshal is here!

Reginal shook his head tiredly. No matter how much he tried to shake off that name, he was still addressed by it wherever he went.

It was a name from the old days, from fun days... Back then he and his brother had been adventurers that did as they liked, gathering fame all over the south.

How had life gotten so boring? His brother who used to frolic around with women was now a stiff old man, and he had the entire nation’s military on his back.

Reginald took a moment to observe the knights. The vast majority of them were rookies, newly knighted and as green as green could get.

Even with them present, Reginald could tell that many of them were on the verge of fleeing the battle.

A dragon had that effect on people. The thought of boiling from the inside out was far too terrible to bear.

But even as inexperienced as they were, Reginald needed them, a shield was needed for a sword to cut, and distractions were paramount to ensure their victory.

"Attention soldiers!" Reginald screamed loud enough to be heard.

He pointed his hand at the clouds, the dragon had been flying around as though taunting them, daring them to fire.

But now it has finally turned its attention to them.

"That overgrown lizard thinks it can waltz in here and do as he likes in our great kingdom! For years these beasts have spat on our might, are we just going to sit back and eat this insult?!"

"NOOOO!" The knights screamed out.

"Are you going to sit back and watch it devour your families, decimate the city you have sworn to protect?!"

"NOOOOO!"

"Then pick up your weapons, dust up your resolve!"

"I will not lie! Many of us may die today, I may not even live to carry on the legacy of you great warriors..."

"But I assure you..." the grand marshal lifted his sword, the silver blade gleaming in the sunlight. "This day, your names will be recorded in history as the ones who fell a dragon!!!"

"HURAAAAAA!"

As Reginald barked out his orders. The knights went to work setting up the magic cannons and reloading the ballistica.

The mages took their positions on the battlemats, while the knights took several positions around the castle.

"You are a foul man, Reginald." His brother whispered when he was next to him. "You send people rushing to their deaths with mere words."

Reginald glanced at him, his face hard. "It comes with the job."

The king of Donia valued his people more than his own life, so his most elite warriors had already been dispatched to positions outside the castle.

Reginald had no doubt troves of these men would die, but in the grand scheme of things it was a noble sacrifice.

"Inbound!!" Their scout screamed, and then a large shadow washed over them. The dragon had begun its descent!

Reginald walked up to the edge of the battlements, his hand lifted up.

"Hold!"

"—"

"Hold!!"

"—"

"FIRE!!"

Although it was day, the sky was filled with an array of colours, one that would put even the rainbows to shame.

Streaks of purple-black shadows tore through the sky as his brother launched a relentless attack, silver arcs of wind unsettled the skies as Reginald’s spell tore forward, lightning whistled through the air, fire was unleashed from the cannons, even stone projectiles were sent flying....

And then a rain of arrows painted the skies black.

But even in the face of such a relentless assault, the dragon still flew right towards it. Then it unfurled its large wings and took in a deep breath.

Reginald could see its throat light up like molten metal, and its scales glowed red.

’Wait—’ he leaned at the edge of the battlements, his eyes narrowed. The king had an almost disturbing fascination with dragons, so much so that there were silly rumors that he even bedded one.

Reginald was not as interested, but as his king he had no choice but to listen. That was how he realised... that this was no mere dragon.

"SHIELD! MAGES, CAST A SHIELD!" He screamed out to them.

But transforming from offensive magic to defensive so quickly was difficult for the younger mages.

The wizards among them cast the spell nearly instantly, and the magic barriers bursting to life...

But it was not enough.

That dragon, was a lava dragon.

Vwoooosh!

A rush of bubbling, liquid fire was unleashed from the dragon’s throat, flying right towards the battlements.

It ate through the approaching volley like it was paper, swallowing the spells whole, and then it crashed into the shield with an explosion that shook the entirety of the castle!

Three high level shields, gone in mere seconds!

Most of the soldiers and mages were thrown down by the shockwave. Leaving on a few standing.

"Brother!" Reginald glanced at Warren.

"I know!"

Vwooosh!

While Reginald launched a gust of explosive wind to block the fire, Warred created a dome to shield them.

But even their combined effort could not keep the flames back for long.

’Fuck!’ He glanced at his brother, his message clear. They had to save themselves.

But was this the only way? The moment they left, their entire contingent would be killed in terrifying ways...

The shadows were melting and the dragon had pushed closer, pouring even more fire. They had three seconds, and everything would vanish.

"Reginald?!" Warren called, sweat pouring out of his face as he struggled to keep the fire at bay.

The Grand Marshall had to make a call, and he had to do it now. His lips parted and he was about to speak, when suddenly, a golden, hexagonal dome surrounded the entire battlement—

The fire washed over it, sparks lighting up on the shield before the dragon stopped, its eyes narrowed as it stared at the dome.

’Who did this—’

"Need some help? Marshal?" A cheeky voice came from behind him.

Reginald turned around to see Lady Yennefer and her entire group standing next to him....