Chapter 15

Ahzera, after his kind was wiped out, fell into a routine of conquering. He would enter the castle through the front gate, while his men sniped the archers in the towers. He walked through the hastily made barricades, snapping the necks of all who defied him. He would make his way to the king’s throne room, where the king would attempt to dissuade him. Ahzera would become a dragon, grab the king, and fly upwards, to the ruined city in the sky. He would drop the king, unceremoniously in a small pool, then fly off. In the day that he was gone, his men would secure the castle under Blackhand control. Ahzera would then leave the kingdom, and leave a Hawk to lead the kingdom and a platoon of thieves to keep it in check. His army grew smaller, until finally, he had a team of twenty thieves, and one Hawk left. This was the last kingdom before he reached Liland. He conquered the last one easily, then started a solitary walk to the gazebo where the three’s adventure first began. He went down into the cavern, and laid down, back to the ground. He stared up at the ceiling and heard raindrops falling on the dirt above him.

“I’ve conquered all of the Plains of Dorthier. I’ve doomed all of the Grass Kings to a life in the city of the sky. They all attacked my home. They all had blood on their hands. All 12 of them are now up there. Lost in the wreckage that they made. *sigh* The only kingdoms in this land left, are  Lilian’s, and Charles. I can still remember that fateful day, when peace reigned, and fifteen of us from the Fire’s Seat were chosen for leading the Plains. Perhaps now, I should lead the land that Dorthier founded, perhaps I can bring the Plains out of the dark.” Ahzera stood back up. “Yes, the Plains of Dorthier are no more. The fools that reigned are in their own wreckage, this land, is now, led by Dragon-Blood. This land, is now, the new land of dragons. I will find the camps of my people, spread far and wide. I will bring them here, and now, the dragons will fly again!”

Chapter 14

Screaming, the citizens of Lord Kozemas's city bled and ran through the streets. They had no chance against the rolling waves of enslaved dragons. Their riders screamed for more, "DEATH! DEATH! DOOOOOOM!"  Kozemas, in his armored keep, huddled in the back corner while Charles and Lilian tended to the groups of wounded soldiers that fled, or fell, into the most inner sanctum. The rest of the city in the sky was ablaze, houses reduced to rubble, dragons dying in the streets. The riders clanged across the thick walls. The northernmost wall was destroyed, Thinking quickly, and realizing that they were going to die, Lilian, using all her magic sent a plea to Ahzera's gem encrusted, golden locket that he kept hidden in his chest. "We are being destroyed, Charles and Kozemas and I are alone now. Help us Ahzera, Help us. And Ahzie! I...I love yoAAAAHGHHHHHH!" Feeling the message enter him, Ahzera's eyes widened. Quietly, then steadily growing louder, "no. no! No. No! NO. NO! NOOOOOOOO!" Falling into a rage over his dead king, his dead friend, and his love, he half flew half ran to the front lines. Shaking in rage, he blasted the ranks of enemy Men with black fire. They screamed and writhed in agony as the evil flames engulfed them, eating away at them, sucking their soul. With every man dead, Ahzera grew more and more dragon like, less and less human, His scales lost their pallor, becoming a midnight black that actively sucked the light from the room. His men, though scared fought along the enraged dragon. The only light on his body was his chest, where the locket glowed, faintly, through the black. He boomed at his men, with his last ounce of humanity, "Run! Get away from me! Escape! I...I will come back for you!!! GO!!!!!!" Smashing through the barricades, he sliced through the men with his bastard-sword it split into the two long-swords and he used the swinging slabs of stinging metal to kill all that stood in his way. He became impossibly large, as big as the great arches of the castle. Becoming even more enraged, he punched through the wall. Stepping into the Throne room he said, "YOU KILLED MY KIND! YOU MURDED THE INNOCENT! You foolish man. You, you wanted the BlackFire Demon, WELL HERE I AM!" The ranks of archers shot at the enraged thief king, but to no avail. He reached down and scooped up the King in his egg. He looked up, and smashed through the ceiling as he flew through the air. In a mere 5 minutes, he landed at the ruined Dragon King's city. "LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, YOU HAVE SLAIN MY KIND." He walked through the ruined city, letting the terrified king see what destruction he had wreaked. "MY KIND DIED, MY ONLY FRIEND DIED, MY LOVE WAS SLAIN AT THY HAND. YOU SHALL DIE WITH THEM!" "Wait! I...I can give you money! Power! Allies! Anything!!!!!!! No? RIDERS! KILL HIM NOW!" The hiding dragon slavers flew out from inside the inner sanctum. They flew around Ahzera, blasting him with streaks of red fire, Ahzera drew the two longswords again, dropping the king. Slashing through the air, the dragons and men fell. "THERE ARE NOW VERY FEW OF MY KIND LEFT, WHILE YOU IDIOTIC MEN WHO CALL THEMSELVES "KINGS" KILL THEM. I WILL MURDER ALL OF YOU! EVERY LAST ONE! MY PEOPLE SHALL FLOURISH AGAIN. NOW DIE!" Ahzera brought the two longswords down in bastard sword form upon the king's protection. It snapped away and fell, In the bottom half, the king hid behind hid throne and cried, "PLEASE! SPARE ME!" Ahzera smiled, a grim sight in this form, "YOU KILLED MY KIND HERE, YOU WILL LIVE HERE. MAY YOU DIE PAINFULLY, OLD FOOL." Ahzera turned away from the cowering king and took two flaps, and glided down to the kings throne room. Becoming smaller as he left, he landed in normal size. Though still retaining the light destroying aura. The new king stepped forward, the old king's advisor. The remaining guards surrounded him. "Thou shalt be executed. Men, kill the murderer." Ahzera lept into the air, and came down and stabbed the man in the chest. The guards jaws dropped, they backed away then ran from the (now twice) king slayer. "Now, where are my men?"

Traveling mailbox #1

I'm just writing this to say, feel free to comment on it, give me ideas, hate on it, compliment..... You know that "it" means the story, right? RIGHT?
Just letting you know, COMMENT!

Ahzera Blackhand, Killer of kings, Leader of thieves, Has 99 cats and hugged the last one.

Chapter 13

As the man fell onto the table, the lord of thieves approached, Inspecting the prone man he smiled and said to himself smugly, "Perfect." He closed his eyes and chanted a small spell over the mans forehead. He walked over to a mirror and repeated the incantation upon that. A small rune appeared upon the soldier's left cheek . Ahzera then turned to Corthain and said "Sleep for now, my eagle, I will need you soon." He quick stepped to the other prone man and lifted him up. He walked the enemy to the border and chanted one last incantation over him. The foreign writing glowed then faded away, Ahzera went back to the mirror and pressed his hands upon the gold rimmed glass. He took a deep breath, then plunged his  head into the space between his hands. The soldier's eyes opened with a flash, then he stood, on shaky legs he fled back to the king, then said, "Your majesty, I return, I lost the food, but I saw the leader of the thieves. He, he's dying, the reason why they have barricaded the banquet hall is for him, he is on the verge of death's door. If we attack in the right spot we could end this foolishness and reassert the castle." The king thought on this, nodding as he did. "I believe that you have a point," he said, "But, if we destroy him, the other dragons will come in a rage and slay us. We will send all of our sky riders to take down the dragon city once and for all!" He barked orders at a steward and then the servant scurried off to see to the orders. Ahzera pulled his head out of the mirror and took another breath, he whispered into the glass, "Foola, makek a pootal fie mai." The glass shook, and stretched across the wall. In the throne room, the mans face began to become covered with mystical letters. He screamed in pain as his mouth opened up, unimaginably large, stretching, bleeding, big enough to charge an army through. The kings eyes widened, he knew what was going to happen, he had made his court magicians do this 3 months ago, against.....the dragons. He screamed for guards to come to him, Scratching the bottom of the barrel of his men, only a small platoon of shield-men came, then a miniature battalion of sword-men, then the archers, only 20 bow-men were coming. pulling a rope on his left, a wall came up around him. He pulled another tassel on his chair and what looked like the top of a giant egg fell on the wall. There was a sheet of glass on the front, and a vent below that, he huddled inside his armored egg and screamed orders at the soldiers below. The sky fliers weren't having much of a better time, It was raining.

Chapter 12

It had been going on for two days, One side spearheading a stab at their enemies defenses, another replying with a troupe of attackers. The kitchen and pantries were on the border, in there, was a war zone. Corthain, donning his Hawk armor was on food duty, he had a sack slung across his back and a grin across his face. Creeping up to the first un-raided kitchen cabinet, he eased it open and with a sweep of the arm, slung it all into his sack. He did the same with the next cabinet and the next, soundlessly all the way. Then, he stopped, he crouched and listened to the room. There was a small creaking noise, cans clanking,  "It must be coming from the pantry room." he thought to himself, he climbed over the scattered pots and pans and reached for the door to the bountiful cornucopia of a room. He creaked it open and slipped inside, while slipping his body through the door, he slipped a dagger into his free hand. Creeping up onto the imperial guards figure, he quickly shoved the dagger's hilt onto the mans forehead and backed up. the man crumpled to the ground. Corthain picked up the bag of food that the man was carrying, slung it over his back. then picked up the man with his dagger hand. Heaving under the weight, he hurriedly stumbled his way back, back, back, to the makeshift blockades, spreading food, energy, and power as he walked. When he reached the banquet hall, or now the main rebel room, he dumped the remainder of the two sacks on the table. He laid the man down on a clear spot on the once great long table and heaved a sigh of relief. His job was done, he walked back to the barracks, took off his armor and fell onto his bed. Sleep.

Chapter 11

Death. The guards stood no chance against the rolling tides of Human, Lizardaman, Pandarin, Katjit, and dragon flesh.

Doom. Ahzera's army was contained once more. Nets of spines and pain enveloped them.

Dragon. All was contained in cells and nets. The Hawks and the Master of Thieves remained.

"Lights, out." The room shot into instant darkness. The remaining guards huddled around each other, afraid of the monstrous men and dragon beast that crept there. An ear splitting scream pierced the air. A wet thump then shot through the dark. One by one. they fell. All of Ahzera's men and women had night vision. They all were blessed by the dragon. The nets were cut. The cages opened. The humanoids swarmed. Guard after guard fell. Room after room was transformed into an infirmary. One panda-man was taken to the king. From that, he learned that Ahzera Blackhand, the leader of Ahzmere had become a dragon and was the beast leading the thieves to storm the castle. The sounds of fighting gradually became closer and closer. The normal guards numbers dwindled lower, and lower. After nearly 24 hours of battle, it stopped. Ahzera's men began to erect blockades of tables, chairs, and giant candles. Blackhand walked through the blockades, lighting the candles with a cough. The Hawks, who had been absent for the last hour, returned with a wheelbarrow full of confiscated armaments. It contained the Hawks armor, their daggers, their crossbows. As they approached, Ahzera Blackhand turned from his patrol and saw them coming. He stopped. "I see you have your armor, good." Ahzera said, "Thats not all sir!" The captain of the Hawks, Corthain replied. "Hmm? You have something else" Ahzera said, surprised a bit. "Of course! We saw it and we knew that you would like it." Corthain said. The "other thing" that the hawks found was a large two handed bastard sword. It came apart in to two, as deadly, longswords. Ahzera then replied, "Perfect."

Chapter 10

The guards came again with their swords and shields when the prisoners cries reached them again. Preparing for a riot, they unsheathed their swords, and unbuckled their shields. They saw Ahzera climbing up to them, head bowed he kept walking, even after the guards screamed for him to stop. Ahzera's mind was elsewhere. A long way away. His head snapped up, His eyes glowed with an unnatural blackness, as if consuming the light. "No, too slow, now you die." Using lightning speed, Ahzera's spear reached the first guards neck, and kept going, severing the head from the body, the latter spurted blood, shook, then stayed still. The other guard screamed and ran back up the stairs. "No." The dragon threw the spear into the man's back, he fell to the floor and laid still. Walking past, without breaking his stride, he pulled out the spear. He entered the guards room and grabbed a flagon of mead. With a spear in one hand, and a metal flagon in the other, he walked into the barracks. A few curious rats inspected the now still boots of Ahzera. He reared back his head and burst out a cone of flames. The black burning beast of fire engulfed the baracks, the dungeon, and the torture rooms. The heat was so intense that the stonework bars crumbled and fell. As soon as it started, it stopped. The prisoners, if singed, were fine. They came in a wave towards Ahzera, they saw the dead and bleeding corpses of their former guards and stopped. "Ahzera turned towards the filthy, angry mob and said in a voice that the inmates could barely hear, "I am Ahzera, THE DRAGON!" He spat flame again, and the fire hit the ceiling then stopped in midair. "I am your new leader. Who disputes that?" No one stepped forward. "Good, now, ARM YOURSELVES!" The men scrambled for the armor racks in a frenzy, each not wanting to disappoint the guard slaying, fire spitting man who stood in the center of the room. A small group, perhaps a group of 5 and a leader stepped toward Ahzera. The center man said, "Do you remember us, my lord Ahzera?" Ahzera turned and grinned. "My hawks...I thought you had died attempting to steal the Scepter." "No sir, only imprisoned, we've been on death row for weeks now, when we saw that they had captured you, we despaired." "No need to now, take the high ranking armor, You are my best, so you shall have. Prepare for battle, my people!"

Chapter 9

The guards came quickly when they discovered all their prisoners screaming in pain. Ahzera, getting bored of waiting, blew tendrils of flame into the rising waters. The water steamed and boiled, Ahzera also dripped a small vial of red liquid into the water. It was non-lethal, but it gave the dungeon floor a look of blood. This made the guards come even quicker. They stomped through the boiling water, as if it was nothing. They saw Ahzera's trick and they screamed in rage. Two of the guards held Ahzera to the wall, while the third one unplugged the drain, and plugged the hole in the window. They released him onto the bed, spat at him, and left. Ahzera checked the posts of the bed, The bottoms had been weakened and eaten away. He smiled a grim grin and stepped down, onto the floor. He prepared his jeweled boot, and kicked. The first bar cracked and fell. He wrapped the remaining rags of the bed around his silky glove and punched the second bar. It fell apart, Ahzera stepped through the hole and picked up the intact bar. He closed his eyes, muttered something in a foreign tongue, and the bar grew into a golden looking spear. The head was a glinting silver, The shaft was a sight to behold, It looked as if someone took a king's scepter, and put a spear head on it. Ahzera stepped up the mucky slimy dungeon stars, ignoring the plaintive cries of the other inmates. Into the light...

Chapter 8

The cell was dark, damp, cramped, but, it had a window, which currently was filled with water. Break the window? No, it would fill the cell with water. Melt the bars? No, they're made out of stone. Ambush the guards? No, they give me food through a slot. Become a slave? Perhaps... If I'm desperate. Yes, It's the only way, get cleaned up, revert back a bit into human form, change my master-crafted clothes into royal garb...Yes, it could work. Alright. First, I need to clean this filth off. Ahzera, who had been talking to himself, lept into action. Carving a small circle in the glass, water began to pour inside. Stepping under it, he cleaned off as much as he could. Plugging the hole in the window, and uncovering the drain in the floor, he dried the cell out. After shaking the water off his body like a dog, he sat on the now dry bed.  Straining, he reverted backwards into a more human like form. Retaining his wings but being rid of the scales and dragon-like face, he looked much better. He casted what sounded like a king's title upon the clothes and they shunk and stretched and became a suit. With golden chunks for buttons, and rubies for cufflinks, he looked like a king's advisor. leaping with cat lie grace upon the floor, he wrapped his sheets around his now clawless hands and punched the glass. Wincing upon impact, he broke the small window. Water now gushing in, he clogged the drain with the sheets. Climbing upon the bed to stay dry, he said to himself,  "Now it's only a matter of time..." "Only a matter of time..."

Chapter 7

Again, he struck, Again and again. Soon, merely 50 of the ones attacking the palace were left. Then, 40, then finally 30. The dark was lifting, slowly, but was lifting. As soon as the Siege commander could see clearly enough, he directed his team of 10 Royal soldiers towards Ahzera. Overwhelming him and pinning his wings, legs and arms to the ground. throwing a net over him they dragged him backwards, tied him up, and handed him to the 20 foot soldiers. Sprinting back to the main force, the Siege commander screamed, "WE HAVE THE BLACKFIRE DEMON! RETREAT!" urging the force onwards, the remaining invaders ran to the edge of the city, and mounted their enslaved wild dragons. Screaming and laughing as they went, they flew in to the distance. A few straggling dragons chased after them spurting bursts of flame towards their enemy. Lord Kozemas, Charles, and Lilian crowded together and talked. "We need to go after them to save Ahzera!"Lilian said, "He'll be fine..." Charles spoke. "I...I can't spare the troops. I'm sorry Lilian." Kozemas said. Lilian turned and stormed into the tower, Growling while she stepped up the stairs. "Are they partners?" Kozemas inquired. Charles hurriedly replied, "No, she...she has feelings for him and he's, well. He's Ahzera...."