The roars of dragons thundered through the mountain, echoing from the depths of the lair. The sounds of flesh tearing, claws scraping stone, and dragonfire burning rock carried into the night sky like the battle hymn of titans.
Rayder sat astride Black Dragon Im at the mouth of the cavern, his expression calm despite the chaos raging within. Behind him, Kidora and Yigen waited, wings spread, three pairs of burning eyes fixed on the cave's black maw.
Any other man might have rushed to aid his allies, throwing all strength into the desperate melee within. But Rayder was not "any other man."
Listening to the tumult, he felt no urgency, no pull of duty. On the contrary, his lips curled slightly in dark amusement.
Not only did he have no intention of sending his three dragons into the fray—he secretly hoped Cannibal would prove even more ferocious. A wicked thought slithered through his mind: Burn him, Cannibal. Burn Daemon and his red wyrm to ash.
Schadenfreude warmed his chest as he narrowed his eyes, peering into the lair.
The occasional burst of Dragon Flame from inside—green, red, or black—illuminated the cavern like the flicker of a torch. By those brief flashes, Rayder glimpsed the battle's unfolding horror.
Just as he expected, Cannibal now faced not one but three foes.
Vhagar, immense and battle-hardened, had entered the fight. Beside her was Vermithor, the Bronze Fury, second only in might to Balerion in his day. Caraxes, enraged by Cannibal's pursuit, slashed and roared, striking wherever it could.
Three against one.
The space was vast by mortal reckoning, yet within it, four colossal dragons twisted and collided like serpents locked in a pit. Every swipe of claws gouged stone. Every collision shook the mountain. Each time jaws snapped, teeth raked scales, the cavern blazed with fresh fire.
Even from outside, Rayder felt the ground shudder. His gaze sharpened.
The tremor beneath his boots was subtle, but he recognized the danger immediately. The mountain itself groaned, as though the very foundations of Dragonstone might collapse beneath the fury within.
To throw Im, Yigen, or Kidora into that madness would be folly. The lair was a deathtrap—if not from enemy dragons, then from falling rock.
Rayder weighed his options for only a heartbeat before deciding.
No. Let the old beasts tear at one another. We will wait.
He raised a hand, signaling his dragons.
"Hold position," he murmured.
The three titans shifted uneasily but obeyed, blocking the cave's entrance with their hulking forms. Their wings stretched wide, a living barricade of scaled flesh and steel.
Rayder's sharp eyes never left the darkness within.
Time dragged, punctuated by the clash of roars and the hiss of fire. Then—gradually—the fury ebbed.
The cacophony dulled. Roars dwindled to pained growls. The scrape of claws on stone quieted. What remained was heavy breathing, the sound of exhausted monsters, and the occasional hollow thud as titanic bodies shifted against the cavern walls.
The battle was ending.
Rayder's hand tightened on Im's reins. His dragons stirred, sensing what came next.
From the depths, heavy footsteps echoed, growing louder, each one accompanied by the crumble of loose stone.
Then—out of the dark—a black shadow emerged.
Cannibal.
But this was not the unscarred titan Rayder had approached earlier.
Now, its body was a map of ruin. Deep gashes scored its scales, some torn away entirely to reveal bloody flesh. Bitemarks marred its wings, ragged tears where fire had scorched away membrane. Its once-gleaming scales were dulled, cracked, and blackened.
Blood dripped in steaming rivulets from its wounds, sizzling where it struck the ground. Each step left a trail of hissing scarlet.
Yet for all its wounds, Cannibal's presence was undiminished.
The sheer force of its aura—rage, hunger, unyielding defiance—washed over Rayder and his dragons like a tidal wave. Injured or not, the beast radiated unbowed ferocity.
As its eyes fixed on Rayder, Cannibal's body tensed. With a guttural roar, it lunged forward, wings flaring, charging despite its injuries.
Rayder's brows lifted in brief surprise. Even like this?
Awe flickered through him—then calculation replaced it.
Forcing Im, Kidora, and Yigen to meet this charge would serve nothing. Subduing Cannibal here, in its frenzy, would be impossible. Provoking a death struggle would only leave scars on both sides.
No—better to yield, for now.
Rayder tugged on Im's reins.
"Back," he commanded sharply.
The three dragons shifted aside, opening a path.
Cannibal barreled through the entrance without pause, impatience flashing in its wild eyes as it swept past Rayder. Its wings unfurled with a snap, filling the sky, and with a roar—hoarse but still defiant—it launched into the air.
Rayder tracked its ascent. The dragon's shadow blotted out the moonlight for a heartbeat, then stretched long across the sea as it vanished into the night.
For the briefest moment, as Cannibal rose, its head turned. Its burning gaze swept over Rayder—no, directly at him, the insignificant human atop Black Dragon Im.
Rayder smiled faintly. Slowly, he lifted a hand and waved, as though greeting an old acquaintance, or bidding farewell.
Whether Cannibal understood or not mattered little. The gesture was his alone to give.
Im rumbled, wings shifting uneasily beneath him. Rayder's ears twitched; he had caught something else.
Footsteps.
Heavy. Uneven. Coming from the depths once more.
The other dragons.
He did not know whether it would be Vermithor, Vhagar, or perhaps Caraxes, but he knew one thing with certainty: he had no interest in meeting them here, not after Daemon's meddling.
His lips curled into a sharp smile. Then let them taste their own fire.
"Dracarys," Rayder growled.
At once, Im, Yigen, and Kidora obeyed.
Their maws opened wide.
From Im burst a torrent of black fire, thicker than smoke and hotter than molten steel. From Yigen roared crimson flame, surging like a river of magma. From Kidora's three heads, golden beams of condensed gravity lanced forward, distorting the very air.
Together, the blasts converged into the cave mouth, a cataclysm of annihilation.
The first to suffer was Vermithor.
The Bronze Fury, weary and battered from the struggle with Cannibal, had just begun its charge toward the surface. It met Kidora's beam head-on. The force smashed into its skull, tearing open flesh and scales, leaving a gory wound that splattered blood across the walls.
Before the beast could even cry out, Im and Yigen's combined flames engulfed it.
The cavern filled with shrieking fire.
Vermithor roared, staggering back, its wings curling as it reeled, thrashing blindly in agony. In its retreat, it collided violently with Vhagar, who had been lumbering close behind.
The collision shook the mountain.
Vhagar snarled, but her strength was spent. Already scorched and slashed from Cannibal's fury, the ancient she-dragon crumpled beneath Vermithor's weight.
The flames licked across her wounded body, blackening her scales further. Her roar was low, tired, pained—a sound unworthy of her legend. She slumped heavily to the ground, her head striking stone with a thunderous crack.
Rayder's eyes narrowed. He had wanted only to send a message, not to slaughter outright. He raised his hand.
"Enough."
At once, the flames ceased.
The cavern mouth glowed red with heat, its walls cracked and molten in places. The stench of charred flesh and scorched blood hung heavy in the air.
Within lay Vhagar and Vermithor, both broken, their bodies twitching faintly but no longer struggling. Their breaths came ragged, weak.
Rayder did not move forward. He held his dragons in place, retreating a few paces to widen the distance.
Im, Kidora, and Yigen shifted uneasily, keeping their eyes fixed on the prone giants.
Calm returned, if only for a fragile moment.
The battlefield was quiet now, save for the rasping breaths of wounded dragons and the whisper of smoldering stone.
Rayder looked into the cave one last time, then turned his gaze skyward.
Cannibal was gone, vanished into the night. But its shadow lingered in his thoughts, and the faint flicker of recognition in its eyes replayed in his mind.
It was not over.
Not yet.
---
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Final Reminder
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