The moment Golden Fang had warned her about the savage hordes appearing in her kingdom, Soleah and Somah had been hard at work attempting to find and exterminate them.
Yet, no soldier had returned. Soleah paced in circles in her office.
What was worse, an earthquake had caused serious damage to the city only recently, leaving the city vulnerable on its side.
She bit her thumbnail, her steps speeding up. "This is really bad, really bad."
Despite usually being calm and collected, the situation made her panic.
Fang had done a good job scouting and even eliminating some beasts. However, there were groups that even he was reluctant to eliminate.
His report spoke of a variety of monsters that his men were not capable of handling, even with his support; thus, he had retreated to Onost in an attempt to mount a defense.
If the southern savages made their camps so close to Onost, then it was only a matter of time before a devastating attack was launched.
Her husband had personally gone to oversee the creation of the defenses, leaving her alone to wallow in uncertainty. Of course, she was worried about the other cities and the villages in between, yet there were no soldiers to spare other than the messengers that carried the orders of evacuation.
Onost was mostly evacuated to the safe zone, yet if the walls were breached, those zones would have collapsed just as fast as the city.
We need to recall Azure as soon as possible. She slid her hand inside her dress, retrieving a small, seemingly mundane piece of paper. If the situation really called for it, then she could contact Aqua and beg for support.
She stared at it for a moment before shaking her head.
It would be the last resort, if they weren't capable of dealing with their own problems, then the elves were never destined to survive.
It gave her solace that she had a way to get the support of someone as powerful, despite her unwillingness to use it unless it was the last resort.
The door swung open, and her new advisor, Lucia, made her way to her office. She struggled to catch her breath before gathering her wits and looking into Soleah's eyes.
"Your Majesty! There is a-" She said in panic. "There is a dragon swarm flying toward our city!"
Then an earth-shattering roar reverberated, making the entirety of the city shake.
Her eyes widened, and she quickly grabbed her sceptre. She rushed to the door and pulled it open.
"Come with me, at once!" She ordered before rushing toward the balcony.
"Yes, your majesty!" Lucia exclaimed and quickly rushed after Soleah.
It did not take long for the duo to make their way to the palace overlook. Soleah leaned forward, staring toward the sky.
Her advisor was right, a swarm of greater dragons appeared on the horizon. This problem was far above the beasts she had expected. "Lucia!"
"Yes, ma'am?" She asked.
"Find Golden Fang. The defenses need to be prepared at once," She ordered, her eyes stuck on the incoming swarm.
Lucia bowed and quickly rushed out of the palace.
If he could even deal with any of them.
She had to recall Azure from the academy, yet there was no way for her to arrive on time, and not to mention that she was weaker than Golden Fang; thus, her power wouldn't be enough to deal with the swarm.
Then, she heard a faint echo of savage warhorns. "Did they ally with the dragon lord?"
Her week kept getting worse and worse. If the savages had managed to get the help of the Dragon Lord Zm'aj, who resided within their territory, then her kingdom was doomed without Aqua.
Another roar made the city shake.
The swarm got closer, and in the middle was a massive dragon with seven heads.
Soleah gulped. The city was all but lost now.
I need to join the defense. She gripped her sceptre tighter, her hand crumpling the letter inside her dress.
The massive dragons landed inside Onost, crushing the buildings and setting fire to anything unfortunate enough to stand before them.
Despite her resolve, her legs kept shaking. She had never fought a powerful monster, much less a greater dragon, yet there were dozens landing in her city.
Many minutes passed, and then the walls crumbled; the smell of sulfur reached her nose. Soleah couldn't bear to watch her beloved city burn. She needed to head down into the city and defend it with all her power.
"Your Majesty!" Lucia shouted, gasping for air. "I… I bring bad news, most of our elven soldiers have been killed by the dragons, and Sir Fang had said that a horde of savages is approaching."
Would Aqua help us with this?
She retrieved her letter, and after a moment of deliberation, she stepped in front of Lucia. "Lucia, you matter a lot to my Sheira," She said while putting her hand on Lucia's shoulder. "I order you to hide. It is my duty to defend this kingdom. My husband is down there together with many soldiers, and I refuse to be a dainty princess who waits for rescue."
"Your… majesty?" She said, looking up.
"I will fight. I want you to activate this in a couple of minutes. I want Aqua to see that we have given everything we could to defend ourselves before relying on her," she said before handing the letter to the maid.
"I can't…"
"This is a direct royal order. Hide, and live." She forced Lucia's fist closed and quickly jumped down the balcony, the wind slowing her fall as she gently landed in the courtyard.
The smoke rose high in the air, and the sounds of fighting echoed in the distance.
The wind gathered around her, and she dashed through the city. Despite the flames erupting from every corner, she felt no discomfort.
The buildings collapsed around her.
Soleah conjured ice beneath her and slid past them.
She turned the corner; however, before she could even react, a blast of fire engulfed her entire body.
However, as the flames dispersed, she stood unharmed. Soleah looked at her hands. "Does this…" Her eyes wandered to the phoenix scar. "Does this make me immune to fire?"
She stopped and turned to the greater dragon that melted a large part of the city.
At a glance, she noticed some elven corpses, yet she could not grieve them in such a crucial moment.
The dragon tilted its head and flapped its wings. It breathed fire once more, failing to as much as singe Soleah.
She propelled herself forward, the wind under her feet. Her scepter formed a thin razor edge of ice.
The Dragon flew upward, dodging Soleah.
The queen opened her palm and conjured a large icicle before launching it at the wing of the massive dragon.
A powerful icicle punctured the wing, allowing Soleah a moment to launch another spike to the base of the other wing.
The dragon roared before collapsing onto the ground.
She slid through ice, landing behind the dragon's tail.
Sensing the elven queen behind its back, it swung its tail, crushing the surrounding buildings.
Soleah conjured a blast of wind, launching herself at the Dragon's back.
Her sceptre turned into an icy spear, and she crawled on its back, using magic to latch herself to its scales.
It roared and squirmed. It rolled, forcing Soleah to propel herself further up and on top of its head.
"Die!" She shouted, plunging the icy spear into its eye.
The Red dragon roared, shattering the stones and forcing Soleah to cover her ears.
She jumped back, letting the dragon use up its energy.
Good, that will give me more space.
The dragon launched a strike with its claws, which Soleah jumped over and conjured an earthen boulder inside its mouth. She snapped her fingers, and the boulder exploded, launching the massive reptile back.
This is an adolescent dragon. There was no way she could have dealt with a fully grown greater dragon, even though this one had a lot of durability.
It breathed fire again, engulfing Soleah. "You don't learn!" She shouted, rushing through the flame, yet the dragon wasn't there; instead, a powerful claw strike launched her from the side, separating her from the sceptre.
She coughed up blood and held her side, her hands clutching at the gaping wound. "Dammit."
The overgrown lizard stared at her with its one good eye. Soleah clenched her fist. "I'm taking one down with me!"
She leaned to the side, waiting for the dragon to make a move, which it quickly did.
It lunged forward, aiming to skewer Soleah, but she used the wind to launch herself far into the air while ignoring the pain to the best of her ability. She spun and formed mana into a massive glacial spike.
The inexperienced dragon sniffed and searched for her, yet it did not expect her above him.
She released the grand spell, piercing the adolescent dragon's skull and pinning its corpse to the ground.
Soleah sighed in relief and landed next to it before shortly sliding her back against it. "That was hard!"
The sounds of fighting slowed down, and the smell of rot reached her nose. "We lost..." She muttered while pushing herself up.
Until her last breath, she would defend the kingdom.
Just as she was about to limp away, a dragon that was as tall as a palace landed before her, sending her flying back into the ruins.
It's 7 heads stared at her, each filled with malice.
"You," The Dragon Lord's voice was powerful and was accompanied by the smell of sulfur.
It got close to her, its teeth the size of her whole body.
"You killed one of my spawn, impressive. I was almost worried when so many of my spawn died above the forest. It seems I overestimated you, mortals." The dragon lord mocked her.
Soleah's legs shook, and she crawled back. "You will regret this, I am telling you~" Despite everything, she mustered the courage to mock the dragon lord.
"Regret?" A deep cackle that made the city shake escaped its throat.
"The Dragon God, Zm'aj, regrets nothing."
Before she could take her next breath, the head's jaws opened, and Soleah's life expired.
Yet instead of being split in half, the woman's body was enveloped in an impenetrable blazing egg.
"What is this?" It's 7 heads spoke in curiosity, yet before Zm'aj could conjure a thought, his body was sent flying into space.