CHAPTER 7: A SHADOW OVER STONECREST
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The world became a blur of wind, cloud, and starlight. Nyx cut through the sky with a grace that defied her immense size, each powerful beat of her wings carrying us leagues over the jagged landscape. The Cursed Peaks shrank to mere wrinkles in the earth below, and the familiar forests around Stonecrest rushed up to meet us.
The Bond Level 2 connection was a torrent of raw sensation. I felt the exhilarating freedom coursing through Nyx as she tasted the open air for the first time in years, a stark contrast to the cold fury building in my own heart.
Because now, I could see it clearly.
Stonecrest Keep was a besieged island in a sea of darkness. A horde of creatures, a seething mass of chitin, claws, and corrupted flesh, stretched from the base of the mountain walls out into the treeline. The first wave. Imps scrambled up the stone like insects, while larger, hulking Brutes hammered at the main gate with makeshift rams. Flames licked at the outer village buildings, and the air, even at this distance, carried the faint, metallic tang of blood and smoke.
[Kingdom Management Alert: Stonecrest Keep - Under Siege!]
[Defender Morale: Flickering]
[Wall Integrity: 62% and falling...]
[Estimated Time Until Breach: 3 hours, 48 minutes]
My enhanced vision, a perk of the bond, picked out the details. The new eastern wall, reinforced with my cheap blueprint, was holding where the older sections were crumbling. I saw tiny figures, our soldiers holding the battlements, their formations tight, just as I'd drilled them. Firepots arced down, creating temporary rings of fire that the demons were reluctant to cross. Luna's antidote was likely the only reason the defenders weren't already paralyzed and overrun.
But they were losing. It was a war of attrition, and the demons had the numbers.
"Down there," I thought, focusing my intent and pointing towards the rear of the demon horde, where a larger, pulsating creature was directing the flow of lesser demons with guttural shrieks. A Corrupter. A tactical-priority target.
Nyx's response was a psychic snarl of agreement. The memory of the Demon-Iron shard was fresh for both of us. Hatred for these creatures was a language we shared perfectly.
We dove.
The shriek of the wind became a deafening roar. I leaned into her neck, my body becoming one with the dragon's descent. The ground rushed up at a terrifying speed. The demons on the walls and those in the rear ranks hadn't even looked up. They were focused on the fortress, on their prey.
We struck the rear of the horde like a meteor of vengeance.
Nyx didn't breathe fire. She was a Night Fury, a creature of shadow and precision. As we pulled out of the dive just meters from the ground, her tail, whip-like and edged with bladed scales, scythed through a dozen Brutes, shearing them in two. Her claws snatched up the shrieking Corrupter and, with a sickening crunch, silenced its commands.
The impact sent a shockwave through the earth, tossing imps like ragdolls.
Chaos erupted. The demonic assault on the walls stuttered, then faltered entirely as the horde turned to face the new, unimaginable threat in their midst.
On the battlements, a cry went up. I saw Captain Roric, his sword held high, pointing at us, his mouth wide in a shout I couldn't hear over the din. The flickering morale of the defenders suddenly blazed like a sun.
[Kingdom Management: Defender Morale - Soaring!]
Nyx banked hard, her wingtip clipping a watchtower and sending stone dust flying. She was a shadow against the fire-lit sky, an impossible legend made real. I drew my sword, its steel glowing with reflected hellfire.
"Again!" I yelled, and she understood.
We strafed the length of the western approach. This time, Nyx opened her maw, but no flame emerged. Instead, a cone of pure, soundless force erupted a Void Pulse. Where it struck, demons didn't just die; they unraveled, their forms dissolving into motes of black dust before hitting the ground. It was terrifyingly efficient.
But the demons adapted. A volley of glowing, venomous spines shot up from a cluster of spiked creatures. Nyx twisted effortlessly, the spines harmlessly deflecting off her armored scales. One, however, meant for her wing joint, was on a perfect trajectory.
I didn't think. I acted.
The new passive ability, [Shadow's Embrace], flared to life. I became less substantial, a phantom riding the dragon. The spine passed through the space I occupied a moment before, close enough to feel the deathly chill of its venom.
Nyx felt my evasion, and a pulse of approval, and a flicker of concern came through the bond. The fight was a dance, and we were learning the steps in real time.
We cleared the western approach, leaving a corridor of annihilation in our wake. Nyx beat her wings, gaining altitude for another pass. From this vantage point, I saw him.
Cassian.
He was isolated on a section of the old wall, separated from his men. A pack of Imps had scaled the battlements and cornered him. He was fighting desperately, his form skilled but overwhelmed. In the novel, this was where he would be grievously wounded, solidifying his bitterness and his eventual turn to Draco's side.
I saw the lead Imp leap for his throat, and Cassian, his guard down, braced for the killing blow.
"Cassian!" The name was torn from my lips.
Nyx didn't need a detailed command. She read my sudden, sharp spike of protective instinct. She folded her wings and dropped like a stone.
We fell out of the sky, a shadow of death. My sword, fueled by a surge of adrenaline and the strange new energy flowing through our bond, took the head of the leaping Imp. Nyx's landing crushed the rest of the pack into paste against the ancient stone.
Cassian stared, his sword hanging limp in his hand, his face a mask of blood, soot, and utter, profound shock. He looked from the disintegrating demons, to the majestic dragon, and finally to me, dismounting from her back as casually as if from a horse.
His eyes, wide with a mixture of terror and awe, met mine. The contempt, the mockery, was gone. In its place was the dawning, terrifying realization that the world was far larger and stranger than he had ever believed, and that his little brother was no longer little.
I didn't have time for his epiphany. I met his gaze, my voice cutting through the battle's roar.
"Get your men," I said. "The gate needs reinforcing."
I turned back to Nyx, the dragon of shadow and stars, ready for the next dance. The battle for Stonecrest was no longer about survival.
It was about sending a message.
The message is clear: The Dragon Baron has arrived. Let the destiny of this world be rewritten.
CHAPTER 7 COMPLETE
Next: The battle turns. Leo and Nyx coordinate with the defenders to break the siege, while a new, more powerful demonic entity takes notice.
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