13 Chapter 13

Rykirus gaped, "Vyrix has a son?" eyes wide with disbelief.

"Yeah..." Fiero trailed off uncomfortably, and shrugged, "Never liked talking about it though, I wanted them to see me as me, not Vyrix's son." The green drake studied him, "By the way, how did you resurrect me?"

"Magic," Rykirus said waving a claw dramatically, eyes alight with mirth. He drew the darkness into his talons and held it out to Fiero, turning serious "Death magic," he spoke, eyes hardening.

Violet eyes became confused, "But why? Why me?" he waved a claw to convey his thoughts, "You didn't know I was Vyrix's son, I was just a drake fallen in battle to you."

"Because," Rykirus stepped forward, wing brushing against Fiero's, "We're kin, family," he nodded at the tattoo, "You're a NightBlade, I'm the son of the dead king, I couldn't just leave you, not when you're my responsibility."

"Dead king?" Fiero's eyes widened, "The king's dead?"

Rykirus cleared his throat, averting his eyes, "Well... technically..." he said awkwardly, "I'm king right now, soooo, no the king's not dead."

"Right," Fiero said blankly, "I totally understand now." (sarcasm, don't know how to make words italicized)

"Uh huh... Well anyway, do you know when you died?" Rykirus asked, "It would help us a lot."

Fiero sighed, "Hell if I know. I don't just go around checking the year because I think, 'Oh, what if I die today and the future king resurrects me, yeah the date'll sure be important then' you know," he said raising an eye at him.

"Alright, fine, whatever," he groaned, throwing his wings up in exasperation, "I was just asking, just in case."

A snicker sounded behind Rykirus, and he whirled around, baring his teeth. A familiar figure was sitting down in the grass, a bag of berries in his lap as he observed them. Nyko raised an eyebrow at them, "Don't mind me friend," he said chuckling, waving an arm at them, "carry on, it's quite amusing," he stated, popping a berry into his mouth.

Rykirus snarled and opened his jaw to give a heated reply, before an urgent caw cut him off. All three of them glanced up, Nyko turning serious. Flying in the air, a falcon was circling above them, a piece of paper tied to one of his talons.

Fiero's eyes lit up as his stomach growled, "Ooh, food!" he yelped, eyes glued to the bird of prey, "Can I eat it? I'm soooo hungry. You know, death does that sometimes," his eyes were practically sparkling as he drooled, gazing hungrily at the circling creature.

"No, you can't eat him, he's a messenger," Nyko said with a long-suffering sigh, "Dragons... eating whatever they can get their claws on," he mumbled, raising his arm into a horizontal position. The falcon swooped down and landed on Nyko's outstretched arm. Rykirus stepped forward as he watched Nyko untie the message, tuning out Fiero's outraged exclamations.

Nyko's face was solemn, eyes scanning the length of paper, before turning to Rykirus, "It seems that your presence at the shade encampment has caused quite the stir, young prince," he stated, eyes flickering back to the message before speaking up once again, "The survivors have reported the sighting of a NightBlade that looks remarkably similar to the deceased dragon king," Nyko's lips pursed, "Our spies have reported the rumors going on inside the capital and many human-infested cities and capitals," his eyes were grim, and Rykirus felt his heart speed up, anxiety seeping into his very being at the words spoken next, "the rumor, a mini-hell's wrath has been causing destruction to the human forces. An army of 20,000 has been sent our way to investigate that claim."