43 Chapter Forty Three

Robbin's POV

"What, are you waiting for an invitation?" Olympia asked after she finished unchaining us and stood in the doorway. I was too busy tending to Xander's wounds to pay attention to anything else.

It was bad. All of him seemed masked and faded under the swollen skin and deep wounds that cascaded over his face. I wanted to take the pain away or at least ease it slightly. He was drenched.

So much anger electrified through my body. I felt revengeful suddenly. Screw whatever deal I would've made with that bastard. And screw him. He destroyed so much. Took so much from innocent people.

"He's not getting away with this," I uttered through gritted teeth.

"None of us are getting away if we don't move right now!"

She was right. Soldiers might be on their way here and Xander isn't fully recovered yet even though I can sense Ryker, as much of a coward he was, is still out there, hiding in the skies with a stolen dragon.

I brought Xander to the door frame, part of him slung over my shoulder. "Do you have a plan, Olympia."

"Yes." She unsheathed her sword and began leading the way. We fight."

Agreed.

"How did you even get down here."

"Oh, it wasn't that hard." She turned a corner and revealed a giant gaping hole shining down rain, wind, and fog. Loud roars blared through the rough winds.

We all climbed up the rubble and found ourselves on a battlefield. Through the mist, I'd catch glimpses of silhouettes battling one another. Some wolves. Other soldiers of the North but all fought with the same ferocity. The same tempo.

I wanted to join them. I wanted Xander to stand with me and finish this war, but he was still healing. My first priority was to get him to safety. Them Olympia and I would unleash the dragons.

"Where's Eberlien?" I scanned the grounds for a giant beast but the fog was too thick to notice anything, even something as large and loud as her.

I watched as she closed her eyes to locate the dragon. "Found her," she said a few moments later. "She's close but we better hurry."

Together we carried Xander's weight and made our way through the battlefield. Cries of anguish and final screams were hard not to concentrate on, but it was all that echoed around us. Part of me felt frightened. I had so much to lose. From the time it took to get to Eberlien, I wasn't sure we'd make it.

I felt startled and snapped out of my anxiety when Xander's weight began to fall. I kneeled down next to him. The wounds weren't healing.

"We have to keep going," I said to him.

"Get out of here."

Olympia stood up. I can feel her," she exclaimed, She's close. I'm going to get her."

I didn't watch her take off. I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

"It's going to be okay. We're going to get you out of here, and then I'm going to end this."

I cradled his body in my arms. "Don't be a fool. We both can't die today. You need to leave. Carry on the Nightwalker name. Please."

The pain in his voice was hard to miss. Hell, I felt it but it didn't change anything. "I'm not leaving you. I'll die in this field with you."

Even if it was tragic, I couldn't bring myself to leave. I have a sword. I have my dragon blood. I have a chance to fight. But more importantly, to win.

"You child," I heard behind us, "If you want to die here, all you had to do was ask."

I knew it was him. I knew it was time. Gently, I laid Xander's head on the grass, feeling his weak grip attempt to hold me back as I stood to my feet. My sword came out directly and I turned to face him.

"It's not me who's going to die today, Ryker."

"So I guess our agreement is over?"

I moved us away from Xander's body once I saw Olympia returning with her dragon.

She looked at me incredibly worried as she lifted him away but I gave her a nod to keep going.

We both took fighting stances and I watched him closely. He had injuries on my abdomen, some that didn't look shallow. "I'm going to kill you."

"I'd like to see you try, dragon queen." he jumped at me faster than the words came out of his mouth. I blocked the sword attack and spun around him, slicing at his back.

"You're a murderer," I yelled with each sword attack, "You sacrificed innocent lives for power."

"Their deaths helped paved the way for my army." Ryker slashed at my legs and with his other hand, punched my face.

"You're a monster. And your death won't burden me."

Our swords continued to clang, both of us skilled enough to put up a good fight, but I could feel him slipping. I'm not letting him get away with any more murder. He can't win this battle. If I lose, the Northerner kingdom, the citizens, they'd lose their freedom.

I can't give up. I can't lose. I won't.

With all my power I summoned my dragon blood, focused on it swung my sword at Rykers, splitting it in half. I didn't stop there. I kept swinging at him, slicing through his skin.

But it wasn't enough. My power, as fast as it came, began draining from me. The corruption in my blood was showing its effects.

"What's the matter, dragon, no more strength to fight?"

Ryker threw down his sword. "I don't need a weapon to kill you. I'll finish you off with my own hands."

He punched my body, kicking me while I held my stomach. I didn't have the strength to fight back.

My body felt numb on the ground and I felt the suffering stop. From my blurred vision, I saw him retrieve his sword and walk back to me. "You're no leader," he spat, rolling me over to my back, "You're weak. You don't deserve your power or this kingdom."

The silver lining of the tip of his sword shined before he brought it down at me.

I don't know what came over me. Survival instincts. Or maybe strong will, something I wasn't too sure I had, but without realizing it, my body jolted from the ground before he could make the final blow.

The sword dug into the ground, trapping it there. Ryker turned with heated eyes, ones not as fiery as mine.

My body began to burn from the inside and I thought it'd kill me from the overwhelming power it possessed.

I felt every flame drifting in me and shortly, they emerged through my skin, covering my entire body. Every ounce of power I every maintained showed at this moment.

"Ryker," I said in a darker, more controlled voice, "for your crimes against the North, west, and Eastern kingdoms, your mass genocide, and corruption, death will be your penalty."

"I'll never lose to you," he shouted and charged at me once more, and I flung to him.

I maneuvered his sword attack and disarmed him of the weapon, grabbing both of his arms in the process. The flames that covered me started to spread onto his body and the cries of pain screeched from his lungs.

I didn't let go right away. As his body began to crumble down, I pinned him to the floor, feeling more power than I ever believed.

Ryker's whole body was engulfed with my flames. And the screams didn't end until I couldn't feel him anymore. No body laid beneath me. No skin. No bones.

As quickly as I conjured the flames, I sent them away, feeling them vanish into thin air, but not the power. It was radiating.

What was left of Ryker was no more than a pile of ashes quickly blowing away with the wind. The fog cleared up. The wolves must've felt their alpha die because the fighting began to dwindle.

I looked around at the aftermath. Bodies piled upon each other. I knew that even with Ryker gone, the fight against his followers was far from over.

~*~

"Thank you, everyone, for being here today," I began as I addressed the crowd, "I know it was a long road to this day, but the North is still standing."

A roar of cheers and howls blasted through the court.

"The war against Ryker and his army have ended. He won't be around to terrorize the innocent. The war against the rogues, however, shall not continue, either. To separate is to divide which is not necessary. We are one country. One nation. There should be no more division between anyone. As for the Westerlies, the Drakkon family, my family, has made a vow to no longer keep apart from the world, and we hope the Easterlies and Southerners join us in our great country."

I continued to debrief the united nations ceremony of the aftermath of the war, and the time it'll take to rebuild. But we will rebuild. Nothing will ever be perfect again, and another fight is always foreseeable. it's only been two weeks, but the road to recovery will stretch years, especially for the families brutalized by Ryker.

After my speech, I join a much healthier Xander along with my family, Grey, Gus, and Lilliana at the head of the dining table where our feast waited.

Xander stayed by my side ever since, planning our future with our child, and ruling our country, mostly picking up what was left of it.

"I love you," he whispered into my ear.

"I know," I said with a smirk.

The war was over. It was time to rest. Time to plan for the future and what it held for us, or rather what I held inside me for it. But whatever happens, we'll put an end to it, because if there's anything we've proved, no force of evil is a match for the king of the wolves. And me, the dragon queen.