ZILONG

The King felt so enraged at this display of treachery. "On the wedding day you wish to declare war! My, how brave of you, my Queen. But those are all empty words. Tonight, you will still fall in my arms and I will give you the best time of your life. You will forget all about this. Generals, subdue them and bring me back my Queen!"

But to the King's astonishment, only three of his generals remained on his side. "What-what sorcery is this?"

He looked on the people against him, and he saw five generals there, led by Hiro. "Hiro, what is the meaning of this? You are my favorite, my most loyal general. And you dare betray me because of this woman?"

"Your Majesty, I was only loyal to my Kingdom, not you. Ever since you eyed attacking Nomosyne, and then Oniro, you lost the trust we had for you. It's too much; we only wanted peace."

"You started eyeing our wives, too. And our little trust to you crumbled all away!" one general spoke.

"You even dared to touch my daughter! But I put up with you until this day would come; this day that I will see your downfall!"

"You see, Your Majesty," Denaire said authoritatively. "If you took care of your people, not so many as this are willing to side with me and oust you."

The King looked at them, his eyes full of rage. "You used me to wage war against me? You used that position to gather supporters? How could you be so cruel, my Queen?"

Denaire cringed as the King used the victim card. But she knew the people saw with their own eyes how I took the whip from the man. They will trust me with all their lives.

"Cruel?" Denaire replied. "You should have looked in the mirror, Your Majesty."

"Yes," the King replied lost in thought. "Yes I should have looked in the mirror and witness how powerful I am. You see me as cruel? Then I'll show you what cruelty means."

Lightning struck the ground near Denaire, and thunder rumbled in the sky. "This is what cruelty is!" King Andrew said maniacally.

He struck the crowd with lightning. People fell down as soon as the lightning left the ground. Denaire was horrified and in awe of the power of the King, but she has to show her cards too.

"Zilong! Rise and protect your master!"

A great booming sound was then heard from the skies, louder than the thunder caused by the King. Soon, a majestic dragon came into view. It landed in front of Denaire.

"Master," it said.

Denaire patted the dragon's body and said, "Absorb the King's lightning and redirect it towards his men."

Zilong smiled, as what a smile he can manage, and faced the King who was crackling with so much power.

The King scoffed, "This is your savior? This beast cannot save you for I shall crush it with my great power."

The King charged his lightning and hit the dragon. But instead of crumbling to dust, the dragon opened its mouth and swallowed the lightning. When all the lightning was gone, he faced the King's troops and opened his mouth. What came out of it was the lightning the King struck him, only two times more powerful. He struck the men and left the King standing, but shaking.

Denaire walked forward and said, "You need one more show, Your Majesty?"

Zilong opened his mouth once again, and lightning came out of it. Zilong aimed at the King, but the King dodged and propelled himself away by using his fire magic.

"He's getting away!" Hiro shouted. "Let's follow him!"

"Stop!" Denaire yelled at the chaos. "No, we have to take care of our wounded first and regroup."

"But this is a good chance Denaire," Hiro said, pleadingly.

"No, Zilong could use up all my magical life force. I need to rest, and besides, look around you, so many are wounded. We have to take care and get as much as help as we need."

Hiro's co-general agreed with her, "Her Majesty is right. In what we are now, we can't defeat him. The King has an endless supply of magic. But look at her, her breathing's getting heavier. We have to rest and find a safe place to gather.

"The King won't attack us immediately. He has to sort out his knights, now that the dragon wiped out all he has with him at the moment."

Hiro conceded and instructed his men to help in the clearing. The other generals were tasked to transport the wounded to a location they deemed safe. Denaire leaned on Zilong's arm and softly said, "You did well, my Zilong. Thank you."

"Everything for you master. Ride on top of me and sleep. I'll deliver you to the safe place."

Zilong lowered his body and Denaire climbed up. When Hiro saw this, he approached the master and beast. "Denaire –"

"Hiro, I'll ride here. Please take care of the people. I need to rest. I'll see you there. Take care."

"Okay. You take care too. Zilong, take care of her."

"Of course. We'll head off now." Zilong replied to Hiro and off they went up to the skies.