WAR, BLOOD AND DRAGONS

Chapter 1: The war of the golden gorge

The grim antagonism men held against elves and mages spanned from the ages before the clans thought to tame wild horses and Build large castles, the resulting bloodshed saw the end of the elven race.

The mages however endured for they weren't a distinctive race, they were simply elven and human bloodlines bestowed with magic upon birth but these self-styled fairmen would further hunt down every human mage they could find and kill them, they fought back as well but magic was useless to men wearing either dragonscales and dragonbone. Their number diminished yet more would be born to new bloodlines, legend has it that "magic will not seize amongst men until the last dragon falls".

With dragonscales fighting mages was easy, fighting dragons on the other hand was beyond harrowing, a full grown is the size of 7 carriages put together, some even bigger and these beasts were invulnerable to magic, even mages couldn't help the terror they wroth until a certain mage; Ellion of house Tane, infused dragonsblood into his body using his knowledge of alchemy, this was dragonsblood, which burns so hot it corrodes steel, his sacrifice however saw him and his bloodline become one of the most powerful of mages with magic strong enough to kill dragons, he became the first Dragonsbane and when the fairmen under Salomon of house Caine began taming dragons and using them to hunt mages, his power became the hope for the liberation of mage kind.

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His Royal Majesty, king Greymon of house Caine stood by the window side, brooding, his dragonscale armor stained with mud and blood it appeared more red than grey, even his pale golden hair hid spots of red, Lord Adrin Moore nevertheless looked quite dazzling in his near spotless, grey scale amor, he was never one to be found at the front lines of a battle albeit this was less of a battle and more of a slaughter, still, the wealthiest man in verynia had no business in the eye of a storm and whilst the king seemed incredibly calm Lord Moore was pensive, clinging to the muffled voices of the midwives in the inner room as if it were his own wife giving birth.

"It's almost here Leah, keep pushing" One of the voices rang amidst the loud cries of the woman in labour.

"It brings back memories doesn't it your Majesty?" Lord Moore grinned at him but the king kept mute, he was deep in his own thoughts, staring out at the markets and watching as merchant bargained with Rowlings men for dragonscales, fresh from the tail of the now deceased Lord of Stoneworth's very own dragon; sunsmoke.

Other men laboured under the scourge of the unforgiving southern sun wearing their usual Strawhats, some transporting their produces, some setting up their stalls and some loading up the gold and silver the Hearsts had in their reserve, it filled 15 wagons all set for the capital yet still, barely a dent on the wealth of the Hearsts, Balon Hearst was after all the wealthiest in verynia by virtue of the rich mines in Stoneworth but today Lord Hearst met his end alongside his brothers Lord Teth and Lord Jared, his wife Mayar aswell as his 2 sons Rengar and Malien, nevertheless, his infant daughter had been spared; the little Lady Matar Hearst, scarcely over a year old, now the only Hearst left and heir to her family's fortunes however long it may hold as the king had shut down the mines.

The high-pitched cries of a baby pulled the King's mind back to the physician's house, Leah had given birth.

"It's a girl" One of midwives voiced, Lord Moore opened the door to the inner room to see a weakened Leah partly covered in blood holding onto her newborn, king Greymon slowly walked up to her bedside holding on to the pommel of his sword sheathed at the waist, his eyes fixated on the baby crying it's lungs out, covered in tissue matter and blood.

"I beg of you your Majesty..... Please don't" Leah cried weakly and just then Lord Luken Barsazar joined them, blood and dirt all over his armor and his sword sheathed by the side.

"We should kill it your Majesty" He voiced to the shock of the physician and the 3 midwives beside him.

"Silence!" He snapped at their gasps and whispers.

"Leave us" the king ordered and the old physician as well as the midwives did as told, shock still plastered all over their faces as they left.

"Her existence threatens your reign..."

"I beg of you, mi lord...." Leah interrupted

"Silence you whore!" Barsaza thundered

"They say spilling infant blood when your wife is heavy attracts the wrath of the gods, your Majesty" Lord Moore advised

"And who spewed such nonsense?" Lord Barsaza asked

"Many in the priesthood if I recall correctly"

"Hmph! You've always had a penchant for horseshit" Lord Barsazar fired

"The girl is no Dragonsbane, she's a bastard just like your daughter" Lord Moore continued

"She's a sorcerer with the powers of her father who just fell nearly 20 dragons and swept our flanks with storms"

"Magic can sometimes skip a generation or two, how can we be certain the babe has her father's magic?"

"Are you vying for our enemies Lord Moore? I say we kill the babe your Majesty and rest easy knowing the Dragonsbane are all dead and pose no threats" Lord Barsazar concluded and it brought Leah to tears as she pulled her crying baby close to her chest king Greymon caressed the weeping baby's chin with his index finger and she wrapped her tiny hands around it and like so the baby stopped crying.

"Are there any dragon eggs?" Greymon turned to Barsazar

"Only 2 your Majesty, I suspect the rest were stolen" He answered

"We'll take the eggs and the babe" The king said and turned to leave

"Your Majesty Eylon Dragonsbane fell 17 of our dragons and a third of our men, he fell baraga, your own dragon, nearly killing you in the process, why risk taking his runt to the dragonsfort?" Lord Barsazar Inquired, puzzled by the King's decision.

"Because Eylon is dead and as king, his bastard's fate is mine alone to decide"

Luken Barsazar sighed in resignation and obliged but Leah wouldn't release the child to him, he turned back to his king awaiting instructions.

"Why is she still breathing? Kill her, we need to leave" The king ordered.

Lord Barsaza wouldn't even give Leah room to plead, he drew his bloody sword and sunk it into her belly then out again as he took the baby whom resumed it's crying, a few tears trickled down Leah's cheeks before she then lost life.

"Well come on then" Barsazar growled at an irritated Adrin as he made for the door, he gave the baby to one of the midwives and assigned a horse carriage bound for the capital for them alongside the 15 carriage of gold and silver and the 8,000 men that remained of the 32,000 the king brought to battle Eylon Dragonsbane and Lord Balon Hearst, the king and his two Lords however would ride on dragonback alongside 10 of his dragonlords.