daughter,”
Rohan said, stepping up to Edriq. “Get out of my way. It's an
order.”
Edriq didn't back down. “My
duty overrides any order from you, Your Highness,” Edriq
answered in the old Dracan language. “My duty is to protect
the life of the King of Draca. I will not let you walk into a
Slayor's lair and get killed.”
“I am going to get
Tessa,” Rohan said evenly, but his eyes flashed dangerously.
“I will stop you, using
any means necessary,” Edriq answered.
“You can try to
stop me.”
Before Zul could move, Rohan
pressed a blade against Edriq's neck and snarled, “I order you
to move.”
“Rohan! Don't...”
Zul yelled.
“My life is yours,”
Edriq said. “But your life belongs to your people. Your
people need you, King Rohan.”
“My daughter needs me!”
Rohan roared.
“We'll rescue the
princess,” Edriq said. The warrior didn't flinch in the face
of his king's wrath. “Zul and I will get the Princess back. I
swear...”
“We'll protect Rohan,”
Zul spoke up and stood behind Rohan. “You can't stop him,
Edriq.” When Edriq glared at him, Zul rolled his eyes and
said, “What are you going to do, Edriq? Chain him up?”
Edriq canted his head and
appeared to be giving the suggestion some thought.
“Seriously, Edriq!”
Zul shouted. “You're thinking of chaining your king up? You
have a death wish or what?”
Rohan sheathed his blade and
pushed Zul and Edriq apart. “Stop. Both of you.”
Rohan stepped up to Edriq and
gripped his brother's shoulder. “I know you mean well. I'm
sorry, my brother. I...”
“Your Highness...”
“I'm not 'Your
Highness'. I'm a warrior like you. Draca is no more. As such,
there is no King of Draca. My father, King Rykor, was the last King
of Draca. But the Dracans are still here. And I am a Dracan. A
Dracan warrior, like you. I will fight with you, bleed with you, and
I will be honored to die with you.”
Rohan put his fist out and
said, “Let's go. I have a date with General Nhor.”
Edriq looked Rohan in the eye
and gave a sharp nod. He pressed his fist against Rohan's and said,
“May Draca's Dragons prevail.”
Zul pounded both their fists
and let out a war cry.
Rohan started running out to
the vast lawn. Edriq and Zul were right behind him, and the three of
them shifted and soared into the sky together.
Rohan could hear the beat of
powerful wings behind him. Edriq and Zul were flying in battle
formation behind him. This was war.
As Rohan flew, the scene of
the final battle on Korra flashed before his eyes.
He could see the Dracan
soldiers fighting valiantly, trying to drive the Slayors back but
they were vastly outnumbered. King Rykor ordered Rohan to gather as
many civilians as he could.
The Dracan army would try to
hold the enemy off while the civilians escaped from the planet Korra.
There was nowhere else for them to go on their home planet. Both
continents were now overrun by Slayors. They had to find another
planet, another home.
The civilians crammed into
thirteen ships. Three Dracan soldiers were assigned to each ship.
That was all they could spare. Rohan was a Lieutenant General in the
Dracan army, and the Crown Prince of Draca. He wanted to stay and
fight with his men, but his father ordered him to board the last
ship.
“Lead our people to
safety, Rohan,” his father said, his eyes shining with pride
and love. “You are their king.”
Thirteen ships took off as
the battle raged in Draca. One by one, the ships were shot down.
Rohan saw the fiery
explosions as the twelve ships exploded, killing all the civilians
and guards on board. Only one ship made it out.
The Slayors pursued them
across space until Rohan took out the last Slayor squadron with one
well-timed shot.
The war wasn't over, Rohan
realized grimly. It might never be over.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Amelia mumbled an incoherent
curse as the Slayor dragged her forward. She shuffled along,
blinking rapidly to get her vision to clear and adjust to