Well, if you believe such things. It might be your least favorite bit of writing ever. Who knows? I personally hope that you opinion falls into one of the first few options, rather than the last, but that's totally up to you. Kind of at least...
Hmm.
Anyway, here we go.
The Short Story Consisting of Words in Which a Dragon Who Cannot Tell a Single Lie Gets Hit in the Head With a Boulder Part Five
The dragons arrived at the castle on time, as expected. They issued their final demands to Vaidd so that the whole castle could hear and went on to say that they had intercepted and killed Thezin and the rest of the men sent out to retrieve certain valuable information.
Vaidd assembled his army within the walls of the castle and ordered that no one should leave the castle grounds. He entered the armory and equipped himself with a sword, shield, and full suit of armor. As he was putting his gleaming helmet on, his son walked in.
"Father," Junior said. "What are you doing? Just release Marius! Why keep the dragon?"
"We have several days before the dragons attack us, son," Vaidd responded coldly. "My armies and I will attack before they're ready. We'll take them by surprise and destroy them."
"At what cost?" Junior asked. "How many men will you lose? How can you be sure that you'll destroy all the dragons?"
"I can't be sure," Vaidd whispered. "But it's the only chance I have."
"Just let Marius go!" Junior pleaded, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Don't throw your life away!"
Vaidd glanced quickly at his son as he put his helmet on. "No. If I release the dragon then I will have given up. The dragons will have already beaten me. I would rather that, in my defeat, I take a number of them with me."
"So you will force me to go through what you went through?" Junior asked. "You will have me live life without a father?"
Vaidd brushed past his son. "If you do not believe that I am strong enough to win, then yes, that is what I'm asking you to do."
---
Vaidd led his massive army out of his massive castle (which was really really massive, in case you're still confused). The dragons were right outside of the gate and glared at him. "What are you doing? Emperor Vaidd Marius Verinicus VII?" the golden dragon asked, a growl forming on his tongue.
Vaidd unsheathed his sword. "I'm going to destroy you."
Multiple things happened in that single moment. Vaidd called his armies to charge. The golden dragon unleashed an ear-splitting roar that brought all the dragons into the air and flying towards the assembled human army.
And then several massive rocks came flying right into the courtyard.
The first rock smashed into Vaidd's army and rolled until it hit the broad stone wall marking the castle's borders. The second rock hit the golden dragon and smashed him into the ground. The third rock flew over both armies and shattered a portion of the exterior wall.
The two armies looked to where the rocks had come from, and they saw at least twenty stone giants (giants made of stone) lumbering towards them.
"Of all the misfortunes we could have encountered," Vaidd breathed. Looking to the rest of his army, he cried, "Back to the fortress! Back to the castle!"
But just as the army was heading back to the safety of the castle, a boulder thrown by one of the giants smashed into the doorway of the castle and chunks of the wall fell, blocking their only entrance.
The army now turned to face the dragons again. The dragons were facing the giants, who were lifting up sections of the wall to throw. Stepping into the courtyard, the giants hurled what boulders they had, smashing into the armies of men and dragons and into the walls of the castle.
The dragons charged at the giants. Determined not to die bowing in cowardice, Vaidd lifted his sword and charged at the giants as well.
And above, from his eagle's eye vantage point, Marius snarled as he watched the frenzied fight. Agitated, he flew around in his tiny cage, bouncing off the bars. He needed to go down their and help the dragons.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Junior standing there, looking remorseful. "I'm sorry I couldn't have prevented this," the boy said, reaching up and pulling a lever. The bars surrounding Marius lifted and retracted into the stone above him.
Nodding gratefully toward the boy, Marius leaped into action and flew down into the frenzied battle.
First, he would help dispatch the stone giants.
Then, Emperor Vaidd Marius Verinicus VII would be his.
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We're almost at the end now! Probably just one more part. Six parts is a nice round number to finish at. The ending will be strong, emotionally satisfying, and will leave you begging for more.
Probably, at least. ;)
Anyway, you'll have to wait and see if the ending is as I promised until next time.
Myth: the "Panda With a Pencil"
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