This is a sequel to 'Shattered', the previous chapter. The picture resembled a scene from this chapter to me so much that I wanted to share.

***

Days passed since their last meeting. Clove was still confused, trapped in her psychological calamity inside of her psyche. Thankfully, Kharis insisted that she and her mother would take on responsibilities until Kyro returned.

Oh yes, Clove has not been spending time with anyone since she learned the truth. Mostly alone, and that stung the Crimson royal family's heart. Because they knew what happened, they knew there was only one person that could heal her soul, and that person was on a faraway land now. Probably it was best to leave Clove alone for now.

Knock knock.

"..." She didn't respond, just sat on a red cushion on the balcony, wearing her usual blue and white dress, letting the spring breeze gently caress her red hair and  fair skin. Didn't know what to feel or think anymore, just sitting there all day and watching the nature...

The door was opened after a few seconds, timidly, revealing her childhood friend.

"Clove?" Aaron, concerned, entered inside and closed the door silently, walking towards her until he was a few feet away. "Are you okay?"

"Should I be?" She responded with a dangerous calmness in her voice, her back turned to him, never bothering to look up.

It pained Aaron to see her like this as much as the Crimson royal family. He was also aware of the situation...

~

"Lieutenant." Kyro, at the middle of the evening after getting dismissed by Clove, came across the blue guardian. "Come, I want to have a few words with you." He ordered with his usual seriousness, making Aaron follow up behind with a clenched jaw, because everyone was alerted hours ago of what was happening in Clove's current place.

They walked to a secluded small balcony, lit only by a few torches.

"Is Clove ok-" Aaron directly asked with a slight anger, but Kyro cut him short.

"No." The prince sighed and leaned onto the red column on his shoulder to watch the thuderstorm and hailing rain, crossing his arms on his chest.

"What happened? Maids said strange things." He insisted on taking answers.

"Aaron." Kyro remained serious, but not like usual. A faint hint of upset apparent in his breath and voice. "Starting from this night, I want you to remain by her side." He ordered. "Everything about her security is in your and Nouren's hands."

"Well, it always has been-"

"Aaron." He looked at him from above his shoulder briefly, his ember eye getting brighter with yellow dragon scales. "I'm serious. Even if she dismisses you, stay at her peripheral vicinity."

"What did you do this time?" Aaron already got aware of he was guilty of something. Kyro never approached him with this order, always favoring Nouren due to their past.

Kyro, on the other hand, was not angry, but sad. He knew the lieutenant deserved the truth as well, as much as he despised it, Aaron needed to learn to protect her in his absence.

"She learned something horrible. About me."

"What did you do Kyro." He gritted his teeth, getting tired of these word games. "I don't get orders to protect her, because I want to protect her. I will protect Clove until my last breath against those who wish ill to her. But I cannot protect her from herself, not without knowing-"

"I killed her mother." At the silent revelation, Aaron's blue eyes went wide. Shock, terror, fury, all came upon him so suddenly that he got a bit dizzy from overwhelming feeling.

"You did... What?" He trembled, not knowing what to do. But he could feel his rage consuming his soul. He knew that damned war was his responsibility, but he did not think he killed their queen with his own hands.

"Listen." He finally turned to him, and his face alone was more than enough to stop Aaron from spearing his chest. His ember eyes filled with tears despite how serious he tried to stood. He never saw Kyro's weak side before. "It was a matter of life and death. All you need to know is, that I would never harm Clove." Then turned his back to him again, getting ready to go. "I'll be gone by tomorrow afternoon. We will march north. I'll find the Jade Vipers, and I'll finish them. I need you to stay here and prevent Clove from learning any of this. I don't want her get hurt any longer."

"..." The Cerulean soldier did not respond, still shocked to see what was happening. He had recently started to believe in Kyro like how Clove did, and now this... The truth of her mother's fate by this man... The man that Clove chose and shared love with. What should he do now?

"Is it understood?" Kyro demanded a response.

"Yes, your highness..." He replied with a low voice. He knew one thing for sure; he couldn't harm Kyro, otherwise that would shatter what Clove sacrificed so much for.

~

Though right now after thinking over it, Aaron decided otherwise. He was well aware of one thing; if Clove didn't know what's going on, she'd come to regret everything that happened this week.

"You know it too, right?" She laughed silently. "How idiot I have become... To think everything was finally starting to go smoothly..."

"Clove, I'm sorry but this is not the good time to get depressed." He took a deep breathe when she turned to look at him with a puzzled look. "There is... There is something you must know." He chose his words carefully. "Kyro..."

"Kyro?" She automatically started to get panicked and darted up. "Is he okay?" Seeds of doubt finally sprouted in her heart.

"No, but I think that's about to get changed soon."

"What happened?" She demanded him to speak quickly.

"Kyro went to war a few days ago." He could see her eyes widened. "To north, against Jade Vipers. I heard our clan has agreed to send aid."

"Why didn't everyone..." She was angered by the fact that she was left in dark. Of course Kyro meant that by saying she'll no longer need to see him! She should have seen it in the first place! "Get ready my horse."

"Clove, I cannot let you-"

"Aaron." She spoke, determined. "I don't care what happens to me. I can't leave Kyro unprotected. I'm going, either come or get out of my way." She rushed to the door, but he held her hand to stop her.

"Of course I'm coming!" Under normal circumstances he would have questioned how she can get worried despite what happened to her mother, but this was not an ordinary time.

WHOOSH!

"?!" They were surprised by a red dragon coming through their balcony, with Nouren. Well, that's Kharis for you. If the situation or she herself requires it, no boundaries are left to think.

"Don't worry about that." She winked. "We have a better idea." So they were listening...

"Actually," Nouren tried to protest, but seeing her sweet glare turned towards him with a deadlier one, he chuckled nervously, "yes, we do have a much better plan." Surprising the other Ceruleans. Kharis continued from there. She turned to the outside, getting ready to shift. 

"I'll take you all to the battlefield. That way it'll be faster."

"Guys..." Clove mumbled in shock, getting emotional at the revelation of her friends had been planning to be there for her and Kyro.

"What about the court?" Aaron objected, they were all doing this illegally. "What of the Empress?"

"Ugh, c'mon!" Kharis tabbed the ground a few times quickly, her eye twitching. "We don't have time! Sometimes you oughtta disobey!" They began to carry out the plan together as she explained.

***

That was it. The so-called Jade Vipers will be tarnished from history. Obliterated into nothing more than fabled myths to scare dragon children.

It was midday. A mixed army of Crimson and Cerulean soldiers marched into the frozen lands, on a cliff with their respective leaders. Prince Kyro came to the white cliff end, cladded in his black and red royal uniform, put his left foot on the snow rock, his fierce ember eyes gazing into the mountains and the partly snowy green fields below. The Grand Marshal's falcons were everywhere, doing casual reconnaisance.

"Your Highness." Raizo came behind, together with Lord Arkos, and spoke with a serious tone. "It pains me to admit, but the enemy has been here for centuries. We're just here for one day. It'd be a suicide to fight in their grounds."

"He is right." Lord Arkos spoke to the prince. "We need to pull them out. I fear we might not stand a chance fighting around the mountain."

"We will do it." Kyro was sure of himself. "I'm quite feeling anti-environmentalist now... Find and bombard all entrances except for this area. They will crawl out of their holes like worms." He couldn't help but remember the day of prison explosion, of how Clove, his sister and their soldiers were injured and forced to desperately save themselves. It pained his heart and pride beyond the horizon.

He wanted to give those bastards a taste of that feeling.

"Aim for the weak terrain on the mountain." He ordered. "If they've built an underground castle, it'll surely cannot stand upright." Raizo immediately marched their forces to the cold grassland below, positioning the troops and war engines. Lord Arkos followed the suite. Less numbered than Crimson army, but still they were equally formidable in their own right.

"Fire!" The united armies unleashed their engines upon the mountain. Archers accompanied the strategy by fire arrows...

***

By evening, a war was raging on the once green grassland. Consumed by fire and arrow, by engaged units and fallen comrades. Kyro did not waste a second the moment he found the leader, and he shifted to decapitate him.

Much to his shock and horror, that bastard was also a dragon, Jade Dragon. And far more powerful. Despite he was able to withstand through the dark clouds, that abomination was yet to show his full potential. He knew it.

He cannot retreat, he cannot show weakness. If it takes his life to kill that snake, he would gladly do it. He couldn't let him win, live, reach to his family, or to his Clove.

This was a war he knew that he must win.

The Jade Dragon disengaged, and enveloped the sky with his green energy, and let it fall to the land. Kyro, still in his dragon form, got terrified of this enormous power. The Jade leader shifted to his human self, still able to levitate himself.

"Prepare to join your brother, Red Blood!" He watched behind that cursed mask, of how that thing fell to Kyro first.

Kyro couldn't afford to lose his armies and allies. It would be shameful to the royal dignity, and for Clove. He couldn't disappoint her again. But he didn't have the power to stop that heavy green sphere. In an effort to incapacitate the assault, he flew below the jade energy. There was only one way to stop this onslaught. Even the arguing Red finally accepted his sacrifice.

The last flight of the Crimson dragon and the prince.

The red dragon delved into the jade sphere before it could reach mid-air, and an unnatural explosion occured, shaking the earth and clouding the air with jade and red fire, creating a huge smoke cloud, stopping the battle below as soldiers and Vipers, shocked at the event, immediately separated themselves from the target to retreat.

As the fires went off, a human figure was seen falling.

"The prince!" Allied army got alerted, but there was nothing they could do than helplessly watch his fall.

All of his upper clothing, and his lower clothing from below his thighs were burnt and dispersed into smoke. His devastated skin was black like coal, golden vein-like traces were apparent on his shoulders, back, torso, legs and arms. His ember eyes, still have golden dragon scales, were starting to daze off as he watched, his body no longer had the single drip of energy to support himself.

"Is this the end?"  He thought to himself and tried to move any part of his body, but it didn't work, he was completely drained. "Here goes another failure... What will they say about me? What will Clove think?.." Hopeless thoughts crossed his mind, his eyes closing. "I'm sorry, love..." He could feel his breathing going heavier, bracing himself for the inevitable impact.

As he reached mid-air, a swift blue serpentine figure caught his falling body and hurried to the grassland, gently placing him. She shifted to her human form, and let him lay down on her lap as she gently held his face, caressed his hot hair.

"Kyro!" His eyes, still dazed, focused on his wife. "Please, stay awake!" He saw how desperately she said those words, her cerulean eyes were full of tears. His sister also arrived, a few feet away, horrified at the sight of him. Like everyone. Even Raizo. Reina stood among them, one of the few to stand near the loss, alongside Aaron, whom was no different than her now, taking support from him to stay steady.

"Will you ever forgive me?.." He could barely whisper. He had to speak his feelings to her, before fading away forever.

"I'll never forgive you if you go!" She was terrified at what was happening. "Send in physicians!" She ordered those around them, but they watched helplessly. There were physicians, but even the most skillful had no power to revert what happened to Kyro. "What are you all waiting for?" She knew the painful reality, but refused to accept it.

"Hah." A weak chuckle left his black lips. "I just wished..." And coughed, some blood coming, his face trying to hide the unbearable pain. "To do something... For once, to make everyone... And you proud." And chuckled again before coughing. "I failed again..." A tear escaped his eye.

"No!" She adamantly denied this horrid nightmare. She was trying so hard not to cry, in vain. "You've not failed! Just hold on!" She tried to look around to do something to help him, but he stopped her by touching her cheek weakly, his hand was completely burnt to black, and some golden traces were visible on his arm in a vein pattern.

"..." His lips curved into a slight, painful smile at seeing her feelings about him and feeling her with his hand for the last time. "Thank you, Clove... For blessing me a wonderful life, my love, even if it lasted short..." With that, his eyes closed, and his body entirely stopped working.

Gone with a stressed wind in her arms. Everything stopped, the wind, the battle, the armies. Everything.

"Kyro..." She was frozen, her mind did not want to accept it. Even in the end he apologized and admitted his love. How could she let him go, how could she let herself get consumed by rage? Then started to tremble, her hand shakingly touched his cheek as tears flowed down her fair face. "No..." Cerulean scales formed around her eyes, spiritual turmoil boiling up.

The vilest of all enemies descended near the incident with a laugh. He didn't give a regard to allied soldiers getting ready to attack him.

"How shameful. To think that I'd expected an exciting fight. Here we got; two weaklings that call themselves divine dragons!" He mocked his rivals with amusement. "Let's see how long you can stand!" He shifted to his Jade dragon self and flew into clouds, preparing to unleash another attack that took Kyro.

What Clove did the next moment stunned everyone with utter shock and amazement.

"No one is to interfere..." She ordered with a low voice as she stood up after laying Kyro down gently, enveloping him in an ice coffin. "No one is to approach him, and no one is to steal my revenge." As the Vipers gathered up to attack, thunders roared when she got ready to battle.

She shifted and soared into the clouds in a blink of an eye, engaged into a fatal duel with her archnemesis. No one knew what was happening there, thunders and tremors prevented them to stay balanced, despite how much they tried to attack each other. Sometimes they could see faint Jade colors trying to swallow the skies, only to quickly disperse. Amongst the dark clouds, they could see dragon shadows fighting when thunders roared.

Ten minutes later, they saw something was falling.

A dragon.

"Princess!" The allied side got panicked at the thought of loss of another one of their own, with Vipers cheering. But seconds later, their reactions reversed, as the dragon appeared to be green...

It fell amongst the Jade ranks, completely dehydrated, every part of its reptilian body had bite and scratch marks, and some ice shards stabbed to there and there, once green eyes were now grey with no iris. The enemy started to flee in vain, as a rain of sharp ice spikes hailed over them, piercing each of them countless times. Thunderbolts joined in, blasting every single enemy into air, burning them to death. Accompanied by allied arrows.

Clove returned, objective fulfilled.

She didn't waste time to watch her enemies perish, immediately ran to Kyro and dispelled the ice around him, also the ice and bolt hail stopped, replaced by calm rain. Holding him gently again, she remembered Dragon's Breath that Kyro used before their wedding. She still had a small shard of Red... In hopes to cure him, she used whatever strength left in her to enforce life into her prince by kissing him, closing her scaled eyes. The blue beast in her mind, reluctant until Clove forced it, finally cooperated with her and Red, until the very end.

The moment their lips touched, illuminating magic patterns started to surge from their connection, quickly spreading around the place and giving light to the utter darkness. Snowdrops sprouted on the green grass around the couple, and Kyro's body started to regain its former self.

This event took a great toll on her body, she passed out in the process, lying down next to him with her hand holding his. Rain started to shower the area softly.

"What?.." Kharis, went from sorrowful look to complete shock, watched what had taken place. She felt relieved when she saw Kyro's chest started to rise up and down. They rushed to their side immediately, Kharis on the most front, and checked them up. She took the lead in her brother's and sister-in-law's absence.

***

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Oh, that was hard to write, hope you like it. I didn't delve into fighting scenes because I focused on specific scenes, that's why they are kept short.

Maybe I can write an aftermath to this later. Until then, take care.