Garkoks Dran: The Final Overlord Part 1

By Waltter A. Rautala

Garkoks Dran is a fantasy book series that tells of the greatest villain in history and their atrocities.

Final Overlord Part 1 tells of the main character's childhood and first accomplishments. The events take place in a time that our modern world has forgotten.

From a young age, Garkoks Dran (back then known as Skark Dragon) carried a great responsibility on his shoulders. But what else could the bastard child of the Demon Overlord and a goddess expect?

Friends? Freedom? Two worlds, where one wants to destroy him and the other needs him to lead it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Nov 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9789528098928

Waltter A. Rautala

Waltter A. Rautala is an author from Finland. He writes mostly fantasy literature and uses his imagination as the source of his inspiration. He believes that good characters, a great setting, and an interesting plot are the key to keeping the reader invested.

Book preview

Prologue

There are many mysteries in the world, but none of them are as great as our past. We live in a world where history is written by the victorious and only the dead know the truth. It is impossible to write down every detail, but the absence of one point of view can change everything.

Our tale tells of an era that precedes the oldest recorded historical events. Back then our world was inhabited by many intelligent races and species, whose advanced cultures and communities populated the world from east to west.

Dwarves, inventive and industrious, inhabited most of the large mountain ranges and underground caves. Their skills included the study of new sciences, as well as the unification of magic and science. They were round and short, about a meter tall and bearded.

Orcs, brutal and strong, were one of the largest intelligent species. They lived in small villages on cliffs and in canyons. They were skilled big game hunters. Their laws and regulations deviated from other races, but they lived harmoniously in isolation.

Different races of elves, fair and long-lived, inhabited many different regions, to which adapted the best. They were all talented users of magic and were the first species to learn to use magic. Although there were many different races of elves, they all had in common long, pointy ears.

Forest elves inhabited the darkest forests and the densest jungles. Their proximity to nature gave them plenty of wisdom about animals, plants and other creatures. Their houses and forts built in forests were difficult to find for others. They were easy to recognize from their chestnut-brown skin and sharp eyes.

The high elves huge and glorious cities and enormous plantations, dominated most of the plains and prairies. The skins of the high elves were yellowish or beige and they were the tallest of the elves. Their high standards of living and advanced cultures raised them as objects of admiration and jealousy. Because of their popularity and credibility, high elves often acted as mediators in interspecies political problems and quarrels.

Ice elves were the most steady and quiet of the elven races, perhaps even of all the intelligent species. They populated the northernmost and iciest areas that were too cold to be tolerated by other races. Despite their isolated lifestyle, they didn’t shun other races and were mostly hospitable. Their sturdy stone houses and icy castles were covered with snow for most of the year. This helped them live peacefully. The skins of the young ice elves were ice blue, but as they got older it became white as snow.

Dark elves were the most feared of the elves. Their skins were dark gray and eyes orange or even red. Back in the day, Dark elves were persecuted because of their frightening looks, but later they were accepted into the elven communities around the world. During their oppression, they had learnt many mysterious skills. Thanks to them, they had become talented travelling salesmen, spies, and bodyguards.

Mermaids and mermen populated the seas. Due to their underwater castles and dwellings, interactions with the land-based races were difficult. For this reason, the marine population hadn’t become part of the community of the land dwellers. This led to mermaids, who were very beautiful, being often captured by poachers and sold to rich individuals.

Our world also had other species and monsters, such as giants who lived either alone or in small groups in the wilderness. Draconoids (human dragons) who had descended directly from dragons and lived in hordes around the world, near dragon nests. Arachnes, giant spiders with human upper bodies. Trolls who lived in small groups in mountains or caves. Goblins who lived near dwarves as pests and scavengers. And many other types of monsters and creatures.

There was one species that differed from others, demons. They lived where the souls of other creatures went upon dying, the Dead World. Unlike other species, demons were able to travel from the afterlife to the World of the Living.

Since Dead World was dark and lifeless, the demons took by force from the living what they couldn’t get at home. Food, cattle, equipment, materials, luxury items and sometimes even whole buildings.

Each time demons invaded the World of the Living; a violent battle was waiting for them. The demons’ worst archenemies were the elves, who always opposed them fiercely.

Despite the superior numbers of elves, demons were mostly victorious. Demons were large, frightening, strong, and did not die of old age. Their senses were as sharp as beasts’, so it was impossible to hide from them by normal means. Every demon was different in their physique and abilities, and the demons could also use unique magic. All this made them extremely dangerous and difficult to defeat or even repel.

All of these races knew that they didn’t live alone in this universe. Throughout the universe gods safeguarded mortals, protecting them against disasters and threats. The gods gave gifts to those who worshiped them by giving them their gratitude. These gifts included new knowledge and blessings for those who were patient. The gods didn’t protect only the creatures on this planet, but hundreds of other worlds across the universe.

The gods had realized long ago that the life spans of these weak creatures weren’t endless. When they died, the souls of these poor beings were trapped into the gloomy and hopeless Dead World. Thus, they decided that mortals who lived kindly, righteously, helped others, and caused no harm, would reach the Paradise founded by the gods.

Similarly, those who had lived in sin, oppressed others, murdered, or stolen, ended up in Hell. A fiery area, built into the Dead World by the gods. The rest of the souls who didn’t qualify for Paradise nor were bad enough for Hell, were still sent into the dark Dead World.

Paradise was a bright and brilliant world. Unlimited and pure, its golden clouds surrounded an unreachable horizon. Thousands of bright stars decorated the sky, which was as dark as space, but bright as the midday sun. Souls who got there didn’t feel pain, fear or hunger. They received and were able to do anything, visit anywhere, and be anything their minds desired.

Hell was the full opposite. A huge prison, divided into several parts. An impassable wall of fire separated it from the rest of the Dead World. Eternal imprisonment, pain, and torture waited for the souls who were sent there. The punishment fit the crime, and the condemned souls were forced to endure it indefinitely, with no way out.

Despite these two options, most souls still found themselves in the Dead World. For this reason, the gods decided these souls could choose either physical form as a corpse, or spiritual form as a ghost.

Those who chose to be a corpse could live their lives in the Dead World much the same as in the World of the Living. There were small differences though, like they didn’t feel the fear of death. The souls who chose to be ghosts didn’t feel pain or hunger. But at the same time, they couldn’t experience saturation or physical pleasure either. Despite this, they were still able to sleep and dream.

Demons weren’t affected by this rule when they died. After dying, the demons lost their ability to reproduce, grow, and leave Dead World. Otherwise, they were able to continue their lives normally in their home world. The only exception to this was if the demon had been so bad that they would be condemned to Hell.

Because of their inborn nature and with limited options, no demon had ever gotten access to Paradise. But over 25,000 years before the beginning of our era, this fact changed.

Chapter One

The Cursed and the Blessed

(60 B. Dr)

Part one

Calm autumn evening descended in the World of the Living, on the surface of a blue planet, in a remote area of the northern western continent.

Tall dark figure stood high in the air. Above him opened an almost cloudless sky. The sky was colored orange and purple from horizon to horizon, due to the setting sun. Below the figure spread out a valley between two mountain ranges. The valley’s left side was covered with a dark mixed forest and a clear river flowed from it to the right side.

Even though there was an enormous valley beneath him, there wasn’t even the slightest breeze. It was quiet and no bird was flying or singing. All the animals had escaped as if they had sensed the approaching storm.

This regal yet frightening creature stared far into the sunset horizon with green glowing eyes, waiting for something. He was Skark, the Overlord of all demons.

Skark was over 2570 years old, making him older than the average living demon. He was just over four meters tall, humanoid in physique, and his entire presence seemed powerful.

He wore spiky and ornate armor parts, made of black metal which was found only in Dead World. Because of mobility, he had only armored his head, chest, back, lower body, forearms, and legs. He had a long black cape on his back that reached his knees.

Skark’s skin was reddish-black and his face was covered by a helmet. His bare hands were rough and he had black claws. From underneath the helmet two black, thick, mid-branching horns and glowing green eyes were visible. Long, black, and messy hair flowed out from the back of the helmet. Unlike some demons, Skark had no wings or tail, and instead he floated in the air with magic.

All mortals on this planet knew his name and feared his power. If demons ever attacked the species living on Earth, there were two procedures that had to be done before a counterattack. First, they had to find out; what or who was in danger? And secondly; did Skark lead the attack?

This was proof of his power. It was rare for any ruler to let an oppressor do what he wanted; instead of sending soldiers to their deaths. Some soldiers were reported to have lost their sanity from fear, just because of Skark’s gaze. Whether he was up against an army, monsters, or the gods, he was afraid of no one. All of this had earned Skark a reputation that had attracted his loved one to him.

Drajenic, the daughter of the dragon god of catastrophes and cataclysms, had fallen in love with him over a hundred years ago. Their relationship had initially received hostile reception from other gods. Eventually Drajenic’s father, Dragon, had given up and allowed the union. After that, other gods no longer had the right to interfere.

Although the goddess was more than two thousand years older than Skark; Drajenic was still young for a god. Drajenic wasn’t yet fully matured or as strong as her father. Despite this, Drajenic was still a hundred times more powerful than Skark, but the Overlord was still worried.

Drajenic had been pregnant for a long time and today was the day that Drajenic was giving birth. Far behind his back was an open area, where Skark’s loved one was giving birth.

The long-lasting silence was broken by a rumbling sound. The mountain peaks on both sides of the valley cracked and loose boulders rolled down. This was caused by an earthquake beneath Skark, which made the ground crack and become uneven. The river now flowed underground through the cracks. The dark forest on the left suddenly started to smoke and eventually caught fire. At first, bright flames flared between the trees and soon rose to their tops.

Next the demon turned his gaze to the heavens. He saw several small and in different colored meteors fly across the sky, striking down hundreds of kilometers away. The whole valley echoed with a supernatural shriek that would have sent even the largest giants running for their lives.

Skark realized from all of this destruction that Drajenic had gone to labor. But the question was, why wasn’t he supporting his loved one as she gave new life to their child?

The reason for this was simple; the two of them weren’t the only ones who knew when the birth would happen. Skark turned his gaze back to the horizon and saw something huge and wide glistening in the setting sun. The landscape was like a golden sea that slowly approached them.

Skark gazed far into the horizon and confirmed his suspicions. An army of elves, which consisted of at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers, approached them. Judging by the golden armors, it was the elite army, composed from the elves’ top-class soldiers.

Part two

Slowly but steadily, the elven elite army approached the valley where the dragon goddess was giving birth. With light fading behind them and darkness rising in front of them, each warrior felt their bodies trembling with tiredness and fear. The only things that kept them moving on, were their sense of duty, the encouraging words of the senior officers, and the constant flow of adrenaline. They had all marched for thirteen days, perhaps longer, from different nations, from different parts of the world, to arrive here today.

Their equipment weighed heavily, almost as much as they did themselves. Nobody could afford to wear lighter armor when faced with the leader of the demons and a god. The spears, shields, swords, axes, two-handed swords, pole weapons, longbows, crossbows and magic wands that they were armed with, didn’t lighten their burden. Even the army’s archers and wizards were dressed in heavy, elite troops’ golden armor.

Although all the armor had been enchanted with many different effects, there was no room for comforts such as weight reduction enchantments. Not when they were confronting titans who were able to burn ten thousand soldiers to ash in one strike. Therefore, every enchantment was focused on defense. Only captains and higher officers had mounts, either horses, unicorns, or pegasuses, depending on their status.

All the soldiers knew the importance of the mission and were ready to do anything, to end the one-hundred-year campaign. All of this had started a long time ago, a little after Skark and Drajenic had started dating.

A mighty and famous prophet, Walaisd Goldear, had predicted the following.

When the Demon Overlord and the daughter of the scaled god come together, they shall have a child. This child, fed by the wrath of the fallen demons, will bring the destruction of a thousand catastrophes upon the elves, thus wiping them out of the universe.

A few days after the prophecy had been told, the raging Demon Overlord had killed the prophet. Publicly and brutally.

This attack on the prophet had alarmed every elven ruler. Kings, queens, emperors, empresses, and priests came together. After lengthy negotiations, it became clear that the child had to be destroyed before they grew up.

After several diplomatic missions, it became clear that the elves were alone in this war. No other species dared to help them. They thought it was pointless to send troops to fight a god if only the elves were in danger. When the elves realized they were alone, they decided on their war plan.

This is how the one-hundred-year campaign began. Taxes were raised and wages were lowered so that kingdoms could afford to keep up the grand task. Several mines were monopolized and the number of workers and slaves increased. Tons of metal and tools were purchased from other species, especially from dwarves.

In the higher education of the elves, economics and natural science were exchanged for teaching martial arts and war tactics. Every talented or powerful student was immediately recruited to the army and then into the elite troops. Every mercenary was recruited and thousands of wizards and enchanters were called in to enchant the soldiers’ armor.

Thousands of newcomers joined the elite army every year. The training was hard, unforgiving, and lasted more than thirty years. They were reminded every day; that if they lost the upcoming battle, all those they cared about would die. Gradually the elite army transformed from the most selective military group, into the largest army in the elves’ history books.

Now over a million soldiers marched towards their destiny, knowing they would either die today or return home as legends. All thoughts of escaping or abandoning their line had been hammered out of them a long time ago.

When the superior officers stopped one after the other and raised their left hands, the soldiers knew to stop. All the soldiers felt every muscle and joint in their bodies aching, but didn’t let it show. They knew that this pain meant nothing.

After the command to stop had been given, there was another command that echoed from one group to another, Healers, stamina, NOW!

White staves rose from the midst of the troops and synchronized chanting could be heard. Green glistening dust clouds erupted from the tips of the staves, which landed on the soldiers.

Tired from marching and soaked from sweat, the soldiers felt every one of their muscles returning to full strength. All of their joints felt energetic and nimble. Even the blisters of their feet healed. The youngest soldiers, who hadn’t yet felt such strain often, felt new muscles developing.

Once again, a new message traveled from the front row, this time only from top-ranking officers: Are you ready!

Over a million soldiers roared passionately, raising their weapons in the air, showing their will to fight.

Next, all the mounted officers pointed forward with their weapons and shouted, FOR WARD! MARCH!

The rhythmic marching steps echoed across the valley as hundreds of thousands of feet crossed through rough terrain. Several wizards went ahead, making the crumpled and dangerous ground more passable.

Courage and a sense of duty burned in the hearts of every single soldier, as they marched forward battle ready. They knew it wouldn’t take more than half an hour until the big fight started. No one they knew had ever fought against gods before, but that didn’t stop them. The fear of death and the unknown had vanished from them completely.

Part three

Skark had flown back to Drajenic, before the soldiers had even reached the middle of the valley.

Drajenic sat on a small hill that was round and had been fashioned like a nest. Behind Drajenic there were six pillars with fires burning on top of them. The flames brought light into the darkening night, making the nest look warm.

Skark looked at Drajenic overjoyed, because the birth had been successful. Although Drajenic was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, she was still almost twice as tall as Skark in her true form. Standing up, the goddess would have been almost three times as tall as Skark.

Drajenic had lowered her wings to her hips and her tail was wrapped around her. Drajenic’s green scales were like smoothened oval emeralds and the leather of her wings looked like polished coral. From the tip of the goddess’s slender tail, spread out two rows of small golden spikes.

Her face and jaw looked reptilian, but benevolent. Akin to dragons, she had a long neck. Six smooth, long, backwards curving, amber-colored horns rose up from behind Drajenic’s head that formed a crown. Her hands looked delicate, even if they were scaly. Both hands had five fingers, with long, marble-white, and sharp claws at the ends.

Drajenic wore a long white dress that covered her arms, body, hips, and part of her shins. The dress was embroidered with ornate golden and purple patterns, the meanings of which Skark did not know.

In her hands, the goddess held an egg about the size of a barrel. The egg had a shiny black shell, with emerald green mist moving under its surface. A golden miniature solar wind swirled around the egg, keeping it warm.

Drajenic looked exhausted as she cuddled the egg. Before Skark went out to look for enemies, Drajenic had shone bright light around her, as per usual. The absence of light showed that birthing had required a lot of energy from Drajenic.

Skark looked up at his beloved’s pink reptilian eyes and saw them moisten with tears. He lowered his head and raised his hands up towards his wife. Drajenic closed her eyes, nodded and handed the egg over to Skark.

Part four

The army had finally arrived close enough that the soldiers could see Drajenic. None of them had seen a true god up close, and they were all a bit curious. Due to Drajenic’s dragon-like appearance, only very few of them could tell that the goddess was sorrowful. The army’s most experienced and intelligent could tell right away that the birthing was over.

The elf generals, who had ridden with pegasuses, rose up in the air and began to look around. The whole idea of the war plan was to kill the newborn mongrel, who threatened their very existence. Locating it was the first priority. They flew around Drajenic for a while, keeping a vast safe distance between them.

One of the generals noticed something behind the goddess that looked like a combination of a cradle and a nest. He tried to draw the attention of others to himself. But before he could even say, ‘Hey, behind there!’, something grabbed the back leg of his pegasus. The General screamed as loudly as he could in horror, as a black figure wrenched him and his pegasus towards the ground at tremendous speed.

Skark had grabbed hold of the flying horse in free fall. As his feet hit the ground, the demon swung the horse against the terrain with earth-shattering force. The pegasus and the elf underneath it had their blood, guts and armor pieces splattered all over the field.

Swiftly but with elegance, Skark stood up straight, rising over the heads of the soldiers. Looking around, he could see the increasing fear on the faces of the surrounding soldiers. From the pool of gore, a familiar, sharp and metallic smell of blood made the Overlord’s eyes glow ever brighter. The same intoxicating feeling engulfed his body, like in hundreds of previous battles.

This time the opposing army didn’t just stand still and investigate the situation. Now a familiar enemy was in front of them. Wizards and archers in the rear ranks aimed their staves and bows up and fired a barrage of arrows and fireballs of different sizes.

Huge cloud of arrows and orange burning projectiles flew towards Skark. Using a levitation spell, he quickly ripped off a huge piece of rock from the ground that had been dislodged earlier by the earthquake. Skark lifted the rock in front of him and felt how the concentrated bombardment made the rock tremble. Some fireballs hit to the side of him or behind him, the explosions making a terrible racket. After the firing stopped, Skark threw the rock forward at a tremendous speed. The rolling stone crushed and flattened several soldiers like a huge rolling pin, turning the elves into bloody dough.

Before any of the soldiers could respond to the previous attack; Skark grabbed a long two-handed sword from the ground and used his demon magic on it. Thin green bolts of lightning surrounded the sword, transforming it into a longer, sharper and thicker black saber. Skark dashed towards the soldiers, slicing through multiple armors with each one-handed sword swing. Blood and guts flew from inside the split armors, staining the battlefield. Powerful sword blows against the metal drowned the soldiers’ cries of pain.

One of the captains on his horse, succeeded in blocking Skark’s sword blow. His enchanted and flaming two-handed sword twanged loudly from the impact. But this didn’t slow down the demon. Skark hit the elf on the head with his free fist, with such an enormous force that the captain’s skull was crushed. The captain flew from his horse’s back, his face crushed inside his helmet.

Unnoticed by Skark, a bunch of elves with spears rushed towards him from behind. Just as they had gotten within ten meters of Skark, they felt a chilling breeze and stopped. Before they had time to react, they were encased in ice from toes to spearheads.

The source of the ice was Drajenic, who had finally gathered enough strength to fight a little herself. The frozen soldiers hadn’t even felt their bodies freeze, until they were already inside the ice.

The blizzard called by Drajenic had transformed a sixty-meter-long and ten-meter-wide area into a sharp-edged glacier. The glacier had devoured hundreds of soldiers. The only survivors were a group of lucky soldiers, who were alive thanks to the swift actions of a wizard. The wizard had conjured both Firewall and Heat Shield to protect them, but they were now trapped.

When Skark noticed the glacier, he stood relaxed and laughed rambunctiously upwards. His laughter sounded as if a psychopathic killing machine had gotten a new toy. This had literally just happened.

Skark pressed his left hand against the glacier. Long, thick, green-glowing cracks began to spread from the point of contact and the glacier began to crack. There was a booming sound, as the glacier suddenly exploded in an upward curve.

Thousands of shards of ice, frozen body parts, and weapons rained down over a wide area; wounding or crushing anyone they hit. The unluckiest of the elves were impaled or decapitated. As soldiers screamed in terror amidst chaos, Skark continued slaughtering the guests.

Drajenic watched the massacre sorrowfully and ashamed from the back. The goddess’s conscience was aching from seeing all these soldiers losing their lives. All of them certainly had families and loved ones, but she knew this was the only way.

The goddess spread her arms and blew hard. Her breath twisted into a spiral faster and faster until it became a powerful tornado. The tornado’s deafening sound made the entire valley echo as it grew and began to move forward. The whirlwind swept across the armed forces, lifting and throwing soldiers and pieces of the glacier around the battlefield.

Soldiers in heavy armor didn’t have the slightest chance of escaping on the crowded battlefield. Soldiers sucked up in the hurricane were either ravaged by each other or rocks and shards of ice. If they survived, then the over a hundred-meter-fall from the tornado finished them.

Despite the chaos, one of the high elf colonels rode decisively around the battlefield. He gathered a large group of wizards and with his guidance they began chanting a counter-spell. The spell was new and needed to be learnt quickly, but thanks to the colonel’s orders and clear instructions, the wizards succeeded.

After lengthy and strenuous conjuring, they finally succeeded and managed to stop the tornado. The objects and creatures lifted by the vortex fell to the ground into a large mound.

One of the ice elf generals was watching the situation from the air, from the back of his horse. Almost one hundred thousand soldiers had already fallen in this battle, and the enemy was not even wounded. A less experienced man would already be frustrated with despair, but he knew this battle would be fought to the last man. He landed on the battlefield and gathered his soldiers around him, using signals he had taught them in training. A huge group of warriors, wizards, and archers got together near him.

At the same time, the General went through several tactics. Considering the force of the attacks, it was odd that the goddess didn’t attack more often. He concluded that it wasn’t possible. They could try to attack her after the next powerful attack, but there was one problem. Skark was still raging on the battlefield and would certainly block their access to Drajenic. Even though it was undeniably much more dangerous to them, they had to kill the demon first.

The General commanded as many warriors as possible to arm themselves with spears and shields laying around the battlefield. He then commanded the soldiers to line up in front of him, the wizards in the middle and the archers at the back. The General positioned himself with his steed in the middle with the wizards so he could give them orders quickly. He commanded the team to move towards Skark as loud as possible.

The ever-raging Skark had begun to feel his limits. An hour-long battle and intense dashing around the battlefield, started to get tiring. In addition, Skark hadn’t slept even a wink during the last week, which was nothing new in itself. Skark often stayed up five days in a row and slept two. But lately he hadn’t been able to sleep properly, for he knew this day would arrive. Violent movements and adrenaline were the only things that kept Skark awake; while he sliced the soldiers and wizards with his sword.

After maiming through a whole battalion of soldiers again, he heard almost drum-like steps. Skark turned around and saw a platoon of soldiers marching towards him.

The demon smiled and thought; how rarely one could be grateful about the enemy coming towards him, instead of having to chase them. He lifted his sword to his shoulder and walked towards the soldiers, confident and calm as on a walk in a park.

The warriors walking in front of the platoon pointed their spears forward as they approached the demon. After coming to a range of just forty meters from the demon, the General ordered the team to stop.

Skark noticed the group stop. Since he was worried that they would retreat, he charged at them with his sword ready.

The General read Skark’s running movements and gave orders to the wizards. The wizards lifted their staves and conjured for their dear lives.

Skark was eight meters away from the soldiers, when he felt something around his ankle. He tripped and fell on his face at high speed. He noticed thick roots wrapped around his leg.

The wizards continued their spells and soon both legs were tied to the knees, forcing Skark on his knees.

Thick roots would not have been able to hold down Skark for long, when armed with a sword, but the enemy wouldn’t wait. At the command of the General, front-line warriors attacked Skark, spears aimed at the demon’s unarmored areas.

Skark violently swung with his sword to keep the warriors farther away, but the warriors blocked his attack with their shields.

Aim your crossbows at the demon’s head! the General shouted.

Skark’s expression changed to panic for a moment, realizing he hadn’t even noticed the archers. He raised the blade of his wide sword in front of his face to protect it, but too late. The archers fired and one of the arrows passed Skark’s saber and hit him in the left eye.

The demon roared in pain so loudly that the warriors’ ears hurt, but at the same time they saw an opportunity to attack. The warriors rushed forward and slammed their spears into Skark’s midriff. The demon spit blood and fell on his fours, dropping his weapon.

The General, who himself was armed with a glaive, ordered the warriors to move out of the way. He pointed his weapon forward like a lance and ordered his horse to run like in a jousting match. His plan was to shove the tip of his weapon at the demon’s skull, to finish off the monster.

Skark spit out more blood and touched the wounds on his stomach. The thought of being on the ground on his knees, half-blind in front of his enemy, was unforgivable. In his fury, the demon tore the arrow out from his left eye, got up, spread his arms, and conjured.

The General stopped his steed as he saw the demon get up on his knees. He quickly changed tactics and raised his weapon toward the demon’s neck.

This gesture was useless, for Skark had conjured a mighty and powerful inferno around him. In the blink of an eye, all within thirty meters of Skark burst into intense flames. The heat of the flames was unspeakable. The crimson fire created a horrifying contrast to the dark black smoke above them.

The sea of fire went out as quickly as it had been lit. Skark looked around and saw everything around him turned to ashes, even the ground beneath him. There were only a few charred bones left and a pile of armor glowing from the heat. With his legs free, Skark stood up briskly, but he hadn’t survived unharmed.

His skin had scorched at several points and his long hair had burnt to ashes from the tips. Fortunately for the Overlord, the powerful flames had cauterized his stomach wounds and the bleeding had stopped. His left eye was still popped and the flames had vaporized the fluids inside it. The pain would have made many men and even demons numb. But Skark knew; that the battle couldn’t end yet.

Skark lifted his sword from the ground, which was still glowing from the heat, and sent a message to the remaining soldiers with his finger, Next.

Drajenic was still sitting in the back of the valley and saw with her teary eyes everything that happened on the battlefield. She was worried about Skark. Could her spouse last to the end? The goddess could feel the pain he was in.

Drajenic bit her knuckles and wiped her tears. Now was not the time to mourn. Soon all of this would be over, and she would be back with her loved one. The dragon goddess had once again rested enough and began to gather her might for a new catastrophic attack.

At the same time, about two hundred meters from Drajenic; a group of two thousand soldiers were moving invisibly towards the goddess, at the base of the mountains.

The group was led by a dark elf general who had ordered the soldiers to separate from the rest of the army. The team included a number of former dark elf spies and assassins, for whom moving invisibly was a familiar practice. They were accompanied by a group of warriors with shields; who were supposed to keep the rest safe if they were noticed. They were kept invisible by wizards who were moving in two queues on both sides of the group. They advanced in a long narrow line, like an invisible snake.

Upon arriving fifty meters away, the General ordered the troops to stop with a pre-arranged sound, by imitating a bird. Even though they were invisible, the General, who had experienced a number of secret missions, got on his knees from an old habit. He stared at Drajenic relentlessly and waited for the right moment, when the goddess would be vulnerable.

Like the General who had previously fought against Skark, he had noticed the pattern of the goddess’s attacks. One powerful attack and then nothing for a long time. He knew that Drajenic wasn’t just playing with them, when her child and mate were in danger. His plan was simple; prowl about until Drajenic would attack and hit quickly.

Drajenic had now gathered enough of her strength and decided what to do next. She raised her hands over her head and focused. A few minutes later, a small orange ball of light appeared between Drajenic’s scaly hands, which she fired into the air. The ball of light flew into the clouds and the goddess lowered her hands against the ground.

The General didn’t understand what it was, but noticed that Drajenic was weary from it. The General gave the signal to his troops by whistling.

Dozens of dark elves swiftly rushed out of the cover of the invisibility spell, towards the scaly goddess. Drajenic noticed them from the corner of her eye and was startled, but only for a moment. Drajenic waved her long whip-like tail and lashed at the leading attackers, so that they flew backwards in an arc. A few of the attackers jumped high into the air and tried to attack from above. But Drajenic just slammed the attackers away with her wing.

Although Drajenic was too tired to use her powers, she could still defend herself physically. The elf General was still fifty yards away, observing the situation with the rest of his army. Attacking dragons was always dangerous at close range, so a dragon goddess was certainly not an exception.

For this reason, he had sent a reconnaissance patrol in advance so that others could observe Drajenic. The idea was to find a hole in the goddess’s defense and then kill her.

At this point there were three things that weren’t clear to the General. One, why did Drajenic not stand up? Wasn’t it much easier to defend oneself while standing up? Two, why didn’t she use her hands? Her nails were long and sharp, so was she afraid of losing her magic, if her hands were damaged? Three, why didn’t the Goddess spew fire like other dragons? Couldn’t she do it or did it require too much power?

The reason for all of this was actually very simple; Drajenic wasn’t interested in the soldiers. Her enemies carried thin single-edged swords not meant to kill large creatures. Drajenic felt safe and her worried gaze was nailed to the still-rampaging Skark on the battlefield. The goddess wanted to stay alert so she could tell her loved one when he should retreat. Thus, she kept her gaze forward, and trashed her attackers with almost reflexive movements, until they stopped moving.

The first reconnaissance group laid dead on the ground next to Drajenic. From this the General concluded that the threat just wasn’t simply great enough for the goddess to fight seriously. He gave a new signal and this time nearly hundred soldiers rushed towards the enemy. Now it was a mixed unit of wizards, different warriors, and assassins.

Drajenic saw the larger group of enemies attacking. This time there were individuals who could harm her if she wasn’t alert. Drajenic stood up and with her long neck and horns she rose to a height of twelve meters.

Drajenic’s legs, though slender and feminine, were long and powerful. Like her fingernails, her toenails were white. At the tips of her feet there were only four toes and the fifth was back at the heel.

Seeing the huge woman, the army slowed down and was stopped by the surprise. Drajenic kicked the frontline soldiers effortlessly with divine strength. Bent from the impact, the soldiers flew hundreds of meters into the air and descended miles away, on the other side of the mountains.

Although the soldiers wore strong and heavy armor, Drajenic’s toes weren’t hurt. She stomped on one soldier, who died instantly. Only a loud cracking sound could be heard from under Drajenic’s foot, as the soldier’s bones were crushed.

Drajenic looked at the soldiers threateningly, hoping to arouse enough fear in them, so that they would run away. This didn’t discourage other soldiers, but instead they quickly surrounded Drajenic. Drajenic sighed in disappointment and began to kill the soldiers one by one.

The General watched as his soldiers were struggling in vain, in shame. But on the bright side; Drajenic’s humanoid body now reminded the General of something else than a dragon. Giants.

Giants, though dangerous in their own right, were much simpler to kill than dragons. Their huge size and height made them easy to push over. When the giant had been pinned down, all you needed to do was to cut its throat with a sword. After that the giant would die in a few minutes.

The goddess didn’t look nearly as clumsy as a giant, and was certainly a lot more unwavering thanks to her wings and tail. But the General didn’t have time to develop another plan. He knew the goddess would soon be ready to strike with a new powerful spell. General summoned all his troops at close range and told his plan to them.

Drajenic was just about to end her fight. She had, against her will, crushed several soldiers for self-defense. Some of the soldiers had tried to attack the nearby cradle, but Drajenic had burnt them to cinders. Drajenic was able to breathe flames like a regular dragon. Unlike her other attacks, using it didn’t consume her powers. But burning others was disgusting to her.

Drajenic could no longer bear her guilt and gathered the corpses of soldiers around her into a pile and crossed her hands. After this, Drajenic prayed. She prayed that these small and pitiful mortals, even if they had attacked her and her family, would reach Paradise.

A golden pillar of light descended from the sky in front of the bodies and various transparent figures ascended with the light. Attacking a god was a major enough sin that it would make anyone end up in a worse place. But at the same time, a god’s forgiveness was enough to make up for almost all sins.

Seeing Drajenic turn away from them, the General commanded all his remaining troops to attack. The invisibility spell wore off, as they ran towards the goddess.

In the forefront were the group’s wizards who used their magic to glide towards their goal. They held out their staves and casted their spells swiftly. Long and thick metal chains flew from the tips of their staves.

Before Drajenic could look back, the chains surrounded her legs and tried to tie them together. Although her legs were wrapped by hundreds of chains, Drajenic was strong enough to keep her legs apart. This way she was able to keep her balance. Drajenic looked at the wizards angrily, ready to fry them.

But as the goddess looked down, a large group of heavily armored soldiers flew towards her. The soldiers crashed directly against Drajenic’s chest. The cause behind the flying soldiers was a small group of wizards and a group’s general, who were left behind.

Drajenic wobbled from the force of the collision, trying to keep her legs apart. Soon another wave of heavily armored soldiers struck her again. This time the soldiers held shields in both arms to make themselves heavier. Drajenic staggered backwards from the force of the impact and fell to the ground. As her feet lost their grip from the ground, the chains around the goddess’s ankles tightened and tied them together.

Although Drajenic was now down on the ground, she wasn’t at the mercy of her attackers. She was still able to attack them by many different means. Drajenic placed her hands to both sides and tried to get up. But before she could lift herself, she saw the dark elf general flying towards her.

The General didn’t fly but lunged at Drajenic like the soldiers. In his hands, the General held a rather unusual sword, pointed towards the goddess.

The General’s sword was long, double-edged, serrated and divided into fifteen V-shaped segments. The name of the sword was Lerates. It was the greatest national treasure of the dark elves and a closely guarded gift from the gods. It was donated to the dark elves by the god of the oppressed, Kasurma. The protector of the weak and the balancer of the battles.

The sword had two different supernatural abilities. The first was its ability to penetrate even the strongest armor or bone, without making a hole or slowing down. Every one of its strikes was possibly lethal. But Lerates’s other ability was what made the sword famous and important for this battle. If the sword struck the opponent’s heart, it didn’t matter who the opponent was, they died instantly.

The sword was originally meant for opposing demigods that were sometimes employed by high elves. The king of the General’s homeland had given the sword to him, hoping that it would also work against an adolescent god. The General knew that the sword was intended against the child, but he believed it would also work against Drajenic.

Lerates’s blade was only two meters from Drajenic’s chest and the General believed that the battle would soon be halfway through. But suddenly the General’s field of view darkened. The white cloth and emerald scales disappeared from his sight, when a black object appeared in front of him.

A black blade struck his sword with great force. The General felt his hands become numb from pain, because of the strike. His flight path reversed and he felt his legs get sliced off. The General landed about eighteen meters away from Drajenic’s feet. He barely managed to keep his consciousness to see the attacker.

Next to the shackled Drajenic stood the Demon Overlord, Skark. The General’s legs laid on either side of him and Lerates was in V-shaped pieces all over the hill. Skark’s sword was covered with fresh blood. Skark’s sword had repelled the general, smashed Lerates and then cut off his legs, with a single swing.

Skark looked at the General and the soldiers around him, his left eye and lower abdomen already healed. All the elves trembled with fear as they saw the Demon Overlord’s eyes glowing bright green and his twisted smile.

Hmm, did you really try to kill my bride with such a flimsy sword? Skark asked, sarcastically insulted.

Skark cut the chains around Drajenic’s ankles by inserting his sword between the goddess’s legs. Drajenic stood up, wiping the grass from her clothes.

The goddess spoke in a soft but dignified voice, Thank you dear, I was just about to ask you to come to me for safety.

Skark smiled, Didn’t I just save you? You should be considering me as a hero.

Drajenic smiled slightly mischievously, raised her finger and pointed to the sky. Skark followed the finger and looked up, losing all of his self-confidence.

Up in the sky, behind the clouds, an orange ball of light moved and grew larger. Skark had seen Drajenic do this before and knew that it was a meteor. A large burning stone plunged towards the ground. It was so fast that its crackling sound couldn’t yet be heard.

The meteor plunged through the cloud cover and hit the ground in the middle of the elven troops. Upon hitting the ground, the meteor was six meters in diameter. There was a massive boom and from the meteor’s point of impact: soil, dust, ash, and dirt flew up into the air. The shock wave caused by the impact struck even distant soldiers to the ground.

Even Skark had to slam his sword to the ground to avoid flying off. The final thing that prevented Skark from getting injured was Drajenic, who wrapped her arms and wings around him. Drajenic herself wasn’t affected by the force of the impact, for she was already used to such events. When the shock wave passed, the air was so full of dust and debris that it was just as hard to see, as in a thick fog.

Drajenic smiled and spoke to Skark like a little child, to tease him, Oh dear, was my little hero scared of that little bang?

Despite her belittling words, Drajenic hugged Skark tightly. Skark frowned but decided to stay calm.

That was a total overkill from you. You could have destroyed the entire valley, Skark scolded.

I don’t think it was that drastic, Drajenic replied, pointing to her side.

Some of the elves in their vicinity were scattered around the hill, but still alive.

Skark pulled his sword from the ground, Hopefully they will be more of a challenge than the previous lot.

Skark walked towards the enemy and waited until they had lifted their weapons, before he attacked. This time he was against the previous battalion of ambushers, who were much more agile than the previous group. Even though the elves were distraught by the earlier disaster, they were still able to move nimbly and avoid Skark’s attacks.

Skark fought against the Dark elves for half an hour, annoyed by how difficult it was to hit the fast-moving soldiers. Drajenic watched amused as Skark swung his sword, as if trying to whack flies.

Just as Skark was about to finish the last panicking elves, he heard the familiar war horn of the elves and turned towards the sound.

As the ash and dust settled, Drajenic and Skark saw a huge crater with a diameter of at least three kilometers. The crater was little deformed because Drajenic’s protective powers had prevented the crater from reaching the hill. This gave the crater a crescent shape.

To the left of the crater were the former forest’s felled, branchless, and leafless trees that were charred black. On the other side of the crater, opposite to them, there were at least three hundred thousand elves. The faces of the elves were a sight worth seeing. They had just seen Hell and nothing could shock them anymore.

When the meteorite hit, almost all the elves had either died or received fatal injuries. But some of them had remained in a condition where they were still able to move. During the last half an hour, the army’s healers had worked harder than ever before. Those who were healed had helped other survivors to get to the healers. Even the remaining wizards who had been hired to fight, had used every healing spell they knew to rebuild the army.

The army had shrunk to less than a third of what it was at the start. Although most of the soldiers were terrified and some were ready to die; their original motive didn’t allow them to give up. Either they would die today as heroes or as cowards in a few centuries. The child had to be killed or all their families would die, because they ran away.

Skark turned his back to the elven assassins, who were crying from joy, and lifted his sword on his shoulder. He smiled as he saw the soldiers’ single-minded and determined looks. Weakness had been eliminated from the bodies of these soldiers and the demon knew that the battle was far from over.

Part five

Three hours had passed since the impact of the meteorite. Almost two hundred thousand elves had died. Skark had lost several liters of blood and a group of wizards and thieves had managed to steal parts of his armor. Drajenic fought alongside Skark using only physical attacks and her dragon fire. Skark had forbidden her from using her powers anymore, to prevent Draenic from accidentally killing Skark or destroying the nest. Drajenic hated killing those weaker than herself more than anything else. But she couldn’t be without helping her mate, who fought for his life, to protect her.

Midnight had passed long ago and it was cloudy. Without the moon or the stars, it was almost completely dark. Only the fires surrounding the nest gave even a slight bit of light. Nevertheless, Skark’s demonic senses helped him fight as if it were still afternoon.

Where there had previously been a forest, a group of elven officers had gathered. They had set up a base where they were preparing their latest war plan. At the moment they were waiting for news from the front, whether the first phase of their plan was successful. Many would think that standing still calmly in the middle of the battlefield was crazy. But their base (which was basically just a tent) was hidden with powerful camouflage and protection spells.

Inside the tent there was only a wooden table and a ball of light floating in the air. A small group of generals and colonels waited around the table for a messenger. The atmosphere was tense and they all knew that every second meant more fallen soldiers. After what seemed like eternity, the entrance of the tent opened spontaneously and closed almost immediately.

A breathless forest elf appeared before them, declaring, We got … the demon’s … breastplate off, general Ouravosir.

Good, we can continue the operation, the