Page 288 of The War God’s Favorite

That battle scene seemed to wake Lephys up.

“No!” he screamed.

The difference in strength was obvious between the two. While his dragon had been safe under the chained roof, it was now completely at the mercy of Krai, despite the attempts to fight the Black Dragon off. For a few seconds, it looked like an easy win for the Black Dragon, who was so much bigger than its younger brother.

However, Lephys’ furious eyes turned elsewhere.

“Come out, you cowards!” he yelled.

Cassandra turned towards the shadows he was yelling at, from one of the Palace’s corridors. What was he planning now? One after another, she saw multiple pairs of little eyes lighting up. She shivered, understanding slowly what was going on. Young dragons lined up in the shadows.

Lephys was calling out for his sons’ dragons to help him. Rather than scared, Cassandra immediately found herself furious. That coward was forcing his children’s dragons to fight for him! She turned to him, just when the little dragons started appearing in the garden, one after another.

“Stop that,” she said.

Lephys laughed, but it was a crazy laugh.

“Oh no, you damn witch. Just you wait until they rip you apart!”

“They are all going to die,” Cassandra retorted. “They are too young! They can’t win and you already know that. You’re sending those dragons to their deaths!”

“I don’t care, as long as I make it!” he yelled.

Lephys suddenly got back on his feet and started running in another direction, away from the fight. Cassandra’s anger rose again. That man was the vilest creature, and a coward at that. Not only was he running from this battle to save himself, but he was also basically sacrificing his sons’ dragons, allowing them to be killed for him and his fight!

Cassandra exchanged a glance with the Creature, but just like the Rain Tribe’s people, the Water God was not a fighter. It had answered her call as she begged, but what now? She couldn’t ask the creature to kill young dragons either. She hated the idea of having to sacrifice innocent lives. Cassandra may be angry, but she kept a clear mind about the situation. Those poor little ones were following Lephys’ orders, maybe not even of their own will. Some of them were probably barely older than Kian. Half a dozen of the little dragons appeared on the grass, all coming in different sizes and shapes. She could tell how young they ought to be, and it just made it all worse.

Just then, Kian flew back to her too. Landing on the grass in front of Cassandra, the little silver dragon was growling furiously at its peers, warning them to leave her alone. The difference in size didn’t impress the Baby Dragon one bit. The young dragons weren’t afraid of Kian either, but they were hesitating on coming closer, with Cassandra standing against a portion of the Water God’s body. Each of them kept growling and sending glances towards the Water God. They were all taller than Kian, but most were not even half an adult’s size.

“Stay away,” she warned them, using her mother tongue.

Either they had understood or were scared, as the little dragons stopped coming closer or just started growling more furiously. Strangely, the smaller ones seemed to be the most eager to fight. Was it because they were influenced to follow their father’s orders even more than the older ones? Cassandra glanced across the lake, where Krai and the Purple Dragon were still actively fighting and growling at each other.

She turned her eyes towards Lephys. He had barely made it half-way towards the corridors, but he wasn’t too far away yet. Cassandra tried to think quickly, and soon found a solution. She ran towards the net of chains that had fallen from the roof. A large portion of it had been ripped down, from where Krai had gotten it, but one of its ends was still hanging above the walls, stretched above Lephys’ head. Cassandra’s eyes followed his steps.

The Prince was running like crazy in the garden and didn’t hear anything of her struggle. Cassandra grabbed some of the heavy chains a few steps away from her and started pulling on it. It was very heavy, they were chains made to keep a dragon away after all, not for a woman alone to pull down. Glancing over his shoulder, Lephys saw her pulling like crazy, and looked up at the chains that weren’t even moving. He slowed down to see her struggle, thinking he was far enough away, and started laughing again.

“You crazy woman! Those chains were put up there with the strength of several men! Do you really think you can do anything? You’re weak, useless!”

Right at this moment, Cassandra stopped pulling, glaring at the Prince. He realized his mistake a second too late. Had he kept running, he may have made it. Yet, he had stopped while he was still underneath the chains, giving Cassandra time to turn towards the Water God.

“Alteske,” she said.

Lephys’ eyes opened wide in horror, as the Water God raised its claw and brutally pulled on the chains. This time, the walls above him crumbled right away. With a horrible scream, the chains fell all over the top of the Prince, followed by big chunks of the wall. His scream died under all the rocks that buried him alive. Cassandra heard him scream long after the rocks had stopped falling, telling her he was still alive, but suffering miserably.

On the other side of the Lake, the Purple Dragon felt its Master’s demise, as it started screeching horribly. Krai took the chance to jump on the screeching dragon. They had fought fiercely, and despite the difference in size, the Black Dragon had some worrying injuries on it. Cassandra was worried about Krai and even more so about its Master, but it looked like Krai would get rid of its opponent soon.

Her attention was grabbed elsewhere. When she wasn’t looking, some of the young dragons had run to the pile of rocks covering Lephys, but two of them were still growling at Kian. The little Silver Dragon was growling just as fiercely as its dad, set on defending Cassandra. Though they were still small and young for dragons, those two could bite off her hand at once, and Cassandra didn’t want to risk it.

“Kian!”

The Baby Dragon retreated slowly to her as she called its name, but Cassandra still couldn’t leave Kian to be injured. The two younger dragons started running after the baby, and Cassandra was scared something would happen to it.

“Kian, in the water!” she said, while retreating towards the Water God.

The little dragon, running like a silver bolt in the grass, suddenly jumped in the air, using its little wings to go and fly above the Lake. The two bigger dragons followed easily, especially as it was flying away from the Water God they feared. However, they were not done with the little dragon. One of them suddenly threw fire its way, and though Kian dodged it, Cassandra’s heart went cold.

Kian wasn’t injured. The silver dragon glanced back at its peers, and suddenly disappeared in the water. The two young dragons were confused for a minute, flying above the Lake and trying to spot the silver scales in the water. They couldn’t follow Kian inside. They were not made to go underwater, unlike the Water God or Kian. Hence, when the Silver Dragon reappeared, jumping out of the water, it completely took them by surprise, and furiously bit one of their wings before diving back in. Cassandra couldn’t keep herself from smiling proudly. The Baby Dragon was learning fast how to use its unique abilities

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