Sweet Waters Throne

217 Chapter 21The skies of Old City have never hosted a dragon before. The last time Artemis was in Old City, he didn’t have a dragon. He came to appoint Lord Affrey Trill to be the new Lord of Old City and hence ending the Squire reign once and for all. Aryan was present that day, both of them agreed on the smooth transfer of power.

The Squires ruled Old City for centuries, they were the oldest family in Maldonia and this new appointment of Lord Affrey Trill disappointed a lot of people especially Aryan allies who still resided in Old City. Aryan gave them an order to stand down, not to riot or rebel until the right time comes. When they asked when was that time, Aryan told them they will know but they were ought to prepare early on.

These men listened for a while, all through the reign of Lord Affrey Trill until two moons earlier when he fell from his horse and died. Many wondered what was he doing on a horse, a seventy six year old man. He was succeeded by his fourth son Ian Trill since the first three of them died in battle, now this is what caused a rift in Old City and somehow no one seemed to be aware of what was really going on.

When Ian Trill stepped up as the new Lord of Old City, Aryan was no longer queen of Prophis and the news about the Battle of Kins was all over Old City. Her men took this as a sign and especially when she sent a raven to them about spreading rumors of Aprophil and his true claim to the Sweet Waters throne, hours before she stepped down and disappeared to the unknown.

When the Battle of Kins ended, so did the reign of Ian Trill as the new Lord of Old City. The young man of twenty two was struck down in his own castle, two huge men slit his throat while others put his whole garrison to sword. It was a massacre and it was done so quietly during the night, Ian’s body was never found and from then the gates of Old City were barred.

No one was allowed to enter into the city nor leave, the rebels knew if they allowed people to leave, it will only be a matter of time before the whole realm learns of their riot while they were still waiting for their Lady of Old City to return.

Hence that day when Aryan’s men saw the black beast flying high above the sky of Old City in a clear daylight, they knew things weren’t good. It was either Artemis learned of their rebellion and came to burn them all, or he learned about them being the ones who spread Aprophil’s rumor and it was clear he came to burn them.

Their lead man, Sir Arryn loyal to the Squires since he was a toddler organized his men and readied them to defend their city against the black beast. They had spears attached to scorpions with a capability of flying high above the sky and maybe, a small maybe kill a dragon.

Arryn was an adventurous man, he once crossed the Freezing Sea and met up with these Dragon Hunters. That was ten years ago when he didn’t even know if dragons will exist, now he was putting the knowledge he got from there to test. “Move! Move the scorpions” Sir Arryn shouted at his men to hasten up and round the scorpions ready to attack.

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From above, Artemis thought the city looked different. Old City was never quiet without movements of people here and there. But this day it was as if the city was vacant, he was close to the castle where he intended to land, speak with the new Lord of Old City and then venture out to find these twenty thousand men Matthew told him about.

However, just when he was thinking about landing and talking to Ian Trill, he felt a spear hitting Artodo on his hard skin. The spear bounced back and fell down, Artemis was caught with wonderment. He hang on tight to his saddle and looked down, that’s when he saw a whole army waiting for him close to the castle and they were throwing spears at him.

The number exceeded fifty thousand, Matthew lied to him and Artemis swore he will take his head once more if he somehow resurrects again.

Artemis lost control of the dragon, Artodo fled away trying to save himself from the spears which were coming at him from every direction. The scorpions helped in giving the spears velocity to fly high so as to reach Artodo from where he was, the poor dragon couldn’t even pour out his flames in such chaos. In the end, it decided to fly higher and hid himself between the clouds, and that’s where both he and Artemis were safe from the spears.

Still in shock of what he just saw, Artemis tried to catch his breath while hanging on to his dragon. He looked down again in disbelief, what was going on? Was Old City invaded and somehow Lord Balrus never knew, or did he know and he sent him to his death? He could have sworn that a spear almost took him down, and what happens if a rider falls off a dragon? That’s a question even a two year old can answer.

The air on the clouds was freezing cold, too much for Artemis and the dragon to handle. They had to get down and see, but how? There were still spears thrown at them but they never reached the height they were at, and Sir Arryn shouted for his men to stop. Then he directed them to start throwing the spears only when the dragon is close enough, and to go for the eyes.

Artemis checked on Artodo, “Are you good boy?” he asked him in Low Moor. “Are you good Artodo?” and Artodo shook off his wings and roared, this was a sign that he was okay. “It’s freezing cold out here Artodo, we need to go back down and this time… be a dragon and not a sheep” Artemis said to his dragon in Low Moor while patting his wings.

Well, let’s say the good folks of Old City and the traitors alike woke up on the wrong side of their beds this day. They had just angered the most powerful and angry dragon and its rider gave him a greenlight to proceed. Artodo lowered himself down beneath the clouds while Artemis was hanging on tightly, he poured out his flames from the top.

The once quiet city suddenly turned chaotic and everyone started to run. Could these be the flames Aurora saw in her dreams, Artemis asked himself because this day Artodo burned everything on his sight. Sir Arryn urged his men to keep throwing the spears but none of them did so when they saw the flames coming right at them.

From the East of the city to West, Artodo poured his flames while roaring loudly. Artemis had never seen his dragon this angry before, nor did he know that it can get that angry, this was a whole new level of wrath. The castle which was built by the first Squires in Old City completely turned to ashes, not even a piece left of it. It was a considered a monument and historical building, Artemis knew this would anger Aryan and he was happy for it.

What he wasn’t happy about was the burning of the good folks’ homes and the innocent people. But how could he stop his dragon when he just allowed it to go wild, maybe this was a lesson for him, next time he would never allow his dragon to go wild. Even when he screamed, “Stop Artodo!” just when Artodo was about to burn a street filled with children and locals, Artodo still went on to pour his flames at these people while he continued to move towards North.

Now the chaos increased in Old City, the city gates had to be opened so the survivors can make their way outside. Sir Arryn couldn’t care less about the good folks, he was a tyrant and he believed the good folks of Old City abandoned their true leaders. When they were supposed to riot, they remained silent and accepted the Trills while knowing very well the Squires were the true rulers of the city.

When the gates were opened, the good folks were let out of the city but it wasn’t a city anymore. Just smoke, fallen buildings and the orange fire that could be seen a few miles away. With each passing second, Artodo was burning more men who intended to throw spears at him, houses and anything in front of him. Literally anything, even the gardens were torched.

The once green flowers turned black and the food turned black. Yet Artodo didn’t stop, he kept on going, street after street ─ burning as he goes. The chronicles later on claimed, “This was the true Wrath of Artodo” not even Artemis expected that much anger from his dragon.