Sacrifice

It only takes a few minutes for Dakka to arrive at the dungeon where the Ants had told him the prisoner was being kept. He could've gotten here a lot sooner, but he didn't want to cause a commotion by breaking the sound barrier.

Dakka opens the door and steps into the isolated cell. Despite the room being completely dark, Dakka's sharp dragon vision makes the large boulder clear, as well as the prisoner's head, which is sticking out awkwardly.

Of course, Dakka recognizes this man; he's Kaalhyme – one of Haalfrin's most trusted generals.

Dakka bends down and looks the prisoner in the eye. "Explain what happened. Why are you in this cell?"

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Once the prisoner is finished with his side of the story, Dakka asks, "If I let you out now, will you go tell your Commander the Queen's treachery?"

"Of course," Kaalhyme nods his head. "It's my duty."

"Ok, how about not?" Dakka says while placing a claw on Kaalhyme's forehead. "I'd rather solve the Queen's issue on my own. I'll just leave you in this cell until I get her straightened out."

"Wait, Lord Dakka, I-"

Kaalhyme doesn't even get to finish before Dakka is gone. With an ominous clang, the cell door shuts tightly – veiling the prisoner in blackness once more.

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The first place Dakka goes to look for his wife is the room they share. Despite her being somewhat more active lately, she still spends most of her time sprawled on their huge bed.

And so, Dakka slowly opens his door, and he finds… that the Queen isn't on her bed. "She must be in the 'throne' room, then." It's the only other place she ever goes to.

Once Dakka crosses the Threshold's interior – all while being led by his typical entourage of Ants (they never leave him alone) – he finally arrives at the throne room.

There, on a plain stone chair, sits his wife. The throne is easily large enough to fit a humanoid dragon, so the woman herself looks like a child sitting in an adult's chair; her feet are dangling down without even touching the floor.

The Queen, of course, can feel her husband's anxiety, but she tries to play it cool by asking calmly, "Oh? What brings you here today?"

Dakka looks up at his wife with a tired expression. "You know as well as I. What were you thinking, imprisoning one of the Arkin like that? Are you really trying to start a war?" His gaze hardens. "You know I won't allow that."

The Queen had already guessed the jig was up, so she had time to emotionally prepare herself before he came.

So, instead of acting scared or defensive, she just crosses her legs and looks at her husband with a hard gaze. "I'm not backing down on this. If you're going to kill me for my treachery, then just get it over with."

"I don't want to kill you; I want to stop you," Dakka says while straightening his back. "Release that man and come with me to apologize to Haalfrin."

To this, the Queen only bares her teeth and growls. "That's what's so – what's always been – so annoying about you." She starts tapping her fingers impatiently. "You always think that you're in control of the situation. You think that because you're so powerful that you won't have to make any tough choices. You think you can have everything you want…"

'I've had to suffer and sacrifice to get this powerful, but that all that stupid lizard did to grow this strong was sleep around and get older. He doesn't know that the rest of us have to sacrifice…' Just thinking about this makes her furious.

Dakka is taken aback by his wife's words; this is the first time she's ever insulted him to his face ever since they got married.

Seeing his reaction, the Queen sneers at him, "What? You just want me for the strong children I may be able to bear. I guess I'm quite beautiful too. You're just a stupid animal."

She continues ranting, "I'd have thought you could just kill me, let your friend out, then find a better wife. I'm sure you could have your pick of any girl you want, what with you being an Elder Dragon. But NO! You just had to force us all into a situation none of us wanted – all because you're too stupid and cowardly to let go of anything!"

Dakka looks down, and shadows fall over his eyes. Slowly, he steps up the dais towards the Queen on her throne.

The Queen can feel with her spirit magic how upset this dragon is feeling right now, and she can see his muscles twitching in agitation. 'Is he going to kill me now? I guess I AM the one in the wrong, so it's clear who he'd pick.'

She waits patiently as the dragon steps up to her, and when his shadow falls over her, she closes her eyes. 'I can just revive somewhere else, so it doesn't matter if this body dies…'

Her thoughts and plans are interrupted when the dragon leans down and presses his forehead against hers, and he cups her cheeks with both of his hands.

She looks up in shock, and she can't help but notice how blazing red his eyes are. 'Did I never notice his eye color before?'

"I'm sorry that this is how you feel about me," he says solemnly, "But I don't care. It doesn't matter if you hate me. You are mine. That's not going to change. Ever. I am your husband. That means I'm supposed to keep you safe and happy. Your personal opinion of me doesn't change this."

He looks down at her lap, and he frowns. "I'm sorry that I failed you."

He stands up fully now – taking his forehead away from hers – and he looks towards the Valor Hall. "Tell one of your children to pass a message to Commander Haalfrin. Tell him that I'll accept his challenge."

Without another word to his wife, the dragon walks out of the room. This time, instead of being perked up energetically, his tail is dragging lethargiclally on the ground.

When the doors shut with a bang, the Queen slouches in her throne and looks up at the ceiling in a daze.

She puts her hand on her forehead and feels that her face is blazing hot right now.

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After an hour of futile fretting, Kaalhyme wants to slap himself on the forehead, since he should've thought of the most simple escape route of all.

The next moment, the man starts pumping all of his mana into a body strengthening spell; obviously, this isn't enough to lift the enchanted boulder from his shoulders. No, the secret is that this spell is a little different.

When Kaalhyme casts the spell, he's extra careful to modify it so that only his muscles are strengthened – not his bones, skin, or vital organs.

With such explosive strength in his muscles but no durability to back it up, Kaalhyme uses all of his might to try lifting the boulder, only for his body to explode into a bloody, gory mess in the enclosed stone.

Well, he's already dead anyway. Escape. Successful.

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The feeling of an Arkin being destroyed and his Will returning to Haalfrin hadn't happened in so long that the man had almost forgotten what it felt like.

So, when Haalfrin's training was interrupted by Kaalhyme's Will returning, he drops his sword in shock and immediately wonders, 'What could've killed Kaalhyme?'

After another 2 hours, Kaalhyme's body reforms, and he's immediately summoned by his Commander…

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Kaalhyme wakes up again on a comfortable bed, and Haalfrin is standing over him.

Immediately, the general tells Haalfrin everything he's learned – about how the Queen figured out a way to break the treaty without being punished by the Oath magic, how she's planning to betray them, and how Dakka wanted to take care of this himself.

"What's there to worry about, then?" Haalfrin shrugs. "The Queen can't rebel so long as Dakka is standing over her."

"Sir!" a muffled voice calls from behind the door… just before a messenger explodes into the room. "There's a message for you from Lord Dakka! He says that he'll accept your challenge, and he wants you to pick a date."

This completely blows the wind out of everyone's sails – even Haalfrin is disturbed by the timing of it all.

Kaalhyme narrows his eyes, "So… this is Dakka's answer, then. He's sided with the Queen."

"I'm not exactly surprised," Haalfrin says as he leans against a wall.

"What're you going to do?" Kaalhyme asks uncertainly.

"Send a message to the other generals. Tell them that there's no time to argue or plan. Just have them all put their Far Speak Medallions on and do exactly what I say. Don't ask any questions."

It feels weird to Haalfrin that there won't be another war council in this long war. This entire battlefield had become his entire existence, while his life before the war became a distant memory.

Feeling that he won't see many more days here… he actually feels sad.

With these heavy thoughts, Haalfrin rushes to his room to gather his things..

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When the generals connect to Haalfrin, he very quickly apprises them of the situation, and he lets them know that they need to kill the Queen before his appointed duel with Dakka. The Queen has proven herself unstable enough to cause chaos in this world, and they can't allow her to go free.

At the same time, their best chance at taking the Queen out quietly will pass by if the Queen realizes that her prisoner had escaped. This means that they have to move out immediately.

And so, Haalfrin drags himself to his personal room, and he starts picking his armor pieces up from the rack on the wall – all while groaning and looking despondent.

"What's wrong, dear?" Freyya asks from their bed. "Where are you going with that armor on?"

He sighs with exhaustion as he put on his armor. "I'm going to work."

His hair is long by now, and it has streaks of grey in it.

Freyya had always said that he looked more handsome with this rugged and worn look… but only in this moment does she finally think that he looks old.

That ancient feeling isn't coming from a wrinkly face, but from his tired and dull eyes.