Failure. It was the only thought Jasper could manage through his shame and guilt. He had felt that something was off today. The air was different. That's what he decided on. It held a mysterious omen on it’s winds, however he had neglected to follow through on the nagging feeling and now...and now he was paying a severe price.
His one and only duty, to guard and support the heir of a prestigious kingdom through the upcoming war. No matter the price.
He had known when he accepted the position that in order to succeed he would be force to take many lives. While he was an well decorated assassin just as equally as Alice, he was not a military man.
He was assigned one or two targets. He would stalk, gather resources and information and then strike when the opportunity arose.
It was a clean cut and straight forward. Nothing like the messy and clumsy chaos of war.
Which led back to his current situation. He has been casually sitting outside in the courtyard snacking on a sandwich when his senses went haywire.
He cursed himself. He had left the Prince alone because they had asked for privacy and he was only three minutes away. He seemed it safe.
What a colossal misguided mistake. A thunderous boom shook the earth. Massive shockwaves split the ground into a growing trench. Jasper was knocked flat on his back. He rolled left and right, narrowly dodging pieces of the university as they came hurling through the air.
The pristine suit of his morphed into full body plated armor in an instant. It was shiny black and made from his thick exoskeleton of a scorpion. Jasper grew to his full height of nine feet while his twelve foot bladed tail easily knocked aside any falling boulder chunks.
While not nearly as tough as even the weakness cancerian, it did best any of the other zodiac races in defense and the flexibly of his tail made a good natural offence.
It was not a moment too soon as the hefty bulk of massively towering Draconian stood a dozen yards in front of Jasper.
A string of curses slipped past his lips. Of all the races to face off, he was matched with one of most lethal. Not even a leolite could match the raw brutal strength of a dragon.
“Ah. A Scorpio. Should have known one of your filthy kind would be scurrying around. Where is the missing royal? We know those stubborn crabs had a child. Where is it?”
Jasper stood at his full height, tail whipping back and forth violently. He glared with pure icy hatred. “I have no idea what you are talking about.” He replied coldly.
The twenty foot creature released a booming laughter flashing row after row of wickedly sharp teeth. “Is that how you want play, little bug?”
It pulled a deadly looking sword out of its sheath. The draconian swung the mighty weapon a few times in a show of fancy movements. Jasper forced himself not to roll his eyes on the obvious intimidation technique.
The creature began its sprint towards Jasper. The ground cracked and buckled under the sheer weight and power with each shuddering footstep.
Jasper knew his biggest advantage was his speed and movability. He dashed forward, zipping across the ruined courtyard. The sword met his bladed limb in a clash of sparks and wind recoil.
“Impressive...for a bug.”
A flurry of powerful and lethal blows were exchanged. Neither of the two giving each other room to recover. The harsh sounds of clanging and scrapping echoed across the destroyed buildings. The dragon monster was only able to land half of its hits and even those were managed to be blocked.
It was quickly becoming a battle of stamina. Whichever began to lose their edge would be the first to fall.
A sudden snuck in blow struck Jasper straight in the middle of his chest. He flew backwards into a crumbling wall. The weakened structure collapsed from the force of impact.
He wheezed as his lungs burned and his chest throbbed. “Damn. That strength is nothing to play around with.”
He wobbled to his feet while his eyes trained on the approaching figure. Glowing orange embers and smoke were floating up in wisps from its jaws. Jasper coughed out a blob of blood. He pushed away the pain. He couldn’t let the flames form and be released.
“I must say, I didn’t expect such a battle from you. But it ends now. We must have the child. Give it up. It’s not worth your life, even as miserable as it must be.”
Fury scorched in the scorpio’s veins. While Aibek was not his actual prince, he had been with the young heir for decades, watching a shy and lonely boy slowly transform into a dedicated and kind young man.
He would be damned to hell before he would let any harm befall his charge. He gritted his teeth as he gathered the rest of his energy to sprint and leap into the air, flipping gracefully.
Just as he expected, the draconian focused on his main body and for a split second forgot about his trailing tail. The realisation came to it quickly, but the opening was already there.
The dangerously sharp tip pierced the center of the goliath dragon’s chest. A howling scream of agony roared from its maw. Flames billowed out into the sky above like a radiate beacon.
The Scorpio pulled his tail free. The toxic poison his tail secreted would make short work of the creature if it was somehow able to survive the life threatening crater in his middle.
“We...will get...it. Nothing can...stop us.” The dragon’s voice was croaking in and out of hearing range. It gave Jasper a withering glare all the way until the life faded from its eyes.
The once brilliant orange scaled body turned grey rapidly and then crumbled into ash and dust as all celestial beings did once death embraced them.
Jasper wanted to collapse in a heap from exhaustion and pain, but he had to find Aibek. He could still feel tremors slightly quivering the ground in the distance.
A battle, and a large one at that, was brewing somewhere. The shockwaves plus the overpowering energy of the deep sea were indicators that Aibek was at least defending himself.
A ripple of violent energy vibrated the air. It was thick and heavy. The aura brimmed with anger, hate, and pain. He frowned. He did not like the fact that he could sense emotions, especially such dark ones. He was as good as reading emotions as a ten dollar human fortune teller. Only person could be the source.
He peered up to the sky as the light from the sun faded into shadow. “Oh fuck." He made a mad dash through the rubble as worry filled his heart and made his stomach drop.
Behind him, red beams of light whispered tales of terror and doom as a bloody crimson moon shinned angrily down upon the earth.
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