No matter what kingdom may fall under the light of the sun, every inhabitant of Immemoria must fear and respect the Aquadragon. 

It stood at a size among even the greatest castles. Its lustrous and deep blue scales lined in rows, sharp edges jutting out and pointing to the burning red glow of the sky above. Where dried yellow grasses and hardened cracked dirt splayed across the lands of fire, claws wider than a human’s height, and overall feet that dwarfed shacks would crush the ground with every quake-bringing stomp. 

Four of those gargantuan paws dug into the hot lands to move the great mass that extended from them. Each leg was taller than two stories. The torso that those legs were attached to was heavier than an entire army, including their artillery, and its tail was long enough to fell entire clusters of buildings with one measly sweep.

No notion of size, however, could match the terror that rested within its foggy, clear-blue eyes. What could be called pupils were grey slits, misty, seeming as if it could both see nothing and see everything at once. Pale horns rooted in the top of its head in a series of six, starting short above the snout, then rising and curving upwards behind the front, then pointing to the sky with back horns on the scalp that could bring some of the eldest beasts great shame.

Onwards it crawled, centering its attention and trajectory on a kingdom of magma and fire, with ashen walls built around a city illuminated by itself, and by the dark orange sky above.

The Blazer Kingdom, in comparison, seemed hopeless at first. The walls around the great and vast city, reaching three stories tall with a construction of dark ashen bricks several layers reinforced, seated a great army along its battlements. Their forces numbered in the hundreds, wearing volcanic plate armor with molten horns, which gave them a ferocious visage that nearly hid their quivering adrenaline. Every soldier that wasn’t busy frantically pulling wagons of huge ballista arrows to and fro, carrying glowing red cannonballs, or iron-constructed trebuchets, were holding a quiver of 10 full-steel arrows each at their hips.

At the forefront of the army, standing atop the main gate of the kingdom, was a princess, king and queen, each suited in the same armor as their comrades with the only difference being their lack of helmets. Their uniform and jagged crowns, formed from obsidian and igneous glass, rested upon fiery hair. As the apocalyptic Aquadragon drew ever closer, its every feature becoming all too prevalent, the royal family turned back to their people.

“MY PEOPLE,” the three declared in unison; “IF OUR KINGDOM CEASES TO BE OURS BY THE TIME THE SKY HAS COOLED, THEN LET THE SCAR WE CARVE UPON OUR FOE BURN ETERNALLY!”

All at once, the erupting roars of the soldiers caused the heat in the air to rise, warping the sights of all and causing nearly every glowing object to intensify further, embers swirling in the air as every soldier’s dominant hand burned. From their gauntlets, massive bows of scarlet rage twisted to life, and all at once, hundreds of oiled iron arrows ignited in infernal towers as they were drawn.

Meanwhile, over the sight of the yet distant Aquadragon’s back, a small yellow speck could be seen in the far horizon, drawing closer. It became obscured, however, when the monstrosity began to push off of its forelegs, standing upright with its wings stretching backwards for counterbalance. On its hind legs, the Aquadragon towered over even the kingdom’s castle, never mind its walls.

Its long maw slowly peeked open, thick steam hissing from it in entire clouds and only slowly evaporating in the air.

To the shock of the Blazer Kingdom, the Aquadragon’s eyes twitched wide, and it began to turn, claws uprooting a massive streak of dirt into mounds below it, like a giant till. Its head stared over its shoulder for not five seconds, before its attention was stolen completely, twisting the rest of the way to face directly behind itself. As it did, its wings sent out a catastrophic gust of wind from a quarter of a kilometer away, and the tip of its tail grazed the kingdom’s walls, lashing it deep enough to cause the entire front half of the structure to shake, sending every single soldier to the ground before the winds could batter it. Several buildings and houses closer to the walls shook, stony rooftops ripping off of their structures, as the then-exposed citizens ran to the streets and to any place they could duck or hide. 

With their formations disrupted, every soldier scrambled to their feet as soon as the floor below them stabilized, bows reigniting, and siege weapons being pushed around to retrain their aims.

All the while, the draconic abomination had its back turned to the kingdom it devastated by sheer unintentional motion. Its eyes were trained on something that no soldier could pay witness to, nor did any see it necessary beyond curiosity.

The royal family had ducked in advance before the Aquadragon’s swivel, rising back up over the battlements after the tremors ended and swiftly shouting back to their recovering troops. Whatever made the Aquadragon do what it did, they couldn’t stop to think. Ten trebuchets behind the walls were primed to launch payloads of condensed coal diamonds. Fifty cannons held heavy ammunition with molten cores. One hundred ballistae were prepared along the wall, ready to sling barbed steel spears. After the gunners recovered, all their trembling hands could do was wait for their destined command.

“EVERYONE! FI-”

“FIRE! DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME! JUST FIRE AT WILL!”

The dominant voice, in the end, came from no being of cinder or heat. It sent a new force throughout the air, in a static that carried those words even across the great distance, and through the Aquadragon’s frame. Even the three members of the royal family bellowing in unison were drowned out by the electrified voice. At the same time, any confusion in the situation would be drowned out by the fear and fighting spirit that stirred within every soldier’s souls, and all at once, bows of flame shot, ballistae burst, cannons blasted, and trebuchets slung.

The Aquadragon’s backside and wings were laid upon with a shower of armaments, leaving dent upon dent until the scales were pounded off, and the webbings underneath were pulverized. As the arrows and payloads continued to explode on contact, the vast wings lit ablaze, growing closer to the brink of non-functionality.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the action, only one thing stood opposing the larger-than-all beast, and captured its attention over an entire kingdom’s siege armaments. A tenth of a kilometer away, tucked away, yet glowing in its shadow, a young man stood tall. His hair shined a bright and pale electric blue, more pale than the Aquadragon’s horns, and far more frazzled.

Every split-second was greeted with a spark in a random place around his body. On his single-edged razor-esque straight sword, across his golden shoulder cloak, down his simple violet tunic, and from the pupils of his sky-colored eyes. That sharp gaze stared right back into the Aquadragon’s own, silently imposing his challenge without hesitation.

He was met with a boiling waterfall cascading from its seemingly bottomless maw, coupled with its low and rumbling roar of pain.

"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!" His knees buckled not from fear, but from excitement. When the impending fate of being steamed alive met his eyes, The man burst from the ground in a leap that cleared the nigh-impossible distance up to the Aquadragon's head. All that met his skin was the excess steam, and thrilling heat.

Before he could descend upon the huge puddle of unabsorbed boiling water below, his free left hand surged with power, and nearly suspended him in midair as dense lightning struck between the water and said hand. From the ground all around the Aquadragon's feet, up from the waterfall and into its mouth and insides, and even somewhat throughout the steam rising and surrounding both the man and his colossal foe, there was a brilliant flash of light greater than any heat-based explosion could ever produce.

All at once, the lightning coursed throughout every millimeter of the water, filling the Aquadragon's inside and outside with electricity. Its gargantuan body jolted and twitched, shaking as it felt pure pain in every nerve. As the hero descended to the ground, the Aquadragon fell forwards, diving with all its weight in an attempt to crush its first ever true threat.

In the end, all it met was mud, as its assailant sprinted through the flooded land with the blitzing speed of an arrow, avoiding a lethal press and further dispersing explosive bolts throughout the self-made swamp the Aquadragon dove into. 

The Blazer Kingdom's royal family was left as speechless as their army. When the man ran out from the Aquadragon's side, they laid eyes upon the one speck of flesh keeping it away from the mutual ruin of siege.

The Cinderqueen turned to her husband and daughter, but was too mesmerized to turn her eyes away. "Is that-!?”

Her husband answered with similar awe. “That must be him! Avgi Dawn!"