The Dragon King's Heart

He did not know what to do. For just a split second Dante simply stood there as he stared blankly. Then, he tapped the pendant and picked up the call. But what was he thinking? He was in the middle of a battle!

But, he knew one thing was for certain. He was not going to ghost Laina any longer than he had already done. Dante looked up at the colossal beast, it was taller than the tallest tree in the surrounding forest.

A colossal water salamander was a rare sight. Realizing he had not said a word nor did Laina, Dante panicked.

"Laina, are you there?" he called out.

A moment of silence.

"Dante? Dante, you picked up!" She sounded extremely excited.

Dante grinned, he could already picture how she looked at that moment, probably squealing to Margaret. But he had made a grave mistake. He had taken his eyes off the colossal water salamander.

Seeing that he was distracted, the creature swerved and used its long tail to send Dante flying to the side. Caught completely off guard, Dante took a direct hit, flying through the air as he crashed and fell a number of trees.

"Dante, Dante! Is everything alright? What's all that commotion?" Laina's voice rang through the pendant. She sounded worried.

Dante, lying on a pile of tree stumps, grunted in pain as he dusted off his clothes and got back up on his feet. His abdomen was bruised, but it was not anything serious.

"Dante? Are you there?" her voice sounded even more anxious than before.

"Margaret, could he be in danger? Where could he possibly be?" he could hear Laina's muffled voice, sounding like she had turned away to speak to her handmaid.

Realizing she was worried, he quickly replied, "I'm alright, Laina. Don't worry, my love."

He cursed beneath his breath. He did not mean to call her that, a slip of the tongue. He quickly cleared his throat and diverted the topic, "I'm sorry, your Highness but I am a little tied up at the moment. I'll speak to you later."

With that, he tapped the pendant twice and let out a sigh as he leaned back into the pile of tree trunks he had fallen on. He placed his hand over his eyes as he gritted his teeth. Dante knew he was in trouble.

What was Laina going to think?

He brushed her off after he did not pick up her call multiple times. What if she thinks he was toying with her. Just then, Dante sensed an incoming attack. He skillfully dodged the attack, moments before the colossal salamander crushed the pile of tree trunks.

"Taking advantage of the situation? What a sly move," Dante smirked as he looked up at the creature.

If he wanted to explain himself to Laina, he would need to get out of here. In order to do that, he must first defeat the colossal water salamander in front of him. Dante looked up at the salamander. It was enraged by Dante's lack of attention to the battle.

The salamander roared as it stomped its feet on the ground, causing shockwaves all around. The trees shook, and the birds flew away into the sky. The animals in the surrounding forest were on high alert, escaping deeper into the forest.

But Dante was not impressed. He looked up at the salamander. While he would have preferred to toy with it a little more before dealing the finishing blow, he had no time to waste on it today.

"I don't have time to play games with you today. So let's make this quick, shall we?" Dante took to his dragon form in the blink of an eye.

He unfurled his wings and let out a loud roar, even the townsfolk in Rugdwell could hear it. Under the blazing sun, his midnight blue and black scales shimmered. His sapphire blue eyes glared at the salamander.

Though his current size was not as large as the colossal water salamander, it allowed him to maneuver with ease. Dante took to the sky at once. He unhinged his jaw and released a stream of ice breath on the salamander.

A sapphire blue aura surrounded Dante, as he controlled the element of ice to freeze the lake. Unable to dodge the attack, the salamander suffered a direct hit. Part of its body began to freeze, causing it agonizing pain.

It attempted to retreat back into the water, but the water was frozen solid. Taking full advantage of the situation, Dante covered his wings with sharpened ice shards and swooped down on the salamander at incredible speeds.

The salamander was cut and slashed at the speed of light, you could not even see how fast Dante moved. Blood seeped out of its wounds as the colossal beast cried out in agony. Realizing it was no match for Dante, it continued to retreat, only to slip onto the ice-covered lake.

Dante flew above the creature, looking down upon it from where he was. He lifted his head up towards the clouds and let out a stream of icy breath towards the sky. Moments later, ice shards fell from the sky, impaling the salamander.

Each ice shard, shaped like spears, pierced through the hide of the salamander and froze it in place. It attempted to dodge the attacks but to no avail. Soon the salamander was completely frozen in place like an ice sculpture.

Dante took to his hybrid form, still flying above the lake. He clicked his fingers. The frozen salamander cracked and crumbled. The frozen layer of the lake began to fracture and crack too, causing the colossal beast to sink into the depths of the river.

As soon as the fight had begun, it had swiftly ended. As the surface of the lake grew still once more and the animals returned to the forests, Dante knew his work was done. He flew back to Rugdwell town.

"Ah, just in time. Your Majesty, everything has arrived as per your request," Marius said as soon as he spotted Dante.

Dante patted Marius on the back, "Good work Marius, I'm sure you can take it from here."

Without turning back, Dante took to the sky immediately and flew off, leaving Marius dumbfounded on the ground. When he finally came to his senses and realized what his King had done, he wanted to protest but it was useless.

He placed both of his hands on his head as he cursed, "Why is it always me who has to do all the dirty work!"

At the very least, the hard part of the work was done. The colossal beast was eliminated, which meant the town was safe. Once he completed his work here, he too could take his leave. Realizing what that might mean for him, Marius found a new sense of direction.

He balled up his fist as he looked up towards the sky with determination, "Come on Marius, let's get the work done swiftly! Then we can go visit Margaret in Kinshearth!"

<Writing Prompt #7 - A sudden crash in the kitchen>

Dedicated to slowestcook

Lisette widened her eyes as she paused what she was doing. She was seated in her favorite armchair next to the crackling fireplace, with a leather-bound book in her hand when she heard a sudden crash.

It sounded as if a clay pot had fallen off the countertop, crashing onto the tiled floors. But Lisette did not recall leaving any clay pots close to the edge of any surfaces, could it have been the wind?

She turned to look at her windows. Outside, the wind billowed and fresh snow fell. Apart from the crackling and splintering of the burning firewood, it was silent. She carefully placed down the book on the side table next to her cup of hot cocoa.

Her heart was pounding in her ears as she approached the kitchen cautiously. Just as she was about to reach the doorway leading into the kitchen, she heard the sound of scuttering feet across the floor.

It sounded like tiny claws gently hitting against the floor tiles as a creature ran from one point to another.

Could it be a rat? Lisette wondered.

"I hope not," she muttered to herself as she finally reached the doorway.

With one hand on the side, she leaned in as she took a look into the kitchen. The warm lamp lights on the wall lit up the room. She could see the pieces of clay pottery scattered across the floor next to the island countertop.

As her eyes scanned the vicinity of the kitchen, she heard the sound of scuttering feet again. Following the source of the sound, Lisette noticed a sizable shadow moving across the floor.

With a wave of her hand, Lisette whispered a spell, summoning spheres of light. Within a matter of seconds, the entire kitchen was brightly lit. Lisette gasped in shock as she saw a small creature cowering in the shadow of a semi-open cabinet door.

She could see its bright yellow eyes looking back at her with curiosity. Upon realizing what the creature was, Lisette heaved a sigh of relief. She clicked her fingers together, casting a spell of restoration and clean-up.

A broom and dustpan magically came to life, cleaning up the mess. As Lisette waved her hands, pieces of the broken clay pot levitated before her. She easily fixed the clay pot with a spell and placed it further into the island countertop.

Seeing as the creature was still hiding in the shadows, she realized the light spheres she had summoned were too bright.

"You don't like it when there's too much light, don't you?" She asked the creature as she turned to look at it, "Let me dim them down for you."

Lisette clapped her hands together. In an instant, all the light spheres she had conjured instantly disappeared. Now, the kitchen only had warm lights. Lisette walked over to where the creature was.

<To be continued in the next chapter>