Chapter 31

  Anti-climatic Showdown

  The roar still echoed in the bones of the settlement, a deep, throbbing vibration that made the weaker fighters flinch. Dust hung in the air, stinging the eyes and catching in the throat.

  Luna stood frozen, her gaze locked on the black wyvern like a child staring into the maw of a nightmare. Her lips moved, the same words spilling again in a trembling whisper:

  “They can’t be killed… They cant be killed... They cant be killed. They cant be......”

  Lux stepped closer, his boots crunching softly on the rubble. His hand didn’t reach for her, but his presence loomed steady and unshaken beside her.

  “Luna…” His voice was low, carrying only to her over the wind stirred by the wyvern’s wings. “I need you to breathe. Right now, I don’t care if that thing’s killed a hundred kingdoms—because it’s not killing anyone here, not today.”

  She finally tore her eyes away from the monster to look at him. His expression was… dangerous. The kind of calm that comes before a storm.

  “Lux, you don’t understand—” she began, but he cut her off, his jaw set like stone.

  “I don’t need to understand,” he said, voice steady but carrying an iron edge. “All I need is to keep them alive. You included.”

  For just a heartbeat, the fear clawing at her chest loosened. There was something in the way he said it—like he was staking his life on it without hesitation.

  Behind them, Captain Strider called out again, his tone sharp and taunting:

  “Come now, Lux! Don’t tell me you’ve lost your nerve!”

  Lux’s eyes flicked from Luna to the Captain, that dangerous look hardening.

  Lux didn’t move at first. He stood there on the cracked stone, staring down Strider like the captain had just signed his own death warrant. The wyvern’s massive wings shifted behind him, its talons gouging the earth, but Lux’s focus stayed locked on the man in front of him.

  Then he stepped forward, slow and deliberate, every motion daring Strider to try something. His voice came out like a blade scraping against steel, carrying across the open ground.

  “You want me, Strider? Come get me. I’ve been in worse places against worse odds… and I’m still here.”

  He jabbed a finger toward the soldiers clustered behind the captain.

  “You bring your sixty men. You bring your mages. Hell, bring your pet lizard over there. I’ve fought wars where men like you died before breakfast.”

  A few of Strider’s men shifted uneasily, exchanging glances.

  Lux took another step closer, voice rising so even the furthest soldier could hear.

  “I’ll say this once—you come for my people, you better be ready to lose more than you bargained for. Because if you step foot past that line, Captain…”

  His eyes narrowed, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a cold, humorless smirk.

  “…you won’t see another sunrise.”

  The words hung in the air, sharp and final.

  Strider’s face twisted, but he barked out a laugh anyway.

  “Have it your way! Men—forward!”

  The line of troops shifted, weapons lifting. Behind Lux, Luna’s voice rang out—sharp, commanding—ordering their fighters into position. And over it all, the wyvern let out another ear-splitting roar.

  Strider’s laugh rolled across the clearing, deep and mocking.

  “What are you going to do, Lux? I’ve got an unkillable beast at my side!”

  Lux tilted his head slightly, eyes flicking toward the hulking black wyvern as it loomed behind the captain, its armored scales glinting in the dying light.

  “Oh, really?” he said, voice steady, dangerous. “Nothing’s unkillable.”

  He brought the revolver up, slow enough for Strider to see it clearly.

  Strider sneered.

  “What’s your little bow going to do? Scratch its nose?”

  Lux’s lips curved into a sharp smirk.

  “Watch.”

  The crack of the revolver shattered the air—

  BANG!

  The single bullet punched through the wyvern’s left eye in a burst of black ichor. The beast let out a piercing, ear-splitting scream, staggering backward in shock. Its massive wings beat the ground in panic, the earth trembling as it thrashed wildly.

  Men scrambled to get out of its way as the wyvern collapsed onto its side, tail whipping through trees, splintering them like kindling. Its roars grew weaker, fading into a guttural, choking hiss. Then… silence.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Strider’s jaw hung slightly open.

  Lux lowered the revolver, smoke curling from the barrel.

  “Guess it wasn’t so unkillable after all.”

  Lunas Pov

  With her fear, disbelief, and thoughts woven in.

  Luna’s breath caught the instant she heard the roar.

  She knew it.

  That sound had haunted her dreams for years—low, guttural at first, then swelling into a shrieking wail that scraped at her bones.

  Her blood ran cold.

  A black wyvern… here.

  The memory slammed into her: smoke choking the skies above Greenwood, towers crumbling, people screaming. The black shape blotting out the sun. The screams cut short.

  Her hands trembled at her sides.

  They can’t be killed. Not by steel, not by magic… nothing.

  And then Strider’s voice cut through her panic like a blade.

  “What are you going to do, Lux? I’ve got an unkillable beast at my side!”

  She wanted to shout at Lux to run, to get everyone into the forest—anything but stand there. But then she saw his face. The set jaw. The way his eyes locked on the wyvern like a predator spotting prey.

  Lux’s voice was calm. Too calm.

  “Oh, really? Nothing’s unkillable.”

  She felt her heart hammering in her chest.

  What is he doing?!

  When Strider mocked the gun in his hand, Luna’s stomach twisted. She had seen the weapon work on men, yes… but a wyvern?

  And then Lux smirked.

  That smirk—half reckless, half certain—stole her breath.

  “Watch.”

  The sound that followed—

  BANG!

  —was deafening in the open air. She flinched, eyes snapping to the wyvern just as the bullet struck its eye.

  The world seemed to slow.

  The beast reared back, screaming in agony, its massive wings battering the earth. Soldiers stumbled as its tail smashed into the ground, trees splintered, dirt and stone raining down like hail.

  Luna could only stare.

  He killed it… He actually… killed it.

  And as the wyvern’s body went still, a strange mix of terror and awe washed over her. The fear was still there—rooted deep—but tangled with something else.

  Something she didn’t want to name.

  Not yet.

  The wyvern’s last breath came out in a guttural hiss, then silence.

  The silence was worse.

  Luna’s ears rang from the shot, but she still heard Strider’s laugh die in his throat. His face twisted, first in confusion… then in something far uglier—fear.

  The soldiers behind him shifted uneasily, their tight formations breaking. Some took a step back, eyes darting between the fallen beast and the man still holding the strange weapon.

  Lux didn’t move.

  He stood there with the gun still raised, smoke curling from the barrel, eyes locked on Strider like he’d already decided the man was next.

  Luna swallowed hard.

  She had seen commanders before, seen fear ripple through an enemy line—but this was different. This was one man, a single shot, and an army that suddenly looked… smaller.

  Strider’s voice finally came, harsher, less sure:

  “What… what kind of magic is that?”

  Lux answered without looking away from him.

  “Not magic. Just enough to put you down, too, if you keep pushing.”

  A few soldiers outright turned and ran. The rest exchanged wary glances, their hands tightening on weapons but their feet rooted in place.

  Luna felt a surge of something dangerous in her chest—hope.

  The kind she’d been afraid to feel for years.

  He’s not just fighting for them… he’s making them believe we can win.

  He ripped his blade free and bellowed,

  “He can’t do that twice! Kill them all!”

  The soldiers roared in answer and surged forward.

  Luna’s heart slammed in her chest—then she heard Lux’s voice, sharp, cutting through the chaos like a battle horn:

  “Give ’em hell, boys and girls!”

  The line of demi-human fighters moved as one. Rath and Korr barreled forward, shields slamming into the first wave. Lyra’s bow sang, arrows driving clean through armor. Harrek, skewered a soldier who tried to flank, tossing him aside without breaking stride.

  Lux himself was a blur—one moment smashing a soldier’s helmet in with the revolver’s grip, the next ripping a sword from another’s hand and sending its owner sprawling.

  The air filled with the sound of steel, snarls, and the snap of bowstrings.

  Luna’s vantage point let her see it all—the enemy’s initial confidence melting into hesitation with every strike her people landed.

  Strider cut his way toward Lux, his face twisted in fury.

  Lux spotted him coming, flicked the revolver into his other hand, and met the charge head-on.

  They were going to break Strider’s line… or die right here.

  Strider pointed his blade at Lux, spit flying as he shouted,

  “That was a lucky shot, nothing more!”

  Lux’s lips curled into a slow, knowing smirk.

  “I told you… nothing’s unkillable.”

  Then, without breaking eye contact, he bellowed—his voice carrying over the battlefield:

  “Weapons hot—OPEN FIRE!”

  The crack of revolvers shattered the morning stillness.

  Each report echoed through the clearing, each flash from the muzzles cutting through the drifting smoke.

  Rath and Korr fired in practiced rhythm, each shot finding a target. Harrek held his ground, reloading with calm precision before sending another bullet tearing into the enemy’s line. Lyra loosed an arrow between shots, her bowstring snapping like thunder.

  Strider’s front rank buckled under the sudden storm of lead and steel, disbelief flashing across their faces as they realized these strange weapons didn’t miss.

  Luna, from her high perch, felt her breath catch—her people, her broken, battered survivors, were cutting through the Baron’s men like they were born for this. And at the center of it all… Lux, every movement sharp, deliberate, and commanding, as if this was the war he had been waiting his whole life to fight.

  The gunfire didn’t relent.

  Every time one of Strider’s men tried to close the distance, another sharp CRACK or BANG tore them down.

  Smoke drifted low to the ground, curling around the boots of the advancing defenders as they stepped over fallen bodies.

  A round punched through the thigh of the man just to Strider’s right, sending him screaming to the dirt. Another snapped through the air and tore into the captain’s leg, spinning him halfway around before he crashed to one knee. His roar of pain carried over the chaos, but his eyes—wild and darting—were searching for an escape, not a victory.

  “Fall back! FALL BACK!” he bellowed, the bravado gone from his voice.

  But retreat under fire was a slaughter.

  Each step his men took away from the fight cost him another soldier. Rath’s revolver barked, Korr dropped a fleeing swordsman with a clean headshot, and Harrek’s steady fire claimed two more before the survivors broke completely.

  When it was over, Strider was limping into the treeline, clutching his bleeding leg, only five battered survivors at his back. His voice carried one last venom-laced threat through the forest:

  “This isn’t over, Lux!”

  Lux moved through the aftermath, revolver still in hand but lowered, his eyes scanning for movement. The smell of powder hung thick in the air, mingled with the copper tang of blood.

  “Sound off!” he barked, his voice hard but quick.

  One by one, the defenders answered. Rath leaned against a wall, a shallow gash along his forearm. Harrek was already wrapping a strip of cloth around a bruised rib, muttering curses under his breath. Korr sported a cut along his cheek, but grinned anyway, clearly riding the high of victory.

  Lyra stepped out from behind a collapsed cart, reloading her weapon. “Nothing bad—bruise on my shoulder from diving behind cover.”

  A few of the demi-human noncombatants nursed minor scrapes from flying debris or near misses, but no one was missing. No one was dead.

  Lux exhaled slowly, tension bleeding out of him. “Good… good. That’s the kind of fight I like to see—everyone walking away.”

  Luna appeared from her vantage point, her face still pale from what she’d witnessed with the wyvern. She glanced over the gathered group, relief flickering through her eyes. “We held,” she said softly, almost to herself.

  Lux nodded once, scanning the tree line before finally lowering the hammer on his revolver. “Yeah. But they’ll be back. And next time… they won’t be laughing.”