Lay the Dragon v2 (18+ NSFW)

Alryc and Lyn advanced, leading their respective forces. Mimi and her hoard of dragon-riding goblins circled overhead, keeping pace with the army below them, occasionally sending flare signals to denote the distance to the enemy.

Alryc glanced over at the goblina by his side, "Somehow, this is almost worse than the actual battle."

"You mean the waiting?"

"Aye. I can't stand it. It feels like everything is moving at a snail's pace. The whole world is silent, despite the cacophony an army creates. I hear everything, but despite that, the world FEELS silent."

Lyn nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I get it. I feel the same. I'm a mix of fearful and nervous, but mostly excited."

Alryc glanced over, "What?"

The green-skinned girl flashed a broad smile, "I'm excited. I've never been to war. My old nest had a handful of battles, sure, but not a full-scale war like this. I'm pumped. My heart is racing and all my senses feel finely honed."

Alryc laughed, "And I thought I was weird. I'm nervous. But I'm ready."

"Me too, my love. We're going to crush these fuckers."

"Yes, we are, love. I think I see their formation up ahead."

Lyn narrowed her eyes, "I see them."

They looked at each other and smiled. They knew that once the fighting started, they wouldn't be able to SEE each other until after the battle.

"Hey," Alryc began. "See that rock formation over there?"

Lyn followed his gaze towards a distance formation - it stuck out of the ground at a solid angle before jutting back, creating a lightning-style formation. She nodded, "The lightning?"

"Aye. After the battle, meet me there. If we get separated, I don't want to wonder if you survived longer than needed. We meet, then we can continue with whatever is needed together."

Lyn nodded, "I can get behind that."

"Alright. I love you, Lyn."

"I love you too, Al."

"KISS!"

The pair turned to see Kamen standing there, smiling, "Come on, give me something to think about while I'm soaking my blade in demonic viscera."

"You're still fuckin' weird, kid," Lyn said with a chuckle, shaking her head.

"Kid? I'm older than you!"

"Oh, for sure. But I'm further along in my life cycle."

"Whatever. I'm serious. Kiss."

"Fine, fine," Alryc said and turned, planting his lips on Lyn's.

After a few moments, the pair broke apart and Kamen smiled, "Beautiful. Now let's go fuck some demons."

"You mean fuck them UP, right?"

"I don't much care about the direction. You've got your ideas, I've got mine. Sorry, we vardor get weird when the adrenaline flows..."

"I can tell. You lot confuse sex with battle often?"

Kamen shook his head, "Nah. We do tend to fuck after battle... Ah, my first post-battle orgy... This is going to be a reward well-earned..."

Alryc shook his head and laughed.

Lyn and Alryc stopped their advance as Duke Norman held up his hand, signaling a company halt. He rode a few paces ahead and turned back, addressing the army as a whole with relays stationed to carry his words to the far back ranks.

"We face a massive enemy today. Many of us will fall. But many more of them will fall under our blades! Let's give them Hell and send them crawling back to their dark master. Now, charge!"

Alryc glanced over at Lyn, knowing the plan was to hold the demons here to give Arland and Nury time to kill Agdron and claim the throne.

The army set their stances, the front line holding shields ahead of them with the second line slipping spears over their shoulders, creating a wall of sharp sticks and shields - nearly impossible to pass through. The subsequent lines each held shields overhead, protecting the ranks from ranged attacks.

"READY!" Duke Norman shouted, lifting his sword.

The demon army approached at a sprint.

"FIGHT!" He roared as he swung his sword down.

The line surged forward as one mass, the shields locked together in a wall, and the spearmen thrust their weapons into the demon army.

The shield wall slammed into the demon force and Alryc watched in awe as the lines met. The human shield wall trampled forward. Any demons that fell were consumed by the mass as the soldiers merely continued their advance.

The front line - the one holding the shields - thrust swords down through any demons unfortunate enough to meet such an end.

Dragons swooped and soared overhead, bathing the field in mighty flames as goblins rained arrows.

In the distance, Alryc heard Lyn call out for her goblins. Rocks from the surrounding mountains began tumbling down, rolling over, and crushing any in their paths.

Alryc felt his heart grow lighter as he realized they might take relatively few casualties.

But even as his heart began to relax, he saw it - a flying mass of demons coming toward them in the distance.

"Fuck..." He grimaced before looking skyward. "MIMI!" He called, then pointed the dragon queen of goblins toward the new force.

Her head whipped around and she narrowed her eyes, taking in the incoming force.

He watched her signal her wyvern riders and a group broke away from the main body, making their way toward the flying horde.

He turned his attention back to the battlefield.

He saw a group of knights breaking off from the shield wall, riding around the edges of the conflict.

He glanced over and saw the same thing happening on Lyn's side.

Duke Norman was a crafty old bastard, it seemed.

A moment later, more rocks began rolling down the mountainside. These were small. Green. And they left red streaks.

He heard Lyn's pained howl and he knew. Those weren't rocks. The demons had outflanked them, sending a force to wipe out their planned reinforcements. Alryc howled and charged, leading his small force to back up Duke Norman's side.

He glanced over to see Kamen riding to Lyn's aid. 'Good boy,' He thought as his horse crashed into the first of the demons. His sword sliced in, cutting left and right, felling opponent after opponent.

As time flowed by, Alryc lost his sense of time in the ebb and flow of battle. Each side signaled this or that, switching to and fro. Neither was able to hold the upper hand for long.

***

Lyn dismounted her horse and sent it off as she met the first demon. He fell after a quick double jab to his nose lodged it firmly within the cavity of his skull. Her eyes blazed with fury as she danced, fists and boots striking at any demon that came within range.

"THOSE WERE MY KIN!!" She howled as a lanky demon turned to flee from her wrath. She grabbed its tail and yanked, ripping it free of the demon. As the dismembered appendage flailed in her hand, she lashed out with her free hand, three strikes trailing up the demon's back seemed to be a single fluid strike.

She dropped the tail and moved to the next opponent, the rage burning inside her pushing her beyond her limits. She felt the blood trickle down her arm from her knuckles and ignored it.

She felt a sharp pain in her abdomen as she was knocked off her feet.

"Gotcha!" She heard a demon cry out in triumph.

Lyn twisted as she fell, kicking the demon away, using the momentum to carry her up.

She landed on her feet and turned, her leg lashing out to knock the demon's legs out from under him. She kept her momentum, coming around as she raised her foot before bringing it down with a thunderous -CRACK!- on the demon's forehead.

"THOSE GOBLINS WERE INNOCENT!"

She heard a whistling and dodged, rolling and jumping back. A spear tip stabbed the ground where she had been standing.

She turned, her foot lashing out and catching a demon between the legs.

"I WILL NOT FAIL MY PEOPLE!"

The demons before her scattered as she surged forward, her fists flying as she spun, jumped, dodged, and weaved between them. As she went, she lashed at each, felling a trail of demons behind her.

***

Mimi circled overhead, her wings carrying her easily on the breeze. As she watched the carnage below, she saw Alryc enter the fray on the left and Lyn fly into a fury. She heard the goblina howl and followed her gaze to the far right. Goblin heads rolled down the mountain.

"Oh no..." She whispered. She had no love lost for the goblina, but she understood the connection between a goblina and her goblins. Lyn would feel like pieces of her were dying.

The dragoness heard one of her goblins, mounted on wyverns chittering. She turned to see a second hoard of demons coming her way.

"Handle them! I've got business elsewhere!"

The goblin nodded his understanding as he rallied the others to his side and set off to meet the incoming forces.

Mimi turned back to the ground forces, "Time to show you why Dragons are terrifying, you forsaken dragons..."

She flew up, then angled down, diving at top speed. She neared the ground, opened her mouth, and unleashed a searing flame, the heat melted the flesh of the demons, leaving behind blackened, charred skeletons.

She climbed again, circling and repeating the process.

***

Alryc looked up and his eyes widened in horror as the violet dragoness swooped past him, leaving a trail of flaming death.

Under the roar of flames and scream of demonic victims, he heard another voice.

"ALRYC!" Mimi called. He raised his sword.

She swooped again, lifting him with her arms under his. "Lyn needs you!"

"My men need me!"

"ALRYC! Lyn is losing her mind! Her goblins have been slain! She needs you or she'll fall!"

Alryc realized what she was saying, "Drop me by her!"

Mimi nodded and flew him towards the goblina, "I'll watch your men! For Arland!"

"For Arland," Alryc said simply before she released him.

He hit the ground with a roll and came up at a run as he searched out his fiance.

He realized it wouldn't be hard by the trail of demons with broken faces and bones, half of them not dead, merely too injured to continue the fight.

He moved quickly, stepping and jumping over bodies when he saw a flash of green ahead. "LYN!" He called, hoping to reach her.

He saw her spin, a demon's skull cracking as her fist struck.

He watched as she moved forward, her strikes and kicks flowing and striking.

"LYN!" He called out again as he rushed to her. He joined her, his sword lashing left and right, cutting down the demons as they fought back to back.

"MY PEOPLE! MY KIN!" She screamed as tears flowed freely.

Alryc could sense the pain in her voice, "I'm here, Lyn! You're not alone!"

"THEY WERE INNOCENTS!!" She shouted, a fury-driven fist striking the demon in the face and knocking it backward, its neck twisting as its skull collided with the ground.

"I'm sorry, my love!" Alryc called back as he spun, his sword cutting through a demon's neck and sending its head flying. He followed through, his sword point burying into another demon's eye.

The demons backed off slightly as Lyn unleashed a howl to rival the roar of a dragon.

Alryc took the moment to turn to face her. As he spun her towards him, she snarled and raised her fist against him.

He held her gaze for what seemed to be an eternity as the battle seemed to fade into the background, "Lyn... I'm here, my love. You're not alone and you never will be. If you want to strike me, then so be it. But I say, if either of us must die, we do so together. My life is yours. Do with it as you want."

She lowered her fist, "Alryc... It hurts..." She sobbed.

He pulled her close, "I know, love. I know. What say we give these demons hell? And should we be overrun, let it be together."

She looked up into his eyes and saw a hint of defiance at the situation around them. She nodded, "Sounds good, my love."

He smirked, "Married by the shower of blood we shall rain."

She pulled him down for a kiss. When their lips parted, "Married by the souls we shuffle from their mortal shells."

"Together through death," He returned as they spun back to back.

"Together through eternity. Don't lose your head again," He said, bringing his sword up.

"I won't. Not with you here," She brought her fists to bear.

As the demons closed in warily, the couple roared in tandem before each stepping forward and renewing their combined assault.

***

As the demon's ranks finally break, Alryc stands panting. He looked back to see Lyn collapse to her knees. He knelt next to her, "Are you alright, love?"

She looked up at him as her chest heaved, "Physically, yes... But my soul... It hurts..."

Alryc nodded, "I know. Their ranks broke. We're good to go rest. Then tomorrow, we can lay your kin to rest in peace tomorrow."

Lyn shook her head, "We can't. We must push on."

Alryc placed his hand on her shoulder, "No. You've done all you need. The rest of this war won't miss the two of us."

She looked up at him, her long, green ears drooping. After a moment, she nodded. He sheathed his blade and hefted her into his arms, cradling her as he began the long trek back to the tent.

"Where's your horse...?"

He glanced and nodded his head to the far side of the battlefield, "A demon's blade doesn't discriminate."

"Ah... poor thing... It was a good horse."

Alryc looked down at her, a faint grin pulling at the corners of his lips, "He was a stubborn jackass."

She blushed, "Just like his rider."

He chuckled and shook his head, "Rest, love. Tomorrow is a new day."

She smiled, "And a new life, once we've buried our dead."

Alryc stepped through the entrance and laid her on the bed, "Sleep."

She gripped his tunic, "Stay. Please. I don't want to be alone right now..."

He nodded and took his place by her, curling around her as they cuddled. While the adrenaline from battle began to wane, the post-rush crash took hold, dragging them down into the depths of a dreamless sleep.