The Adventures of Rose Hood

While most people were scared of the two shards, they immediately recognized that they were here to help. After a week of setting up, we were discussing the plan of combat with the king.

“One question, Ms. Benevolence.”

“Yes, your majesty?”

“If Rose is the target, then why is she also on the front lines.”

“Because she would refuse to not be in the front. She wants to defeat Wrath, and if we weren’t here to help, she’d take on the whole army alone.”

“I see. Is it dangerous for you?”

“Of course, we wouldn’t be absorbed willingly, and if we are forced to be absorbed then our minds die.”

“I see.”

“Yes, the fact of the matter is that Wrath doesn’t care if we are interested or not. She wants as much power as possible, and to get revenge through it.”

“But why target Rose.”

“Wrath is strong, but she lacks a proper body.”

Benevolence gave a dark smile,

“And what better body is there than a mature arcane dragon.”

“That is a terrifying idea. The power of Rose in addition to a shard would be undefeatable.”

“And that’s why we are here, because me and Peace rather like this world, we agree that the only ones we should destroy are the fools that tore us apart. That’s why me and my sisters want one of us to be the core.”

“I see, so it will happen either way, the only difference is how much gets destroyed.”

“Bingo.”

“Well, I still don’t trust you, but I will follow this strategy.”

“It would be foolish of you to trust me, but smart choice.”

Her smile caused the king to shiver.

_

“Alright, the wall is situated, we have a team that is in position to react to anything.”

“What about the main group?”

“We have ambush groups for 5 sides, the invading army will get pressed against the wall.”

“Good, now all we have to do is wait.”

“How long will it take for Wrath’s army to attack?”

“3 hours.”

“MISTRESS PEACE!!!”

“What is it, Galiath?”

“Pride’s army is meeting up with Wrath’s.”

“Calm down, this was in our calculations. All it means is that we have 1 hour instead of 3.”

“Why so much less time?”

“Pride has a trait that bolsters a soldiers resolve. It makes it so that they will go faster and stronger. Be prepared for the fight of a lifetime.”

“Understood.”

‘Rose, you ready?’

‘As ready as I’ll ever be, Sloth.’

‘This is a bad situation; the endgame is happening so soon.’

‘This isn’t the endgame, it’s just starting.’

‘You think so?’

‘I do.’

At that moment, we saw an army running through the forest sounding war cries. Wrath was here, and behind her was an old enemy. The Whilder king was here.

‘Hello little dragon, let’s fight again.’

‘If you can last more than a second.’

_

Immediately, our plan went into action, their flanks were ambushed and pressed to the wall. Me, Peace, and Benevolence immediately went into action. I shifted, tackling the Whilder king, while the other two fought Wrath and Pride.

I breathed arcane and the Whilder roared and slashed.

“Oblivion!”

He countered with a thrust and struck my stomach, causing me to roar. I bit down on his flank and ripped out flesh which healed immediately, he struck my chest, which healed.

Both of us were even in strength.

‘You are strong, dragon, only your inexperience kills you.’

‘Fool, you don’t even know you are outmatched.’

‘Who is that?!’

Sloth went into action, she left my body and slashed at the Whilder.

It roared, she laughed and landed on it.

I took advantage of the distraction and bit down on its stomach. I infused poison into its very being. It would die even if it won this fight.

_

“How do we kill it?”

“Kill what?”

“The King Whilder, Wrath is obviously going to align with it.”

“I see, couldn’t you just fight it and kill it?”

“Not that easy, godly beasts take way too much to kill.”

“Then there is no wa-”

“Actually...”

‘Sloth, can I use your poison even after we split?’

‘Yes, but what’s your plan?’

“I am the same size as the Whilder King, so if I use Sloth’s poison, it will actually be enough to kill him.”

“That’s...”

‘That’s ingenious. You use your size to escalate the power.’

“So, I’ll fight the Whilder, you two fight the others.”

“Understood.”

_

The Whilder gasped, its breath was growing fainter.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”

It spoke aloud in panic.

“Poison, and a lot of it.”

“You... little... I’ll kill you.”

He was growing faint, but he was still fast.

He slashed open my stomach before I could react and grabbed my throat with his mouth.

“I was supposed to leave you alive, but screw that. If I’m going down, you are going down with me.”

He ripped out my throat causing my allies to scream.

“Hah hah hah! I’ll die here, but not before killing all of you.”

I was not dead of course... I am a shard of a god.

‘Oh, you poor poor fool.’

“What? Who said that?”

“Behind you.”

He looked back to see me, a catkin.

“A catkin? I’ll eat you in a single bite.”

And, true to his word, he did... he was too overconfident. So, I shifted while inside of his stomach.

“GRHK?”

I broke out of his stomach, all of the damage killing him before he could regenerate. I roared and Sloth remerged with me before anyone else saw her.

The screaming turned to cheers as the threat that we thought would result in the death of the nation died.

The men struck harder and harder, causing the surrounded army of evil to panic.

I shifted to a catkin and joined the fray. I jumped to the center of the enemy formation and started killing.

The enemies started panicking, but then I heard the sound of a horn.

A flag depicting a fork and knife was stationed next to one with a heart and one with a money sign.

“Crap. They are here.”

“CHARGE!!!”

Then the 9 present shards engaged in battle.