Months passed and once again Kronen and his forces have come to attack. The King laughed at his petty attempts to kill him and he knew victory would be swift and easy. The King gathered his army again by the front gate, once again charging them into battle. Horns sounded many times, horns from several directions, causing the King to ascend his front wall and look. He saw at least six large armies marching the fields in front of Annoria. The races of the land were emptying their reserves, sending all they had, and the King thought, ‘Would it be enough?’ The King turned and yelled to his troops, “That have a large force on advance, be ready to draw back to the gates, leave me out and I will hold them until your defenses are ready, start with artillery first from the trebuchets and catapults. Then have suppressing fire from the ballistas to cover my return to the gates. They will not be able to outlast us in a siege, not while I have a breath in my body. He jumped off of the gate and landed in front of his forces. He turned, the gate opened, and he yelled, “CHARGE!”

His army charged out of the front gates once again and another large battle erupted. The King and his forces drove a wedge into the forces of the enemy, several more horns sounded and the King called for his forces to fall back, which they did immediately. The King charged and slaughtered many soldiers showing no mercy and no remorse. His cast large columns of flame shooting in all directions. He grew a large upward column of flame and he spun it, creating a twisting funnel of fire. He sent it through the heart of their forces, the fire sucking all the air away from the soldiers, causing them to no longer be able to breathe. He turned and was met with several lesser wizards, who were not part of the order. He laughed and charged at them. As he did he was hit in the side by a large blast of energy. He turned to see Kraagor standing in between him and the wizards. Kraagor said, “I know you have wanted this for a long time, but the destruction of the Temple of Calentra cannot go unpunished.” The two of them fought toe to toe when the King noticed more and more wizards showing up, one of which was Hevaar’s daughter.

As the King was fighting Kraagor he thought of how proud Hevaar would be of her, she had the same control and even more power than Hevaar, and she knew how to use it. He heard tales of Kraagor being in love with her and this gave the King an idea. He stunned Kraggor with a blow from his pommel to the side of the head. He teleported over to Hevaar’s daughter, sure to keep in view for Kraagor. He grabbed her and teleported away. Kraagor grew very angry and he started to throw his power around with very little control in order to fight to get her back. He quickly realized that he was attacking Kronen’s troops and they all turned on him which he teleported out and away from the battle. He needed to find a way into the Keep that was no the front gate, and he wondered where the Wyrms were not being used. He rushed off towards the mountains surrounding the castle and he began to climb his way over the mountain.

The King teleported into his keep with Hevaar’s daughter. The King said as they arrived, “I do not wish to hurt you, I wish to throw Kraagor off which I know I did.” She said, “You do not even know my name do you?” The King said, “Sadly no I do not, your father did not tell me before he died. What is your name may I ask?” She replied, “I am Evora the Chaotic, and I owe you a favor.” The King said, “What for?” Evora said, “For getting me into the Order of course. You thought it was payment for my father but no, I see it as a payment to me, and I must make up for it.” The King said, “Well do what you think will deem worthy of paying it back, I must return to battle, make yourself at home. Do not go into the East wing though.” Evora asked, “Why?” The King said, “The Wyrms are there, they are being stashed away until I destroy those infernal arrows that Kronen had crafted with Calentra’s foul magic.” Evora didn’t respond to that but wondered around the Keep, making sure to steer clear of the East wing. She made it into the throne room by some miracle and felt an odd presence rising from one of the chairs.

She approached it and felt it was a curse, a curse set by Kronen. She could not remove the curse but she knew what it was and she knew why it was there. The curse would bind any who sat in it and put them in a false state, a sleep more or less. It was there to destroy everything the King had worked to build. She got an idea, she would change the curse so that when his power that still existed outside of himself, basically his Wyrms, were killed or destroyed in any way, the curse would be lifted. She stood and walked to the door, not sure if she could warn him quick enough when she heard a strange noise behind her. She turned and saw Kronen behind her who grabbed her, she screamed and then Kronen teleported them back out into battle. Kronen tossed her back into the fighting and Kraagor saw this. He charged Kronen and threw him aside violently causing Kronen to bash his head on a nearby stone and start gushing blood out of the wound. Kraagor asked, “Are you alright Evora? What did he do?” Evora said, “He did not want to hurt me. He only wanted you to lose control and teach you another lesson about learning more control. I think you should also learn from it, caring too much brings fear.”

Kronen laughed and stood. He said, “Caring does not bring fear, cowardice brings fear, power brings the cowardice other's. We are winning the battle, and we will win this war, by any means necessary. Kronen jabbed a part of the staff against his wound and it healed within seconds. Kronen rushed back into battle, followed by Evora and Kraagor. The King’s defences had been set up and they sent a signal flare up. Kronen had brought Kraagor back because the mountains around were unclimbable. Kronen and his forces saw the flare go up, and the King to teleport out but not before sending a shockwave out, leveling most of the first of the six advancement forces in a cleansing fire. This blast was easily blocked by Kronen, Evora, and Kraagor and the second and third forces charged forward to siege the wall.

The King went to the top of his wall and he yelled, “ARCHERS AT THE READY.” The fields behind his wall held the majority of his forces, most of which were well versed in bow combat as well as swordplay. The readied their bows and drew them back, the King turned to see the onrushing enemy. He yelled once they were within range, “FIRE!” The arrows loosed at almost the same time sending a wave of black up into the sky and down onto the rushing forces, soon after the siege engines made their way into the fields before the gate and trudged their way towards the wall. The King yelled, “ARM THE BALLISTAS AND TARGET THE SIEGE ENGINES. Bring the trebuchets within range of their forces and roll the catapults out and let them feel their power.” The King turned back around and saw that the enemy far outnumbered him and his forces but he was determined to win this battle, he could do it himself but he is honorable when it comes to war, and he will fight at near the same level as what he is faced with to make it a challenge. A challenge both to himself and to his enemy that he is fighting.

The artillery were in position soon enough and the King gave the order to fire away. The trebuchets obliterated the enemy ground forces along with the catapults pelting them. The siege towers were getting hit time and time again by the ballistas on his wall which made what remained of the command of the armies curse under their breaths. Suddenly flashes of light shot down all over the field and the King knew these were the rest of the order. The King knew now that the death of one of the orders members may not be avoided as he wanted it to be. The King also saw Evora once again out on the battlefield using magic to destroy projectiles from the catapults and trebuchets. He guessed Kronen got her which made him laugh. If Kronen was so strong why did he hide behind an army, and this thought gave the King an idea.

The King climbed to the top of the ramparts and jumped down. He charged the ranks drawing great power from his blade. As he ran the blade started to pour flame like it was a liquid, he soon had an intense fiery streak trailing behind him. He slid down onto one knee and took a large swipe at the front lines of the enemy forces. The trail wrapped itself and coiled like a bull whip, it cracked and faster than the soldiers could blink they had been turned to ash. The King laughed and continued to do this, cutting down massive amounts of troops on his way to the heart of their army. He grew weary of letting Kronen hide, he would fight, or he would be killed like a dog.

Once the King saw Kronen he yelled over the noise of battle, still swinging the flaming whip, “DO YOU KNOW WHAT ANIMAL WAITS FOR ITS SLAUGHTER?” He stopped the flame from pouring out and he jumped with great strength towards Kronen whom he punched into the ground. He said as Kronen slowly staggered and got to his feet, “Sheep.” He dashed towards Kronen but as he did, the wizards of the Order surrounded him and bombarder him with their power. The King blocked all of it with a flaming shield until he was hit with a blast from Kronen which sent him hurtling backwards. The King stood and said, “So you must all work together ehh. Good to know I am worthy of such a group of enemies, let's do this shall we?”

The group clashed for what seemed like eons, the commanders rushed Annoria, and had several siege engines reach the wall and start pouring troops over onto the wall. The fight between the King, the Order and Kronen only distracted the King from keeping his wall from falling. Within the hour the wall was taken and their fight was surrounded by the enemy forces. The King laughed all the while, easily blocking everything that they threw at him, and as a team they blocked what he did. With the fight raging on too long the King slammed his blade into the ground, sending all of the Order flying backwards but left Kronen dazed. The King grabbed Kronen and said, “Let's take this somewhere more scenic shall we?” He teleported the both of them into the council chamber which was away from all of the fighting. The King said, “Your armies may defeat mine but you will never take this Kingdom as long as there is a breath in my body.” Kronen said, “Let us change that then.” The two clashed for a very long time, neither seeming to gain an edge over the other, the King somewhat lacking as he used much power over the course of the day, but he did not stop fighting.

They made their way into the middle of the council chairs, Kronen saw this as his moment to get him to sit into the throne and allow him to win the war. As soon as Kronen had the King oriented in the correct spot, the Wyrms burst into the chamber and surrounded them. Kronen became filled with fear, what if he failed to do this, what would happen to the world, but he shook them off. He was so close to attaining victory that he could taste it, and it tasted good as victory should. The King said, “My Wyrms will finish what I have started Kronen, they will eventually dominate this area, and make every race fear them.” Kronen said, “Not with Calentra’s gifts will they, the arrows are far from here, being copied into more and more of them. You cannot stop their deaths, it is inevitable.” The King slashed at Kronen heavily, speeding up and up causing Kronen to struggle in defense. The King swiped one of Kronens legs from under him and he went to stab him but Kronen dodged it.

Before he could pull the blade free he was struck by the staff and thrown back in front of his throne. Kronen charged forward and kicked the King into the throne. The King held a hand out, the sword raced into his hand, Kronen laughed all the while, lowering his guard. The King held his sword point resting on the floor as he slowly felt himself shut down. The only thing he was able to say before he was fully grasped by the curse was, “Wyrms…flee.” The twins roared in anger, knowing now that the King was cursed, they rushed Kronen and threw him around, nearly killing him but he managed to teleport out. The twins rushed out of the castle and raced towards the battlefield and started to utterly destroy the armies. They were soon followed by the other Wyrms, who were filled with rage and poured fire across the fields, they first cleared the wall then attacked the remaining three armies that marched towards them. At the first sight of one of the arrows Krathen called for a full retreat, and the Wyrms obeyed. Once the Wyrms were clear of the battle and of Annoria Krathen said to them, “Our King is cursed, I do not know what happens now but we must split up, we must hide, they cannot find us and we must become stronger. We must become better, and maybe we can find a way to uncurse our King. Be safe fellow Wyrms, fly true and trust no one.”

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The Wyrms split up into several different directions, they did not know that only their deaths would allow the King to rise, nor did they know that splitting up was the worst idea they could’ve had. Shortly after Kronen, still very hurt, took Annoria and showed off the King being cursed and unable to move he missed that very same detail. When Evora altered the curse, she added a way for the King to gain revenge, although she could not drop the curse, she did what she could. Both Kronens pride and his pain hid the discovery of this alteration from him, and he taunted the King who neither heard nor saw anything that was going on. The only thing about him was that the runes on his blade glowed a fierce red, as the same did with his eyes.

Once Kronen had healed up fully he set out to conquer many things, and claim many new lands in honor of his accomplishments. He trashed Annoria and left if in ruin, and claimed the city of New Perithius for his own kingdom. He took this city for its location, which had the dangerous maze of crevices before entering a small valley which he spent many centuries arming and closing off so that it was near impenetrable. He built a massive wall which surrounded his lands, and he had the largest population of any city in the rest of the land. His army was deemed unstoppable but comprised mostly of the descendants of the Kings army and of the highest skilled warriors from the land. The name of this Kingdom changed many times over and over again as Kronen ruled it, he changed his name after a while as well, and claimed he was a descendent of Kronen, as to stay in power longer, he ruled pretty much the same for the entirety of the time he hunted down the remaining Wyrms.

Kronen within the first two-hundred years killed only four of the Wyrms; Fenaar the Fleet, Draken the Destructive, and finally Borak and Karnac the Twins of Chaos. Borak and Karnac were killed at the same time when they had been surrounded in a cave system, They brought the mountain they hid in down on top of them and could not escape but killed tens of thousands of Kronen’s soldiers in the process. With every Wyrms death Kronen noticed their power leaves, and travels far away, he assumed it goes back to where they were created from, the ash that laid before Annoria, or the Kings village. He was very wrong. Another five-hundred years went by, with the death of four more Wyrms; Wulfric the Howler, Kalduur the Terrible, Carreon the Knowing, and Travaar the Conquering. Most of the deaths of the Wyrms involved serious percussions. The sacrifices made my Kronen angered many of his subjects, which is why he changed his name from time to time, to change the source of blame. He slowly killed off the Wyrms and within the first thousand years, eight of the Wyrms had been killed.

The remaining Wyrms grouped together, except Kalnuar who was off in a distant land trying to seek refuge for he and his fellow Wyrms. The Wyrms; Krathen, Apoph, Graahm, Estan, and Prahven set out for a final attack on the heart of Kronen’s empire. The Wyrms hit his capital in the dark of night and laid waste to his farms and most of his castle, this resulted in the deaths of; Apoph the Snake, Estan the Exquisite, and Prahven the Annihilator. Estan’s body was taken, filled with a sort of material and was turned into a statue, the heads of the other Wyrms were mounted alongside it within Kronens keep, in plain view of where many citizens walked past, so they can know what to rightfully fear.

The final three Wyrms were strong with defiance, destroying until their last breaths. Graahm retreated to the volcanic lands of the North, while Krathen still fought on. Kalnuar had returned only to see many of his fellow Wyrms dead, and only two other's remaining. It took another six-hundred years for Kronen to finally be able to kill Graahm the Greedy, he was obsessing over hoards of gold which is what gave away his location, he was the one that started the myth of the dragon’s curse, where one can become so covetous over gold he would kill anything in his way to keep it. Krathen went into one final battle as she knew her time was nearing its end. She went out clawing, gnashing, and sending towers of flame crashing across the fields. She was hit by on of the arrows and she was fatally injured. She managed to pull out the arrow, and she flew off in the direction of her only home, she wanted to die with hope and should the King awake, he would be angry at her death as long as the death of the other Wyrms.

She arrived, barely able to maintain flight. She crashed down into the ground and slid several hundred feet until she managed to limp to her feet. She entered the council chamber which was overgrown and filled with vegetation. She curled herself up around the King, and that is when she felt it. She felt a power coming out of the King and that is when she also figured it out. The deaths of the Wyrms is the key to his awakening. She looked around and saw a stone tablet inscribed with a message. The message read, “In the times of great power and war, A King rose. He was betrayed by a curse, a curse that I changed. I could not stop the curse, but I could repay a favour as best I could. The Wyrms must die, and the King will rise again.--Evora the Chaotic” Krathen had hope build up within her, Evora, Hevaar’s daughter. All those long years ago gave the King a chance, as best she could. Krathen said before she died, “Evora, your debt has been payed, thank you.” Krathens head dropped and hit the ground, her power absorbed by the King, the runes and his eyes glowed even brighter, waiting for one more, waiting for Kalnuar the Last of the Wyrms.

Kronen searched for many long years, and with every mention at the name Kalnuar, or anything that he suspected to be the Last he acted on. Kalnuar was very wise after all the years of hiding and on the run, choosing when and where to strike after many years of deliberation. Kalnuar many times went back to Annoria to remember, or to try a new method to raise his King. This next time he flew in and landed he discovered something new. He discovered a stone, which he could barely read, set by Evora the Chaotic, the daughter of Hevaar. This was pointed out by Krathen, who had positioned herself in her last moments to reveal it. Kalnuar did not know how he missed the signs before but he understood what he had to do, he must die. He set out over the next eight decades, and prepared for the Kings return, making sure he would have sufficient means of revenge.

Kronen caught wind of a commotion near the Western coast, fires raged all across it and the cities were being attacked. Kronen and his armies rushed to their aide and soon found it was not a Wyrm, but an invasion. A massive army of Orcs assaulted the towns and cities by means of water, their advances were covered by the morning fogs and they caught the coast unawares. Kronens focus was now only set on holding off the Orcs but little did he know this was the exact thing Kalnuar had wanted. Kalnuar invested in the help of the Orcs, he distracted Kronen and the land while their power grew. He remembered his King saying, ‘In times of war your enemies may become your allies to destroy those who betray you.’ This was a perfect example of what the King had meant.

Kronen was too tunnel visioned to understand what was happening. He only saw an invasion by the Orcs, and not the destruction of his capitol. Kronen let his anger overflow and he lost control over his mind, something that had begun to happen more and more as of late. His subjects started to respect him less and fear him more. His once free Kingdom turned into a tyranny where speaking out meant death. Kalnuar waited until all of Kronens forces were out of his capitol when he struck, he knew they would be days away and would not arrive in time to stop him, so that is when he struck. He leveled Kronens capital and killed all of the people that lived there, he did so with so much hate and anger, which was fueled even further by discovering his brethren adorning a wall, like trophies. He took them, and flew them back to Annoria, taking them back to their home. He took Drakon back to the Kings village to return them to their ashen states. He returned the other's back to the fields before Annoria, where he would eventually be himself if his King was to come back. He left Krathen where she laid, the King needed something to fire him up, and set him up against the world.

This made him think of what Kronen would think if he was too bold. Kalnuar must keep on playing the waiting game, until it would seem he could not anymore. He must keep the Kings potential return secret, so that he may prepare and become as angry as possible. Kalnuar within another century fully prepared the King for his return, and now he must slowly edge Kronen away, and deliver blow by blow until he must give his life to allow his King to rise. Kalnuar attacked time and time again in battle by battle alongside the Orcs, destroying many cities and causing much grief and mayhem within Kronen’s reign. This filled him with fear, this made him think, ‘Can this be the Wyrm that ends me?’ Kronen became paranoid about everything, never trusting anyone or everything. He would not eat for days thinking it was poisoned, then he would eat too much get sick and kill his chefs. His people had lost hope in his ability to rule and started to attempt to overthrow him but to no avail.

Kronen still had Calentra’s staff and with it he still had power enough to hold back his subjects and keep them in check. Kronen often thought on how the King would have dealt with this, then he scoffed and laughed, cursing his name. Kronen thought to himself, ‘I do not need his help, I am capable of ruling on my own. If they will not love me by choice, I will force them to.’ Kronen spent the next few decades forcing his subjects to praise his image, and love only him. He turned their lives into what he wanted them to live and would not let them do anything unless he wanted to do it as well. He turned his army into more of a cheer force, fighting for how much they loved Kronen, and how loyal they were to him. He had them tote around banners with his name and face on them, making his allies shy away from helping him, they knew he was going mad. Kronen of course thought it was because they were plotting against him as his current mindset would only allow him to think of, but he did not see what truly was happening.

Kronen would send out his army and destroy them one by one until only he remained, and until only those that loved him remained. He would ensure his reign would not end anytime soon, and he was very very hopeful in his search for Kalnuar the Last. It took Kronen around five decades to fully destroy those who once were his allies, and his mood was still not changed, he noticed his armies hesitation when he ordered the deaths of his past allies. He noticed the citizens begin to become restless, and they started to defy him. He felt his kingdom was on the verge of rebellion when he heard a massive roar that shook his newly finished capital. He rushed to a balcony which overlooked his Kingdom and he saw it. He saw Kalnuar the Last soaring in. Kronen heard the bells ring and he waited while laughing, the Last had come to his death. Kronen stopped laughing when he realized nothing was being done about Kalnuar other than the bells being rang, no arrows being loosed, nothing.

Kalnuar barreled his way towards Kronen, letting fire bathe the town in many parts. Kronen panicked and teleported from the tower just as Kalnuar hit it and obliterated it. Kalnuar turned to see Kronen on a ballista loaded with one of the arrows, and he knew that it was time. Kalnuar brashly left himself open to an attack as he dove towards the ballista and Kronen. Kronen yelled, “So long Kalnuar the Last.” Kronen loosed the arrow and it sped straight towards Kalnuar, who did not move, did not try to get out of the way. Kalnuar took the arrow straight to his chest, and he slammed into the ground, pain took him over. Kronen walked up beside him as Kalnuar died. Kalnuar laughed and said, “Good luck, you will need it for whats coming, and it’s coming for you traitor. It’s coming for you. He. Is. Coming.” Kalnuar’s last breaths escaped his scaled body and his force slowly returned to its source, returned to his King.

Kronen stood, thinking of what Kalnuar said. Kronen said to himself, ‘This could not be true. It cannot. The curse is unbreakable, unless. NO! I did not mess up the curse. I had too much time to prepare for it to mess it up. But how can this be? Lies are what it is, lies. The King cannot return, he cannot and will not. It has been a thousand six hundred and thirty years since he was curse, if he could not escape then, he cannot escape now.’ Kronen’s mind was still very fractured and paranoid, his situation of his Kingdom was lessened as the last Wyrm was killed, but tensions were still high.

Kalnuar’s essence traveled a very long way, flowing in and out alongside the air and essence of life that surrounded the fields and wooded areas of the land. As this essence grew closer and closer to the King, the runes and his eyes glowed ever brighter and burned the air around with an intense heat, waiting, ready to return. The essence reached the woods that laid before the fields that lined the front of the ancient Kingdom. Speeding across the fields of ash of which Kalnuar was born. Drawing ever closer, creeping through the ruins of a once prosperous city. Reaching a massive ornate castle door, covered in tarnish and fauna. Squeezing through the cracks, and into the castle. Flowing down the once majestic and beautiful halls straight to the room in which it will all end. The suffering of an era of old ends with the birth of a new era. The essence reached the King and entered him, causing the statue like substance that coated him to crack and fall away. This substance was the ash that hardened around him of the burning of his Kingdom. The new era began, the Era of the King.