Chapter Text
The Dragonborn Throne.
It was something that Krow never really wanted, but knew that someday, it might belong to it. It was one of the king’s children after all; Krow’s only question was how the king would choose which of them got to take the crown.
Krow would be fine if it never had to wear the crown. It would never have to be burdened by the stress of running a secret underground kingdom and will still get the benefits by just being a royal. Wherever Krow went, Dragonborns would bow to it and follow its orders, even though it wasn’t king yet. Sure, Krow couldn’t override the king’s orders, but it was still nice to have demons frantically scrambling over each other to do its bidding.
Most Dragonborns didn’t last very long, but Krow and its siblings were different. They were royalty; nobody would dare kill them. Their blood was pure and perfect, unlike the weaklings who only lasted a year before getting their blood spilled pathetically by the others in the nursery. Royal claws were sharper, their teeth were more deadly, and their blade always had a perfect metallic shine.
Krow and its siblings already had plenty of blood spilled across their claws and teeth. The first few years of a Dragonborn’s life were always the most brutal; it was a test to see how strong each Dragonborn was. If you weren’t born strong, you wouldn’t survive. It’s how the Dragonborns became so deadly and dangerous: Survival of the fittest. The weaklings were crushed beneath the claws of Krow and its siblings, and those who lived would become their future subjects. Either way, the royal Dragonborns always came out on top.
“Who do you think will take the throne?” Krow asked its sister, Tasia. She was the only one of its siblings that it got along with. The others didn’t pay much attention to Krow, or anyone for that matter. They always seemed to keep to themselves, but Tasia was different. Tasia was the only one who understood everything.
Tasia shrugged. “Who knows?” She replied. “I’m thinking Father would evaluate us to see who’s the strongest and then choose that way. Like, looking at whose claws are sharper, stuff like that.” She tilted her head in Krow’s direction. “Why’d you ask? Do you want to become king?”
Krow shrugged. “Not really,” it replied. “Just wondering.”
Tasia grinned. “Fair enough.”
Krow couldn’t help but smile back. Tasia’s grins were always contagious, but it seemed like only Krow was affected; everybody else usually growled at the sight of even a simple smile. Krow assumed they thought it was a show of weakness, but it and Tasia have proved many times that they weren’t weaklings, so what was the point of trying to tell them otherwise, no matter what they decided to do?
A loud, booming roar echoed through the cavern walls. Krow smiled; this was its favorite part of the day. “Race you!” Krow shouted, leaping off the stone ground and sprinting down the tunnel. It could hear Tasia laughing behind him as she struggled to keep up. The tunnels turned and winded until Krow found the branch that led to the arena. It could already hear a commotion inside; it just hoped it wasn’t late.
Turns out, it wasn’t. Krow could only spot around half of the Dragonborns that were usually there, and it was sure that nobody had been eaten since yesterday. Tasia ran up beside it, panting as her tail dragged slowly across the stoney ground. The king, Krow’s father, was seated comfortably on a large spiky throne colored in black and red, the same colors that all Dragonborn’s bore naturally. Its other siblings were spread out all across the large arena, flexing their claws and sharpening the blades on their tails.
The arena is a giant cylindrical room that reaches over 30 feet tall. Krow wasn’t entirely sure why the arena had to be this tall, but it always assumed it was for other species of demons that were naturally born with wings who were sent into the caves as prey for the Dragonborns of the past. Braziers filled with fire dotted the arena, around six of them on the ground level and three more sets higher up. It gave little light to the enclosed space, but Dragonborns didn’t need much light; their forked tongues could sense their surroundings just as well as their eyeballs.
As other Dragonborns filed into the arena, Krow scanned each and every one of them, sizing them up. Some were a little too small, easy targets but not challenging enough for it. Then it spotted a Dragonborn around its size with a dull blade. It’s fathers words rang inside its head, “Weakness cannot be tolerated.”
A metal gate slammed shut behind them, and a deafening roar shouted all across the arena. In an instant, the Dragonborns launched at each other, attacking with their teeth and claws. Flashes of silver blurred past, striking other Dragonborns in the blink of an eye. Krow found its target and raced toward it, claws outstretched. The other Dragonborn barely had time to react before Krow slammed into it, raking against its side with sharp claws.
Krow’s opponent roared with fury. Its claws scratched uselessly against Krow’s metal armor. The Dragonborn lashed out with its dull tail, but before it could reach Krow, it slammed its own tail down on its enemy’s. A thick, black snake fell onto the ground and wriggled pathetically across the floor. The enemy Dragonborn roared in pain, a river of blood pouring from where its tail once was. In a matter of seconds, the Dragonborn fell to the ground next to its fallen tail and ceased to move.
Krow grinned. Weaklings could not be tolerated in the Kingdom of the Dragonborns. It did its father a service. Another roar signaled the end of training. Krow knelt down next to the body of its prey and dug its claws into its skin. It flicked out its forked tongue, catching the scent of fresh blood, before it clamped its teeth down on the dead Dragonborn and tore out its flesh.
Training was the one part of the day that young Dragonborns got to eat; it was the reward for surviving the day. The weak ones were removed from the kingdom while the strong were fed. It’s the way the kingdom has been for hundreds of years.
Once Krow had reduced its meal to only a few pieces of flesh on bones, the king roared again, dismissing the young Dragonborns. Krow glanced around at the arena; only half of the Dragonborns that came in still stood. The fallen were scattered all across the arena, most of which have been reduced to skeletons. There were a few half-eaten Dragonborns with parts of their rib cages sticking out of their flesh.
“How was your meal?” Krow asked as Tasia came up beside it.
“Great! A little small though,” Tasia replied. “I swear, some of these Dragonborns are so tiny. How’d they even get that small?”
“Tainted bloodlines,” it replied with a shrug. “At least they’re gone now.”
Suddenly, a shadow loomed behind them. Tasia and Krow whirled around and came face-to-face with their father glaring down on them. “Meet in the throne room,” their father snarled. “And don’t be late.” Before they could respond, the king had slithered away.
“Do you think it’s time?” Krow asked, its heart pounding.
Tasia replied with a subtle nod. “Maybe.”
The two of them didn’t exchange any more words as they walked down the cavern hallway. Every few steps were torches mounted on the rocky walls, giving out a dim light that illuminated the passageway. A red carpet resembling a river of blood ran beneath their feet and all the way into the throne room.
A glittering black and red throne stood before them, and perched on it, was their father. All of their siblings were there too, glaring at them as they approached. Hung above the throne with its wings spread, was the skeleton of a fury, the rarest species of demon. Its empty eye sockets seemed to follow Krow and Tasia all the way to the throne along with the rest of their family’s menacing glares.
“You are all royalty,” their father hissed as Krow and Tasia took their places around the throne, “But only one of you can take over the throne.” His blood-red eyes scanned each and every one of them, as if he was sizing them up. “Only the strongest can become king,” their father continued, “And to make sure that only the strongest is chosen, you must fight. Fight until only one remains, and that one will become the new ruler of the Dragonborns.”
Fight? Krow looked around at its siblings. They were already hissing and growling at each other, flexing their claws and swinging their tails. But when Krow turned and met Tasia’s eyes, all it could see was pure terror. It was a battle to the death; either they both die, or one will have to go on without the other. Krow looked up at its father. He was smiling, his tail curled above his legs as he watched his children who were eager to kill for the throne. He had this planned all along…
A roar boomed across the throne room, and in an instant, Krow’s siblings launched themselves at each other. Hissing, spitting, growling, and roaring filled the room and reverberated off the stone walls. One of Krow’s siblings slammed into it, raking their claws against Krow’s shoulder as they pinned it to the floor. Krow sank its teeth into its sibling’s neck and a yowl of pain erupted into its ear. Its sibling thrashed and scratched at Krow, but it refused to let go until its enemy went limp.
Krow shoved the dead body of its sibling off it and wiped the drops of blood from its eyes. It couldn’t spot Tasia through all of the chaos. Blood was splattered all over the red carpet and even the fury’s bones above the throne were shaking from all of the noise. There were at least three dead bodies already strewn about the room, a snarl still etched in their faces. Krow couldn’t see Tasia amongst the fighting demons, but it did spot a familiar face lying motionless on the ground with blood pouring from their throat…
Krow ran to the body and turned it over. It was Tasia. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open in a silent scream. Red claw marks were slashed across her face, dripping blood onto her shut eyelids.
Krow couldn’t hear the sounds of its siblings fighting or their dying roars. It didn’t look up to see its father’s mouth turned up in a grin. All that it could see was Tasia’s dead body and the smell of fresh blood hanging in the air. Tasia was never meant to die… they were supposed to live together and live as royalty together, never to worry about death.
Krow’s siblings did this. Krow’s father did this. And they were going to pay.
“Aww, look at little Krow, mourning over a little death,” a hiss rang in its ear, the voice of one of its siblings. “Weakness cannot be tolerated.”
A growl rumbled in Krow’s throat. If they thought Krow was weak, they’ve got another thing coming. Just as claws slammed down on Krow’s back, it lashed out with its tail, feeling the sharp blade cut deeply into its sibling’s side. A deafening roar of fury erupted behind it. Krow whirled around and launched itself at its enemy, closing its claws around their neck. They looked up at Krow with pure terror in their eyes. Krow didn’t just want to kill them, it wanted to see them pay for what they did to Tasia, its sister.
Krow bit down hard on their neck. The other Dragonborn roared again with pain just as Krow moved to bite its arm. The body beneath it twitched and writhed on the stone floor, crying out in agony. Krow dug its claws into its victim’s chest and ripped it open. The Dragonborn stopped moving. A crimson lake ran red beneath them. The taste of blood was strong in Krow’s mouth.
“Well done, Prince Krow,” its father’s voice echoed from his spot on the throne. There was no one left. They were all dead. But its father was still standing, grinning, smiling at all of the death that surrounded him. He killed Tasia, he did this to her.
Without warning, Krow launched itself and its father. The king cried out in surprise, but before he had a chance to defend himself, Krow slashed its claws across the king’s throat.
Not even a scream could escape the king’s mouth. The Dragonborn King’s body fell lifelessly onto the throne, soaking the seat with blood. Krow snatched the crown off his head and twisted it between its claws. Twisted spikes jutted out from the top of the crown with crimson jewels studded between them. This was Krow’s crown now. The Kingdom of the Dragonborns now rested in its claws.
The taste of blood hasn’t left its tongue, and the thirst for revenge has never ceased. If Krow was now king, who was to stop it from killing every last demon in sight?