Reincarnated as the Last Dragon Egg
Chapter 20: Siege of Emberwatch

Chapter 20: Siege of Emberwatch

They came at dawn.

Not with horns or banners.

But with silence.

The kind that drenched the air, suffocating even the wind. A silence that crawled into your bones and whispered:

> There is no hope.

Solin stood atop the outer wall of Emberwatch, his young form glowing with ancient flame. Kaela beside him, blade drawn, cloak fluttering. Her jaw was tight, knuckles white on the hilt.

Below them—across the ridge—marched the Hollowed Host.

Thousands of creatures stitched together from dragon corpses, god bones, war beasts, and burned mortals. At their center rose a towering construct—part wyrm, part war machine—with a twisted skeletal face carved in gold.

The sky churned above them, grey and heavy.

Emberwatch... was about to fall.

---

The First Blow

The siege began without warning.

The golden skeletal titan raised its arm—and launched a burst of black flame toward the gates. The impact shattered the outer barrier, sent men flying, and shook the towers.

Kaela raised her blade. "ARCHERS! RUNEFLAMES! FIRE!!"

A volley of enchanted bolts and spells rained down from the walls, striking the enemy like hail on rotting armor.

Some Hollowed fell.

Most didn’t.

They just kept marching, their broken limbs crawling even after being severed.

One drake-knight shouted, "They’re not dying! They’re not—!"

A Hollowed wyrm leapt from the swarm and tore him in half.

---

Solin Unleashed

Solin stepped forward, arms spread wide.

"Back," he said.

Kaela looked at him. "Solin—what are you—"

His eyes flared white.

A wave of celestial flame erupted from him, sweeping across the battlefield, vaporizing a full battalion of Hollowed in seconds. The walls themselves shook from the surge of raw power.

And then he collapsed to one knee.

"That... bought us minutes," he gasped. "No more."

Kaela helped him up. "Then we fight for every minute."

---

Inside the City

Civilians were being evacuated to the inner keep.

Elder mages and wounded soldiers stood guard along the narrow alleys, blades ready.

Flameborn children, barely trained, stood side by side with veterans.

Emberwatch had seen sieges before.

But not like this.

Because this enemy didn’t bleed.

Didn’t fear.

Didn’t stop.

---

The Walls Break

On the east side, the Hollowed unleashed their siege beasts—massive, centipede-like monsters wearing fused dragon skulls. They burrowed into the walls and exploded in flame.

With a roar, the eastern gate collapsed.

Hollowed poured in.

Kaela was the first to meet them.

Her blade gleamed as she cut down the first three. Then five more. Her armor was dented, stained with ichor. She screamed for her men to rally.

Solin rose again, casting shields of light, sealing breaches with radiant magic—but for every gap he sealed, another opened.

The Hollowed were endless.

---

The Tide Turns

Just when it seemed the final wall would fall—

The sky split.

Literally.

A beam of golden flame descended from the clouds, striking the heart of the Hollowed army like a blade from the heavens.

Creatures screamed. Melted. Died.

Then came the roar.

My roar.

---

Darian Returns

I slammed into the battlefield like a meteor, wings ablaze with newly awakened light. My flame—once Sovereign—now pulsed with Sunshard power. It burned not only flesh, but corruption.

Every Hollowed that touched my fire unraveled.

Kaela looked up, her mouth slightly open. "He did it..."

I landed beside her, flame blazing from my scales.

"You held the line," I said.

She grinned weakly. "Barely."

Solin stepped forward, eyes wide. "You’ve changed."

I nodded. "And I’m not alone."

From the sky behind me, a streak of sapphire fire descended.

Thalyra.

Alive.

Scarred, but glowing with deepfire rage.

She landed with a snarl. "Miss me?"

---

The Second Wind

With me and Thalyra leading the charge, the tide turned.

Kaela rallied the Flameborn.

Solin raised the protective dome over the keep.

And I tore through the Hollowed like a comet, burning them from the inside out.

But even as we pushed them back—

The golden skeletal construct at their center moved.

Faster now.

Smarter.

It watched me.

It learned.

Then it roared—not in pain—but in response.

Its body cracked open to reveal a core of living Voidflame.

And within it—

A dragon soul.

Burning.

Screaming.

Mine?

No.

Vaelus.

> "HE LIVES," Solin whispered, horrified. "They harvested his soul from the Rift Maw."

---

A Terrible Choice

I hovered above the battlefield, staring at the construct.

Inside, I could feel it.

The twisted remnant of Vaelus’s soul—crying out.

He wasn’t in control.

He was trapped.

The Hollowed had used him like they had used Alerya.

But worse.

They’d turned him into their core engine.

If I destroyed him—I could end the battle.

But I’d also kill what was left of my brother.

Forever.

Time slowed.

The golden Hollowed construct stood tall among the chaos, its flame-beaten armor cracked and burning—but its soul still very much alive. Inside it... the twisted, flickering remnants of Vaelus.

Kaela’s voice called from the wall. "Darian—what’s wrong?!"

But I couldn’t speak.

Because I heard him.

> "Brother..."

It wasn’t a roar.

It was a whisper.

A plea.

---

The Dive

I didn’t hesitate.

I launched upward, then dove—full force—toward the core of the construct. My body became flame and light, wings spread, heart locked on the center of that thing’s chest.

The Hollowed behemoth turned, Voidflame cannons charging, aiming for me.

Too slow.

I slammed through its chestplate.

Metal groaned. Runes shattered. And then—silence.

---

Inside the Hollowed Core

I emerged in a place that wasn’t quite real.

No walls.

No sky.

Just drifting bones. Floating chains. And at the center of it all—a massive crystal heart burning with black-gold fire. Trapped within it, suspended like a soul in limbo, was Vaelus.

He looked... young. Like before the wars. Before the fall. His eyes flickered between madness and clarity.

He looked at me.

And smiled.

> "Still chasing shadows, little brother?"

---

The Conversation

I stepped closer, feeling the weight of the Hollowed corruption pressing against my flame.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked.

"Because I remember now," he said. "How I fell. How I died. I didn’t go willingly. They took me."

"They used you."

He laughed—a brittle, broken sound. "They are me. My rage, my doubt, my endless hunger to fix what the gods shattered. It called to them. They didn’t corrupt me. I invited them in."

"No," I said. "That’s not true. You’re more than that."

He looked down, eyes hollow. "Am I? Or are we both just what the flame made us? Weapons."

---

The Choice

"I can free you," I whispered. "Burn the corruption. Tear the Hollowed out of you."

He looked up sharply. "And if there’s nothing left when you do?"

I hesitated.

He saw it.

Then smiled again.

"You have to kill me, Darian."

"No."

"I’m not him anymore. You have to burn the rest. Or they win."

I stepped closer, flame rising.

"I came back to stop this cycle. I’m not losing you again."

---

Solin’s Voice

Suddenly, I heard Solin’s voice echo faintly through the bond we shared:

> "Darian... the construct is recharging. You have seconds."

I looked at Vaelus.

His chains pulsed, reacting to my indecision.

> "Do it," he said. "Or everything burns."

---

The Fire Within

I closed my eyes.

Summoned the Sunshard Core.

Let the light pierce me—flood every inch of my soul.

And then, I stepped forward and pressed my claw to the crystal heart.

> "If you die today, you die as my brother. Not as their puppet."

The light exploded.

It wasn’t heat.

It was memory.

Laughter. Training fights. The first time we flew together. Our mother’s final words.

Vaelus screamed.

The chains broke.

And the fire turned white.

---

Outside the Construct

Kaela watched from the keep as the golden titan froze.

Then trembled.

Then erupted into flame—not black, but golden and white, like sunlight at dawn.

It collapsed inward.

And from the burning wreckage, a figure rose.

Darian—wings glowing like twin stars, his body scorched, but alive.

He held something in his claw.

A crystal. Flickering.

The last remnant of Vaelus’s soul.

---

Aftermath

The Hollowed army faltered.

Then fell.

As if cut from their strings, they collapsed by the hundreds, their connection severed.

The siege ended in a moment of silence.

Not victory.

Not yet.

But survival.

Kaela ran to me as I collapsed. She caught me in her arms, pressed her forehead to mine.

"You did it," she whispered.

"No," I murmured. "We did."

---

Final Words from Vaelus

That night, I held the flickering soulstone in my claw.

Vaelus’s voice, faint, echoed within it.

> "Find the others. There are more Vaults. More flames.

They’re building something in the dark. Something even the gods can’t stop."

I nodded.

"I will."

And the soulstone faded.

Peaceful.

At last.

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