Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 452 Dragon's Fall
Dan Varese's battlefield was on the other side. Centaurus's scales rippled beneath him, its dark green body leaving a trail of afterimages against the grey sky. Ahead, the ice dragon swooped down towards the Wall, its breath freezing the Night's Watch torches into ice sculptures in its wake.

"Crash it over!"

Dan's roar was torn apart by the gale, but Sendralos already understood. The ferocious beast with its butterfly-shaped tail let out a deafening howl, its antler-like horns gleaming coldly. By the time the ice dragon realized what was happening, it was too late to turn around, and the two behemoths collided violently in mid-air.

"Crack!"

The sound of the dragon horns piercing the ice crystal scales was sickening. The antlers piercing the ice dragon didn't stop Centroth from unleashing his dragonfire, instantly engulfing a dozen ghouls below. Centroth flung the heavily wounded ice dragon aside, opened his blood-red maw, and his sharp white teeth bit straight through the ice dragon's throat. Blue blood gushed out, but instantly transformed into a highly poisonous icy mist upon contact with the air.

Another ice dragon plummeted. The ice mage lord's magic could not penetrate the dragon's defenses, and he could only watch helplessly as he and the ice dragon fell from the clouds.

"left!"

Dan turned around and saw five ice spiders leap from behind the wight mammoth. These monsters, the size of warhorses, had sharp ice spikes at the ends of their eight legs. Centaurus swung his butterfly mace, the cracking sound of exploding carapaces mingling with the shrieks of the White Walkers to create a deathly symphony.

The emerald dragon swooped down in a rage, its claws shattering the mammoth's skull. Just as the Ice Summoner wearing the ice crystal mask on the mammoth was about to leap up, Dan's command arrived.

"Kill it!"

The dragonfire of Centaur consumed the fallen mammoth and its manipulator.

Dan, panting, looked up to see three ice dragons swooping down from the clouds. Their target was him.

Cendralos let out a defiant roar, its fierce dragon eyes blazing with even greater battle intent. Dan wiped the ice shards from his face, a savage smile curving his lips.

"Looks like we can add a few more kills. Centroos, charge!"

Mecca's situation, however, was worse. The blood seeping from the Targaryen's bandages had frozen into ice on the sheep thief's peat-colored scales. With each flap of the old dragon's wings, the blood-icy shards would fall in cascades, reflecting an ominous light in the sunlight.

"Cough, old man." Meka spat out a mouthful of blood, his trembling fingers crushing the last painkiller pill. The bitter powder mixed with the taste of blood exploded on his tongue, like swallowing a handful of red-hot nails. He bent down and patted the sheep thief's battered neck. "Can you still fight?"

The sheep thief's response was a hoarse dragon roar. The old creature, known as "one of the ugliest dragons," suddenly accelerated, charging straight at the ice dragon that had just inflicted a massive wound on it. Meka grinned, revealing his bloodstained teeth; this was his best partner.

The world seemed to freeze the instant the two breaths collided in mid-air. A massive vortex of icy blue and orange-red dragonfire swirled, engulfing hundreds of ghouls below. Meka's black fire sword slashed down in the blink of an eye, leaving only a shallow mark on the Ice Dragon Lord's pale forehead.

"Damn it," Meka cursed, feeling the wound on his right shoulder reopen. The wound left by the ice crystal sword would never heal; every movement tore open new flesh. But he couldn't care less about that now. The ice dragon had already changed direction, its eerie blue eyes locked onto him.

"Then let's go all out."

Meka yanked the reins sharply. The sheep thief let out a painful neigh, yet remained faithful to its command, rapidly ascending towards the leaden clouds. The ice dragon followed closely behind, its slender body gliding through the clouds like a sea serpent. Just as the pursuer was about to bite the dragon's tail, Meka suddenly released the reins.

The sheep thief abruptly folded his wings and hung upside down. The world turned upside down before Meka's eyes, blood rushing into his eyes and staining his vision crimson. Taking advantage of the descent, the old dragon spewed out dragonfire, a golden-red pillar of fire pouring into the ice dragon's gaping maw from below.

The stench of burning entrails immediately filled the air. The ice dragon let out an unprecedented scream, its long neck twisting in agony. Just as Meka was about to cheer, a cold light suddenly pierced his right shoulder. The ice mage lord's ice crystal sword thrust straight down from the dragon's back, the tip of the sword protruding from below his collarbone, carrying an eerie blue hue.

"Ha! Got you!" Meka laughed wildly. He gripped the ice crystal blade tightly with his right hand, letting the sharp edge cut through his flesh. With a roar, he snapped the blade in half inside his body. The young dragon king leaped up, jumped onto the ice dragon's back, and thrust the broken ice crystal into the enemy's empty eye socket.

The Ice Mage Lord's scream sounded like a million panes of glass shattering simultaneously. Meka felt the warm dragon blood spray onto his face. He clung tightly to his falling enemy, the sheep thief's claws digging deep into the base of the ice dragon's wings. "Let's go down together!"

The final dragonfire erupted from the two intertwined giant beasts. In the scorching heatwave, Meka saw his own reflection in the sheep thief's murky dragon eyes—silver hair flying, purple eyes like fire, and that signature maniacal laugh still lingering on his lips.

The moment it crashed to the ground, a mushroom cloud of fire illuminated the entire battlefield. The shockwave evaporated all the snow within a hundred meters radius, revealing the black soil frozen for eight thousand years. When the smoke and dust cleared, all that was found was a scorched crater a hundred feet in diameter, and at the bottom of the crater, two tightly intertwined dragon skeletons, one peat-colored and the other ice-blue, indistinguishable from one another.

Jonial and Reigen faced the same enemy. He squinted his eyes, which were red from the cold, and the dark scales of his Sunfist gleamed metallically in the dim light. The sounds of battle from the battlefield below were torn apart by the air currents above, leaving only intermittent buzzing.

"West side!" Jonial roared again, but his voice was swept away by the wind. He simply gripped the dragon saddle with his legs and took the Valyrian steel lance, which had been unused for many years, from the saddle.

The Golden King's massive body hovered to the left front. The two dragons tacitly separated, forming a perfect pincer formation. Their target was the ice dragon that was extinguishing the wall of fire; it hovered above the army of ghouls, its eerie blue breath occasionally sweeping across the fire wall maintained by Melisandre.

Jonial could feel the tension in Sunbeam's muscles. This black dragon was known for its explosive power, and it was now poised to strike. "Closer," he murmured, his spear trembling slightly in his hand.

The ice dragon suddenly turned, noticing the presence of the Golden King. Its long neck arched back, and an unnatural blue light began to emanate from its chest—a sign that it was about to unleash its breath.

“Now!”

The sun swooped down like an arrow. Jonial crouched low, lance held level. The wind whistled past his ears, and the outline of the ice dragon rapidly magnified in his vision. He could clearly see the ice crystals condensed on the ice dragon's scales and smell the decaying chill emanating from it.

"For Vareses!"

The lance pierced the ice dragon's right eye with pinpoint accuracy, the Valyrian steel shattering against the icy eyeball with a sickening crack. The ice dragon let out a deafening howl, its head thrashing wildly. Jonial gripped the lance handle tightly, pushing it in even deeper. He felt as if his right arm was about to be torn off, but then he saw the Golden King's fiery breath attack from the side.

A perfect coordination. Following the ice dragon's head-turning motion, the dragonfire poured directly into its exposed neck. The ice dragon's scales burst under the intense heat, and icy blue blood gushed out like a fountain.

"it is good!"

The cheer caught in his throat. Out of the corner of his eye, Jonial caught a glimpse of a blue light; the ice mage lord's ice crystal spear, carried on the back of the ice dragon, was hurtling through the air, aimed straight at his back.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The Golden King suddenly turned to the side, using his left wing to block between Jonial and the spear. Jonial would never forget that scene: Reigen's dragon, that proud golden behemoth, its wing membrane shattering as the spear pierced it.

Dragon blood splattered like molten gold, and a few drops splashed onto Joniel's face, burning him and making him shudder.

"No!"

Ragen's curses were drowned out by the sound of gushing dragon blood. The Golden King began to fall, its left wing twisting unnaturally. Jonil instinctively reached out to grab it. Sunbeam sensed the danger and suddenly rose in altitude, preventing the rider from being dragged to the ground along with the falling ice dragon.

"Go save him!" Jonial almost roared, his voice hoarse and unlike his own.

Sunbeam made a sharp turn and swooped down, but it was too late. Jonial watched helplessly as the Golden King plummeted toward the Wall, his heart nearly stopping.

(End of this chapter)