Reincarnated As The Villainess's Best Friend

A blazing column of fire surged across the throne room, devouring everything in its path as it grew. The knights who stood in front of the Wyvern all jumped out of the way, as the heat from the flames was enough to melt steel.

As it stretched towards Queen Rosa, the inferno roared hotter.

"By the gods!" she screamed, closing her eyes for whatever came next.

I was about to whisper a spell, when Lucy shot across the room in a blur, stopping right in front of the Queen.

"Fire Wall," she declared.

A fiery barrier flared all around her, shielding her and the Queen from the Wyvern's furious onslaught.

The two fires collided in a powerful blaze, spitting embers and sparks in multiple directions. But finally, both merged into one large spinning vertical column.

Lucy held the column steady for a while, but finally she directed her finger towards the Wyvern.

"Flaming Spear."

The column of fire followed her finger, blazing right back to the Wyvern. Unable to withstand the intense heat, the Wyvern roared out loud, and flew straight to the nearest window, smashing itself through it.

The Queen staggered to her feet, visibly shaken, her hands trembling as she reached for Lucy.

"You... You saved me?"

Lucy gave a quiet nod.

"Why would you... do that?"

Lucy ignored her and marched over to the window through which the Wyvern disappeared. The drapes on the windows were now on fire, so I snapped my fingers to quench them.

"Do you see it?" I asked

Lucy shook her head, then she pointed into the distance.

I ran to the window to see for myself.

The Wyvern hovered around the entire city, ready to begin its attack. For a while it soared high in the sky, surveilling the city with its blood red eyes.

Suddenly, the Wyvern descended, smashing into a few houses and buildings. Once again it returned to the sky, growling in a powerful tone that echoed throughout the city.

The citizens' panicked cries filled the air, laced with raw fear for the creature unleashed on their city.

I was scared for them. Not because of the Wyvern's scream, but because of what usually follows.

For a while, the creature drifted aimlessly in the air. Finally, it released a long breath of fire.

Loud bells rang all over the city, warning the citizens to find shelter from the damned creature.

In the distance, a group of mages gathered. Using earth manipulation spells, they summoned giant boulders from the ground and hurled them at the monster.

The Wyvern dodged the boulders easily. In retaliation, the creature spat a ball of fire at the poor mages.

To avoid the blazing fire that headed towards them, the mages scampered away, narrowly escaping being burned alive.

"It's destroying my city." Queen Rosa said, her red eyes filled with tears. Tears she refused to let out.

"Anyway," I said, dusting my hands. "Not our city, not our problem."

"No... No... You can't just leave" The Queen stuttered, lurching after us.

"Uh... Yes, we can."

I headed for the large door exiting the chamber. Lucy scurried behind me.

"You can't leave!" Queen Rosa yelled, her pitch rising.

"Well, you can't stop us. You have bigger problems now. Literally."

"No... No."

"Take care, your grace."

"Stop!... Please..."

Finally. I was wondering when she'd let down that pride.

I paused to hear what the queen had in mind, even though I already had a faint idea what she wanted.

"We... We... " She stammered for a bit, then she let out a short sigh. "We need your help."

"No, you don't. You have your knights."

The Queen frowned. "Very funny, Stormborn. You know as well as I do that knights can't fly."

"Doesn't make it our problem. Next time you keep a Wyvern in the castle, get some flying knights."

"By gods! Part with the sense of humour," The Queen wrung her hands. "My people will be ruined. Help us defeat the Wyvern, and I'll reward you."

"I don't want your reward. We're students, not adventurers."

"Help us already, you mannerless brat."

"Okay."

I turned to leave.

"No, no, no... Please. I'm sorry!" The Queen grabbed my hand. "I'm sorry."

"Not to me. Apologise to her."

Queen Rosa reached for Lucy's hand and wrapped them in hers. "I'm sorry, fair child. I'm sorry... for trying to kill you."

Lucy's cold expression melted away at the Queen's words.

"I'm sorry too," she replied, "for hurting Freya.. your daughter."

The Queen's expression softened in a way I never expected. Her eyes lit up, and she squeezed Lucy's hands a bit tighter.

"Words I needed to hear," she said, her voice lowering.

"Are we still your prisoners?"

"No... By gods no. You're my guests now. Help us save our city, please."

Lucy gave a curt nod and slipped her hand out from the Queen's. Then turning to me, she gave another one.

I turned to the Queen.

"Tell your knights to focus on putting out the fires. Lucy and I will handle the creature."

The Queen let out a huge breath, the tears in her eyes now vanishing. She turned to the nearest guard and barked out instructions as Lucy and I left the throne room.

"You weren't really planning to leave, were you?" Lucy asked.

"What?" I replied, not hearing her words over the sound of us scurrying down flights of stairs.

"You said you weren't going to help, did you mean that?"

"You know me better than that, Lucy. I was going to help, whether she asked or not. Just needed her to apologise first."

*****

Finally, we ran outside the castle.

The Queen's castle was located on a hill that overlooked the rest of the city. From where we stood, we could see the entirety of Greenhold.

In flames.

What was once a healthy picture of green, was now decorated with patches of red and yellow.

Thick smoke filled the air as loud bells echoed over and over.

"I think we wasted a little time inside," I said.

"A little?"

The people's screams reached my ears once again. The acrid smoke stung my nose, dragging me back to that night, that awful night, when the Shadow Queen destroyed everything.

I could see it all. The fire burning the small shires, the screams of the injured citizens, and the Shadow Queen, laughing over it all.

Then I wondered?

Was this how she did it? Was this how she destroyed Viridale?

"Rin!"

I jolted awake at the sound of my name. Lucy was staring at me.

"What did you say?

"I said we need to bring it down."

"I could do that, but not without killing it. And I don't think the queen would like that."

Silence ensued between us. I scanned my thoughts to recall if there were any Weather Affinity spells I could use to take down the Wyvern, without killing it or damaging the city.

Then, Lucy's voice broke through again.

"I have an idea," she said, "and it's not a good one."