War of the Kings

Right after the Great Eastern War ended, the noble houses began to fight each other over rulership of the continent. The houses started to rip each other apart with their dragons. 

It was quickly discovered how deadly and dangerous dragons could be in the War of the Kings. Before, the dragons really didn’t have to be trained all that well, the non-humans stood no chance against the dragons; but when dragons face off against other dragons, they are evenly matched. Very quickly dragon riders and their companions became distinguished, those that survived multiple battles were recognized as skilled riders, and they honed their abilities to become almost unbeatable. 

The War of the Kings was mainly fought between House Vallos and the now extinct House Manter. House Vallos was one of the main houses that led the Great Eastern War, and ultimately they were the reason they won the war since they launched the expedition that found dragons. House Manter was the other main house that led the Great Eastern War, and earned a great deal of respect from other noble houses when they held the front lines when House Vallos pulled resources and men to send on an expedition to the Western Continent. House Manter argued that it was a risky gamble, and had it not payed off, the humans would surely have lost the war. The Manters argued that they would have won the war with or without the dragons, and that they were more suited to rule since they would rather choose the safe option than gamble the lives of all of humanity. Other houses also declared that they were the rightful rulers of the humans, but none had the same support as House Vallos or House Manter.

The other houses mostly picked sides between House Vallos and House Manter, and then a war began over who would get to be king of the humans. All of the noble houses were given dragons by Victor Vallos during the Great Eastern War, and all the houses used them against each other in the War of the Kings.

Two dragons stand out the most in history, Eldrax and Iroh. Eldrax was the biggest and most fearsome dragon in the world. It breathed black fire from its jaws that set even water on fire. The fire would leave burns that caused the skin to develop necrosis, and his midnight purple scales couldn’t be broken by other dragons' claws. Eldrax was owned by House Manter, and it was a great honor to be selected as the rider for Eldrax, although riders rarely lasted long with him. Eldrax was impossible to bond with, and eventually he always ate his rider. Despite being the strongest dragon, he was rarely able to be used effectively. Iroh was almost the complete opposite, he was a young dragon that wasn’t particularly large, but he was fast and smart. Iroh also had a deep bond with his rider, Roberts, who was an expert dragon rider, adding to the fearsome legend of Iroh. Roberts and Iroh worked for House Vallos. Together, Roberts and Iroh took down every dragon they went up against, with some saying they even fought over a hundred dragons. The biggest feat Iroh and Roberts ever accomplished was when they took on Eldrax. Through expert maneuvering, the duo was able to evade Eldrax's attacks, while slowly chipping away at him. Eventually Roberts and Iroh were able to kill the rider on Eldrax. Iroh and Roberts had no way to defeat Eldrax, but with Eldrax's rider dead, he saw his chance to flee to freedom, free of the life of being a tool for House Manter. Eldrax flew to the Western Continent where he remained for over a thousand years. After Roberts died of old age, Iroh never bonded with another rider again.

After House Manter lost Eldrax, they continued to fight with decreasing success against House Vallos. Eventually, House Manter was destroyed by House Vallos. The War of the Kings was not over with the defeat of House Manter, as many houses opposed uniting under one king, and wanted to create multiple independent kingdoms, one such house being House Falcon. The War of the Kings was eventually halted when the arrival of the Behemoth came, temporarily causing an alliance between all the humans. Some say that if it weren't for the arrival of the Behemoth that forced the humans to work together, they would have gone extinct by their own hands. After the Battle of the Behemoth, House Vallos convinced the other houses to unite under them, and they agreed, ending the War of the Kings once and for all, creating the kingdom of Valtoria.