Black Rim

by B A Fleming

  Soldiers screamed across a mass of small lines that expanded more than seven leagues across fields.

  The battle had reached its height late afternoon and the Moreans now threw everything they could at the Narthal lines in a final attempt to hold their invaders back. All of the Salararius led battalions into the field, as weary soldiers made for one last attack before dark. Wudi, Eji, Shigeru, and all of their recently promoted commanders lead troops in the field in an all-out assault. Only the wounded and extra duties personnel remained back at camp.

  The blunt force approach of the Moreans was matched by the lithe agility of the black clad men who practiced raids along several fronts. Rain poured down again as the weary troops from both sides sought to sleep. Ocolans’ few remaining Warang caused havoc in the camp and during the night, disrupting preparations where ever possible.

  *****

  Richmond received word of the loss of Thannon from the Chancellor.

  The man knew more than what was going on in the corridors and chambers of the Palace than any other.

  A short time later, Aggelos consoled Richmond, ensuring that the young royal could still be manipulated when the timing was ripe. Aggelos had loss faith in the influence of the other Malborks in recent days, especially based on the whispers of more than a few senators as they fled the capital. Lady Isabella now remained alive, only to the grace of her son’s influence on the Emperor.

  Aggelos left Richmond to his own. A few minutes later one of the Emperor’s servants commenced a winding trail of following the Hardular man through the secret tunnels. The man stopped on many occasions, even back-tracking at times, and his shadow wondered if he was looking for something, only returning to his chambers when another servant he passed in halls signaled that Richmond had been invited to dine with the Emperor.

  An hour later, Richmond entered the ‘Hall of Tunnels’. It wasn’t common knowledge to most guests, but he knew that the walls had more ears in this room than others of the palace.

  Aggelos smiled at him as they enjoyed red wine together with his mother and sister. The imprisoned Hardular envoy, Nolar, was the last to join the table.

  Chapter 27

  Corone was empty. The soldiers that remained were more concerned in running errands than to maintain any form of order in the capital. It was not as though there was much to contain as groups of privileged marched around or quickly travelled through the streets in their wagons, suspiciously eyeing off each other as they passed.

  Zador directed the wagon through minor backstreets, to minimize the chances of them being detected. The main thorough fares were still packed with movement, so these redirections were actually quicker, if seemingly longer.

  They finally arrived at the back entrance of the Palace Garrison. Watching from a distance, they assessed the situation. Four guards on the gate and limited troop movements to be seen. They considered their options. Eventually Zador, Temar, Thais and Casperi walked up the guard station. Thais froze the guards, and they walked through. There were no other soldiers around to stop them as they entered the garrison commanders room.

  Trajunus sat in the corner, staring at the floor. In the opposing corner his waste bucket stunk. The four rescuers stood outside the bars, considering him.

  “Kinda stinks in here,” Casperi final offered.

  Trajunus looked up. He slowly stood, obviously tired and somewhat malnourished.

  “Thank you for coming. This is a mess,” he pleaded.

  “Yes, that it is,” said Thais as she easily melted the lock and the door opened. Trajunus stepped out, unsure of who to hug first.

  “They will find out about us soon enough,” suggested Temar. “We have better move, my lord.”

  Temar was right. The three men inside the garrison commanders’ day room lay still as they moved out into the yard. It was empty. A handful of squads slept whilst others patrolled the streets, otherwise the city was devoid of soldiers. The rest of the party now joined them as Trajunus decrepitly led them into the Palace corridors.

  Casperi and Nathe rounded a corner to find a group of five guards. The squad of soldiers stood in front of them. Casperi balked. Nathe reached into a small pouch on his belt and blew a wave of black powder into the five men that stood before them. The guards coughed and belched. It was a trick the swordsman had learnt from the old man.

  They glanced at each other. Casperi thought it un-sportsman like, but also remembered that sport had no place in battle.

  The two companions seized the moment and charged forward, quickly bringing the Moreans down. They stepped over the bodies and ran forward.

  Canute was the first to find Aggelos, lounging in one the late Emperors’ favorite chambers, a servant boy and girl taking turns to feed him fruits and provide other pleasures. Temar bled him whilst Trajunus supervised the carving. Once enough had been done, the pleading man was gutted, his crying pains filling the room as the children were told to run. The remaining guards were equally disposed of by Soze, Canute, Aryz Coun and Nathe.

  Trajunus walked across to a sideboard, placed in the room for the preparation of foods. He opened the end draw, pushing a small piece of wood to the back of half-filled draw. A discernable click was heard and he removed a vile from a secret opening at the back of the furniture. They walked out of the room, disposing of a young advisor that unawares had made his way towards the feast.

  They now broke off into groups as Trajunus, Soze and Birger headed towards his parents’ old rooms, Zador, Jotnar and Canute; Casperi, Thais and Carey with Arzon; and Temar, Aryz Coun and Nathe in other directions to find the princess.

  Isabella turned to see him standing behind her, across the room. The blade was pushed in through the side of his neck. It sliced thinly, but accurately, Canute’s blood instantly pouring from his throat as Malena stepped to the side from behind the curtain. The Vasa warrior fell forward, choking for a few moments, before a heart attack sent him into convulsions as he collapsed. A smug look filled Malena’s face as she watched Canute collapse to the ground which was now matched by satisfaction as she watched him die.

  “I’ve been waiting to take revenge on your family for some time, my Lord. I liked your strength, your courage, but your madness was ill contained,” she smiled at him as she knelt beside his dying body. Malena gently stroked his cheek, smiling. “Too bad, your skills could have been useful to me.”

  Canute, struggling to remain lucid, grabbed at her knife, almost in vain, catching it with two weakened fingers, he pulled out the short dagger and lashed out at her.

  Malena threw herself backwards at the surprise movement, the blade speared deep into her calf with the last strength of Canute. He sagged. Malena crawled a few steps backward and sat on the ground, the dagger still lodged in her leg. She curled up slightly, crying in pain for a few moments, before pulling the blade out, gritting her teeth, and then ripping the bottom of her dress to make a tourniquet to slow the bleeding.

  “Maid!” she called. The two young women that had been hiding ran in, firstly noticing the dead Vasa prince on the ground, both stopped momentarily in horror, before hurrying forward to their mistress. Lady Isabella watched without movement, almost amused by the killing. Malena’s maids wrapped the bandage tightly.

  “We need to leave, now!” she cursed at them. They both stood and went to prepare her things.

  “Mother? What about me. I can’t walk,” Malena pleaded.

  “Then I guess you will have to stay,” Isabella absently waved to her daughter as she turned to leave the room through another exit.

  Moments later the two maids followed, glancing at the young woman worriedly.

  Malena sat crying, the pain shooting up through her leg. She crawled to the bed, dragging herself onto it, burying her face in the sheets.

  Jotnar’s face darkened as he entered the room with Zador. Both had known the prince only sparingly, yet respected his skill and courage. They had heard the yells and followed the sounds from nearby, where they were individually
searching.

  Jotnar unbuckled the Black Rim sword, Fisst, from the dead prince. He unsheathed it after putting away his own. It glinted in the sparing light. Zador glimpsed the blade, surprised by it. Malena looked up from the bed.

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t save him,” she cried. “I’m sorry.”

  They looked at each other and the displaced princess. “She killed him,” she cried out. “She went that way,” she added, pointing to the exit door. The two soldiers ran after Lady Isabella as Malena buried her head in the sheets again until the sound of their footsteps had gone.

  Birger stood with his Black Rim short sword Ddan, holding Isabella and her maids at bay as Zador and Jotnar entered the room. Trajunus leaned against the door frame behind him.

  “She killed Canute,” accused Zador as Birger jumped forward, thrusting his blade through her torso.

  “It was my daughter,” she half cried out. The maids quickly glancing at her, both pointed to Lady Isabella from behind.

  “You killed my brother, and this is my revenge,” he dug the blade in deeper, as it sliced through the bone like soft marrow.

  Casperi, Thais and Arzon entered the room as Lady Isabella glanced at the Catheridge Lord as she died. The maids stepped against the wall, both scared that they would be next.

  “Where is the princess?” yelled Casperi, as the confused maids pointed back to Malena’s room.

  Birger dislodged his blade and they all ran off. The maids disappeared in another direction after they had gone. Carey and Arzon stopped, watching them, and turned to follow the fleeing women.

  Arzon stopped as she glanced one of maids speaking with Cheinjus, who then kissed her briefly.

  He looked around before shuffling the two women through a door into a guest room.

  “Get the others,” she briefed Carey, who scurried off quietly through the way they had come, stopping occasionally to listen for any sounds of them. After five minutes he caught up with Thais. Ten minutes later they had gathered in the room behind Arzon, who was acting as lookout until they arrived.

  “One door in, one door out,” described a tiring Trajunus.

  “I should go,” offered Zador. “Let’s see if I can talk them out.”

  Casperi, Nathe, Birger and Thais looked at each other, half nodding. It seemed like the only possible plan.

  Zador stood up straight, looking Birger in the eye. “My apologizes to your father for my disloyalty.” He turned to Trajunus, who sat on a small box. “My apologizes to you, my Despotate, and your father.” He bowed, and Trajunus reflected his action, as Daak and Soze appeared from a nearby hallway.

  Zador stood up straight, adjusting his belt before removing his blade. With sword in hand he walked forward in a half march, knocking on the door gently. Tethys grabbed him by the front of his breastplate, dragging him through the door and to his knees. The motion had caught Zador off guard. Zador had swung wildly as he fell forward, striking Tethys back, unharmed.

  With the technical advantage, Tethys finished him off quickly, the blade slicing through his knee before he had even touched the floor. Tethys pushed him back as he regained his balance, blood pouring from the neck of Zador as he gasped for air.

  Tethys knelt down next to him, drawing his dagger from his belt, and scratching the word Reus in his forehead.

  “There, traitor. You will have the title you deserve for all eternity.”

  Tethys stood, looking around him at Cheinjus and the other three women in the room.

  “He had forgotten what his true cause was.”

  Cheinjus held a blade to the stomach of Lapse, as the two maids tried to make themselves seem invisible in the corner. They all knew what was coming next as the door burst open, a black arrow piercing Tethys skull.

  Cheinjus’s small blade sunk in before his arm was chopped off by Casperi’s Black Rim blade. Lapse’s sad eyes stared longingly towards her fiancé as she sagged next to the Salararius, Casperi removing his head with the second part of his swing, the Black Rim slicing as if there were no bones to pass through.

  Casperi dropped his sword, enveloping Lapse before she hit the ground. She laid within his arms as the blood of Cheinjus seeped under them. The others had entered the room in the interim, Birger dropping to his knees in front of them, his second sibling to die within an hour in front of him.

  “You came,” she whispered toward Birger.

  He sadly nodded his head.

  “You all came for me,” she cried quietly.

  “Yes, my love.” She smiled as she looked into Casperi’s eyes, and then stopped breathing.

  *****

  Zenath floated along the edges of the mountains to the west of the battle. He surveyed the carnage, seeking weak spots and opportunities that Shigeru may like to take advantage of.

  He was too late to see the Golden Dragon, Eren, dive in from behind a peak, digging his claws in the Blue Dragons’ hide as he attacked.

  Zenath reacted, but not as Eren would have expected, going with the momentum of the strike, almost pulling Eren down towards the battle grounds far below. Zenath spun slightly, twisting the Golden Dragon to a position where he was now on the bottom of the entanglement, the Blue Dragon kicking out at his opponent, loosening the grip of the claw, hooked into his muscle.

  Eren let go momentarily, though it was enough for Zenath to continue the spiral, increasing their momentum, spinning his neck and body around to bite Eren on his right wing. The Golden Dragon roared as he broke loose of the Blue Dragons’ jaws. He dove down, the Blue Dragon upon him. Eren was now at the disadvantage as he retreated by quickly circling back up and escaping back over the ridge from where he came.

  Zenath shook off the attack and circled back to land several miles behind the camp. He drank some water from a lake as two local children looked on from nearby brush. He hissed at them and they ran away.

  He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply, calming himself momentarily. Zenath then surveyed the skies, before flying back towards Kogu, a slight injury to his wing.

  *****

  Malena ran into Richmond’s’ room. Her brother frightened and struggling, held by the throat by Grechous.

  “You betray me?” screamed Grechous.

  “Everything of treachery, I learnt from you.”

  “That is doubtful,” he said pulling the young man in his grip, squeezing his neck tightly at the air leaked out through his struggle. Malena dug her blade through the side of Grechous. He was surprised, as he saw her coming, thinking that she would support him.

  The young Morean sagged, instantly letting go of Richmond, who gasped as Grechous fell before him. His sisters’ sad eyes spoke of more as the corpse splayed at their feet.

  “Mother tried to kill me,” she almost whimpered. He noticed her limp as she entered the room.

  Richmond rubbed his neck as he helped Malena to sit on the edge of his bed.

  “We must go,” she added. “Casperi and the others are here.”

  He looked at her. He had been preparing a bag as he had seen Prince Birger run past a few minutes before. Richmond led her out and into the secret passages.

  Chapter 28

  Casperi looked at Thais as she came out of the room where they had been sleeping. He was sipping on a cup of café as she handed him the second braid from the left-hand side of her hair.

  “You know you’ll have no hair left at this rate.”

  “I want you to have part of me with you,” she said, as she handed it to him and hugged him.

  Trajunus had taken command of Corone Palace, setting up squads of the remaining soldiers on guard. The Chancellor was under house arrest for the time being, and of the remaining senators, only one voiced his opposition to Trajunus as Emperor.

  The bodies of all of the Hardular and the Salararius laid in state in the throne room. Malena and Richmond had disappeared, and they were unsure if anyone had escaped to tell Mimas of the duplicity. Although almost dead, Grechous now wallowed in the same cell that had imprisoned
Aryz Coun. The maids had told them everything of what Lady Isabella, Thargus, Cheinjus and Tethys had been up to. Trajunus had appointed a new Palace garrison commander, who informed the troops of their new Emperor as they returned from duty or prepared for their shift. Most were receptive of the news that a Salararius would now be in control of the Empire.

  “We need to go to Agrippa to help Trajunus take complete control of Morea,” stated Casperi.

  “Or we could just go home. The Osoosi have given us their blessing.”

  Casperi sighed. His life had crashed down with the loss of Lapse. King Daikin and Queen Cassiopeia had lost two of their children the day before. “Yes, we could just go home, but then the Empire of Morea might be in chaos for some time.”

  She thought about this.

  “Eren was attacked by the Blue Dragon yesterday,” she added.

  “What? When?”

  Yesterday afternoon, not long after ….. yesterday.”

  “What will happen to Hardular if we walk away?”

  “And will Dralan come for us?”

  “Both are issues we need to be aware of.”

  Let’s create a council to discuss this.

  An hour later they all sat around one of the many dining tables that scattered around the Corone Palace. Trajunus sat a head of the table, the others, including the remaining Hardular, Temar Bolyl, Arzon and Aryz Coun, Nolar, the Chancellor and the three remaining senators, along the sides. Carey ran the secret passage ways. He was in his element, and more than once asked Arzon if they could stay.

  Trajunus smiled at the request as Carey announced it in front of everyone to Arzon.

  “It’s actually not a bad idea, Emperor Trajunus,” suggested Casperi.