Black Rim

by B A Fleming

  Trajunus looked at them, taking a breath, knowing that this type of meeting was not accepted by the senate members, who looked on disapprovingly. He commenced anyway.

  “Firstly, thank you all for your sacrifice to my kingdom. To think that my most loyal servants are not considered civis of the Empire of Morea,” he looked around the table. “I am indebted to all of you.”

  “Even me!” laughed Carey as he ran past, looking for another tunnel to explore.

  “Even you, little man.”

  “But our job is not done.”

  He paused.

  “In saying that, we have all suffered greatly during these past days and months. Our enemies, both internally and from beyond the borders of our kingdoms, are still upon our door.”

  “I can feel our enemies breath upon the back of my neck,” whispered Nathe.

  Casperi, Thais and Trajunus looked at him.

  “The messengers from the front report that both the Blue and Black Dragons hold them at bay. The Green Dragon, Sedna, is said to be scoping the scene, but we do not know the purpose of her forays. The Narthal have pushed us back to Agrippa and all will be lost if we do not change this battle, and very soon,” he hesitated, looking across to Thais and then down the table again.

  “Princess Thais,” the Chancellor spoke. “We have heard tales of your skills far beyond anything ever known in these lands. As a representative of the senate, and I hope that our new Emperor agrees, I beg of you to help us end this invasion.”

  The messenger arrived late in the afternoon. It was a post directly to the Chancellor. “Kill Trajunus.”

  The Chancellor stood before Trajunus and Casperi, Nolar nearby. He had been assigned by Casperi to watch over every move of the Chancellor.

  “It’s from Mimas, my Emperor.”

  “Do you serve me as your Emperor?”

  “You, my liege, are the most worthy to fill the position, and I serve the Empire, not one person.”

  “So, then, you serve and recognize me as Emperor?”

  “Yes, my liege.”

  “Then, Casperi. I believe that we must go and take command of my armies before they too are turned against us.”

  Casperi looked at him and sighed. “I will talk with Thais.”

  Within her dreams, Eren had warned Thais of Zenath and Dralan. He had weakened as they had become stronger. Dralan was still injured, but Eren would need her help if they were to defeat the Blue Dragon as well.

  They arrived in Agrippa by lunchtime. The flags of the Emperor of Morea blew in the breeze as the small procession made its way through the streets. Many stared, although most dropped to the knees when they saw the flags, looking up and smiling when they realized that the son of the late Emperor Lethos was now deemed to be the new Emperor.

  They marched towards the Civic Center as Thais and the others could make out Thargus, and another man walking out of its doors, and obviously in command. Mimas was a giant of a man, a full head taller than Thargus.

  He called to his archers, pointing towards the oncoming party, asking them to fire. Several baulked at his command and he yelled at the turncoats.

  Finally, they released a volley. Thais raised her hand and all of the arrows fell from the sky halfway in between them. Mimas screamed at them again and they all fell back onto their buttocks. Mimas looked at the approaching procession without answer.

  “You are now under my command,” announced Trajunus as his horse came to stop in front of the Civic Center.

  “Then you will die!” yelled Thargus as he jumped forward towards Trajunus. Casperi slipped off his horse, blocking the first strike with his Black Rim sword, countering with a strike that Thargus also blocked. Everyone watched unmoved, either sitting astride their horses or standing nearby. Thais rested one wrist upon another ready to use her magic at a moments’ notice.

  Casperi quickly gained the upper hand, slicing and parrying in moves that both Nathe and Thais had seen many times before.

  “Casperi, I sent Temar to release Trajunus.”

  “And you lied to me the whole time you were in Hardular. Why should I believe you now?” yelled Casperi, striking down with his Black Rim. Thargus’s sword shattered. Casperi stabbed forward, pushing the blade through him.

  “I am sorry, my Lord,” whispered Thargus. He slumped to the ground.

  Trajunus waited until Thargus firmly laid dead, and then dismounted. Thais, Nathe and Birger all walked up to Casperi, reassuring him as he turned from the corpse as it was being carried away.

  “Is it your turn next?” Trajunus asked Mimas.

  “No, my liege,” he bowed his head as Trajunus passed.

  Nathe and Soze stood next to Thais in the command center, Temar and Aryz Coun either side of Casperi. Jotnar, Daak, Birger and Arzon together slightly behind them to the side. Mimas and two other commanders stood in another group as Trajunus examined the battlefield.

  “The dragons come again my lord,” observed Thais, breaking the silence.

  “You talk to them?” he looked up at her and across to Casperi, who nodded.

  “Yes,” she quietly answered.

  “Mimas. We will need to defend the lines whilst the dragons battle,” Trajunus observed.

  “Myself, Birger, Jotnar, Aryz Coun, Nathe, and Soze all now hold Black Rim swords. Thais and Arzon can shoot Black Rim arrows as well,” he surmised.

  The other Morean commanders looked at them.

  “Dragon killers.”

  “You have swords and arrows that can kill dragons?” gasped Mimas.

  “To bring them down, at the very least,” replied Casperi unsheathing his sword again. Mimas had watched him battle Thargus and now examined the blade, nodding to Casperi in admiration.

  “And your witch?”

  “Can kill you at any moment that I wish,” she hissed back at him. Mimas straighten almost apologetically.

  “Princess Thais is a sorcerer, yes,” added Trajunus. “Mimas, I need your men to defend them whilst they fight the dragons.”

  “Yes, my liege,” he nodded, unconvincingly.

  A few minutes later they filed out to prepare for battle.

  “You are not much of a lady,” noted Jotnar to Thais.

  “And you expected me to be so?” replied Thais.

  “I was told that you are a superior archer.”

  “Why should men have all the fun?” she added.

  The new troops walked into the battle. The late afternoon always seemed to draw a final summation of energy before the darkness arrived. Mimas ordered troops to defend the new arrivals although he reassured his men that they would not be sacrificed to save the Hardular.

  Lentulus still led a battalion and cursed when he saw Trajunus standing under the flag of the Emperor in the golden breastplate. As they had been in the command center, Thais stood with Soze and Nathe either side, Casperi with Temar and Aryz Coun. Jotnar, Daak, Birger and Arzon also formed a formidable four to the other side of Casperi, six Black Rim blades between them

  Ocolan and Shigeru knew who they were facing and both sent their forces directly towards the Hardular. Within the hour the core of the Narthal were almost upon them, Mimas and many of his men were dead.

  Both Thais and Arzon had used all of their arrows save the Black Rim. Two young soldiers were assigned to duck through the battle, pulling shafts from dead soldiers to replenish them.

  Ocolan grabbed the bow from the man next to him as he fell, drawing an arrow and firing it the hundred feet across the battlefield at a diagonal, striking the Hardular Lord in the upper chest. Casperi started to fall. Thais backed towards him casting a spell in an instant with her left arm. She had slowed down time around him and as he watched the ground slowly come towards him, he turned and got ready to land. Slowly he fell and rolled. Time sped up to normal time again as he came out of his roll, and Temar turned back to grab him, he looked at Casperi’s wound to assess what had been penetrated.

  Several Warang had broken the line whilst Thais was d
istracted and she turned to find Nathe striking a man under the sword arm who then slid dead off Skilami, the two men standing before him fell, arrows scarcely protruding through the front of their armor as they fell forward.

  Arzon standing off behind, firing the fatal shots, as Soze hacked another two into pieces with Fisst. Ocolan retreated although many of the Narthal soldiers continued.

  Sedna flew over the battlefield, so high above that most did not even realize that she was there. Arthung circled the battle below. Sedna monitored the battle, not seeming to care to join. Approaching from the mountains to the west the Golden Dragon drifted in, letting out an ork sound, ensuring that the Green Dragon realized that he was approaching to talk, not to battle. Sedna wearily awaited his arrival as the Golden Dragon continued to glide towards him, pulling up near his side.

  “Your kind absorb my lands,” observed the Green Dragon.

  “Only to displace those that harm our allies. We have no quarrel with you Sedna, and will not seek to harm your people.”

  “And my lands?”

  “Will no doubt be returned to you within a few moments.”

  The Green Dragon thought on this.

  “How long are these moments?”

  “The end of this battle great Sedna. I will assure you of that.”

  “Then I will fall back and await your truth.” Eren nodded, diving off, swooping down towards Arthung.

  He dived down, letting out a bellow as he gained speed in his descent. Eren grabbed at Arthung as he passed him. He sliced through the fat section of Arthung’s tail. It was still attached for now, although the wound extended up onto his rump.

  “It’s begun,” Thais yelled out to those around her. The dragons are fighting!”

  Those unoccupied quickly glanced to the sky as Thais setup a protective shield around them whilst they all prepared themselves, Arzon quickly rearranging her arrows to make sure that the Black Rim were easy to find.

  Arthung dived down towards the Golden Dragon and both dragons grasped at each other, slicing and biting where able. Both suffered minor wounds, although Eren managed to open a large gash along the bone of one of Arthung’s wings.

  Arthung freed himself, ducking across into a cloud, his injures now starting to limit him. Eren climbed, looking for space where he could see clearly in all directions. Arthung swung around, obviously weakened by the attack, shooting lines of flames through the Morean troops, picking up claw fulls of others, crushing and dropping them back into the lines of their comrades.

  The Golden Dragon dived back down from the west towards Arthung. The Black Dragon was focused on another run as an arrow shot by him. He sprayed Thais group with flames on several occasions, stopped her shield as he disappeared up into the clouds with Eren. Thais shot off a few bolts to fight off other Narthal that attacked her and her men. On more than one occasion she resorted to her blade before Soze or Nathe could step in to defend her. Birger and Arzon had both fallen, and it was obvious that Daak, Jotnar and Temar were now carrying significant injures. The Black Dragon dived at her, almost knocking her down as Thais shot off a few quick arrows, the last hitting his neck at an angle only to cause a small wound. She let out a wind spell that knocked his flight off balance and he lifted back up into the sky above her.

  Dralan knew that the young sorcerous could not protect her soldiers for too long as the spells that she was casting were large, and drew upon a great amount of energy. She shakily reviewed the situation before her. The darkness of night starting to set in, Casperi lying motionless in the mud ten paces away, the Black Dragon sailing in towards her once more.

  She dropped her arms and shuddered, looking down as she collapsed to her knees, now covered in brown sludge. Thais felt lost, almost defeated, wondering if this is what death feels like. It had been an ugly, false battle, defending an Empire that seemed to care little for her, or her people. The battle had ensued for several weeks although she had only been involved for these past five hours.

  Her bow still swung over her shoulder. She felt the grime on her face, dead bodies of Morean soldiers nearby that had defended her with their lives. Both Soze and Nathe lay motionless in the mire as well, their Black Rim blades almost indistinguishable. One arrow laid less than two paces from her, in the hand of a dead squire. She had thought she was out.

  Thais drew a large breath, almost crawling over to the arrow, it’s Black Rim head still very much intact. It had bounced out of her holder in the midst of the last battle with Arthung. He could still be seen swooping towards her.

  Eren let out a large call, and Arthung reacted, now seeing him floating in. It was the distraction that Thais had hoped from. She pulled herself up onto her knees, drawing another deep breath. Thais slowly set her bow, looking towards the ground. She slowly took a quieting breath as she started drawing it back, scanning the skies, The Golden and Black Dragons speeding towards each other.

  Thais thought a moment, drawing the bow back, estimating, calculating in her mind. She drew another breath and let her arrow fly. She dropped the bow, staring momentarily into the darkened skies, the clouds only adding to the depth of shadows high above the battlefield. She raised her right hand, mumbling something.

  The arrow had been shot at a very steep ascent. It now floated almost horizontally. A few seconds later it dropped, steeply, fast, shooting downwards as if it had just left the bow.

  Arthung and Eren flew straight towards each other, close enough to look into each others’ eyes, each drawing their breaths, ready to either distract or attack with a ball of flames.

  Then Arthung buckled, his right shoulder hit by Thais’s arrow, he screamed as he plummeted, the shaft sunk deep through muscle and into bone. Eren adjusted his stance and roared with flame. He dived down upon the falling Black Dragon, meeting his collapse twenty seconds before the ground, digging his large golden claws in the torso of his disabled foe.

  Arthung screamed as he turned his head slightly, sighting the ground, watching Thais fall a hundred feet away before he exploded into the mud. Eren forced him into the earth, yelling in magnificence as he instantly sprung back into the air. Only then did he sense the faint breath of Thais and landed again next to her. He nuzzled her gently, looking back across to briefly glance at the motionless body of Casperi and the others around them. He breathed out, a grey mist floated over all of them.

  Eren turned his attention back to Thais. He breathed gently, directly upon her. Another dragon roared distantly.

  Eren briefly looked across to the broken shape of Arthung and then into the sky. He pushed off effortlessly lifting back into the darkness, focused on one distant shape.

  Zenath felt the life draining from his son. He shot across the sky towards him, sounding a warning for all others to move out of his way. The battle below had started to cease for the day, with a few minor skirmishes continuing, most soldiers stepping cautiously away from each other. Silent agreements, like white flags briefly waving, or captains nodding across battlefields to each other signaling a retreat of both parties. Trajunus ran across the battlefield to where the Hardular lay.

  Eren lifted himself higher, gaining altitude above the advancing Blue Dragon that had yet to notice him. He spiraled up a bit further, gauging the distance as he now glided in a large circle to the east, turning through a low cloud to add advantage to his ambush position.

  Zenath only saw his opponent five seconds before he was hit from above and to his left, Eren delivering a blast of fire towards his wing as he slammed into the old Blue Dragon, claws digging deep into his back leg and lower torso.

  Zenath bellowed as he rolled mid-air with the blow, biting at the Golden Dragons’ tail as he let go almost instantly after his attack.

  Eren now sailed below as Zenath sped up, turning sharply to be almost upon him. The Blue Dragon put his pain aside as he chased the slightly smaller Golden Dragon. Eren, unaware of the Blue Dragon turned his head to see his old nemesis almost upon him. He curled to the right, hoping to evade Zenath, w
ho latched on to his wing barely with one claw. The connection unbalanced Eren, who half fell, half pulled Zenath towards him, only for the Blue Dragon to now latch fully onto the center of his back, bending his left wing back on itself. The bone snapped with the force, as the Golden Dragon let out a dulled huff as a white shock wave shot across the battlefield.

  Zenath dug in his claws further, feeling some of the ribs now breaking in his grasp. The Blue Dragon dropped his opponent as he started making a spiral down to where the Black Dragon lay.

  Eren, half conscious, tried to direct his fall as best as possible crashing down into the sludge three paces from the fallen Thais.

  His head almost limp he let out his last breath, barely lifting his head as the edge of his chin touched her knee.

  Lentulus stood nearby and surveyed the scene. All around him looked to be dead and he turned to walk away from the battlefield. The old soldier had had enough for the day and ignored calls back into battle. Trajunus yelled for soldiers to collect the injured, although most of the Morean troops wearily stayed back as Zenath roared as he circled above the motionless Black Dragon.

  Sedna floated into the battle scene and Zenath bellowed at her. The Green Dragon, accepting the challenge, charged Zenath, who swooped into the air in a defensive move. The two dragons clashed in the sky, as if feverently trying to end the battle quickly with one all mighty and powerful blow. They ducked and attacked, used their wings to pull back and strike forward, smashing into each other, biting and missing, as both were experienced fighters and each attack was equally countered by both opponents. The Blue Dragon snarled, as the Sedna swooped back and swept about him. Fire would not work on each other as it would on other prey.

  Zenath tried to out maneuver the giant. The larger Green Dragon was onto him, and countered with a spiraling move that caught Zenath off guard, circling him in flames as she landed upon Zenath. Sedna roared as she bit into the Blue Dragons’ neck, who screamed.

  Sedna dug a crawl deep into the side of Zenath, who screamed again, diving down to the ground. Sedna did not follow, circling above, as if waiting for the battle to recommence.