by TP Keane
*
"There's just too many," Aria whispered under her breath.
Despite the diligent efforts to push back the dark army, the labours of the dwarfs and the King's Guard had little effect. Now that the lit contents of the stingers had dotted the land around them, it was easier to see the numbers of dark creatures below. The ogres and the horned beasts were only the first wave. Beyond them was a sea of monsters that swayed from side to side with anticipation, like a hive of blackened bees. They huddled together, and their collective form took up nearly the entire horizon. Most alarming, however, was the creature that glided in the sky.
With a wingspan half the width of the entire dark army, and illuminated by the oil fires of the burning ramparts, was the mammoth form of a dragon. Its golden body gleamed against the darkness of the skies, and its red eyes burned as though they were coals. 'How are we to defeat this? All must surely be lost.'
Aria found herself suddenly wishing that Edwel were still around to advise her on what to do. She had never faced such daunting numbers, or heard of a successful attack against a dragon (not even in fairy tales). Her fear had galvanised her ability to command.
"By the great, hairy plumb-sacks of the king, whot is that?"
Aria was never so relieved to hear Bernard's voice as she was at that moment.
"A dragon, what are we to do?" she replied, hearing the uncertainty in her own voice.
Bernard's steel-blue eyes searched hers for a moment, and the hardness she had always seen in them before, softened. He rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder and Aria felt the sting of tears of relief burn at the edges of her eyes. She was too young for a war of this magnitude, to inexperienced, and they both knew it. Gripping onto his axe again, he turned his eyes to the sky and watched the dragon for a long while before he answered her.
"Dinnae worry about the dragon, it's no' attacking us just yet," he said. "I'm no' convinced it's on Dantet's side either, look."
Sure enough when Aria examined the scene again, with less panic in her heart, she saw that the dragon was encircling them all, as though it was trying to decipher the going's on below. The harpies gave it a wide berth and even Luscious seemed to be eyeing it warily. It appeared that neither side of the warring parties had expected to see the dragon appear.
"Better tae just concentrate on whot's in front of us and keep our heads."
Aria nodded and took in a deep uneven breath, before ordering another volley of stingers to be let loose.
"Let me take over," Bernard whispered to her. "I've been fighting me whole life, but if I start barking order's while yer still here, y'ell lose the respect of yer army, and maybe even yer crown."
"I, I can't," Aria replied, looking around to see if any of her army had heard him. "I'm the queen, their leader. How can I abandon them?"
Bernard raised a clenched fist to his mouth and cleared his throat.
"Yer Majesty," he yelled as loudly as a dwarf could. "Ol?rin has captured the traitorous wizard named Mullrode in the wizard's tower. He needs yer expertise in loosening tongues. He knows that ye might have better luck than he with finding out who within these walls have sided with Dantet, and brought thas war upon us. I will follow the orders ye have given me and command yer army while yer gone."
Aria's heart leapt into her chest. 'Mullrode has been found?' There was a large amount of guilt and feelings of ineptitude at the idea of leaving her army in the middle of a battle, but she had a lot of questions for the wan wizard that needed answering. Those answers might just lift the murkiness of this war from around them all, and help them to see it clearly. They would know their true enemies and would strike them down within the shadows they hid.
"So be my orders," she shouted just as loudly. "Bernard, the mighty king of the dwarfs, shall be my voice, and you are all to obey his commands."
A deafening uproar sounded out from the two armies. Despite their loyalty, they looked relieved to have Bernard as their general. She smiled and nodded appreciatively at the feisty dwarf, before turning toward the stairs which lead down the wall.
"Aria," he called after her when she was half-way down. "Where's Aramus?"
"He went inside with Sudia," she replied. "Why?"
"He's no' there now. He said he was coming out here again tae help ya, but I dinnae see him anywhere. He should have been here by now."
Aria felt her stomach lurch. Aramus had definitely not returned from the palace. She knew because she had kept a watchful eye on it, to ensure that the walls did not crumble and her brother was safe. She had seen him enter, of that much she was certain, but he had definitely not returned. 'Oh Goddess no,' she thought, feeling her insides go cold. 'Has he been captured by another dark wizard?'
Aria ignored the pain in her leg and turned on her heels to run as fast as she could toward the wizard's tower, the last place she knew he had been.
