by Alex Alcasid
Seraphis held her blades high over her head, poised to bring them down and cut the huntress down. As the swords came down, Kae screwed her eyes shut and looked away. There was a loud clang, but no pain. Shaking, Kae opened her eyes. Above her was Cassendir, a sword of coalesced blue light shining in his hands, blocking the blow and bearing the full weight of the warrior princess.
“Kae, whatever you are planning, please do it quickly!” Cassendir groaned. Seraphis screamed in rage and pushed against the mage, sending Cassendir sprawling away. She dashed towards him, and he tried his best to block the blows of Seraphis’s flaming swords with his own as best as he could.
Chapter Twenty Five
Kae nodded quickly and leapt out of the way. Seraphis and Cassendir were locked in combat, with the scholar barely deflecting the more experienced fighter’s swords with his own. His own markings glowed a shaking blue as he struggled to keep the sword material. Drawing back his free hand, Cassendir’s fingers began to frost over as he began to form something, anything, made of ice. Seraphis roared and began to bring her swords down on him again, and Cassendir desperately flung out his hand.
A blast of freezing air hit the warrior princess, causing Seraphis to stagger and scream. The cold air meeting her burning body exploded into a cloud of mist, obscuring Seraphis from sight. Cassendir took the chance and scrambled farther away to catch his breath.
Kae looked around. The glow of Seraphis’s flaming swords came through the mist. The warrior princess began to recover, swinging her swords through the mist to disperse it. Haedria had rushed forward to grab Loren, while the princess has fallen unconscious from wave after wave of pain.
The huntress didn’t think. There was no time, there was so many things happening. All she saw was her friend in danger of dying, Loren about to be captured by the queen again, and herself in the middle of it all, holding a pendant and a dagger. She was useless. There must have been something she could do. Kae looked down at her hand, at her pendant. The silver dragon stared up at her, looking at her with curious golden eyes. The dragon looked tired somehow, tired and worn. The huntress blinked, unsure of what she saw. Maybe it was a trick of the light, the glow of the many fired dancing across the mist. The dragon seemed to have nodded.
Kae dropped to her knees in a flash, and set the silver pendant on the stone floor. She raised the dagger high above her head. Time seemed to slow down. Out of the corner of her eye, Seraphis had managed to clear the mist. Her eyes were wide, and a flicker of flame danced across her face. The small braids that stuck out from her short red hair and hidden behind her ear, braided by the slave girl Elysia, moved into the light as the warrior princess twisted and brought her swords to the ready. Cassendir’s face was a mask fear. He brought his sword up across his face to block the oncoming blow. He saw the fury in Seraphis’s eyes, in the sure and strong way she moved, in the way her muscles flexed under her skin into movements practiced thousands of times over the years, and knew the next blow may be his last. The queen had her hand outstretched towards Loren, the mage markings swirling up and down her arms with an inner fire that blazed as hot as an inferno.
The dagger came down on the pendant, piercing the silver dragon in the heart. The shine in its inlaid golden eyes faded.
Queen Haedria felt the magic like a blow to the heart. She staggered away from Loren, her eyes finding Kae easily. The huntress held the dagger that pierced through the pendant, transfixed on it and still. Her attention on the pendant was hawk-like, seeing through it and listening to things that weren’t there. Loren began to stir, muttering a name over and over, the burn of Haedria’s magic forgotten.
“Lind?” the princess whispered. Her eyes fluttered open, her irises gold. “Is that you? I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I always thought you were happy.”
The queen’s lip curled into a sneer. The flames that jumped and flicked over her body intensified, scorching the stones that she trod on. Reaching down, she grabbed Loren by the collar of her roughspun prisoner’s tunic and hauled her upright.
“What are you muttering about, girl?” The queen demanded. “Who is Lind?”
Loren’s eyes were unfocused, yet glittered a fierce golden color. Haedria’s eyes widened, the pendant had been destroyed; there was no magic left to Loren. “I didn’t know he was being held against his will. Now he’s free. And he is angry, Haedria. So, so angry.”
“What?”
The princess’s eyes snapped to focus on Haedria’s face. Despite the markings burning on her neck and wrists, the magic shackles were ignored. “You wanted him to come to you, didn’t you?”
The dragon pendant, impaled on Kae’s dagger, began to crumble. The silver cracked and broke apart, fine lines spreading out from the dagger’s point like a spiderweb. The pendant shattered, spreading chunks of silver and gold onto the stones. Kae snapped out of her trance and looked up, dully holding the dagger.
They all heard it at the same time.
A roar shook the Firestone Keep. The firestone pillars around the throne room shook from the force of it, the veins of the firestone pulsing in time to something other than Haedria’s magic. The throne room shook again as something very large crashed into the side of the Keep. The queen lost her grip on Loren, and the princess fell to the ground.
“Seraphis!” The queen called. “Rouse the men, the dragon’s arrived! Leave these to me and go!”
The warrior princess turned back to her queen with a snarl. She raised one sword, then paused as if she was having second thoughts. Without a word, Seraphis turned and ran from the throne room, magic flames trailing in her wake just as another roar shook the castle.
As Seraphis was about to lay a hand on the grand doors of the throne room, they burst open on their own. A stream of armored soldiers, clad in steel emblazoned with the blue and gold dragon of Aldoran, pushed back the princess. Seraphis snarled, leaping back, swords at the ready. The soldiers brandished pikes and hid behind large shields, and began to push her back. The warrior princess lashed out, cutting several soldiers in the thin gap between the bottom of their helm and their breastplate. The soldiers fell, but more surged forward to take their place.
“Sister! Soldiers from Aldoran! Our defenses must have been breached long ago!” Seraphis called, dashing back to the queen’s side. She stood between Haedria and the soldiers, ready to die protecting the queen if need be.
“How did this happen?” Haedria demanded. She threw a hand out towards the soldiers, fingers splayed and markings flaring. A solid column of flame erupted just before the soldiers, spiraling towards the high ceiling. Tendrils of flame split from the column, arcing and snaking towards the armored men. The tendrils reeled back and shot forward, forcing themselves into the helms and gaps of the armor. Their screams were cut abruptly as the air in their lungs burned and exploded, the heat cooking the soldiers inside their steel.
“I heard nothing from our scouts!” Seraphis answered. She lashed forward, blades whirling about her in a wicked dance. “I saw Hamilcar personally to the gates!” Her gaze fell on Kae, glaring with betrayal. She had let her and Cassendir in to retake Loren, and that was it. They had said nothing about a siege.
The huntress could only stare back, confusion and terror written all over her face. She scrambled to the base of a firestone pillar, her arms held up to protect her head from the wrath of Haedria’s magic. She was just as surprised as the warrior princess was, Seraphis realized. Kae screamed as more of the armored men fell to the ground. She screamed for her wolf over the sound of roaring flames.
A flash of tan fur charged from behind the line, dodging and weaving between the soldiers. Kaiten barked an order, and a soldier from Aldoran raised his shield above his head. The young Beastman king leapt, used the shield as a spring board, and catapulted himself over the line and past the column of fire. He roared and held a heavy battleaxe high above his head, gripping it with two hands. Kaiten brought it down onto Seraphis, who twisted and brought her swords in a crossed lock before her
, catching the battleaxe’s blade between them.
“Kaiten!” Loren called. “You came for us?”
“Of course! I always said your plan was stupid, Loren!” the young king called back. He and Seraphis traded vicious blows, hacking and slashing, dodging out of each other’s reach in the firelight. He grunted as Seraphis’s blade caught him in the side, cutting a shallow gash. “Didn’t bother going to Rhodia! I went straight for Aldoran!”
Seraphis screamed back a challenge to Kaiten that would have turned lesser Beastmen into cowards. She struck viciously at the young lion, her swords slicing tufts of his short mane clear from his head. As she readied another blow, the warrior princess’s arm was jostled. Kaiten’s aim was thrown off as well, as a battalion of soldiers clad in more angular armor rushed into the throne room. They wore the black and red twin lionesses of Sagna on their chests, and fought with their queen well behind them.
The melee within the Sagnian throne room raged, bringing chaos in its wake. Braziers were knocked over, sending coals and burning wood scattering around on the floor. Seraphis’s white hound charged into the crowd, his powerful jaws snapping shut around arms and legs, twisting his big head to snap bone. A pack of hounds ran in from the kennels, loosed from their cages by the Houndmaster Kerza to help their queen and princess.
A streak of black fur in a suit of armor tailored to a lithe body cut through the line of Sagnian soldiers with swift, confident blows with a sword. Beside him, a cloaked figure threw daggers that whistled through the air, their blades striking men in the thin gaps of their visors. Warmaster Sairus and Spymaster Isran of Aldoran, brothers bonded by their past and their loyalty to the throne, fought back to back. Sairus would snarl, shield raised and sword poised, and strike at his enemies. Isran would parry blows with his own sword, throwing out a flurry of blades to cut down enemies that attempted to strike Sairus while his back was turned.
The Warmaster broke through the line and found Loren by the feet of the queen.
“My lady!” He called over the commotion. “Can you stand? We must leave this place at once!”
Loren’s mouth fell open to reply, but her face contorted into a scream before she could speak. Behind her, Haedria’s eyes were blazing with rage.
“Beastmen in my castle.” The queen seethed. “How dare you set your filthy hides within my walls. How dare you come into my home, attack me and my sister, and attempt to take what is mine? Your end will not be as swift and merciful as what has become of your men.”
The queen stepped forward, her footsteps leaving flame burning on the stones where she stepped. Sagnian guards stepped into the path of the Warmaster and Spymaster to shield their queen, but they were cut down just as quickly by the panther’s sure strikes and Isran’s nimble knives. The two were a whirlwind in the midst of the battle, and they steadily approached the flame incarnate.
Haedria’s hands bore balls of fire that crackled and raged, the magic reflecting their bearer. She hurled them at the Warmaster and Spymaster, the flame sailing over the heads of the queen’s guards. Warmaster Sairus dodged the fire by diving to the side, aided by his feline reflexes. Isran, a human, was not as lucky. The Spymaster twirled out of the path of the flames, but misjudged their arc. The ball of fire caught the edge of his cloak, the fire catching and spreading far faster across the dry fabric than a normal flame would. Spymaster Isran yelped, and whipped his cloak off his shoulders as fast as he could.
Not wasting a beat, the Spymaster swung his arm in a circle above his head, wrapping the burning cloak around his hand. He threw the whole thing towards the helm of a Sagnian soldier, letting the cloak wrap around his head. The magic flames spread out of control, engulfing the soldier’s helm and spreading over his armor at a rapid pace. The man began to scream, dropping his sword and flailing his arms, running into his comrades in a blind, desperate panic before dropping dead to the floor.
The queen watched, disappointed at the state of her troops and their inability to withstand the heat, and began to hurl even more balls of fire. Between the advancing soldiers and the mad queen’s magic, Sairus and Isran were stopped, trapped in the melee.
A bloodied wolf rushed towards one of the firestone pillars. It dodged and weaved through the crowd, snapping at ankles and pulling at cloaks, but otherwise kept as much out of the fighting as it could. It had gotten in a fight with Seraphis’s pack of hounds, but the dogs had gotten distracted by larger, heavier armored targets. Once Ma’trii found Kae at the base of the pillar, he let out a short huff. The huntress, who had been bracing herself during the battle and confusion, saw the gash that ran across the wolf’s face.
“Ma’trii, you’re hurt… I’m so sorry, I got you into this.” Kae said, gingerly touching Ma’trii’s face. “I’m afraid I can’t get you out.”
The wolf shook his head and nudged Kae in the side. The look in the feral Beastman’s eyes were determined, and he nudged Kae again to make sure she knew he would not leave her. They shared a look, and Ma’trii turned to point at Haedria.
The queen was stepping down from the dais. She was so focused on the soldiers, the fighting in her throne room, that she had stepped away from Loren and left the princess of Aldoran by the throne. So far in the back of the room, she was unbothered by the fighting.
Ma’trii looked back to Kae and nodded once. As one, both huntress and wolf broke into a mad dash towards the throne.
Kae slid on her knees once she got to the dais. She scooped up the princess in her arms, only pausing to check if the girl was alive at all, before hauling her upright. At the sudden movement, Loren’s eyes fluttered open. Her irises were gold, even without the dragon pendant. Once her weary eyes locked onto Kae, the color retreated back to her normal dark eyes. The princess smiled.
“You’re always saving me, aren’t you?” she said with a weak chuckle.
“I did say I wouldn’t leave you.” Kae said with a small smile. “I’m getting very stubborn about it.”
“What happened to the pendant?”
“Shattered. Why are your eyes still gold sometimes?”
“I have no idea. If anything, I can hear him more clearly now.”
“Him?”
“The dragon. He knew about Haedria and what she planned to do. He didn’t come when she made me call him because he knew. But he was near. He was following the Aldoran army.”
“Can he get us out of here, maybe? Give us a ride back west?”
At the base of the dais, Ma’trii howled. The wolf found himself surrounded by Seraphis’s dark furred hounds. They snapped and barked, circling him. When one of the hound would step closer and break their line, Ma’trii harried him and bit whatever he could reach. The bloodied wolf’s hackles were raised, lips drawn back over razor sharp teeth. He was far out numbered.
Loren’s grip on Kae’s arm grew tighter. The two shared a look, fear and hope in their eyes. Messages passed between them without words, with the tentative promise that they would hear the words they so badly needed to hear soon. Loren entwined her fingers with Kae’s, and held her tight. She wasn’t going to let go this time.
“How are we getting out of here, princess?” Kae asked. Her heart beat with fear, but somehow, there was excitement under it all. The huntress managed to smirk.
The princess, so used to being so high strung, to having the weight of the world on her shoulders, felt at ease at the sight of the huntress’s cocky look. Loren barked a short laugh despite herself, and resolved she needed to see Kae’s stupid smile again. “I have no idea, but we’ll figure something out.”
The princess took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. As she exhaled, the dragon roared again, the force of its voice shaking the Firestone Keep to its foundations.
Chapter Twenty Six
The high double doors of the throne room were blown off their hinges. Streams of bright flame spilled into the Firestone Keep, scorching the hallways of dark stone. The flickering tongues of flame bore a glittering, golden sheen in their light as it t
orched anyone and anything it touched. Soldiers from Aldoran and Sagna alike fell to the fire, men and women in armor screaming in agony inside white-hot steel. It only lasted for a few seconds, before the flames receded and a loud rumbling was heard throughout the throne room.
“Loren?” Kae whispered, unsure. The golden-tinged flames were coming again, inching closer towards them. The soldiers embroiled in the fighting quickly took notice and scrambled away. Both Sagnian and Aldoran soldiers found themselves trapped, with gold-orange flames spreading horizontally towards them on one side, and Haedria’s column of flame on the other.
The queen of Sagna’s eyes went wide. “Dragonfire. Dragonfire, here, in my castle.” She muttered in disbelief. The queen scanned the crowd and found a flash of bright red hair entangled in a fight with the lion Beastman. She shouted to Seraphis, “Sister! The dragon is here! We must capture it!”
Seraphis caught Kaiten’s blow on her crossed swords, and pushed the Beastman off of her, staggering the young king. Her hair fanned behind her as she whipped her hair, bright-red illuminating itself against the backdrop of flames. Sweat tricked down from her brow to mix with blood from a gash across her face. “We have no where to move, Haedria! We risk all of our men to die in the dragonfire! We must escape!”
“No!” Haedria screamed back, her eyes wide and mad. “we must not run when we are so close! The dragon is right there, perched upon the stones of the Keep! It’s right there!”
“Haedria, have sense!” Seraphis spared a second to look back at Kaiten, who was readying another strike with his battleaxe. The warrior princess sidestepped the blow at the last second, the blade of the axe shearing off a few strands of hair. “We are going to die Haedria!”
The queen leered, madness distorting her features. The markings that ran up and down Haedria’s arms glowed erratically. “I will not throw away this opportunity, Seraphis! Not for you, not for anyone! The dragon rightfully belongs to our ancestors. That dragon belongs to me!”
