Upon the Flight of the Queen

by Howard Andrew Jones

  He glanced back once more as they reached the sally port, just in time to see one of those flaming balls slam straight into the long furry black head of the lead beast. There was an explosion of fire and flesh and gore and Naor bodies were flung far and wide as the creature staggered and blindly plowed into the earth.

  Once through the doorway, a guard barred the sally gate and Rylin immediately spotted squire Elik in the wall gap the dragon had created, motioning dozens of Darassans forward with chairs, tables, and fireplace logs. They’d already gathered a fair pile of wood, and a guardsman was running along its edge, pouring out lamp oil. A clever idea, though such a blaze could only be a temporary obstacle.

  As Rylin paused to quench his thirst from his waterskin, he heard footsteps beside him and turned to find Kyrkenall. The shorter man’s dark hair was thoroughly wet, and water ran down from the edges of his robe.

  “You jumped left!” Elenai said to him, sounding strangely pleased about it.

  “Indeed I did.” Kyrkenall smiled slyly. “If I’d tried for that rope Thelar held out I’d either have missed, or been flung into space once your dragon got attacked.”

  “I thought you’d gone mad,” Thelar admitted, breathing heavily.

  “I had prior knowledge,” the archer said, mysteriously. Then his fathomless black eyes fixed Rylin, and he thrust out his hand.

  Rylin shifted his waterskin to his off hand and clasped arms with his fellow alten, surprised by the strength of his calloused smaller fingers.

  The archer spoke with quiet sincerity. “Thank you.”

  “We just barely got you,” Rylin said, and passed over the waterskin.

  Kyrkenall released his arm and took the offered drink. “Odd being thirsty after getting the outside so wet.” He then raised the skin in salute. “‘It seems your ring fits well.’” He drank long and deep.

  Rylin felt a flush of pride. He couldn’t recall the play Kyrkenall quoted, but knew it was from a famous scene when the veteran Herahn came upon his former squire, Tretiak, whose quick thinking had held back the Red One’s cavalry force.

  “And you exalts,” Kyrkenall said, passing back the waterskin, “—well, we did all right together, didn’t we?”

  M’vai smiled at that, her sister’s arm still supporting her somewhat. Thelar nodded soberly.

  “We did,” Elenai agreed. “But there’s more yet to do.”

  Commander N’lahr glided into the boulevard upon his blue-white ko’aye, Lelanc shadowing. The rest of their winged allies kept to the sky, circling, and Rylin noted that two were missing from the flock. One he’d seen shot by an arrow, but he hadn’t thought it a mortal wound. Perhaps it had landed behind the walls somewhere. He had no idea what had happened to the other, and hoped it hadn’t been slain. Together, they had brought down the Naor dragons, and he felt a bond with the additional ko’aye even though they’d never been introduced.

  Kyrkenall turned to greet both the commander and ko’aye, whom he called Drusa, with warmth.

  “It’s a sincere pleasure to see you both,” Elenai said. The ko’aye cawed something at her Rylin didn’t catch.

  “A well-timed entry, Commander,” Rylin told him. “What happened to the last dragon?”

  “It went down in the northern suburbs after we got its wing. I think at least one of the Naor survived. I saw him running for cover but lost him in the narrow alleys.” As the commander climbed from his patchwork saddle, Kyrkenall embraced him.

  Looking both bemused and amused, N’lahr pulled back from his friend’s arms. “You’re soaking wet.”

  “I had to take a dive in the Idris,” Kyrkenall answered. “I’d be road paste if Rylin hadn’t turned up on Lelanc.”

  The commander nodded to Rylin. “Where’s the queen?”

  “Gone, with the hearthstones. She’s planning to summon a goddess. And we think it will be bad if she does.”

  N’lahr nodded decisively, as if choosing not to ask for further detail. “How long do we have before she does?”

  “Damned if I know. Our exalts might.”

  N’lahr took in the twin women and Thelar, all three of whom were staring at him in profound wonder. One of the commander’s eyebrows quirked.

  Judging by the rumbling ground and the shouts from nearby, there wasn’t a great deal of excess time, so Rylin didn’t bother with introductions. “Thelar—any idea where the queen went, and how long it will take her?”

  “No idea as to location,” Thelar answered as he might have Asrahn on the practice field. “But it may take her some time to put the broken pieces back together. And it will take her a lot longer without her full component of mages.”

  “Time estimate?” N’lahr prodded.

  “At least a few days, Commander. Probably a week. And Rylin injured her—that may slow her a little.”

  “Or not at all,” Rylin said. “I stabbed her in the heart and she didn’t seem fazed.”

  N’lahr frowned.

  “How’d you get here?” Kyrkenall asked his friend. “I mean, apart from the obvious way? What happened in Alantris?”

  N’lahr answered quickly. “The city’s ours. Tretton sighted dragons flying low in the south Fragments and monitored as they kept heading due west. We determined the Naor must be aiming for Erymyr. Then a big flock of ko’aye turned up and Drusa and her friends offered to help us hunt some Naor.”

  Her right wing held stiffly, Lelanc settled with awkward care to Drusa’s left and the two fell into a twittering, squawking exchange. The blue ko’aye whipped her head around to face Kyrkenall. “Lelanc has hurt her wing saving you, black-eyed one.”

  “We will tend her with the finest healers,” Kyrkenall said. “Have her take refuge in the stables.”

  “I wish to fight with my warrior brother,” Lelanc said, her head turned to Rylin. “But I can barely fly myself.”

  “It was a splendid battle,” Rylin said. “Rest for now, and we will take the air again soon.”

  Lelanc bowed her head to him.

  “I like his spirit,” Drusa said, and cawed. “Grab up your killing sticks, Kyrkenall, and take up the hunt with me!”

  “Gladly,” the archer answered, then asked N’lahr: “What’s the plan?”

  Rylin resented Kyrkenall’s interruption a little, for he’d been wanting to ask about Varama.

  The commander answered. “Organize the situation at the inner wall. And refill your quiver,” he added with a glance at the archer’s pack. “Drusa, if you attack the enemy now, they’ll be able to fire with entire banks of archers and spearmen. Rest, and wait to strike when their attention’s focused on us at the inner wall.”

  Drusa cocked her head at him and then bowed it. “You are wise. I remember. Though I wish to strike, I will do as you suggest and urge my brothers and sister to do the same.”

  “Let’s go,” Kyrkenall said. “I’ll find you some water.” He leapt lightly into her makeshift saddle. “Lelanc, come with us.” Drusa took to the air and Rylin was troubled to see how hard Lelanc had to struggle before she made it aloft to follow.

  The commander faced Elenai. “See if there are any other barricades you can set up between here and the best route to the inner wall. Anything to slow the Naor down once they get through this breach.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “You, Exalts, Rylin—assist Alten Elenai.”

  “Do you mind if I come with you, sir?” Rylin asked quickly.

  The commander nodded, and in moments, he was hurrying to the stairs in the outer wall at the side of the commander, noting for the first time how tired the man’s eyes looked. The thunder of the oncoming beasts set the stones vibrating in their mortar.

  “How’s Varama?” he asked as they started the jog up.

  “No permanent injuries.” For all that this was good news, N’lahr’s answer was somber.

  “The squires?”

  Rylin saw the commander’s downturned lip as they reached the midpoint on the stairs. “We lost a lot of good people
, Rylin.”

  Before he could ask any further questions, they’d arrived at the landing, and N’lahr quickly assumed command from the small defense force, stunned to find him in their midst. Rylin appreciated how that would get tiresome for him.

  The tower-mounted trebuchets scored several more direct hits before the beasts were too close to the walls. After that, six of the animals and the majority of horse troops headed for the breach the dragon had opened while the others spread out along the wall. Squires set fire to the wood in the gap to impede the enemies’ progress, and indeed the beasts seemed reluctant to approach the flames despite frantic looking actions from their handlers. The black, horned monstrosities shambled off to look for weak points by ramming their heads at various places along the fortifications. The wall shook and dust was raised with each hit.

  “That gate won’t hold,” Rylin said as ancient copper-lined wood rattled alarmingly in its hinges. The two-story portal hadn’t been tested in centuries and if he survived this day, Rylin promised himself he’d see to a redesign. There were, at best, two hundred people along this wall. He doubted it could hold even with N’lahr in command.

  N’lahr ordered the archers to fire at the eyes of the nearest mount, then spoke quickly. “We’re just pruning their numbers and buying time. We’ll have to retreat soon.”

  As a beast loaded with Naor javelin troops and slingers closed to exchange fire with a contingent of archers on a nearby battlement, N’lahr ordered the defenders to cut the ropes on the trebuchets so that they couldn’t be used by the enemy.

  As the south gate gave way with a sharp crack, N’lahr ordered the oil-soaked back side set ablaze, enabling the archers and surviving soldiers to retreat toward the inner city under his guidance.

  Rylin and N’lahr followed after the last soldier, an older man cupping an arm struck by one of the Naor slingstones. As they neared the towering bronze statue of Darassa farther up the boulevard, they spotted Elenai, Thelar, M’vai, and Meria at the base of the goddess. N’lahr drew to a halt, motioning for the soldiers to continue their retreat past the dead dragon sprawled across the cobblestones beyond.

  Rylin sensed the magic the four worked through his ring.

  “Are you doing what I think?” N’lahr asked.

  Elenai looked up at him. “I believe this statue can crush a few of those Naor monsters.”

  Elenai was planning to destroy the city’s masterwork?

  The idea apparently horrified N’lahr as well, for his eyebrows climbed. And then he relented with a single bob of his head. “Let Darassa herself go into battle.”

  “Can you aim it?” Rylin asked.

  “I’m damned sure going to try.”

  Rylin looked to the commander. “I’ll stay here and help.”

  “I’ll see to the defenses beyond. Don’t take the big risks here,” he told them all. “We need you at the inner wall.” As they acknowledged that, he wished them luck, and hurried away.

  “I still can’t believe that’s really N’lahr,” Meria whispered to her sister. Apparently those two hadn’t known about his imprisonment, either.

  Rylin stepped into the boulevard. He’d decided he’d be of better use monitoring the Naor than lending his magical assistance, for they already seemed to have things in hand.

  At the sound of hoof clops to their rear, Rylin whirled and discovered Elik cantering toward them with a half-dozen saddled mounts. The animals snorted nervously as he brought them to a halt near the dead dragon.

  “You don’t have much time, sir,” the squire reported. “Five of the monsters are coming in from the north. There’s a regiment of archers whittling the Naor down, but there’s not much else there, and nothing can really slow them.”

  “How close are you?” Rylin asked Elenai. To his eyes the wide bronze ankles of the monument looked just the same as ever.

  Her voice was strained as she answered. “It’s ready. Right now we’re holding it in place.”

  For all that the statue looked undamaged, the mages were coated in sweat. Thelar looked up at him, his eyes showing equal parts fatigue and determination.

  The Naor at the south gate must have made it past the fires. One of the immense monsters shook the wide boulevard as it advanced over the ancient cobblestones, its long black fur swaying with each tread. Enemy soldiers, their helms gleaming, their teeth white in snarls against their beards, swarmed to either side of it, ahead of a column of mounted troops.

  “Almost,” Elenai said tensely.

  A second and third beast trailed the first.

  Gods, Rylin thought, let this work and take them all.

  “Now,” Elenai said.

  In a single moment, a slice from the front of the statue’s ankles fell away so easily it seemed it had always been ready to slip free with a tap. The immense statue leaned only a little at first, as though Darassa had come to life and were lowering her head, and then it gathered speed.

  Some of the Naor saw it coming, and shouted in alarm.

  Darassa was too large to avoid. The lead beast and the men that rode beside it were squashed like bugs, and flesh and fur rained on the avenue with moist, sickening thuds. Men and horses screamed as they hurtled into the air, limbs flailing. The front portion of the second beast was struck as well, and the sudden impact flung up its back end so that Naor soldiers were catapulted even higher than their fellows.

  Rylin couldn’t tell if Darassa had struck the third beast or not, for there was not only a statue obstructing his sight, but a huge cloud of dust and debris raised by its fall. Though normally the grisly reek would have turned his stomach, Rylin smiled fiercely as he turned to assist his allies.

  Elenai climbed into a saddle under her own power, but Thelar and the twins had to be helped onto the mounts. Rylin was the last onto a horse as a troop of Naor charged past Darassa.

  The javelins they threw clattered against the stones only an armspan away.

  “Hurry!” Elik urged.

  But none of them needed urging. Rylin and Elik fled with the weary mages, their mounts’ hooves clattering through the empty streets for the inner wall. Smoke rose as Naor set fire to buildings they passed.

  Rylin had often jogged the perimeter of the inner walls when drilling as a squire. He’d never thought he’d see it actually used as a defensive barrier. Smaller than the outer wall, it climbed only fifteen feet, and was just wide enough for two soldiers to walk abreast. Guard towers that rose two spearlengths higher were set every sixty paces.

  In total, the wall surrounded the Altenerai grounds, the palace, and a variety of related buildings. There was a little over two square miles of territory within, and now it was crowded with citizens. The wall itself was heavy with defenders, although there were no ballista or trebuchets. It had been foolish arrogance to think no one would ever breach the outer walls.

  As they closed on a postern gate, one of the monstrous animals let out a coughing roar and plodded after. Its handler guided it cautiously through the narrow streets. Even though moving slowly, its legs were so long it gained on their cantering horses.

  Naor on the beast let fly with javelins and slings, and Rylin felt a stone slam into his middle back. The khalat protected him somewhat, but it stung, and he realized like an idiot he still wasn’t wearing a helmet.

  Defenders on the wall came to their rescue, launching arrows, spears, and hurling even clay pots. The monster slowed long enough they could duck their heads and ride through the postern gate. Elik hopped down to help slam it closed.

  They’d made it inside. But the Naor were just beyond, and the shoulders of the black beasts were higher than the walls.

  33

  With Half of a Sword

  It felt as though she had always been out of breath. Panting, Elenai and Elik pushed their way through the throngs, led by a squire urging haste. Only a few weeks ago, she had ridden past the palace at Elik’s side and into the streets for the celebration of N’lahr’s great victory over the Naor. She could never hav
e guessed she’d return less than two months later wearing a khalat and a ring, or that there would be an army of Naor waiting beyond the inner walls.

  Amidst all the changes, she was heartened to be in the company of her friend Elik again. They’d bonded early in their second year, recognizing in one another someone with the same work ethic and drive to succeed. Elik had been a master rider even before he’d joined the corps, and had always learned new information quickly, especially corps history, which he’d often helped her study.

  He’d doffed his helmet and ran a hand through sweaty, curling brown locks as he walked beside her. One of the five brevets on his right sleeve was slashed. She didn’t ask what had happened to it, and maybe the precise detail didn’t matter, because the more general answer was the Naor attack. He’d survived that one. Soon they’d all be facing more.

  With her and Elik came a scruffier, more valiant version of Rylin than she’d previously known, his shadow Thelar, and the twin redheaded exalts. Everyone had questions for them, mostly variations on the same two themes: what are the Naor doing and whether they thought Darassus would survive. A few asked if the queen had really fled, and others demanded to know if N’lahr had returned from the dead. Some insisted on impeding their progress to get answers.

  She’d have to allay their fears. Elenai halted her companions, and when none of them seemed to catch on to what must be done, raised her hand for silence. A mass of citizenry cleared a circle about her while she sought and found the right words. “People of Darassus! Take heart! General N’lahr was never dead! The queen imprisoned him but Alten Kyrkenall and I set him free.” There were gasps, murmurs, and cries of outrage at this, but mostly the faces were focused raptly upon her. “He saved Vedessus from Naor attack, and we destroyed their army there. He and Alten Varama defeated the Naor who had taken Alantris. And now he has come to aid us in Darassus!”

  She paused, turning to take more of them in. “We six are going to consult with him right now. Stand firm and help one another. We will strike as one.”