by RG Long
“The place is unusually clean though, ya know?” Trotta observed. “Hardly any dust.”
Teresa had to agree. The tower was immaculately clean. But who were the ones who cleaned it? They hadn’t just seen a lack of guards; they had not seen a trace of a living soul in the whole tower.
The halls of the tower had elegant carpets and rugs that ran the length of the stone passages. There were suits of armor and weapons on display all along the walls. Every so often, there would be a painting of a strange land that Teresa was unfamiliar with. They all looked as if they were done by the same artist.
The group made their way to an intersection in the hallway, and Teresa was the one who looked first. Again, there were no guards around, but this time they found that there were two sets of stairs. Both went upwards. Up to this point, there had only been a single set of stairs that led to the next level of the tower. Each had been almost identical. This new appearance made Teresa pause.
“Do you think we ought to explore one first and then backtrack to the second?” she asked.
She looked back at the group and saw how many of them there were. They were a sizeable company of capable fighters, each of them.
“Or should we split up?”
“I don’t like the idea of splitting up honestly,” Ealrin said. “It usually doesn’t go well for us.”
“Neither does walking around in such a large group,” Holve said. “We haven’t run into trouble yet, and it would be a waste of time for us to go both ways altogether.”
“What if we only went up two floors and then came back down to report?” Blume offered up.
“It’s still risky,” Ealrin said.
“Bah. Let’s take the risk and get it over with,” Gorplin said. “We stood around talking about it long enough.”
“Fine then,” Ealrin said. Trotta, Felicia, Urt, Serinde and Alma head up that way with Holve. Blume, Teresa, Elise, Gorplin, and Silverwolf come with me this way.”
Teresa recognized that Ealrin tried to split them up as best he could. She would have potentially preferred going with the group that could use magic, but she relented. They would have enough blades to compensate.
“If you run into trouble...”
“Deal with it,” Gorplin finished for him. We’ve done this before. We know how to handle ourselves.”
Teresa felt like the dwarf was itching for a fight. Maybe it had been something he had needed to do for a while. Splitting up made her nervous, but at least it was something they could do in order to cover more ground and see who this man was.
It was just one man, after all. And Gorplin was right; they had faced worse.
“Don’t worry about doubling back down to report,” Holve said. “Just keep climbing. More than likely, the two paths will cross again.”
Ealrin nodded.
“If it goes all the way up,” Teresa said. “See you at the top.”
She turned around to look at her group. Ealrin put a hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s get going.”
46: Heaviness
Thamund was exhausted. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept peacefully. The most he had been able to rest had been in fitful spots here and there. Sitting in a chair, listening to his generals strategize. Leaning up against the wall as he looked out over the attacking dwarven lines.
Even now his eyes were heavy.
Just a moment ago he was wide-awake as he watched a barrage of magical arrows assault to the gate.
Now that the explosions had stopped, he felt his eyes growing heavy again, even as the lines of dwarves and even elves and Skrilx made their way towards him.
He noticed the black eagle banner of the Blackthorn and breathed a sigh of resignation.
“It’s always been the Blackthorns,” he said out loud.
“I heard of them mentioned several times since arriving. Do you think they’ve been the cause of all of the chaos?” the female elf beside him asked.
Thamund looked over at her. He was still unsure of this one. She had led the elves into the gates after the dwarves had retreated. When he asked her if she was the leader of these elves she had flatly denied being in charge.
But every elf he had spoken with afterward had simply pointed to her whenever he asked who they were following.
The strangest thing about her, however, was not that she seemed to shake off the mantle of leadership that her people continued to thrust upon her, but rather that she had two Skrilx at her side since she had arrived.
The members the feline race had not spoken so much as a word to each other or to Thamund, but they had diligently remained by Laserie and looked to menacingly at anyone who dared approach her.
A handful more Skrilx had come into the city with the elves and taken up defensive positions along the walls with the men Severn and the elves of LeGrove. These two, however, had stayed beside Laserie.
“I suppose,” he said. “But what they hope to gain from such chaos I don’t know. They’ve never had much of a presence in Severn. Not one I’ve been aware of at least. Now it seems they’ll flatten our city within the month.”
He shook his head, wearily.
“All the effort we put into this country, to rebuilding it after war and famine and internal struggles and the Blackthorns will undo it in a week.”
Andrena Surefit stood beside him. She had led the defenses of the city as best as she could with the soldiers and resources she had. She took a deep breath.
“We’re not done yet, Governor,” she said. “We’ll still fight with every ounce we have. We’ve fought the dwarves before and won. We’ll fight whoever seeks to destroy our precious Severn.”
“If we can make it the night,” Thymont said from just beyond her.
“It looks like it will be shorter than that,” the elf said. “They’re marching forward now.”
Thamund stood up straight to look and see that the elf was right. The lines of the Blackthorns were moving forward. The first battle with the dwarves had been bad enough. The people of Severn had cheered when they ran. Just as quickly, a hopeless chill had fallen over the city when they saw the airships landing and the troops spilling out of them.
They hardly had enough supplies to last a week. It would not be long before starvation would send them to their ruin just as surely as disease or death by the sword.
Still. Thamund found that he was just stubborn enough to try to fight back.
“Severn! To arms!” he called.
He heard the rattling and stomping over many feet and swords being picked up within his city. They were ready to defend themselves.
He had worked his entire life to serve Severn. He would end his life serving Severn if that’s what it took.
47: Clash of Might
Over and over, the armies of the Blackthorns continued to beat against the walls of Severn. The defenders did what they could to push back the soldiers as they continually surged forward. They threw rubble from down below in the city onto the attackers. They used their swords to repel the ladders that the attackers hoisted up onto the walls.
Laserie knew it was only a matter of time before the attackers were able to penetrate the walls. The gates of southern were weakened by the assault of the airships. Laserie knew that the defenders could not hold them off for long. All it would take was one final push, and they would be defeated.
Still, they would fight.
Laserie had known that joining in the fight was risky. She had known that giving herself over to a cause like this would mean sacrifice. She had just hoped that it would have taken longer to realize.
More ladders were hoisted up attack from below even as an airship began to circle the city. Ropes spilled out over the airship as soldiers began to drop down on the city from above. This had been what Laserie had figured would happen since she saw the vessels flying overhead. Walls could not keep out things that could fly.
As ladders came up, then the defenders did their best to push them back or hack away at t
hem with their blades. With every soldier they fell, another rose to take their place. The attackers were relentless.
A great many other Skrilx stayed by her side throughout the entire bottle. They refused to leave her. She was grateful. Even though she was fighting next to the governor of Severn and who she assumed were his finest guards, she knew that there was imminent danger. So she swung her sword at every helmet that appeared over the wall and did her best to aid her comrades in battle.
Soldiers were coming closer from above as the airship dropped lower. Its ropes began to touch the rooftops of Severn and allowed the soldiers to shimmy down and take a foothold in the city. Bursts of magic happened above her head as speakers from the Blackthorn clan battled the few speakers that Severn had.
They were by far unequally matched.
Soldiers were now on the walls behind her as Laserie continued to fight off those soldiers who were trying to climb in front of her.
Acred grabbed her arm and began to pull her away from the wall.
“We’re being overwhelmed!” he shouted into her ear. “We need to retreat to somewhere safer!”
“There is nowhere safer,” the older Skrix said. Tert looked down at the attackers as they began to climb over the walls. “This is it.”
Governor Thamund was shouting orders.
“Surround the elf and the Skrilx! Make a wall of protection!”
To Laserie’s great astonishment, the soldiers were obeying. They made a circle around them as the Blackthorn army began to press in towards them. Laserie found herself not in a state of panic, but one of determination. She couldn’t see the other defenders along the wall to know how well the rest of Severn was fairing. But within this section, they were about to lose to the overwhelming numbers of the Blackthorns.
Laserie did not pray that the end would come quickly. Instead, she hoped that she could die valiantly like the many Skrilx who had protected her up to this point. Like Paula.
It was at that moment that a loud screech filled the air and everyone, including the Blackthorn gang soldiers, looked up to the sky.
All Laserie could see was fire. The airship above them was ablaze. Did the speakers manage to break through the defenses of those on board?
Laserie received her answer quickly as a dragon landed on top of the soldiers from the Blackthorn clan in front of them and began viciously attacking them with its claws and setting flame to any who tried to escape its wrath.
On its back, a Skrilx roared with a vengeance. With her spear, she was thrusting her weapon down into any soldier she could reach.
The Blackthorn soldiers broke along the wall and ran just as the airship began to fall out of the sky. It fell until it hit the ground just outside the walls of Severn amongst the ranks of the Blackthorns and exploded in a brilliant display.
The defenders of Severn let up a cheer.
It was immediately drowned out by a loud roaring sound from within the Blackthorns rear lines.
Laserie turned and looked to see a giant metallic beast rising up out of the ranks. It had the head of an eagle and the back legs of a lion. Its wingspan was enormous and from its eyes glowed two huge yellow Rimstones.
It lifted itself into the air and let out a giant beam of energy from its mouth. The magical destruction laid a path of ruin that cut right through Severn. Laserie watched the highest castle tower be decimated by the blast.
The dragon on the wall shook off the Skrilx who was on top of it before letting out its own roar and flying off to challenge the huge metallic beast.
The man-made monster dwarfed the form of the dragon, making it look like a mouse who was taunting a lion. The dragon let out a burst of flame in the direction of the griffin, as this Skrilx who had flown in with the dragon stood at the wall and roared down to those below.
“Skrilx of Redact! I am Rark!” she shouted. “I am your Chief! Ferdinand tried to kill me! We have been betrayed! The Blackthorns do not wish to return us to our ancient homeland! Fight for your freedom and destroy the Blackthorn army! Destroy the Court of Three! For Skrilx! For Gir!”
The battle that had stood still since the appearance of the dragon and the airship fell from the sky began again with renewed fury on both sides. Except for this time, Laserie noticed that the fighting was not just on the walls, but also down below as well. The Skrilx were turning on the army they had marched here with.
As the dragon and griffin clashed together in the titanic battle above, the army of the Skrilx, Severn, and the Blackthorns fought one another in a desperate struggle for survival.
48: Infamy
Cyna watched from above has the dragon and griffin engaged in combat. Ferdinand still watched hungrily beside her as the speakers from the airship continued their chants, empowering the griffin to more violence.
Cyna’s eyes weren’t focused as much on the griffin as they were down below. It seemed the Skrilx were turning.
They had thought the felines had been an addition to their army. As it appeared below, they were enemies within the ranks. The large group of Skrilx they had brought from the island were now turning against every member of the Blackthorn gang and Court of Three soldiers that came towards them.
And it all appeared to be because the chief Ferdinand had tried to dispatch survived.
“We should mobilize the airships,” Cyna said. “Tell Commander Sefen that it’s time to strike a killing blow before we lose control of this.”
She looked over at Ferdinand. He was still engrossed with the fight with the griffin. He spoke almost as if he were in a dream. The battle had his eyes wide in wonder.
“Surely no dragon can defeat the Court of Three’s creation,” he mused.
“I think we should concern ourselves with what’s going on down below,” Cyna said. Ferdinand gave no indication that he heard her or was even paying attention.
A feeling of panic began to take Cyna. What if the Blackthorns were defeated? With no Court of Three to return to and no Blackthorns to rally around, what would Cyna be? Under the Court’s direction again? A street rat who was taken advantage of and used until she was discarded? No. She would not allow that to happen.
Cyna drew her sword and put it to Ferdinand’s throat.
“The army below!” she shouted. “We are being defeated!”
To her great surprise, a smile crossed Ferdinand’s face. He gave her a sideways glance as she saw his hand twitch to his own blade.
“I wondered when you would become power-hungry and seek to unseat me.”
Cyna scoffed. This had nothing to do with her gaining power. It was about them not losing what they already had.
Though, she admitted, she would be quite comfortable being in charge.
With a quick step, Ferdinand moved away from her drawn blade and drew his own sword. He crossed it with hers and gave a winsome smile.
“War rages all around us,” he said. “That’s all I desire: War and chaos. Fight me now, and you simply give in to my desires. I’ve seen how you fight. You might actually be a trial for me.”
Ferdinand smiled and began striking at her with a ferocity she had not expected. All this time, Cyna had thought that Ferdinand was simply a man who had made all the right connections. She had yet to witness his battle prowess. Now that she was experiencing it firsthand, she knew how he ascended to the heights he had achieved.
He was a dizzying swordmaster.
Fortunately, she was no novice — their blades sung through the air in a dance around the deck of the airship. The soldiers who watched them fight cheered them on as the speakers continue to chant. The metallic growl of the griffin and the roar of the dragon rung in the air.
All around them, there was a raging of war and chaos.
Just what Ferdinand wanted.
Their swords clashed again and again as Cyna made sure she kept her feet grounded as she countered Ferdinand expert positioning. All over the deck of the airship, the pair fought. Jumping onto barrels and dodging around Speakers with hands lifted
high. The pair did all they could to cause each other as much damage as possible.
Cyna slashed a hole in Ferdinand’s sleeve, just missing his arm. He nearly stabbed her through the chest, but she expertly dodged out of the way of his blade.
And then she tripped.
Ferdinand stepped in and sliced down full force with his sword. She let out a scream of pain that she felt the blade tear through her muscle and scrap the bones in her forearm.
There was a definite thud as the sword hit the deck of the ship, pinning her to the ground.
The only thing that kept her conscious at this moment was the adrenaline pumping through her body and the desperate need to survive.
Ferdinand let out a howl of laughter as the airship rocked. Another great roar came from the battle going on above them.
“Even you could not test me!” he shouted triumphantly, gloating as he lifted his hands high into the air. “There is nothing that will stand in my way! The whole world will descend into the chaos of those that walk in purple flames. They, my true masters, will reign supreme!”
Cyna didn’t care what he was talking about. She did not desire to know what madness had overcome him.
But she desperately wanted to survive.
Cyna reached across and grabbed her sword with her other hand, then shoved it upward into Ferdinand’s abdomen. He had been so focused on his quest for chaos and joy of the war around him that he did not realize that Cyna’s other arm was free.
He looked down at where the blade had pierced him and coughed up blood onto the deck of the ship. To Cyna’s surprise, he smiled.
“I die,” he choked. “And then there will be even more chaos. You are only bringing it faster.”
With those final words, Ferdinand toppled over the side of the ship and fell from the sky.
Cyna reached up to the hilt of his sword and pulled with all her might. The blade came free, and so did her arm.
She held it out, thinking that those aboard the ship would look at her and seek vengeance for the death of Ferdinand.
