Third nodded and adjusted her grips on Inferno and Storm.
One of the black knights shouted something, and the muridachs roared and charged, the ratmen brandishing weapons. The undead attacked in perfect silence, raising swords and maces in their skeletal hands. All the knights began casting spells, blue fire and shadow twisting around their armored hands.
Rilmael struck the end of his staff against the ground.
Lightning bolts ripped out of the sky, stabbing into the charging enemy. The lightning tore through the undead, ripping them apart, and flung the muridachs to the ground. Rilmael thrust his right hand forward, casting the Fire Stream spell that Tyrcamber often used in battle. Tyrcamber’s magic was powerful, but the Guardian’s was just as strong, and Rilmael was more skilled than the Dragontiarna Knight. The stream of flame that shot from Rilmael’s hand was only as thick as Third’s thumb, but burned so hot that Third could not look at it. Rilmael swept the shaft through the advancing muridachs and undead, and dozens of them fell in smoking pieces to the earth.
“Go!” said Rilmael.
Third sprinted forward, sheathing her swords as she ran, and she changed.
The fire of the Malison transformed her into the black dragon, and she opened her jaws and called the fury of her breath. Dragon fire exploded over her fangs and rolled into the enemy, and she incinerated dozens of the undead and the muridach warriors. Her flame caught two of the black knights, and they collapsed to the ground, their undead flesh melting in the heat of the fire. Third did not hesitate but leaped into the air, her wings flapping.
She shot past the obelisk, banked, and breathed fire as she came out of her loop.
The full blast of her fury washed over the obelisk. It seemed to shiver as the dragon fire enveloped it, and blue cracks spread through the mirrored black stone. Third circled around the obelisk again and unleashed more flame.
The obelisk shivered again, and this time the Laethstone exploded as if it had been struck by an invisible hammer. Chunks of black stone wreathed in blue flame rained on the fields below, some of the pieces landing with enough force to kill muridachs and smash undead.
The pillar of blue flame flickered a few times and went out.
Third circled over the battlefield again. The remaining muridachs and undead were converging on Rilmael and Selene, and Third could not go after the eastern Laethstone without their help. Nor would she abandon them to fight the muridachs without aid.
Fortunately, the problem was easily solved.
Third flew towards the muridachs and unleashed her fire.
###
Tyrcamber circled over the earthworks south of Sinderost, examining the countryside.
He spotted the Laethstone at once. Granted, it was hard to miss the pillar of blue fire rising from the thing. The black obelisk floated off the ground, revolving slowly. To judge from the fresh crater underneath it, the Laethstone must have ripped its way out of the ruins when it had been activated.
There were a lot of muridachs and skeletal undead gathered around the rim of the crater. That did not trouble Tyrcamber. They didn’t appear to have any ballistas or other significant weapons that could hurt a dragon, and even if all the muridachs cast spells at him, he could weather the attack.
The Knights of the Order of Blood worried him quite a bit more.
There were a dozen of them, and they held necromantic spells ready to strike. The Fallen Order had to have known that all three Dragontiarna Knights and the Guardian were in Sinderost, that they would respond to the activation of the Laethstones. They had to know they couldn’t withstand the Dragontiarna for long.
But they didn’t need to win the fight. They just needed to delay long enough for the Laethstones to unleash their power. The black knights didn’t care if Tyrcamber killed them – they would be reborn in new undead bodies soon enough. And if they succeeded in delaying Tyrcamber, the Laethstone would direct its power at Sinderost, and the Empire would fall to the Order of Blood.
An idea came to Tyrcamber.
He landed on the riverbank outside the earthworks and resumed his human form. Again, that feeling of unreality gripped him, the fear that he could no longer tell the difference between the waking world and his memories of the Chamber of the Sight, but he shoved the feeling aside. For one, Ruari was with him, and she was real.
For another, a lot of people were about to die if they didn’t destroy that obelisk right now.
Ruari landed next to him and returned to her human form, her golden armor and white cloak stark against the gray of the river behind her. Tyrcamber ran towards her, and she looked at him, eyes wide.
“I have a plan,” said Tyrcamber. Ruari nodded. “I will attack first in dragon form and hold the attention of the Knights of Blood. When I do, I want you to attack the obelisk. Freeze it with your breath. Once it is frozen, I will hit it with my hottest fire.”
Ruari mimed a shattering pot. Tyrcamber was surprised that he understood the gesture.
“Exactly,” said Tyrcamber.
She nodded, gave him a quick, hard kiss, and then stepped back and pointed at the earthworks and the pillar of blue fire. Tyrcamber ran towards the earthworks, and as soon as he was far enough from Ruari, he drew on the fire of the Malison and changed. He swelled into the armored form of the golden dragon, and he soared over the earthworks and towards the black obelisk of the Laethstone.
The enemy came into sight. Tyrcamber opened his jaws and breathed his flame. Fire ripped over his fangs and swept across the undead and the muridachs. The dragon fire annihilated the undead and turned them into ashes, and the muridachs went up like candles, the fur, skin, and fat of their bodies burning.
The smell was nightmarish.
His fire swept towards the black knights, and Tyrcamber’s attack destroyed two of them. The rest of the Knights of Blood cast Shield or Armor spells, protecting themselves from the dragon fire. Tyrcamber circled over the crater and came at them again, pouring more fire into his assembled foes. This time they fared better. The undead vanished in curtains of flame, but many of the muridachs cast defensive spells and stood fast against the dragon fire. The black knights worked their own spells, and Lances of necromantic power hammered against Tyrcamber. His golden scales were hard as steel and infused with magic, and they protected him from the volley of dark spells. Yet they still hurt, and he roared in pain.
He folded his wings and drove, and Tyrcamber crashed into his enemies. He crushed a dozen muridachs beneath him and lashed out with his limbs, the sword-like talons shredding more ratmen. His long tail cracked like a whip, knocking the enemy from their feet. Tyrcamber surged forward and into the black knights, ripping them apart with his talons.
Unsurprisingly, the full attention of the muridachs and the undead knights were on Tyrcamber, so they didn’t notice as Ruari flew overhead and loosed her breath at the obelisk.
A plume of white mist issued from her jaws and swept over the Laethstone, and suddenly it was encased in several feet of glittering, granite-hard ice, so cold that it steamed in the air. The light of the Laethstone kept shining from within the ice, making it seem as if the obelisk was wreathed in a frozen blue glow.
Tyrcamber kicked free of his foes and leaped into the air, breathing his fire at the Laethstone.
Ruari’s ice vanished in a roiling cloud of steam, and the dragon fire washed over the black obelisk. The shift from ice to fire was too much strain for the Laethstone, and it shattered like a pane of glass. Chunks of glowing black stone rained in all directions, some of them bouncing off Tyrcamber’s scales, and the pillar of ghostly fire shivered and vanished.
The remaining Knights of Blood and muridachs pressed their attack, but Tyrcamber ignored them. He flew over the earthworks, Ruari following him, and made for the pillar of blue fire rising to the west.
###
Third soared over the River Bellex, Rilmael and Selene clinging to her back.
East of the River Bellex, the land was forest. At least, it appear
ed to have been forest. Large portions of it had been cut down, and the barren stumps jutted from the ground. Various portions of the forest had been harvested to provide lumber for siege engines, first during the Valedictor’s invasion years ago, and again when the Fallen Order had come to besiege Sinderost.
Of course, the entire siege had merely been a cover for the plot now underway.
The Master of the Fallen Order was far more cunning than they had thought. His actions had been erratic, seeming to change from goal to goal. But all the while, Theudeuric had been pursuing a deeper purpose, weaving a cunning trap around the Empire.
Third had known all along that something like this would happen, hadn’t she? Theudeuric had almost killed her during the siege of Sinderost. Few foes had ever managed to deal her such a wound, and if not for Rilmael’s help, she would have died. She had known that the bearer of Shadowruin was a dangerous foe.
And his plan was about to achieve success.
Third had destroyed the northern Laethstone, and the pillar of fire to the south had winked out. Tyrcamber and Ruari must have been successful. Yet the pillars to the east and to the west were getting thicker and brighter, the waves of necromantic power rolling from them growing stronger and stronger. Before much longer, both Laethstones would unleash storms of necromantic magic upon Sinderost. With only two of them, the Laethstones would not be strong enough to annihilate everyone in the city. But they would still kill tens of thousands, and they would decimate the Empire’s leadership. The Frankish Empire would easily fall to the Order of Blood, and Theudeuric could gather a vast undead army to assail Cathair Kaldran.
Or, more specifically, the Tower of the Guardian and the tomb of the Ascendant Dragon. That was the real reason for this war – not the false religion of the Dragon Cult or the malign philosophy of the Order of Blood, but the power in that tomb.
The deceptions of the Cult and the Order were in service to a far greater evil, even if most of their adherents didn’t know it.
The Warden’s Heralds of Ruin were coming for the power in the tomb of the Ascendant Dragon.
Third flew east, the wind whipping past her. The pillar of blue fire rose from a patch of forest, beyond the false earthworks the undead of the Fallen Order had dug. She felt a small burst of power as Rilmael cast a spell of elemental air, and his voice came to her ears.
“Don’t land!” he called. “We’re almost out of time! Go to the Laethstone. I will shield you as best I can.”
He didn’t say, Third noted, that he would be able to shield her. She appreciated the candor.
Third hurtled through the air, drawing nearer to the obelisk and its pillar of fire. Like the first one, it floated above a crater it had carved in the ground, and gathered around the crater were undead, muridachs, and black knights.
Quite a lot of them, come to think of it.
Third veered towards the obelisk, opening her jaws, and volleys of magic ripped from the ground.
The muridachs cast Lance spells, elemental attacks of fire, ice, and acid. The Knights of Blood hurled far more potent spells infused with dark magic. Rilmael worked a powerful Shield spell, a dome of pulsing bluish-green light spreading beneath Third, but he couldn’t stop all the attacks. Two of the necromantic blasts hit Third’s underside, along with a dozen Lance spells from the muridachs. Pain flooded through her, and the impact of the strikes drove her to the side. The fire burst from her jaws and missed, only brushing the side of the obelisk. She felt the surges of magic as Rilmael and Selene worked spells, the Guardian holding his Shield spell as he flung magical attacks, Selene raining ice spears down at the muridachs.
Third banked and came around, aiming for the obelisk, and again the volley of magic knocked her off course, her fire missing the Laethstone.
Her scales were deflecting the worst of the magical attacks, but a deathly chill spread through her from the necromantic spells. In her dragon form, she blazed with the fire of the Malison, its power filling her with life and fury. But while the power of the Malison might have been infinite, Third was not. Even in dragon form, her body had limits, and the hammering of the necromantic spells was bringing her to exhaustion.
She needed a distraction, something to occupy the attention of the Knights of Blood and the muridachs.
They were in a forest…and Third remembered the battle against Sir Austron and his warband.
Third spun over the crater again, more spells hammering into her, and breathed fire.
But this time she unleashed the flame at the trees, not the obelisk.
The forest around the crater went up, curtains of fire rising from the trees’ branches. Third breathed again and again, and a blanket of fire surrounded the crater and the obelisk. The volleys of Lance spells faltered as the muridachs and the black knights turned their attention to dealing with the heat of the fire.
Third banked again and opened her jaws.
Fire stabbed through the sky and struck the Laethstone, and Third circled around it and breathed flames once more.
This time the Laethstone shattered in a burst of blue fire and tumbling chunks of black stone. She dove closer to the burning treetops, hoping to keep Rilmael and Selene from getting hit by any debris, and then clawed for greater height, flying back over the River Bellex and making for Sinderost.
West of the Imperial capital, the final column of flame grew larger and thicker. Third was at least three or four miles from it, yet she felt the power radiating from it like a malignant sun.
They were almost out of time…and Third suspected that she wasn’t going to be able to reach the last obelisk before it unleashed its necromantic storm.
She hoped Tyrcamber would.
Third flew as fast as she could, fighting her fatigue.
###
Tyrcamber and Ruari flew over the encamped armies of the Frankish Empire.
That brought back bad memories from his time in the Chamber of the Sight. Again and again, Tyrcamber had flown over the men of the Empire, the Valedictor’s will dominating him, and he had burned them to ashes. For a clawing second, it seemed real again, and Tyrcamber shoved the dark thoughts aside. The visions in the Chamber of the Sight hadn’t been real.
This was, and if Tyrcamber did not hurry, all the men below him were going to die.
The final Laethstone was about to unleash necromantic power.
Tyrcamber flew over the unfinished earthworks, and he saw the Laethstone. It floated beneath the pillar of blue flame, shining like a frozen sun. So much power surged through the thing that the black stone had transmuted into eerie blue light. Like the other stones, it had ripped from the ground, leaving a crater, and muridachs and undead waited around it.
Along with more Knights of the Fallen Order.
Tyrcamber roared a battle cry and surged towards them.
He and Ruari used their previous tactics, and Tyrcamber attacked the forces guarding the Laethstone. His dragon fire swept over them, and the muridachs and the black knights answered with their spells. Elemental magic and necromantic spells hurtled from the ground and hammered into Tyrcamber with enough force that pain flooded through him.
Tyrcamber roared again and dove, and he crashed into the ground, crushing the muridachs and several black knights beneath him. In a frenzy, he attacked in all directions at once, spraying fire and raking with his talons, his tail whipping back and forth. The knights focused their powers on him, and Tyrcamber felt some of the spells punch through his scales and sink into his flesh, the cold power of the necromancy reaching for his heart.
He ripped the head from a black knight and flung it away like a pebble.
The Laethstone started to let out a deep chiming noise, growing louder and louder as its power gathered. An orb of blue fire surrounded the obelisk, almost like a swelling bubble. The orb grew larger, and Tyrcamber realized that the Laethstone was about to erupt with a maelstrom of malignant force. The Embalmer might have laid a trap for the Dragon Imperator millennia ago, but the jaws of that trap w
ere about to close on the men of the Empire.
There was no more time. The muridachs and the black knights rushed towards Tyrcamber, and he turned his head towards the obelisk, ignoring his own defense.
Ruari hurtled towards the obelisk, her jaws wide, white mist pouring over her fangs to engulf the Laethstone. Tyrcamber heaved off the ground, ignoring the spells ripping into his flanks, and breathed fire. His flames engulfed the obelisk, and its chiming noise turned to a high-pitched keening.
Tyrcamber kept pouring fire into the thing.
The Laethstone let out one final keening shriek and then ripped apart in a blast of blue fire and jagged stone. The impact knocked Tyrcamber out of the air, and he struck the ground and rolled away, his wings flapping around him until he came to a stop. He growled and shoved himself upright, his claws sinking into the earth, and he turned to face the enemy.
The surviving muridachs and Knights of Blood rushed towards him, and Tyrcamber called his fire. He looked for Ruari and saw her flying towards him, white mist glimmering around her fangs. Tyrcamber pushed aside his weariness and pain, preparing himself to face the oncoming enemies. The necromantic spells had taken a great deal out of him, and he wasn’t sure he could get off the ground again…
A deafening roar filled his ears, and a black dragon shot overhead. Third’s fire ripped across the charging muridachs, incinerating both them and the black knights. Rilmael and Selene sat upon her back, and they rained spells upon the enemy, Selene hurling spikes of ice, Rilmael calling lightning and fire.
Tyrcamber let out a shuddering breath and shrank back into human form. He dropped to one knee, breathing hard, sweat dripping down his face and chest. The ground shuddered as Ruari landed next to him, and she took human form, rushing to his side with a stricken expression. He wondered if she had been hurt, but then realized she wasn’t afraid for herself, she was afraid for him. That touched him, though he felt bad that she was worried.
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