Original Stories Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness ❯ Broken ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter Twelve

Broken

 

 

Under the cover of night, two dark forms streaked through the sky. Across the desert of Jesira, past the Trestri Mountains, and over the border of Regenku they passed. Nothing challenged them, for there was no animal crazy enough to brave the wrath of a dragon. Lower they dipped their wings. They circled over several villages and cites, seeming to take in the total devastation of each house and ruined field until, at last, a smaller form stirred on the midnight blue dragon's back.

 

“There,” Soren breathed as she recognized a part of the forest in which the Sanma had once existed. Sais didn't hear her over the screaming winds, but she didn't need to. She knew the area in which her queen had lived three months ago quite well. Several camp fires lit the night, but they were avoided.

 

Amaras followed them into a steep dive that sent the cattle and horses screaming in fear. He changed as he landed among the branches of an old oak and dove out of the way as Sais dove through the thick trees and landed heavily on the ground below. Soren and Homuna were off her back faster than a rabbit into its hole and she huddled there, catching her breath. Her wings drooped with weariness even as shouts could be heard in the distance.

 

Somehow, she summoned the energy needed to make the change. She shuddered as the cool air slid over her bare skin and she couldn't help curling into a shivering ball. Amaras and Soren had her pulled upright and her arms over their shoulders before she could think straight. They moved swiftly away from the trees she had felled and safely away from the voices that were approaching them. She didn't need them to explain that those approaching were not friends. She could hear it in the way they spoke.

 

* * *

 

Within the cover of the trees they listened. Their voices were loud. They were careless that night. The brief reprieve in fighting had lulled them into a false sense of security. They thought they had the edge. He shifted slightly, his brown hair hidden by the shadow of his oak.

 

The snapping of twigs and rustling of branches drew their attention. His men tensed to attack, but waited. There was always a chance that those coming towards them were more villagers fleeing the pursuit of the soldiers. Norcum had become soft in the last few weeks with the way he lit his fires. They were too close together now.

 

The noises stopped. Enemies they were, perhaps?

 

A snarl ripped the air apart, only to be strangled into silence. Chills raced down his spine. Only one creature could make such a sound. “Allies,” a girl's voice whispered. “They don't wear imperial gold.” They looked in the direction the voice had come from. “We're safe enough,” she continued.

 

“May I, then?” a male's voice asked with a hint of a snarl.

 

“Yes, go,” she answered.

 

Then came the soft crunch of dead leaves breaking beneath retreating footsteps. Not even a moment later screams and the sound ripping flesh reached their ears. Too quickly there was silence. They shivered with primal fear. An angry dragon walked the forest that night.

 

A form shifted in the shadows not far from them. They reacted instinctively, drawing their weapons and charging, only to be yanked off their feet and suspended upside down by an unseen force. “Sais,” the girl's voice said warningly. “Put them down gently.”

 

They were released from the bonds that held them and six full grown men fell bodily to the ground with a few sick cracks. Groans and grunts of pain broke the stillness that had settled over them. Though there were broken bones aplenty and bruises that would be painful the next day, no one was dead. The fear that had been holding him captive relaxed its grip on him and he moved a little into the light of the moon to reveal the brown hair, mud soaked clothes, and tired features of a man in his prime.

 

“I said gently,” she said. The figure cast a glare over her shoulder as an exhausted chuckle answered her. “Never mind.”

 

She moved into the moonlight as well. Her hair was darker than blood and her eyes were dark pools of silver. Though she was taller and her figure smaller than he last remembered, he could never forget the girl child he had betrayed: Soren.

 

Shame flooded him and he dropped his gaze. She had finally returned to collect the debt he owed her. Whatever she asked or demanded as punishment, he would obey without hesitation. She was queen and he was a general fallen from grace. He had no right to disobey her, let alone try to rally his men to defy her.

 

“Kaji,” she said softly. “Can I have your shirt?”

 

His head jerked up and he stared at her in shock. Of all things…she wanted his shirt? He mutely removed the grimy article of clothing and tossed it to her feet. She gave him a fleeting smile as she scooped it up and moved back into the shadows. For the moment he ignored the sounds that his men were making as they either dragged themselves or each other back into the cover of the trees. There came the sounds of protest and a small scuffle before, “It smells. I am not wearing that piece of dung infested thing you call a shirt.”

 

Soren's voice was short as answered, “Then you shouldn't have torn your clothes in the transformation. If you want to run around naked, fine, but you were the one always telling me that it's better to be clothed and crazy than naked and sane.”

 

Everyone froze and turned to stare at the place where the sounds were coming from. Transformation? Only a dragon could shift from dragon to human form. Hadn't a dragon already left her to take care of those that had been following them? If so, then that meant she had two dragons with her. Was she even human?

 

Before they could decide the dragon gave a frustrated growl and said, “Fine.”

 

It was another moment, but she reemerged from the cover of her tree to study them. Her cool gaze flicked from one man to another until her eyes rested upon Kaji himself. “Deserters from the Royal Guard?” she asked.

 

“Yes…majesty,” he said uncertainly. His men turned sharp looks on him. He ignored them.

 

She smiled at that and stepped entirely out of the shadows, but it faded as she stepped over the other men to stand before him. She was almost a full head shorter than him and there were lines about her eyes from stress and malnutrition, but none of that mattered. What captivated him was the naked pain he saw. “I have with me two dragons and a child. It was a long flight from Jesira and these last months have not been kind. Is there some place we may rest?” she asked softly.

 

“Yes, of course,” he said after a moments shock. Two dragons? Had Farin broken free or were these dragons strangers? He had no answers as he watched her slip back into the shadows and reemerge with a small…silver-haired woman, who rested her weight heavily on Soren and staggered with exhaustion. The shirt he had given them draped over her body to mid-thigh. A child no older than five with black hair and wide dark eyes trailed closely behind them, clutching at Soren's leg whenever he got the chance.

 

“The second dragon?” he asked when she made no mention of the other. Somehow, they both ignored the looks that his men were giving the two females.

 

She gave him a bland look. “Amaras will be along in a while. He's taking care of the undesirables,” she answered. “Trust me, he'll be more than fine by himself.”

 

Kaji gave a short nod then looked at one of the men that had regained his feet to help his comrades. “Torun,” he said and the man looked at him. “Get these men back to camp and patched up. We don't want the Royal Guard getting a hold of you lot. Got it?”

 

The man, Torun, nodded and Kaji left him to his task, with the trio not far behind. They moved slowly and awkwardly through the forest. It didn't escape her notice that most of the trees bore signs of fighting; a knife slash here, burned bark there, a shattered blade lodged in another. The only noise that could be heard was that of their footsteps as they moved deeper into the trees. Behind them, they could no longer hear the sounds of Kaji's men as they gathered themselves.

 

After a long time, Soren broke the silence. “She's dead, Kaji. I'm sorry,” she whispered.

 

He felt his stomach turn inside out and his heart freeze. His steps faltered, but he didn't stop. He kept moving. “Who? Kinnara?” he asked, fighting to keep his voice neutral. “If you refer to her, then good. The bitch got what she deserved.”

 

“She did, but I wasn't referring to my aunt. Janelle is also dead. She died from the wounds Kinnara inflicted on her soon after Sais rescued us,” Soren said gently.

 

He said nothing, could say nothing. His sister was dead. He had betrayed Soren for no reason. His alliance with Farin had been shattered for nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. The word whispered through his mind and sank its claws into his heart as the weight of his entire life weighed down on him. He had risen to the post of Heshen too young through skill and the paranoia of the old king. Farin had seen promise in him, taken him under his wing, trained him, honed the skill that would one day become necessary to control the uprisings, and they had formed a bond. His family had paid the price for his ambition and unquestioned loyalty to the Riagenkai. He had lost his sister again to Kinnara and been forced to rule for two years after his betrayal and it had all been for nothing.

 

“Kaji,” she said, breaking his line of thought. He looked at her and saw again the innocent five-year-old child terrified and running from the relatives that had tried to use her. Now, twelve years later, she had lived through the worst sort of nightmare to become the woman he saw now. She carried the weight of scars and memories behind ice and cold indifference, but beneath everything he could still see the young woman who had overflowed with the joy of life.

 

“She's buried by the Sanma. If there is nothing you must do tomorrow, I can take you there,” she offered.

 

He hesitated, considered, and shook his head. “No, it's alright. I'll go myself. Norcum is an ass,” he said abruptly and the arrows that had been trained on them were lowered. He stilled his footsteps and watched the men approaching them. He felt, rather than heard, Soren stop as well.

 

She hadn't realized that they were so close. Sais shifted her weight a little so that she was almost standing on her own. Together, they watched the dozen or so men that approached them. They held the look of half trained farmers forced to take up arms to defend themselves, their lands, and their families. Behind them children darted in and out of the make shift tents and temporary houses and women chased after them.

 

Soren felt Homuna stir as he watched the children. He wanted to join them in their games, but he didn't want to leave Soren when they were surrounded by so many strange faces. Shivering, he pressed himself closer to her leg. Shifting ever so slightly, she used her body to block her young charge from the sight of those approaching.

 

“New recruits, Heshen?” one of the men commented, eyes taking in the two women.

 

Before he could answer, a deep growl broke the night once more. Everyone turned to look at Soren and Sais and then beyond them as a bloodied figure emerged from the darkness. “Amaras,” she said and he stopped. “Do try to be nice. We are guests here.” He said nothing as he approached them and took Sais's free arm to slide it over his shoulders.

 

Kaji gave the new dragon an appraising look and admitted to himself that he was glad he was under Soren's command. There was something about the feral look in his eyes that made him think he would hate to meet such an enemy on the battlefield. Dismissing such thoughts and carefully rolling his earlier emotions to the back of his mind, he turned back to his men and said, “No, she is our queen.”

 

* * *

 

Though the lands around them were ravaged and its people dead, dying, or worse they celebrated. Their raucous laughter and merriment could be heard for miles by those that had survived the pillaging and they shivered with fear. Those that wore the imperial gold had once been looked up to as protectors, soldiers that young children held as idols. But now, with the ascension of the new queen, their true natures had been revealed and unleashed and they did their best to destroy the country they had once fought to protect.

 

Within the makeshift tents and among the revelry of wine and unwilling women, there was one man that did not celebrate. He wasn't what one would expect a general to look like. He was extraordinarily ordinary. His lank brown hair and muddy eyes could be found on any Regenkan villager and the large nose, stubby mustache, and high cheek bones were the features most male commoners grew into. Even his lean form was common among the farmers whose fields they destroyed.

 

Around him there stood nothing more than a table with a map sitting upon its surface, a chair, and a bed of soiled straw and blankets. Before him knelt a man of average build and height with mud soaked hair, tanned skin and green eyes, clutching his side and breathing hard. He looked upon the messenger with mingled dread and fear. “You're sure?” he repeated. “You're sure that it was a dragon that destroyed your men?”

 

There had been rumors and unsubstantiated sightings for weeks of a dragon when pockets of fighting burst forth with the former Heshen's men. No matter the numbers, Kaji and his men always walked away and left nothing but carnage of the Royal Guard behind. But now…now when everything seemed to be going good for them, after their biggest victory yet over the rebels, came a survivor from the attack to confirm these rumors.

 

The man's eyes were angry as he rose and loosened the shirt he wore. Norcum paled as the man revealed claw marks across his chest, shallow but clearly made by a dragon in human form. “I am sure. There were two, a midnight blue dragon and a male in human form. They spared me as a warning to you at their queen's command. They called her majesty. Even Kaji obeyed her when she ordered me spared.”

 

Norcum's knees gave out and he sank into the chair at his back and swallowed. “A warning? Has there been a challenge issued?” he asked hoarsely. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off the claw marks.

 

“Not yet, but there will be soon,” the man answered. “Of that I have no doubt.”

 

“What-what did she look like?” he gasped after a moment.

 

“Their queen had silver eyes and blood red hair. She had three scars over her right eye,” he said. His eyes left the Heshen for a moment and he saw her again, beautiful and terrible covered in the blood of her enemies. There was a flash of movement. “They called her Sor-”

 

He never finished as he gave a pained gurgle and coughed blood. His hands closed feebly around the sword that pierced his stomach. “Good work,” Norcum said, “You've served well, but your purpose is finished. I've no need of you spreading this little tale around and inciting panic. Rest easy knowing your destiny has been fulfilled.” And with that, he extracted the sword and beheaded the man.

 

* * *

 

Sais looked at her and nodded. “Dead,” she informed her queen.

 

Soren gave no immediate response as she stared at the rough wool of the tent. Then she rose silently from the straw pallet and looked at her dragons and her Heshen. A tired look crossed her features. “Tonight, then,” she said softly.

 

* * *

 

Darkness cloaked them as they stood on the burned out hill of what had once been a forest. The stench of death and rotted corpses hung thick in the air. At the head of those gathered, she stood with a sword on her hip and dragons at her side. Below them stretched the camp of their enemy, fires lighting it up as bright as day. Even from that distance they could hear the revelry and the drunken yells.

 

Norcum was careless, to let his men drink so heavily on the eve after a battle. She stepped forward and they made to follow her, but she waved them back. Only her dragons accompanied her as they descended upon the Royal Guard. The sentries fell beneath the claws of the Kingen that traveled with them and those too drunk to realize the danger were killed and tossed to the side. Everyone else sobered quickly and fell back to give them room to march as they approached the center of their encampment, their eyes upon the Riagenkai.

 

“I will say this simply and clearly,” Soren said, her voice carrying over the silence. “I am queen and I do not tolerate the destruction of my people. It ends now. I issue forth a challenge to the Heshen Norcum. Bring him forth or I will not restrain my dragons any longer.” Sais and Amaras shifted slightly so they could better be seen in the firelight and bared their fangs to the soldiers. Those nearest them paled and fled. A few of them went in search of Heshen.

 

As they waited, more than half of the soldiers dropped back. Those that remained near her watched her with guarded curiosity. “You're Soren, aren't you?” one with bright hair and a sunken face asked uncertainly. His comrades shifted uneasily away from him as the dragons and young woman looked at him.

 

Soren studied him for a moment and then smiled a little, though it was pained. “Seha,” she acknowledged and he flushed. “I am. How could you tell? I've been away almost ten years.”

 

The youth, not quite old enough to be called a man, came forward and stopped a good twenty feet from them. “Last I saw, Fayra was being kept in the dungeon under strict two man guard. No windows and little, if any, food. Even if she got free, I doubt she would be able to get far. `sides, hard to forget the little she-devil the Heshen so favored.” They shared a raw smile.

 

For a moment, joy coursed through her veins. Fayra was alive! Though for how much longer she knew not. Farin, too, was waiting for her. If she failed, then they would die or spend the rest of their lives bound by torment and pain. That thought alone was enough to sour any joy that lingered.

 

Sais glanced curiously at the youth and then at Soren. Was it possible that they had been childhood sweethearts? Just as quickly as the thought came to her she shoved it aside. Tomorrow she could dwell on the mystery the boy presented, now was the time to remain on guard and protect her woman-child.

 

“Why didn't you leave with the others when they abandoned the Royal Guard?”

 

Seha bowed his head and flushed with shame. “I was on patrol with loyal dogs and when I returned it was far too late,” he almost whispered. Then he glanced at her and then Sais. “You're really our queen?”

 

“Yes,” she answered.

 

He grinned then, ripped the imperial gold from his shoulders, and knelt. The light of the fires danced across his scrawny frame, lending shadows and giving him an almost inhuman look when he pressed his forehead to the dirt. “My fealty sworn to you alone, my honor yours to grind, and my life yours to command,” he recited.

 

“I accept,” she said. “Rise Seha and join us.”

 

Amaras growled when he approached and made him stand at least ten feet from them at all times. Sais gave the male dragon an approving look. Though Soren trusted him for the sake of their past together, she didn't discount the fact that he had been with the Royal Guard the entire time they had been fighting. Surely there would have been more than one chance to leave the guard. The crowd rippled and shifted around them and, one by one, a dozen more men came forward to kneel and swear their fealty to her as their queen and, one by one, they joined Seha, Amaras, and Sais.

 

A commotion drew most everyone's attention and they watched as Norcum was not so subtly before them. His eyes lingered on Sais' silver hair before turning to the red-haired woman. The way her silver eyes danced made him shiver and the scars across her eye made his stomach churn. She had survived being attacked by a Kingen. The young woman was indeed the woman that the messenger had told him of earlier that day and very much familiar.

 

Soren.

 

She was a hard girl to forget. Even at the young age of seven the Kiragashi heir had shown potential in both magic and fighting. Kaji, himself, had taken her under his wing and began teaching her almost before she could speak properly. Even he had given her a lesson or two when Kaji had been called away as Heshen, but…she had died in the rebellion…hadn't she? It was true that her sister and mother had returned two years previously, but it was assumed that they had slipped away in the confusion after the Kiragashi head had been murdered.

 

“Norcum,” she said, stepping towards him.

 

His men dropped his arms and quickly backed away. No doubt they had no desire to unleash two draconic tempers upon themselves. He took an involuntary step back as the dragons turned their cool gazes to him. With another dragon under her command she could easily take the throne and crush any who stood in her way. As it stood, though, she was here, before him, and he would have to face her before the night was out and even if he did survive a fight with her, her dragons would surely sink their claws into him and rip him apart slowly.

 

“I issue a challenge. We end this farce between our men tonight, just the two of us. If you win and kill me then my Heshen and his men, as well as my dragons, will surrender to you and if, however, I win, then your men will submit themselves to me or die.” Her words echoed through them and they shivered, trying not to think of the ways a dragon could kill them.

 

He tried to step back, but his men shoved him forward again. She was serious. She wanted to fight him. His eyes flicked to each of the dragons as he moistened his lips. They would submit if he killed her. Oh! The glory that would be his if he could bring two more dragons back to the queen and all he had to do was kill the girl to get them. Then, two pairs of hard, green eyes looked at him and he shivered. If she died, there would be nothing stopping them and they would attack and keep attacking until everyone was dead. Once more he tried to retreat, but rough hands shoved him forward. A sword was pressed into his hand by one of the soldiers before they all retreated.

 

“Your men are reluctant to fight my dragons and you are reluctant to fight me. Shall I allow Amaras the pleasure of ripping you apart limb by limb?” she asked coolly.

 

He didn't respond. He attacked. She feinted back and her dragons fell to the side, resisting the impulse to slash Norcum to shreds. They watched in silence as their queen drew her sword and the duelers warily circled each other, probing for a weakness in the other's stance.

 

Norcum grew impatient and attacked again. Soren raised her sword and blocked his attack. She winced slightly as her arm was jarred from the sheer strength of his blow. He pushed her back and made her stumble. Taking advantage of her moment of unbalance, he lunged forward and brought his sword down in downward arc and sliced her chest from shoulder to hip. For her credit, she did not scream for all the pain that exploded through her body.

 

Her sword flashed through the dim light and caught his arm as he leapt back to avoid it. She grimaced as pain shot through her body and then looked at Norcum, suddenly smiling. “You're not as good as I remember,” she said softly and without warning, she struck. Her hand flashed through a complex overhand pass that brought her blade within inches of the general's unguarded side. Only a quick step back saved him from losing his arm. She swept her sword up and under. Though Norcum twisted to the side, he still caught a glancing blow that ripped the thin shirt he wore.

 

Soren lunged forward again and he feigned back, then struck out at her side. She twisted her torso midair and propelled herself into a roll that sent her crashing into the ground. Pain throbbed in her shoulder from the impact. Rolling several more times, she regained her feet and immediately went on the offensive. She faded, then lunged to the side and the front, coming at him in a straightforward strike. Norcum met her: their sword hilts locked.

 

He tried to use his greater weight to force her to her knees, but broke away and came back instantly from the side to knock his blade away. The flat of her blade struck his cheek and cracked the bone. He moved before she could spring away and brought the flat of his blade smartly against her ribs, making her gasp for air and cracking several bones.

 

Jumping out of range of his next attack, she touched down barely a foot away from him. Norcum lunged forward to follow up his advantage. Soren brought her sword up in a half circle and parried his blow, though it jarred her arms to do so.

 

Shoving her back once more, the general again lunged forward, though this time Soren swirled her sword at his unprotected stomach. Not having time to block or move from the blades path, his sword sank into her shoulder while hers sliced open a deep gut wound. Both fell back, panting and sweating profusely. Blood poured unheeded from their wounds as they waited for the other to make the next move.

 

Soren advanced and brought her sword through the second half of her previous attack, bringing her sword around in another half circle to complete it. He brought his sword up to defend himself. Their swords clashed, producing a clear ringing sound. His blade shattered.

 

As the pieces of his former sword fell to the ground Soren shifted her position and drove her blade through his chest, impaling him to the hilt. Her eyes were strangely dead as he coughed blood on her and feebly tried to clutch at her. She yanked it dispassionately from his chest and wiped the blood off on her shirt. Without looking up she instructed, “Sais, Amaras, your Kingen shall accompany me back to Kaji. I want the two of you to take care of these men. Those that do not kneel to you are to be killed and you will determine at your discretion if those remaining are trustworthy. If they are not, kill them but if they are send them on after me. As to those that submitted before Norcum arrived leave them be. I will deal with them later.”

 

And with that she sheathed her blade and walked away, the forms of three Kingen swirling around her. Though her wounds bled freely and her familiar muttered angrily within her mind, she couldn't help but retreat into the bond she shared with Farin.

 

His attention was focused elsewhere and he didn't immediately notice her. For a moment she glimpsed Harimetia, his half-sister and current captor. Then, he felt her weariness and the disorganization of her thoughts. Silver-eyes? he prompted when she said nothing.

 

Norcum is dead, she said at last. I've left Sais and Amaras to deal with his soldiers.

 

Is that wise?

 

She felt the pang of worry he felt and for the first time in weeks she laughed. Farin, I'm too tired to oversee the process. I need to rest.

 

If you need strength for healing, I can- he began.

 

That's not necessary. Save your power for a time when I will need it. Our next move is to attack further within the country and save what farmland has not been burned and those whom have not fled. She sighed as the silhouettes of Kaji and his men came into view and their haggard expressions were clearer beneath the moonlight. Is it worth it to kill like this, Farin? Is the price of so much bloodshed worth fighting for the throne?

 

He was silent for so long that she thought he had been distracted by some event happening within the court. By the time he spoke, though, her wounds had been bandaged, Kaji had managed to bundle her into three blankets and she was sitting before a crackling fire with Homuna asleep in her lap. I think it is a far worse sin to do nothing than to kill those that oppress the people. However, your continued well being and safety has been and will remain my first priority. If it comes down to saving you and destroying the kingdom or saving the kingdom and losing you then I will personally rip apart every building and destroy every field.

 

She smiled contentedly and drew the blankets closer around her and the younger dragon. Ah, yes, but without a kingdom then how could we survive? Food would be hard to hunt for and grow in a devastated land.

 

He had no response, but he knew she was only teasing him. As she dropped into sleep he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. At least the girl he had known so long ago wasn't entirely gone. There was still hope for her.

 

* * *

 

With the crushing defeat of the main bulk of the Royal Guard Harimetia had to scramble to get the main armies ready to fight, but when they heard of the slaughter that had taken place after Norcum's death they refused. More than half the soldiers that had made up the armies deserted to join Kaji and the new queen. The loss forced Harimetia to turn to her father and he supplied several dozen dragons to aid her, many of whom were reluctant to fight the humans.

 

The skirmishes that broke out over the next year with the dragons took their tolls on both sides as five dragons swore allegiance to Soren and the remaining seven dragons took out a good chunk of her fighters in every fight. With the addition of more than a dozen imagi warriors fighting at her side the tides of battle evened out and it was with their help that three of the opposing dragons were killed. It was a painful process and hard fought, but month by month they forced back Harimetia's forces as well as her father's four remaining dragons until they stood on doorstep of the capital.

 

With the rebels so close Harimetia tried to send messengers to her father with pleas for help and all but one of those messengers were intercepted before they left the city. The messenger that made it to the Trestri Mountains was killed on sight by order of the Dragon King himself and from his throne he watched with something akin to glee as his daughter's forces were methodically absorbed and slaughtered. Losing half a dozen dragons to the girl had been more than worth it as he watched the slaughter and the chaos that threatened the kingdom of Regenku.

 

The fight for the royal palace was brief and bloody. Of the four dragons remaining that Askerin had sent two were killed, one submitted to her, and the remaining dragon had withdrawn to the throne room with the ministers and Harimetia. They fortified their defenses and waited desperately for reinforcements that would never come from Askerin.

 

Soren, covered in the fresh gore of her enemies, stood outside the throne room doors. She could feel the pull that existed between her and Farin and it infuriated her that she couldn't get past the doors to him. Placing a hand on the cool wood, she looked up at the ceiling and reached out to her Riagenkai.

 

He was standing by the throne itself, watching with great amusement as those within scurried around like little rats. Majesty, he acknowledged. It may be easier if you have Sais and Amaras break through Gerfun's shield. They should have enough combined power to break his magic. His eyes flicked to the haggard looking dragon in question who was currently sitting on the bottom step of the throne, his face drawn in concentration. I would appreciate it greatly if you did not strip him of his draconic form. He has been most helpful to me in the past.

 

 

She backed away from the door and relayed his suggestion to Sais and Amaras. The two dragons traded amused looks before they stepped forward to do more than just break the shield. They destroyed the door so thoroughly that only smoking ash remained.

 

Coughing and clearing the smoke from her eyes, she said, “Thank you, Sais, Amaras, for that…demonstration.” Sais and Amaras smirked and fell back to let her pass, flanking her as she did so. The other five dragons shifted nervously and waited for Soren to advance. They and the rest of her human and imagi guard trailed after her and stopped when she did so.

 

A thrill ran through her as she laid eyes on Farin for the first time since the forest. His features were impassive, but his eyes were alive. After a moment he reminded her of her task and she tore her gaze from his, turning to face his sister. “I'll give you one chance to surrender or die. The throne of Regenku is mine. Your brother is mine.”

 

The woman chose neither and screamed, “Farin! Kill her!”

 

His body acted without his command and he sprang over the unconscious dragon to land lightly among the ministers, most of whom scattered from his path. He tried to resist, he did, but the false Blood Seal overpowered his will and he charged, his claws extended.

 

“Don't react,” she said as her dragons and guards moved to protect her. She stepped away from them, but Sais dove in front of her. Farin's claws pierced her shoulder and ripped through her stomach. With an almost casual gesture he threw her to the side and when she landed she barely twitched as her blood pooled too quickly around her.

 

Before anyone had a chance to react, Soren had moved towards him and he towards her. His claws broke through her leather armor and sank deep into her flash. They were so close. His breath was hot on her lips as they stared at each other, horror reflected in his eyes. She closed the distance between them and kissed him as her blood flowed over his hands and dripped quietly against the stone. Darkness swam within her vision. “It's ok, Farin,” she whispered as her knees buckled. He went down with her. “It's ok. You're free to choose a better queen now.” And with that, she collapsed against him. The last thing she was aware of was an agonized scream before darkness claimed her.