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The mountains trembled at the blast of Khuldir’s horns. Soldiers filled the city streets and rushed toward the gate in formation. It had been an age since the Elatus Pipes were sounded, a deep bellow that was as revered now as it must have been then.
Zahra took command as the city’s North Gate was slammed shut. “Archers, to the wall! Fire at will, drive them back!” Zahra shouted orders from atop her horse, every bit the soldier of legend in Alira’s eyes. “Infantry form up in the center, tighten ranks. Dag, ready your soldiers on our flanks. Seal them off, we can’t let them off the road.”
The Royal Army fell into position, as they had drilled many times before. The high road adjacent to the upper city will cut the length of our ranks in half, but the gate can allow only so many through. The disadvantage is nullified, and they will be met with a sea of steel.
“Lassie, they won’t get in unless we let them. Our walls have held since the time of the first shadow.”
“And if you want them to stay that way, you’ll heed my command. Time for everyone having a say is over.”
Dag looked back to Cael who gave his support with a nod. Masses of silver, up armored, Khuldiri heavy warriors formed on the flanks of Namelle. Their spears pointed outward to funnel the Esseans into Namellian blades.
Essean arrows passed over the wall and into the Royal Army’s ranks on the other side. “Cael, in the little I know about battle, isn’t it customary for both sides to speak with one another first?” Alira asked. The exchange of arrows was a contradiction to the gentlemen’s exchange at a battle’s onset, which she’d studied.
“The old ways and customs dictate as much, yes. That was when men fought against men. What we are fighting now are monsters. Soulless, mindless fiends.”
Zahra rode back from the frontline. To Alira’s surprise she seemed calm and collected, in contrast to only minutes ago. “Sire, our archers are holding down but we’re taking heavy fire in return. The height of the walls has prevented great casualties, I believe we may win this fight yet.”
“Ladders! Infantry advancing!” The cries came from the archers on the wall. Kicking up a cloud of dust, Zahra whipped her horse around and rode to the gate, holding up her shield to deflect incoming arrows.
“Sayyed, and Kriel with me.” Cael intended to lead from the front as his father did. “Gelrain, Alira is your charge. You and your men follow-up the rearguard. Nothing happens to her, understood?”
“Yes, sire.” Avery acknowledged the command and rode his horse near Alira. His section filed out of the royal guard formation and reformed behind their lieutenant.
“Cael, do not leave me behind. If this is the battle in which our lives our decided, then I will not be kept.”
“You wanted to be here Alira, now you are. I will not have you fight this battle. You are where you belong.”
“But, Cael, I-”
“I’ll hear no more of this. Stay behind the rearguard and learn everything you can.” She had never seen combat, the place where life and death treads on either side of the thin line between training and luck.
Alira watched the archers at the gate who shifted the focus of their fire. They seemed to concentrate on the center, something drew near. Volley after volley of loosed arrows came over the wall from the Esseans and pinned the Royal Army under the cover of their shields. Amongst the metal clangs of arrows which struck shields, were the sounds of those that passed beyond and pierced the human flesh beneath the metal curtain. Namelle took casualties in the ranks and as archers were struck atop the wall, they fell like little teardrops of green and silver onto the ground below. More filed in to take their place and met the same fate. An ever-revolving cycle of death.
It cannot be this easy, death comes far too swift. Where a man’s heart beat only moments ago, now he lies on the cold ground. The whir of arrows, the sound of steel and the screaming. Horrifying and beautiful, a sight that shouldn’t be remembered but one I won’t forget.
A loud crash was heard, and Alira saw the great gates of Khuldir rattle. Zahra ordered every archer she had to climb atop the wall. Dag signaled his clansmen into positions at the gate to brace against the eventual–BOOM–second crash. The impact kicked the dwarves backward, but they recovered and re-braced. How long can this continue? Surely, our efforts must be making a difference.
The third crash was accompanied by the unwelcome sound of splitting wood. Cael and Zahra pulled back those who braced the gate and called the archers down.
“Bows will be no further use here, my lady,” Avery said to Alira. He turned back to the other guardsmen with him and drew his sword. “It’s been an honor gentlemen. If we do not live to see the sun rise again, it has been my privilege to have served alongside you.” The other guardsmen followed their commander and drew theirs. “No matter what comes through those gates, if they break our lines, then you do everything you can to protect Alira. If the king falls, we ride for Tirelle.”
If the king falls... Avery’s words were the first time it occurred to Alira that none of them were safe here. The gate was struck again and threw splinters in all directions. None of this seems real, he doesn’t think we’re going to die... does he? Another crash into the gate and the metal bracing buckled. Alira placed her hand upon Tempest’s grip. I wish you were here mom; I need you.
* * *
“Soldiers of Namelle!” Zahra’s cry was heard throughout the ranks. The only soldier who stood between them and the gate. “This is the time where we decide our future. Whatever comes through those gates, remember that your commander stands before you, and the support of your king is behind you. Let our enemy know that we will always rise to meet them with the might of the south. If you find yourself alone, far from here, in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in the Embrace, and you’re already dead!”
Zahra turned to face the battered gate, lifting Talon’s hilt to her head. With a swift, crescent motion, she drew the sword downward and twirled it to her side. Her left hand signaled her soldiers to readiness. The gates exploded open with a final crash of the battering ram, and a black sea of Essean infantry surged through. Zahra’s hand fell, and the front three ranks of the Essean forces collapsed under fire from a volley of Namellian arrows.
“We will have our vengeance, in this life or the next. Forward unto death, and the rising of the sun!”
She was the first to charge, the lust for battle carried her faster than any other toward the enemy. One rushed out, so bold as to challenge her. That’s it, come to me. Let’s make an example of you. She watched the blade of the Essean foot soldier draw upward. Trying to cleave me, are you? A fatal mistake. As the blade fell, Zahra kicked off her right foot and spun. Fast, precise, lethal. As the sword dropped past her and struck the dirt, she swung Talon around and separated the Essean’s head from his body. He didn’t use his head, why should he have it any longer?
The chaos enveloped her as Essean soldiers clashed with Namellian troops who rushed past her. Zahra lost sight of Cael amid the turmoil. Not your concern, Zahra. Focus on what’s in front of you. The battlefield roared with victory and the chilling cries of death. For Zahra, this clash was a long-awaited test against a force more formidable than mere bandits or pirates. Amid the melee and the ground littered with corpses, she saw more black than silver.
She raised her sword to block an attack, pulled the soldier close and cut his throat. The Essean dropped to his knees as the sputtering blood of his severed arteries sprayed her face and dripped down her armor. She let go of his wrist as he fell to the ground, clawing at his wound as unconfined blood poured out through his fingers.
New waves of Esseans funneled in through the gate and their force drove the Royal Army backward. The soldiers in the rear made use of their momentum to push their compatriots forward and exposed the Khuldiri pikemen on Namelle’s flanks.
Dag and his forces pushed forward to seal the gap. Zahra saw a single swing of his hammer hit multiple fighters. I see he’ll have no issue with this common rabble. If only we could push enough to clot the hemorrhaging at the gate, we’d be better off.
The left flank that defended the upper city held, the dwarves were as ferocious as they boasted to be. “Commander Ke’elle! Commander!” The call came from a dwarf who was out of breath and searched the ranks for her. “Commander, they’re breaking through on the right. If we don’t reinforce it, they’ll be into the valley below and enter the lower city where the women and our little children are. If they do that, they’ll get ‘round behind us.”
Alira.
She surveyed the battlefield and caught the sight of the young Lieutenant. “Zelle! To me, now!”
“Commander, what is it?”
“The strength of the right flank near spent. Take whatever soldiers you can muster and reinforce it. We cannot allow them into the valley below. If they outflank us, we’ll be finished before this really begins.”
Lieutenant Zelle shouted for soldiers near him to disengage and descend the shale hill off the high road and into the valley. Those who couldn’t break contact kept up their fight to protect the center formation.
“Dwarf,” she turned back to the messenger. “Run back, find King Verbrandt and inform him that I’m calling up the rearguard.” The dwarf looked at her, confused as to why she would send him. “Those exact words, go!” The dwarf sprinted off in search of the king. Lucky for Zahra it was only a short distance from the front line.
She continued the fight and put to sword all who stood in her way. The left flank held but fighting raged hardest across the center line. Another swell of Esseans cut through her right where Lieutenant Zelle rushed to reinforce the Khuldiri. The sea of black was driving back Namelle. As her line began to break, the rearguard reinforcements rushed in and withheld the charge.
“I heard you were in need of assistance, commander?” Cael dismounted his horse and watched his soldiers rush in to shore up the center.
“Thank Drea that he made it, Cael. Our line had near collapsed. How fares everyone else?”
“The left flank is holding firm. The buildings of the city and the narrow alleys make it near impenetrable. The dwarves and our soldiers funnel the Esseans into a mass of spears, maces, and hammers.” Zahra’s face, marred in blood, sweat and dirt and she began to exhibit the exhaustion she felt. “Head to the rear Zahra, catch your breath and we’ll ready for a push.”
“I’m needed on our right flank Cael. I can’t let them get around, there’s nothing left behind us.”
“Do as you will, sister. Go with Drea’s graces.”
Zahra gathered forty soldiers for the right flank. The strength of the Khuldiri was exhausted, only a few remained to hold back the Esseans with Zelle and the last of his men. Zahra neared the top of the hill when she was struck by a metal fist to the side of the head. A loud ringing filled her ears and bright, white stars filled her eyes. She stumbled getting up and couldn’t rise to her feet. Zahra touched a hand to her head and felt the wetness of the blood that covered her glove.
She pulled herself to the top of the hill and drug Talon alongside her. It took everything she had left to get to the edge of the road where she saw the enemy had broken Zelle’s lines, her reinforcements never made it. The last alive was Lieutenant Zelle, surrounded by a sea of black metal. His last stand was admirable, killing three before a mace smashed into his right leg.
The young officer dropped his sword and fell as an Essean soldier caved in the side in his helmet with another swing. He stood again, with nothing left to give. Zelle taunted the soldiers and held up his fists. A sword was run through his back and the life left his body.
The Namellian Army surged back toward the city wall and sealed off the right flank. Broken hearted and defeated, Zahra slipped into unconsciousness as fifty Esseans pushed down into the valley below.
* * *
“They’ve broken through to the valley, ready yourselves for defense.” Avery issued orders to the ten guardsmen he had under his command. “Five to one, damn good odds for the best swords of Namelle. Alira, remain here, you’ll be far from the fighting. If anything happens to us, ride for Tirelle and don’t stop.”
This is my chance to prove my quality to Cael, the moment I’ve been waiting for. If I can secure the valley... yes, this will be my finest moment.
Alira stared at Avery with contempt in her eyes. “Your king’s orders were to protect me, were they not?”
“They were, princess, but if we don’t eliminate the Esseans in the valley-”
“-that’s exactly where I intend to go. If you wish to obey your king, then protect me.” Alira drew Tempest and cracked the reins of her horse. The royal guards followed her at a torrid pace. The feeling of the wind that swept through her hair, the rush of the landscape in her periphery and the sounds of battle which raged all around made her feel alive. Alira hadn’t felt this way before, this unbridled rush of adrenaline.
Over the sound of the thunderous horses, Avery called out, “princess, slow down. They’re ready for us. Stop, I beseech you!”
She ignored the plea, consumed by the thrill of the charge. The guardsmen around her slowed as Alira snapped the reins, urging her horse to pick up speed. It was only when she was nearly upon the enemy that she saw the pikes of the Esseans bristling ahead, an unmistakable trap.
The pikes pierced the hide of her horse. It bucked and threw her off its back. She crashed to the ground hard on her right side. As her face hit the dirt, Alira watched her helm tumble away. She gasped for air as the force of the blow knocked the wind from her lungs. A hand grabbed a hold of her and pulled her backward as her guardsmen rushed in to cover their lieutenant. The rocks underneath her grinded against her metal armor as she was pulled up.
“Goddess damn you, Alira!” Avery grabbed her breastplate just below her chin. “Look at me! Do you realize what you’ve done?” He turned her head toward the six members of her guard still alive to fight. “I’ve lost four of my men. Four damned good men who died for you and your recklessness.” He shoved her back toward the ground. “This isn’t one of the stories in your books, Alira. Life and death are what hang in the balance here.”
Whether it was the pain of the fall or Avery’s harsh words, tears welled up in Alira’s eyes. She placed her head in her hands, feeling the sting and the warm trickle of blood. She stood unsteadily, her vision swimming, and tried to steady herself. The gritty taste of dirt mixed with blood as it ran down her face and into her mouth.
Despite her carelessness, her guardsmen had decimated the fifty Essean soldiers, a testament to their skill. As the last Illyrian fell, only Avery and Lian remained to confirm the deaths of their fallen comrades. The weight of her decisions pressed heavily on her; her recklessness had cost nine lives.
Avery plunged his sword into an Essean on the ground, and Alira watched his chest fall. He pulled it out and flicked the blood off the blade. “It sounds like the fighting is still raging above. I hope we’re ending this, they don’t need time to regroup.”
Alira looked up the hill and saw Cael look down at them as he tended to a disoriented Zahra, surrounded by Sayyed, Kriel and the remainder of his guardsmen. A look of disappointment was worn on his face.
“Let me get a good look at you Alira. No worse for wear, except this.” Avery dabbed a cloth over the open wound on her head. “That should clot up soon and you’ll be good as new.” He rested his hand on her right pauldron and tried to smile, if only for her sake.
“Let’s hope the worst is behind us,” Alira said.
As she joined Avery and Lian to look over the toll of her decisions, a deep howl echoed from the mountains beyond the lower city. Time stopped as they watched the rustle of trees near the outskirts of town.
“What is this? Some enemy in reserve we failed to see?” Avery asked. It broke the tree line, and a large, blackened menace sprinted toward them. “Alira, behind us. Now!”
“Reaver! Alira, run! Run!” Zahra shouted down as Cael restrained her. Its pace quickened, faster and faster its paws beat until the grotesque monstrosity was in clear view down the city street in front of them.
“Go Alira, up the hill. We’ll hold it off.”
“What do you mean hold it off?” Alira’s voice cracked from its sharpened tone. “You’re coming, aren’t you? You heard Zahra, we need to get out of here.”
“It’s been an honor, my lady.” Avery picked up her hand and kissed it. “The sun will rise again for you tomorrow, Alira Verbrandt. Remember us.”
He let go of her hand and walked up beside Lian. The pair touched their gloves and turned toward the Reaver. Alira took a second to admire their bravery and then turned to climb the hill. Soldiers at the top linked arms down to try and reach her, but the shale rocks under her feet made the climb impossible. Alira reached for the fingertips of an outstretched arm and just as she touched them the ground gave way. Alira slid back, lost her footing, and tumbled onto the ground.
“Come on, Alira! You have to keep trying!” Cael shouted down to her.
Alira turned to look at Avery. He had been knocked aside by the Reaver and struggled to get up. The beast pinned Lian under its great paw and dug its claws into his armor. It pressed down with all its weight and caved in his breastplate. She would never forget the agonizing sounds he made. Lian’s lungs filled with the blood of his crushed organs and curdled his screams. With its maw agape, the Reaver’s teeth tore into Lian’s neck and ripped out his throat. As the skin dangled from its crimson-stained fangs and blood pooled under Lian’s lifeless corpse, the Reaver howled as it basked in the victory of a quick death.
I cannot abandon Avery to torment and death. Alira saw Tempest on the ground a few feet away and then she looked back to Cael; the wide-eyed look of terror on his face. Everything told her not to, but she decided she would risk her life for his. This is my penance. So many lives lost for my reckless ambition to prove myself. Let me pass into the Embrace with honor.
“Alira, please don’t do this.” Cael yelled to her.
She mouthed back the words, “I’m sorry, I love you.” Alira felt the warm, leather grip of her mother’s sword as it stung the open wounds in her blistered hand.
Avery held his own, but fatigue was evident. Many of his strikes were clumsy and miscalculated, his undoing. The Reaver wrapped its paw around him, crushing him between its fingers until it saw her approach. It threw Avery away, and his body struck the ground hard and rolled multiple times before it settled into a motionless rest. The great beast kicked off and ran toward her.
Even in the face of certain death, Alira was determined that this was to be her moment. She held out her arms and looked to the heavens. “Drea, I call upon you. Lend me your courage, fill me with your strength. Let us banish this shadow together.” Alira brought the sword in front of her and gripped it tight.
The Reaver was only steps away, and as she drew back her sword, Alira was thrown backward by a bright light which passed by her and slashed into the Reaver’s arm. The great beast tumbled on its side as Alira watched a warrior bathed in light cut and stab the dark fiend. In retaliation, the Reaver swung its paw and struck the warrior, who slid backward. As the light diminished, she saw Cael. The Ring of Terra gleamed and exhibited a brilliant orange color that matched his eyes.
Cael reached outward with an open hand. As he threw a punch toward the beast, chunks of earth erupted from the ground and smashed the Reaver. He broke apart pieces of the ground which floated in the air and hurled them at the beast. As it was pinned, he pulled a sharp spike of earth with the ring’s power from underneath it and stabbed its side. Alira heard a deep growl as a black mist poured from its wounds.
Cael ran at the Reaver again and slid underneath to avoid the swipe of its paw. He plunged his sword into it and drug it inside the creature until he came out behind it. It must have felt the pain of the cut as Alira heard it wince. It looked at her again, and she saw it grow larger. Its bones popped and snapped as it grew.
It reared up onto its hind legs and its claws grew long and sharp. The Reaver’s mouth elongated and showed rows and rows of teeth. It walked toward her and drew back its arm. Cael threw his sword and embedded it into the raised paw. Cael leapt from the ground, slashed across its face, and kicked off the beast’s shoulder.
He came down beside Alira. “Drea?! Can it be...” Alira asked. Only a nod was given in return.
“Let’s finish this, Alira.”
That’s Cael’s voice, are they fighting together as one?
As Cael drew its attention, Alira slashed the leg which supported the beast’s weight and the Reaver stumbled. Cael cut down its side and opened another wound, blood and black mist poured out of the creature. It realized it could not contend with the power of a goddess and so it turned the last of itself on Alira. It slashed at her with its claws and left gouges deep in her breastplate, hit her with its shoulder and knocked her to the ground.
She tried to reach for Tempest, which rolled just outside her grasp, but the beast pinned down her left leg with one of its back paws and stood over top of her. She couldn’t move and cried from the intense pain of the Reaver’s weight. It lifted a mighty paw and pointed its claws downward. Her eyes widened as the sharp tendrils plummeted toward her. Cael leapt toward it, cleaved the paw from the beast’s arm with Vengeance and landed down next to his sister.
Alira saw the severed paw fall to the ground and, quicker than she could blink, she saw claws pierce through her brother’s back. The Reaver had reared onto its hind legs and rammed its other claws through him. Blood rushed from the wounds and ran down his gold armor onto the ground. The Reaver looked at Cael as if it was fixed for its final meal. He slipped off the blood-soaked ring and dropped it to his sister.
“Do it Alira, end it!” Cael struck the beast with a closed fist to keep its attention on him. It crushed him in its grasp and the claws further tore into his flesh and mutilated his organs. Cael coughed up blood and spat at the Reaver’s face. He laughed through his anguish as he struck the creature.
Alira put the ring onto her finger and heard Drea speak. He has given you this chance, Fate of Aten. Take up your sword and end its miserable existence. Alira noticed a divine light that wrapped around her body. The power of the ring coursed through the sword, lit the maelstrom guard, and travelled down the blade. With one hand on the grip and the other on the pummel she drove the sword deep into the Reaver’s chest. As her steel tore through skin and bone, a flash knocked her back.
The Reaver tossed Cael aside, rolling on the ground in agony. “This one is mine,” Alira vowed, her resolve burning fiercely. She stood over the beast, now prone and writhing. Channeling Drea’s power, she raised her hands, causing stone spikes to erupt from the earth, impaling the creature. It whimpered, its eyes dimming as the yellow light faded from them. With Tempest in hand, she drove it through the Reaver’s skull, ending its life.
As she pulled her sword free, the divine light around her dimmed into a soft glow. Exhaustion and pain overwhelmed her. She clutched her side, barely able to walk before collapsing from sheer fatigue. Rain began to fall, mingling with the mud as she dragged herself to her brother’s side, grasping at his cape.
She gathered him in her arms, wiping the blood from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. His hand reached up weakly, and she pressed it against her cheek, tears streaming down her face. Cael tried to wipe them away but was too weak. His hand fell to his chest. She took it in hers, resting her forehead against his. “What do I do, Cael?” Blood from her head wound trickled down her face, mixing with her tears and falling onto his chest. The chill of her own grief cut deep.
“Live, Alira.” His speech weakened as he gasped for air. “For the... both of us.”
“I don’t want the pain of drawing another breath if you’re not here with me. I can’t go on if I have to remember you longer than I’ve known you. Please don’t leave me. Not again.” She called out, desperate for anyone to help.
“You have to... let me go, Alira. Remember always... how much I... love you.” He stared upward and forced a smile through his pain. He nodded and looked back at his sister. Alira imagined that, in his final moments, Cael saw her as his little sister again and the memories of them playing in the castle halls. Perhaps he saw his wife Hikari and relived their precious moments together, or he saw Zahra and took part in one last sparring session with her under the old tree.
She smiled when it crossed her mind. The old Namellian belief that someone had been sent to greet Cael and accept him into the Embrace. Her heart wanted to believe that it was their mother and father, that Trystan reached out his hand for his son as Cael raised his own to take it.
His lungs released their final breath, and his eyes glossed over. Cael Verbrandt, the king, was dead.
“Cael, no.... Cael! Come back... Come back!” Alira yelled as she tried to shake her brother free from death. She felt the cold sting of loss set in as she pressed her head against his chest to listen for a heartbeat that wasn’t there.
As Zahra, Sayyed and Dag rounded the corner from the jagged rocks, they saw Alira clinging to her brother’s lifeless body. Sayyed fell and drove his fist at the ground. He had failed Trystan, he failed Kala, and now, Cael. Zahra felt the loss pierce her heart and fell down beside him. Dag wrapped his arms around her as she wept for her brother.
Alira felt her blood turn hot. Her teeth gnashed and her hands grew tight as the Ring of Terra brightened. Every emotion raged inside her and she couldn’t contain it, unleashing a primal, guttural cry so loud it echoed through the Aelle Faene. The ground rumbled and cracked beneath her as thunder crashed and the tears of the Embrace were released. Rain fell from the Embrace above, washing the blood from her body.
The survivors of the royal army were drawn to the hilltop by her cry, having driven the last of the Esseans from Khuldir. They saw Alira’s sword embedded in the skull of a beast they had only heard of in legends, and the body of their king in the arms of his sister. They looked at her, borne of a shimmering glow in the downpour of the rain with the ring’s failing light.
The first call came from Danie Kriel within the ranks on the hill. “Our lion has fallen, and so a lioness must rise–Long live the last lioness! Long live, Alira Verbrandt!”