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It was hard to sleep with the noise and excitement in the guild and Dusk awoke feeling more tired than he’d been the night before. The anticipation in that dark place was so thick it felt as if he could cut it with a knife. He’d observed something similar the night they prepped on Anthurium Mountain for Nedarya’s incoming attack, but this was different. The feeling in the guild was backed by a deep sense of finality. Each one of them knew that if they failed, that was it. Protecting the island had been about stalling Nedarya, but this was about ending her threat to the world once and for all.
Dusk sat up, pressing his feet to the cold stone floor to shock his senses and sucking in air through his teeth. The chill succeeded in driving the thoughts out of his mind. He didn’t have time to worry. Once they finalized the plan of attack, there was nothing left but to execute it. Fretting about the outcome would serve neither him nor anyone else anymore. Doing his best not to disturb Lex, he pushed himself out of bed, pulled on his boots, and left to find some breakfast.
The activity had died down by the time Dusk stepped into the main chamber of the guild. The domed ceiling was dimly lit and it seemed all but the barman and a few stragglers had finally put down their work to get some rest. As he walked across the room he noticed a large collection of weapons and armor that had been laid out across several tables. Making his way over he stopped in front of them, curiosity getting the better of him. The majority of the armor was made up of hard leathers shaped into breastplates, jerkins, bracers and greaves. A few of them were studded with small pieces of metal, the rest were plain, but scarred from use. Overall they looked well cared for and expensive compared to others he’d seen on the road. He ran his fingers over the smooth leather as he walked down the tables to where the weapons were laid out. There was a much larger assortment there. Shortswords, crossbows, claymores, battle axes, maces, and longbows filled the tables with massive bundles of arrows and bolts leaning against the walls. He assumed there must be a wide range of fighting styles within the guild and Dusk was glad for it. The more variety they had, the harder they would be to stop.
“Finding anything to your liking?” a feminine voice said from behind him.
“I’ve already got my bow,” he replied, turning around to see a tired-looking Diana.
“I see,” she replied. “But do you have armor?”
Dusk shook his head.
“Well then, pick something out.” She gestured to the tables full of leather sets. “My guild took their orders a little too seriously and we have way more than we need. You might as well make use of it.”
“Are you sure?”
“You’re one of the leaders of this operation,” Diana chuckled. “You can’t go in looking like that.” She gestured to his leather breeches and linen tunic. “You’d be too easy to pick off.”
“I’ve... I’ve never had much armor before,” Dusk admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I wouldn’t know what to pick.”
“I can help with that.” Grabbing his hand she pulled him over to the tables. “Since you’re an archer you’ll need to keep your hands and arms free at all times, while also protecting as much of them as you can.” She picked up a hard leather breastplate and a pair of bracers, handing them over to him. “I’d offer you a helmet, but you probably won’t be on the front lines, so we won’t worry about that. Leather helmets don’t do much anyway. But it would be good to protect your legs and you’ll need something to carry your gear.” She pulled out a thick leather belt and a pair of greaves. “It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’ll keep you somewhat protected and harder to hit.”
“I have no idea how to put most of this on...”
“I guess you’re getting another lesson this morning then.”
Diana spent the next twenty minutes helping him put the armor on piece by piece and showing him how to layer it and where all the straps were. Slowly they made adjustments so he kept his full range of movement, but the armor stayed in place. Dusk looked down at himself once it was all on. The armor felt strange and comforting at the same time. Without warning, Diana reeled her arm back and socked him in the chest, her fist connecting with the hard surface. Although he felt the force behind her hit, the leather absorbed most of the motion and he found it didn’t hurt at all. Diana meanwhile, pulled her hand back, shaking her wrist.
“See? Now imagine if that were a mace or a sword? That might slow it enough so that you don’t end up with a broken rib or dead for that matter.”
“Thank you,” Dusk laughed, watching Diana shake her hand out. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I forgot how hard that leather can be.”
She smiled and Dusk could see the dark circles under her eyes. “Why don’t you go get some rest?” he said, patting her on the shoulder. “We’ll need you in good condition for the meeting tonight.”
She made to retort at first, but then stopped herself. “You’re right. I won’t be of any use if I can’t stay awake.”
“I’m sure Tara would enjoy the company,” he replied coyly.
Diana scoffed. “And what makes you think I want anything to do with that pup?”
“No offense meant. Just that you two are a lot alike.”
“I’m going to let that slide because you’re wearing armor.” She poked a finger at his chest. “You best watch yourself.”
“Yes ma’am,” he laughed, not threatened by her in the least.
Diana smiled softly and headed off towards the bunks, waving over her shoulder as she went. Dusk found himself a table after ordering breakfast. As he waited he began to slowly undo the multitude of buckles that held all his armor on. As much as he liked the feel of it, he was already beginning to sweat and the idea of wearing it all day didn’t bring him a lot of joy.
***
That night, as the sun sank below the edge of the horizon and set the ocean ablaze, Dusk and his companions slipped out of the warehouse doors and down the salty smelling streets of Emerald Deep. Leaving the guild behind, they made their way north of town to the beach where Lyra still kept watch. Dusk had told her of their plans to meet, warning her that Diana wasn’t much of a believer when it came to magic or dragons.
When they finally arrived on the beach, darkness had grown thick all around them. From out of nowhere there was a bright flash of orange light as a gout of flame lit up the sand. Everyone shielded their eyes and the flames pulled back, revealing a now-lit bonfire of large driftwood logs. On the other side was Lyra, claws crossed, lying in the sand with her eyes set in their direction. Diana was standing with her mouth agape, staring up at the ruby colored behemoth sparkling in the firelight.
“Was that really necessary?” Dusk asked aloud, striding up to the bonfire.
“Absolutely,” Lyra hummed.
Dusk could hear the mischief in her voice. He knew Lyra liked to make an impression.
“You... uh... weren’t kidding about the dragon, huh?” Diana stammered, finally finding her voice.
“No they were not,” Lyra replied, glaring down at her. “What is your name, non-believer?”
“D-Diana.”
“My name is Lyra.” She bowed her head slightly, her expression softening. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Again with the names...” Lex huffed.
“Alright,” Dusk called out, cutting off Lyra before she could respond. “Everyone gather around so we can get this started. Time is against us.”
Everyone made their way to the other side of the fire, creating a half circle facing Lyra. Lex took his place at Dusk’s side, nudging him with his shoulder.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “Just trying to break the tension.”
He was right. Everyone seemed on edge, even Lyra. With their assault beginning in the next couple of days, there was a rigidity in how they conducted themselves. Each passing moment brought them closer to victory or doom and all of them could taste it like blood in the air.
“I guess I’ll get us started,” Dusk began, looking around at their illuminated faces. He focused on Diana in particular. “First off, everyone needs to understand what we’re up against. The ruins of Alamond are the home base of the Circle of the Dawn, a cult dedicated to the whims of their leader Tiernan. He wanted to bring magic back to the world to control just for himself and take his place as ruler of the continent. However, Nedarya, the resurrected princess of Ditania, murdered him only a couple of months ago and took over the Circle herself. Since then she has stolen the crystal heart and the crystal eye. Both of which hold enormous power. The best we know, so far, is that she plans to pull down the crystal moon with that power. What she plans to do with it once she has it, we aren’t certain. But we can be sure it will be disastrous for Ditania, Inahan, and everyone in between. She has made it pretty clear she will kill as many as she can without any regard for her own well being.”
“That... is a lot to digest,” Diana said quietly.
“I see ya left out a few triflin’ details when you were explainin’ this to me,” Ciaran sighed, turning his gaze to Cyrilo.
He merely shrugged. “Now you know.”
“Here’s what we know,” Dusk continued, pulling their attention back. “Nedarya is, at this moment, making her way back to Alamond with the other half of the heart, which she’ll need to bring down the moon. But we have a small window of opportunity.”
“Right now Nedarya is still attached to the crystal heart making her more deadly than anyone we have here,” Lyra said, taking over. “But she’ll have to relinquish that power in order to make the heart whole again. That will be our one moment to take her down. With the three crowns of the Alamondian kings, she’ll still have power over the heart, but it will be much diminished without a direct attachment and without the moon on Udalara. And once she focuses that power on pulling down the moon, she’ll be little more than an advanced mage, still powerful, but no longer god-like.”
“It’s at that precise moment that we need to be ready to attack,” Dusk nodded. “She will have secured herself inside of the underground ruins of Alamond and is most likely surrounded by Circle members and a battalion of the Ditanian Army.” He turned his eyes to Diana. “And that’s where you come in. Your guild is well-versed in the way of stealth and death from the shadows. We’ll need them to get us to Nedarya without alerting the rest of the army.”
“Old underground ruins mean lots of shadows and hiding places.” Diana lifted her gaze, a malicious smile creeping across her face. “That will work in our favor quite nicely.”
“The other major concern is the mages,” Lex added. “Dusk and Cyrilo will have access to magic, but the rest of us will not.” He pulled a small leather pouch from Dusk’s belt, holding it up so everyone could see. “Anyone who carries this on their person will need to be killed swiftly and silently. If they get a chance to use the dragon powder they have, we won’t stand much of a chance.”
“It’s even easier to cut coin purses in the dark,” Diana replied. “If my men can’t kill them first, they can make sure they are no longer armed.”
“The Ditanian Army recruits Nedarya has gathered might also be carrying them,” Tara chimed in. “You can bet your ass they’ll use that before their swords.”
“The powder is addictive,” Dusk explained. “But it also wears down the body of the user. If the soldiers are behaving like they were in Birchwood, I’m sure many of them are already worn down or dead. But Nedarya has taken control of her brother Arius, so she’ll have no shortage of fresh bodies to defend her.”
“Do we know what kind of magic they’ll focus on?” Cyrilo asked, looking up at Dusk.
“From what I’ve seen, it seems to be mostly elemental magic. Fire is one of the easiest to conjure from my experience and the one I’ve seen them use most.” He looked at the others. “Cyrilo and I will do our best to keep everyone protected, but we have to save the majority of our magic for Nedarya. Our resources are extremely limited.”
“And if all this sneakin’ about doesn’t work, what then?” Ciaran asked, crossing his arms. “It seems as if we’re gamblin’ a lot on not being noticed.”
“That’s where I come in,” Lyra said, dropping her head down to everyone else’s level. “Dusk and I have established a connection between ourselves. As soon as you give me the word, I’ll make sure all of Alamond has their eyes on the sky.”
“Well, that sure helps, but how will we be gettin’ in? Just gonna waltz through the front door are we?”
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Each of them slowly turned their gaze towards Dusk, looking for an answer, but he didn’t have one. He only knew of one entrance into Alamond, the same one he and Lex had run out of to get away from the goblins. Even then, they’d have to wind their way through the ancient streets without getting caught while there was a dragon on the loose. It seemed like a low chance for success, but it was their only shot.
“No,” Lex said, pulling everyone’s attention towards him. He looked up at Dusk, a smile on his face. “There’s another entrance. Although... it’s a bit bumpy.”
Realization flashed through Dusk’s mind. The cavern.
“Just after Dusk and I had first met we had a scare one night and took off running in the dark. Eventually we came to the ruins and fell into a scuffle. We weren’t friends yet,” Lex chuckled, a fondness for the memory in his eyes. “And somehow we managed to step into a collapsed section of the ruins. We fell down a long tunnel and dropped into a lake at the base of the Alamondian ruins. If we can find it again and bring enough rope, we can use it to get in.” He looked back at everyone else. “As long as you don’t mind getting wet.”
“It sounds like as good a plan as any,” Diana nodded.
“That’s a vastly better plan than runnin’ through the front door, that’s for sure,” Ciaran added.
Cyrilo put his hands on his hips. “I’m not a big fan of getting wet, but if it’s just this once I can let it slide.”
All of them nodded to themselves, feeling more confident about their plans.
“But before all that,” Dusk said, pulling them all back in. “We’ll need to get out of the Ronja mines. Thankfully the slaves won’t stand in our way, but there’s sure to be guards and a few Circle members near Tephyss’s remains.”
“The mines?” Diana asked. “Why would we go there? That seems a bit out of the way.”
“Lyra will activate the crystal gate,” Dusk said, gesturing to the north where the massive gate shimmered in the moonlight. “It will teleport us directly into Tephyss’s cavern. It would take us almost a month to travel there on foot and we don’t have that kind of time.”
Diana’s face went white. “Is... is that dangerous?”
“Not at all,” Lyra said, moving closer to her. “That’s how we got to Rhykandria and it worked just fine. The gate is perfectly safe.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to convince my men to do that.”
“I think I can convince them,” Lyra smiled. “It’s very easy to give commands when you’re a dragon of my stature.”
Diana smiled weakly. “That’s going to be a weird conversation.”
“The gate and the mines pose little danger, but we’ll still need to be careful.” Dusk shifted to the side, getting away from the heat of the bonfire. “The journey from there to the ruins is three days on foot. The bandits in the area are already gone as far as we know and Inahan burned most of the villages. There should be little resistance on the road.”
Everyone silently nodded, looking at one another. The plan had taken shape and become more coherent than Dusk could have asked for. It was simple and to the point. Sneak into the ruins and stop Nedarya before she could gain more power. Nothing else mattered beyond that. He was about to call for them to head back when Tara took a step forward.
“I really don’t want to ask this,” Tara said, looking up at Dusk with her arms crossed. “But... What's the plan for Nedarya?”
Dusk could hear the apprehension in her voice. She knew exactly what he was going to say. Somehow he thought she needed to hear it, even if it was the last thing she wanted. Everyone needed to be clear about the end goal of their expedition.
“We’re taking no prisoners. She and the Circle are too dangerous.” Dusk looked her directly in the eye with all the compassion he could muster. “Nedarya once belonged to death and that’s where she has to go again. She has to be killed, no matter the cost.”