“Shouldn’t we have at least seen them yet?” Galin asked.
“Yeah,” Kade replied. “I’ve got no idea where they went. If they were going to the Great Hall, we should have seen them.”
Galin’s grip tightened as he moved down the corridor. He stopped. Sounds of screaming and the clanging of swords and axes grew louder.
“The fighting is in the castle now,” Kade said.
“They’re getting away,” Ellis said. “Let’s go already!”
Galin picked up the pace, steadily moving down the corridor.
“There they are! Kill them!” a voice behind them said.
Galin whirled around.
Nine Feral Orcs wearing chain mail armor charged at them. Each was carrying an ax in one hand and a shield in the other.
Ellis sighed. “Shields suck.”
Kade raised his sword and charged.
The lead orc effortlessly batted Kade away with his shield. He raised his ax, bringing it down like a guillotine.
Kade screamed.
“Uncle!” Galin cried as he saw Kade’s severed hand underneath the orc’s ax. His eyes turned red. His skin began to glow. His sword started to glow like fire. With Jena and Ellis at his side, Galin charged in.
The lead orc kicked away Kade’s sword, focusing on Galin and the others. He let out a battle cry.
“Screw this,” Ellis said. He whipped out a dagger, throwing it down the hallway. It hit its mark. The dagger embedded itself in the orc’s right eye. Ellis smiled as the beast crashed to the ground.
Three more orcs jumped forward with their shields out and axes raised.
Galin mustered all the power he could, focusing on their shields. He swung his sword. It cut through two of their shields, but it got stuck in the third.
The middle orc kicked Galin’s feet from out from underneath him, sending him crashing to the floor. His sword! He lost his sword!
“No you don’t!” Ellis yelled.
Galin watched the ax coming down for his head. He started to roll, but another orc grabbed his legs.
“Galin!” Jena screamed.
Ellis slammed into the orc, stabbing it over and over again with his dagger.
With her short sword above her head and parallel to the ground, Jena leaped over Galin. In midair, she spun round. Her sword was like a natural extension of her arm, severing another orc’s head from its body.
An orc grabbed Ellis, slamming him against the wall.
Ellis’s eyes widened.
The orc slammed the ax’s hilt into the side of Ellis’s head, knocking him out. The orc smiled as he dropped Ellis like a sack of onions.
Galin leaped to his feet, yanking his sword from the shield. Jena was fighting another orc. She’d be okay, right? Yeah.
Two more orcs raised their shields.
In a single motion, Galin dropped to the ground and swung his sword underneath their shields, cutting off their legs. As they crashed to the ground. Galin jumped on top of them and finished the job.
“Ellis!” Jena screamed.
Galin whipped around. Ellis was bleeding. His midsection was nicked with an ax. This was not going very well. He looked up at the last two orcs and smiled.
They fled.
Jena was already pulling out her spell components pouch. “I’ve got to heal them.”
Galin nodded. “I’ll watch over you.”
“No, you’ll get Tanyl and end this. I’ll not have our baby born into this world when we have a chance to change it.” She motioned towards the corridor ahead of them. “As soon as I’m finished, I’ll find you.’
Galin said nothing.
“Trust me.”
“Okay.” Galin bolted down the hall. I hope I’m doing the right thing. As he approached a corner, Galin slowed down. Like a cat, he silently peeked around the corner. About twenty yards down the corridor stood orange double doors. There were four Dark Elves in chain mail armor standing guard. That must be it! Galin ducked back behind the corner. He could wait until his forces caught up, right? No, he’d risk Tanyl and Chalia getting away and starting this war all over again. It must end tonight!
Galin looked around the corner, just for a second. Too many Dark Elves to knock them out quietly. Could his improved powers make him faster, too? Probably not. Whatever happened, once he stepped beyond the corner he was committed to go right through those doors. He tightened the grip on his sword. Time to find out if that damn prophecy was true. He concentrated. The dragon magic flooded through his body. Galin’s skin began to glow and his eyes turned red. He looked down at his hands. This was the Transformation, there was no doubt.
He charged around the corner, directly at the four Dark Elves.
Their eyes widened as Galin’s burning-red eyes bore down on them. Three of them raised their swords in defiance, but the forth bolted past Galin, trying to escape.
Galin didn’t even turn towards the fleeing Dark Elf. He raised his fiery red sword, letting out a battle cry that nearly shook the castle walls.
The middle elf positioned his sword to parry.
The elves on the either side pulled their swords as if to thrust them into Galin’s stomach.
Galin’s sword came down like a hammer on an anvil, crashing through the middle Dark Elf’s sword, snapping it in two.
The other two Dark Elves thrust towards Galin.
As if anticipating their move, Galin spun while dropping to the ground. His fiery blade sliced through all the Dark Elves. He almost smiled as their torsos separated from their still standing legs. Blood splattered on his face as their bodies collapsed to the ground.
“They’re here, you fools!” Tanyl yelled from behind the door. “Chalia, you’re a pyromancer, do something!”
Galin looked back towards where Jena should be coming from. Nothing. She wasn’t ready or captured or—Damn it! He swallowed. Think defense. His reddish skin mutated into a slight purple. Since the Transformation, he hadn’t used his defensive abilities. Would they be better or worse? Galin shook his head as he realized that he had no idea what to expect. No, none at all.
“He’s coming!” Chalia screamed through the door.
Go! Galin slashed his sword at the doors, slicing them in two like a red-hot knife through a bar of wax. The doors ignited. He kicked what was left of the doors aside. Tanyl was in his sight, not as a captor, but as a soon-to-be victim. With his sword drawn, he moved inside.
“Get him!” Tanyl ordered.
Chalia pointed at Galin and three fiery bolts flew across the room.
Defense! Galin thought. The three bolts bounced harmlessly off his skin. He just smiled at Chalia.
Her blue face whitened. “How?”
“He’s using dragon magic, you fool!” Tanyl said as he backed away towards the thrones.
Galin stared directly at the Feral Orcs, who hadn’t moved. “Do you know Yotul?”
They shook their heads.
“She’s a Feral Orc who joined me. If you surrender to me now, I promise you a new life among us.” He pointed at Tanyl. “No one will order you around like slaves. No, you’ll be as free as me. No one man or orc or elf or dwarf or gnome is better than any other.”
Tanyl laughed. “Really? Feral Orcs are too stupid to understand such platitudes. Besides, you’ll never live up to them.”
“Do you hear the fighting coming this way?”
They nodded.
“I’ve already won the day. If you stay with him, you’ll die. If you side with me, I’ll set your free.”
The Feral Orcs looked at each other.
“What are you doing?” Tanyl demanded. “Attack him, you fools!”
“Why?” one of the orcs demanded. “So you can escape while we die? Ever since Methos made us follow the Dark Elves, my people have been fighting and dying for centuries.” He stepped forward. “I’ve had enough.”
Chalia pulled a small pouch out from underneath her robes.
“Kogan, please,” Tanyl said. “Dark Elves pay the penalty for failure, just like your pitiful kind.”
“Who?” Kogan asked.
“Beldroth, to name one. She was a complete failure and damn near destroyed our invasion, which was decades in the making. All she had to do was persuade Galin IV’s brother that he needed to start a revolt. That’s all. And what did that bitch do? She fell in love with a human.”
“She was my mother,” Chalia whispered.
Tanyl nodded. “Yes, thank Methos you turned out so much better than she did.”
“What about all those stories about how she died saving the Darkstriders, ensuring the invasion into Axain was successful?” A tear rolled down Chalia’s right cheek.
“It’s a lie. I couldn’t let the others know what really happened. It would have caused a revolt,” Tanyl said.
“Why lie to me?”
“To keep you under his thumb,” Galin said as his skin returned to its normal color. “I never knew your mother.”
“You killed my father!” Chalia screamed.
Galin shook his head. “No, he escape from Iron Fist Keep. I don’t know where he went.” He pointed at Tanyl. “What would Tanyl have done if he made it all the way back here? You know he escaped. You were there, Mae!”
Chalia glared at Tanyl. “Is this true?”
Tanyl shrugged. “That I did my duty? Yes, I always do my duty. Don’t you?”
Galin’s eyes softened.
Chalia backed away.
“Chalia, kill him,” Tanyl ordered. “Chalia?” He turned around. She was gone. “Where’d she go?”
Galin shrugged. “She’s a mage.” Where did she go? Could her escaping alone ruin everything? No, not anymore, not since she now knew the truth.
Seven Feral Orcs with axes in hand entered the Great Hall from behind the thrones.
Tanyl smiled. “Finally, I’ve been stalling these dogs for far too long.”
Kogan stepped forward. “You lie to us Orcs.” He pointed at Galin. “If we follow the human, he’ll free us.”
“What do we have to do?” another asked.
“Nothing,” Galin said. “I—”
Kogan grinned at Tanyl. “We make the Dark Elf pay for his failure!” With his ax raised high, Kogan and the other Feral Orcs charged.
Tanyl screamed as their axes repeatedly slashed at his body.
Galin stared at the bloody pile of flesh that used to be Tanyl. He sheathed his sword. It was over.
“Galin,” Jena said as she ran into the Great Hall. “I—” She covered her mouth as if to hold her stomach contents back when she saw Tanyl’s remains. “What happened? Did you?”
Galin shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”
Kogan stepped forward and knelt before Galin. “Your Majesty, I and my soldiers are at your command.”
“Please rise,” Galin said. He looked directly at Jena. “Ellis? My uncle?”
She smiled. “They’re going to be just fine, as if nothing ever happened to them.”
“I love you.” He hugged her with all of his heart.
She kissed his cheek. “You need to say something. We’ve won.”
Galin led Jena through the corridors until they reached the courtyard. Bodies littered the ground. The dirt was stained with blood. He looked up as his forces all stared at him.
Tanris knelt down.
One by one, everyone, including Jena, knelt down before him. Galin blushed. “Please, rise.” He cleared his throat. “Today will be remembered throughout the history of Axain. It was not just a day when evil was overthrown, but it was also the day when Humans, Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves, and some Feral Orcs all put aside their petty differences and united together. I say, let’s not let it end here. As long as I am king, everyone who wants to live peacefully amongst us will be free in our lands.” He looked up as Soreth perched on a guard tower and smiled. “Dragons included.”
Jena moved next to her husband. “Hail Galin, King of Axain!”
~You did well human, or should I say, little dragon.~ Soreth said into Galin’s mind. He smiled, then flew off into the distance.
Galin raised his arms, silencing the crowds. “My adoptive father told me that a single female knight in Axain, Thea the Loyal, sacrificed herself in order to save the kingdom. From this day forward, we will feast in her honor.”
The crowd cheered.
He looked into Jena’s eyes. “I wish Sally and Keya could see us.”
Jena looked up at the sky. “They can. I know they can.”
Galin pulled her in close. “I’ll never let anything happen to you.” He kissed her.
“I love you too, Galin.”
“What is taking so long?” Galin demanded as he paced back and forth in front of the thrones. He adjusted the thin gold crown on his head. The royal robes of Axain seemed to float in the air behind him. It has been seven months after they defeated the Darkstriders and he still couldn’t sit quietly on his throne. Well, not when waiting for something important.
“You’re like your father, when you were born,” Kade chuckled.
Ellis burst into the Great Hall. “Did she have him yet?”
“Him?” Galin asked. “How do you know?”
“Well—I assumed.” Ellis shrugged. “Sorry.”
“It won’t be long, son,” Brock said. “I promise.”
The small door behind the thrones burst open. The nanny raced inside, carrying a baby.
“Is it?” Galin asked.
She nodded. “It’s a girl.”
Galin took the precious treasure from the old woman. He looked into his daughter’s hazel eyes. “She looks like her mother.”
“Will she be your heir?” the woman asked.
Galin looked up.
Kade shook his head. “Only the firstborn male child can be king.”
“Why? Why is that? Why can a king rule better than a queen?”
“I—well—it’s tradition,” Kade said.
Galin looked down at his daughter. She smiled at him. “No, our firstborn child will rule.” He kissed her forehead. As soon as his lips touched her head he felt—something. He looked directly into her eyes. The hazel eyes flashed red, just for a second, then returned to normal.
“Why break with tradition?” Kade asked.
Galin grinned. “Because this one is very special indeed. Maybe more special than her father.”
“Sire,” the nanny began, “the queen.”
“Right.” Galin looked towards his family and friends. “I need to attend to the queen.”
“Seems like old times,” Kade said as he slapped Brock on the shoulder.
Brock nodded. “Yeah, we’ve come full circle.”
“I love you all.” Galin and the baby rushed behind the thrones to see Jena.