The
Four Kingdoms
Chapter
Twenty-One: The Final Battle
The
first line of Farron's army halted at the edge of the central meadow, thirty
infantry men lining up to stand firmly.
Another line of twenty, all carrying longbows, slipped in between them
to kneel on the ground in front, bow ends balanced on the ground and arrows
drawn and ready. Behind this group,
layers upon layers of men moved into position, including two sets of cavalry flanking
to the left and right into side fields under the orders of their captains. The green and silver of the soldier's
outfits were marked by flashes of blue, red, gold and purple, to demonstrate
their now complete hegemony. Some might
even have been members of the former armies of the defunct kingdoms, but, as
soldiers, that didn't matter anymore.
They were soldiers, they followed the orders of their leader.
After
a few moments, the central line parted and three men rode through on the old
Pass road as it cut muddily down the center of the meadow, to stand as a
triumvirate before their army. The man
in the middle sat tall and heroic on the back of his almost pure white charger,
his appearance reminiscent of the gods in old pagan myths. He was dressed in
gleaming silver and gold plated armor that covered his chest, shoulders and
thighs – suggesting that someone must have spent the night before polishing it
for hours. Beneath the armor he wore a
snow white doublet, green-blue flecks marking the billowing sleeves. On his head, the amalgam of three crowns
melted together formed a tall crown, with points that held rubies, blue
sapphires, amethysts and, of course, emeralds.
And on his back, Chris's sword shimmered in the light, the only dark
thing on the man.
Farron
settled the warhorse quietly and smiled at the sight before him.
About
fifty yards away, the seven sat atop their mounts in a straight line. Chris was in the center, with Ezra on his
left and Vin on his right. JD was next
to Ezra, his horse pawing the ground nervously, while Buck sat on the other
side of the archer. Josiah and Nathan
made up the ends.
"Sir
Larabee!" Farron called, "Well met. And I see that you have my son
with you. Somehow I knew he wasn't
dead. How unfortunate."
Chris
smiled thinly, "Farron, welcome to Four Corners."
The
emperor smiled more deeply, ignoring the failure of the paladin to recognize
even his kingly title. Then he noticed
Ezra's crown, and his smile dropped somewhat.
"Ezra...that
does not belong to you."
The
black prince smiled at the remark, but didn't say anything.
"I
see," Farron leaned forward slightly over his horse's neck. "You know, I think this may have been a
bit absurd, bringing all these men up here.
For some reason, I imagined you might have built up a small army, or at
least a larger group than just the seven of you. But, looking at you now, I
realize I was wrong. I do hate being wrong." He shrugged and looked at the
two generals he had brought forth with him.
"Sorry to waste your time, men.
I believe I can have this little threat dealt with in a matter of
moments. Except my son. If you would be so kind as to kill him after
I've dealt with the others, I would be most obliged. And bring me that crown."
The
two generals smiled thinly in return.
Then the smiles fell as Farron turned forward again and raised up his
hands together. In moments, a
spectacular golden fireball surrounded them, growing larger and hotter with
each moment. The two general's horses
shied a little at the presence of so much power.
Chris
sighed and looked at Ezra, "I assume this is mine?"
The
thief shook his head, "Oh no. I've got this one. See," he said, his eyes laughing, "there was another
reason for me to be here."
Just
then, Farron unleashed the fireball, sending it sizzling towards the seven men,
its target Vin, Buck and Nathan.
Yelling
a loud "Ha!" to his mount, Ezra galloped forward to intercept it,
much to his horse's dismay. Nevertheless, as he always had, the chestnut
gelding did as it was told and lowered his head as the blood magic hit them
head on. Farron gritted his teeth as the fireball enveloped the thief and his
mount without harming them. He had been
building up another fireball to throw at Josiah and JD, but the power at his
fingers faded as he watched his son's actions.
It was then his suspicions were answered. He knew for certain that something was terribly wrong.
The
soldiers on the line all shifted nervously as the thief seemed to glow with the
power, drawing it into himself. Then it
was gone. Ezra grinned, bowed slightly
as Vin and JD both clapped, and backed his mount into line with the others
again.
Farron
tried to smile flippantly, but failed.
"Hell," he whispered, not sure what else to say. Then, remembering what he had at his
command, he pointed to the men behind him.
"Archers!"
"My
turn," Buck smiled. "I've
been looking forward to this."
The
front line of archers lifted their bows and drew back their aim. The sergeant commanding them shouted orders,
then, with a single sharp shout, ordered them to fire.
The
arrows lifted into the sky, and Buck lazily pointed to them.
Fire
and ash fell down harmlessly in the center of the meadow.
Farron's
eyes widened, as did his men's. Some of
the soldiers twitched nervously, and whispers could be heard, the word
"wizards" being passed along.
The seven, meanwhile, took the opportunity the distraction afforded to
spread out into better positions. The
emperor snarled, amplifying his voice with magic so that he would be heard
throughout the ranks.
"General
Castor!" Farron shouted, "General Pike, do you have a battle
plan?"
The
two generals looked at each other. Yes they
did, but it had been based on the supposition that they might be facing a small
army of townsfolk, or perhaps a group of armed guerillas...not a mere seven
men, though several of them seemed to be wizards puissant enough to defend
against the Mandate.
"Uh,"
said General Castor.
"Yes?"
responded General Pike, the answer more question than fact.
Farron
gave them both dark looks, "Then EXECUTE it, damn it!"
"Yes
sir!" the chorused, wheeling their mounts around to face the accumulated
soldiers. Orders were barked, repeated,
and men moved. More archers came
forward, and spear carriers came to the front.
Long shields of infantry men marched up from behind to spread out among
the walled fields and meadows, using the bushes and trees separating them to hide
their actual numbers.
"They're
trying to get around us," JD noted, he moved to stand near Josiah.
"Not
for long," Buck called from where he was positioned with Nathan,
"Chris?"
They
turned to look at the paladin, who was still watching Farron. Chris
nodded. "Go!" he ordered,
sending the seven into position. Josiah
headed to the right with JD, and Nathan and Buck went left. Vin jumped off his mount atop a hillock and
ducked down behind a low stone wall, pulling off the big crossbow and resting
the longbow on the wall. Ezra stayed
with Chris.
The
paladin eyed him, "You're supposed to go with Vin."
"I
know."
Chris
gritted his jaw, but said nothing else, as, at that moment, the first wave
hit. Vin started raining arrows from
above in rapid succession from the crossbow, the magic of having a constantly
resetting weapon showing its usefulness immediately, while Ezra and Chris both
pulled their swords and started cutting through the infantry.
Over
on the left, Buck set up a firewall, trapping some of the flanking soldiers,
while Nathan flooded the earth under another group, sending them slipping into
the mud. Then they too began fighting
in earnest, overcome by the sheer numbers of infantry men. Occasionally, flashes of fire and explosions
of water was heard to rip through the soldiers' ranks, sending them back and
giving both healer and Captain more room.
Buck
fought like a man possessed, which, in some respects, was what he was. The same powerful rage that Hannah had
sensed in the tavern all those months ago fueled him now, and he blistered his
way through soldiers with a single minded purpose. Someone, somehow, managed to take down his beautiful mount, and
he jumped feet first into the melee, fully prepared to avenge the horse, his
friends, his home, and his kingdom.
Fire crackled at his fingers, and he used his power as effectively as he
used his sword arm. For every lucky cut
that someone inflicted on him, he took down five men in a flare of red.
Nathan
was different, slipping in and out of the soldiers ranks with a lithe
grace. His rapier held most of the men
a safe distance away as he tried to get in behind them. Pushing his mare past Buck, he found himself
facing a long line of cavalry, the horsemen's gold helmets glinting in the sun.
Someone yelled charge just as Nathan
blasted them all with a steady stream of water, as powerful in force as the
roaring Rhean river not far away from them to the east. The horses collapsed to their knees, while
riders were blown from their mounts.
Some, however, managed to stay on, and were on Nathan quickly. His long black rapier out, the healer sliced
and jabbed as effectively as if he'd had a proper cavalry sword. The thin sword he favored was not the best
parrying weapon against the horsemen's shorter slashing swords, but it was
longer...and Nathan was very good with it.
Soon he was the only one still mounted, and he turned his tired mount
around to head towards the second wave of infantry he knew was waiting its turn
to fight.
Over
on the other side, Josiah blew back the first rank of soldiers with a wave of
his staff, then started blasting archers with tiny fireballs, burning their
longbows to ashes. They were no where
near as impressive as Buck's, but they got the job done. He nodded to JD, who grinned in return.
Jumping
off of Lucky's back, JD bent down and touched the ground, splitting the earth
beneath the feet of about twenty soldiers who were flanking them on the far
right. He didn't make it that deep, but
the crevice he created was wide enough so that it was not jumpable. The cavalry that had been coming around from
behind shied at the shifting ground, and several mounts threw their
riders. Infantry, however, tumbled into
the broken ground and quickly bounded up the other side, heading straight for
JD.
The
kid threw up his hood and ducked in between them. And was gone.
Vanished.
Somewhere
in the middle, yells could be heard as men got attacked from behind, the sound
of a rapier whizzing past heads as JD flitted in and out of sight among
them. Then he was through to the other
side, into a second meadow where the second line of soldiers stood
waiting. Jumping onto one of the
cavalry's lost mounts, he spurred the horse in their direction, yelling loudly
to get the second wave's attention.
Confused, and not prepared, they drew up their spears and shields to
meet him. A few of the more foolish
ones didn't bother – after all, what possible threat could a boy be?
They
changed their minds as JD charged into them, leapt off of the horse's back and
started really fighting.
Josiah,
meanwhile, was getting tired of throwing men back with great gusts of air. He could feel his magical strength waning in
the face of a seemingly endless supply of soldiers and occasional cavalry. Finally, his anger at a boiling point, he
started whipping his staff around like a weapon, knocking men out with single
blows to the skull and chest.
Some
lucky soldier somehow got hold of the staff and pulled it out of his hands,
causing Josiah to bellow angrily and throw back about twenty men with one
mighty heave of air magic.
Then
he pulled his axe, and grinned.
Soldiers surrounded him on all sides, hesitant, but determined. Their
captain bellowed an order, and they all charged. Josiah became a white blur inside a ring of blood and brute
strength.
And
in the center, Chris and Ezra fought smoothly side by side meeting the rest of
Farron's first wave with a solid front.
Vin was like a guardian angel behind them, taking down any soldiers
lucky enough to get around their backs.
Most of the time, the scout had to cover Ezra, as the prince was nowhere
near as quick as Chris. The paladin's
borrowed blood magic made him appear like a miniature tornado as he blocked,
parried and thrust in the same time that most of the infantry were still trying
to unsheathe their swords. Shields were
the only defense, and several soldiers had backed up, trying to create a wall
to stop Chris from advancing too far.
It
was a fairly useless effort. Chris just
cut right through them.
Just
then, one soldier got a lucky strike, his sword going deep into Chris's right
side. Solon reared up and knocked the
man down, but the damage, so thought the other surrounding soldiers, was done. Dropping their swords a little, they watched
as the paladin backed the warhorse up slightly, looked down at the sword
sticking out of him, then looked up and smiled at them. In one swift move, he pulled the weapon out
and threw it to the ground, hilt up.
The handful of soldiers knotted around Chris instantly backed away when
they realized no blood seeped from the wound.
Then
they all turned and ran, leaving Chris virtually alone. Shaking his head, Chris patted Solon on the
neck, then sent him charging after them, and towards the second line of
soldiers with the shining helmets of Farron and his generals standing among
them in a back meadow. He could see the
chaos JD and Nathan's magics were already having on these reserve soldiers, and
he grinned in anticipation.
Ezra,
meanwhile, continued to slash and cut through men, his chestnut gelding using
its sharp hooves like knives. They were
fast, dodging in and out of each soldier's reach with relative ease, using the
height advantage to its full effect.
Occasionally, Ezra would let loose the reins in his left hand and throw
a couple of smoke pellets down to give himself more room, but it usually only
afforded him a few moments of time.
Suddenly, a lucky parry made Ezra lose his grip on his sword, the weapon
flying uselessly off to the side. The
thief instantly dropped a handful of fire pellets into his empty sword hand and
threw them out at the attacking infantry, sending half a dozen men screaming
back with their hair and clothes in flames.
Digging his heels into his chestnut's flanks, he galloped through the
soldiers to the spot that Chris had just left, then, leaning low off the
saddle, he pulled up the soldier's sword Chris had thrown down. Pulling the gelding to a stop, he wheeled
around, bloody and muddy sword in hand, and galloped back into the fight.
Over
by the wall, a handful of soldiers had finally got close enough to force Vin
out of his position. Dropping the large
crossbow, its weight making it a hindrance in a close fight, the scout grabbed
for his longbow and started wielding it like a staff. Expertly, the scout forced the men back, but he grimaced with the
knowledge that he could no longer watching Ezra's back, and more men seemed to
appear behind the one's he'd felled. He
knew he was wearing a sword, but it was not his strength, so he balanced his
small crossbow on one arm and shot soldiers while he tried to get through to
where he thought Ezra was using just the longbow. It still amazed him that the crossbow kept resetting itself after
each shot, the magic also making the weapon deadly accurate. The sickening
crack of wood breaking caught his ears, and he almost cried out as his precious
longbow folded in on itself. Some lucky bastard had cut through the hard wood
with his sword. Vin hoped the sword had
snapped too. Dropping the bow, he
finally pulled his sword and started slashing.
Looking
around, the sick feeling he got from losing his bow deepened.
He
realized he could no longer see Ezra.
And
he was still losing ground.
___________________________________
Upon
the first charge by his men, Farron had drawn back with his generals to the
second line. Then, we he felt the magic
unleashed by the seven – saw the colors of the elements flashing like fireworks
at the edge of his vision – he backed up further, until he was behind the last
set of men – a small reserve of about a hundred infantry guarding the supply
wagons and watching the rear flank. The
supposed third line. Uneasy, they
watched as their emperor rode through and around them, the small group frowning
nervously at the screams and yelling they could hear not far from their
position. They tried to ignore the
flames rising in the eastern side, catching the scant trees that existed in the
rocky meadows, and to ignore the shaking of the ground to the western side,
well aware that earthquakes did not occur here. But none could ignore seeing the emperor ride around them.
Farron
glanced at them, then with an odd smile, disappeared in a flash of yellow
light.
____________________________________
Chris
was fighting on foot now, letting Solon fight on his own. The big black's hooves rained down on anyone
who managed to get close to him, which meant that not many soldiers tried to
get to close to him. An arrow stuck out
from his flank, but it did not seem to slow down the animal at all.
Chris
also had had a couple of broken bolts in his side, and even a knife, but they
hadn't bother him in the slightest. At
one point, he'd managed to get Buck to create a massive wall of fire to trap
the soldiers while he got Nathan to heal his wounds. The healer worked efficiently, though his repairs had been slowed
down by the fact that Chris's body refused to heal itself at all. It was if the Paladin were dead: his blood
didn't flow, his heart wasn't beating.
He didn't even seem to be breathing, except by habit. Gamely ignoring this fact, Nathan had used
his own endless supply of healing magic to seal the blood vessels and the skin,
then sent Chris out again, never telling the man a thing. His blood magic had brushed up against the
black power supporting Chris briefly, though, and it had chilled him
considerably. He was almost loathe to
douse Buck's firewall because of the cold he still felt, but he also knew he
could not let the fire run unchecked.
They'd done enough damage to the land already.
Afterwards,
Nathan returned to help Buck finish off what remained of the left flank, of
which only a couple score of Farron's most loyal fighters remained.
Sooner
than he expected, Chris found himself facing the more seasoned fighters at the
back of the second line, though it mattered little in the face of his speed and
skill. Only moving slightly more slowly
than he had with the first wave, he still cut an effective swath through the
men, his goal the gold plumed helmets of the officers in the back. Suddenly, without warning, he found himself
face to face with the hooves of a dark gray warhorse, and had to rapidly
backpedal to where he had left Solon.
General
Pike grinned wickedly as he calmed his beast down and drew his sword. Chris shook his head at the over-confident
man, and chose to stay his ground.
With
a loud yell, the general spurred the horse into a charge, sword raised
high. Chris jumped swiftly to the side
just as the mount sped past and, drawing a knife from the sheath in his boot,
threw it with pinpoint accuracy at the man.
The horse bucked when it felt its rider list suddenly to the side,
trying to keep the man balanced on his back, but it was a useless effort. Pike crashed to the ground, the knife embedded
deep in his hip. Screaming for his men
to help him, he was soon lost amidst a mess of bodies as his loyal soldiers
covered for him and attacked the paladin with renewed vigor.
Chris
was forced back, surprised by the forcefulness of the attack, until he was
pressed up against Solon's hide. Just
then, the ground heaved and rolled beneath him, and he had to hold tight to
Solon's saddle to stop himself from falling over. Before him, however, the soldiers had no such brace, and most
fell backwards. Some tried to run, only
to find themselves falling into a thin but deep crevice in the ground that
hadn't been there minutes before.
Looking up, Chris spotted JD not far away, his elemental magic dripping
from his hands like brown gold as he all but sealed the crevice up again,
leaving only a space of about a foot wide so that the trapped men could
breathe.
The
kid, Chris could see, had lost his cloak, and held his left arm pressed tightly
against his side, but he still held his father's shining rapier proudly in his
right. Holding it up, JD saluted the
paladin and gave him a cocky grin before disappearing back into the ranks of
soldiers sent to stop him and into the fields beyond.
Shaking
his head, Chris grinned as he pulled himself up onto Solon's back and calmed
the slightly nervous beast with a few solid pats to his hide. Pike had been
spirited away, but he could see Castor standing with a few score of still
unused soldiers not far away. Following
JD's lead, Chris raised his sword up to salute the general, but the irate man
did not return it.
It
was then that Chris saw that Farron was not also there with his officers, and
the realization left him cold. But
before he could do anything about it, or find a way to warn the others, Castor
had sent his men to attack the Paladin and he was lost again in the battle.
_________________________________________
Ezra's
chestnut gelding screamed in anger as it fought the men boiling around him and
his downed rider. Bred for battle, the
horse knew his purpose now was to keep the soldiers at bay until his rider
regained his feet, then his job would be done.
He screamed again as someone stuck a spear through its belly, and he
reared again.
Bruised,
dazed, and not entirely sure how he had been felled, Ezra rolled back and got
to his feet, a dagger now in each hand.
A light touch on the catch split the trident dagger into three, and the
talon's sharp edge caught the bright sun. He had to jump a few inches as his
horse nearly backed into him, but at least he was up. With a rebel yell, he attacked the soldiers coming up at him from
behind, the metal in his hands flashing.
Looking around, he just caught sight of his horse falling to the ground,
two spears stuck in its flanks, blood running down its neck from a sword cut. Some of the soldiers stepped back at the
sight, something akin to regret on their faces. But the others surged on, and
Ezra was given no chance to grieve for the beast that had been his only real
friend for over fifteen years.
Then,
as if by silent command, the soldiers fell away from him. Panting, and slightly bemused by the action,
Ezra turned around in a tight circle, watching them, the daggers spinning in
his hands. Eventually, he turned to
face the same direction as they, and he lowered the bloody daggers to rest at
his sides.
Farron,
still gleaming white and now glowing from the use of the Mandate, rode slowly
towards him on his white charger. How
he had gotten passed the others without a scratch, Ezra didn't know, but there
was no question as to his destination.
Farron's
lips twitched as he took in the bloody battlefield, riding forward until he was
barely a foot from his son.
"How
is it possible," the emperor said slowly, his eyes scrutinizing him,
"that you now carry the final Key? The Mandate brought me to you, and I
can indeed sense the power in you. Did
you actually kill the boy yourself?"
Ezra's
eyes narrowed, but, as before, he didn't answer. He simply closed the trident, shoved the dagger into his belt,
and bent down to retrieve one of the swords on the ground. Raising it up, he saluted his father and crouched
back into a fighting position.
Farron
snorted, "You're not good enough, Ezra. You know I'm the better
swordsman. I'd be wasting my time. The paladin, he might be able to challenge
me, and, from what I have seen, the Moor, but not you."
"You
want the Key, do you not?" Ezra said in reply, still standing in fighting
position.
Farron
lowered his turquoise eyes for a moment and pursed his lips. When he looked up
again, he was smiling.
"More
than you can ever imagine, boy."
With a fluid motion, Farron dismounted, drew Chris's sword off his back,
the dull metal of the Sword of Adenn glinting in the sunlight, and faced his
son.
_________________________________________
"Josiah!"
Vin was backing up quickly now, trying desperately to see any of the others. Part of him could sense he was getting close
to the mage, but the soldiers following him were giving him no space to
look. Several had gotten in lucky
strikes, but the wounds healed so quickly, the soldiers had never even known
that they had drawn blood. Still
slashing, Vin had lost his crossbow at some point, the action almost taking his
arm with it. Some twisted part of his
mind had wondered briefly if the arm would have grown back, or if he would have
had to reattach the old one. Swallowing
roughly, he jumped back a few steps over a stone wall, one of a seemingly
endless number of walls he climbed over, and made one more desperate look
around. He had both hands on the sword, though the hilt was really only big
enough for one. Five soldiers advanced
slowly, and the scout's tired body did its best to keep up with their
movements.
Abruptly,
they attacked, two men slashing and cutting, trying to get past Vin's defenses,
while the other three waited their turn. The scout parried, his arm vibrating from
the force of some of the blows, the sound of metal ringing dully in his
ears. Then he felt it.
The
sword pierced straight through his back.
Someone had gotten in from behind.
Vin
staggered forward and fell to the ground on his knees. The swordsman that had gotten him put a
booted foot against his side and withdrew the weapon. Vin fell again, this time to his side as he turned to look up at
the soldier.
The
silver plumed helmet of a captain flashed in the sunlight, and the soldier's yellow
teeth grinned evilly down at him.
"Finally
got one of them, didn't we boys," he said, his accent tinged with the same
Danaerian drawl that marked Ezra. A
couple of the soldiers laughed tiredly as they formed a ring around him. Vin just shut his eyes and took in a deep
breath.
"You
sure he's dead?" one of the
soldiers asked after a moment. He was
waiting for the color to drain from Vin's face, to go with the blood that had
to be seeping from the body. But, then
again, now that he looked closer.... "There isn't much blood,
captain."
"Man
had a sword through his chest, soldier.
If he's not dead yet, he soon will be."
"He's
glowing, sir."
"What?"
Sure
enough, green light rippled across Vin and, though his eyes were still closed,
he started to smile.
"That's
it!" one of the soldiers yelled, throwing down his sword and pulling off
the leather cap he wore. "I'm not
fighting men that won't die!" He
took off running, aimlessly moving towards the forest on the side of the
forest. One of the other soldiers made
a vague noise of agreement and took off after him, though he kept his sword.
The
other three soldiers and their captain watched them leave without comment. Then they turned around again to look at
Vin, but the "body" was gone.
"Looking
for me?" the scout had simply gotten up, his wound already healed, and
walked to where he had dropped his small crossbow. He had it pointed in the general direction of the men's captain.
"You...you
only have one arrow on that crossbow," the captain stuttered, frowning.
Vin
just smiled, "I wouldn't be so sure of that."
The
three other soldiers started backing up, leaving the captain watching Vin
warily. Then they too took off
running. The captain lowered his head,
and sheathed his sword.
"I'm
on the wrong side, is that it?" he asked quietly.
"Yep,"
Vin's smile deepened. The captain
nodded.
"Are
you going to shoot me in the back?"
Vin
shook his head, but didn't lower the weapon.
The Captain nodded and turned around, walking morosely in the same
direction that his men had fled.
Lowering
the crossbow, the scout sighed, and looked around him. He felt a bit like he had found the eye of
the storm, as a strange sense of calm shrouded the area around him. Bodies of men steamed on the cold, damp
earth, while blood mixed with crushed grass assaulted his nostrils. Looking around, he searched vaguely for
Ezra, but only succeeded in spotting Josiah.
The mage looked huge, a towering powerhouse inside a group of about ten
men not far from his position. The area
around him was thick with the wounded and unconscious, while the spears and
swords of those who had run lay littered among them.
Vaguely,
Vin wondered how many had run. Probably
a lot.
He
looked around him again, then wandered back to where he spotted someone else's
longbow lying in the mud. Pulling
arrows from the magically full quiver attached to his side, he aimed towards
Josiah's position and took down about five men with perfectly aimed shots to
the shoulders and legs. He didn't want
to kill anyone anymore. The other five
soldiers, seeing their numbers suddenly depleted, threw down their weapons and
kneeled in submission before Josiah.
The
mage nodded, sent a quick salute towards Vin, then suggested to the soldiers
that they take their wounded and get the hell away from there. Silently, with
tense expressions, they did as they were told.
Longbow
in hand, Vin jogged across to where Josiah had picked up his staff and was
leaning heavily on it.
"Where
are Chris and the others?"
Josiah
shook his head. He was panting, and his eyes were closed. Blood marked his forehead, and mud crusted
around his eyes. His robe hung, much of it in tatters. Just then, the ground shook beneath their
feet, and Josiah's bright blue eyes flew open as he grinned.
"JD
is probably that way," he said, pointing in the direction of what seemed
to be the tremor's origin. Sure enough,
in a nearby meadow, slightly hidden by brush and scraggly bushes, a knot of men
seemed to be fighting with someone who clearly had them tripping over
themselves in confusion. Josiah looked
back at Vin.
"Where
is Ezra?"
"I'm
not sure. He was with me, then he
wasn't."
"Central
meadow is through there," Josiah said, pointing off to the east. "See
if he's there. I'm going to go help
extricate JD."
Vin
nodded slowly, his movements a bit reluctant.
He wasn't all that tired, not as tired as the mage was, but he hated to
leave this false calm.
"We're
winning, scout. Let that be your
torch." Josiah sighed and raised
his staff up. In a moment, his robe,
which had turned black and red from the fight, shimmered perfectly white and
was perfectly intact again. "There
that's better. By the way, that cut
looks like it was pretty nasty," he pointed to the jagged hole where the
point of the captain's sword had pierced Vin's doublet. The scout gave a short laugh.
"It
was. Didn't lose my head though."
Josiah
smiled, sighed, and started striding confidently away. "Go help Ezra, Vin. I have a feeling he needs you," he called
over his shoulder.
"I
know," the scout whispered.
Moments later, he started jogging back to the central meadow, his gray
eyes looking for his small crossbow on the way.
______________________________________________
Farron
had stripped off most of his armor, facing his son wearing merely his
cuirass. His crown still reflected the
waning sunlight brightly where it sat on his head, gaudily outstripping the
thin circlet on his son's head. But, to
some of the soldiers that had backed up to form a circle around the fighters,
the simple crown of Danaeria seemed somehow more true.
It
was immediately obvious that Farron's reach was far greater than his son's, the
long two-handed broadsword forcing Ezra back two steps for every jab the thief
managed to get in with his borrowed shortsword. Not for the first time, Ezra wished he had seen his own stolen
sword among the weapons discarded on the ground, or perhaps at Farron's own
belt, but the emperor had clearly decided Chris's sword was the better
weapon. Perhaps it was.
But
Farron did have something of his son's in his belt, and the emperor had made a
point to show it off.
"I
recognized the dagger, son, when I pulled it out after your craven attack at
Tallus. The golden hilt marks it. It
belonged to the blademaster I brought in to teach you to fight, did it not? And
was his gift to me when he failed in his task.
I assume you stole it when you took the crown?" At Ezra's curt nod, Farron had grinned. "I look forward to discovering what
other little things you may have stolen from Danaeria's armory and treasury
over the years when this is done."
"You're
so certain that you are going to win," Ezra had replied angrily. Farron nodded.
"When
I have the final Key, son, yes. I also
get the feeling that, when you are dead, all the magic in the others will be
gone as well...." Farron had
narrowed his eyes then, watching Ezra's expression carefully, but, if he
expected a reaction, he did not get one.
The emperor's smug countenance faltered a bit then, and he nodded again.
"Well
done, Ezra. I admit, I can't read you at all anymore. I am...impressed."
The
genuine sounding praise had surprised Ezra briefly, and he had straightened up
a little out of his fighter's crouch.
That was when Farron had attacked.
The
battle between father and son raged for almost ten minutes without a break, the
sound of Chris's broadsword clashing against Ezra's smaller weapon echoing
across the almost silent meadow. Beyond,
in the outer fields and back meadows, the rest of the seven continued to battle
brilliantly, but here in the central meadow it was eerily quiet except for the
very personal war being waged between the two Danaerian royals.
But
Ezra was tired from all the fighting he'd already done, far more tired than his
father, and there was no question as to who had the superior weapon. He was
also acutely aware of the fact that Farron probably was better with the
sword than he was, though he had spent most of his life trying to overcome that
belief.
Then,
suddenly, he got his chance.
Ezra's
quick mind watched as Farron threw the broadsword back in a sweeping arc. It was the mistake of the lazy and
over-confident, and Ezra almost had to stop himself from smiling. Gritting his teeth, the prince threw up both
sword and talon dagger to prevent the downward slash of Farron's sword before
it split his skull, both his arms buzzing with the impact. Ignoring the pain,
he turned his blades so that they caught at the edges of the broadsword, and
twisted. Too late, Farron saw his
mistake, and he tried to pull back on the weapon, but Ezra had already captured
it. In a single fluid move, he twisted
the weapon out of Farron's grasp and threw it to the side. For a moment, the prince considered going
after it to use it, but, instead, he just backed up.
Panting,
he grinned at his father. Farron
scowled.
"Majesty! Catch!"
Farron
turned at the yell, and deftly caught the sword throw to him by one of his
men. Raising the shortsword in front of
him, his scowl turned into a grin.
"I
won't make the same mistake twice, son."
____________________________________
Chris
sighed and lowered his sword, watching tiredly as the "third line" of
Farron's army retreated with the supply wagons out of the Pass. To his left and right, he caught sight of
other retreating men – some walking, some running, some carrying wounded, moving
through the scant woods and meadows back to the road that would lead them out
of here.
Looking
up, he saw Buck moving towards him, a still healthy spring in the man's step,
his gift of endurance still with him.
The Captain's helmet was in his hand, the once handsome blue and white
plume nearly destroyed. As he reached him, Chris saw the large dent on the
helmet's side, and he raised worried eyebrows at his oldest friend.
"Don't
worry," Buck smiled, rubbing a hand through his thick black hair,
"Nathan fixed it. I was very
lucky. That's all you need to
know."
Chris's
mouth tensed into a thin line, and he nodded.
"Where is Nathan?"
"Would
you believe, he is helping some of the wounded? He's not curing them completely, but he has worked a few miracles
on what would be mortal wounds, so that most of Farron's men can still walk out
of here. I'm not sure how many were
thankful," he shrugged, and looked at the carnage in front of Chris. He took in the helmets of the two generals,
both men now dead, and at the other dead.
Many had looked like grizzled soldiers – Farron's most loyal.
"What
a waste," Buck said quietly.
Chris
shook his head, "They were soldiers, Buck."
"Yes,
but these soldiers didn't know what hit them."
"They
had time to turn around, Buck. They followed a killer, a man who burned down
our home without mercy, killed Rhea's queen in cold blood, and came here
looking to raze a town and kill a child.
Plus, while they may have been mere soldiers, they must have had an idea
that there would be something waiting for them up here. And if not, then they
knew from the minute Ezra took that fireball from Farron."
Buck
grimaced, but the memory of what had happened at Adenn had turned him back into
the professional that he was. Then the
grimace turned into a frown.
"Where
is Farron?"
Chris
took a deep breath, and straightened up. "He got around us." Buck's swear was drowned out by Chris's
sharp whistle as he called Solon. Meeting the horse halfway, he looked back at
Buck as he mounted. "Get the
others. I'll meet you back at the
central meadow." Without waiting
to hear the Captain's answer, Chris spurred the tired horse into a gallop and
headed back to where he last left Ezra.
Behind
him, Buck started running back to where he left Nathan.
___________________________________________
Swords
rang out as Vin found himself attacked on all sides. He just caught a glimpse of Ezra in the middle of it all fighting
with Farron before being deluged by Farron's remaining soldiers. He'd only gotten off a couple of shots with
the borrowed longbow before he was fighting for his life again. Rage boiled inside him as he took men down
with a ragged ferocity, his only purpose now to get to Ezra. He barely noticed when half the men took off
in another direction to face another threat as it came galloping into the
meadow.
___________________________________________
Farron
was faster, quicker, the Mandate fueling his strength. His son tired more and more, sweat dripping
down the sides of his face in an almost maddening fashion. Farron had managed to get in a deep cut on
the thief's left forearm, causing Ezra to lose his dagger, but the thief still
had his sword. Their blades rang out
loudly, but Ezra was forced to retreat further and further, until he was at the
very edge of the meadow, his back to a small stand of trees.
Farron
grinned, and decided the game was over.
Ezra
gasped, his green eyes widening in shock as the blade slipped past his
defenses. It happened too quickly, his mind slow to comprehend the meaning
behind the feel of unforgiving metal being pushed through his abdomen.
He
was dead.
Blood
rushed to his ears, roaring louder than the Rhean in his senses. His lungs continued to pull in air, unaware
of the life pouring out of his stomach.
Farron
put both hands on the handle of the plain soldier's sword he had borrowed, and
pushed deeper, the madness on his face alive.
He laughed at the increased pain he saw on Ezra's face.
"I
warned you, Ezra," he whispered, leaning forward on the sword so that his
breath brushed his son's face, "I am the better swordsman."
The
roaring in his ears diminished slightly at the words, and Ezra focused his eyes
on his father standing barely a foot from him.
Farron was so close, the prince could see the blood pulsing beneath the
scar on his cheek. A strange smile lit upon Ezra's lips as he looked at that
scar.
"Yes,
father," he half-whispered, half-gasped, green eyes shifting to fix on
Farron's blue-green ones, "but I am the better cheater."
His
right hand dropped his sword and flew up to slam across Farron's confused face,
the fire pellet exploding directly against the scar on the emperor's
cheek. Farron screamed and fell back,
his hands letting go of the sword to lift towards his burning skin, but Ezra
was still moving. In a single motion,
Ezra pulled the gold hilted dagger from his father's belt with his other hand
and raked it across Farron's exposed neck.
Farron's scream was cut off as his vocal cords were severed, and
blue-green eyes stared at his son in shock.
Staggering
backwards, the Mandate flared up brightly in Farron's hands, the power moving
to staunch the flow of blood from his neck.
But before he could use the magic to escape, to get to the healers he
had sitting back with the supply wagons, something slammed into him from
behind, easily piercing the plate on his back.
A
long arrow from a longbow stuck out from between his shoulders, the shaft still
quivering from the force of the impact.
Leaning
against a tree, Ezra caught sight of Vin lowering his bow, his expression
tense. No soldiers stood around the
scout, and, upon seeing Ezra looking at him, he started running in his
direction.
Farron,
meanwhile, had somehow expanded the circle of the Mandate's power to include
the arrow, but strands of the golden aura were slipping away to lick at
Ezra. The thief himself could feel his
own hold on reality slipping, and his fingers, devoid of weapons now, gripped
painfully at the rough bark of the tree he leaned against. He just had to hold on longer, he told
himself. Just hold on.
Farron
still looked at his son, the golden blood magic pulsing around his body. Then, almost in slow motion, the emperor
turned to look around him, to find his men.
But
all he saw was death.
He
saw the bodies of his men on the ground.
He saw the mage and the boy striding towards him from the right, and the
Captain and the Moorish healer moving swiftly towards him from the left. He saw the Tillurian scout run right past
him, to get to his son.
And
he saw Chris Larabee.
The
Paladin had found his sword. The black
iridescent hilt was clasped firmly in the hands of its true owner, standing not
more than two feet away from him, his black warhorse standing proudly in the
background.
The
edges of Chris's lips twitched slightly, whether in a sneer or a smile, Farron
wasn't sure. But the words he spoke
were clear enough.
"The
end, Farron."
Raising
the sword, Chris watched as Farron closed his eyes...just before the Paladin
took off the emperor's head.
The
Mandate screamed.
At
Tallus, the blood magic had risen out of Selene gently, forming a golden ball
around Farron as he absorbed it. But
here it burst out of Farron's body in jagged bolts of gold lightning, sizzling
and roiling in the air to form a small swirling gold cyclone above their
heads.
Over
by the tree, Ezra pushed himself upright, shoving away Vin's hands. In seconds, the lightning swirled around
him, almost as if it were testing him, and the thief shut his eyes tightly
against the onslaught. The others could
see the stress on the thief's face as it passed in and out of him, writhing on
the surface of the blade still sticking out of his stomach, pulsing along the
massive burn it found on the right hand, dripping down with the blood seeping
from his left arm. Ezra's jaw trembled
with exhaustion, his soul sickening with despair as the Mandate excitedly found
its lost Key, the evil of the magic becoming whole inside his mind.
Then,
just as quickly as it had appeared, the Mandate was gone. Taken in and buried within a soul stronger
than it was.
Like
statues, the others watched as Ezra slowly opened his green eyes, the color in
them bright with unshed tears.
"I
think," he whispered softly, smiling at them, "We've won."
Then
he collapsed.
Before
Vin or Nathan could get to him, the light exploded.
The
Center Rock was taking its power back.
_______________________________________