KGWrites

Alyx

The Northern Walls, Winter District, Kingdom of Aldiron

“Not exactly how I pictured we’d return to Winter.” James muttered as they marched up through a tower of Aldiron’s massive walls. Alyx scoffed next to him.

“You pictured coming back at all? I’ve been happy enough forgetting this hellhole existed.” She replied, making James chuckle and nod, conceding her point. They reached the top of the stairs and stood dutifully to the side, allowing King Samuel to again take the lead of the group.

The tower held racks and pots filled with arrows and spears, and legionnaires stood ready at small window slits that looked out from the city. Another set of stairs led up to the tower’s flat top, where Alyx could hear the rhythmic drumming of the city signal drums and she knew that a catapult was set up, ready to fire into the attacking enemy.

Whatever was on the other side of the walls, they were going to have to fight for every inch of ground.

The king’s group emerged from the tower and onto the walls, accompanied by the in sync slamming of spears on the stone floor as the legionnaires of Aldiron saluted, ready for war.

The wall itself bore soldiers in three ranks, two rows of archers flanked by legionnaires bearing shields and spears, ready to meet their enemy should they reach the walls. Next to the archers were pots of arrows, ready for reloading, and braziers of fire. Stacked here and there against the back of the wall were large stones and piles of ceramic pots that Alyx didn’t recognise.

A little further along the wall, the group came to a halt beneath a green banner bearing the soaring silver falcon of Aldiron, beneath which was stood General Marius Fridolf, clad in his armour. He nodded a greeting to them, giving a smile when he saw James, Alyx and Meghan were accompanying the king.

Standing next to Marius, with her brother on her other side, Alyx turned to look out towards… nothing.

Empty blackness filled the space beyond the walls. What little light was made from the torches was swallowed by the black void. The lack of light wasn’t just intimidating to see and imagine what was waiting within, it was wrong, very wrong.

“They don’t have any lights?” Alyx asked, confused. Without lights, Draconeus’ armies were moving and fighting blind, which all of Alyx’s lessons from Marius had taught her was suicidal. Next to her, Marius shook his head, his face expressionless.

“Draconeus’ armies are mostly made up of warriors we call “Accursed”, foul creatures that may once have been a normal person but that he has twisted through the unholy powers of magic to become monsters.” Marius explained grimly, still glaring straight forwards at the darkness, like he could see something within it. Along from Alyx, she noticed Meghan shift uncomfortably with his words. Unholy. Alyx remembered Iona wanting her magic kept quiet, and that she’d be tried before The Village as a witch should she use it.

“The Accursed can see in the dark, they can fight harder and take wounds that would cripple us. But they’re driven by ferocity in battle, they use little in the way of tactics or planning.” Marius concluded.

“More’s the pity for them.” King Samuel stated, drawing his sword. “General, light the night for us. Let’s see what the demon can conjure.”

Marius nodded before turning to a soldier next to him and nodding again, giving them a signal. They lifted a horn to their lips and gave a long, loud blast from it, a sound that echoed across the night like the call of a hunting owl.

The drumming stopped as more of the same horns answered the first, howling the defiant cry of Aldiron ready to fight. And then, silence.

Silence that held for what seemed like an age.

Alyx’s world shrunk, pulling in to the sound of her breath, the feel of the hilt of her sword beneath her fingertips, the beating of her heart in her chest.

And then, with a roar that sounded like the world itself bellowing out a battlecry, a moat of flames leapt up around the city walls as archers fired burning arrows down, striking a trench of pitch and wooden stakes that had been dug and causing it to flare upwards in a blaze.

Even from up on the walls, the heat washed over Alyx, and she had to lift her hand to shield her eyes from the sudden flare of light. After a second, the fire died back down to a steady orange river that lit up the fields around Aldiron.

And the enemy waiting on them.

The hairs on Alyx’s arms stood up as she took in what awaited outside the city. Silent sentinels, clad in armour so dark it seemed the night itself had formed them. They were arranged in battalions, ordered and motionless. Scattered here and there amongst them were siege engines, great catapults and trebuchets. Towers stood ready, as tall as Aldiron’s walls, prepared to empty a sea of Accursed upon them. Looking left towards the coast and the north road gates and then right inland and along the curve of the walls, the sea of black continued. Hundreds of warriors.

Thousands.

“Good Gods above.” Meghan exclaimed, her voice barely a breathless whisper. Alyx could only silently agree with her sentiment. She’d imagined the enemy legions, they all had. But this… this went beyond an army, this was a tide. A force of nature.

Can something like this even be stopped?

The world answered for Alyx, as King Samuel raised Talon, the royal blade, into the air, pointing it towards the enemy army.

And in a single sweeping motion, he sliced the blade downwards, and a constellation of streaming flames lit up the night sky as Aldiron’s defenders loosed their arrows and their catapults. Next to Alyx, James nocked an arrow as the first rank of archers stepped back, switching places with the second to reload while the others fired.

The rain of fire hit the ranks of black armour with an almost rhythmic thumping sound, occasionally broken by explosions and blasts of fire as the catapults hit. And yet, the enemy army seemed to fill the gaps made instantly.

James and the second rank let loose their arrows and as they did, the enemy responded. A wave of fire erupted from the night, as their archers and siege engines returned fire towards the city.

Many of the arrows harmlessly bounced off the walls of the city, while others sailed overhead, arcing down behind Alyx and the defenders. Only a few arrows found their marks along the walls, with an unfortunate legionnaire a little ways to Alyx’s right taking one of them directly through the gap in his helmet’s faceplates and dropping instantly.

The burning meteors fired from the siege weapons meanwhile, were aimed higher than the arrows had been. Rather than firing at the walls, they all arced their flaming trails over the walls and slammed down into the city behind. Explosions and screams began to ring out from below as fires began to spread from their impacts. The legions kept their eyes forwards though, Lord Captain Haster and the city guard were in place to control fires and issues within the streets. The focus of the soldiers was outside the walls, waiting in the dark.

As the ranks of Aldiron’s defenders switched places once more, the enemy began to move forwards. Without battle cries, or shouted orders, in terrifying sync, every dark battalion marched onwards, towards the burning trenches. Supporting their advance came more arrows and fire, flashing through the night towards Aldiron. Alyx watched Conrad Turner pull King Samuel down as the arrows rushed towards them, covering the king with his body. Luckily no arrows hit either man, and they rushed by Alyx herself, one passing so close that she felt the heat from the fire on the tip of the arrow.

“Stand firm and keep firing!” Marius called out to his men. “They’re going to try and put out or bridge the trenches where their towers are, focus your fire there!”

Sure enough, Alyx could make out the enemy soldiers dragging supplies towards the trench as they came closer to the light. Building over the trenches was the only way that the enemy towers could reach the walls, and they’d need to take the walls to enter the city. But building bridges over the fiery trenches would take time and they’d be exposed in the light and open ground the whole time. Easy pickings for the archers on the walls.

Which is only a worry if you care about death. Alyx supposed as she watched them, recalling Marius’ words about the enemy army. They use little in the way of tactics and planning.

This method would take hours and hours to complete, and the Accursed would take heavy losses during that time. But they’d never feel fear of loss, or pain. Their morale and momentum would never falter, no matter how many of their kind fell, they’d keep pushing forwards, until their work was done.

Alyx looked to her brother, his eyes narrowed in grim focus as he aimed another arrow into the dark, letting it fly and finding its mark beneath the arm of an Accursed soldier. Already James’ face was gaunt and grim.

It was going to be a long night.

The Northern Walls, Winter District, Kingdom of Aldiron – Two Hours Later

Bodies piled along the edges of the trenches, in some places taller than the soldiers that ran like ants around them. But still, despite the losses they had suffered, Draconeus’ armies had finally managed to build up their bridges across the trench of fire.

Along their lines, the siege towers now moved forwards, pushed by the surviving Accursed as more of them filed inside the towers, ready to move onto the walls of Aldiron once they made contact.

Alyx was impatient, eager to move, to fight. Unlike James, who had spent the past two hours launching arrow after arrow into the tide, Alyx had been stood at the side of the king, able only to watch the battle unfold around her. A small part of her was glad that the siege towers were coming, that soon she’d get to take as much part of this as her brother had.

Only a few minutes now.

And then a call went up from slightly further down the wall.

“Demon!”

The call echoed along the ranks as soldiers waved their hands, trying to get the attention of the king and Marius, pointing out towards the field.

Alyx couldn’t help her curiosity, moving forwards towards the edge of the battlements and following the pointing soldiers.

There was a group of riders there, moving along behind the army’s first couple of lines. Many of them seemed like more of the armoured soldiers around them, though a couple bore wide banners mounted to their saddles, bearing the black dragon of Draconeus, twisting in flight above a silver field.

At their head was a rider in armour even more regal than King Samuel’s, made of the same dark metal that the troops wore, though it was ornamented with long flowing tails of white cloth. While Alyx could make out no facial details, she could tell the rider had long white hair and skin so pale that it seemed almost to blend together with the hair. The figure was straight backed and rode their horse slowly along the lines, looking more like they were on a nighttime stroll than the centre of a pitched battle. Their head was turned upwards towards the wall, watching the defenders. Alyx felt almost like they could see her specifically.

There was only one person that it was even possible this could be.

The Last Demon of Shetani. Lord Draconeus.

“So, you show your face at last.” Came King Samuel’s voice from next to Alyx, where he too was standing at the wall’s edge, looking out towards the enemy. Then he raised his voice to call out to the soldiers that had spotted Draconeus.

“Stand your ground, keep them from the walls! The Demon’s time will come!” He ordered before he turned his head to James, stood slightly further down the wall, also watching Draconeus.

“Lord Cobalt, Lady Whiteoak, to me!” He called out. James’ head turned in surprise before he pushed off the wall and jogged over to them, Meghan close on his heels. As he came close, King Samuel lowered his voice so only their group could hear.

“If he’s here, he believes he’s got the upper hand. Do not wait to find out what that is. You have a duty, get to Iona, now!” He ordered, looking out towards Draconeus again. Alyx sighed and looked out towards the enemy siege towers.

The nearest was only a short ways along the wall, and less than a minute from lowering the ramp to link itself to the wall. If they left now, Accursed would be all over the royal party in minutes.

And I made Iona a promise.

“I told the princess I’d stand at your side until midnight your majesty. I’m keeping that promise.” She told the king, looking towards the approaching tower and drawing her sword, twirling it around in her hand in a flourish.

Not waiting for the king to respond she walked away from the group and took a position by Marius, stood ready for the tower. Around them, the archers fell back and the third rank of soldiers, armed with their spears and shields, formed a barrier around where the tower would reach the wall.

Alyx took one look back at James, finding her brother giving her a ready nod as he prepared his bow again, sticking by her promise. Meghan next to him drew her sword, holding it low, ready for battle. On her other side, Marius drew his sword, the blade making a rasping hiss as it slid from the scabbard.

“Stand your ground.” He told Alyx quietly, reminding her of one of his own lessons to her. She took a deep breath and nodded firmly, placing both hands on the hilt of her sword and holding it upwards in a ready stance. Then she turned her head towards the approaching tower.

It was close now, she could make out the movement of the Accursed within.

Three.

Alyx slowed her breathing, willing herself to stay calm.

Two.

She planted her feet firmly on the stones of the wall.

One.

The ramp of the siege tower slammed down like it had been held up by springs, hitting the wall so hard that the spiked metal on the end of it cracked the stone and dug in, securing it to the tower. The ground shook beneath Alyx’s feet as it did so.

And immediately behind it came the biggest man Alyx had ever seen. His massive, armoured frame dwarfed even Spyder Xeros as he charged across the bridge with a bellowing battle cry.

He sprinted head down, barging into the shield wall and seemingly not noticing as one of the spears stabbed into his side. Instead, he kept moving, forcing the legionnaires off their feet as they moved to avoid him. One legionnaire, a blonde-haired woman, was unlucky enough to be directly in his path as he collided with her, carrying her across the entire width of the wall and slamming her into the low stone barrier on the other side with a sickening crunch of bones breaking.

Alyx herself barely avoided the two as the charge continued forwards, needing to throw herself to the side. She recovered quickly though, rolling out the dive onto her back.

Only to find another Accursed warrior was standing right above her, battleaxe raised overhead.

Alyx didn’t think, just reacting on instinct as she brought her sword around in a quick cut that caught her attacker above the knee. The freshly sharpened blade cut straight through the limb, severing the warrior’s leg and causing them to fall to the ground as Alyx scrambled up to her feet again, kicking away their dropped axe.

She quickly took in the scene. The enemy had flowed onto the wall, pushing through the gap that the massive warrior had made. The legionnaires had reacted quickly though, pushing back and trying to close the gap and stem the flow of enemy troops onto the wall as quickly as possible.

But several Accursed had made it through the gap and were fighting back against the legionnaires, holding them at bay. The big one was now fighting with a sword longer than any Alyx had ever seen, nearly as tall as her. He effortlessly sliced through the spear of a legionnaire that had tried to block him, his blow carrying forwards and cleaving deep into their chest, tearing them from their shoulder to their heart. He had to plant his foot on their chest to push them off the sword with a squelch.

A closer look at the Accursed gave Alyx the chance to see what Marius had been talking about. Their armour was made of dark metal, hammered into rough, sharp-edged shapes, but the main thing was that it was pitted and dark with dried crimson bloodstains, like the wearer had never washed it after a hundred battles. Their weapons were well crafted, but the blades held dents and tears from endless use. They fought recklessly, like they were totally unconcerned about the prospect of dying. Very little moves were ever defensive, and instead they simply attacked, tearing into their enemies quickly and brutally. The screamed and cackled with bloodthirsty laughter as they fought and the air around them stunk of blood and corpses.

“Right. Baby demons.” Alyx muttered under her breath. She twisted her sword within her grasp, readying herself. Then she moved to join the fray.

But something grabbed suddenly at her leg, pulling her back and making her stumble as she turned, confused.

The Accursed from before, that she’d severed the leg of, was still moving, grabbing at her heel and trying to pull her down to the ground. Alyx froze for a second in confusion.

You should be dead.

Then the Accursed snarled and pulled again, with Alyx barely staying on her feet.

Alright then, fuck you.

Alyx screamed back a battle cry of her own and kicked forwards, her boot colliding with the Accursed’s faceplate and sending its head shooting backwards. Its grip slipped from her leg and Alyx moved forwards quickly, stabbing down with her sword and impaling the creature on the blade. It gurgled, spasmed once, still reaching for her, and then fell still.

She twisted the blade on the way out, just to be sure.

They can fight harder and take wounds that would cripple us. That’s what Marius had said, and Alyx now understood clearly what that meant.

She charged forwards, picking out an Accursed warrior that had fought past the lines of legionnaires. It saw her coming and swung its sword in a wide arc towards her head, screaming out a horrific cackle.

Never losing her forwards momentum, Alyx dropped to her knees, sliding across the already blood-slicked stones of the wall and coming up beneath the warrior’s sword. She was too close for them to adjust and attack her. But she could attack them.

Her sword stabbed upwards, catching the warrior in the armpit and pushing their arm wide. Warm blood flowed down her blade and across her hand as she rose to her feet again, carrying the warrior with her and slamming them hard against the low stone barrier of the wall. Then she removed her blade with a twist, tearing the muscles and tendons in her opponent’s arm. This one seemed less resilient than the last as it screamed in pain and then fell still, dying quickly.

Alyx was moving again, spotting an Accursed warrior swinging a spiked flail at a legionnaire who barely managed to get his shield up in time to block the blow.

Lifting a throwing axe from her belt, Alyx aimed as she was running and let the axe fly. It spun through the air and collided with the flail as the warrior swung it. The collision ripped the flail from the warrior’s grasp and left them weaponless, an advantage that the legionnaire soon took as he stabbed upwards with his spear, catching the Accursed in the throat and driving them off him. Then he looked to Alyx and gave a nod of thanks, smiling at her.

A smile that didn’t fade from his face even as his head left his shoulders.

Alyx could only stare as scarlet blood fountained from the stump of what had been the man’s neck, and his body stumbled forwards a few steps, like it was still ready to fight, before dropping.

The giant Accursed stepped up from behind him, raising his great sword over his head and roaring at Alyx.

“Oh, for fuck’s sakes.” Alyx muttered. Of course, every legion in Aldiron to pick and I get the big fucker.

And then he was charging at her and there was no more time to think.

The warrior swung the great sword overhead in a long downwards arc. Alyx sidestepped, catching the blade on her own and pushing it away to the side, parrying the blow. But even that glancing hit felt like pushing against a boulder. Her muscles shook, jarred by the impact.

But now he was close, and Alyx could make use of that.

She stabbed forwards with her sword, slicing cleanly through the tendons of his left elbow and making the arm drop limply from his sword hilt. He screamed, more in a sound of rage than pain, and lashed out with his foot.

The kick caught Alyx in the chest, and she fell backwards, hitting the stone beneath her and losing her grip on her sword.

Don’t stay down. Stay down and die.

She scrambled backwards, looking for the small stone barrier that she could use to lift herself back up. As her shoulders hit it though, the big warrior came again.

He planted his foot in the middle of her chest and pushed her down, pinning her to the ground while with his other hand, he lifted his massive sword. His movements were sluggish with only one hand, but pinned as she was, they could have taken years, and Alyx still wouldn’t have been able to move.

Her hands searched frantically and blindly for anything she could use to get him off of her.

And closed around one of the clay pots she’d seen earlier.

Not exactly what I was hoping for.

Looking up, she saw his sword was readied, about to stab down.

It’ll have to do though.

She threw the pot upwards, hitting him in the face and causing him to stumble back, lifting his foot off of her as it shattered on impact and covered his face in thick black pitch.

Alyx wasted no time in hauling herself back to her feet, frantically looking around for her sword.

The big warrior clawed the black liquid away from his eyes with an enraged snarl and moved towards Alyx again, raising his sword.

And then he collapsed forwards as a blade sliced across the back of both of his knees, buckling his legs and dropping him to his knees.

Marius stood behind him, his own sword held in one hand and Alyx’s in the other. He gave Alyx a quick nod and then, with a quick flourish of his blade, stabbed it through the warrior’s back.

The big man stiffened, blood running from beneath his helmet’s faceplate, before he fell forwards. Dead.

Alyx smiled at Marius and hurried over, taking her sword from his hand when he held it out to her.

“Thanks.” She said simply and Marius nodded, turning his head to watch the battle again.

“We need to slow them down, we’ve closed the gap but between this tower and that one…” He pointed to another siege tower that had attached to the wall further down, cutting off the way back to the tower they had come up through.

“We’re fucked.” Alyx finished for him.

“Basically, yes.” Marius agreed. “We need to find a way to take down a tower or slow them climbing up it.”

Alyx looked around them, her eyes falling on the corpse of the big warrior as it lay face down amongst shattered pot shards in a pool of black pitch. She thought of the blast that had come up from the trench when it had been lit at the battle’s beginning.

She reached down and hefted a pitch pot into her hand. Then she gave Marius a confident grin.

“Think I might be able to help.” She said simply, before tossing the pot overhead of all the fighting. It sailed through the air and shattered on the top of the tower, splashing pitch over the wood and the Accursed warriors running across the bridge between the tower and the wall.

Marius looked confused for a second before his eyes widened in understanding and he immediately turned to a group of legionnaire archers who had just stepped back from taking shots into the enemy at the bottom of the wall.

“You three, help Lady Cobalt, cover that tower in pitch!” He ordered, before lifting a pot and throwing it himself. The three legionnaires looked at each other in confusion, but quickly snapped to and began following the orders of their commander.

“James!” Alyx yelled as she tossed another pot. Her brother’s head snapped around, finding her instantly as he fired an arrow into the enemy troops as they ran across the bridge. It found its mark and an Accursed stumbled in pain before being knocked by his allies behind him, sending him plummeting off the edge of the wall.

“I’m going to need one hell of a shot here!” Alyx told James as she lifted a pot for him to see. James’ eyes went from the pot to the men around her throwing them at the tower and finally to the trench below. His mouth opened slightly, and he nodded to Alyx, understanding.

Confident that her brother was with her, Alyx threw a couple more pots before she picked one up and locked eyes with James. Seeing her ready he spun, lighting an arrow in a brazier and pulling back his drawstring.

As he took aim, Alyx watched carefully, judging where his arrow would go.

Then, taking a few steps back, she built up a run up and then with a growl of effort, she threw the pot through the air.

It arced gracefully. Time itself seemed to slow as Alyx turned her gaze to watch her brother as he let out a long breath, following the pot and then releasing his bowstring. The fiery tipped arrow moved silently through the air towards the tower, seeming so slow that Alyx could have reached out and plucked it from the air.

And then, perfectly, it hit the pot right as it entered the top chamber of the tower.

The result was instant. And devastating.

A fireball instantly rocketed out from the pitch pot, catching all the other pitch scattered around the top of the tower and consuming the chamber in a blaze. Heat, light and sound burst outwards as the top of the tower exploded into shards of burning wood. The shockwave almost threw Alyx from her feet and sent a ringing through her ears as it rushed over her.

The Accursed within the tower’s top few floors were instantly destroyed by the explosion, while those that had been lower were showered in burning pitch. Those on the bridge were the least lucky though. As the tower disappeared behind them, the bridge they stood on gave way and became a trapdoor, dropping them instantly down into the darkness at the foot of the wall. A few of them had been soaked in pitch before the explosion happened. Pitch that now caught and flared brightly, turning the warriors into falling, screaming meteorites, plummeting to the ground.

Alyx’s hearing, which had faded to nothing but a dull ringing, slowly began to restore. Firstly, it came back muffled, but as she shook her head, it cleared, and she could hear Marius barking orders to the legionnaires around them. Turning her head, Alyx saw that the legion had rallied around the tower’s destruction and was now driving the last few Accursed from the tower back towards the edge of the wall.

A hand landed on Alyx’s shoulder, and she spun, fully prepared to need to fight again but instead finding herself face to face with King Samuel Ravellan.

“Good work!” He reassured her, smiling grimly. She nodded in response and stood back up properly, finding her legs somewhat shaky after the blast.

Then she became aware of something. A sound, echoing louder than the dull ring of battle. It sounded almost like the explosion had, but different. It was as if it had been reversed, sucking air and fire inwards instead of blasting it outwards. And it was coming from outside of the walls, down in the enemy army.

Hurrying to the edge of the wall, Alyx’s heart instantly dropped through her chest.

The figure of Draconeus was now sat upon his horse, staring straight at their position on the wall. But the pale skin now was pockmarked by two burning red points of light, as Draconeus’ eyes blazed blood red.

His hand was drawn back, and in it was a swirling ball of flames.

Alyx instantly recalled Marius’ description of the battle at the Ramm, how Grand Marshall Caestus had disappeared beneath a dark, magical flame when he had died.

And then Draconeus threw the flame upwards, sending it rushing directly at the wall. As it flew, it grew larger and larger, until it seemed that Draconeus had thrown a recreation of the explosion Alyx had just created at the wall.

“Get down!” Marius yelled out to his troops, and they scrambled to obey.

Alyx wasn’t sure there was any point, there was no escaping the fireball rushing towards them. Still though, she involuntarily scrambled backwards, away from the edge of the wall, running for her life.

But looking back over her shoulder, she could see the fireball was coming down directly onto her and the king.

Nowhere to go.

Out of time.

And then the fireball stopped in the air, like some great invisible net had caught it.

Looking around, Alyx’s eyes fell on the figure of Meghan Whiteoak, her hands splayed out before her and a white glow emerging from beneath her outfit. She was gritting her teeth with effort as she held the fireball back.

Then, as if pushing against a great wind, Meghan lowered one hand, splaying the fingers wide before swinging it around with a cry of strain and effort. The wind rushed past Alyx and caught the side of the fireball, sending it spinning through the air and away from the wall. The rush of air seemed to blast Meghan backwards, causing her to tumble hard to the stones of the wall.

The fireball itself shot downwards and impacted with the second siege tower right at the base, sending debris and bodies flying in a booming explosion.

Flames licked up the siege tower, turning it into a massive beacon in the dark night for a second before the structure cracked and the tower collapsed backwards onto itself and the ground behind it.

It slammed down into the ground with a second explosion that shattered the bridge that had been built over the trench. The pitch beneath caught again and the trench flared up once more, the blaze consuming the bridges built across it and any Accursed on it.

There was a long moment of silence, and then cheering began from the defenders as Draconeus’ forces on the walls lost any way to be reinforced, or to retreat. Along the walls of Aldiron, the battered and tired defenders rallied and began pushing the enemy from their home.

Alyx didn’t join in the cheering though. Instead, she was looking straight to Meghan, paralysed by amazement. And fear.

Meghan had saved them all, there was little doubt about that. But she’d had to reveal the secret she’d spent her life guarding. Everyone had seen her, no-one could deny that she’d used magic.

The unholy powers of magic. That’s what Marius had said. And if Iona was worried about being tried as a witch as the princess of Aldiron. Then Meghan stands very little chance.

Ahead of her, Marius approached Meghan as she weakly began lifting herself from the stone, panting heavily. Dread filled Alyx’s body, and she found herself moving her hand to her throwing axes without thinking, ready to attack one friend to protect another should the need arise.

“Marius… I…” Meghan breathed, unable to even string words together through the deep gasps of air she was taking. Marius stood over her silently for a moment before leaning down towards her and offering her his hand.

Meghan looked at Marius’ hand suspiciously for a moment. And then, slowly, she reached up and grasped it. Marius, with a slight grunt of effort, hauled Meghan back to her feet as she coughed through her deep breaths.

“Fire with fire. Glad you’re with us, Lady Whiteoak.” Marius said simply, clapping Meghan on the shoulder as he turned and strode away down the wall, returning to co-ordinating the legions and their defence. Alyx supposed that was good enough for now, all being well, Meghan would be far from the city before any other consequences would come for her.

Striding forwards, she wrapped Meghan in a quick hug.

“Thank you. I think you just saved a lot of lives. Including mine and James’.” She told Meghan quietly. She felt the woman’s tension relieve just a little in response to her words as Meghan hummed an agreement.

Then King Samuel approached them, clapping his hands together and laughing.

“Gods am I glad you two stayed after all! Between you, I think you might have just saved the city from falling tonight. Draconeus has lost his siege towers, and he spent a lot of effort building those bridges, now that he’s cut off, I don’t think he can recommit soldiers to rebuilding them again. His losses would be too heavy. He’ll back off, turn this into a longer siege. Well done!” He laughed, as he pulled them in close for a hug of thanks. Then he lowered his voice into a tone that only they could hear.

“We’ll see the last of his men off the walls and pull back the royal guard to the palace, then you all can-.” His words were suddenly cut off by the long blast of a horn. Once. Twice. Three times. He looked up, confused, looking down the wall past Meghan and Alyx and towards the north gates.

“A legion horn? Of the second legion?” He muttered to himself, confused. Alyx scowled, chewing her lip. The second legion was under the command of Violet’s father, Martyn Hills, and was responsible for guarding the city’s north gates.

“Your majesty!” A voice called out, sounding panicked. “The north gate, it’s lowering!”

Alyx’s heart dropped again, her stomach twisting in her chest. The north gate was a drawbridge, one that would bridge over the trench and keep the Accursed safe from the fire. If it was opening…

And then the blood froze in her veins as she looked over King Samuel’s shoulder and saw a helmeted member of his royal guard smoothly twist their sword and slice it cleanly across the throat of Captain Conrad Turner.

And, as the captain of the royal guard dropped to his knees, drowning in his own blood, the helmeted guard raised their sword again, ready to bring it down on the back of King Samuel Ravellan.