Falcon was happy enough with the routine but still he spent every night plotting his escape. Everywhere he went he was with people he did not know, which was both good and bad. It was bad because he wanted to stop feeling alone, but it was good because he smiled and they believed he was happy. Nobody knew him well enough to question or wonder what he was planning. None of them had a clue he was planning to go back to Reed, back to his home. His only regret was that he would not see Thomas and Lucian again. Since coming here they were the only ones he felt understood him.
“Are you coming with us?” asked Fafnir.
Drake and Fafnir watched the weekly challenge matches the legionaries held in the castle’s main courtyard. Each legion had a ranking system and every week they could challenge up to two ranks above them within their cohort. If they won they switched ranks with the loser. There was only one simple rule: if you wanted to challenge another cohort you had to be the best in your own. Similarly, if you wanted to challenge the best of another legion, you had to be the best in your own legion.
“No, I am going to wait for some friends,” answered Falcon. Last week he’d spotted Thomas and Lucian leaving the matches and was hoping to catch them before the match this week.
“Whatever, come on Drake. I don’t want to miss Decimus,” said Fafnir before running off.
“Are you sure about these friends?” asked Drake.
“Don’t worry, they’re harmless. I’ll catch up if I don’t find them,” said Falcon.
“Okay, we’ll save you a seat,” said Drake before going after Fafnir.
Falcon waited for ten minutes before he figured he must have missed them. On his walk to catch up to Fafnir and Drake, Thomas tackled him from behind.
“I told you it was him,” said Lucian glaring down at Falcon.
“Those are some fancy friends you’ve got,” said Thomas with a smirk.
“We can’t all be as uncivilized as you, Tom,” replied Falcon pushing Thomas off of him.
“Let’s go get some seats before it’s completely full,” said Lucian extending a hand to Falcon.
The rest of the afternoon they spent making meaningless bets on the matches and telling stories of how they would be great fighters one day. Thomas made some ridiculous claim that his father was undefeated in the challenge matches. After the matches were over Falcon had two hours before he had to be back for dinner. Lucian and Thomas led him through the city to a place they liked to hang out, near one of the stone walls dividing the city. They had stacked crates and trash at various heights so with a little momentum they could climb up the wall and get a better view of the city. Falcon and Thomas were looking out over the city while Lucian lay on the battlements. Falcon was looking out of the city toward his people. Thomas was staring up at Drake’s Roost Castle.
“Now that’s the life,” said Lucian.
“What?” asked Falcon.
“He means the birds,” answered Thomas.
“Oh,” said Falcon.
“Our friend Lucian wants to sprout wings and fly away from his terrible life,” said Thomas.
“No, just away from you,” answered Lucian, tossing a stone at Thomas who caught it without looking.
“It would be nice to fly. Free to go wherever you want,” said Falcon.
“Free to befriend as much gutter trash as you want, Count Reed?” mocked Thomas.
“I still can’t believe you really are a count,” said Lucian.
“Believe it, or I’ll have you thrown in the stocks!” threatened Falcon.
“Next we’ll find out Thomas’s dad really was some legendary swordsman,” added Lucian as the boys perked up to watch the sun set.
Thomas shoved Falcon and grabbed Lucian’s leg, threatening to flip him off the wall, “He was!”
“Falcon, you never told us what happened to your parents?” asked Lucian.
“My mom liked to venture into Laza. She was killed when I was a baby,” said Falcon.
“Damn,” said Lucian.
Thomas flicked Lucian’s ear, “Nice job, Lucian.”
Falcon shrugged, “Happened a long time ago, I don’t remember her,”
“I guess that makes it easier. What about your dad?” asked Thomas.
“He sent me away and I wound up here,” said Falcon.
“Screw him,” said Lucian. Of all people, he could relate; his father left his mother before he was even born. He had been taking care of his mom since he could walk.
“Oh crap, what time is it? I need to be back for dinner,” said Falcon making his way to the crates.
Before parting they agreed to meet next week at the gate. Falcon even offered to introduce them to Drake and Fafnir if they showed up early.
Falcon was late for dinner but apparently so was everyone. Aside from the gate guards he hardly saw anyone in the castle complex. When he entered the hallway leading to where they usually ate, Octavia and Fafnir stopped him.
Octavia grabbed his hand and pulled him alongside her son, “Oh thank the heavens child, I was worried something had happened to you.”
“What’s going on? Where is everyone?” asked Falcon.
“Don’t worry child, you’re safe here. We’re headed upstairs until we hear from my husband,” reassured Octavia.
Falcon obeyed but he did worry, though not for himself. He worried for Thomas and Lucian, and he worried for all of his people from Reed. He had not seen them since coming here and did not have a clue where they were. He even worried for Rocious who probably spent his day off getting drunk.
When they arrived upstairs Falcon ran to the balcony. What waited for him was not the awe-inspiring beauty he had witnessed last time he was here. This time it was beautiful death and awe-inspiring destruction staring back at him.
The entire outer ring of Dominion was burning, the ring that housed the people of Reed. His people.
Chapter 4
Fear
Rocious was pissed off. He was pissed because he had to figure out how to teach some rich kid empathy six days a week. He was pissed that he could not go to his favorite whore because he had pissed her off due to that rich kid. He was pissed that he could only get drunk one night a week because he had to teach said rich kid six days a week. He was even pissed that he had to wait so long for another ale. He felt like making something explode, maybe this crappy dive bar with terrible service.
“There’s nobody even in this damn place,” said Rocious out loud.
“Where’s my ALE?!” shouted Rocious.
He looked around to find the bar maid but there really was not anyone in this damn place. He reached over the bar, poured himself another ale, and got up to see where everyone went. There was nobody in the back so he went upstairs to check outside. He made it one step out of the bar and knew something was not right.
The acrid smell in the air, the distant clapping sound. It brought back a rush of memories that he was currently drinking away. With those memories came a surge of magic. The memories caught him off guard causing him to drop his ale. He took a centering breathe to regain control and focused on what needed to be done.
The smell of smoke and ash could come from many things. But Rocious could only think of one thing that made that thumping sound: a fully-grown dragon challenging a rival for territory.
He took off running toward the outer ring of the city, using some of the magic he had accidentally called to create small explosions propelling him. Each explosion sent a challenge of it’s own back at the dragon. As he approached the stone wall leading to the outer ring he used a bigger and louder explosion to scale the stone wall dividing the second and third ring. When he landed on top of the wall, he knew it was true. There was a dragon. Nothing else could cause so much destruction this fast.
“Let me go!” screamed Falcon.
Queen Octavia pulled Falcon close and wrapped her arm around him, “It isn’t safe, we have to wait for word from Dominick,” she said.
Falcon struggled out of Octavia’s arms, “NO! They
are dying!”
“It will be okay Falcon, my dad will make everything okay,” pleaded Fafnir.
Falcon could feel that he was calling the nearby magic. As he continued to call magic he could feel people all over Dominion experiencing the same emotions. They were nervous and scared. He focused on the other people and without warning the weight of their emotion hit him. He felt himself being crushed under the weight of so many people. Then he remembered Rocious and the other master. Sure they had a lifetime of practice, but if they could control it so could he.
Falcon took a breath and called to the excitement of the legionaries standing guard around the city and brought it under his control. He took a second breath and brought the anxiety of those preparing to defend the city under his control. A third breath and he used his own fear to resonate with the fear in almost every person in the city. Before he could bring that fear under control he heard someone scream then felt his body go limp. As he passed out he realized the scream came from his own lungs.
Rocious fought a dragon once before, soon after earning his grey robes. He thought, with his mastery of fire, he could make the dragon respect and fear him. It did not respect or fear him but it did teach him a valuable lesson. Fear was a powerful bitch.
Fear had the power to drive weak hearts to all manner of crimes or to cause kind hearts to look the other way in the face of those crimes. Fear could freeze even the bravest warriors, stealing their life in an instant. Or it could motivate the cruelest of men to rape, pillage and murder. Fear was a powerful force and it had swept over Dominion like wildfire. But Rocious remembered his lesson from long ago. He harnessed that power by using the fear in his own heart to resonate with the fear coursing through the city.
Rocious filled with magic as he took control of not only his own fear but the fear of everyone he resonated with. He controlled the fear of one after another until he came to Falcon. Falcon’s fear of losing more of his loved ones made Rocious stop. He stopped not because it was difficult to control but because he would need to break Falcon’s will to do it. His hesitation lasted for only a moment. Falcon’s will was shattered and the city’s collective magic was his.
Rocious took off running through the destruction to the outer wall of the city. His explosions launched thru the city and left a crack, crack, crack, in his wake. The entire time he scanned the smoke filled skies for a sign, any sign. The dragon had every advantage in the air and could swoop in to kill him at anytime. If he were not careful, it would happen so fast the only sign of his death would be one last explosion. Crack, dead.
And with that thought he had an idea.
“Come on fucker, I’m right here,” taunted Rocious to himself.
He could see the southern gate on the city’s outer wall and increased his speed. As he got closer he heard the flapping behind him.
A hundred feet to go to the gate and his plan solidified in his mind. Got to make it to the gate. The sound of flapping grew louder. It was gaining some height before diving in for the kill. Rocious increased his speed again. Crack, crack, crack, the explosions propelled him, fifty feet to go. Crack, crack, crack, twenty feet. Crack, crack, crack, ten feet. Rocious stopped propelling himself, dropping them into a sudden moment of silence. Then he created three slivers of magic. He tossed one over his shoulder, the second he looped around the arch above the gate and the third he held tight, building it until the moment was right.
When the flapping stopped Rocious triggered the first sliver of magic, a series of small sparkling explosions that went off in the dragon’s face.
The second he triggered a heartbeat later. A rope of flame he used to wing him through the gate then up and around the stone wall. He held onto the flame rope until he looped back into the dragon. Letting go of the rope he triggered the last sliver of magic right before his feet connected with the dragon. The magic created an explosion big enough to destroy the gate, launch the dragon forty feet past the outer wall, and flip Rocious into the air.
Panting Rocious landed among the rubble of the destroyed gate and for the second time in his life he prepared to fight arguably the most violent creature in all of Lora. Taken straight from the nightmares that had plagued him for decades. The giant beast was covered in thousands of scales that looked like nothing more than shiny black stone fragments. Each of them perfectly interlocked forming a near impenetrable armor but at the same time the creature moved effortlessly. The scales gave off a slight red shimmer and realigned as the dragon moved. Behind its eyes the dragon had twin horns that flicked back and forth like a curious kitten. The look in its feline eyes gave no doubt the dragon was not looking to play.
With barely a moment’s pause the dragon rushed him, biting through pieces of rubble. Rocious barely escaped its jaws by triggering an explosion at his feet. But the dragon whipped its tail up. The tail caught him in the side and knocked him into a pile of ash and rubble. It must still have been partially blinded or it would have been a direct blow.
He rolled to his feet, and in a sudden fit of rage turned his breath into fire. The dragon responded with it’s own surge of flame. The dragon paced back and forth waiting for Rocious to make the next move.
“Come on!” shouted Rocious.
The dragon paced back and forth taunting him with another surge of flame and smashing some rubble with a flick of it’s spiked tail. Rocious grabbed a couple hand-sized stones and tried to throw one at the dragon. The stone landed in a puddle a few feet away. Rocious looked down at his arm, it was broken. Frustrated, he screamed at the dragon, drawing a horrifying screech from the beast.
As the stone sank deeper into the puddle, an idea came to him.
“Lady, I hope you’re watching,” said Rocious.
The dragon started circling him. It would only be moments before it came at him again and this time there would be no escape. He would be torn to pieces, if he did not kill himself first.
Rocious created one large sliver of magic. Last time he used an explosion on the dragon he tried to hit hard in one small area like fast moving stone. This time he spread the explosion over an area wide enough to catch its whole body, more like a rolling boulder. When it circled he shifted the sliver of magic keeping it between them. When it went for the kill he triggered the explosion.
Chapter 5
Small Town Hero
Falcon woke up some time after dawn from the sound of a strange voice. When he opened his eyes he saw a calm, young face slowly dripping tears. He was lying on a cot with a young girl kneeling next to him praying. Next to the girl was a middle-aged woman that he recognized also praying. She was Dominick’s servant who had woken him every morning since coming to Dominion. The young girl looked to be her daughter.
“What are you saying?” asked Falcon, his throat was hoarse.
“Silence child, Floriana, get some water and let the king know,” said the older woman.
Falcon tried to get up but his whole body hurt, it felt like he had been beaten. Floriana came back with his water and helped him drink.
“Gran, I told Lady Octavia,” said Floriana.
“Thank you dear. Stay with him while I attend the others,” said Gran.
After drinking some water Falcon sat up. He looked around in a bit of a daze, not sure where he was but not really caring either.
“Where am I?” asked Falcon of himself more than the girl.
“We’re in a tent in the third ring taking care of those injured in the attack,” answered Floriana.
“The. Third. Ring,” said Falcon rubbing his neck.
“Yes, it was attacked,” said Floriana.
So it was not a dream thought Falcon. When the realization hit him he vaulted out of the cot and bumped into Dominick.
“Easy son. No need to panic, we have everything under control,” said Dominick holding Falcon firmly to his side.
He still felt panic gripping him but the king’s steady hand helped him keep his composure.
“What happened?” asked Falcon.
<
br /> Dominick sat on the cot and held Falcon in front of him, “I won’t lie to you son, there are many injured people. Most of them from Reed, and I don’t expect they will all survive,” said the king gently.
“Show me,” said Falcon meeting Dominick’s eye.
“Before we go, there’s one more thing,” said Dominick, closing his eyes to collect himself. “Praetorian Lockland. He hasn’t been found.”
“He’s probably passed out somewhere,” answered Falcon flatly.
Dominick knew it was a good guess but not true in this case.
“Follow me, Falcon. Floriana, tell my wife we’ll be in the hospice,” ordered Dominick.
Falcon felt the haze falling over him as they left the tent. There were injured people all over the place. Some of them looked dead already, covered in burns or missing limbs. Others had worse injuries like crushed limbs that were purple and bloated. As he got closer he almost threw up as the smell hit him. It was like stagnant water and rotting food mixed oddly with metal and the lingering scent of burning. The worst part was that Falcon recognized every single person, as broken as they were.
By the time Dominick stopped Falcon’s face was covered in grime and his tears were flowing freely. They were standing in front of another tent similar to the one he woke up in. Falcon’s friend Mary came out of the tent. She too was covered in grime and had been crying.
“Falcon! Come quickly. He’s been asking for you,” said Mary.
“What? Who?” asked Falcon as Mary pulled him inside, “Mary, I don’t understand. Who? Tell me what happened.”
“We’ve been staying in one of the school houses they set up in the third ring. When everything started catching fire we all hid in the basement, but then the explosions started and the buildings started to collapse. Most of us got out to the streets before the walls started crumbling, but Cleo was too scared,” said Mary.
“What happened to them?” said Falcon.
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