by J C Maynard
Fillian put a hand on Fernox and climbed on his back, raising a sword and shield. Raelynn grabbed Kyan’s hand and led him onto the back of the ice dragon, which bellowed, rattling Kyan’s bones. Feeling a surge of energy beneath him, Kyan grasped onto the scales of the beast as it blasted through the wall with a storm of ice from its breath. Pouncing forward, the ice dragon slashed through a group of Guards with its claws as Fernox roared and sank its teeth through their armor.
Fillian swiped away blows from atop the winged lion and sank his sword into the chest of a Cerebrian Guard. Fillian turned to Raelynn and Kyan. “Where will Xandria be?”
Kyan looked around, getting his bearings in the fortress. “The throne room . . . it’s the most heavily defended.”
Kyan held onto the beast’s scales as it flapped its wings and bounded up a flight of stairs, crashing into a grand dining hall, where arrows whistled through the air at them. In seconds, the platoon of archers were buried in a snowdrift and speared by flying shards of ice. “Up ahead and to the right! That bridge across the courtyard is the entrance to the throne room!”
The ice dragon smashed through the walls and Fernox flew behind. Kyan turned around when Fillian cursed in pain. A crossbow had crushed his shield, and his arm looked broken. He ducked as another volley of arrows whizzed through the air. Fillian cursed again as he sheathed his sword and held on tight with one arm to Fernox.
Raelynn and Kyan grabbed onto the ice dragon’s scales as it sent another storm of ice down a grand hallway at a new platoon of soldiers. With a growl, it smashed through another wall and glided into the night air. Soaring to the next tower over, Raelynn, Kyan, and Fillian could see the city on fire around them as the Ferrs and Cerebrians battled in the streets.
Landing on the bridge to the throne room, the beast knocked over a line of Guards as Fernox tore them apart with his claws. Raelynn and Kyan slid off the back of the beast and drew their swords, as Fillian did the same. Dozens of Cerebrian troops funnelled onto the bridge as a last line of defense to protect Xandria. The doors to throne throne room sat there, not thirty yards away.
The beast swung its massive tail, knocking a cluster of soldiers off the bridge, screaming as they fell. It coiled back and released a jet of ice that impaled more infantry with spikes of ice.
Kyan charged forward into the army of Cerebrian Guards. Parrying swings, he sank his sword into two different Guards as Raelynn did the same. Kyan ducked as a sword swung over his head, and he rammed into the soldier, knocking him over the edge of the bridge.
Fillian regripped his sword and with one arm, jabbed forward, swiping away spears and swords before Fernox jumped on the soldiers. Raelynn jumped behind the ice dragon as it released another blast, and then ran forward into the swarm of soldiers.
But as more and more funnelled onto the bridge, the three of them found themselves fighting on both sides, wedged between throngs of of Cerebrian troops. Fernox roared in pain as an arrow embedded itself into his leg.
Kyan turned around to help Fillian take on the soldiers attacking them from the back. Trying in vain to push them back, Kyan slowly retreated to the side of Fernox and the beast. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyan saw the flash of a sword just before a blast of ice knocked Kyan’s attacker off the bridge.
Yelling, Fillian drove his sword into another Cerebrian. “I can’t hold them off, Kyan!”
Kyan’s stomach lurched at the sound of a massive iron arrow slicing through the air. And with a shrill thud, the ice dragon let out a bone-shaking screech as it writhed in pain. The gigantic beast shattered into a cloud of ice, and the iron arrow that killed it dropped to the stone of the bridge.
Kyan’s body turned cold as he looked toward Fillian. Time slowed to a halt as the army closed in. Kyan raised his sword with anger in his eyes, but Fillian shook his head and raised his palm, No, Kyan. Fernox roared, but Raelynn set Eston’s sword down and placed a hand on his mane, calming him.
Kyan clenched his teeth as he dropped his sword to the bridge. The metal clashed against the stone, and the army stopped as the three of them raised their hands above their heads in surrender.
◆◆◆
Silverbrook put a hand to her mouth as she felt her beast die, and it took all of her strength to not fall to her knees. She looked out in the night towards Xandria’s fortress, straining to see anything. They’re not going to make it if I don’t buy them time . . .
Selenora stood in front of her, hands raised, streaming dark energy at Silverbrook, who diverted the river of fire onto the battlefield behind her.
Silverbrook looked helplessly at Selenora, trying in vain to take her down. She looked at her own shaking, cut-up hands as blood and sweat dripped down her face. Every fiber in her body screamed at her to give up. Silverbrook sent spell after spell towards the undead figure in front of her, but they sailed right through her ghostly body. I can’t get the upper hand . . . she thought, as her feet slid back in the dirt. Silverbrook’s blood began to turn cold as the torrent of fire pushed her further and further back, overpowering her. I can’t kill her . . .
Selenora sent spikes of earth shooting up at Silverbrook, which she barely dodged — one sliced a gash up her calf. With a sound that seemed to shatter the air, the undead sorceress began to tear apart Silverbrook’s white Taurimous as it coiled out of her, sending her to her knees.
Silverbrook looked in horror at the half human face staring at her, killing her. Flakes of dying white light fluttered up into the sky and dimmed like cooling embers. The agony grew too much for her to take; she screamed out in pain. Images coursed through her mind of her daughter, to Fillian, to Kyan, Tayben, Calleneck, and Eston . . . Silverbrook’s world stopped, as the thought overtook her. The four of them exist because I tried to pull them into mortality when they were halfway to death . . . I pulled them out of limbo.
Silverbrook stared back into Selenora’s half-formed raven eyes. The only way to kill you is to bring you back to life . . .
Silverbrook channeled through her mind, reaching for every place that still had magic left to give, reaching for the memory of catching a soul on its way to death. Summoning every piece of light she could find, she raised her hands and cast a spell out into the night.
A wave of light soared through the battlefield, taking hold of every masked sorcerer and Selenora herself. The light dimmed and Selenora stood there with a fully formed body.
Selenora froze and looked at her hands, feeling the soft, skin. She slowly reached up and touched her truly beautiful face with a delicate, shaking finger. Her hand ran through her silky hair once again. Her followers, entering back into consciousness felt their mortal flesh again, many removing their masks to see with their old blue or green eyes — the sorcerers before Silverbrook were once again human.
Turning toward a breathless Silverbrook, Selenora slowly let the word roll out of her mouth. “How?”
Silverbrook reached in her cloak and pulled out a glowing, white stone — the stone that had been given back to her, its creator, by her noble winged lion. You can’t kill the already dead . . . but now I can. Though her magic had no power over the undead, the stone’s one spell could now be used against the mortal sorcerers. Silverbrook slowly held it up above her head and spoke, answering Selenora. “How everything is done . . . through the Tenebris.”
The stone in her hand began to glow with the intensity of the sun, lighting up the valley with a white brilliance. Both whispering and booming like thunder, the stone radiated a cloud of pure, white light that charged over the scorched earth like a thousand cavalry, trampling forward into the army of the living.
As the darkness of the night returned, the stone in Silverbrook’s hand was no more, vanished into light. Before her lay a field of death. Droves of sorcerers lay unmoving, scattered on the ground as the winter wind gently rustled their crimson cloaks.
Silverbrook stepped forward toward Selenora’s lifeless body. She knelt down beside her and softly closed her glazed eyes.
> ◆◆◆
Kyan, Raelynn, and Fillian stood frozen in the frigid night air as the army of Cerebrian guards surrounded them on the bridge. War horns sounded in the city below as the armies slaughtered each other in the streets. Fernox growled as soldier grabbed onto them.
Fillian turned to Fernox and ordered, “Go! Leave now!”
Fernox looked at the three of them, hesitating, and then pouced off the bridge before the soldiers could grab him. As he flew off, a few arrows whistled past.
“Stop!” said Raelynn, helpless. “. . . please . . .”
The soldiers lowered their bows. A Guard stepped forward, “Take their weapons . . . kill them.”
The soldiers kicked their knees and forced the three of them to the ground. Tears streamed down Raelynn’s face as Kyan struggled against the soldiers.
Fillian raised his hand. “I am Fillian Whenderdehl, son of Tronum, and Prince of Ferramoor.” He struggled against the soldiers and broke free for an instant. “If you men have any honor, you will bring us in to Queen Xandria.”
Kyan frantically looked up at the soldiers. “You have no right to kill a Prince . . . he’s your Queen’s nephew . . . bring us in.”
A familiar voice spoke up from the doors to the throne room. “Do as he says.”
The green-clad Cerebrian soldiers hesitated, and then grabbed the three of them, lifting them to their feet. With iron grips, the soldiers pushed Kyan, Raelynn, and Fillian forward, stepping over the royal sword of Prince Eston lying ownerless on the stone.
Kyan looked to see who had given the command to take them to Xandria, but he couldn't see through the crowd of Guards. Before them, great iron doors opened with a loud creak, and the soldiers shoved the three of them through.
The throne room was lined with enormous stone pillars and walls of windows that looked out into the destruction of Seirnkov below. At the end of the hall, in a green and silver throne sat Queen Xandria.
The soldiers marched them forward toward the silver Queen before them. She raised her chin and lifted her hand, halting the soldiers, who threw the three down to their knees before the throne of Xandria. She sat just ten feet in front of them, raised slightly by the stone step beneath her throne.
The Queen smiled and spoke in her timeless, dreamlike voice. “And who do we have here, separated from their army?” She scanned them and looked to Kyan. “The stone’s thief.” The Queen looked at Raelynn. “You must be the sorceress who expended all her powers just to save Aunestauna from my army.” She turned her piercing gaze to Fillian. “And you look like my wretched brother . . . you’re the younger son — Fillian, is it?” She smiled at the sight of Tronum’s son at her feet.
Kyan looked around the great hall at the throng of armed soldiers and back at their three, helpless figures. Suddenly, the windows to the city shone with a blinding light that quickly died.
The Queen turned to the windows. “What was that?”
Kyan’s spirits lifted momentarily as he earnestly hoped it meant Silverbrook had been successful. “That was probably your precious stone.”
Xandria turned back to the three of them. “It doesn’t matter to me anymore . . . just take a look down at the city, my troops are destroying yours in droves. Ferramoor won’t last the night.” She turned to Fillian. “Your father was an ignorant man . . . expending thousands just to preserve the throne my father handed to him.”
“While you do the same to protect your false one?” said Fillian.
Xandria smiled. “You fight like him too.” She sighed. “I hate having to waste lives fighting against people like you. Lives are precious.”
“Bullshit,” said Raelynn, “you exterminated an entire race.”
“To preserve my people.” said Xandria. She looked out to the city below as it burned. Battle horns continued to blare, eerily echoing through the valley. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly, “Such death.” She looked toward the three of them. “You failed . . .”
Kyan nodded. “Perhaps . . . and yet we fight to the end instead of hiding like a coward.”
Xandria smiled and stared Kyan in the eye. “Aris!” she called out to the army.
Kyan’s blood turned cold as Gallien slowly stepped forward through the ranks of soldiers — it was the voice he had heard earlier. He got out of the collapsed Network. Gallien’s boots clicked and echoed on the stone floor, unlike his silent steps fighting in Endlebarr.
Xandria placed her hands on the armrests of her throne as Gallien stood between her and the three prisoners. “Aris,” she said, “my last Phantom . . . kill them all.”
Explosions echoed outside and lit up Gallien’s face with light from fire. Gallien nodded, and a tear fell down his face. Kyan shook his head . . . please, Gallien . . . please see . . .
As Gallien drew his sword, Kyan’s heart stopped. Engraved on the hilt was the royal crest of Ferramoor and an E for Eston Whenderdehl.
Xandria smiled as Gallien stepped toward Fillian, Kyan, and Raelynn. “You chose the wrong side to fight for . . . and now you pay the price.”
Gallien took a deep breath in, hands shaking as he held Eston’s sword. “The bravest person I knew once told me . . .” Gallien swallowed as his face turned pale. “he told me that I have to be loyal to my heart . . .”
Kyan’s eyes widened as he finished the words. Nothing else matters . . .
And as a look of horror spread over Queen Xandria’s face, Gallien spun around and stabbed the blade through her heart.
The Queen coughed a spurt of blood as her dress turned red. Fear filled her face as her eyes slowly went blank. The room fell still, as Gallien clenched his teeth and dug Eston’s sword further into Xandria’s chest. He stared at her with a somber face . “. . . You earn loyalty.”
Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past Gallien as a few archers fired. Most of the Cerebrian troops stood stunned, not knowing what to do, but a few raised their swords and charged forward. But at that moment, a thundering roar of a lion shook the windows of the great hall. Crashing through the doors landed Fernox with a bloody Silverbrook on top, holding a shimmering white flame. The Cerebrians stopped in their tracks and Fillian raised his hand. “Enough is enough . . . There will be no more blood spilled.”
One by one, the clattering of swords against the stone floor rang out as soldiers dropped their weapons. Silverbrook dismounted Fernox and placed a hand on his mane as they walked through the troops, who parted down the middle towards Kyan, Fillian, and Raelynn.
Beside the throne, Gallien stood tall and strong. “Sound the horns of surrender.” he ordered. Within ten seconds, the horns of the great hall rang out in unison, blaring their surrender across the valley of Seirnkov.
Silverbrook stepped forward with tears filling her eyes as she embraced Raelynn for the first time in nearly twenty years. Holding her mother tight like she never wanted to let her leave, Raelynn began to sob tears of relief. Silverbrook put her hand on her daughter’s face and spoke softly, choking on her tears. “I should never have left . . .”
Raelynn shook her head. “No . . . but you came back.”
The two embraced as the surrender horns blared once more and cheers from the Ferramish army broke out in the city streets below, raising their swords to the sky.
Kyan walked up to Gallien, who stood beside the bloody throne. “A- Aris, was it?” said Kyan, holding himself back. Gallien nodded. Kyan breathed in deeply trying to keep in his tears. “I- I’d like to thank you for what you did . . . for all of us.”
Gallien shook his head. “It didn’t come soon enough.”
Kyan slowly stepped toward the window, where he looked out on the city as people doused fires and hugged in the streets. His heart sank as he remembered who lay dead down there. All of the thousands of men. The Evertauri. The Phantoms. Madrick. Dalah. Borius. Aunika.
Kyan turned around to the others. “We need to give them all proper burials.” The others turned towards him silently. Kyan continued. “Ferrs and Cerebrians alike, Evertauri and
Phantoms . . . no one had to die.”
Fillian stepped forward and hugged Kyan with his good arm, patting him on the back. He nodded, trying to hold back tears himself. “Yes- we’ll make sure that happens.”
Kyan turned out towards the city as horns rang out and a black banner rose above the fortress signaling defeat. Tired of trying to hold it in, Kyan broke down and fell to his knees. It was over . . . the war was over. Kyan sobbed as the emotions rushed out of him. Relief, pain, sorrow, joy all flowed over him like a flood of new air to breathe. He thought back to his old shack in Aunestauna and shook as he cried, thinking of the journey he had survived, one that so many others hadn’t.
◆◆◆
~Sunrise
The morning air was cool to the skin as Kyan and Fillian stood on the bridge overlooking the fortress grounds and the city below. In the east, the sky had brightened to a soft orange and yellow glow where the sun would soon rise above the snowy white mountains. The sight took Kyan’s memory back to a sunrise long ago over the forest of Endlebarr, where he had absolutely no idea the life that lay ahead of him.
A few birds glided by, floating on the wind above the city. Many of the fires had been extinguished, and the boarded up windows of shops and houses were opening. But far above the streets, the morning was quiet and peaceful.
As Kyan and Fillian stood, leaning on the balcony of the bridge, they smiled at the sight of the sunrise. Fillian turned to Kyan. “Where are Raelynn and Silverbrook?”
Kyan shook his head. “I’m not sure . . . but I know they have quite a lot to catch up on . . . I overheard Silverbrook asking Raelynn to come with her back to Endlebarr.
Fillian thought for a moment and chuckled, gazing out over the edge of the bridge.
Kyan smiled. “What?”
The Prince shook his head and grinned. “. . . There was this bridge in the Palace in Aunestauna where my brother and I used to see how far we could spit.” Fillian laughed and bit his lip.