Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Chapter 53 Dragon's Seige

     "Wait," they both turned to see Massia arriving from the forest, limping with the aid of her staff.

     "Are you alright, child?" Novia rushed to her side to help her.

     "I'm fine, thank you," she said, though she appreciated the support. "Take me to him."

    "Are you sure-"

    "Yes," Massia peered into the lake, his body drifting upon its surface. It was barely recognizable as Dulmont, his once youthful appearance reduced to nothing but a corpse, heavily decomposed and bloated from the frothing water. But Massia recognized her. She saw him in the nightmares, in the dark, alone. That feeling that something was missing from her heart was taken from her. And only now she regains it. Those black empty eye pockets seemed to tar at her beyond the veil, taunting her, turning her stomach inside out. She had to avert her gaze before the strain became too much.

   "I just . . . had to see him," she told them.

    "I understand, child," Novia said. "Now come, your mother must be worried sick by now."

(X)

  They attacked quicker than they anticipated. Gray felt it first. They had expected a siege to follow the news of Zethan Fell's death at the hands of the Thirians. Gray wished they would at least take the time to mourn. As he was inspecting the massive stone pillars raised by Edlund in utter disbelief, he felt the presence of an abundance of avra rapidly approaching the village. Three dragons, at least. They expected another attack following that brief appearance the other day, but not so soon. Many of them were still dismantling their camp and preparing for travel. Gray had little time to consider the ramifications of what this might bring. He immediately unsheathed his Tiebreaker sword and rushed to the nearest bell tower as fast as possible. Many men, troubled by the hasty actions of the knights, found themselves anticipating what was to come.

     "Arm yourselves," Gray bellowed, his voice bouncing off the stone pillars down to the many denizens below. At his words, the empire's soldiers prepared their canons and artillery while the people panicked. "Prepare for a breach, three dragons from the east. Citizens must flee to the underway. Arm yourselves, soldiers; our fight is nigh."

     "Gray?" Elena joined him in the bell tower, her blade free and waiting. "How many do you sense?"

    "Besides the dragons, at least a thousand men, maybe more."

     Elena turned to one of the soldiers waiting for their instructions. "Protect the citizens at all costs. Prepare for a breach, and we can not inform them of our plans. Someone, please inform Prince Edlund."

    "He's still in the underway with Dagmyre," Gray told them, and they immediately dispatched. "Damn, do these people ever take a day off?"

    "They will try to find a weak point or make one," Elena warned. "And I doubt they will try for the opening we gave them. Let us hope we can respond in kind to their siege.

    Outside the walls, pushed by the great northern winds of the coming Winter, Mora came upon the enclosed village, followed by two other Dreki sorcerers. Both had tried to dissuade from such hasty actions, but Mora could not wait for her revenge. Every moment these people lived was a front to her brother's life. She could feel it, they were up to something, and she couldn't let what they were trying to achieve come to fruition. The sooner, the better. She willed her dragon near the base of the stone pillars where her army awaited her command. Her Borean sorcerers awaited on the front lines as she landed before them all, followed closely by the other dragons. She only brought roughly a thousand, the others securing their perimeter around Erusland. Their war cries hurried the winds around them. She held up her talisman in the air to harness their pride and deal the first blow the Thirians hoped. It began to glow a bright white, absorbing the winter winds before flooding her body with its power. She gritted her teeth as the power swirled within her, the untameable force of ice and wind at her command. The others did much the same.