Dragon Knight - The Ancestor Gods Saga Book 2

23. A Last Stand

The first torch that had been flung through the window caught the rushes on the floor and started a small fire. I shouted back to my aunts to tell them to get the injured woman out of the house before the worst occurred and the whole place went up in flames. Lexon looked over to the smashed window and considered our options.

"A frontal assault is going to be risky and yet it's the only option we have right now. They will try to storm us or smoke us out like rabbits in a hole."

I felt we were already doomed to fight this battle. Our options had narrowed to one.

Lexon kicked the torch away from the rushes and tried to stifle the flames, but they were already spreading too quickly and our efforts to defeat them were coming to nought. In any case, we heard another swishing noise, and a further torch was thrown through the window and caught in another part of the room.

"We have to get out of here," I said. "We have no options left. Look, me and you together, what do we have to fear against those men outside? We know we're different. We know we could probably run through those flames and not be touched. They don't know that."

"I know," Lexon said. "It does not mean I like the idea. You know if we go out there and kill them, it is the end of things. Things will never be the same after that."

"Maybe things have already gone too far to ever be the same again. Those men outside have made the choice for us," I said. "I am done with playing nicely. If this is the way they want things, then that is how it will have to be."

My mother appeared from the backroom.

"Nesta and Itya are on the rooftop. They can cover you when you rush out the front. There is a back window we could go out, but there are men watching that too. I don't think they will attack us, but they will certainly raise the alarm."

I saw the bleak look on her face, and I knew that she was feeling the same as me. The horror of it all. The thought that we were turning against people who were supposed to be our friends, our family, people we had protected, and who we thought valued us and believed in our ability to protect them.

"We are wasting time talking," Lexon said. "We need to get out. We need to get out now, go out fighting and just accept the consequences of all this. Our hands are tied."

My mother nodded at us. She moved away to the backroom to make sure the injured woman had been safely moved out of the house.

I stood, tested my aching head and found that it was feeling a lot better. My balance was restored, and I no longer felt that strange daze that had hovered over me earlier. Whatever concoction had been fed to be by Fennic, it seemed to have eased off. I suppose I could thank my new powers for that.

Lexon glanced my way. I could see it in his eyes, he was ready to move. Time was of the essence. The fire was licking up the walls and this house would be gone soon enough. Strangely, I didn't feel panic at the fire as I once would have done. Being trapped in a burning building was clearly not ideal, yet it wasn't causing me alarm.

Again, I blamed that on my new powers. The dragon's soul now inside me clearly made me feel differently about fire.

Lexon went to the door. He placed his hand on the bar, ready to lift it off, and looked at me. I looked back, gave a nod. I was ready. He lifted the bar, pushed the door open and we surged out. The men were expecting us. Of course, they were. But they did not quite expect what we were going to do. We just charged. Arrows soared down from the air above us as we flew forward. They didn't hit the men, striking the ground instead. My aunts were still holding back, trying not to kill.

Knife clenched tight in my hand, feet clattering on cobbles, I was focused only ahead.

Lexon crashed into the nearest man. Within a few swings, he had him down. The men were townsfolk, rustic souls, not fighters. They were hoping that brute force would be on their side, but the arrows had made some of them duck, and as we came at them, they really had no chance. They sized up to us, nonetheless, and they hefted pitchforks, butchers' knives, and clubs. But their aim was weak, and their blows were heavy-handed.