The Fanged Throne

Chapter 10

At first, she felt awkward, she wasn't used to holding someone so intimately. Her cheeks had flushed pink as she pressed up against his strong back, feeling his muscles against her stomach. The embarrassment faded as she got used to riding the horse. The horse plodded along the steep and very rocky path. Elora had stopped flinching each time the horse stumbled slightly on the loose path before righting itself. She could just make out the tops of Istath's buildings as they shrunk into tiny blobs and were eventually swallowed whole by the thick white mist that floated around them. Her new clothes provided much-needed warmth as the air had gotten colder up there, a bitter chill hung in the air. Even Banu looked to be suffering in his large coat.

They rode on silently, there was nothing to say at this time and the silence was almost soothing. Elora had rested her head against Banu's back, her eyes tired from the gentle swaying motion of the horse's gait. The hours seemed to blur past them, it had become difficult to tell the time as the sun was blocked by the thick mist. The path had gotten steeper, she had to hold on tightly or else she really would have slid off the back. A solid wall of rock on their right grew, the path looked like it had been carved into the mountain face. Banu was looking over his left shoulder and below, his face turned a sickly shade of green. She looked to her left and saw nothing. The path dropped off into nothing, a canyon of white air. She glanced wearily at the horse's hooves, it was just a foot's distance from the edge and from sending them tumbling off the side of the mountain.

A shout startled them both, and their horse. They both turned to see where that shout had come from. Through the mist Elora made out three horsemen halted on the path below them, their angry shouts echoed across the mountainside. Time froze as they watched the three figures get closer. "Elora!" An angry voice shouted. A voice she recognised. Virion. How had he gotten here so fast and how had he known she would be up here. The village people must have told them.

"Go, now!" She yelled at Banu, urging him to get moving. He kicked the horse into a gallop, both of them winced as his hooves skittered over the edge before righting himself. Elora glanced over her shoulder to see that the three soldiers had gained on them.

 "Hurry, they're getting closer!" She desperately shouted over the rushing wind.

"Who are they?" He yelled back, his words laced with panic.

"Soldiers from Wirenth."

"What! Why are they chasing us?" He tried to twist his neck to look behind him. She reached out and pushed his head back with her hand to face frontwards.

"It doesn't matter, just concentrate, we have to lose them!"

Banu kicked the horse's sides again, prompting him to move faster. Rocks were kicked up and scattered down off the edge as they moved wildly through the tight and narrow corners. She could hear the men behind them, their horse's hooves were getting louder. Panicked she looked around for something to slow the men down, an idea burned in her mind. Carefully she slid her sword out of her belt and leant far over the right side. She raised her sword and rammed the metal into the wall of loose rocks and pulled it back out. The momentum of her removing the sword loosened the rocks and they tumbled down the path behind them. Ignoring the jarring pain that ran down her arm from the impact of the sword hitting the rocks, she did it again. This time she ran her sword against the wall, the metal scraped and bounced against the rocks loudly, sending a river of rubble into their path. Looking over her shoulder she watched as the two horsemen behind Virion went tumbling off their horses as the rolling rubble crashed into them.

Virion had seen the rocks just in time and had commanded his horse to jump, unlike his two men who were buried in a cloud of grey dust. Although he had slowed down, she could see Virion would catch up quickly. She pulled her sword back and lodged it firmly back on her belt. They were nearing the top of the mountain; the mist had started to lift to reveal large rock faces that ended with pointed peaks. A gap sat between the two rock walls, the path leads through the gap. The path had flattened out into a small clearing, the ground dry and rocky. Quickly they jumped off the horse, Elora jumped awkwardly from the saddle and Banu had unsheathed his sword by the time Virion rounded the corner and met them.

He too got off his horse, his amour was dusty and dented. She could make out his familiar eyes through his steel helmet, they were angry. 

"Elora, enough! There's nowhere to go, you will die in there." He commanded his voice echoed through the silence.

"No. I will not go back there." She firmly stood her ground, even though fear coursed through every part of her body.

"Stop making this difficult, just come back with me, please. You don't even know this boy Elora!" She remained still, her gaze steady. 

"You'll die in there." He tried again, lowering his voice, his arms had opened wide, trying to persuade her.

"I can't go back to that Virion, that's not living. I'd rather take my chances in there than go back to that cramped cell..."

A tense silence followed, all three stood still watching each other, waiting. Elora's heart pounded in anticipation, Banu stood ready, his fingers tightening around his hilt.

"Then you leave me no choice!" Virion whipped out his sword and charged towards them.

 "Move!" Banu shouted and shoved her roughly out of the way. He ran and met Virion with a clash of swords, Virion grunted against the force of Banu's two blades. Elora watched as the two ducked and swung at each other, the swords clanging together. Virion fought with brute strength, she could see that from his heavy charges, while Banu looked like he was doing a dance. He ducked, turned and weaved past Virion's sword, both of them were evenly matched. Banu swung his one arm out and knocked Virion's helmet off with a loud crash.

Before she could blink Virion rammed his elbow into Banu's face, sending him flying across the ground, blood poured from his nose. While he struggled to stand up, Virion turned and marched towards her, his sword raised. In a hurry she shakily yanked her sword into her sweaty palm, Virion smirked when he saw how nervous she was. He swung and brought his sword down on her. Like she had seen Banu do, she raised hers across her chest with two hands and blocked his attack. The force of his attack shook her all the way down to her toes. Her arms burned as she held on as tight as she could, his sword slid closer and closer to her face.

Banu came running up behind them, his own weapons raised and ready to strike. But Virion was too quick, he spun around and kicked him to the ground again. Using the momentary distraction, Elora pulled her sword back and swung wildly, slicing his exposed hand. He roared and turned back to her, his sword flying towards her, she blocked again. And again. His strikes came one after each other, over and over again like a silver storm. His attack pushed her further and further till her back pressed against the rock wall. Sweat poured off both of them, Elora breathed heavily as she used her sword to hold him back from slitting her throat wide open.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Banu limp silently over to them, his finger had pressed against his lips, telling her to be quiet. Her muscles shook at the exertion of holding him off, too scared to try kick out in case her hold slipped, she stood still, waiting. Without turning Virion sensed Banu behind him.

"Back for more boy?" As he spoke, he lifted his knee into her stomach, hard. She let go of her sword and dropped to the ground and clutched her bruised stomach.

Banu's cry caught her attention, Virion stood above him. His one boot had stepped hard on Banu's side and his sword was inches away from being buried in his chest. Without stopping to think Elora stood, picked her sword up and ran at Virion. Before he could react, she sunk her sword into the exposed flesh between his armour. She felt slightly ill as she heard the squelching sound of flesh, looking away she pulled the sword back out as he fell to the ground his hand pressed against the back of his thigh.

Banu had pulled himself up and held his blade against Virion's throat, waiting for Elora's instruction. She moved until she stood above Virion and looked into his eyes. She saw fear. They couldn't kill him. Elora looked at Banu and shook her head, no. Banu sheathed his sword and mumbled something. She gently nudged his arm. "Leave him." Together they collected their belongings from the horse and walked towards the entrance of the cliffs. As they stood there, Elora looked over her shoulder at Virion and met his eyes for the last time. A strange sadness overcame her as she watched him, sad that it had had to come to this.

With a deep breath, she looked at Banu and they begun walking, leaving the frozen Northern Realm behind them.