Draconis' Bane (32 page)

“She wouldn’t be left
behind.” Kevin mused.

“Well, you never
could say no to her.” Tristan laughed.

“What was that?”
Kevin asked, stopping Tristan and turning to face him.

“You never could say
no to her?” Tristan asked, smiling.

“How…” Kevin
began.

“It’s ok Kev.”
Tristan chuckled. “My memories began to return a few months ago.”
He explained.

“All of them?” Kevin
asked, still clearly surprised.

“Enough of them to
know I owe you an apology.” Tristan replied, losing his smile
slightly.

“What on earth for?”
Kevin blurted in surprise.

Tristan regarded his
older brother. Over the last few months, Tristan’s memories had
slowly begun to return to him. In the moments between battles he’d
been carefully exploring his past. He felt vaguely guilty for a lot
of questionable actions of his past. Chief among them had been his
terrible relationship with his older brother.

“Being a royal pain
in the backside.” He answered finally.

Kevin burst out
laughing, his booming voice echoed off the walls of the fortress.
He clapped his large hand on Tristans shoulder.

“Bah.” Kevin
dismissed. “That’s what kids do. After all, you’re the middle
child.” They both laughed as they walked into the main hall.

~

“Alison, look!” Euri
cried.

Looking out of their
carriage window, the two of them bore witness the devastation left
in Kevin’s wake. Corpses of strange creatures and destroyed
structures littered the road on both sides as their escort rode
through the clearest path.

“What a waste of
life.” Alison muttered, settling back into her seat.

Eurydice grunted her
agreement as she continued to look out over the landscape of
corpses and smoldering ruins of the Terum army. At odd intervals
men groaned at the passing carriage, causing more than one of their
escort to snap his head in all directions. Twenty cavalry escorted
the princesses, and had been for the last eight days. The girls had
slept in the coach as it rolled on towards Heatherington. Alison
was unwilling to stop for the night so their escort rotated their
positions. Five men would ride ahead for half a day, get some sleep
and meet up with the carriage as it passed, allowing the next group
to do likewise.

At the moment they
were in the middle of one such change-over as ten of the cavalry
soldiers were ahead of them. They were due to meet up with the
latest five in a couple of hours. With the Terum army in full
retreat, Euri was impatient to have the soldiers here now. The
piles of the dead and dying set her nerves on a frazzled edge.

The carriage rocked
slightly and Euri looked down to see what they’d ridden over. There
was nothing on the road and it was a smooth path as far as she
could see ahead. The carriage lurched again and Alison’s eyes
snapped open. She’d been dozing in the afternoon warmth and even
she had felt the carriage’s unlikely movement.

Alison rushed to the
window, looking out with Euri to see what was creating the rough
ride. Euri continued to scan the road ahead, looking for rocks,
bodies, pieces of equipment strewn across the road. Alison’s hand
fell on Eurydice’s arm, squeezing with all of her strength.

“Ouch!” Eurydice
cried out. “What’s wrong?!”

Alison pointed behind
the carriage to answer. An enormous giant leapt over the smoldering
ruin of a ballista and when he landed the carriage gave another
almighty lurch that sent both girls crashing down onto the
floor.

Quickly getting back
on her seat, Eurydice slammed her small hand on the wall behind
her. “Driver! Faster!” She yelled.

The driver sighed,
obviously he’d heard this before and in an almost bored voice he
replied; “Lady, we’ll arrive in short order. No need to rush.” He
said in a bored, slightly annoyed voice.

“Look behind you
man!” Alison screamed.

The driver groaned as
he turned in his seat. Euri could imagine the color draining from
his face as he swore loudly enough for the ladies to hear him. He
began shouting orders to their escort, two of which leapt aboard
the carriage and scampered onto the roof. They began firing arrows
at the thirty foot tall creature, attempting to inflict as much
damage as possible. The carriage increased in speed until both
women could clearly hear the horses snorting for breath as they ran
towards their destination, dangerously veering to the left and
right to avoid the smoldering ruins of ballistae, catapult and
command posts littering the road.

Euri silently thanked
the fates that she was in a carriage with Alison; a lesser woman
would have completely lost her head and begun screaming. Instead,
Alison reached up above herself and pulled two bows down from the
roof rack. She handed one to Eurydice and then pulled down a few
quivers of arrows. “I can’t shoot very well.” Euri complained.

“Don’t worry.” Alison
smiled encouragingly. “It’s a big target.”

Eurydice chuckled
nervously as she pointed the weapon through the window and let her
first arrow fly.

~

“Here.” Kevin said,
tossing a pendant to Tristan.

“Another one?”
Tristan groaned.

“This one came off of
one of the soldiers in the dungeons.” Fred replied.

Tristan’s eyes shot
up at his uncle.

“Where is he?” He
demanded.

“Sorry lad. He hung
himself with his bed sheet.” Captain Robertson replied, walking
into the main hall.

Tristan swore.

“Aye. That’s what I
said too, my Lord.” Robertson chuckled.

For the last two days
Kevin’s army had been clearing out all of the remaining Terum
forces from Sutten. A few minor skirmishes had erupted as they
closed in on the Terum-Sutten border. Overall, the invading army
was completely demoralized and beaten. The loss of their King and
his magical advisor had broken the spine of the invaders.

None of the giants,
orcs, trolls or any of the other strange creatures could be
located. It was assumed that those who hadn’t perished had escaped
back to whatever holes they called home. A few more Terum soldiers
had been captured and communicated a bleak picture of things in
their country. Kevin had dispatched letters to both Gerald and
their father outlining the situation. Tristan had the sinking
sensation that he was being included as part of a solution that he
wasn’t quite sure he was ready for.

With no heir in
Terum, the country was bound to descend into civil war and chaos,
Tristan got the feeling that Kevin was recommending that he assume
command of Terum. This feeling was made clear day by day as Kevin
began discussing administration of large scale cities.

“Look. I don’t think
I’m ready for this.” Tristan admitted.

“Ready or not little
brother, we’ve got a rather large neighbor to our west and I’d
rather not have hordes of bandits and petty rulers striking my city
within the month.” Kevin laughed.

“Why can’t you just
occupy Terum?” Tristan complained.

“I’ve got my own city
to worry about.” Kevin explained. “Not to mention I’m next in line
to be King.”

“Face it pup. You’re
the only worthy choice.” Robertson laughed, patting the young
Prince on the shoulder.

“Fine,
General
.” Tristan shot back sarcastically at the
Knight-Captain.

Robertson’s face
twisted into a grimace of pain and he swore, causing everyone to
laugh.

The warning bell
sounded and everyone cast shocked looks at one another. As one
Tristan and Kevin rose and ran from the hall, taking the steps two
at a time up the nearest staircase onto the battlements. Tristan
was fastest as he slammed into the parapet staring out over the
devastated battlefield.

A carriage was
recklessly flying over the landscape, hitting what remained of
bodies, buildings and weapons as it made a mad dash for the gates
of the fortress. Kevin didn’t hesitate, he yelled for the gates to
be opened as three giants appeared from behind the trees chasing
the carriage. Tristan looked over at his brothers’ horror stricken
face. He’d never seen his brother so distressed.

“What is it?” Tristan
asked.

“Alison.” He muttered
before running down the nearest staircase.

For the past two days
William and Tristan had been working on a longbow for Tristan. It
was of standard length, though because of the inherent magical
properties in his mothers and apparently his hair he wove a few
strands of his own hair around the bow before it was coated in
sealant. He wasn’t sure if it would do anything. However, since it
worked so well in his blades and the arrow that had killed the
sorcerer he couldn’t see any harm in it.

Tristan unlimbered
his new longbow and drew back a bead, aiming for the nearest giant.
As he concentrated all of the sound around him seemed to dim and
then vanish. All he could hear was the wind blowing slightly from
the north; he adjusted his aim to compensate. It was still cold,
the sun not completely rose yet, again, he adjusted to compensate.
His arm began to throb slightly, still he held.

When Tristan loosed
the arrow he sighed in relief, losing sight of the missile. A
hundred yards away a giant screamed as he clapped his hands to his
left eye and fell backwards. Tristan drew back again as the gates
opened and his brother led a squad out to fight off the giants.

Again the young
Prince tuned out all of the distractions and let the arrow fly. The
arrow crossed the gap between the wall and the second creature,
this time striking it between the eyes sending it reeling
backwards. The tiny missiles wouldn’t kill a giant, though Tristan
hopped that the distraction would help Alison and her entourage
escape.

The carriage jumped
as the second giant tripped and slammed into the ground, tossing up
dirt and trees as it rolled to a stop. The third giant was
dangerously close to the carriage. Tristan could see arrows raining
out of the windows. The giant reached down and tried to grab the
side of the carriage.

A small burst of fire
erupted from inside the carriage. The giant pulled away his burnt
hand, howling in anger. With his opposite hand he slammed the
carriage just as his foot stomped down on the ground. The carriage
jumped and then flew sideways a few feet as the giants hand
collided with the side of it. Two soldiers fell out of the carriage
and the giant stepped on them as he continued his chase.

The remaining giant
reached down again, the carriage was close enough that Tristan
could hear a pair of screams from inside. Kevin’s force was mere
feet away from the giant and a score of spears connected with the
giants arm and face as he reared up. The enormous creature howled
in pain and began chasing after the riders.

The carriage hit a
rather large piece of burnt wood from a trebuchet, causing the
bridle to snap off the horses and the trusses came loose. The
horses kept running for the gate, but the wagon turned left and
collided with another large chunk of wood. The front right wheel
shattered and the carriage rolled sideways. End over end it rolled
at least a half-dozen times until it came to a rest at the base of
the wall. Soldiers ran out of the keep and pulled two women out of
the wreckage and carried them into the fortress. Kevin and his
soldiers wheeled around and began a mad dash for the gates.

As the remaining
giant drew closer, Tristan heard two mighty bow shots go off behind
him as two ballistae missiles crossed the gap. One collided with
the giant’s chest, rocking him backwards while the second slammed
into his exposed stomach. The enormous creature lurched forward
between strides and fell forward, forcing the missiles through his
back with a sickening crack that could be heard from the walls. A
shower of blood leapt from the wounds, marking the death of the
last giant.

Quickly descending
the steps, Tristan ran for the gate. He came barreling around the
corner, hoping that Alison and her matron were alright. The
soldiers cleared the gates, followed closely by Kevin who
dismounted and grabbed a hold of his injured wife. He swept her
into his arms, as effortlessly as one would a child and ran for the
apothecary. Tristan rushed towards the soldier helping the blood
splattered matron and offered to help him. The girl looked up and
the color drained from Tristan’s face.

“Euri!” He muttered
breathlessly.

Filled with
adrenaline Tristan copied Kevin’s rush, sweeping Eurydice into his
arms and making for the apothecary.

~

“Fools!” The consul
bellowed as a bolt of fire inhaled one of her useless aides. The
bolt continued into the opposite wall, scorching it and leaving
smoldering legs to topple over as they sizzled.

“Amanda! I thought
you were taking care of those damned dragons!” The Consul
accused.

“I am m’lady.” She
bowed.

The Master Dragon
Slayer, Amanda Eberts, fairly bristled with all manner of weapons.
Swords, spears, a wicked looking bow with razor tipped arrows. She
was a tall woman, broad at the shoulders and slender in the hips.
Her uncovered arms, upper chest and abdomen were covered in various
scars. Anyone would call her attractive, but with her rippling
muscles and scarred body and face, her attractiveness was far more
appealing to the sort of men she employed as slayers.

Her slayers, once the
most powerful sect within the
Bane
, were all similarly
scarred and muscled. Each of her slayers had killed at least a
dozen adult sized dragons to be considered slayers; her inner
circle consisted of those who boasted at least fifty draconic
kills.

Her gaze leveled at
her one time lover, eyes on fire with anger at being cast down
since the last of the dragons took to hiding from her warriors.