The Fated Swords (Mystics of V'nairia #1) (6 page)

Chapter
IX

The Fire Drake

Zander and the others
had gotten up early the next morning anxious to meet with the Baroness again. They had so many questions that needed to be answered. There had been no sign of Ryder that morning, so they concluded that he must have gotten up earlier and left to run errands. They still had no idea what Ryder’s place was in the group, he was only supposed to guide them to the city. But they weren’t too worried about that for now. They knew they had to get to the mansion as soon as possible to meet Lady Thesia. They walked by Kerra’s room and tapped on the door. The door opened slowly as she walked out to greet them,

“Are you ready?” Z
ander asked her.

“Yes.”
She said smiling at him. The three of them walked out of the inn and began to walk down the street towards Thesia’s estate.

As they arrived the Baroness greeted them outside, “Good morning.” She said.

The three of the
m bowed courteously and told her good morning. She motioned the three of them to come inside; upon entering her home they had followed her up the staircase to the portrait on the top floor once again. Inside the secret room she had tea and fresh muffins waiting for them.

“Thank you for your kindness your
highness.” Zander said.

“Do not thank me;
I should be thanking you for helping me.” Thesia said.

“You wa
nted to meet with us today m’lady?” Heiro asked.

The B
aroness sipped her tea and gently placed the cup back on the table, “Yes we need to form a plan of action, and figure out where to send you next.” She said.

“What do you suggest?” Kerra asked.

“Well we have been watching you three eve
r since you left the capital, and I must say you are all quite skilled.” Thesia said praising them.

“I am still a bit new when it comes to spell casting but I’ve been learning quickly.” Zander said.

“You have natural talent inside of you, besides you have a splendid teacher. You all will grow much more powerful.” Thesia said.

  Suddenly they heard screams coming from inside the mansion, a man busted through the door. “M’lady, it’s the militia they’re attacking the city.” He said frantically.

“He
’s found us.” Zander said.

None
of this made any sense to the Baroness; their location had been kept secret. There was an informant somewhere either in the mansion or in the city itself, but they had no time to worry about it now. “How many men are there?” Thesia asked the man.

“There is at least a few hundred
, they have some men armed with guns and there are some with blades.” He said.

The
four of got up from their chairs and made their way back through the passage. “Get every available soldier you can find in the area to help outside, meanwhile send a few men to evacuate the civilians.” She explained to the man. He nodded and ran as fast as he could down the stairs and out the door.

“What should we do?” Heiro asked.

“You three will guard me, I am merely a diplomat and leader of the organization but I have no battle skills or experience.” The Baroness said.

“Who will lead them men outsi
de?” Kerra asked.

“I
’m sure the Fire Drake already has that covered.” Thesia said.

They finally
made it down to the entrance and looked out the windows; they saw the soldiers from the militia battling the soldiers from the city. “There are so many of them.” Zander said.

“Zander you and
Heiro help outside, I can protect the Baroness.” Kerra spoke up. Zander turned to look at her, he was frightened.

“You
can’t protect her alone.” He said.

“I
’m not helpless, I can handle this, just go.” Kerra said.

“Absolutely not
, you’ll both get killed.” Heiro said.

Zander could see the determination in her eyes, if she believed she could do it then he
had to believe in her too. “Alright, but if it gets too bad take the back exit and get out of here.” Zander said as he and Heiro opened the door and ran out.

“We will go to the ballroom and wait my lady.”
Kerra said grabbing her hand and leading her away from the entrance.

Outside Zander and Heiro joined the battle; they readied their weapons as a pair of soldiers ran at them with their blades drawn. They exchanged blow and with two quick swipes of their blades the soldiers went down.

“Wind Art: Slicing G
ale!” Zander shouted using his wind spell to take out a group of soldier to the east. Heiro used his fire magick to hit the group in the west.

The soldiers had kept
coming, “There seems to be no end to them.” Heiro said. They split up to take separate groups, when they saw another warrior enter the battle.

The warrior wore a red m
ask, and was clad in armor. He ran towards the enemy, “Flame art: Flare Burst.” The warrior shouted throwing a ball of fire into the mass of soldiers. The fire ball expanded engulfing the men in the flames. The warrior pulled out a bow with three flaming arrows drawn and pointed it upward into the air. He shot the arrows into the air, “Flame Art: Scattered Fire Shower.” The warrior said as the small flames burst into streams of fire raining down from the sky. Many of the militia’s soldiers were set ablaze, screaming in pain.

Zander and Heiro walked up to the mysterious man, “Who are you?
That was incredible.” Zander asked.

“Stay out of my way.”
The man said walking past them. More soldiers were rushing in, Zander and Heiro took the chance to show off their skills. They cast their wind and fire spells, “Combination Art: Flame Vortex!” they shouted. The whirlwind of flame swept through the soldiers lifting them into the air. The warrior didn’t seem impressed at all and had ignored them.

Inside the mansion, Kerra and Thesia had heard the glass from the front windows shatter and hit the floor. Kerra motioned the Baroness to remain silent. “Whatever happens to me I want you to run.” Kerra said to the Baroness.

Kerra left her in the ballroom and
walked out into the entrance, there were a couple of soldiers waiting for her. Kerra wasn’t the type to use weapons, in fact she despised them. She was a master of hand to hand combat, as well as a lighting magick user like her mother. One soldier ran at her and tried to strike her with their blade, but she caught it in her hands and kicked the man in the stomach. The two others came at her with fists this time, trying to overwhelm her. It hadn’t been a very successful attempt; she gave a roundhouse kick to one soldier in the head knocking him out. The last soldier stood in front of her with his weapon drawn, trying to carefully determine how to act.

“Lightning Style: Thunder C
rash!” she shouted as the bolt of lightning struck the soldier and threw him back against the wall. She ran back into the ballroom to meet back with the Baroness.

“Are they gone?” she asked.

“They definitely aren’t getting up for a while.” Kerra said smiling.

The soldiers
outside began to fire on the mansion with their guns and cannons. Parts of the building began to fall in, “We need to get out of here.” Kerra said as she grabbed Thesia’s hand and led here out of the room.

They began to fire flaming arrows which caught the mansion on fire. Zander and
Heiro had saw the flames and rushed inside. The Baroness and Kerra were lying in the entrance unconscious from smoke inhalation. Each grabbed one of the women and rushed outside, a safe distance from the collapsing building. The mysterious warrior had defeated most of the soldiers and the rest retreated.

“Kerra are you okay?” Z
ander called out to her stroking her cheek.

Her eyes opened and she looked up at him, “Took you long enough, we have to stop meeting like this.”
She said trying to laugh but only began to cough. The Baroness also opened her eyes and slowly rose up.

The warr
ior came over and joined them; Zander and Heiro were staring and admiring his armor. “You’re pretty powerful; I’m Zander from the capital.” He said holding out his hand, only to get it slapped away.

“Ashe, you mustn
’t be so rude they helped you did they not?” Thesia asked.

“Did she just say A
she?” Heiro asked.

The warrior took off their
mask; it was a girl with long red hair and red glowing eyes.

“Yes mother, but
it’s not like I needed it.” Ashe said.

“Mother?” Zander asked looking at the Baroness.

Thesia stood
slowly; she was still feeling the effects of the smoke. “Yes Ashe is my daughter, she is known as the Fire Drake.” She said. They were all very confused by what the baroness had said, she never told them she had a daughter. “I know you must have a lot of questions, but here is not the place to discuss it. We will meet back at the inn.” She said as Ashe helped her up and walked her down the street to the inn.

“Are you guys alright?” K
erra asked. She was still weak, Zander had seen the three soldiers enter the mansion earlier so he knew she must have taken them out.

“
Yes we’re fine.” Heiro said. “So I assume that you had your share of the fight as well?” he asked her.

She raised two fingers indicating that it was only a small fight. Zander picked her up and carried her to the inn, she knew that it somehow always ended up her being carried by him; but she didn’t mind it
at all he made her feel safe. Her feelings for him were definitely beginning to grow, though she never knew how to deal with it. The three of them followed Ashe and Thesia to the inn hopeful in getting some answers.

  Back at the inn they
had freshened up with a nice hot bath and they waited in the boy’s room for Ashe and the Baroness to join them to discuss the matters at hand.

There was a
knock at the door, “Come in.” Zander said.

Ashe and Thesia walked through the
door; the Baroness found a chair and sat down while Ashe stood against the door. This time Ashe wasn’t wearing her armor, she wore a black buttoned top that was obviously snug considering the size of her breasts and she also had on a short red skirt. Heiro had a very hard time not staring at her.

“So how is A
she your daughter? You’re not a mystic.” Zander asked.

“
You’re right I’m not a mystic but seventeen years ago I found Ashe in an abandoned town, she hadn’t even been a year old.” Thesia said.

“So she had no family there?” kerra asked.

“No there was no one with her.” The Baroness said.

“I
’m so sorry Ashe.” Kerra said looking over at her.

“I
’m not sorry; I have a mother regardless.” Ashe said pointing to Thesia.

“You
’ll have to forgive her, she can be a bit blunt and rude.” She said glaring at her daughter. “So what’s our plan of action, what do we do next?” Zander asked.

Thesia pulled out a map and laid it
on the table. “I believe Ashe and I will take some soldiers and go up to the city of Rygoth and speak to the Duke there. We will try to get more help.” She explained.

“So what do you want us to do in the mean time?”
Heiro asked.

She pointed to an empty area on the map, “You will take the cave under the northern w
aterfall, until you get to the Order’s underground hideout and wait for us there. We should meet there around the same time.” The Baroness explained.

There was a knock at the door,
Ashe opened it and Ryder walked inside. He had been gone the entire time even during the attack from the militia.

“Where have you been?
” Heiro asked.

Ryder bowed co
urteously to them and took the Baroness’s hand and kissed it gently. “Forgive me; I had gotten bored so I took a walk outside of the city.” Ryder said.

Heiro moved jumped across the table and pushed Ryder up against the wall with his hand on his neck. “We were fighting for our lives and defending the city, while you were picking flowers and seeing the sights!” He shouted.

Ryder’s expression never changed, “I do believe fighting in a room full of woman is quite rude.” Ryder said smiling.

“Heiro calm down.” Kerra said.

Heiro released him and walked back over to his seat. “I didn’t realize there was another in your group.” Thesia said.

“There isn
’t, Ryder had just guided us to the city.” Zander said.

Ryder gathered himself from the floor, “I don’t mind sticking around and helping out a little longer, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I can help you get to that cave at least.”
He said.