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Turning back to the duel taking place before him, Aiden could see that his fears were well founded, as Commander Black hadn’t really slowed down at all, but the big ranger had taken some brutal hits and was fighting defensively.

Aiden raised his scepter, and with as much energy as he could muster, aimed it at Black and waited for an opportunity. Colt was pushed backwards after parrying a heavy blow from his opponent, and Aiden saw his chance.

He spoke the command word and blasted Robert with a beam of light. It wasn’t enough to cut through his iron armor, but he seared some of the less protected areas, at least. Aiden doubted he could muster another shot, so he moved forward to assist.

Moving as quickly and quietly as he could manage, Aiden moved within range of his opponent, and swung with all of his remaining strength.

The scepter struck true, driving into Black’s left thigh and staggering the surprised warrior enough for Colt to strike his helm with his greatsword. The blow caused Black to falter, but he still had the presence of mind to spin with the blow and swing his sword at Aiden.

The force shield took the brunt of the impact, deflecting the sword above his body so that Aiden wasn’t struck directly. What he didn’t see coming was Robert’s shield, which combined with a lunge to smash into Aiden’s side with all the weight of the heavily armored man behind it.

Aiden felt his right arm break from the blow. The scepter cracked and fell from his nerveless hand into the blood-tinged snow, with Aiden screaming in pain as he fell right along with it. Turning his head, he was somewhat relieved to see Colt pressing the attack, keeping the man busy so he couldn’t finish off what he’d started.

It had all been worth it, however, for the blows Aiden had struck had slowed Black enough to give the ranger a fighting chance. Colt grunted with each swing of his greatsword, and fought as if he were trying to bash his way through his opponent’s heavy armor. It might have been protecting him from the deadly cuts the sword would have inflicted, but Aiden was sure Black was covered in bruises underneath.

The mercenary commander brought his weapon in high, but Colt managed to block it — a near-fatal mistake, as his slowing reflexes couldn’t bring any defense against Robert’s shield. It smashed Colt in the face, dazing him momentarily and giving Black an opening to drive his sword straight down into Colt’s foot and through into the snow beneath.

Black withdrew the bloodied sword immediately as Colt fell. The mercenary paused to catch his breath, ambivalent toward the screams of his fallen foe.

“Hell of a fight, mate,” Black said to Colt between breaths, “but you never really had a chance. Still, you’ve got my respect for almost ruining my whole plan.”

“Are you planning to talk me to death?” Colt snarled between clenched teeth.

“Nope, sword to the head,” Black replied evenly. “I like to gloat a bit sometimes. Sorry to bore—”

He was interrupted by a diminutive form who attempted to stab him from behind, having crept up close while he had been speaking to Colt. Black whirled around, sword first, but met only empty air as it passed over the top of the person crouching behind him. Aiden was astonished to see Princess Criosa, rapier in hand, attempting to fight the big mercenary.

“Criosa?” Robert asked, as startled as Aiden. “I don’t believe it; you fools brought her along? This changes everything. I’ll be able to salvage this entire situation and hold her for ransom.”

“You’ll have to catch me first,” she challenged defiantly. Robert set about doing just that, swinging his heavy blade around, side on, to try and subdue her. Criosa was extremely nimble, however, and easily dodged the attack.

She wasn’t alone, either. Sayana was again on her feet and pressing the attack, and Aiden could see a shining breastplate moving in from another angle as Nellise rejoined the fight.

With Robert’s injuries, Aiden figured the three women might stand a chance. Sayana was still unsteady on her feet, but unwilling to yield. All Aiden could do was hold his broken arm close and watch from a snowbank.

As Nellise approached to strike at the mercenary with her staff, Robert’s shield impacted her helmet and sent her falling back into the snow. Sayana roared aloud, raising her axe high above her head, then lunged at the mercenary, chopping with what strength she had left.

The shining axe held an edge sharper than any iron weapon, shearing through Black’s armor and severing the straps that held it in place, cutting deep into his arm. The mercenary reflexively spun around to protect his vulnerable flank, dropping his shield in the process, for his wounded arm could no longer carry it.

Sayana tried to follow through with another attack, but received an unexpected kick to the stomach that knocked her back. Criosa then stabbed at Robert’s arm, but left herself vulnerable to a backhanded blow from Robert’s armored fist that sent her sprawling into the snow.

Robert was too busy to pursue her, for Nellise had regained her footing and pressed the attack. He met each swing of her staff with his blade. Aiden couldn’t believe the man was still standing, let alone fighting.

Criosa steeled herself and stepped back into the fight, trying to poke her rapier through a gap in the joints of his armor, but Black kept moving around, making her task all the more difficult.

The princess finally made a mistake, dodging left when she should have gone right, and received an unexpected kick to her midriff which sprawled her out in the snow, winded. Nellise stood alone against the powerful mercenary, and appeared to have given up all hope of trying to take him down herself. She slowly backed away while keeping her guard up.

She had moved about three yards when Aiden noticed a small form descending from above. It was Sayana, silently floating down through the air with her axe raised above her head. Nellise looked up briefly, and whether or not it was intended, her reaction alerted Black to the presence of the threat.

He whirled around at the last minute, but wasn’t prepared for what was coming. Sayana ceased her casual descent and dropped like a stone, bringing her axe down on his head with all of the force she had built up from the fall.

Only Robert’s honed reflexes prevented the axe from splitting him in two. The weapon cleaved through the front of his helm, almost splitting it in half and gashing his face terribly. The devastating blow finally dropped the powerful man, who fell backward to the ground amongst his fallen comrades.

Aiden silently exulted in his friend’s victory, and slowly picked himself up off the ground to make his way over. Sayana, Nellise and Criosa gathered around the grievously wounded mercenary, who was clutching at his wounded face.

“Yield or die,” Nellise declared, standing over him with her staff ready to strike, her chest heaving from the exertion of the fight. The mercenary didn’t respond at first, but Aiden couldn’t believe for a moment the man was still prepared to fight.

“I yield,” Black croaked, looking up at them out of his right eye, the left one having been destroyed by Sayana’s final stroke. “You’ve fought well for a bunch of untrained civilians.”

“Order your forces to surrender,” Criosa demanded. “You shall have plenty of time to think of your mistakes during your impending imprisonment.”

Black actually managed a macabre laugh, not exactly the sort of sound one should be hearing from a defeated enemy. “I don’t think I’ll be going to prison, Your Highness, as there isn’t going to be much left of Culdeny in a few minutes.”

“What are you talking about?” Aiden asked, a feeling of dread descending over him.

“I’ve made arrangements,” the mercenary replied cryptically.

“Enough of this nonsense,” Criosa ordered impatiently. “We’re taking you into town, and anything that befalls it happens to you as well.”

Robert looked up at the sky, as did Aiden, noticing that the sun was about to peek over the horizon. “The dragon,” he breathed. “It’s going to strike at dawn, isn’t it?”

“Azurefang might be a little crazy, but she does what she’s paid to do,” Robert confirmed, seeming to be more relaxed with every passing moment. “So, here’s what’s going to happen. I—”

Pacian appeared next to Robert at that moment and interrupted his speech by plunging a dagger into the man’s throat, sending a torrent of blood gushing onto the snow. Black clutched at the wound in a futile attempt to staunch the flow, gasping for breath. Aiden was stunned, and could only stare at Pacian in disbelief.

“Don’t just stand there, run!” Pacian shouted, grabbing an equally shocked Nellise by the wrist and pulling her in the direction of town. An ominous roar could be heard in the distance, a sound that had the hairs on the back of Aiden’s neck standing on end.

He had the presence of mind to look around and make sure everyone else was running, and saw that Colt was still down on the ground, grievously wounded. Aiden rushed to his side and offered a hand.

“Get out of here, I’ll just slow you down,” Colt grunted, but Aiden was in no mood to deal with his death wish.

“Get on your feet, mister,” he shouted, kneeling down to reach around the ranger’s shoulder. Realizing Aiden wasn’t going to give up on him so easily, Colt accepted his help and did what he could to carry his own weight.

The man weighed a ton, and Aiden was forced to use every ounce of his remaining strength to move him. With one last check of the area, he saw Criosa and Sayana were helping the equally wounded Sergeant Evans to his feet, despite meeting similar protests from the tough old soldier.

Somewhere above, in the gathering fog, the dragon Robert Black had called Azurefang headed towards Culdeny.

It was a quarter of a mile to the town gate, and the group was struggling to move as fast as they could, considering half of them were barely able to stand. The sounds of Culdeny could be heard through the fog, a combination of cries for help, shouted orders for soldiers to follow, and the clash of weapons as a few of the Steel Tigers kept on fighting, not realizing their leader was already dead.

“Get off the road!” Aiden called out to the others nearby, changing direction to head into the trees. He hoped it was enough cover to protect them from being spotted. He set Colt down in the bushes and hit the ground himself, wincing from the pain of his broken arm as he slid to a halt.

Pacian and Nellise came in next, collapsing onto the ground. Sayana and Criosa managed to get Evans into the copse as well, just as the sound of beating wings passed overhead and the dark silhouette of the dragon wheeled through the misty sky.

It roared again, and the fog was illuminated by the blast of fire as it doused part of the town in flames. Cries of both panic and defiance emanated from the other side of the wall as Aiden and his companions sat helplessly, unable to change Culdeny’s fate.

For several minutes, Azurefang circled over the town, sending down torrents of fire at leisure, but its path through the air was uneven and erratic. Sounds of inspirational battle cries coming from the eastern wall brought Aiden to a realization — the men on that wall should have been preoccupied by mercenaries, but since the mercenary’s reinforcements had been eliminated, it left the defenders free to rain bolts and arrows into the dragon’s hide.

The dragon suddenly made a strange noise, sounding more like a startled yelp than a roar. Unable to see clearly through the fog, Aiden could only guess what was happening in the skies above, until a small explosion of fire lit up the massive beast for a brief instant as something impacted its hide. It was accompanied by a shriek of pain and surprise from the dragon, which circled away from the town as another small explosion landed on its hindquarters.

“What the hell is hitting it?” Colt asked nobody in particular.

“Is there a wizard in town I wasn’t aware of?” Nellise wondered aloud. Azurefang was maneuvering through the skies in a random pattern, blasting fire down upon the town as more explosions hit its massive bulk.

The dragon snarled and something dropped out of the sky, landing heavily near the road roughly twenty yards away. A brief glimpse of its massive, serpentine body, with dozens of arrows sticking out of its hide, was visible as it flew in the clear for a moment.

If Azurefang saw them at all, it didn’t pay any attention. The dragon flew away from the town, back to the east and the safety of the mountains. For the first time in hours, Aiden finally relaxed and as his adrenaline ebbed, he felt all the pains and exhaustion of the past day hit him at once.

“I guess it bit off a little more than it could chew,” he muttered in amazement.

“Go and see what fell on the road,” Pacian prompted him.

Despite his broken body, curiosity got the better of Aiden, and he slowly hobbled out onto the road to take a look. Lying in the snow was a metal spear, eight feet in length, and with a barbed tip covered in blood. Part of the shaft was charred black from the explosion, but there was no indication as to why the ordinary-looking spear had caused the charring.

“What the hell is the matter with you, anyway?” Colt growled at Pacian as Aiden returned. “Robert Black had surrendered, and you had to go and stick a knife in his throat?”

“We had to run, and he was going to do everything in his power to be difficult,” Pacian explained. “I couldn’t leave him there, knowing the dragon was coming and he was in league with the beast. He can’t command it when he’s dead.”

“For once, you’re making sense,” Colt stated, without enthusiasm for this admission.

“There’s something I never thought I’d hear you say,” Pacian remarked.

“Shut up, the both of you,” Aiden sighed. “We get it, already. Just … be quiet for a while.”

“You’re such a problem for us, sometimes,” Nellise mumbled, disappointed. “You could have just knocked him out, Pace. I would have preferred he stand trial for his crimes.”

“Hey, remember what happened back in that Akoran cave?” Pacian reminded her. “That’s what happens when you let bad people get away with bad things: good people die for no reason. I’m not ever going to let that happen again, even if I have to bathe in a sea of blood.”

Nellise looked directly into his eyes and fondly ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair. “Oh, Pacian, how can you be such a monster and be so endearing at the same time?” she breathed. “Whatever am I going to do with you?”

He didn’t have a reply for that, and simply leaned his head tiredly against her shoulder.

Epilogue

Militia archers stationed behind the wall opened the gate for Aiden and his companions as they approached. Many of the buildings were on fire, with citizens rushing through the streets with buckets of water attempting to control the blaze. The Seaspray Inn hadn’t been spared, with several of its walls on fire and most of the roof caved in. The sounds of fighting could still be heard off in the distance, lending a grim ambience to the devastated surroundings.

They headed for the church, which was filled with wounded soldiers and civilians alike, and half a dozen young clerics doing their utmost to tend to the injured. Although plying their ministrations as quickly as they could, unmoving bodies covered in blankets nearby indicated they were not always successful.

Aiden slowly sat against the wall with the others, his mind barely active as the rush of the situation surrounding them breezed past. Nellise set about setting his broken arm in a splint and bandaging up the worst of their injuries, then collapsed alongside Aiden, her own injuries getting the better of her.

Nearly an hour later, the sounds of fighting subsided, and subdued cheering could be heard coming from the streets outside. The forces of the Crown seemed to have been victorious at last.

“It’s over,” Aiden whispered, drawing a brief nod of acknowledgement from Criosa, who had sat down next to him. Considering the devastation, it seemed a hollow victory.

Shortly afterwards, a blood-spattered Sergeant Ariel entered through the large double doors, helped along by one of her corporals, who followed her directions and half-carried her to one of the pews in front of Aiden. The corporal helped her to sit, and then the sergeant waved him away, leaning upon her bloodied sword as one would a cane.

“Good morning, Mister Wainwright,” she said, the strain evident in her raspy voice. “I’m sorry the town is such a mess; we’ve had a few problems. A hundred of them, to be exact. But my men tell me you and your friends had a hand in taking the pressure off our eastern flank?”

“We needed to get the princess back into town, and they were in the way,” Aiden explained with a weak voice.

Ariel blinked in surprise and glanced around at the others until she laid eyes upon Criosa, who smiled wanly back at the sergeant. “Good God, is that you, Highness? I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you, looking so…”

“Tattered? It’s all right, Sergeant; I feel better than I look, thanks to Aiden and his companions.”

“Glad I was able to assist,” Aiden whispered modestly.

“And so self-effacing, too,” Criosa remarked with a faint smile. “I might have use for you in Fairloch, if you’re interested.”

Aiden’s tired brain didn’t quite grasp what she was saying for a few seconds, but the implications were far-reaching. “I’ll have to think about it,” he mumbled, somewhat dumbfounded.

“Aiden, the princess asked you to serve the Crown,” Colt pointed out. “The appropriate response is ‘Yes, Your Highness, I would be honored.’”

“I think he’s waiting to hear how much he’s going to get paid,” Pacian confided.

“That reminds me, there’s something else I found,” Aiden interrupted, pulling out the folded note he had retrieved from Bartlett’s body. “Ronald Bartlett had this on him when he met an unfortunate end. It is addressed to him.”

Ariel took the proffered note and read it aloud. “It says, ‘Find Commander Black and convey my displeasure to him concerning the handling of his duties thus far. I expect my money’s worth from this deal, and if he and his band of half-wits are unable to perform as expected, I shall have them join the king in his bloody campaign in the west.’ It is signed ‘Number One’. How cryptic.”

“Captain Marshald said that someone was making a move against the Crown, and your kidnapping was probably the first step,” Aiden said to Criosa. “Bartlett was a big name locally, but he was taking orders from someone else. Have you made any enemies of late?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” she replied, her eyes wide at the thought of a conspiracy against her.

“Being that you’re the only heir to the throne, are you due to be married to someone of note?” Aiden asked.

“Some names have been floated, but nothing is certain yet,” Criosa responded.

“Perhaps this is a reason behind your kidnapping. Control you, and someone else can control the throne,” Aiden warned, which did nothing to calm her down.

“The script is very elegant,” Ariel noted, handing the letter to Criosa. “Do you recognize the handwriting?”

“No; it doesn’t seem familiar, although that’s hardly conclusive,” she mused after a brief examination. “It does look like the writing of a well-educated individual, certainly. Perhaps one of the lords hired the Steel Tigers to kidnap me, and used Bartlett as a liaison?”

“It’d cost a hell of a lot of money to hire a mercenary army,” Colt grunted. “But none of this explains why they attacked the town. And who in his right mind would bring in a bloody dragon to help, anyway?”

“Maybe they got greedy and wanted to loot the place on the way through,” Pacian remarked cynically.

“This is an outrage,” Criosa breathed. “The sheer scale of this entire operation … it’s bad enough to attempt to kidnap a member of the royal family, but to slaughter innocents in the process? I must go to Fairloch and get to the bottom of this, and hold the culprits accountable.”

“That would be extremely dangerous, Highness,” Aiden warned.

“Not with you and your companions there to protect me, it wouldn’t,” Criosa replied with a wink. “And you’ll be suitably rewarded for your efforts here today, and in the future, I assure you.”

“We accept,” Pacian quickly answered for him.

“I ... yes, I suppose so,” Aiden managed to agree. “Before we get to that, I have one question, sarge. I saw what looked like a large metal spear drop from the dragon’s body on the way past. What was that?”

“We can thank Captain Sir Denholm Sherrard, of His Majesty’s ship Redoubtable, for that,” Ariel explained. “The ship arrived yesterday morning, stopping by for supplies and repairs on its way back to Fairloch from the war zone. They have some sort of special ordnance that catches fire on impact. I doubt the flames did anything to a monster like that, but the ballista bolts they use have very sharp tips and are propelled at speed.”

“Excuse me a moment; I think the Archioness wants to speak with me,” Nellise said. She slowly stood and began gingerly making her way over to speak with the head of the local church, whose white robe was stained with blood and ash.