When this is all over, Alijah remarked, we will have to review the size of our forces. The Rebellion has reduced our numbers beyond expectations.
We will require no such review, Malliath countered. The realm is inhabited by mortals. We have only to pass a new law, conscripting every man and woman who dies into our army.
Alijah considered the dragon’s suggestion. Elegant, he complimented. And no waste. Even in death, every man and woman will have purpose.
The king liked it. He walked back to the throne and sighed as he took his place upon it. All they had to do was crush The Rebellion and that world would be in his grasp. With that in mind, he wondered how his sister was doing.
Inara dashed across the rooftop, just as she had across every other, to escape the incoming arrows. The archers, firing at her from the surrounding towers, forced the Guardian to remain in the heart of Vangarth, where the majority of Reavers hunted her from the streets.
Skidding the last few feet, Inara dropped down onto a lower roof and narrowly avoided an arrow. Refusing to give up her momentum, the Guardian dropped into a roll before leaping up the adjacent wall and renewing her climb. Returned to her previous height, she was in the sight of multiple archers. It was instinct to fall back on her magic and keep the arrows at bay with a shield, but she dared not rely on it. Instead, Inara put her faith in her physical abilities.
Again, she jumped from one building to the next and just missed the arrows seeking her heart. Though the strength of her jump was more than any man could have dreamt, her timing was off. Instead of landing perfectly on the next rooftop, her chest slammed into the side of the building as her hands gripped the ledge above. Besides taking the wind out of her, it gave the Reavers below a chance to catch up.
Keep moving! Athis urged.
Where are you? she asked, heaving herself up.
You will know when I am there, the dragon promised.
By the time she was firmly on the roof, a pair of Reavers were ascending from the other end. Adding to their number, three more were climbing up behind her.
“Damn…” she panted.
What is it? Athis questioned.
Dead men can climb, she complained.
Left or right, the adjacent buildings were too far even for her. An arrow whistled past her face, reminding her that standing still wasn’t an option, and leaving her with one path. With no time to conjure a plan, Inara burst into a sprint. By her second step, Firefly was in her hand, its cold steel hungry for action. With little more than six feet between her and the two Reavers, the Guardian covered the remaining distance in the air. Her red cloak twisted, following her body round, until she came down on the nearest Reaver. Firefly cut through the top corner of its head before her feet touched down.
The second lunged at her without hesitation and the two fell into the rhythm of battle. Inara gained the advantage when an arrow, meant for her, caught the Reaver in the back, behind its shoulder. It wasn’t a killing blow for the fiend, but it was enough to push it forward and into Inara’s sweeping scimitar. As the body crumpled to the rooftop, absent its head, three more Reavers appeared at the other end. The Guardian only gave them a glance, however, her real concern lying with the archers on the nearby tower. Their aim was getting better.
Even now, she could see four of the undead fiends aiming their bows down in her direction. She knew a dozen spells that would either protect her or reduce the top of the tower to kindling, but her open palm failed to conjure little more than sparks.
Athis was not so hindered.
The dragon shot over the town like a spear hurled by a vengeful god. His breath was that of fury and flames and it brought a light more blinding than the sun to Vangarth. The top half the nearest tower exploded and the Reavers with it. Before the shower of debris found the earth, Athis had already moved on and destroyed the next with his front claws. His tail swept in and tore the rest of it to splinters. Flying around the edge of the town, immune to petty arrows, he continued to light up the night and bring fire to their enemies.
One by one, the towers fell to his might and ringed the town with sentinels of fire.
Inara smiled. There was no missing a dragon’s entrance. We need to rid Vangarth of every Reaver, she said, bracing Firefly in both hands. We need supplies and we need to create a safe passage for the Drakes.
Athis held his reply while she weaved and ducked between the three attacking Reavers. There are dozens leaving the town as we speak, he informed.
Inara deflected two blades at once and kicked the third away. Leaving the town?
They’re marching south, Athis reported gravely.
The Guardian shoved one Reaver from the roof, removing it from the fight altogether, and drove her sword up through the jaw of a second. He’s marching them back to the pit, she concluded, before manipulating the lifeless Reaver to shield herself against the third.
Inara, Athis intoned, if Alijah knows what Adan’Karth and Kassian are doing, there must be Reavers close by.
Discarding the second body from the end of her scimitar, Inara pivoted and sliced one way then the other across the last Reaver. The second attack decapitated it, leaving her alone on the rooftop. Absorbing the dragon’s words, she turned to regard the forest north of the town. A sense of dread swelled in her chest.
Go, Athis urged.
Inara turned around to see her companion igniting the main road to the south. Through their bond, she knew that dozens of
