Corvino
The bells at the guard tower began to ring, and before anyone who didn't have a dragon mentally directing warnings at them were stunned. Corvino was the lucky one. He turned to Elsa and started to bring her mind back. "Elsa, I know what's coming. I would have said something earlier, but I got distracted by the stories. I apologize for not telling you. We can debate on what will happen later, but for now, this town needs a leader. This will be one of the hardest days of your reign, because it's not you that the attackers are after, it's your people. Go. Lead them. Get Kristoff to start organizing a caravan out. Get the guards to evacuate in a perimeter, and above all else, know that you can do this."
Before Elsa can say anything, he shot towards the stairs in the tavern that led to the room he rented. "Could have given me more warning." He muttered the words, seemingly to himself, but he knew he wasn't truly alone.
I'm sorry. I lost track of them while caring for the wyrmling. Esmerelle's response came into his head, and he just sighed. The room he rented was small, and he started replacing all his weapons to see if he can aid in his defense. The next message made him pause. This group is more than it seems. Something feels wrong. Promise me you will be careful, little one. I will try to get there as fast as I can.
Corvino finished replacing his weapons. I'll do my best to be careful, but no promises. Stay close. I don't want to involve you if it can be helped. With the size of the hoarde, Redbrooke is lost.
His reception of the dragon's response was cut off by a scream. He tied his cloak around him while he went to the window to determine the source. He saw Anna and Elsa with some children. A pair of goblins approached them and they were running out of room in the alley. Corvino jumped out the window, springing into action.
Elsa
When Corvino turned away, again he seemed to be muttering to himself. The windows exploded as arrows flew in striking tables and barrels. She shouted to Kristoff who surprisingly understood her and followed her orders. Anna however, had other plans. She was hovering over the tavern owner, who had an arrow sticking out of him. Elsa rushed over.
"My princess, my queen. Save my children. Please." with his last strength, he pointed to a door.
Elsa took her sister's hand and the two rushed to find three children, two girls and one boy.
"Follow us, we'll get you out of here." Anna started.
"But what about Da?" the oldest daughter asked. She looked about ten.
Anna looked at her sister, and Elsa tried to find the right words. "Your father wants you all to get out safely. We must get going." She picked up the smallest, a girl who couldn't have been older than three. Anna took the hands of the other two and the group jumped as the tavern door swung open, and a several grotesque humanoids walked in. Elsa couldn't believe her eyes. Those were goblins. She didn't even think they were alive.
The oldest spoke again, "Back door." She led them to the back door, and they exited into an alley. Their escape was short-lived, as they saw two more goblins coming down the alley, and these ones noticed the group. The daughter shreiked. The goblins approached with menacing looks on their faces.
That's when a blur dropped and a spray of blood erupted from the left one. The right one dropped to the ground from a leg tripping it. In a flash, Corvino was on top of it, punching it square in the nose once. Twice. Three times. After the third time, two daggers appeared in his hands as he the last thing that goblin saw were two daggers on a downward arc right for them. For added effect, he twisted. He rose and spun to launch the two daggers down the alley, and they hit each of their marks square in the throat. Elsa again was sure that he had training. Nobody who learned "From the road" could fight like this. It was an almost unbridled savagery.
Corvino turned around and looked at the group. "Everyone alright?"
Elsa nodded. "We were getting the bartender's kids out."
"Follow me. I'll take care of you all." He drew his longsword. He led them to the town square, but stopped when he saw a group of townsfolk being harassed by more goblins. One of them looked big and ugly enough to be a leader. "Stay here."
Elsa was about to protest, but he was already gone. He stepped into the clearing, stuck his sword in the ground and threw a group of knives, each one finding their mark. The leader then turned to regard him as he retrieved his longsword.
"Hey, big dumb and ugly. How about you pick on someone who's closer to your skill level." The goblin moved toward the man and bellowed a challenge. Corvino responded by drawing the short sword from over his shoulder.
Elsa took the moment to escort her sister and the kids to Kristoff's sleigh. The townsfolk saved by Corvino ran down the road out of the town towards Arendelle's capital. When she turned her attention to Corvino, he was fending off another slew of goblins. She saw one that was about to strike him and reacted, hitting it with a blast of ice. It froze solid right away.
Before she could comprehend what she did, Corvino looked over and just nodded a thanks. The sentiment was short lived, as the ground began to shake. A behemoth broke through a house, and Elsa found herself calling to Corvino as he ran to meet it's challenge.
Corvino.
He barely heard the call. This thing wasn't going to kill the queen, even if he had to sacrifice himself.
Don't you dare think that, little one. I'm swiftly approaching. In the meantime, use your speed.
Corvino sheathed both blades, and rolled between the thing's legs. He already knew what he was doing. He drew knives and hopped on the thing's back. Using them to climb up to the head, he then found a meaty area in the neck and stabbed with both. He wasn't fast enough to keep the thing from throwing him off, as the hulking giant threw him into a nearby wall. He heard the thing collapse and he saw Elsa running over to him. He tried to stand up and felt a stabbing pain in his side. Sensing Esmerelle's alarm, he shot a mental response at her. That one hurt. Think I broke a rib.
"Corvino, are you alright?" She helped him stand.
"A beautiful lady like yourself shouldn't worry about a wretch like me." Something lit up in her eyes, as he confirmed her suspicions, but before anymore words could be said, a new cry split the night.
Elsa
She saw the pain. Corvino looked in bad shape. "Corvino, are you alright?" She grabbed his arm and helped him stand.
"A beautiful lady like yourself shouldn't worry about a wretch like me." Her heart leapt, as her mind raced to figure out what question she was going to ask next. Before she could ask she heard a roar.
"What the hell was that?" Kristoff had come to get the pair. "Was that a dragon?"
Elsa turned to look at Corvino. His eyes were closed. "No, Master Bjorgman, that was a drake. Dragon calls are more melodic. The town is lost. You should move.
"You're coming with, right?" She looked at him plaintively. "You're hurt."
His response was stopped by him pushing them. The next thing she knew, she felt searing heat, as drakefire rained down around them. Corvino was on the other side of a firey wall. She wanted to put the fires out, to help this man, but Kristoff pulled her to his sleigh. A shadow fell over them and a rush of wind blew out the fires. Elsa looked up to see a beautiful emerald-colored hulk, land behind Corvino, who was already climbing on.
"This my dear Kristoff, is a dragon." for added effect, the dragon roared and leapt to the air to take on the newcomer. Elsa stared after the pair, lost in her thoughts. This revealation answered a lot of questions, but brought more.
Anna interrupted her thoughts. "Elsa? Come on. Loverboy will find us if he wants to."
Corvino
The dragon led Corvino to the drake, and he let out a curse. What the bloody hell is a specter doing here?
Want me to get you close enough to ask? The dragon looked at him with amusement. It would be a good chance to impress the queen that seems to be enamored with you.
Just get me closer. This wasn't the time for the jokes, but the dragon put the mental image of Elsa watching them fly into the night in his head. Without a response the dragon moved closer, paying no heed to the forces running away into the forest.
Corvino stood up. His chest was bothering him, but the rush of being airborne pushed the pain aside. He ran atop Esmerelle's head and crouched, anticipation coursing through his veins. This was his first battle with a specter, and he was going to fight it on his own terms. He formed the plan in his head. "Get it to the square. I'll engage, you take the drake out."
A curt snort was the only reply, as she corraled the drake over. Corvino received a mental image of the saddle that the specter sat in, and smiled. "Now!" He jumped and knocked the specter, using a dagger to cut the saddle. The two fell to the ground as the drake and dragon flew off snapping at one another.
This time, Corvino rolled when he hit the ground, but saw that the specter was standing over it's saddle. That, combined with the pain in his chest elicited a new string of curses. The specter drew it's blade, and Corvino drew his twin blades. The skirmish didn't take long before Corvino knew he was outmatched. He did his best to keep from taking hits, but he took one in his thigh. Fresh waves of pain rolled over him as he did a mental check. He looked down to see an arrow sticking out of him just above his knee. In a flash, the specter killed the goblin that shot the arrow out of anger. Corvino cracked a smile through the waves of pain. For all the prowess that specters had, they all held a high sense of honor. He threw the only thing he had left, his short sword, and it found it's mark, slicing into the specter just as it turned around. A blast of magic shot out from it knocking him off his feet, but he had heard the stories, knowing he had killed the specter. The last thing he saw around the darkness that was closing his eyes were two bright blue orbs.
Elsa
Elsa saw the dive into the town square and she jumped out of the sleigh, running back to the town. She didn't see Corvino on the dragon, so she ran as fast as she could. She came into the square to see him get shot in the leg. The hooded figure that he was fighting flew with dizzying speed to kill the shooter, and she saw Corvino throw his blade at it. She hid behind the wall when a wave of magic burst out from it. All she saw where the figure had been was a pile of bones. She ran to Corvino, who had passed out. She looked down and saw the arrow had broken in the blast and that the wound was bleeding. She didn't know what to do. She tried to cover it up.
The drake's cry split the night, and she looked around. She went back to tending to the man when the wind whirled around her. She turned to see the beautiful green dragon land, and move close. The queen gasped and backed away, which made the dragon pause.
Fear not, little queen. I will not harm you. Elsa jumped, looking around for the voice that had just addressed her. She thought the voice was female. You are hearing me through your mind. It is unusual for me to communicate with anyone else this way. Despite this there are a few factors to the situation that make it necessary, the most important of this being the health of my dear friend. The dragon nodded her head at Corvino to emphasize the point.
"What can I do?" Elsa asked, looking at the man.
First off, grab his blade. Then we need to get him healing.
"I know of someone who might help," Elsa started as she retrieved the blade. "My sister's fiancee was raised by trolls. We can try to find them."
I have heard of the healing abilities of trolls. I always hoped to see them in action, just not under these circumstances. Elsa felt the dragon's worry. As she sheathed the blades.
"Then we will move swiftly, though we will have to get Kristoff and Anna."
Or, they will find us. The dragon crained her neck over to study the sleigh that was approaching.
"ELSA, DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN. YOU SCARED ME HALF TO-" Anna squeaked and went silent when she saw the dragon, who tried to move out of sight.
"Don't worry. She's with Corvino." Elsa explained that she had seen Corvino get on the dragon when the drake appeared. She was surprised when Kristoff confirmed her story. "Kristoff, we need to get him to your family."
Kristoff already went to giving Corvino first aid, but there was only so much the man could do. "I think you're right. Here, help me move him on the sleigh." The dragon growled, causing him to pause. "I'm sorry. We will do it your way."
"Kristoff was just trying to help. Please. Let us help him." Elsa pleaded with the dragon. Let me help him, she thought.
The dragon turned to regard her. She moved close enough for Elsa to feel her hot breath. It took the queen a moment to realize the dragon was sniffing her. She had barely registered the thought when it shifted to meet Elsa's gaze with her own vivid green orbs. Do what is necessary. I am only trusting you because you intrigue me. I will follow as soon as I attend to something.
Elsa wondered what the dragon meant by her intriguing the magnificient beast, and the response formed in her head as the dragon took off. I'm curious to see more of the one who's occupied my companion's thoughts for the better part of the day. Elsa blushed, not knowing how to react. Anna and Kristoff had put Corvino in the sleigh, and Elsa saw the three children that she had rescued from earlier. Anna did her best to tend to calm the children while Elsa tried to tend to the man. After two and a half years, she wasn't going to let him get away again. Not without a proper explaination.
Ruh-Roh...Things aren't looking good for Corvino. He can't die, can he? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. As always, feel free to review, or shoot me a message.