Welcome back. I'm not going to waste too much time here.
Corvino
The thrill came back to him. He cut loose. He had been dropped into the thick of battle, while Esmerelle and Corypheus took on the drakes. Thorin was with him to start, but very quickly the smaller man forged into the masses on his own. The carnage left behind was nothing compared to the carnage in front of him. The army comprising of men and goblins pushed each other to try to take on this new enemy in their ranks, only to find themselves cut down savagely by his blades.
Stab Right, parry left, thrust behind, slash ahead. The sound of battle was music to him, and he was the primary instrument. The man was no stranger to dealing death, but such was the death he dealt that crimson and black rivulets ran the length of his blades. His steel eyes were cold. Unflinching. Uncaring. Amidst all the death that he caused, Corvino Al' Draco never felt more alive.
Elsa
She saw Corvino drop into the thick of battle, and tried to pick him out. Losing sight of him, she listened to Garrus explain the battle formations. The queen did her best to pay attention, due to the fact that it was common knowledge that there were more battles to come. She felt a pang of guilt seeing the armies clash, knowing that men were going to die to protect her. Elsa wished she could do something about it.
A hand rested on her shoulder, and a melodic voice accompanied it. "Remember the losses, your highness. Don't fear them. They fight for more than just their queen."
She turned to Duncan, who was standing in older-looking ceremonial armor. A bastard sword rested at his hip. "What do you mean?"
"Many fight for their very livelihood and their families. That alone is more inspiration than what you can provide." He looked out and studied the battlefield. "Impressive, aren't they? The dragons I mean."
Elsa studied the ariel combat between the two dragons and several drakes. "I guess. I wouldn't necessarily want an up-close view."
The old man laughed. "Wise words, your highness."
Elsa looked over to Anna, who couldn't seem to watch. Corvino had told them what would happen in battle, but nothing he could tell them could have held a candle to this. Kristoff stood beside his betrothed, holding her. The snow queen felt a sleight pang of jealousy, and her heart wanted someone to comfort her. In a similar fashion. The cerulean eyes turned back to the battlefield, wondering if her icy stare met a particular set of steel-colored orbs.
Corvino
The man sheathed his blades and made a charge to a group of ogres that were lining up charges at the wall. He shouted to get their attention, and drew his bow. Dodging a brute's club, the man ran up the arm and danced on it's shoulders avoiding futile attempts to grab him.
With the makeshift mount distracted, he took potshots at the other ogres who were now swinging their clubs at him. One narrowly missed him and hit the ogre he stood on. He jumped to the ground, avoiding the falling hulk, and landed with a rather grisly view of the oaf's caved in skull. He replaced the bow over his left shoulder and drew knives. The agility was key here as the man tricked the brutes into hitting each other when they missed him. The process was painstakingly slow to him. Even against the hoarde, He was so much faster. One of the remaining two landed a body blow on his ally, before swinging around and missing Corvino. The man dodged between the thing's legs and when it stupidly looked between it's legs, it received a dagger to the throat.
Corvino didn't stay to admire his work, however. He ran on to the next group that he saw.
Elsa
All of a sudden, she saw a lone figure dart to the ogres. "That'll be Corvino," Caylee responded in a dry tone. "The arrogant bastard with a deathwish."
The comment brought a smile to the queen's face, as the group on the wall observed the ogres suddenly attacking themselves, before the last one fell, and Corvino disappeared into the battle. Their attention on the battle was broken when a runner came up to the wall
"My Lady. My apologies. There are reports of ships on the Fjord. They are flying Weselton Colors." Elsa furrowed her brow. They hadn't called for help, why were they here?
"I'll go figure out the situation, Your Highness," Garrus stated, and with a click of his heels, he was off.
Elsa tried to figure out what was going on, and failed to get a reason. That was when a loud bang eminated from over the lake, and a section of the docks exploded. They were under attack from the Fjord!
Her mind raced trying to figure out what to do. She was so occupied that she didn't aknowledge a thought in her mind that was not hers. We will lead the drakes there.
Esmerelle
The first full battle experience for the dragon was something new. Corypheus had told her that nerves were normal, but there was a knot in her stomach due to the anticipation. The drakes seemed to be a match when the dragons worked to single one out. The process was slow, but effective. She heard the cannon blast and right away, Corypheus was telling her the new plan.
Getting the drakes to follow them to the fjord towards the ships was simple enough. Dealing with both the drakes and the ships were a challenge. The two dragons split up long enough for Corypheus to pick up Thorin, who was dropped on the deck of one of the ships.
Esmerelle tried to reach out to Corvino, but only got a strange sensation. The man seemed different. Feral. Unthinking. She reached out to Elsa, feeling a sense of fear and tried to calm her down but got nothing.
The dragon couldn't dwell on the feelings for long as she had to refocus her attention back to the drakes. Insulting them proved to get them to chase her relentlessly, which caused an idea to form in the dragon's head. With that in mind, she dive-bombed the nearest ship.
Elsa
The queen watched the dragons fly toward the ships, Corypheus stopping to pick up Thorin. Her concentration was broken when a clatter sounded behind her. Enemy troops were making their way up the wall. Elsa swallowed hard and drew her blade. Anna and Kristoff prepped themselves, as did Caylee and Duncan. The troops burst up and Duncan and Caylee both charged. Elsa stared in amazement seeing the old man move. Anna and Kristoff soon joined in, but Elsa froze in fear. These weren't goblins, these were men.
One of them charged her and she reacted, shooting out a spike of ice at the man. It did more than just impale him, it had so much force it carried him into the wall. The queen's insides seemed to turn to mush as she saw the light leave the man's eyes and face. The next sight she saw was one that truly scared her. Hans Westergaard was making his way up the stairs toward them.
He tripped Caylee, who had charged him and watched the girl tumble down the stairs. Kristoff was the next as both him and Anna advanced. He shouldered Anna into the wall knocking her unconscious. Producing a wicked looking mace, he dodged Kristoff long enough to land a few crunching blows on the bigger man.
Duncan cleared his throat. Hans looked at the old man and smiled. The two engaged in combat, with a flurry of blows and sparks. All but one of the blows seemed to miss their mark. One particularly nasty one landed with a crunch on one of Duncan's hands, causing him to drop the blade. Hans picked it up used the mace to knock the man against the wall, and pinned Duncan to it with his own blade. Elsa tried to run, but found herself stuck in place. That was when she noticed Hans with an odd looking piece of wood.
Corvino
He almost forgot how this felt. Corvino Al'Draco was a whirlwind of death, and he was taking a sick pleasure from it. The consolation was that the enemy was starting to turn back. The battle was in the late stages.
That didn't stop him from killing those he could. He ran up on a squad of men. Before they could react, one was howling in pain from a broken knee. Another found it's throat slashed. The other eight turned to regard their allies, two of them losing their heads in the process. One started stepping backwards as the other five charged. Corvino made short work of them, then put the howling one out of it's misery with a swift stomp to the skull. The lone man stood there, unable to move in sheer terror.
That was until Corvino took a step toward him. The man turned to run, but found that he had been grabbed around the shoulders. He cried out, begging for mercy. He tried to scream surrenders, but felt pressure against his windpipe, and a gutteral growl from the Corvino. The man whimpered and prayed for salvation. The response he got was his neck snapped
Corvino stood around studying the carnage when a voice caught his attention. "I knew you were good, Corvino. I didn't expect you to be that good." Corvino turned to regard the voice and saw a woman clad in black armor. A jeweled tiara rested atop her head. "I would have thought all those quiet years you would have been out of practice. The Shadow would be proud."
The voice carried his mind back four years ago to a frightened woman. His partner. His lover. "Melina."
"Died the day you abandoned her. I have re-forged myself to be stronger." The woman spoke.
"I didn't abandon you. I went to get help." The man's mind wandered through the process that lead him to that fateful day.
"You left me in the hands of a grief-stricken and insane King Marus. Do you know what he did to me?" There was anger in her voice.
"I tried to help, Melina. I really did. I nearly went mad myself when I thought you had died."
"It was Marus's son who helped nurse me back to health. He dragged me off the battlefield. He thought he would have been happy with me, but he didn't know that the man I loved had all but condemned me."
Corvino's head shot up and looked at the woman. "I went to get the help of the only man I trusted. You know as well as I do that if any of us were found we were going to be killed. The Shadow never sent anyone on rescue missions. I went and had to bring Thorin into it because I wasn't going to try it alone."
"Marus tortured me. Physically and emotionally. He even raped me. All that is on your hands." The woman's gaze turned cold.
Corvino was again flooded with memories. He remembered scouting the camp, and in the process attracting guards. He remembered the two of them running away before catching his foot in a rabbit hole in the dark, spraining his ankle. He remembered splitting up, and getting away. "If it's any consolation, Marus was the first to die when I came back."
"When you came back, I was already dead. It matters not now. I will break you. When I do, you will become something beautiful and deadly. Just like me. Oh. Might want to check up on your sister. She could do with some training from me. Good bye, Corvino. I will see you back home." She disappeared, leaving the man to his thoughts.
Corvino turned and raced back towards the castle, one word escaping his mouth in a growl. "Esmerelle."
Elsa
Hans put the wooden rod away, and some of his men picked up Anna and Caylee. "Don't try to struggle. It's my turn to play with magic. This little piece was in my father's belongings. Don't worry. You'll be able to move again, but only after I'm gone. You see, the Duke of Weselton did his job, getting in here and mapping out all the little rat tunnels to get me in. After a series of bait and switches, I was able to sneak in and just take what I want. The girl, and Anna." He paused and smiled at the queen. The smile made her skin crawl. "I'm sorry, your highness. I've grown more fond of her anyway. Besides, it's much more fun to use her to break you." With that the man turned and walked away.
Elsa felt alone. Soon she found herself moving and she tried to wake Kristoff. That's when she heard wheezing. Her head snapped around to see Duncan, motioning for her to come over.
"I'm sorry, Milady. Please. Forgive me. I haven't much time left." His voice was weak, barely above a whisper.
"Don't talk like that. MEDIC!" She cried out, but again felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Death is just another great journey, and it is my time to go." He winced in pain as a cough racked his body. "Corvino. Be patient with him. He cares for you, he's just slow to admit it. You both are going to need to rely on each other, but know he's made tremendous amount of progress as a person since I have met him. Don't let him fall back to who he was."
The man's eyes closed and tears fell down Elsa's face. She knew that even though the invaders were repelled, the battle was a loss.
Corvino
The dragon hurtled towards the castle with break-neck speed. He found the spot where the group had been, and saw Elsa hunched by a body that was underneath a sheet. Right away, a knot formed in the pit of Corvino's stomach. He didn't need to see the body to know who it was, but walking over and lifting the sheet confirmed it as Duncan. Esmerelle let loose a mournful roar, almost like a howl. Corvino reacted differently. He punched the blood-soaked wall in anger.
"I-I'm sorry." Elsa's quiet voice quelled the rage building up in him.
"It's not your fault." he helped her up. "Death happens. Best we can do is learn from what happened."
"Lord Hoban. He-" Elsa started, but was too emotional to say anything.
I can smell the worthless rat. He's still in the city. After the thought entered his head from the dragon, Corvino stormed off. Something must have tipped Elsa off, as she followed him. Corvino found his way to the tunnels underneath the city. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, but Elsa had trouble seeing.
"Go. Find Thorin, tell him to start preparing to see Duncan off." he could tell that she didn't want to leave him alone, but she nodded and wandered off. Corvino made his way through the darkness. He enhanced his senses and soon found a corner where from around it some curses were being released. Corvino turned the corner and struck. Hoban never saw the knockout blow coming.
Dark thoughts filled Corvino's mind as he slung the small man over his shoulder.
Esmerelle
The dragon disagreed with Corvino's judgement about sending Elsa away. She looked through her partner's eyes and watched the situation. Esmerelle couldn't remember if she ever saw Corvino like this.
Brother, I'm worried. What do I do? She knew Corypheus would hear her, but didn't know if he had any answers.
Humans have been known to do something erratic. When that happens, try to find a way to break them out of it.
Esmerelle watched Corvino carry Hoban to the dungeons, where the smaller man was dropped unceremoniously. The drop seemed to rouse the man, who paled when he realized where he was. The man started babbling pleas of mercy and forgiveness, and she noticed that they were falling on deaf ears.
What the dragon observed next scared her. She saw Corvino close the door to the cell, and lock him in with Hoban. Corvino then put a spell on the door that fused the lock. Esmerelle first tried to contact the man, and when he gave no response, she went to the only person she thought could help.
At the risk of angering Corvino, I feel he is about to do something rash. I advise you go to help him, for the sake of Lord Hoban.
Corvino
The man babbled incoherently, pleading for his life. Corvino ignored him, choosing to bring a chair over, using it as a table. Hoban paled when he saw the knives being laid out on the chair, and watched Corvino warily who was twirling a blade in his hand.
"The queen," he barely squeaked out the words.
"Even if she saw, she won't save you. The lock is fused. You are mine." The former Assassin's voice was cold. "You are going to sing, like a bird."
The man yelped as Corvino moved his hand. Bonds of shadow sprang out and pulled the little man to the wall. "Let's start with the obvious question. Why? What did Hans offer you? Money? Land?" He studied the man's face for visual signs. When none was given, the knife snapped to his hand and moved toward Hoban. "Let's see. Why don't we start with toes, shall we?"
"Wait! Wait! Trade. He was going to give me exclusive rights to the trade with the north." He shrieked. "Overthrowing the ice bitch was an added bonus."
The last remark earned the Duke a swift shot to the jaw. Corvino removed the boots and broke one of the man's toes. "Only answer my questions please. No extra opinions is needed." The man whimpered. "Now. What's the reason behind capturing the Princess and my sister?"
The man kept his silence, and spit at Corvino. The response was the former assassin wiping the spittle off his face, and breaking another toe. "Well now. You want to fight? Please. I will enjoy breaking you. Tell me. Where am I going to send your body parts? Your king? The Witch-Queen? Perhaps your family?" The last statement struck a nerve. "How would your son like to open a box with, oh I don't know, an ear?"
Hoban paled, but hope seemed to return in his eyes as he looked past Corvino. The former assassin didn't need to enhance his senses to guess who approached the door.
Elsa
What she saw scared her. Corvino had Lord Hoban bound on the wall. The duke was bloodied, his face contorted in pain. Corvino paused. He stopped twirling the dagger in his hand. "You should be helping in the aftermath of the battle."
"Esmerelle is worried. Honestly, so am I." Her voice trembled. She heard the heavy footsteps of Thorin approaching.
"This is not something you should be watching." Corvino started to try to brush her off.
"Is there no other way?" She tried the door, but couldn't move it. She wanted to meet Corvino's gaze, but he just stood there, facing Hoban.
"Not that's quick. I need to act fast if we're going to be able to rescue Anna and Caylee." For a moment there was a sense of heroism in his voice, but it soon disappeared. "You might want to look away."
The queen stood her ground and watched Corvino torture the man both physically and emotionally, threatening the man's family. She found herself praying that the threats were empty. Finally, the duke broke
"They want to destroy the legends of the Draconic Knights. Hans wants to destroy the queen emotionally, and the Witch-Queen has a feud with you." Thorin broke the door down, and the man seemed to calm more. "That's all I know."
Elsa and Thorin stepped into the cell, and Corvino stepped back. Hoban however seemed to find his confidence. "They all will die. Your sister, the princess, the queen. They all will rightly die. You don't know the corruption that runs in your dragons. How much more innocent blood will be-"
The man was cut off with a gurgle in his throat. A sickening crunch preceded it. Elsa didn't even register the movement from Corvino, who left the room. The duke was left with a knife in his throat, one that belonged to the rogue.
Elsa moved to help the man, but Thorin stopped her. "That's a killing blow. It's Corvino's style. The victim lives long enough to have his life flash through their eyes. It's called the Judgement Strike. Come. You don't want to watch this." The big man ushered her out. "Corvino will likely be in his room. I'll clean this up. You talk to him."
"How do I know that he'll listen to me?" The queen was taken aback that Thorin suggested she talk to Corvino, who seemed to be walking the razor's edge with his temper.
"He stopped as soon as he recognized you were there. Besides, he's already forming some hair-brained scheme to rescue our sisters."
Elsa found herself wandering the halls. She didn't know why, but she was going to try to talk to the former assassin. Anna's life depended on it.
Boom. Duncan dead, Caylee and Anna are kidnapped. What's to become of them? How are our heroes going to deal with this development? Has Corvino gone insane? Wait until next week. As always, feel free to review or message.