Battle scenes always exhaust me because I'm so busy trying to work out who goes where, what happens here, what's Pep doing, what's Tony doing etc. I scared the shit out of the lunch lady and some pigeons by acting out the fight scenes and sneaking around, in the space behind the lunch room.

Now I know Molotov Cocktails weren't around in this time period. But I needed a quick, easy flammable device. Plus, if it is good enough for Archer, it's good enough for Pepper.

I'd drawn a very crude town guide diagram, just because building placement in text is not my forte and I don't want you good readers to get confused with directions. But FF does not allow images to be placed in text, so the diagram is missing here.


War, like children's fights, are meaningless, pitiless and contemptible.

Crouched low, Pepper followed Happy along the low wall that encircled the village. They were trying to reach the back entrance. Happy raised his head cautiously to peer at the gate.

There were just two guards, one at the gate and one by a nearby shed.

He looked at Pepper and gestured towards the shed.

Pepper nodded. Happy threw a pebble away from the gate. The guard noticed and moved towards the pebble. Pepper quietly stepped over the wall and moved towards the shed. She crept up behind the guard and covered his mouth with her chloroform rag.

It was Tony 's idea to use chloroform as a non-violent way to subdue the guards they encountered. The guard collapsed and Pepper propped him up against the shed. Happy joined her quickly, having subdued the gate guard similarly.

They stepped to the edge of the shed and looked around its corner, at the buildings.

Happy whispered in her ear. "The town center is that large building in the middle. To the left, is the winery and the apothecary. The stables are on the right."

There were four guards patrolling the back way of the town center.

Pepper said, "Let's wait for Tony's arrival. I mean, the Iron Knight's signal."

Happy looked at her pensively. "It's just you and me now. Your lordship is not here. Between us, is the Iron Knight really going to come?"

"Yes", she said firmly "and he will win this for us."

Happy shrugged. "I sure hope so."

X-X-X

The moon was high in the sky. The lightly armored guardsmen of the Chonsario, relaxed in the moonlight, pikes laid down beside them. They were confident in their might and strength. Besides, they were guarding simple villagers, who could never match their skill in combat.

One horseman felt a disturbance in the still of the night. He glanced at the tree-filled horizon. Something was moving through the bushes. He peered at the shadowed greenery.

A form appeared. A knight, clad from head to toe, in steel armor, as black as the night, sitting tall on a mighty war horse. He seemed to be bathed in an unholy blue light, emanating from his chest.

A beast, there was no other word for the abomination that it was, stood near him. It was neither horse nor hound. Its amber eyes glowed maliciously at them. It was covered in steel plates.

Man and beast came forward in unison, slowly inching towards the entrance. Silently and steadily.

The horseman opened his mouth to yell a warning but he couldn't as an arrow flew from the trees and hit him straight in the throat. He fell to the ground, gurgling in pain.

The garrison was alerted by now. They stared at the approaching trio.

Then the Knight spoke harshly, "Leave my lands, horsemen. This village is under my protection. Leave my people and I shall let you live."

The garrison stood their ground and raised their pikes threateningly.

The knight studied them silently for a moment, then unsheathed his curved sword and raised it to the skies. The beast started to roar.

"So be it. Face the wrath of the Iron Knight."

X-X-X

They heard a loud roar from some distance away.

"He's here", whispered Pepper. "With his beast."

Happy widened his eyes at that.

The patrolling guards became alert and started shouting to each other in their language. Then the Captain rode up.

Pepper shivered at the sight of him. Somehow he struck a note of deep fear in her heart.

There is some hidden evil about him that I cannot see but I can feel.

The Captain rallied the men and said something firmly. It seemed to calm the men who stayed at their posts.

A young soldier came towards the Captain, carrying a large lance. The Captain exchanged the sword for the lance and rode towards the village's entrance.

Towards Tony. Tony, I hope you can handle the many soldiers at the gate. Be safe, my lord.

"Now what?" whispered Happy, ruffled. "They aren't moving from their places."

Pepper gazed at the building on the left thoughtfully.

"Did you say one of those buildings is the winery?"

Happy nodded absently.

"What if we cause a distraction? Wine is flammable."

"You want to burn down the village?!" Happy whispered loudly.

"No! Happy! We create a contained explosion and the soldiers will run there. Then you enter the town center. I will follow."

"All right." Happy said worriedly. "I'll keep watch from here."

Pepper crept between the houses and carts to reach the winery. Its door was locked but the door of the house next to it, was open.

She entered the house and used the stairs to reach the roof of the building. Then it was a short jump towards the lower roof of the winery.

In the winery, she picked up some bottles of wine and stored them in her satchel. Then she climbed out of a window and sneaked back to Happy, who was looking at her as if she were mad.

"Erm.. Pepper... what exactly are we going to do with this wine?"

"Help me open them. Quick."

She tore her large napkin into small pieces. Happy opened a wine bottle and she poured half the wine out and dipped the cloth into the bottle.

"Once I light this, it can be thrown and will explode in a fiery blast. We can use it to distract the guards and move them away from the town center."

Happy was silent for a moment. Then he said gushingly, "Brilliant, simply brilliant. We need to split up for this. I will throw the bombs towards the guardsmen's rallying point. They've set up this ugly, huge banner in the town square. In all the commotion, you can sneak into the barn."

"Good. Remember, light the rag and throw the bottle away immediately, without spilling the wine. Do not hold it for long in your hand. You could get burnt badly."

Pepper stayed where she was and Happy crept towards the apothecary, which opened onto the town square. She waited and counted silently, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

X-X-X

Tony narrowed his eyes at the first of the Chonsario to challenge him.

He knew his Iron Knight entrance had frightened them initially but they were made of sterner stuff than most men and decided to test him.

Tigliath was in fighting form today and roared in warning at the approaching horseman. Tony had designed a special steel back plate and half helm for him, to protect him from the horsemen's pikes and lances.

Anthony, if you show them they should fear you, you will win half the battle. Show them why they should fear you. whispered the dragon.

Tony nodded and whistled at Tigliath.

In the blink of an eye, the large cat dodged the horseman's pike and leapt onto his horse. He grabbed the horseman by the throat and pulled him off, snapping his neck.

The garrison seemed to take a step back at that sight.

Another one broke out from the formation and charged towards Tony.

Hurrah! It's fire time!

Tony focused inwards, channeling the flame until he felt it roar in his chest. Then he raised his gauntlet hand as the rider drew close to him. The rider raised his pike and Tony blasted him with blue flame.

The rider screamed, riding off wildly, horse and man in flames.

This time, the garrison took a definite step back. They whispered loudly amongst themselves. Their confidence was shaken.

Then Tony heard a loud blast and saw flames light up the center of the town. This alarmed the garrison and some broke away from the formation and rode backwards towards the area.

Pepper, please be okay. If anything happened to you...

X-X-X

There was a huge blast and she saw great flames of fire light up the middle of the town. The soldiers started panicking at this and ran towards the fire. She saw another blast and heard screams.

I hope Happy is not going overboard with the wine bombs.

A solitary soldier remained at the town center. He was very scared and was babbling to himself. Pepper approached him confidently and he threw down his sword and ran away.

She smirked at that and ran towards the building. She hacked the wooden barricade at the door and opened it. She walked into the back of the hall and then towards the central hall. A large crowd of women and young children were sitting on the floor, huddled together as the hall was freezing. They stared at Pepper with fear.

"I'm here to help you escape. Follow me. Quickly." And she led them towards the back door.

X-X-X

Five down. Still a lot more to go. They were coming at him, one by one which helped.

Of course it could be due to Tigliath's aggressive herding strategy, where he kept charging at the garrison and keeping them in line.

Tony saw the garrison ripple as their damn Captain came to the front of the line.

There is something inhuman about this man. Something otherworldly. Look at his eyes. They have no pupils.

The Captain said something in a commanding tone and 2 riders charged at Tony. An arrow came whistling out of the trees and hit one rider squarely in the chest.

Tony silently thanked Jarvis. It had been his idea to sit in nearby trees and shoot at the soldiers.

His sword clashed with the horseman's pike and he used a blast of flame to stun him. Then he neatly stabbed him.

The murmurs from the garrison grew louder. Tony took deep breaths as he took a mental stock of how many horsemen were there. It seemed as if the entire unit was here, watching him.

The village must be empty. I hope they've managed to get everyone out.

You are tiring, Tony. You must flee. The dragon murmured.

No, I can't. I can't let them be. Not until I get some sign that the villagers are safe. That Pepper is safe.

The Captain spoke then, in his snarling, thick tone, "You cannot fight forever, oh Iron one. Why do you fight for these peasant pigs?"

Tony countered "Why are you harassing these innocent people? What do you want with them?"

The Captain just grinned in an unholy manner. His mouth stretched so wide, the corners nearly touched his ears. Tony was taken aback. Rows of white, extremely pointed teeth were exposed. His eyes started to turn yellow.

"Why, my lord, it is you we seek."

This is no man, Anthony. This is something else entirely. The dragon murmured.

I cannot run. I will not. I'm prepared for my death.

Tony whistled at Tigliath to step back but the stubborn cat wouldn't listen and growled low.

The Captain started to trot forward slowly. The garrison moved behind him as one unit.

Tony closed his eyes briefly. This is my final stand, Dragon ...

So be it. I'm with you till the end.