Chapter Seventeen
The Last Stand of Dorian Staves
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
'Dorian Staves, Master of the Citadel of Tierm.' Said Galbatorix quietly, he hadn't drawn a weapon, and seemed totally at ease.
'Galbatorix, what is the meaning of this? What are you doing consorting with shades?' Demanded Dorian.
Galbatorix just looked at Dorian with a sour look.
'You destroyed my life Dorian, or at least you're one of the people who did.' Said Galbatorix.
'So, I'm going to kill you.' He finished simply.
'But I'm not going to wield the knife, or more accurately, knives; that is going to be what that pathetic wretch standing behind you, leaning against the tree is going to do.' Said Galbatorix, his smooth voice suddenly harsh.
Dorian glanced behind him, and saw Aragon, his face completely blank and emotionless, not as if he was hiding his emotions, but as if he was devoid of emotion, step away from the tree, eyes blank, and unfocused, and go to stand before Galbatorix, who handed Aragon a scalloped knife.
'Now, draw your knife, and kill Master Staves and his bonded partner.' Ordered Galbatorix.
Aragon turned to Dorian, and drew the long knife at his belt.
'As you wish, so shall it be.' Said Aragon in a lifeless tone, devoid of hate or relish, or anything, before settling into a fighting crouch, knives at the ready.
'Oh, and Dorian, that knife I gave the boy is coated in a rare venom, if it gets into your system, you'll die in agony.' Said Galbatorix evilly, as he went to stand beside Durza and Angbard to watch the up-coming fight.
Thelduin cut through the sky as fast as she could, trying to out-pace the creature chasing her.
Girl, whatever you do, don't panic. Said Thelduin, then threw her into the air, and caught her neatly on Aragon's saddle.
Now hang on to something, and don't let go. Said Thelduin, soothing the girl's panic.
You just threw me in the air, and caught me! Thought the girl hysterically.
Be thankful I didn't eat you. Thought Thelduin sourly to herself, if it wasn't for this girl, they wouldn't be neck-deep in it.
A sharp grating shriek reminded Thelduin they were being pursued.
Hold on! Thelduin said, before angling straight down, falling fast towards the city.
Teclian! Glaedr! Umaroth! We've got a problem! Shouted Thelduin mentally, she had no time for formality at that moment, and sent a mental image of what had transpired in the clearing.
A reply wasn't long in the coming.
Thelduin, kill that thing, then come to the clearing, this is worse than we originally feared, we'll meet you there. Said Vrael, and Thelduin saw Teclian, Glaedr, Umaroth, Saphira, Anarch, Bid'Daum, a fire-scaled dragon that was vaguely familiar, and a blue and green dragon that was also vaguely familiar, and a host of other dragons she hadn't encountered, heading for the clearing.
Thelduin cork-screwed around to face her opponent, then lashed out with one of her taloned feet, opening three deep wounds on her pursuer's back.
The beast shrieked, and then wheeled around, before hovering a short distance in front of Thelduin.
Thelduin growled out a challenge.
Hang on back there, young one. Thelduin said to the girl on her back.
Time too meet your maker, ugly. Sent Thelduin to the beast in front of her.
It screeched, a sound halfway between shock, and defiance, and that's all the reaction Thelduin gave it, before she slammed it with her tail and began slashing at it with claws and talons.
Dorian was forced to give ground as Aragon attacked, his expression as blank and emotionless as if he was still standing where he had been.
Yet he was cart wheeling, leaping and spinning, and slashing and stabbing with his knives with all the vigour, skill and grace of an elf.
Dorian was having his work cut out simply fending Aragon off, let alone worrying about launching a counter attack.
Seithrena was having similar problems, only she was under attack from Durza and Angbard.
Dorian! Keep it up, we'll be there as soon as we can! Called Vrael.
Dorian took heart, but the slight distraction had allowed Aragon a slight opening, and he took it by mercilessly scoring a cut across Dorians chest.
Dorian hissed in pain, but quickly put the cut down as insignificant.
The knife was Aragon's own, not Galbatorix's envenomed blade, and no arteries or veins had been damaged.
It stung like hell though.
'Heìll,' spat Dorian, and the cut on his chest closed, leaving nothing more than a gaping hole in his shirt to bare testament to Aragon's attack.
He could hear wing beats now.
Heavy ones.
Frantic ones.
They intensified until it was a constant throb.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
Here comes the cavalry, a whole thunder from Ilirea. Said Dorian to Seithrena, who replied by inverting her right paw and clawing Durza, cutting him in half vertically, and causing him to vanish in a puff of black smoke.
Struck by sudden inspiration, Dorian stepped forward, and made an overhead cut at Aragon, which the boy blocked with consummate ease.
But this was a feint: Dorians next move was a lightning fast punch to the point of Aragon's chin, which sent him reeling, until he was in Seithrena's striking range.
And she struck hard.
She breathed fire at Aragon, trapping him in the middle of a ravening inferno,-gratuitous showing off on her part as the boy possessed a number of wards Elmïra had undoubtedly erected around him before he'd left,- before slamming him with her tail, sending him sailing out of the firestorm into a tree, where he hit, and fell unconscious.
Dorian allowed himself a tight smile.
Then he heard the distinct rasp of a sword being drawn behind him.
With whiplash sped, Dorian spun around, bringing his sword up to defend-
An instant too late, as Galbatorix's sword bit home.
With a choked gasp of agony, Dorian stared dumbstruck into Galbatorix's eyes, finally aware of the madness within his gaze.
Behind him, he heard Seithrena bellow in agony, as she felt his pain, before that was cut short.
With a coarse bellow, Dorian pulled himself off the tip of Galbatorix's sword, and punched him in the face sending him staggering, and turned, to see Angbard, pull a black burnished sword, glistening with blood, from Seithrena's back.
A wordless cry of despair and anguish tore from Dorian, as he fell to his knees.
As a final act, Dorian threw his sword, which spun end over end, a glimmering golden-yellow circle of razor-edged bright steel, which struck home, right where Angbard's heart should've been.
Angbard cackled maniacally.
'You missed, Dorian Staves!' Cackled Angbard, then vanished in a billow of scarlet smoke.
…Seithrena…I'm sorry… Gasped Dorian, as he fell backwards.
You have no reason to apologise to me, Dorian. Said Seithrena, her voice was heavy with grief, she had disgorged her eldunarì nearly a century previously, and it pained her beyond reason, that she would be parted from her rider.
Dorian fell hard on his back, looking up at the sky.
The last thing he ever saw, was the sight of the rider's vanguard beginning to land, ready to defend their own.
As his vision faded to black, and his heart finally stopped beating, Dorian Staves smiled.
Aragon awoke groggily, and took a bleary glance around.
He was in the clearing, propped against the tree he'd been leaning against, the girl was nowhere in sight, and the last thing he could remember was Dorian grabbing her.
Bastard must've knocked me out, and gone to claim credit for himself. Thought Aragon sourly.
With an effort, he opened his eyes, and looked around, taking in a scene of horror:
There was blood everywhere; And there was Dorian, with his heart pierced, bleeding his last in the middle of the clearing.
On the other side of the clearing was Seithrena's body, covered in thick, sticky and hot dragon's blood, from a fatal wound between her wings.
And staggering to his feet, with a blue-green rider's sword, drenched in blood, was a young man, maybe a couple of years older than Aragon, with black hair.
With a bellow of rage, Aragon leapt from his sitting position, drawing his own sword, along with picking up his long knife, which he must've used to defend himself, sometime during the bloody fight, before he'd been knocked out, and threw himself at the vagabond that had killed Dorian, as all around, the riders began to descend.
The vagabond turned, not so much in surprise, as amusement, and parried Aragon's first assault, then his follow up stab with the knife, before blocking Aragon's groin kick, then pushing him back with little more but the strength of his arm, using the sword as a lever.
Aragon struck again with his sword, but lost it to a contemptuous flick from the vagabond.
A fleeting gesture, and a second knife flew from the other side of the clearing, behind Aragon to the vagabond's hand.
Aragon! Screamed Thelduin from above as she hurtled towards the ground.
The vagabond lunged with his sword, but Aragon blocked it aside with his knife before grabbing the vagabond's arm, wrenching him around, and pushing his arm up his back as hard and fast as he could, resulting in a satisfying crack! as his shoulder dislocated, causing the vagabond to roar in agony, before heel-kicking Aragon in the shin, spinning and-
Aragon felt a flare of blinding agony in his heart, and he fell to his knees, as the vagabond retrieved his rider's sword, before vanishing in a cloud of black smoke, cackling maniacally, as agony wracked Aragon.
Thelduin! Cried Aragon in anguish, as blackness edged his vision.
Hold on Aragon! Don't you dare die on me now! Hang on! Fight it! Shouted Thelduin at him, as Aragon slipped into unconsciousness, with the envenomed knife still lodged firmly in his heart.
I did a little bit of editing here, making the fights a little more realistic, patching some grammar and spelling, the usual really, and of course, again with correcting the name of Vrael's dragon.
No One-liners.