Disclaimer: I don't own.
:}
"And how do we do that?" Jade asked about drawing the fake dragon out.
"With a summoning." Cat said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Just, we pretend it's something else. Let the others know, secretly, what the plan is, and we can maybe have this fight on our own terms. Just, we won't get two shots at this thing, and I'm really worried we're underestimating what it can do."
"Fair enough." Jade agreed. "And I'm thinking it's underestimating what we can do. Lets keep it that way…"
The preparations were surprisingly quick, with Jade finding the few components she needed in the wilderness around them and mixing or enchanting them to readiness over the couple of hours she had. Cat did several quick jaunts out to recover other components that wouldn't be local, but within the celestial fae's range. By evening, they were prepared.
Trina, not sure what the summoning was for, assumed that a moment like that would leave their mage vulnerable, and as such, the perfect time to strike. She had the others ready, and they all agreed to avoid the farm lands and find an out of the way place to camp. 'Best to have as few victims as possible if they choose to strike now.' Trina decided.
Tori, meanwhile, was finding Andre entertaining company, and oddly not in a potential lover kind of way. "So, you were in her chambers, and her husband was away. My god, I'm not so sure I should be hearing about this…" Despite the attempt at morality, the noble woman was rapt with attention.
"Nothing happened." Dre promised. "She wanted something to, but I don't sleep around with married women, even if they're with some guy just cause he had money, and she wanted it. No, I just finished the music lesson, and moved down the hall to where her very single maid was waiting. Had myself a time there." He smiled. "Hay, still a dude…"
"And as entertaining as that story was, it doesn't change the fact that we could all die any moment now." Beck warned the others.
"Like mister popular, cousin to the Lard didn't get his share back in the day." Tori teased her kinsman.
"What do you mean, back in the day?" Beck reeled back with mock offense. "I'll have you know that, until the day your father decides to have me marry, I'm living my life the best way I can. Sure, I've taken a few lovers, and if I thought I'd have had a chance, then Jade would find me comforting in the cold nights." He flashed a smile at Ryder. "But I never did. Girls more then damaged, she's…" He sighed. "Sorry, shouldn't joke about the damage…"
"What do you know about her, anyways?" Ryder was offended.
"I see it in her eyes, when she's trying not to think about Victoria in inappropriate ways." Beck explained. "And yes, Tori, she's been watching you the same way you've been watching her. Honestly, the only reason I haven't told you to just go for it was that damage I've seen, a fear of intimacy that speaks of something forced..."
Ryder looked back at where Jade was working, preparing for whatever it was she was going to do. He knew she was calling something, maybe even the monster in question, but didn't have much more of the details. He just knew, outside of himself, she hadn't told anyone the plan, out of worry that they were being too carefully watched. Instead, he'd insisted they were under constant threat of attack and should be prepared to defend themselves at all times. "She has a job to do." He said, defending his sister in the only way he knew how.
"Aleister doesn't feel like the type." Beck said, still focused on the potential damage the sorceress may have endured. "Then again, they rarely do. But I think Aleister wouldn't have bothered teaching her to wield such magics as she does if his intentions were less then honorable. No, but I've seen that shattered look, more then once, in my position as law enforcement. My father, Lord Oliver, has done that for my uncle all his life, and I've helped with more then one case. Some men, including men who are unfortunately part of my family, my clan, they don't care much if the woman is willing or not. And I've counsel my share of women who found they had no choice as to whether or not they'd take a man to their bed…"
"It colors his viewpoint." Trina warned. "Not saying he's wrong, cause I feel it to, the way she doesn't quite believe in her power, and at the same time, wants to use it to keep everyone at a distance. I think her red winged familiar knows it too."
"Familious." Tori corrected. "Different connection. Not that I have the first clue as to what the difference is, just… Cat makes sure we know the difference…"
"Tori, if we didn't need this alliance with the Carsons…" Trina started.
"Dad would have arranged a different marriage for her." Beck jumped in. "We have our fun because we don't have the freedom to choose who we marry. Like the lady Holly. Distantly related to Royal Blood, she's the main reason the Dale is allowed to keep it's autonomy, given the way the current government has been trying to tighten it's control over everything's. But with children who are related, no mater how tenuously, to the throne, they just believe you're loyal, and accept your desire to run things your own way. No, I do agree, Tori could do far worse then a witch like her. But we'd never have had the alliance in the first place, because no way uncle would have seen an alliance with Travmort as valuable."
"Personally, I think you should try and find some happy with that one." Andre speculated. "Woman's a keeper."
"So, whats she doing again?" Tori asked Ryder.
"She's calling something to help better understand the thing we're going to be facing." He said. "She feels that we might just make it to Carson City unscathed, because in a city like that, all kinds of things can happen, so why let the monster be seen that close to Carson lands. But if we hunt it down first, with the aid of whatever it is she's calling, then we can be rid of the threat, and not have to face whatever threats are hidden in Carson city."
At that moment, Steven was watching the gathering in a special basin he'd had Sinjin and company make. "So, they're plotting to hunt my little pet, are they?" He said to Burf. "I think we should play this safe. Recall the beast, hide it out in the city, and let them hunt. They'll be here, soon enough, and we can deal with my rival for lordship over the dale, permanently."
"So that's your plan?" His father let him know he wasn't alone. "As long as it doesn't come back to cost me, I'm willing to let you finish what you've started. Saves me the trouble of hiring an assassin to work their way into the Vega clan and end the Lady Trina." He smirked. "What? I was going to let my family only get close to the seat of the Vega Clan? No, we have a chance to take over, get vast tracts of land under our sway. Of course I had plans to kill off that cow Trina. It soothes me to think of my own son as the kind of schemer that would plan such an action on his own. Now, we know, when they get here, we just need to let the right people know who to kill, and who to let live. Though a kidnapping, followed by a ransom, that would secure out alliance, and silence her family's objections to the new lord of the dale..."
Jade felt the air tingle, the spirit world responding to her call. A dark smirk was playing on her lips as she felt the world growing out of her mind. 'They see the summoning, and aren't gonna just let me finish. Too bad it took them longer to realize what I was doing, cause my summoning, it'll be done just before they get here. I'll be wasted, but the spirits, they're responding…'
In the darkness, a group of men moved with conviction, sure they had to kill the witch before she finished whatever dark ritual she was performing. "Who knows what kind of fiend she's calling. Some she devil from the pits who will disrupt men's rightful place and put a woman on the throne. No, we kill her, the Lady Trina, and if necessary, Lord Beckett, and deliver the Lady Tori to her intended, thus saving the Dale from this dark influence, that madness that Lord David has succumbed to. He will be hurt at the loss of his first born, but in time, he'll understand, be happy to have Lord Carson to take over for him."
The other men didn't respond, each echoing that belief in their hearts. The gathering outnumbered the Vega entourage by over two to one. With surprise, they hoped to take the camp by force and save the Dale without risking another attack from the beast that haunted the sky.
"They're coming." Cat said to Trina.
"You sure they're from our clan?" The Vega noble wondered, even as she finished armoring up. Her and her people knew they might be attacked, even that some of her own people supported the Carson's. However, that didn't mean she wanted to have to fight, kill her own people. "Sigh, for the safety of the Dale, we risk our lives, are willing to fight and die, and yet, they hate us for whatever reason."
"Sexism." Cat huffed. "The petrified throne is a matriarchy, but so many humans only recognize one type of strength, and even then only in general. A strong woman, who can rule, they fear her, even as the support a fat, corrupt man who offers nothing in the way of protection other then him having a penis. I swear…" Her head whipped around. "Jade needs me."
"Go, we're ready." Trina decided. "Andre, you're staying near her, right?"
"Not a fighter." The boy insisted, even as he briefly shifted to his quasi-dragon form. Scales gleamed in the torchlight, black with blue highlights, and his eyes shifted to something catlike. Claws dangles from his fingers. However, in a flash, that body retreated to his normal one, and he looked as vulnerable as any man might. "More of a lover, if you must know."
"These men think women as weak…" Trina grumbled.
Tori, meanwhile, was looking on with horror as her family was getting ready to kill their own. 'These men, they're technically related to me, and yet…' Her eyes flashed to Beck, who had finished putting his armor on and was now testing his bow. Ryder stood nearby, the crossbow he somehow acquired in hand, while Robbie had retreated to where Jade was, his own bow out and ready. 'This is a fight, over who I marry? No, it's about Trina refusing to marry unless the man impresses her, or is willing to let her rule the Dale. They're afraid of a woman in charge.'
"Tori, you okay?" Beck asked. "Look, I get it, this is gonna be a hard fight, but we can't let them win. If they kill Trina, then this whole quest is meaningless. We have to keep them away."
"Quick question?" Ryder wondered. "Beck, where are you in the line of succession?"
Beck laughed. "Me, rule the Dale? Are you out of your mind? No, I'm not the type to be bogged down with the bureaucracy of running the clan. No, I've got the best job, helping protect the dale without having to be tied down running the chiz. Plus, everyone blames you when you're in charge. No, I think I'll just protect my cousins, and let them worry about running the Dale. Sides, I like my family…"
"They're coming." Ryder noted. "Lets do this…"
The three nobles formed a line, hoping to take a few of the enemy out before they split and entered the camp. Beck and Robbie both prepared to shoot arrows into the dark. Moments before they loosed, Tori sent her own arrow up into the sky, a lit fuse attacked, lighting the alchemical substance on the tip. The flare lit up the night, and in that moment, four archers loosed shot at the approaching men.
Beck dropped two while Ryder dropped one. Tori, slow to shoot due to launching the flare, only helped convince the men to take what cover they could. Robbie, however, dropped three unprepared men with his expertly placed shots. The numbers were now more even.
Sam, meanwhile, had slid into the darkness herself, and when the sky lit, was forced to execute her flanking attack and run. Two man dropped with daggers in their backs, even as the short blond retreated from the fray.
The surprise over, the twelve remaining men still thought they had far more fighting men then the Vega nobles, and raced forward to attack, their group split into two fronts, one flanking the line of fighters.
They ran into Trina first, and quickly discovered how good a fighter she really was. Ryder had abandoned his crossbow to offer her cover, so the two were able to hold off the initial thrust of the flanking group, despite the odds, until the knights skills started to make the difference.
Beck wasn't one to just give up an advantage, and had stepped back to let Tori take the charge, still using his bow to drop a man before dropping it and drawing the two swords he'd be fighting with that evening. He'd figured that a second weapon would be far faster to ready then a shield.
Tori, for her part, had dropped her bow and readied her shield, barely parrying the first few blows as she retreated a step into full defense. The girl wasn't as fierce or strong as her sister, but also wasn't untested. Had this been an attack from Narks or the like, she'd have already killed at least one. However, still reluctant to kill her own people, she fought defensively, trying to find a way to take them alive.
Her moment came a breath later, as the attackers realized they couldn't just run around her to grapple, not with Robbie. Worse, Robbie's aim was always true, and any time a man grabbed a hold of one of the women, his arrow ended the mans intentions. Far to quickly, this fight in the darkness turned into a battle of archers, the two remaining using Jade's freshly called wind spirit to help guild the arrows to the right targets.
Beck chose to cover Tori's flank, using his twin blade technique to slice and cut at anyone who might harass his cousin, as well as those who chose to challenge him. With her cousin, and Robbie, protecting her, Tori was able to take the risks to try and take her men alive. These men were well aware of how skilled the Vega nobles were, but had still underestimated the women who would lead the Vega clan.
Tori sliced open the leg of one man, then the other, taking two prisoners within seconds of having the opening. Trina and Ryder showed no such mercy, ending all the man who'd come against them. Barely ten minutes after the flare went up, as the light was fading, the enemy had been reduced to the two survivors Tori wanted, and nothing else.
"Okay, you have your prisoners." Trina noted. "So now what?"
"I don't know?" Tori admitted. "They're family. Maybe we just need to convince them we're competent?"
"Or maybe we just accept that these man didn't care about the family." Beck spat. "If they did, then they'd have thought about what it represents to have someone of the family run the clan, as opposed to any male who might marry Tori. No, they're afraid of being seen as less by people from outside the family. The king, the whole of the lands of Ardun, they respect the people of the dale. They respect all the great clans. No, these man were just unwilling to be rules by a woman, and as such ignored he good Trina has already done for the clan."
"Or the sacrifices we're made." Tori sighed. "We don't even get to choose who we marry, who we can love. Our lives are plotted out with an eye for the good of the clan, the family."
"So…?" One of the injured men asked. "You're women. It was a mistake for the family to ever let you fight, let alone lead. This, your sister ruling the clan, it'll only lead to tragedy. The world, they understand, as much as we rely upon our skills with arms, the true power is in the magics of the world. And what did you do when threatened by something magical? You ran to a wizard and brought back his apprentice. A girl apprentice, who so far only wasted everyone's time calling forth some kind of mini-windstorm."
"The air spirit I called is meant to find us the flying terror that was hunting the Dale, and ground it. It may be highly resistant to magic, but we can still throw air at it, force it to the ground." Jade explained. "Take away it's advantage."
"Some threat." The other man said, using his sarcasm to hide his fear. "You honestly believe a little breeze would be a threat to a dragon?"
"A fake dragon." Andre corrected. "Clan Azure is allied with a real dragon. It's why we live on the border of the dale, technical your liege men. With the aid of our draconic ally, we can keep the outside wild lands out of the dale, and keep our peoples, yours and ours, safe. But that also explains why I'm along, because I know dragons, and from what I've heard and seen, this isn't a dragon."
"We're heading to the City of Carson to speak with Lord Steven and his parents about what help they can give us, and Jade's summoned spirit will help guard us from aerial attacks." Trina told the man. She'd caught on to the value of the spirit quickly, already thinking of how best to use the Elemental. "Now then, what to do about you? How do we treat traitors?"
"I know." Ryder offered, pulling out his dagger. "We give them a chance to redeem their honor."
:}
So, the family had a bit of a squabble, but managed to work things out using tact and diplomacy. Or, as they put it, deadly violence. Shows how some men just don't get the power of women. Betting they underestimate what Jade's spirit can do too.
Thoughts?