The beast men were ferocious enemies. "Rally! To me, sentinels!" he bellowed, waving his shimmering spear in a broad circle. "Reform the line!" The screams of horses and shouts of men rang through his helm and his knights rushed to his side. How many cavalry charges had they done by now? How many thousands of troops had he already lost in this latest battle? The booms of fire and lightning that were repelled from glowing shields were dazzling and deafening. He scowled. So many sentinels and the lesser armies of gold upon the trampled fields and still they were outnumbered. His cavalry and the tens of thousands of supporting knight orders, archers, and perfumers were spread thin as always. The dragons struck at every side of the outer wall, he and Osgaltath both had been run ragged.
The waves of of the farum foes broke unceasing upon the golden rampart. Owain kept a watch on the sky, he was not naive enough to think the dragons would not show themselves during this assault as well. The outer wall could not be breached, its enchantments would unravel and reveal the capitol to airborne attack. Granssax had been a heavy lesson to learn. One he would heed. As he skewered another gurgling beast warrior through the skull, he at last spotted his true opponents.
Perhaps A hundred dragons were descending towards the sentinel line with terrible speed, "Shields!" he roared, spurring Osgalath forward. Most of the flying fiends were lesser beasts, but the one at the head of the formation was familiar. Fortissax had returned! As Osgalath sprinted beyond the heat of coming pillars of fire to bull over a beast caster, Owain shot upwards with wings of the crucible. The shield wall was already returning wrathful spell as he met the dragon Fortissax in headlong collision.
The beast's claws sheared through the side of his chest plate even as his spear pierced the shoulder joint of its foreleg. Fie! He'd missed her heart! Both sentinel and dragon hurtled into the outer wall, the impact driving the breath from Owain. This enemy was beyond him, but he must hold the line. Never had the walls been breached, never would he allow it.
Sweat stung his eyes as he forced himself to his feet, leveling greatspear at the dragon, who had regained her stance as well. They were far behind the sentinel lines and panicked foot soldiers, a boon, as he would not need to worry about beastmen. He watched the dragon's allies clash with his knights for a moment before shouting at the stalking enemy, "Come then, Fortissax!" he coughed dark blood through bared teeth with a grimace, "You shall not escape me this time!"
Menacing laughter resounded in his mind, "It is thou who shall not escape, Lord Commander. Noisy irritant!"
Each blow from the ancient dragon made his shield arm ache, the heat of her wild fire made his eyes water. They met with mighty force while the battle raged beyond them. As his helm was knocked from his head by a vicious tail swipe, Owain brought his shield about only just in time to catch a furious hind leg. Why must ancient dragonscale be so resilient! He could do hardly more than scratch the beast! He spat out a few teeth she had knocked free in disgust.
The beastmen forces were flagging at last, her fellow dragons being pushed back by the fervent halberds of his men. As a few of his captains came to aid him against Fortissax, he waved them away. They would only get themselves killed, Fortissax grew feral when others interrupted their single combat. "Avail our brothers! Secure the gate! Awa-" he dodged snapping jaws but did not see the foreleg that sent him careening into the wall behind them.
Owain felt hot blood pour down his back, his head unprotected from the pale stone. He groaned as he stumbled forward, propping himself up with his greatspear. "I told thee, sentinel. I will be thy end." came the dragon's voice in his foggy thoughts. It seemed his prince would not arrive in time, despite his continued desire to speak to the great dragon.
Countless times now had Fortissax flown unto battle with Owain and his forces, countless times now had she thrashed him within an inch of death before flying off to lick her own wounds. It was only his unyielding pride that kept him on his feet, he could not let his men see him falter.
At least the dragon Lansseax had not appeared this day, the sisters were a nightmare to face together. The memory of his many grievous wounds at their jaws made him scowl. The terror Fortissax had eaten one of his legs when last they'd met, it seemed her gouged eye had healed as nicely as his shorn limb.
The noon sun was manifold brighter than it was mere moments ago, he squinted at the blurred form of the predator that edged ever nearer. This battle had already raged for too many hours, he was nigh deplete of mana. No more spells of healing to be cast, then. He sighed. Owain hefted his shield forward, stumbling towards the ancient dragon with a bellow of wrath. If he were to be defeated, it would come at a hefty cost!
As dragon's fire enveloped him, so too did blinding spell of searing gold. Godwyn! His prince's shimmering form stood between him and the beast. Owain tried to struggle to his feet, to place himself betwixt the two, but his equilibrium had been too distorted by the blow to his head and he could not even rise from a kneel. Fie! She'd gotten him quite good this time. Fortissax cut her flame, roaring at the golden prince. In a flash of light, she stood before them in her human form, bright blood seeping from the cracks in her armor of heavy stone, "You . Come to bandy more peaceful drivel, prince?"
"Why make war when we can instead forge peace, my friend?" Godwyn's voice was light, soothing. Owain scowled at his brother's back, could he not see this creature desired their ends? Godwyn's gentle nature would be his undoing!
She spat at the ground between them, it too was red with blood, "Thy city is to fall, why then should I not continue?"
Owain tried once more to struggle to his feet in anger, but he fell only again to his knee, "Beyond my shield you shall not pass! The golden rampart stands, dragon!" He shouted hoarsely.
"Yet thou doth not, burnished hound." they met eyes and he sneered at her, "Answer me, princeling. Why should I not press forward when victory resteth within mine sight?" She inspected a nail for grime, seemingly disinterested.
"Is it victory, Lady Fortissax?" Godwyn paused to heal Owain with a soft hand. The sentinel stood stiffly, motioning again for his forces to stay back, the beastmen would need all their focus, "Even shouldst thee defeat we two, my father stands beside my mother. Mine uncle, the black blade, awaits thy entrance with snarling fang. Couldst thee truly prevail where thy forebear, Granssax, didst not?"
"Dare not speak of my grandfather!" she growled with a ragged cough, blood spurting from her bared fangs, "thou hast begged me many times for peace, Prince Godwyn. What wouldst thou sacrifice to manifest it in truth? I wish for the line of gold to suffer, I wish for thy mother to know the loss I know. Wouldst thou offer thine head to me?"
Owain laid a hand upon Godwyn's shoulder, scowling at the dragon indignantly, "My prince, do-"
Godwyn gently brushed off his grip with a smile, walking forward despite Owain's warnings, "Not mine head, no. Taketh instead, my heart."
For a moment, both dragon and Highlord regarded the prince nonplussed. Fortissax's face contorted in a confused frown, "What use have I for such a thing?"
Owain made to step before his prince but was once more rebuffed with a chiding hand. Owain's grip tightened upon his spear, all his instincts screaming at him to disobey his prince's command of non-violence.
Godwyn paced forward slowly until he was within arms reach of the beast, "I offer friendship, lady dragon. I offer understanding. Let me teach thee why I protect my people so fervently. Teach me of the dragon's ways. Can we not bridge this bloody gap?"
The dragon's jaw clenched silently, her hands tightening to fists in unison. The furrow of her fine brows denoted heavy disbelief, "Friendship? After the many I have slain? After the many this one had taken from me?" Owain stifled his own curses at the thought of forgiving she who had robbed him of so many valiant soldiers.
"Friendship, my lady. Forgiveness is not a thing done with ease, but it can be done. At least considereth mine offer, noble dragon. Maketh not this war." Preposterously, the prince reached out a hand in peaceful offering. Even more nonsensical, Owain spied the dragon's fingers twitch in thought at taking it.
In the end she snatched her hands away, face hard, "I scent thy earnestness, and thine…I shall think upon thy words, golden one. My forces shall withdraw this day."
The dream cut black, but before wakefulness could truly claim him, he heard a voice, "Miquella prepares." The voice he'd heard so long ago! Prepared wh-
A heavy blow to his abdomen roused Owain. His fists halted their furious rebuttal only inches from Tiche's laughing face. He groaned. The girl had leapt upon him in his sleep, it was not such a cute thing as it once was. Gone was the tiny child, grown and heavy was she now.
"Good morn, Wain! Awaken! T'is time to break our fast! Oswald waits below!" Her hands mushed his cheeks about playfully.
He patted her back as she wriggled into his side, "Aye, little one. Just…just a moment." That voice had been a warning. He would need to speak with Ranni. The thought did not fill him with only joy as it should've, so tinged with apprehension. That his dreams had been of Godwyn of late did not lessen such tension.
"I will allow you a few more minutes, father." Came Tiche's voice, faux serious. Her giggles into his shoulder were infectious and Owain smiled as well.
"So magnanimous for such a rascal as you." He chuckled as she reared up, her hair a wild mess. She must have rushed here straight from her own bed.
"Such lip will get you tackled again, old man." She scowled, he knew she was mocking his own usual expression. He rolled his eyes.
Owain brought her temple to his lips, "Hush, girl. Let me savor peace for but a moment without your teasing."
As she laughed and slapped a hand to his mouth, Owain fought sudden tears. A moment of contentment after such recent turmoil was such a wonder. Peace was not his to claim for long however as he heard unison feet pounding down the hallway and unison cries of "Owain!", before two more heavy forms piled atop him.
"My ribs offer greetings, little sisters." he groaned, laughing at Tiche's cries of annoyance beside him. He lifted both Loreley and Crissida in a hand a piece and deposited them on the other side of his bed. Both sisters wasted no time in berating him with words and fist.
"What a knight you are, losing like that! I should kill you for dying!" Loreley spat him, dark eyes watery. She moodily brushed her short cropped hair, the same shade as their mother's, out of her face. Tiche nodded along, arms crossed as she too sat up.
"Aye, what happened to the mighty highlord, ye big oaf! M-made our clan look naught but fools, ye did!" Crissida pawed at her own eyes. Owain sighed.
Owain brought both his sisters into a seated embrace, kissing their brows. He swallowed heavily before replying. "Forgive me." he scratched out, chuckling when Tiche pounced on all three of them.
He winced as he felt Loreley's, then Crissida's, fists bury into his side. Crissida pulled away, wiping at her nose, "I suppose I can forgive ye this once, pansy." Owain grinned shakily.
Loreley scowled at him but his tightly held hands gave her away, "As…can I."
"Me too!" Tiche cried with a smile. Owain laughed, hearty and loud. How long had it been since he'd felt so whole?
Crissida bounced over him to start tugging him off the bed by an ankle, Owain rolled his eyes, "Now, get up off yer ass ye galoot! Come meet my husband!"
No one had mentioned she'd gotten married? "Your what?" All three women laughed at him as he sputtered and rushed to untangle himself from his sheets. He'd have to meet the man post haste! It had better be a worthy partner for his youngest sister!
That he had not noticed her entrance to his office was deeply unsettling. Owain was not often caught by surprise, even if his back was turned to the doorway, "When last did you sleep, Wain?" she asked softly, padding carefully forward. He did not turn to face her, too absorbed in his many convoluted maps.
He pounded a fist atop his sturdy desk, cursing as the heavy wood splinted, "I know what they are whisper when they think I can not hear! The Highlord is weak . The burnished one has lost his shine, he is so inept it is treasonous! They dare to say the sentinels are not so mighty as they seemed!" He at last turned to her and Alecto gasped. His face was haggard, his eyes red rimmed, purpled deeply by lack of rest.
She laid a hand on his arm, frowning at his trembling fingers, "You should care not for the muttering of mice."
Owain shook her off, eyes dark, "I must find her, Alecto."
When last had she seen him out of his armor? His beard was unkept, his fair hair greasy. She cast her eyes down. His armor, ever cherished and polished to burnished shine, was covered in grime, "Wain." Alecto kept the heartbreak from her voice.
He threw up his hands, beginning to pace. "Stolen! Stolen right from the palace! She must be terrified, Alecto, she's hardly even left the capital." She'd never heard his voice pitched with such panic and it frightened her.
"You were not even in the city, Owain. You must s-"
The speed at which he rounded on her stilled her tongue. "My absence does not absolve me! I already-the Queen would not take my life as recompense, what worth have I if I can not find the princess?" She moved to block his path, hands taking his own. Alecto could not meet his aching gaze, it would make her sob.
"You will hardly find her should you work yourself to death! When then will you rest, Owain!" He growled a sigh through his teeth, pulling away but she snapped her hands to his face. His expression of anguish at last ripped a small sob from her throat.
"When she is safe within the palace, when I have put her captors to the spear, when the Queen can- when she can bear to even look me in the eye!" he whispered scratchily.
"It has been weeks, Wain. What if…what if you do not find her?" She knew she'd needed to ask, but it did not make the pain it brought from him any easier.
"Then, after centuries of unblemished service, I am a failure. One forced to toil in glory and privilege despite his horrific blundering." She released him as he slumped to sit against the edge of his desk.
Her tone turned sharp, "Would you truly wish for death? What of Ranni? What of retirement?"
"I-" his eyes, dull and forlorn, snapped to her as if only just seeing her, "My heart is broken and mind not far behind. I do not deserve Ranni's love nor Marika's grace. Linger I must, for I know our lady is not-" he choked back a sob of his own, "you see what I see, Alecto."
Alecto sighed, nodding resolutely, "I will do what I can to aid you and Kuno, Owain. Be not preoccupied with the nobility, they will suffer this search or face our lady's wrath."
What wrath her queen could even find, that was. Marika would hardly even leave her bed. Her handmaidens tended to her day and night, Owain slept in his armor, a hulking statue in her corner armchair. She'd even brought Radagon to her bedchambers. Alecto knew her queen did not feel safe, though she knew not from what. Malekith hunted the princess as well, and thousands of sentinels now swarmed the palace at all hours. Still it was not enough.
Owain palmed at his tears with a trembling hand, "Do you… do you think me foolish? All of the capitol I've already thrown into chaos. I bade Kuno audit every noble house from here to the farthest reaches of Mourne. I've set Ofnir to interrogate the heads of all the high nobility. I've even sent sentinels scouring through the sewers. Is all of this just theater to balm my own shame?"
Alecto had not been deaf to those whispers Owain spoke of. The golden city was in the greatest uproar she'd seen since Granssax' attack. The queen had given the Highlord leave to tear the capitol apart in his search and he'd done just that.
She laid a soft hand to her friend's shoulder, "You are not a fool, you are not shameful, you are doing your best. Whether we find the princess or not, those things will not change."
It pained her that all she could offer her beloved sentinel was gilded words and the touch of a comrade, but it would have to do until princess Ranni received news of what had happened. Owain did not smile at her, but he did not scowl, which was a small improvement, "Thank you, Alecto. Always do you bring me great comfort. Your friendship has ever been a buoy to me."
She hugged him, hiding her great worry, "I am here for you always, my friend."
Alecto blinked away the memory, surprised at its potency. Perhaps it was to be expected as she gazed upon the slumbering princess, safe in the palace. It was a sight she'd never thought to see again. Alecto closed the door to princess Melina's bedchamber with nary a sound, nodding to the watching Vargrum and Therolina as she left.
She'd rushed to the capitol after their latest victory, another two of Ofnir's lieutenants dead, only to find Owain had already departed to his mother's farm. Ranni had been quite distraught, even going so far as to cry in Alecto's arms when she'd come to offer her greetings. She sensed they had recently fought, but the conflict brought her no joy.
She made for Lady Lila's farm with great haste, both dreading and eager to see Tiche. They'd argued so heatedly the night all had fallen to ruin. Alecto should have listened to her wise daughter, should have been more prudent. The closed-eyed faith of her past had pitched her unto a future far too dark. She was fervently grateful to Lady Lila for treating her Tiche as family. As she walked slowly to the farmhouse's front door, nodding to the sentinels at either side, Alecto hoped such a welcome might still be offered to her.
"Mama, are you sleepy?" her daughter asked, laid atop her chest in their grand bath.
She smiled, wiping the wet bangs from the girl's curious face and planting sweet kisses to her brow, "Weary am I, but joyous, mine precious princess."
Melina giggled, the gaps of her missing teeth showing as she grinned. To think, the girl had raised such a ruckus at losing her first tooth, "I'm happy too!"
She began to hum. A song her grandmother had oft sung to her when she was but a small girl. Her hands made gentle motions against her princess' back as she reclined more fully against the warm bronze of her bathing basin.
For just a moment she would set aside her crown and her burdens and allow herself to be mother to her darling girl. Melina's small sounds of happiness as she cuddled close in the soapful water were as the sweetest music to her mother's ears. Alecto would call for her, should she be needed. She'd close her eyes, just…just for a moment. She'd love freely just for a….
Who…who was she? Pain. She must be pain alone, for what else was there in her existence? Agony so complete she'd…lost herself. The voice too, there was the voice that spoke. Always from within, always did it command and order and compel. Order. Order. Order. She must keep order.
Marika gasped, eyes snapping over-wide. She raked her gaze over her skewered core, over her pierced wrists. Her skin was beginning to harden and flake, soon it would…too late, almost too late. She was losing herself. How long had passed this time? Radagon slept, she was in control. To think the foul thing could puppet him so completely. Separate! They should have stayed separate! Desperation had seen him to her side, desperation had doomed her to this fate. For it was when she was most desperate that she made most maligned mistakes. Godwyn, her sweet Godwyn. He was-
Her thoughts, it was all she could do to hide her thoughts from the beast. She'd been exceedingly lucky with Owain, to slip his soul passed the watching wards. If her compass could only slay the thing's children, Godfrey could she call. Oh husband. Grief overwhelmed her for but a breath before she gnashed her teeth in focus. She could not allow herself to be lost to the pain. If she screamed it would hear her. That thing would take hold and Marika was not sure she could break free anew, should she be captured.
She'd not be so easily tamed as Radagon, her foolish heart had fallen too swiftly, he'd doomed her! The pale skin, the slender frame, the frosted heat of Rennala flashed in Marika's mind. Wife! He yearned for his wife so- Argh! She growled, control your-his-herself! Control, always must she mind herself. Always, always, always! ORDER, ORDER, ORDER! Marika groaned, fighting the thing's ripping hold. Wain need hurry, lest he wish to find them naught but crumbling stone and ordered tool. Marika wept as she waited, she wept softly and seethed. Ever did she seethe with low-burned fury. Close, she was so close to freedom from the grasping fingers! Her storm must not quell, her fire must not cool, her ORDER, ORDER, ORDER, ORD-