Chapter 1: The Last Stand of a Dying Kingdom

Penryn scanned the perimeter, eyes jumping from tree to bush as a cool breeze rippled across the plain. It was night and the stars were out and they were coming. He could tell in the way the crickets had gone silent, at odds with Gallant’s jokes which had gotten louder as if to compensate.

“Weapons up.” Penryn commanded, raising his own sword and shield. He tightened his grip on his hilt, and the old leather creaked under his palm. It had been his father’s sword once. He’d inherited it only a few days ago, and the blade still felt uncomfortable in his hand.

The response to his command was pitiful. On his left was Gallant, his best friend and the most talented lancer and horseman in his father’s–no, his–court. Gallant cut himself off in the middle of another joke and raised his weapon with a grimace. To his right was a personal attendant who had been in the manor with them when they’d received word their enemy was approaching. In two trembling hands he held an old, rusty sword.

“What is it, Pen?” Eustus called from behind him. Penryn turned to look over his shoulder. His sister’s betrothed stood over his lover, sword out and eyes wary. Cimber was kneeling on the uneven stones, skirts pooled around her legs, hands clasped to her head and face twisted into a grimace. She must be hearing the voices again. He didn’t usually put a lot of trust in those voices, but today he’d take any help they could get.

Penryn looked out again, and his eyes settled on the tree line. One branch rustled, then another and dread pooled in his stomach.

“Look over there.” He said, nodding his head towards the trees. “Cimber, what are our options?”

“I’m summoning a portal.” She said through gritted teeth. “They’re telling me we need to leave. There’s nothing left for us here. They’ve given me a new spell, they say it’ll be better than our usual transport incantation.”

The attendant shuddered and looked over his shoulder, back at Cimber. Penryn noted the look and elbowed the man roughly.

“Eyes to the front. Don’t let them take us by surprise.”

“But my family…my family is out there. You can’t leave. We can’t abandon them. You’re the Prince. The Promised One,” the attendant said. His voice shook, and one more glance at his face revealed eyes that were opened wide in terror.

“Pull yourself together.” Penryn said gruffly. It was the only comfort he could offer. The attendant didn’t know yet, but his family was a lost cause. He and Cimber had arrived at the safehouse only a night ago, leaving behind ruin and chaos. The main Palace had been taken. The Death Bringers were gobbling up the villages and countryside on their quest to find the two last heirs of the Kingdom. His army had fallen apart, unable to match the might of the enemy’s foreign weapons. Their court was in ruins. They had nothing left. And it was all his fault.

“How much time do you need?” He called back to his sibling.

“Five minutes,” she said. She sounded scared, but determined. That was his sister, same as ever. She’d been that way as a kid, too, always throwing herself at the things that frightened her the most. It was something he admired in her, but tonight he wished with everything he had that she didn’t have to see this. He was trained for battle, not her. She didn’t deserve to be caught in all this bloodshed.

It was probably too late for that. She’d seen her fair share of death by now. They both had.

“I wonder how they found us so quickly.” Gallant said, keeping his eyes on the field before them.

“It defies logic. We were so careful.” Penryn responded mournfully.

“Maybe it’s just the force of your personality. Magnetic, isn’t that what your mom always said? You weren’t supposed to literally draw people to you.” His friend chided. A half-smile slid onto his face, and Penryn huffed a laugh.

The trees twitched again, and metal gleamed under the moonlight’s glow. The Death Bringers assembled, oozing through the trees like the sickness they were. They came forward, one step at a time, a handful of warriors with weapons raised and eyes intent on the abandoned temple grounds Cimber had led them to.

“Cimber. You might want to hurry.” He called back, throat tight with anticipation.

“Why aren’t they rushing at us?” Her fiancee asked, coming to stand on the other side of the attendant. Penryn was glad he was here. He had done so much to support both of them during the war. He was the old King’s educational advisor, in charge of drumming up funds for the educational advances of the poorest children in the Kingdom. He was a gentle man, well suited to his sister. It was strange to see him standing there with a sword in his hand.

“Not sure if there’s much point, we’re outnumbered as it is.” Gallant said, shifting on his feet. “Anyone want to take a bet on kill counts?”

No one responded. The Death Bringers came forward, slow and measured, their pace at odds with the danger in their stances.

The attendant’s rattling increased until finally dropped his sword and took one step back, then another.

“I’m so sorry.” He cried, “I can’t fight, I don’t want to die.”

“We just need to hold them off.” Penryn called, “That’s all. Just hold them off and we’ll be fine. Come, man, prove yourself now and there will be rewards later.”

“I’m sorry.” The man repeated. He took off running, and the three of them watched as one of the Death Bringers gave chase. The attendant went down with a muffled cry, and they winced as his blood sprayed across the grass. His murderer didn’t make a single sound.

Another drop of fear sank through the prince. God have mercy, he didn’t want to die here either. But he wouldn’t run. He heard his sister, at his back, whispering frantically as she went through the necessary rites to raise a teleportation portal.

He gritted his teeth and made a plan. They were standing at the top of the stairs of a long-abandoned temple. The pillars of the building still stood, though the walls had fallen a long time ago. He and his friends were at the top of the steps, his sister was back by the old altar. The enemy was in front, and they needed to keep them at bay for another three minutes.

Three minutes was a long time in battle.

Penryn shook his head.

“Alright, gentlemen, it’s time to show these bastards what we’re made of. I’ll take point, you two flank me. We watch each other’s backs and as soon as Cimber calls for us, we run like hell.”

“You, taking point?” Gallant joked, moving into position, “You’re not the sharpest on the best of days, are you sure you want to risk it today?”

“I’m sharp enough to know you’re injured and are trying to hide it. I saw the way you limped up here earlier. I’ll eat my shoe before I let you sacrifice yourself for us.” Prince said, voice dry.

His friend laughed, one solid chuckle. “Ouch. Caught. Fine, you can take point if it’ll make you happy.”

“Here we go.” Eustus said, raising his sword a bit higher. “Help me protect Cimber at all costs. I promised her father I would put her life before my own, and I intend to keep my word.”

Penryn swallowed hard as a surge of gratitude rushed through him. His sister was so lucky to have such a wonderful man. He would never be thankful enough to have these two at his side. He wished it wasn’t all his fault that they were here.

The Death Bringers were several yards away when they abruptly broke into a run. With a wild battle cry, the Prince and his friends raised their weapons and leapt into the fray. The enemy fell onto them like a cascade of ants, scrambling to get a swipe in at the Tovold Kingdom’s last Prince. They were so close he could smell them, like blood and rot and grave dirt.

PRINCE gritted his teeth and fought with everything he had, but it still wasn’t enough. He found himself blocking blow after blow, struggling to attack. His friends seemed to be having the same problem. Step by step, inch by inch, they were forced back until they were almost at Cimber’s back.

Then, in a harrowing moment, Eustus took a sword to his side and went down with a cry. Penryn marked it when his sister stuttered over her incantation but she kept whispering, even faster than before.

Penryn had just enough time to glance at his friend’s face, curled into a grimace, before a blade punched through his heart and the light went out of his eyes.

“No!” He cried, and his sister tripped over her words again.

“Keep going.” He ordered her, voice snapping with the weight of his fear.

This time when she resumed, her words were half-sob, half-plea. Her voice rose in pitch as she neared the end of her spell, loud enough to be heard over the clash of blade against blade, and then stopped abruptly. Behind him a glow burst into life and their enemies groaned as they were blasted with light.

“Quickly!” His sister called, “The portal!”

Penryn didn’t need to be told twice. He reached out to grab for his friend, who was mid-strike, and drew them both backwards. His sister was at his side, pale hands pushing him hard as she steered them towards the escape route she’d made. They were so close. They were going to make it. Just a few more steps.

“Die you wretch–” Gallant cried out, swinging his sword at a particularly tall opponent.

The Death Bringers reached out with a mace and clubbed Gallant across the chest, taking advantage of the opening. He crumpled to the ground, and Penryn cried out. That was his best friend on the ground, a look of horror stretched across his face. The boy he’d learned to climb trees with, the friend who had been there during his first romantic foray. He was one of the Kingdom’s best warriors. This couldn’t be happening, he wasn’t supposed to die here. He wasn’t supposed to die at all.

But the momentum of his sister’s push was too much. He stumbled, reeled, tried to reverse time but it wasn’t possible. His heel caught on the uneven stones and he tumbled backwards into the portal, hands grasping at thin air. In front of him the Death Bringers advanced, surrounding his friend.

He and his sister yelled as one as Gallant’s outstretched hand was crushed under the heel of a boot.

The portal snapped closed.

Gallant and Tovold Kingdom and all their subjects were lost to them.

And they were falling.