The Battle Begins

Sybill floated high above the battlefield, her long black hair whipping around her face as she surveyed the chaos below.

The capital that had spent three days celebrating was almost unrecognisable. Smoke curled between buildings as soldiers flooded through streets.

Their formations had been broken apart by the maze of false walls and impossible passages waiting for them inside the city. Steel rang against steel from every direction, mixed with shouted orders, screams and the thunder of magic striking stone.

Then the cannon roared. The blast shook the air.

Sybill lifted her wand, and a brilliant streak of lightning tore downwards and struck the cannon, which exploded in a burst of fire and shattered metal.

Rowland charged forward below with several knights, while Sammy followed a little behind them. Steel clashed while magic flashed between the soldiers.

◆ ◆ ◆

Inside the castle grounds, Andrew stood in full armour with his sword already drawn and a shield secured to his left arm. Nigel remained beside him, while soldiers waited across the courtyard with their weapons ready.

Nigel looked towards Andrew.

“My lord, why didn’t you ask me to bring any soldiers? If the situation had been conveyed to me beforehand, I wouldn’t have come merely to attend the ceremony. I would have arrived prepared.”

“Focus, Nigel. This is not the time to talk.”

The thunder of approaching footsteps grew louder beyond the stone passage leading into the grounds. The soldiers around Andrew shifted into position, shields rising as the sound rapidly drew closer.

Andrew stepped forward.

“Steady!”

His voice boomed across the castle grounds.

Then he glanced towards Nigel.

“Shield up, Nigel. Sword ready.”

Nigel immediately raised his shield.

The enemy poured through the passage, and the two sides collided.

Andrew met the first soldier head-on, catching the descending blade against his own before twisting sharply and forcing it aside. His shield followed a heartbeat later, smashing into the man’s chest and sending him stumbling backwards.

Nigel intercepted another attacker before he could reach Andrew. Steel struck steel as the man swung again, but Nigel blocked, drove forward behind his shield and forced him towards one of the stone pillars bordering the courtyard.

All around them, the castle grounds erupted into fighting. Soldiers surged through the passage while Andrew’s men rushed forward to meet them, swords clashing and shields slamming together across the courtyard.

From a raised balcony overlooking the fighting, Natalie and Zeena watched with glasses of wine in their hands.

An arrow shot towards them and struck the invisible barrier protecting the balcony, sending a brief shimmer across the air before dropping harmlessly to the ground.

Natalie glanced at it.

“That girl did an exceptional job reinforcing the barrier. None of the arrows or attacks have reached us.”

“Good for us,” Zeena said, taking a sip of wine. “We get to enjoy the show with a full view, and I get to see when he finally shows up.”

“Harold?”

“Yes.” Zeena raised her glass. “It’s time we have a huge talk.”

Natalie eyed the wine in her hand.

“Perhaps you should slow down with that.”

Zeena took another sip.

Below them, the palace guards held their formation as more enemy soldiers pushed into the courtyard.

Natalie watched them for a moment.

“The palace guard is an elite force. Andrew takes special time to train them himself, and it shows.”

“Even with the failing eyesight?”

“How?” Zeena asked curiously.

“Leo handled much of the physical training, and Grandmaster Erasmus provided commentary through his devices. Andrew had even learned to parry attacks by sound.”

Natalie’s eyes grew slightly misty, but she smiled and immediately turned her attention back towards the courtyard.

“Leo has done rather well with them too,” Zeena said.

Natalie raised her glass.

“They make a good team.”

Another soldier broke through the fighting and rushed towards Andrew and Nigel.

“Andrew will take this one,” Natalie said.

“I say Nigel.”

The soldier rushed towards them, but Andrew reached him first. He caught the incoming blade against his shield and slammed it into the man’s chest, sending him sprawling across the ground.

Natalie lifted her glass towards Zeena.

“You lost. Pay up.”

Zeena gave her an unimpressed look as another soldier came charging across the courtyard.

“He looks a little clumsy, don’t you think?” Natalie said.

“A little.”

“He won’t last very long.”

“Probably not.”

Natalie studied him for another moment.

“What do you think Andrew will do?”

Zeena looked towards him.

Natalie smiled.

“He’ll block that one, then smack him in the head with the hilt.”

The soldier swung, but Andrew caught the blade against his own, turned it aside and stepped inside the man’s reach.

SMACK!

The hilt struck the soldier squarely in the head, and he dropped.

Natalie turned triumphantly towards Zeena.

“See? See? I told you so.”

“You know your husband disturbingly well.”

“I should hope so.”

Another attacker came from Andrew’s left. Andrew pivoted, his blade tearing across the man’s arm before the strike could land, then kicked him squarely in the chest.

The soldier crashed backwards into another man rushing through the passage, and both went sprawling across the ground. More attackers followed, but Andrew, Nigel and the palace guards around them were already moving to meet them. Gradually, the fighting began to thin until the last of the attackers hit the ground.

Andrew remained where he was, sword raised. His breathing was heavier now, but his hand remained perfectly steady as he watched the passage.

No one else came through, and a moment later another distant explosion thundered beyond the castle grounds. Andrew turned towards the sound.

The fighting farther into the capital had grown deafening, hundreds of voices merging into a distant roar beneath bursts of magic and the constant clash of steel. The real battle was out there.

Andrew waited another moment before lowering his visor with a metallic click, then ran towards the battlefield.

◆ ◆ ◆

At the eastern side of the castle, another entrance had been left considerably more inviting.

Princess Elena sat solemnly in the middle of the throne room. Her off-white, shoulder-baring gown fell elegantly around her, a jewelled crown resting upon her blond hair. White gloves covered her hands, and a diamond choker gleamed at her throat.

Silvi was concealed and secured against her back. The eastern passage had been left open on purpose.

It did not take long before boots thundered through the passage, followed by more only moments later. Enemy soldiers poured into the throne room, but Elena remained seated.

Silvi’s tiny voice came quietly from behind her.

“They are here.”

Elena tilted her head.

“Ready, Silvi?”

“We found the Princess!” one of the soldiers shouted. “Capture her!”

Elena gasped dramatically and placed one hand over her heart, her vivid green eyes widening theatrically.

“Oh no.”

“I am indeed a damsel in distress.”

Silvi blinked behind her.

Then Elena jumped from the chair and ran, and the soldiers immediately gave chase. She gathered the sides of her gown as she raced from the throne room while boots pounded through the corridors behind them.

“They are coming, Elena,” Silvi warned.

“I noticed!”

Elena burst through the doors leading towards the gardens and kept running. Silvi watched the soldiers closing in behind them as the narrow wooden platform came into view ahead.

“A little more,” Silvi said.

Elena slowed slightly, allowing the soldiers to gain on them. Their footsteps grew louder.

“A little more…”

“Now! Run, Elena, run!” Silvi shouted.

Elena sprinted across the platform.

The moment she reached the other side—

CRACK!

The illusion collapsed, and the platform shattered behind them.

For one bewildering instant, the soldiers were still charging. Then the ground disappeared beneath the front ranks, and dozens of men plunged into the enormous trench hidden beneath the illusion.

Those behind them tried to stop. Several managed to halt at the very edge, only for the soldiers still charging from behind to crash into them. Men stumbled forwards, lost their footing and tumbled into the trench after the others, while dust billowed upwards as bodies and weapons struck the earth below.

Elena turned. Silvi looked at the soldiers scattered across the bottom of the trench. With the platform destroyed and the walls too steep to climb without assistance, their task was complete.

“Now to the battlefield, huh?” Silvi said.

Elena smiled.

“Now to the battlefield.”

They turned and hurried along the castle grounds towards the main battlefield. Almost immediately, several archers positioned across the surrounding rooftops lowered their bows and left their posts to follow them. Elena had chosen to be the decoy, but she had never been left unprotected.