Dragon Frost (13 page)

Altair
turns his back on me and I on him. The thundering footsteps
approach and we are in the presence of beings like the monster I
fought before, this time they have armour that I’m surprised didn’t
melt than I see similar engravings on it like what we have. It than
hits me, like us, they were protected but instead from the demons
they were protected from the flames that engulfed their bodies. The
one I face, our eyes meet and I hear it grunt in disgust. It points
its large black clawed nail at me. “
Spawn
 of Krylancello.” he says dropping his hand he growls.
“You will 
die
!” He charges
at me and I brace myself.

His bare sharp
nailed feet stomp towards me at a fast pace and I run towards him,
sprinting hard as I could, in that moment I slide through his legs,
pulling out my blade prior to my man oeuvre, I slice his leg. He
cries out in pain blood oozes down from where he stands, his legs
still carry him firmly and I stand on my feet focusing on that foot
while keeping my eye out for those hands which will snap my neck
instantly should he get a hold of me. I would never let that
happen, even if Altair was only a few feet from me, fiercely
battling the blazing man. I would hold out my own, I chose to
continue to carry my blade and shield, I continued to carry my
title as a Knight and I would continue to do so. Not even this
largely built man before me could stop me, nothing would.

I plunge
my blade into his exposed foot his hands reach down for me and I
avoid them easily, he is large and slow, I am nimble and quick. I
roll around and flip like a monkey which didn’t make his job of
killing me, any easier. I slice his leg again and this time my
blade is embedded much deeper into his calf. He cries out in pain
and I muster as much strength as I can gather and slice my blade
through the marrow with a hard crackling sound that made my very
core shudder, I had no choice, there his lower leg is removed as he
falls to the ground. Taking the opportunity of his exposed
position, I crawl upon him and lunge my blade into his thick skull.
He ceases to move and I pull myself from him. He’s tough but not
invincible.

I hear
the sound of slicing flesh and a splash of oil I turn to see that
Altair stands over the body of his enemy, his clean and stands tall
like a real Knight in shining armour and I can’t help but respect
him; for his strength and his compassion. He is different from
other men I’ve come across, his exterior strong as steel but heart
as gentle as a butterfly, he is much like me in that sense but I
have more of a mouth to make up for the strength I’m lacking hoping
to throw off my enemy.

He moves
over to me and sheathes his bloodied sword into his metal sheath on
his back like mine. The blood is a bitch to get out and will
attract demons if we don’t clean it but then again we didn’t have
time to worry about that and his silver cloak is sprawled in blood
from where he attempted to clean his blade. His gaze turns to the
flaming monster at my feet. “You know why he was after you?” I
shake my head.

“
Maybe my
father pissed them off somehow?” I wonder out loud, I never knew my
father all that well and when I did meet him it was for a brief
time before he was killed trying to protect me from the enemies
that flooded our armory. He gave his life so I can live and he is
the reason why I refuse to be a liability; I won’t be the cause of
my husbands or sons’ death like my father was. I won’t be so
helpless to protect those I hold precious. My eyes immediately fall
to the man at my feet before I turn back to Altair.

“
Maybe .
. . ” he trails off and turns his attention to the Order. His eyes
narrowing on the sight, I than understand why his gaze is there. I
hear them, the cries of the children. My heart sinks and I flee
towards them, barely hearing Altair calling after me. All I knew as
I sprint down the streets of scorched buildings and motionless
bodies that didn’t make it alive. I knew when this is all over;
we’ll have to bury these bodies and hold a massive ceremony to
ensure their souls rest.

The last
thing we want was more demons at our doors. By the time I reach the
gates of the Order, the iron bars that normally are guarded by the
Security Barb, are now distorted and forced open, the large doors
behind the gates are open and I run through, it’s eerie silent as I
see bodies of Knights, Security Barbs, Enforcers and Rangers at my
feet. The sight of how many have died, made me take a few steps
back in shock before I close my jaw I didn’t realise hung open. It
didn’t matter, men, women, children, the elderly who would travel
to the Order on a regular basis to trade are now dead.

They were
innocent and they suffered. Hearing a snapping sound my head snaps
into that direction and I see a man dressed in black, his arm
cradling his torso and I smell blood pouring off of him, a leaky
trail behind him and he appears to collapse. I run and catch him
before he has a chance to fall down, it wasn’t anyone I knew but
still he is a brother, a brother of the Order—my
comrade.

“
It’s
okay, you’ll be okay.” I say my voice coming out a pitch higher
than I expected, it trembles, sounding the fear, I didn’t show.
Even though I didn’t know him or anyone much in the Central Order I
thought of them as my family, I thought of this place as my home,
it was my sanctuary and I allowed them to suffer.

“
The
Chief.” he barely manages and Altair drops beside him, I glance at
him, his eyes reflecting the worry, the pain and the fear I felt
his face to devoid of emotion. The man grasps my arm, desperate, to
hold my attention. I turn back to him. “The Chief . . . find and
protect . . . the Chief.” he says slowly his voice dry and
desperate and like that his body becomes limp in my form and I
fight back the tears that threaten to fall down my face. I wouldn’t
show them my pain, I wouldn’t show the enemy my
weakness.

‘
They’ll pay for what they’ve done.’
 I hear Altair whisper in my mind I
turn to him once more, he stands on his feet, eyes locked on the
direction ahead. “We should get a move on.” he says and I gently
place the man on the ground, his black eyes staring at the sky
behind me, placing a hand over his eyes I close them as a silent
“goodbye” and prey that his soul finds peace. He died with honor
and no one will deny that. “Do you know where he is?” I ask. He
shakes his head.

“
We
better find him and fast. I fear the worst, with this silence.” he
says as he scans the surroundings. He pulls out the large crossbow
on his back and carries it arming it before him. I unfold my
crossbow that was placed on my leg; I received a larger one from
Max for my run in with the Priests. However, the crossbow was
slightly too heavy, I wasn’t complaining but it weighed too much,
if I were to be tackled carrying the thing I wouldn’t have the
strength to fight off my attacker.

Naturally women
of our world have hand held crossbows, ones they can carry like a
small pistol but large enough to do damage from a distance while
the men carried larger crossbows with knives which were detachable
from where they protrude from the sides should they every need to
stab their enemy. They can fold their crossbow and place it on
their leg but some choose to carry it on their back where it is
held in place by their energy bonds.

“
Oh my
god,” I say, shocked, I can’t believe I forgot. Altair gives me an
alarmed look. “Varden,” I say with fear, I turn to him and his face
is twisted into an expression of anger, disgust and confusion. I
don’t blame him.

“
Who in
the 
Underworld
 is Varden?”

“
The
potential next King,” I say and his eyes narrow down on me. “We
need to find him and the other men. There were four from what the
Chief told me.”

“
Alright
but we have to figure out what to do, we can’t split up since I’m
not sure if demons have infested this place which I have no doubt
they have.” he says and I watch as he turns his back on me and
walks down the corridor, his arrow aiming at the nooks, crannies
and around corners for surprise attacks. “So what do you think we
should do, find the next Kings or the Chief?” he asks finally after
a long pause as we enter the large halls of the old castle. I scan
both, directions, east and west. Rechecking the places he had
checked in case something jumped out on me or him when his back is
turned.

“
The next
Kings I’m sure the Chief would want that.”

“
Alright”
he trails off and stops to realise the coast is clear still I don’t
drop my guard and I’m sure he didn’t either. His eyes still falls
to the shadows of the halls, bodies surround the halls that branch
off into the different parts of the massive castle, used for
classes, training, intelligence and many more. “Do you have any
idea where we start?” he questions after some time.

“
Yes, the
Guest Wing.” I say and he nods.

We trail
up the stone stairs of the Guest Wing and I walk backwards up the
stairs my back only a few centimeters from his and he doesn’t seem
to mind. I’m sure he would have preferred me falling on him, over
than a demon. My footing seems to stop when it touches the firm
stone under my feet, a stable bearing. I turn over my shoulder to
see that we made it at the Guest Quarters.

There
were many rooms and a large common room at the centre where a fire
had recently burnt out. I can smell the scent of fresh warm wood
and I know Altair can smell it too. Blood and lots of it. I fear
the worst, its silent—too quiet, the screams and cries I heard
earlier, are gone. 
’Are the children . . . is everyone
dead?’
 I think with
fear.

“
We don’t
know that.” Altair peers, and I regard him, the line of his face is
only slightly exposed. The side of his face is exposed by the
fluttering light from the stained glass window high above the black
scorched lifeless fireplace. “Let’s try not to jump to any
conclusions, the last thing we need is to worry ourselves sick.” He
is right; I can’t keep focusing on something else when we need to
protect each other. I nod. A cluttering sound echoes;
stone—against—stone, I snap my head into the direction of the sound
and I see a man, his blond hair is off to the side; soot covers his
face as his eyes train on me with worry. “Who are you?”

“
My
name’s Vedric.” he says and I look him over. He appears similar to
Varden I wonder if they are related but then I notice that his jaw
line isn’t as strong but more narrow with higher more prominent
cheekbones.

“
Have you
seen Varden?” I demand. He shakes his head.

“
I
haven’t seen him since the questioning.” he says.

“
Questioning?” asks Altair as he looks at me over his
shoulder for an explanation and I place a hand on his arm to lower
his weapon as Vedric appears to be eyeing the weapon with fear.
Altair obeys and lowers the crossbow.

“
The
Chief wasn’t too sure if these men were the rightful Heir or not
and questioned them. Since you would know, isn’t that why he called
you here?” I question and he remains quiet. I take it as a yes.
They would need someone with sharp ears and access to the mind to
verify the truth from the tales.

“
It
wasn’t me that did it. It was Dante.” he utters and I glance at him
with a quick intake of air. His lips turn up into a small smile and
my mask drops. Only for a second before I return it to normal. He
knew how much Dante meant to me he was the other person who
protected and guided me in the world after my father had died,
teaching me, showing me, training me to be the better swordswomen
than my other female counter—parts as I had no access to my powers
than. They thought I was a human but disregarded that fact when
they found out who my father was. According to Dante, he was a very
powerful man and very well—respected.

“
Dante’s
here?” I ask.

“
Yes but
I have a feeling we’ll have to hold off on the reunion.” He smirks
and I fight to roll my eyes. He can be really conceited when he
feels like showing it that is one thing I want to wipe from his
personality if I could. Still it made him who he was in a way I
know that it’s his way of comforting me in the disaster all around
us, I see the hidden message: “he’ll be alive, don’t worry” Altair
was always good a comforting me like that. Even though if he
doesn’t know it. I figured one day I should tell him—when I get the
chance to.

The
children peer up at me; their black eyes are large on their hollow
faces. I fight the urge to tell them everything will be alright
when I know it’s not true, they see me a women in armour—a rare
sight. Yet, they don’t fear me, I guess it’s because I’m no man.
Still, the sight of them, sickens me. I want to reach down into my
satchel and pull out my food that I’ve neglected since the attack
at the Order. I haven’t been able to eat and Altair doesn’t force
me to. I don’t hand them anything. I just glance, keeping a
cautious eye on a man in the far back of the crowd, he eyes me with
a dark glaze, and I know he is desperate and will pull me from my
horse and steal what valuables I have.

So, I keep my
eye on him.

It
wouldn’t be the first, not to mention one of the same very men
touched me inappropriately. Regardless if it was a joke or not, I
forced my blade to his throat and threatened. “Touch me like that
again . . . and I’ll slice you where you stand, Man!” I spat every
word of that sentence at him with even—toned venom. Every time
since then I’ve been more wary of men.