Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
“O pen up!” I yelled, hammering my fist on the door to my chamber.
The guards had locked me inside the moment the attack had begun, and my heart was still beating furiously at what I’d seen through the crack in my window. A monster breathing fire down upon the city, my people.
“They’ll never let you go,” Zira said, catching my hand to try and draw me away but I yanked it free again, continuing to bang on the door.
“I am your princess and I command you to open this door!” I shouted, but no reply came.
Heated rage washed through my veins as I gave up, wheeling around to look at my maids as they stared at me in wide-eyed concern.
“What do we do?” Jacinda breathed in fear, then clapped her hands over her ears as a thunderous roar shook the walls, far closer than it had been before.
“It’s coming this way,” I breathed.
“What is it?” Zira questioned, moving closer to Jacinda to comfort her.
“I don’t know,” I said, knotting my fingers in my hair as I tried to decide on what to do.
“A large fire drake?” Jacinda squeaked.
“It was far too big for that. And did you hear that voice?” Zira ran a hand over her throat, looking to me with the colour draining from her face.
Another booming roar sounded out and the frosted glass of the window reflected the light of crimson flames.
I ran to the only window that opened, peering through the crack again and trying to see more.
We’d crammed in close together to see out the moment that voice had carried through our heads, and in the distant had been a huge beast wheeling through the clouds.
I didn’t know what vengeful thing had come here to destroy my city, but I could not stay here and watch Osaria fall.
I couldn’t see any sign of the creature now, but it was hard to see much at all.
The royal guards were shouting something at the gates, and a bellowing voice carried from one of them. “It’s headed for the palace!”
A roar sounded somewhere right above me then a force hit the wall to my right like a cannon blast, throwing me onto my back as the masonry exploded and I hit the floor hard, skidding into my maids.
Jacinda screamed, hurrying to pull me to my feet and checking me over for injuries as Zira placed herself in front of me protectively as if she expected death to appear at any moment.
A scaly, spined tail whipped through the air before disappearing out of sight up into the sky, and my throat tightened at the thought of whatever monster had been large enough to knock down that wall.
“Get to safety,” I commanded, running past Zira before she could try and grab me. I was a little bruised but had no further injuries and the adrenaline in my blood kept me from really feeling them anyway.
“Austyn!” Zira cried in panic, but I was already climbing out of the hole in the wall, lowering myself down the crumbling roof tiles.
My heart leapt as the roof shuddered beneath me, but I managed to swing myself over the edge of it before it gave way, dropping onto a balcony below. I landed in a crouch, shoving quickly to my feet, and pushing through the wooden doors that led into a maiden’s lounge.
I ran through one room to the next, my mind fixed on the armoury where I could fetch weapons. I wasn’t going to hide away like some mouse down a drain. My city was under attack, and I was damn well going to be out there fighting for it.
I shoved through a heavy door into a corridor and came face to face with Lord Kalaviv buckling up armour as he walked. He swung a huge broadsword in his grip, a twisted look on his face that was full of bloodlust.
I moved to step back before he saw me, but Kalaviv’s eyes locked on me, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“Princess,” he gasped, running forward, and grasping my arm before I could escape. “What are you doing down here?”
I was unarmed and as I glanced down the corridor beyond him, I realised I was all alone. No guards, no one watching as they always were.
“I’m going to fetch my sword of course,” I said, yanking my arm free of Kalaviv’s grip
He chuckled at my expense, apparently thinking I’d made a joke.
“My sweet lady, you do have such wit about you,” he purred, moving closer again and tucking a lock of silver hair behind my ear.
I flinched away from his touch, shifting sideways to try and make a run for it, not wanting to waste any more time than I already had. But Kalaviv stepped sideways to block my path, his huge body forming a wall I couldn’t get past.
“Come, I shall escort you back to your rooms, Your Highness. You must be protected,” he said, offering me his arm.
“No, I am going to fight,” I growled, and the walls shuddered as something impacted with the palace somewhere above us.
A tremor ran through my flesh, and I surged forward, trying to get around him, but Kalaviv caught my waist, tugging me against him, his hands grasping my side in a way that was horribly overfamiliar.
“The men will handle the monsters, my sweet one.”
“I am not your sweet anything,” I hissed. “Take your hands off of me.”
“I don’t mean to frighten you,” he said, softening his tone. “I am protecting you.” He puffed out his chest like I might swoon and thank him, but I scowled and tried to shove away from him again.
“Hush now, you are growing hysterical with fear,” he said soothingly, holding onto me even tighter.
“I am not afraid.” I threw my fist out and it slammed into Kalaviv’s gut, making him wheeze even through his chainmail. He released me and I ducked past him, running as fast as my feet would carry me to get away from him.
“Wait - get back here!” he boomed as he took chase. “You must stay inside. You are too precious to go out there.”
“You mean my throne is too precious,” I spat back at him, pushing myself faster as I raced down corridors left and right to try and lose him.
My breaths fell heavily from my lungs as I turned another corner and relief filled me as I spotted a painting that held a secret passage behind it.
The heavy stomp of Kalaviv’s boots were drawing closer and I didn’t slow my pace at all as I ran to the painting, seeking out the catch on the left edge of it and pulling.
The painting swung forward, and I stumbled into the dark space beyond it before yanking the hidden door shut behind me with a click.
I held my breath, listening as Kalaviv drew closer, his footsteps slowing as he neared the painting and I feared he’d seen me go this way.
“Princess Austyn!” he cried, so close, it made my heart flinch.
I didn’t let out a single noise as I remained there, pressing a hand to my mouth to stifle even the sounds of my breaths.
The entire palace trembled once more and Kalaviv cursed, his footsteps carrying away from me and making my shoulders sag with relief.
I squinted through the gloom, pressing one hand to the wall beside me and feeling my way forward.
The well-walked servants’ passages would be lit with sconces, but this part of the tunnels clearly wasn’t used often enough.
At least I knew every one of these paths intimately, and it was easy for me to find the top of the stairs and start hurrying down them.
The gloom swallowed me up as I ran deeper into the belly of the palace, entering a lit area of the tunnels and racing down the familiar winding pathways towards the royal armoury.
I finally slipped through a tapestry that let out into a grand corridor with suits of armour standing in the recesses of the walls on every side.
I made it to the armoury door, heading into the long training room where my father’s armour and weapons glinted proudly on the walls.
I came here to train whenever I could, my Affinity with metal making every sweep of a blade feel as natural as breathing.
But I hadn’t had any formal training since my youth, since the Maggot had taken up residence in my home.
I was skilled enough to know I would be useful to the city tonight though, and the idea of having a real chance to be of use to Osaria set my soul alight.
I stripped out of my dress and pulled on the close-fitting black britches and shirt I wore for training along with my boots before grabbing my chest plate and strapping it on.
Next, I wound up my hair tightly in a knot before pushing on my helmet to hide my face.
I placed my father’s sword in a scabbard on my hip and sheathed a sharp little beast of a knife in my boot.
Finally, I took the silver bow and arrows my father had gifted me for my sixth birthday, the Lunarelle family crest engraved on the head of every arrow. The metal sang in my palm, each arrow hand crafted and made of purest silver, the tips as sharp as diamonds.
My Affinity for the metal was making my blood hum in anticipation of wielding it as I hooked the quiver over my back which fit both bow and arrows inside it.
Then I hurried back out of the armoury and took the stairs up flight after flight, following the sounds of roars and the crashes that were coming somewhere to the east of the palace.
My stomach lurched as I rounded a corner, nearly running straight into a battalion of guards.
“Get in line,” the one at the front barked at me, mistaking me for one of them.
I nodded quickly, slipping to the back of the ranks and mimicking their movements as they ran in sync with one another.
The royal guards were like one entity in battle, a hive mind created by the crown and possessing all of their souls.
I wondered if there was much left of the men within them.
The only one I had seen any life to had been my father’s personal guard, Cassius Lazar.
A lump rose in my throat as my mind turned to him and I quickly focused on the task at hand.
“It’s attacking the eastern tower!” a maid screamed as she appeared through a door, slamming it shut behind her and pressing her back to it. “There are monsters everywhere. They’re going to get in. By the Fallen!”
The guards continued past her, saying nothing and I slowed my pace in confusion.
“We should head to the eastern tower,” I called in the best man voice I could muster, stepping towards the door the woman had burst through.
“Get back in line!” the head guard barked at me. “Captain Marik’s orders were to protect the nobles in their quarters.”
“Move,” I snapped at the woman, and she staggered away from me.
“Hey!” the guard yelled at me, but I was already gone, rushing down the corridor beyond the door and heading towards the bellows of the beast.
I made it into the spiral stairway that circled up the eastern tower and the monsters’ roars echoed through the space, reverberating through my skull.
My pulse ticked out of rhythm, but I didn’t slow, knowing this might just be the definition of insanity, but I wasn’t going to back down now.
I had my arrows, and one well-aimed shot to the heart of the gigantic beast leading this madness could end this for good.
I couldn’t see anything through the stained-glass windows that ran along the edges of the stairwell, but shifting shadows out there made my skin prickle.
A scuttling noise carried from above me on the stairs and I slowed my pace, drawing my sword and taking a slow breath as I waited for whatever was moving this way, the metal kissing my palm and promising me its loyalty in this fight.
The scuttling grew louder, and I pressed my back to the wall, ready to launch an attack and trying to prepare myself for what I was about to face. I had never been in a true fight before, and I had no idea if I was capable of this, only that I would try to be with everything I had.
A screech sounded before a monstrous creature leapt before me on the stairs.
It was twelve feet tall with eight hairy legs as thick as saplings and a scorpion tail which arched over its back, its stinger red and primed to sink into my flesh.
It was a scorpious spider, a monster which dwelled deep in the desert, and one that I had never seen outside of horror stories and books that warned of the beasts which roamed beyond the city limits.
I acted on instinct instead of the terror which told me to flee, leaping forward with a battle cry and swinging my sword at its ugly head where fifty white eyes stared back at me.
It shifted aside before I could strike true, and my sword slashed through one of its legs instead. The beast shrieked horribly, throwing its weight at me as it caught me in its pincers and we crashed into the window.
The glass shattered under the impact and the monster lost its grip on me, a cry leaving my throat as I fell through the air before my back hit a slanted roof beyond the tower. I started rolling and scrambled onto my knees, clinging to the tiles to slow my fall before gaining my feet.
I’d lost my grip on my sword, but I spotted it as it caught the light of the moon, laying further up the roof right in front of the scorpious spider.
Miraculously, I had survived the attack with only a few scratches, my chest plate and helmet having taken the brunt of the shattered glass and the impact of my fall.
My heart beat to a wild rhythm and a flood of excitement rushed through me instead of the terror I should have felt at all this. I had never felt so alive in all my years in this palace, and my instinct was to be right here in the heart of the fray.
I took the bow from my back, nocking an arrow and drawing back the string as I lined up the shot with the creature’s head. But before I could release the arrow, an enormous, terrifying beast rose up beyond it in the sky, giant, red-tipped wings catching the light of the moon as it wheeled overhead.
It was impossible. The last of them had left this world centuries ago. There was no way this creature could be in existence now. But as the monster swooped overhead and released a plume of hellfire from its jaws that ignited the sky in a haze of blood red flames, there was no denying what it was.
A dragon of the lost gods.