A force of wind threw the invader off their feet, slamming them into the wall. The slamming and cracking of the furniture thundered across the loft, alerting everyone else of the instance. Kaden shook his head as he followed Reese out of the room. It was a bit excessive for one invader. He felt that Reese probably did everything in excess.

The figure groaned as they tried to stand up. They were covered head to toe in dark clothing wrapped tightly around them. Their face was fully obscured with only green goggles over their eyes for them to see. The goggles shimmered in the night, a small rune on each side of them. They were enchanted for some reason.

Evonne and Sayori were running out in their pajamas. Kaden couldn’t help but take notice of the shorts and thin shirt Sayori was wearing. Evonne, on the other hand, was in long, thick sleeves from head to toe. The girl liked to be warm in every way it seemed.

Reese was walking toward the groaning person with a swagger in his step. He was overly confident already and Kaden worried it was going to get them into more danger. Sayori looked to Kaden for answers and he merely motioned to the figure leaning against the wall, holding their side.

He saw her let out an annoyed sigh. “There goes that whole being on our best behavior order.”

“Hey, I am on my best behavior,” Reese said as he casually walked toward the figure, looking back at them while winking. “My best behavior apprehended a would be assailant!”

Kaden saw a red glow near the figure’s hip. Instinct took over, and he lunged for Reese as the person leapt through the air, armed with a runic dagger. Their bodies collided and Kaden managed to push him out of the way just in time as the figure leapt over them, nearly missing them both.

Reese grunted as they fell, throwing Kaden off him. Sayori was already filling the gap. She grabbed one of the kitchen knives and was making her own lunge toward the assailant. They were forced to defend themselves, keeping them away from the two riders on the ground. The figure posed low, waiting for Sayori to attack again.

“It’s a serpent assassin,” she hissed out. “They’re using the same runic weapons Kaden and I saw.”

Kaden had crawled back to his feet and was in a fighting stance next to Reese. Evonne whipped her hands out and a fire grew from her fingertips as they all stood ready for the would-be assassin to make a move.

There wasn’t anywhere for them to go, they had them cornered. It was one thing to attack them while they all slept. It was another to try to do it when they were awake and capable of using their magic. Kaden assumed they didn’t have any magic themselves if they were having to resort to such weapons, but he wasn’t sure. He didn’t know enough about their new enemy to know if any magic users had joined their following.

They lunged forward, causing the four of them to react. Without any coordination, they all tried to make a move at once. The result was a singed yelp and a disgruntled push. They hadn’t done anything together and didn’t know how the others behaved. The figure took the opportunity to make a run for it through the balcony doors.

Kaden slid over the broken glass as he tried to follow suit. Reese was quicker and out the doors before anyone else. He slid to a stop, causing the rest of them to crash into him, falling over onto the wooden balcony.

“What the hells?” Sayori cursed as she tried to stand upright.

He grabbed her chin and turned it to the outer walls of the citadel. There, hanging from ropes, were hundreds of dark figures. Kaden’s mouth dropped. Several were near other balconies and windows. Most were just hanging off the side of the building. He squinted and saw many of them climbing up the dragon tower.

“What the hells is happening? They’re even on the dragon tower!”

Their assailant was nowhere to be seen, already lost in the night sky. Reese ran back inside, pulling the curtain off the broken pole that had been tossed around. Kaden heard him ripping it up. He came walking back out with it draped and tied around him.

“I didn’t take you for the type who liked to dress up,” Sayori chided.

He laughed, “I needed wings.”

In a shaky voice, Evonne said, “I can’t feel Jerri.”

They all shared a shocked look before focusing on their own calls. Every single one of them shook their head and admitted the same. Either something had happened to the dragons, or something was nullifying their magic. With everything that Kaden knew about the House of the Serpent, he was leaning toward the latter.

“Okay,” Reese turned back to them with a firm nod, “it’s up to our own magics then. Please don’t fall off. I can’t save anyone this time.”

“That’s comforting,” Kaden said as he looked down at the twinkling city below.

Pointing to Sayori, Reese said, “We need steps. Can you pull the stone out for us? The moment we start, they’ll all be alerted.”

She gave him a firm nod. Looking at Evonne he said, “blast them off, sparky.”

Swallowing hard, she gave him a nod as well. Turning to Kaden, he put his hands out and said, “I don’t even know what you can do so, just get them down. Don’t fall off.”

Kaden raised his eyebrow and said, “What are you going to do?”

Reese smirked. “I’m going to fly.”

A flash of fire and light blew past them as a man screamed and fell off the balcony. They all looked at Evonne and she said, “I blasted him off?”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Kaden couldn’t help but chuckle at her. They were alone. So far, no one else had been alerted that he could see. Whoever was attacking was trying to do it in the cover of night. The fact that they were dampening their magic wards was concerning, and he knew they were alone. This was it. This was their first battle: the Battle of the White Citadel.

The flash of light had alerted several figures nearby, and they were bouncing off the wall, propelling their way toward them. Sayori didn’t hesitate. In several strong moves, the stones of the building popped out for them like stair steps. She ran up them followed by Evonne.

Reese gave them a salute and jumped off the edge of the balcony. Kaden lost sight of him over the edge before he flew up, the makeshift wings allowing him to ride the winds. He didn’t wait to see how flying would help. He had to follow the girls as they ran up the building.

He had to squint every time Evonne shot a blast of fire out as it lit up the darkness. Several of them easily fell to her attacks. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do to help. All he could focus on was not falling off the side of a building.

Hearing the pitter-patter behind him, he whirled around to see two figures running across the wall. The ropes allowed them to defy gravity as they sprinted toward him. He was not about to let the attack them from behind. Focusing his will, he tried to send a blast of water to knock them off, but their runic weapons slashed through it, causing it to fall into the air.

They were coming on them quickly, undeterred by his assault. His magic would be cut down again if he tried to hit them head-on. They were still having to use the wall to run, their feet still needing to make contact with something.

A thought struck him and he sent what magic he could out, splattering the stone nearby him with water. Twisting his hand, he willed it to freeze. A cold rush blew past him and the water froze, leaving a slick icy patch. They hadn’t expected it and their steps slid across it.

They fell, their momentum carrying them toward him still as their bodies crashed and smacked the stone. He heard a scream of pain as one’s head collided with the wall.

“Duck,” he heard Evonne saw before she blasted them with fire. The rope near instantly burned and their bodies flailed as they fell. Kaden watched until the darkness consumed them.

Motion caught his eye as he saw Reese flying about out there. He wasn’t alone as he saw figures gliding through the skies. Kaden nudged Evonne, and she looked to where he was pointing. There were several of them flying around out there, gliding through the air as he was.

“What is happening?” he asked under his breath.

He watched as several of them were shot right out of the sky by Reese. Evonne got Kaden’s attention and simply said, “Ropes,” before running to catch Sayori.

Ropes.

All they had to do was cut the ropes. He could do that. Shaking himself off, he followed suit as the wind whipped his clothes around. Sayori was ahead with a larger platform pulled out for them all to stand on. Chaos was erupting across the citadel. Bodies must be falling below, their fighting must be heard inside. Lights from balconies were coming on and alarm bells were ringing through the air. There would soon be more to defend the citadel.

Sliding on the stone next to Sayori, she pointed up the tower and Kaden saw them, the dragons. They were peeling out, roaring in anger as they flew out of their nests. He could feel the air vibrating from their wrath. Whatever was happening up there was angering them more than anything happening along the walls.

“They’re targeting the dragons somehow,” she said.

A prickling sensation ran up Kaden’s neck and he whirled around to see an attacker throwing a net at them. He was able to react in just enough time, throwing a block of ice up, causing the net to fly away. They were trying to immobilize them.

“We can’t fight like this. We need our dragons,” Evonne complained behind him. “I can hardly see them, much less stop them.”

Kaden took a deep breath. He wasn’t about to let them get pushed off the side of the building if he could help it. He needed to be able to fight without worrying about falling. Zuma couldn’t be called. They could only use their magic to attack them when they got close, and that was hard to do when you were having to scale a wall.

Ropes.

Climbing back down a few steps, he grabbed one of the dangling ropes they had liberated from an attacker. If they were using them to scale the walls, why don’t they do so too?

“Sayori, give me a boost!” She turned to him, seeing what he was doing and helped boost him up to get more length. Wrapping the rope around his waist, he tried to do what they had and walk horizontally along the wall. It would take a bit to get used to it, but he felt the taut rope hold him.

He gave her a thumbs up, and both she and Evonne were quick to find their own ropes. Evonne was searing another figure off one to get strapped in herself. Once tied in, they neared one another. The three of them were uneasy as they walked across the side of the building.

“Okay,” Sayori said as she tried her best to stay upright, “You lot need to keep nearby me, so if your rope breaks, I can stop you with a platform.”

Kaden and Evonne nodded. Evonne pointed to the ropes while tugging on hers. “Try your best to cut theirs before they cut ours. Toss theirs in the direction you’re going next in case yours gets cut.”

“Smart,” he said with a wink. She instantly smiled and looked away from him.

Sayori nodded. “We’ve got this, team. Let’s get to cutting some ropes!”

She laughed and off she went, running on the walls. The assailants didn’t know what was happening as the three of them cut their ropes. Kaden was using the ice, tossing it at the ropes with force, slicing them off. Screams echoed through the night.

Every scream ate at him, every death another mark on his soul. He thought he was just going to learn magic and ride a dragon. He didn’t think he was going to be dooming people to their deaths. The house of the serpent changed everything for him. His life was already turning into pure chaos, now even more so with more violence added in on top, as a treat.

Runed weapons caught his eye, and he lunged forward, trying to catch them off guard. Using his magic, he let a blast of water push him further off the building, propelling him into the night air. He was able to completely jump around the attacker, getting behind them before they could react. Tossing a chuck of ice at their rope, he saw their eyes widen before they fell to their deaths.

He was already losing count on how many he personally doomed.

Sayori’s scream drew his attention, and he saw as she was holding Evonne with her arm, Evonne’s own rope dangling. Three assailants were moving in on them. He watched as Sayori was trying to fight off the attacks of one. She wasn’t able to pull out a platform for them to stand on as she was trying to deflect blows.

He had to save them.

Running at full speed, he did another burst jump, flying off the building into the night sky. Turning himself toward them as he flew, he threw out shards of ice, bombarding where he thought their ropes were. The one in front of Sayori fell away, giving her enough time to erect a platform for them both.

Relief washed over him as they were able to stand upright and defend themselves from the others. He felt a jolt in the line and he looked above to see someone cutting his line. He was too far out from the building. Nothing Sayori could do would reach him.

His breath caught as he realized he was falling, the darkness below ready to swallow him as he had doomed so many others to. He felt weightless as he fell; the world slowing down around him. There were too many times, too many moments lately of him thinking that this was it, this was his end.

He really hated thinking that this was the end all the time.

Closing his eyes, he tried to think of what he could do to get him back to the wall. He tried to force the water out, to propel him toward the wall, but it had nothing to put pressure against. Unlike Reese, he couldn’t manipulate the air.

All he could think of was what would happen to Zuma without him.