Shylldra

“Lekarik!” Shylldra gasped. “What happened to your face?”

“It got even more magnificent.”

“You bonded with a Fang didn't you?” Dyryl said. “Like Hallek. And not with the one in the ax, either. It's too old.”

“There was some tyrannosaurus blood in the imperial treasury. Sweet gods, Lekarik, what did you do!?”

“Ah ah ah enough of that!” Lekarik said. “My transformation is due to my royal blood and my deep, deep connection with the soul of Dakkareg. To imply otherwise is treason.”

“Fine,” Shylldra said. “Whatever. It doesn't matter what you did. You've got the ax now! Under your own power! You don't need me!”

“But you're still a threat,” Lekarik sighed. “Don't you see? You could be used against me by more rebels like Jajess. I need to control you somehow. Don't worry, don't worry, I'm going to marry you. And now I won't even have to kill you once I get an heir. I always did think that plan was a waste. But I really can't let there be another Fang warrior out there to challenge me.”

Lekarik raised the ax but Dyryl moved first. Lekarik didn't even look towards her, just caught her in the ribs with an elbow and sent her flying. That distraction out of the way he brought the ax high over his head, ready to bring it down on Hallek's throat. Shylldra saw Hallek's grip tighten on his sword, and she knew he was going to die. She didn't doubt it for a second, any more than she doubted Hallek would take him down too. They would both die together.

And she couldn't bring herself to watch Hallek die.

“Wait!” Shylldra stepped between them. “Don't! Don't kill them. You need me to produce an heir still, right? If you kill him, any of them, I'll kill myself. First chance I get.”

“But spare them and you'll come with me?” Lekarik said. “I like it. Classic. But you do realize they'll all die when my men get here. It doesn't have the same ring asthe emperor personally slaying a rebel Fang warrior, but it does the job. Maybe I'll go ahead and say it anyway. Doesn't really save them though, does it?”

He's underestimating them. Given a little time to recover, Hallek would be up and moving. And Dyryl just had the wind knocked out of her. They'd be more than capable of escaping a few regular soldiers. She just had to buy them time.

“Just...Just don't make me watch them die.”

“Well alright,” Lekarik sighed. “If you think getting me to walk away will give your friends a chance I'll play along for now. But I am taking this weapon.” Lekarik reached for Hallek's sword.

It was only his own Fang power that saved his life. Orange energy flared and the sword roared, lashing out at the emperor. Lekarik roared back, glaring at the weapon.

“Fine!” he snarled. “Keep it. If no one can use it anyway I don't need to worry. Maybe they can find a way to bring it for my trophy room.”

“Wait,” Hallek managed to choke out. “Don't...”

“I'll be alright,” Shylldra told him.

“And I'm bringing him too,” Lekarik grabbed Norak and threw the massive barbarian over his shoulder like a sack of wheat.

“Wait! Why...”

“Simple,” Lekarik laughed. “I promised not to make you watch any of them die. But they're going to die on this battlefield and what then? I need a hostage to keep you in line. This one isn't the Fang warrior, who I can't let live, and he's more injured than the girl over there. Who looks like a real pain in the ass to me.”

“But he's almost bled out! If you strain him...”

“All the more reason to move quick!” Lekarik grabbed her by the arm, and they were off around the villa and back towards the battle. She lost track of where they were going for a moment, but they finally came to a stop on the hill overlooking the battlefield.

Lekarik roared.

Dyryl

The roar woke Dyryl up.

It was Lekarik's roar, the roar that made his troops more powerful. By the time she made it back to her feet, still coughing and gagging around her bruised ribs, she could see the battle was lost.

What the hells happened? Where is everybody?

Hallek was standing up too, leaning against the wall of the villa. The battle behind them was a shambles. Newly empowered by the roar the soldiers were overwhelming the defenders. But there was no sign of Norak, and she couldn't see her mother in the chaotic fighting.

“What happened?”

“Lekarik took Shylldra,” Hallek said. “And your brother.”

“Well crap,” Dyryl said. “Come on. We have to go.”

“But he has them,” Hallek said. “And your mother, the tribes--”

“We're Birdfang,” Dyryl said. “When we find a losing battle we scatter into the trees and regroup. This is that time. We'll get them back, alright? Come on. We've got to get to the forest. How fast can you move?”

“Fast enough to run,” Hallek said bitterly. They made for the trees.

Krazzek

Krazzek found the forest full of scouts.

What scouts the emperor and his men had brought with them were stationed at the forest around the villa's ground to catch fleeing “rebels.” Not that Krazzek was sure who counted as a rebel. The Birdfang certainly hadn't agreed to anything with Jajess. His guardsmen were, alright, not super loyal to the emperor but he doubted most of them had any idea what their master planned. So far the only “rebel” he could see was Jajess. And Ballum, because Ballum knew everything Jajess did. Shylldra and Hallek? Is it being rebel if the emperor is out to get you instead of the other way around?

And alright, one more rebel if you wanted to be technical about it. Krazzek.

He supposed he counted as a rebel. He'd certainly done whatever Jajess told him. But he'd had a job dammit, and he didn't really care who was emperor. It didn't matter much to a thief one way or another who’s guards were chasing him down after all.

For a while he'd thought Jajess was going to win. Things were pretty even, and with the Birdfang backing him up it looked like the guards had a shot. But then Lekarik appeared on top of the hill and he let out another roar. Milkaamek's roar. A legend. And as powerful as the legend said, from the way the emperor's troops suddenly began hewing through their opposition. Lekarik didn't like seeing that. In fact, he liked Lekarik less and less the more he saw of him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

He also didn't like that Lekarik seemed to have Shylldra with him on the hilltop. That did not bode well for Dyryl. Or any of the other people he'd gotten to know over the past few days. It was a short friendship, but deeper than he would have expected. Bonds forged of being, in different ways and for different reasons, fed up with the world.

He caught sight of Dyryl leading an obviously wounded Hallek into the trees. Straight towards one of the patrols he'd spotted earlier.

“Over here!” He called out, running out from the tree line. “This way!”

“Scared and lonely?” Dyryl asked.

“You were heading straight into a patrol,” Krazzek said. “Come on.”

“They'll be circling around to cut us off,” Hallek said.

“Follow me and they won't. Not in the forest around here.”

It took them three hours to escape. Once or twice they heard scouts pass by, and one time Krazzek made them all hide under a pile of brush as scouts walked right by them. But eventually the sounds of pursuit faded.

“Now what?” Krazzek asked.

“He took Shylldra and Norak to the city,”

They were passing by a small brook trickling between rocks and branches, barely enough water for wild animals to drink from. None of them were stopping to look at much, so if it hadn't shifted and groaned just then they could easily have missed the unconscious form lying in the ankle deep water.

Norak's asked as Dyryl and Krazzek went to check.

“I can't believe this,” Krazzek said. “It's Verris.”

“Looks like somebody cut him up,” Dyryl said. “Hallek, can you carry him?”

“We're not leaving him here?” Krazzek said. “Because I think we should probably leave him here.”

“If the soldiers find him they'll kill him,” Hallek said.

“And he's an untrustworthy nutcase who'll stab us in the back the minute he regains consciousness,” Krazzek pointed out. “He forced you into a duel at the villa, said he wants to sleep with your girlfriend, and has openly declared his intention to kill you, his father, the emperor, and gods know how many other people in ways that could get us noticed and make us accomplices. Aren't these all good reasons to leave him behind?”

“Yeah but I've known him my whole life,” Hallek said, pulling Verris up onto his back. “And he's strong.”

Shylldra

When they've got you surrounded, they don't need to put you in chains.

The thought came as Shylldra watched Lekarik's men loot the ruins of Jajess's villa. Someone had set a fire. Apparently they were taking everything they could grab back home to the capital. Along with their captives. Not that they'd bother to take any other captives. Norak was already on the boat, strapped down and being looked after by healers somewhere. It was a scene of utter devestation and ruin.

Lekarik seemed almost obscenely pleased.

“This has been an extremely good day,” he told her with a grin full of fangs. “That should put the rebels back on their heels for a while. And show the barbarians while we're at it...”

“It really won't,” Shylldra said. “They've been fighting us for thousands of years. Even if Birdfang really is pretty much demolished by this point, the other tribes will rally around. It's going to be the first open war between the empire and the tribes in eight hundred years.”

“So it's about time. They've always been our enemies. You know your history.”

“I do. But they're not an invading army anymore. They've lived in those forests now almost as long as there's been an empire.”

“They're nothing. The armies will take care of them.”

“Except to get the men to do that you've got to weaken us elsewhere in the empire,” Shylldra said. “And I know we do it all the time when we go to war, but there's a big difference between fighting another enemy on a battlefield outside your borders and fighting insurgents right next to your capital. Politically, I mean. Or did you forget we're not the only empire in the world? I bet if we start looking weak that way at least Bai Long and the Skylords will start pushing us. Who knows? Zys might be far away but I bet they're interested in what we do. And you hear all kinds of things about the kingdoms on the western continent...”

Lekarik snarled at her, baring his fangs. She closed her mouth with a shrug and stared back at him, the silence stretching between them.

“It’s not going to work,” he said finally, breaking out into another wide smile. “This is an excellent day. We'll deal with the barbarians. You're just trying to ruin my mood, and it isn't going to happen. Where's Krozz?”

“Dead, remember?” Shylldra told him. “Hallek killed him. In single combat. It was very impressive.” Lekarik glared.

“It was your lover's shitdigging corpse I was asking about as a matter of fact,” Lekarik said. “Hey! Who's in charge with Krozz gone?”

“That honor would be mine, emperor,” a captain said, stepping forward and saluting.

“What's been done about the Fang weapon? Did we find a way to carry it back to the capital? I'm sure I gave orders. To somebody.”

“My emperor we found no unusual weapon,” the captain said. “Everything liberated from the battlefield is being put in storage.”

Lekarik snarled. Shylldra couldn't suppress a grin. Hallek made it out.

“What's wrong?” Shylldra asked. “Did something ruin your day?”

“No,” Lekarik said through clenched fangs. She could actually see him forcing himself to be calm. It was like he had to relax each muscle one by one, a brief anatomy lesson in stress as he forced his shoulders to loosen and his jaw to unclench. “No. This was a victory. A completevictory. I'll just have to kill your boyfriend the next time I meet him.”

“Good, good, sounds like a plan,” Shylldra said. “Of course the nexttime you meet Hallek he might not be injured. Are you positive you can beat him when he's at a hundred percent? He's got a fang weapon too you know, and you've got more training but he's got more talent...”

Lekarik whirled on her and she flinched. He had his hand raised as if to strike her, or possibly slash at her with his new claws. Instead he took a long, deep breath and lowered his arm.

“You are not,” he told her, “going to ruin my day. Come on, we're boarding.”

Shylldra followed him up the gangplank and onto the canal boat. Unlike the bulky troop transports it was smaller and slimmer with an oval deck surrounding a structure split into a series of small but comfortable cabins for the Emperor and his guests.

“There you are! Finally!”

Gylldrianna burst out of a cabin in a wave of dyed feathers and expensively horrible perfume.

“Running around everywhere with barbarians and rebels,” Gylldrianna scolded Shylldra. “What were you thinking? Oh forgive me, your majesty, I'm just so emotional on seeing my daughter again.”

“Perfectly understandable,” Lekarik said.

“Mother, don't act like you're the highest angel of Maia. I know you were planning to kill me.”

“Well you were being extremely difficult,” Gylldrianna said. “But that's all in the past now! You're going to be the emperor's wife. And if I can't make you understand that's a good thing I'll...”

“Gylldrianna,” Lekarik interrupted. “What exactly do you do?”

Gylldrianna blinked eyes caked in makeup. The deck lurched underneath them as the canal boats sailed off.

“I'm sorry I...” she stumbled for words. “I don't know what you mean.”

“Well it just occurred to me,” Lekarik said. “Everyone else in my court has a position, you know? A job. And my inner circle, well they've all got an important part in keeping me on the throne one way or another. Personal power, military power. Have to find someone to replace Krozz now. But what about you? No offense intended, but your title isn't very impressive, you can't fight, and you don't have any authority at all. So what's your job?”

“Well I...” Gylldrianna looked like her dinner had just gotten up and danced. It was obvious she was desperately scrabbling to figure out where all this was going. Shylldra, just as confused, didn't trust herself to speak. Finally her mother did. “I hope I've been of some use as an adviser.”

“It was me, wasn't it?” Lekarik said. “I was your job. You were there because you're the kind of older woman I always want to bed, and you could calm me down with your cleavage and coo what they all wanted me to do in my ear with that sultry voice. That's it, isn't it? Your job was controlling me.”

“Didn't I always try to give you good advice?” Gylldrianna said worriedly.

“Oh you did, you did!” Lekarik assured her. “You're smart, Gylldrianna, as well as being a beautiful woman. And someone needed to keep me under control. I understand that now. I was such an idiot back then...”

“Oh no!” Gylldrianna said. “No, just...young, your majesty!”

“Oh I'm still young!” Lekarik laughed. “I think I was in love with you, do you know that? But I couldn't marry you, of course. I didn't even dare to try and bed you the way things were. I thought you were going to be so very important.”

The emperor sighed.

“But I don't need to be controlled anymore,” Lekarik said. “So I guess I was wrong.”

With one swift motion he pulled the ax from his back and swung it neatly though Gylldrianna's neck. Her head fell into the river with a soft splash. Shylldra let out a small scream and stumbled back against the cabins. Her mother's corpse hung in the air like a puppet on strings, as if it had just forgotten to fall over, a geyser of blood spurting from her severed neck. Lekarik kicked the body over the side, where it turned the frothing wake of the boat blood red.