Valen was grateful for what sleep he managed that night, the events that had taken place since the attack on his family’s home having forced him to rest fitfully at best in the time that followed, and for only short stretches at that. Despite the fact that he was underneath the massive city of Lakevale surrounded almost entirely by strangers, being in the home of people he actually knew must have made him feel more comfortable with sleep than he had thought it would.
Which is why, when Samuel shook him awake, he was not at all ready for it.
“Wha… ?” he managed groggily, his head feeling like an anvil had been dropped on it as he slept. He was not a fan of the feeling, though recently he could say that about almost every other feeling he had.
“You've got to get up, Val. It’s not good,” Sam hissed, the words piercing through the veil of sleepiness about him and startling him fully awake.
“What? What are you talking about? What’s wrong?” Valen replied, pushing himself up into a seated position. He did his best not to cringe when he realized how badly he smelled from his time on the road and then sewers without bathing. He had been so determined – and then so tired – the day before as he entered the city that he had not thought about it at all.
“Just get up and get your things. Orik knows all the details, so I’ll let him explain, but… you just have to hurry,” his friend replied, and as the expression on Sam’s face seemed even more grim than normal, he figured it was probably a good idea to do as he said and hurry up. He was on his feet as quickly as possible, pulling his boots on and pulling his pack up onto his shoulders before hurrying out the door behind Samuel.
Matthew was already waiting outside for them, the twins’ father looking just as grim and dour as his son. Simon was nowhere to be seen, but Valen did not ask after him. The growing sense of dread that seemed to be settling in the pit of his stomach narrowed his focus more and more. All he could think about was finding Orik and finding out what could possibly be so serious.
Luckily, with the pace the two Romaris set, it did not take them long to reach the barracks and head inside, where the leader of the Children of the Sky waited at the high table at the far end of the main hall. Others stood around the table as well; Nessa, her customary wry grin replaced with lines of anger; Arnold, who upon seeing Valen enter seemed to be looking at him with pity; Liza, who stood quietly off to the side with her arms crossed, acting as if she had been expecting whatever was happening to happen; and a few others Valen did not recognize, people he assumed were other important figures in the Nest and among the Children.
There seemed to be an argument going on among the people assembled, only Liza, Nessa and Orik staying out of it. When Valen entered with the Romaris, however, all eyes turned towards him. He almost froze up – he was certainly not used to having so many eyes on him at once – but dread pulled him onwards regardless.
Something in his mind seemed to be whispering, taunting him, because he knew that with what these people knew of him there was only one thing involving him that could be as important and yet terrible as this seemed to be.
“Valen,” Orik began, immediately silencing everyone else at the table. He stepped around from where he had been waiting and descended to greet Valen and the Romaris as they approached. Looking between Matthew and Samuel before he spoke, the large man finally settled his eyes on the young Galar, eyes narrowing into some sort of mix between anger and pity.
“I’m sorry to tell you that the Blackscale Knights have captured your sister and your wyverns, and intend to have them all executed at the end of the day before city hall, with as much of the city as they can manage to gather there to watch. They want to make an example of her, to show the people of the Empire what happens to those who resist Imperial rule,” the grizzled man told him, his voice becoming a growl as he finished those last few words. Echoes of that same angry sentiment made their way across the faces of everyone else assembled.
Valen could only stare at Orik in shock, trying to process what he had just been told. His mind did not want to cooperate with him at the moment, but this new information was too dark, too horrible, and made its way deep into his thoughts regardless, until finally he was able to finish puzzling out the meaning of the man’s words with his frazzled mind.
“Oh,” was what he managed, before turning and vomiting right then and there. Almost everyone looked away, not wanting to embarrass him with their stares, yet that almost made it worse. The only people who did not turn away were Orik himself, Nessa, Liza and, to Valen’s surprise, Simon, who had been standing off to the side of the table in the shadows, unnoticed by the young Galar until then.
Valen thought he had seen anger before, had seen hatred in Samuel’s eyes when his mother had been mentioned, but the look on Simon’s face made what he thought he understood about rage fall away.
This was a young man who hated someone so much that he would do absolutely anything within his power to make things right. As he met Valen’s eyes, he did not seem to notice that his childhood friend had just been sick or the heat rising in his cheeks. All that Simon did, upon locking eyes with Valen, was nod, a simple, curt thing to let him know…
Whatever happened, he was with him.
And Valen knew, too, that regardless of whether any of these people here would help him, he had no choice but to try and rescue his sister and the wyverns. They were the only family he had left in all the world, and he was not about to let them die.
“I have to save her,” Valen suddenly announced, his voice flat with a barely contained mix of fear and anger, and he made as if to turn and head out right then and there. Matthew’s hand on his shoulder stopped him short, however, and though he shot a glare at the Romari patriarch he still spun back around to look at Orik once more.
The big man stared back, a hard set to his eyes.
“You will not do so alone, Valen,” Orik said. Then he turned to look at the others, already opening his mouth to speak, and Valen realized he had prepared whatever he was about to say for just this moment.
“Brothers and sisters, Children of the Sky. For too long the Empire has ruled our people like insects beneath their boots. The people overlook it because they do not wish to have their lives upended, but the freedoms we once enjoyed have been long forgotten. How many generations have passed since Lakevale was a free city? One? Perhaps two? And yet already the people forget what true freedom feels like. I say no more,” Orik declared, his voice slipping into what was almost a hiss on the last two words before gesturing to Valen.
“We do not know this young man. True, some of our number knew him long ago, but it was long ago. Yet his life is so much like our own that my heart aches with the same anger he must now feel. He has suffered because of the tyrannical rule of the Emperor, just as we have. His sister is about to be made an example of to all the people of not just our city, but the entire Empire. They will use her death and the death of their wyverns to show us that their rule is unflinching and unbreakable. So, I ask you, do we allow this travesty to continue as planned, and let the people of the Empire fall further into their fearful obedience to the Dragon Lord, or do we now take a stand, on behalf of all those who have been slain because of the evil of our rulers?”
As Orik finished, Valen realized just how swept up in the man’s words he had become. How the man had managed to become leader of the Children was now much clearer. Where before he had only seen a gruff beast of a man who looked as if he outsized a bear, he now understood that there was a fiery, intelligent mind behind his appearance.
From the nods and shouts of assent coming from the other people assembled around the table, it was obvious that the others had been just as swept up in his speech as him. Orik Thangar was an orator, it seemed, and the Children an audience filled with the same righteous anger as he. Stepping down and away from the table now, the large man rested one large, meaty hand on Valen’s shoulder before nodding to the others.
“Well, then,” he continued, turning to grin down at Valen before he finished, “it seems we have some lizards to kill.”
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“Our primary objective is reaching the city center where the mayor’s office lies, and where the stockades will be erected for the execution,” Liza explained, an eager light to her eyes as she spoke. The fact that she was excited at the prospect of killing Imperials said all Valen needed to know. She was dangerous, but she was on their side, which he was very grateful for.
At the moment, she was speaking to the small group that had reassembled at the high table in the Nest’s command center about an hour after Orik had given his speech. Though it had only been a short time, the whole building bustled with activity as men and women of the Children hurried back and forth. As the minutes passed by, more and more of them seemed to be armed and armored in light, leather armor made for ease of movement in a city setting.
The Children of the Sky were mobilizing faster than Valen had thought possible.
“Arnold, after our main force engages with the Imperial guards stationed around the square, you and I will be working to clear the stockades of any enemies remaining near the boy’s sister. It’s important we move as quickly and forcefully as we can. We’ll only have a short amount of time to get in, rescue the girl and the wyverns, and then get them out of there. We cannot afford an extended engagement with Imperial forces,” the shaven-headed woman continued, and even as she spoke she brought a hand down to rest on the handaxe that hung from her right hip. Arnold, the only one of their number who had not yet equipped a weapon, gave a sharp nod, indicating that he understood.
Liza turned her attention to Nessa, adorned in almost no armor at all with a wickedly curved sword across the back of her waist, and the twins, Samuel back in the same attire he had worn when he first found Valen aboveground, his twin blades within easy reach of his hands for the moment they were needed, while Simon was now wearing similar leather armor, with a two-handed hammer strapped to his back.
“The three of you will work together to free the wyverns. One is rather young, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about getting that one away, but the other is, from my understanding, much larger and more aggressive. With the big one, don’t worry about anything else besides removing its chains and setting it free. We don’t want the beast to mistake any of you for enemies, after all,” the woman continued, bringing a grin to the twins’ faces before they realized that she had not been joking.
Valen stiffened a bit upon hearing a wyvern be called a ‘beast,’ but he realized he could not hold it against her. Very few people ever interacted with wyverns anymore, and the few that did usually found themselves dealing with a wild wyvern and not one of the tamed drakes that were raised in hatcheries. The only people that were able to interact with tamed wyverns were those wealthy enough to afford them for very specific fields.
“That just leaves you, Valen. We can get you up to the stockades, but you will have to free your sister yourself as quickly as you can manage. Once she’s free and the wyverns are loose as well, get yourself on the big guy’s back and get out of Lakevale as quickly as you can. With the chaos of the fighting in the streets and a few other distractions across the city we’ll be providing, hopefully no one will be paying close enough attention to notice that one of the dragons up in the sky looks different than the others. Orik will have fresh supplies waiting for you outside the city on the other side of Westlake. All you must do is keep an eye out for a smoke trail, away from the town of Morst. It will be best for you to avoid the town, since they have an Imperial garrison there as they did in Medst, the town you crossed over from,” Liza finally finished, and though it was a good bit of information for him to remember, he nodded. There was too much at stake for him to forget anything. Pressure always helped him remember things better, something he was very grateful for in this moment.
“I’ve got it,” Valen replied, once he realized that Liza seemed to be waiting for him to say something. She nodded, satisfied, before turning to look at the others with a raised brow, receiving quick nods from each of them before she was done.
They all knew what they had to do.
“Hold on just a moment, everyone. I have more news,” a voice called, and they all turned to look back at Orik as he approached. Something about the worried crease to his brows sent fresh unease through Valen, and from the look on Liza’s face she had not been expecting the man’s interruption during this meeting.
She snapped off a sharp salute before nodding to him, politely giving way for her commanding officer. Orik gave a curt, absentminded nod back to her before he stepped up to the table at a free space, beginning to speak almost immediately.
“I have two new pieces of unexpected news. The first, while surprising, is not necessarily a bad thing if we can play our cards right. Governor Beltros himself will be attending the execution of Valen’s sister and the wyverns. It’s a rare opportunity for us, and one that I do not think we can overlook,” the leader of the Children announced, and from the looks of surprise on everyone else’s faces, Valen could tell this truly was unexpected.
“So the so-called ‘Master of the Lakes’ has decided to actually show himself for once? What a surprise,” Nessa muttered aloud, which only served to confuse him even more.
“I’m sorry, but why is this so weird? Does this Governor Beltros not normally show himself to people, or something?” Valen asked. Simon actually spoke up to answer him now, the hate in his words strong enough to grab his attention immediately.
“’Governor’ Beltros would rather give the command to execute someone and then hide in his fancy spa in city hall than attend a killing in person. He hates the sight of blood almost as much as he hates the ‘filthy peasant folk,’” the Romari twin snarled, and from the way he said those last few words it sounded almost as if Simon were directly quoting the man. His hands had curled into fists, pushing against the table.
“He was certainly too disturbed by the sight of blood to attend ma’s execution, anyways,” Samuel added, his own hate almost mingling with something that Valen had never thought to see in his eyes – fear.
As he processed what the twins had just said, a piece of the Romari puzzle fell into place in his head. Their mother? Executed? It certainlyexplained their hatred for the Empire and the strange way they had avoided conversation about her since Valen’s arrival. He had known that something bad had to have happened to her, but execution was not what he had been thinking.
Then he realized the significance of the Governor’s attendance at Hera’s execution, and turned to look at Orik again.
The man seemed to understand his question before he even asked it, however, and continued immediately. These words sounded strained as they came out, as if he wished he did not have to speak them.
“The reason Beltros is attending today’s execution is because of another guest that arrived in the city today, apparently to the surprise of everyone,” Orik explained, pausing here long enough for Nessa to prompt him to continue.
“What guest? Who could possibly scare Governor Beltros enough to bring him out for a public execution? Or a public anything?” she asked, and in response the leader of the Children closed his eyes.
“High Lord Velitarii, Master of the Order of the Blackscale Knights.”
It felt as though all the air had been sucked from the room.
No one spoke for several long moments, as each of those assembled had to take some time to truly process what Orik had just said. High Lord Velitarii, one of the Masters of the Draconic Orders, the greatest dragon riders in the Empire that answered directly to the Emperor himself. The presence of Velitarii and, Valen knew, the draconic Patriarch of his Order was a danger that none of them had been expecting.
While it was unlikely that the High Lord would unleash his massive dragon on the Children of the Sky in the chaotic close quarters of the city streets, everyone knew the stories about the High Lords and their powerful Oaths, which granted dark magic to those bound by them that would make their mission even more dangerous. Valen, thinking that some of them might now change their mind about helping to free his sister, looked around at those assembled. While he saw fear in their faces, however, he also saw something else he had not been expecting.
Determination.
“Well, we all knew this wasn’t going to be easy from the start, right?” Samuel said, and though his words sounded strained it seems the sentiment was echoed in everyone else.
“Right,” Nessa interjected, her lips curling into a resigned smirk. “We’re not going to back out now just because things might be a bit more difficult. We’ll figure it out, just like we always do,” the woman finished. There were grunts and murmurs of agreement from the others, and Valen suddenly felt a rush of gratitude for these wonderful people. He had only just met them, but he already knew that he would never be able to express just how much everything they were doing meant to him.
The weight of the danger they were going to be experiencing in order to help him free Hera settled more fully as well now, and his face grew dark. Though everyone seemed ready for what lay ahead, Valen understood there was a good chance that not all of them would live through the day.
It was an unsettling thought, but Orik, as though he could hear Valen’s thoughts through the expression on his face, spoke up.
“Brighten up a bit, boy. You should know that while everyone fighting today will be doing so because they want to help you, sure, that would only be enough motivation for maybe a few of the Children to volunteer unless there was more behind their decision to act. Every single one of us wants a world free of Imperial rule. If we’re able to strike a blow against the Empire by helping you rescue your sister and your wyverns, then by the Four, we’re going to do it,” the man told him, and at that everyone looked at Valen once more.
He took that moment to look each of them in the eyes, and as he saw the hard edge of determination in each of them, that fresh weight fell from his shoulders. Orik was right. With or without Valen’s plight, they would likely have found another way to fight against the Empire. He had not been here long, but he had certainly been here long enough to know that.
So Valen did his best to put on a confident smile and nodded.
“Well then, I guess we had better get going then, right?” he asked.
Simon grinned, an angry thing that Valen understood now. Samuel’s hands clenched hard as he crossed his arms. Liza’s grim nod seemed to be the final signal that Orik was waiting for.
“Yes, I think we should,” the leader of the Children replied.
Then they were leaving the Barracks behind, making their way over to the large colosseum-like opening at the very center of the Nest.
It wasn’t much longer before Orik had addressed the people assembled there and they were leaving the underground city behind, making their way to the streets above... and the danger that awaited them there.