There was the sound of shouts and a twanging sound accompanied by cries of pain from behind him, but Valen didn't look back. He bolted for the door leading to the staircase that would take him to the top of the watchtower, where he assumed he would be able to exit onto Trinity's wall.
He ran on pure instinct, taking the steps two or three at a time - the most that he could do without losing his footing, and even that was pushing it. He didn't care.
Cries of pain carried upwards to him from below, but then he reached the top of the stairs and the small wooden upper floor that was bare save for the opening Valen now sprinted through. Unfortunately, he found himself facing five Legionnaires that had come this way to cut off their only possible escape route.
Before he could shout or even begin to react, something whizzed past his face with what almost sounded like a whistle, taking the first of the Legionnaires directly in the face and sending him careening backwards. He hit the floor of the battlement and lay still. The other Imperials took too much time being surprised and Valen shoved past them, leaping over the fallen form of the one that had gone down and racing away along the battlements in the direction he thought he remembered the gate they had come through was.
As the sounds of conflict behind him grew a bit louder, an alarm began to peal out over Trinity. The militiamen on the wall were looking about in a mixture of confusion and surprise. Valen could hear the sound of pounding boots behind him and knew that he was still being pursued, but he could not afford to look back. He would simply have to trust that Samorr could protect him.
The militiamen hesitated to reach for him when they saw the symbol on the dark cloak Valen still wore, their innate fear of the Shadows giving him the opportunity to slip past the local guards before they realized what was happening.
Still, he knew that the soldiers were closing the distance now as the militia scrambled to get out of both his way as well as the Legionnaires’. The sound of their boots hitting the battlement was growing louder and he found it increasingly more difficult not to look back. Every bad thing that could possibly happen raced through his mind. Any moment now, one of the militiamen would realize what was happening, get in his way and then the Imperials would have him. Samorr was dying behind him while he ran away like a coward. He hated it.
Then he felt fingers grasping at the fluttering edge of his cloak. A shock of adrenaline drove him on just a little bit faster, just enough of a boost to get away one more time. The gate was still too far, though – he was approaching it quickly, but not quickly enough. Meanwhile the militia were no longer moving as quickly to get out of his way; it seemed like they were catching on to what was happening. Fearful eyes grew suspicious and then angry as more hands began to reach for him each time he passed another soldier.
Valen’s breathing was growing heavier and he knew his luck was about to run out. He hoped that the other rangers would at least keep Hera and the wyverns safe for the rest of the journey South. He wanted his sister to have a chance at a life, even if he would not be able to be there with her.
He felt something catch his cloak – with a start, he realized one of the Legionnaires had thrown a spear, pinning it to the ground and yanking him off of his feet. Valen went down with a cry, pulling frantically at the cloak to try and get it off before they had him. He looked back, saw them reaching for him…
Then an arrow took the soldier who had thrown the spear through the side of his head. He went spinning off of the battlements into the roof of one of the buildings below. Eyes whirled to look beyond the city, including Valen's, and he saw to his shock Bardus and Hedrick riding hard along the length of Trinity’s walls, bows up and firing as they moved.
More arrows flew through the air with deadly accuracy, the fletching making little thwip sounds. Almost every time it was followed by the cry of a dying or wounded man.
Imperials, militia and Legionnaire alike, dove for cover, but Valen knew immediately that if he stayed there the help would be for nothing. He slipped out of the cloak, leaving it pinned to the floor as he took off running once more. The stairs from the top of the wall that led down to the interior side of the gates were just ahead of him now. Arrows still tore the air around him, some coming closer than he would have liked, but the rangers knew what they were doing.
No harm came to Valen from any enemies atop the walls.
Then he was descending the stairs, where the rangers’ arrows could not protect him. Militiamen were waiting for him below, though he could tell they were not sure about what they were doing. He had his sword in his hands then, though he did not remember moving to draw it. He moved through the Imperials in a near panic, laying about himself with wild abandon. There was no time for finesse right now. He was not a capable enough warrior to even attempt more than this careless swinging if he wanted to make out of the city without getting stuck in a losing fight.
He scored a few small cuts here and there as he pushed through the men and women that had been in his way, but he was not trying to kill anyone. He just wanted them to step back for a moment, to try and figure out if he was an opponent they should worry about. Valen got that moment and when it came he slipped past them, making straight for the door through the wall used only by the guards.
Shouts came from all around him. Suddenly there were arrows coming at him, narrowly missing him as he ran. The militia’s archers were nowhere near as skilled as the Iron Watch’s rangers, but that meant nothing in such close quarters. Any hit would be enough to bring Valen down and then it would all be over.
Thankfully none of the missiles hit him, allowing him to reach his final obstacle; several guards had moved to block the door he was running for, which meant the only way he could get out was to go through them.
Something in him shifted then as his mind went into overdrive. It was as if everyone else was suddenly slower. He could see where the men before him were swinging their blades, could move easily through their attacks, avoiding them with effortless ease. Valen had no idea how or why it was happening, but he did know that he was perceiving things in a way no human should be capable of. He could see every bead of sweat on the brows of his enemies, could feel with incredible sensitivity the beating of his own heart and the racing of his pulse.
And he could feel, above all else, a calm unlike anything he had ever experienced before save the times he flew upon Raenelir’s back through the skies. With that feeling filling him, he was able to slip through the attacks of the soldiers, reach the door and shove it open. He felt resistance for a moment from the other side, but then it was opening anyways and Valen sprinted through. He left Trinity behind and bolted across the hilly terrain between the city’s walls and the trees in the distance, where he could find cover.
Off to the right, he saw Bardus and Hedrick racing closer on their horses. Then, just as quickly as the strange sense had come over him, it was gone. Everything was moving at normal speed again, only this time he felt the weight of intense exhaustion and he nearly stumbled and collapsed.
He managed to keep his balance, however, and pushed himself to keep running. There were shouts coming from behind him, arrows whistling past all around. He was acutely aware that he was running out in the open with no cover or other Imperials around him to prevent their enemies from firing on him uninhibited.
Bardus and Hedrick approached, however, and arrows flew back towards the enemy from their bows as quick as lightning, each shot ending in another dead Imperial. Imperial arrows finally stopped falling and then the Second Ranger was there, racing up alongside him and slinging his bow across his back.
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He reached a hand down towards him, a look of deadly seriousness on his face.
“Grab my hand!” he shouted. Valen did not hesitate. He clasped Bardus’s hand in his own and the man hauled him off the ground and up onto the back of his horse behind him with a loud groan of effort. As soon as he was off of his feet and in the saddle he slumped forward, groaning with exhaustion. Hedrick continued to fire back towards the city, but the militiamen had failed to organize enough to realize they still held a vast advantage if they would only pursue them.
The speed and precision of the rangers, coupled with the number of Imperials they had managed to kill in such a short amount of time, made them afraid.
“Good thing they stopped coming,” Hedrick called out, coming up alongside them as they raced towards the tree line. “I’m all out of arrows!” he finished. They were almost at the trees, out of danger, when there were roars from within the city. Suddenly dragon riders were launching into the sky, six or seven of them in total, and even from here Valen could see that these were not the simple Blackscale Knights he had faced in the skies over Lakevale or in the attack on the Galar Hatchery.
These riders he recognized as the same darkly armored warriors that had been serving as High Lord Velitarii’s personal guard back in Lakevale. Valen did not need to see the dark expressions on the rangers’ faces to know their appearance was not good news.
Still, they could not leave yet.
“Hey, wait! What about Samorr? He told me to run while he held back the Imperials! We can’t just abandon him,” Valen shouted, even as the dragon riders got their bearings in the sky and began to turn in the direction they were riding. The thought of those flames lighting the trees on fire as they tried to escape was not pleasant, but he still could not imagine just leaving the friendly redhead behind. Even more so when he was the only reason Valen was still alive.
“He knew the risks of the mission and he was right to prioritize your life over his own. We cannot afford to wait around for him, not with riders in the sky. Especially not if we’re facing Elites,” Bardus told him. Hedrick looked as if he wished it was not true, but he did not disagree with his commanding officer. The three of them looked back to the city for a moment longer, then began to turn away, preparing to leave Trinity truly behind and make good their escape before it was too late.
Then there was the sound of shouting and another gate was suddenly flung open off to the left, making way for a rider dressed in black. Valen’s eyes widened in panic, thinking that this was Lady Maeve, the member of the Shadow Corps that had cornered them back at the watchtower. He quickly realized he recognized both the horse the figure was riding and the one he led, however.
It was Samorr, riding his horse and leading Valen’s behind him. Even Bardus looked shocked, his mouth falling agape before he caught himself. Samorr raced across the open ground towards them, even as riders followed him out of the city. There were around ten or so on horseback rushing to try and keep up, including one wearing a black cloak.
There was Lady Maeve.
“Damn,” Hedrick hissed through clenched teeth, turning to look at the Second Ranger with a silent question in his eyes. Bardus gave a sharp nod, then reached back to slip his quiver off of his back. Valen pulled back out of his way, his exhaustion forgotten for just a moment thanks to the fresh rush of adrenaline in his system that came as he watched Samorr ride for his very life. The Second Ranger handed his quiver over to Hedrick, who took it, gave them both a grim salute, then wheeled his horse around to ride back to their comrade.
Valen watched with bated breath as the older ranger rode to provide cover for their ally’s attempted escape, bow coming up once more. Arrows flitted from the quiver to his fingers and then to the bowstring with the quick, practiced ease of a man who had spent decades doing just this thing. Riders fell from their horses and suddenly Samorr’s pursuers were breaking off one by one. Some took arrows that forced them back or to the ground and others were just trying to maneuver out of the way of Hedrick’s deadly attack.
The only pursuer who they could not shake off was the dark-cloaked Shadow, who somehow managed to deftly avoid every arrow that came her way. Bardus seemed to realize that this was not the same caliber of opponent as the other Imperials and turned back to look at Valen.
“There was a real member of the Shadow Corps inside. Lady Maeve, we heard her called. She’s the reason our cover was blown so soon, and that’s her there,” Valen explained, pointing at the woman as he spoke. The Second Ranger’s eyes widened for a moment before he let out a string of expletives that would have put anyone to shame.
“There was no way we could have foreseen that. I did not think it possible that a Shadow could have travelled so far yet. She either must have already been close due to another assignment, or she travelled on dragonback with members of the Blackscale Order. Either way, there goes one of our best covers,” Bardus said, but he sounded more like he was trying to explain things to himself rather than to Valen.
Still, though she raced onwards in the face of Hedrick’s volley the attacks still slowed her down just enough for Samorr to gain ground until he was almost level with Hedrick. Only a moment later both rangers were riding back to Valen and Bardus, side by side.
Valen breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Somehow, some way, they were going to make it. How Samorr had managed to get away from so many enemies he had no idea, but right now he was too grateful to spend much thought on it. Then came a roar and he remembered the dragon riders as the first of them swooped down towards the fleeing rangers.
Out in the open as they were, there was nothing they could do. Hedrick was almost out of ammunition, though he still managed to fire three more times, this time taking aim upwards at the armored rider guiding the dragon that flew down upon them. It seemed as though he managed to strike the rider but the arrow did nothing to his heavy armor. They survived through sheer luck as the dragon's jaws snapped down right between Samorr and Hedrick.
Now it was Samorr’s time to shine; out came that strange bow contraption and he twisted in his saddle, aiming upwards at the dragon rider. Valen could not see him draw but suddenly the rider let out a cry and clutched at his left shoulder. Dragon and rider peeled away, leaving the rangers free to cover the remaining distance to the tree line before the rest of the dragon riders could attack as well.
Suddenly Valen was moving, almost panicking before he remembered that he was on the Second Ranger’s horse with him. As they began to move, Samorr and Hedrick came abreast of them on either side just in time for the entire party to rush through the trees. They were expert riders, bringing out every ounce of strength that their mounts had inside of them to avoid collapsing on tree roots or brush and rocks.
They reached the edge of the trees and then they were among tall hills once again. After a moment, Valen realized they were actually very close to where his sister, Layne and the wyverns had remained behind in hiding. They would likely need to head deeper into the cave system to stay out of Imperial hands for now, but he did not mind. They'd done it - they had escaped!
He glanced around at the rangers that he rode with, eyes wide with awe at what had just happened. He had known they were skilled warriors, of course - it was obvious the moment he had met them that they knew how to fight. But this? He had never seen anything like this. He never would have believed such a small number of these rangers could have pulled off everything that they just had.
Yet here they were.
'The Iron Watch is incredible,' he thought. Yet, Valen also remembered Layne’s words the other night. Was he always going to have to rely on others to protect him? Or would he push through whatever was holding him back from learning to protect himself?
He still didn't have an answer, but he thought he might have the beginning of one.
For now, they were approaching a large, gaping cave entrance. They found the twins waiting outside, astride their own horses. They looked relieved to them all as they made their approach.
“Valen, I’m so glad you-“
“What happened in the-“
Bardus’s voice cut in, interrupting whatever else they were going to say.
“You’ll have to talk later. There are dragon riders in the sky and a Shadow on our trail on the ground. We have to get moving now and we’re going to have to rely on the old cave systems to get us around Trinity, closer to the mountains. So let’s move,” the Second Ranger barked. His words shut Simon and Samuel up right away, and kept Hera – who had exited the cave followed by Layne at the sound of voices – from asking any questions of her own.
Instead, their party simply gathered themselves up and started down into the caves, where Raenelir waited, crouching, with Aevra at his feet. Once he saw that Valen was alright, the Highborn calmed down, though when cantered carefully past him further into the caves it was obvious the drake was not happy about the prospect of heading deeper underground.
“Sorry, Raen, but we don’t have a choice,” Valen told his wyvern friend, speaking in soothing tones. Thankfully, it seemed as if the tunnel was large enough for Raenelir to follow after them without any issue, though he quickly realized he had no idea how any natural cave system could run large enough for drakes of Raen’s size.
That was a mystery for another time, however, a fact punctuated by the sound of draconic roars back outside. He wasted no more time thinking. Instead he rode on, glad when Raen’s large form blocked out the light streaming in from outside.
At the front of the group Bardus lit a torch, leading them on into darkness.