Crowned in Black: Chapter 43

Double post today!

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Flying straight into Fort Palewing - or even teleporting to Cham Garai directly - would pretty much be suicidal. So instead, Karalti and I went to her favorite hot spring so she could hunt and tank up on food while I called Nethres and finally told her our plans. I didn't even have to ask for an assist - she asked me to hang on, went to speak with Prince Illandi somewhere, then called me back and told me the Kingsmen were at our disposal.

And that's how Karalti and I ended up in Lyrensgrove.

Karalti burst out over the wreckage of burned and ruined buildings, gliding around the perimeter of the ruined palisade wall, and backwinged to land in the scorched remains of a cornfield outside of the village proper. Her landing scattered packs of yelping barghests and ghouls out of the withered plants, sending them scampering toward the village. A dozen of the ghouls reached the walls, then regathered their courage as a group and charged back at us, yowling. Karalti lowered her head, and in one sinuous weave of her neck, torched the lot of them. They were all Level 10, so far beneath us now that we didn't even get any EXP from the kill.

"Fucking hell, Lucien." I leaned over Karalti's neck as the dragon padded toward the wreckage. The corpses of triceratops and other herd animals still lay scattered over the ground, their corpses leathery and studded with smoking, greyish mana crystals. The bodies of the dead villagers were nowhere to be seen, but the stench of decay was heavy in the air.

“Yeah…” Karalti strode over piles of rubble until she reached the combination granary and mill, the same building the villagers had retreated to - and been locked in - when I'd first arrived here to find it under assault by renegade Ilian soldiers. The top of the granary had been blasted off by lightning. The wall with the door had survived - and had been used as a firing squad range. More barghests scattered from the sloping pile of corpses piled against the front of the building. Men, women, children... no one had been spared.

The bile rose in my throat as I thought of Owen and Kira, and May who had run the tavern, and all the other villagers here who had shown me and Cutthroat hospitality here. They had just been… mown down.

“Fuck.” I rubbed my eyes. “I knew Lyrensgrove had been destroyed. One thing to hear it, and another thing to see it, though.”

"Yeah. Well… least we can do is send them on their way, you know? Stranged corpses shouldn’t be left out.” Karalti rumbled, and swiveled her long scaled neck to blast the pile of desiccated bodies: a long plume of white fire that turned the open mass grave into a pyre. It was still burning, sending a plume of smoke into the cold, still air like a signal fire when I saw three quazi come into view: the familiar hawk-like plumage of Nethres' quazi, Vedrfonir, and two others. One quazi was cream and red, its wings barred like a kestrel’s. The other was large, with solid black plumage as glossy as a raven's. I squinted, but the bodies of the birds blocked the view of their riders until they dipped their wings and gyred down toward us in preparation for landing.

My jaw fell open, and I whacked Karalti's shoulder in excitement as I flew to my feet - and laughed. "Holy shit! No fucking way!"

The three quazi dropped into a neat formation landing, Nethres in the lead. The black quazi touched down behind her, and the rider grinned broadly at me as she threw her saddle straps off and slid to the ground. Sergeant Blackwin’s black hair was cut even shorter, the better to fit under a helmet. She still had the stocky, bulldog-like stance I remembered. But her face... over half her face was one giant scar, her left eye covered with an eyepatch. She'd lost one nostril and her ear on that side, and her lips were twisted in a permanent burn grimace. Behind her, the cream-and-red bird touched ground, and the rider pulled her helmet off to reveal a short mop of ebony curls, big cornflower-blue eyes, and a nervous, flashing smile.

"Blackwin! Kira!" Before Karalti could crouch, I leaped off her back, vanishing briefly to reappear in front of them. My sudden appearance startled both of them - which let me run forward and scoop Kira into a big up-on-your-toes hug. She squeaked, then laughed in delight as I spun her around and put her back her feet, then advanced on Blackwin.

"No hugs for me, Tuun. Too pointy for that." Blackwin grinned crookedly, and offered a hand. I shook, and she clasped my forearm and - despite her words - leaned in and gave me a brief bro-hug style embrace, clapping me on the back. "Lord and Lady, look at you. You've sure as hells come a long way, haven't you?"

Kira was staring up at Karalti in open-mouthed awe. "Hector, I... she's beautiful!"

Karalti, who had been glaring at me and flaring her nostrils warningly at all of this sudden female attention, suddenly lifted her crests and looked down at her. She squinted down at Kira like a pleased cat. "Why thank you."

"Eek!" Kira put her hand to her mouth, then let out a burst of high-pitched, nervous laughter. "Lady's tits! I didn't know dragons talked!"

"Totally do," Karalti affirmed, as she smugly preened one of her foreclaws. "But all my brothers and sisters and my mom are under a curse that turned them into slaves under the control of a succession of human tyrants, so, you know... they're not really talky-talky. But we're about to go and fix that."

"Exactly. But... fuck, I never thought I'd ever see you again. I thought you'd both died." I pulled my helmet off so I could run a hand over my braided hair, looking to Nethres. She was quiet, but smiling.

"These two overheard me talking to our Prince. Volunteered immediately," Nethres replied. "The Kingsmen aided the revolt at Fort Palewing. Still. Not much we could do against five hundred dragons."

"Were there any other survivors?" I walked back to Karalti, and lay a hand against the edge of one dipped wing, stroking it. "And Kira, is your dad alright? Owen?"

"Da's fine," Kira replied, waving her hand breezily. "We both got trained up by one of the old Royal Healers. Owen’s helping at the hospital while I support our operatives in the field."

"Aye, that she does. She's good at it, too." Blackwin smiled faintly, then shook her head. "No other survivors from Palewing that we know of. Jasper died with the other mages, holding a shield against the dragons. But the Eyrie Queen's brood are Light and Air elementals. Their breath weapons shred magical defenses. Nethres evacuated me... me cursing and screaming to be let go the whole time, I might add."

"Ilia needed you," Nethres said simply.

Blackwin sighed, and rubbed her thumb over one of the scars on her face. "I know that now. At the time, though... Lord and Lady help us all. Sometimes, I wish I had died on my feet, fighting. Not that it was much of a fight in the end. I still dream about it."

More NPCs dreaming - interesting. Now that I knew what I did about OUROS, I had to wonder if the sudden rise in the people of Archemi dreaming was thanks to Steve. "I'm sorry, sarge. But if all goes well today, we're going to take one of the biggest weapons out of the hands of the enemy."

"Captain now," Blackwin grunted. "Not that it matters. Ilia is screwed. It's home, but we all know we're fighting over a wrecked nation now. Can’t survive a revolution, then a revolt, then a hostile takeover by some cunty immortal warlord."

"We can’t give up yet. Nethres and Hector are immortal, too, and what we're doing today could be the beginning of Ilia's liberation." Kira gave Blackwin’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She looked very different to the naive peasant girl I'd met in my earliest days in Archemi. Kira was fitter, dressed in leggings and a short-sleeved shirt and firm fitting vest, all in green and white. She had a pack and a number of pouches, all containing vials and first aid supplies. She’d gone from village apothecary to veteran field medic: when I focused on her, her HUD tag now read [Kira of Lyrensgrove: Journeyman Healer (Ilian Kingsmen)]. She looked to me. "Hector, do you really believe you can free the dragons?"

"Yes." There was no doubt in either my mind or my voice. "And speaking of that, we need to go. Karalti and I are still targets in ilia. The sooner we get to Cham Garai, the better."

Accounting for the time difference, it was 11pm in Ilia right now, and we had the cover of darkness. Nethres looked to Blackwin and nodded.

"Human-shape time, I guess." Karalti stretched languidly, putting her hands to the ground, arching her back and tail and extending her wings. She yawned widely enough that the three women cautiously stepped back from the dragon's exposed teeth, each fang now as long as a human torso. When she was done, Karalti smacked her jaws together in satisfaction, then reared upright like a kangaroo and focused inward, shifting down into her humanoid shape. She was stark naked for a few seconds until she equipped her gear, freshly repaired by Rin. "Okay, let's see... gauntlets, dagger, boots, ovaries. Yep: I'm ready!"

"I never imagined a queen dragon to speak this way," Blackwin said, watching Karalti in confusion.

"What WERE you expecting a queen dragon to speak like?" Karalti dug around in her ear with one of her fingers, head cocked. Her human form now reflected her near-maturity. She was a little taller, leggier, though still small-breasted. Her hair was now a long sweep of flat Tuun-style braids to her knees.

Blackwin hesitated – and for the first time since I'd met her, she looked slightly nervous. "More uh... royal."

"Bah. Royal shmoyal. Have you ever listened to Hector? I was raised by him, a lady named Suri, and a guy called Vash. Two soldiers and a Baru of Matir." Karalti flicked some earwax away and jabbed her thumb toward me. "So I know how to strip a rifle, how to punch things real good, and like... SO many words for ladybits. And butts. And I know what a desert jelly is, too."

I facepalmed. "Kira does not need to know what a desert jelly is."

"Kira DOES need to know what a desert jelly is." Kira's eyes lit up.

"It's a gross human thing. Hector made a lot of them when he was on tour," Karalti replied, flashing me a wicked, fanged grin.

I scowled at her. She stuck her tongue out at me.

"This is how the Bond between Dragon and Knight should look." Blackwin watched us with a small smile lilting at the unburned corner of her mouth. "Come on, brats. Let's get our asses to Cham Garai before the sun rises."