Sniffling, wiping her cheeks dry and forcing a smile to her lips, Minette watched as Thalion disappeared through the doors, her voice a quivering whisper as she resonated his final words back to him, "I love you, too..."

A few hours passed in the isolating and empty cabin, before Ben returned, his arms burdened with supplies. Minette helped him unload, and while she rifled through the items and put them in their places, she explained the plan. "It's risky. But it's solid..." Ben responded, closing a cabinet door and leaning against it, "You'll catch her attention, at any rate, and I suppose if that's your intention, it'll hold. But it's dangerous, Min... You coming out in public, so soon."

"I know. It's all dangerous, but we have to do something, Ben. We have to make a move, before she does. Every day in Evernight, we were one step behind, no matter how far ahead we thought we might be. And it nearly killed us... it did, really, and might've stuck if we weren't lucky. I don't want that to be how it is here. Once she discovers I've woken up and that Thalion is here, too, she'll act... and we can't let that happen."

Nodding, Ben straightened, "Alright, then. I suppose we'd best get you to the palace, then. If you're to make this announcement to the council tomorrow, they'll need to get used to the idea of having you around, again. Truth be told, they've gotten a bit big in their britches, ruling in your stead. Once you've outlawed magic, we'll send troops out after Thalion. I'll make sure they know he's not to be harmed... I know he might not trust me, but if you trust him, that's all that matters."

"Thank you, Ben. And don't take it to heart. Thalion doesn't trust many men." Breathing out, she looked around the room, before gesturing to the door, "Best we go now, before I frighten myself out of it."

~~​

Time passed in increments of years, as Minette awaited the council meeting. It hadn't been half as easy as she had hoped, convincing them to see her - most were fairly convinced she wasn't really actually awake - but Ben did his part and the following morning, she stood before the men, in her renewed splendor. For having spent so much time in the woods, she adapted fairly well to life back in the palace, and where before she had been sweet, but terribly naive, there was a sense to her now of power... of authority.

The men agreed almost too quickly that magic was the cause of most of their woes, and the decision to outlaw it was made without protest. That afternoon, she stood on the balcony overlooking the commons and the announcement was made, as the people below looked on...

To her surprise, the crowd's reaction was nearly unanimous shouts of solidarity for the awoken queen and might have brought tears to her eyes, had she not just condemned the man she loved with all her heart, to a criminal's fate. Sinking back, smoothing the red velvet of her skirts, she shut her eyes against the noise and with a steadying breath, returned inside the palace to await Ben's word on Thalion's arrest.
 
The forests of Green Reach felt homely. After the never ending lights of the villages and their candles and hearths, he underestimated the utter blackness of nighttime in the wood. It robbed him of one sense, but heightened the other. It was disorienting at first to be almost blinded, but given the ears of a world. Even the soft susurration of the branches felt heavy in his ears. The sense of smell was sensitized, the loam of the earth and the decomposing leaves made the atmosphere close and thick. The blackness nurtured a sense of intimacy in him, even though the woods likely stretched unbroken for miles.

His feet crackled over the forest floor, following the tree-line down a ways before settling in. There was no map for him to follow, no memory of these woods to recall, but he didn’t feel lost. He would have been able to find the barn again with ease, if he needed to. Meanwhile, his senses prickled for any sound, half-expecting some sort of creature to emerge with the intention of making him a meal for the night. It was no surprise his hand kept tightening on the grip of his bow until his knuckles ached, forcing him to relax, only to be tense a few moments later.

The only creatures he saw that night were a few rabbits that reared up on hind-legs when he approached, then scurried off into underbrush and burrows.

By morning, the forest had become an orchestra, playing one enchanting symphony after another. The leaves gossiped in the cool wind, and birds chirped under the morning dew. How odd it was to look up and see the beaks of birds opening and closing, and actually hearing the tunes they sun. Mesmerized, Thalion watched them with some contentment for a number of hours, crouched down low at the base of a tree, where he’d spent his evening.

He rose to leave the woodlands by mid morning, and ventured towards the royal city. He passed by the barn and kept on, straight up the streets of the hamlets and villages. In the midst of an industrialized civilization, a surge of energy coursed through his veins. A deeper magic called from a distance away, and he knew his mother couldn’t be that far off. The magic wasn’t only more dense, but it was ripe, like if it were coming from well-decayed flesh mingling with earth. Terrifying, intentional, witch’s magic.

“If I can sense her, she must be able to sense me,” he mumbled to himself aloud, rising his head and glancing through the crowd of people that went about their business. The streets were laden with folks, merchants and their wares, shouting out prices of headless fish, bloody chunks of meat, and other knick-knacks. The smell of waste being dumped into the streets from the houses above was acrid.

“Might as well say hi.”

The magic didn’t spark at his hands, but at his heart and spreading outwards. The flames danced over his skin, licking the length of his arms and collecting below his fingers.

“He’s got magic!” A villager cried. Horses around him spooked and spun away, taking carts and carriages with them. Civilians scattered away, scurrying in to homes and buildings and slamming doors behind them like rats into their holes.

It wasn’t hard to get attention but burning everything he passed as he strolled up the street. Trails of smoldering tents and carts were left behind as he continued up towards the castle. Thalion didn’t hurt anyone, or anything, besides inanimate objects—but a chorus of screams and prayers echoed out behind him as he continued to burn a path to the castle.

As expected, the flames crawling towards the sky and the veil of smoke shutting out the blue grabbed attention.

“Magic user, you’re under arrest for use of magic. Put your hands up,” one of the guards called out, several more trotting down with their weapons drawn.
 
Rushing down the hallway, her heart pounding beneath the leather thongs of her corset, Minette pressed a hand to her chest and took a deep breath. They had him. Of course, he had made a spectacle, and the scene had unfolded in such a way that no one would or could deny that he was guilty of magic use. No one had been hurt, but he'd made it real enough, and several of the guards still sat along the hall, looking worn and breathless, and slightly singed, fear in their eyes, anger behind it.

Ben had come to find her, to tell her it was done and she wasted no time making her way to the great hall where he was being held with care. It was to be public... the pronouncement of his sentence. Public, so that his mother would know... so that he would be able to make a show of declaring himself an enemy of the crown. Of Minette, herself.

She was in no hurry to see it done, but the sooner it happened, the sooner their plan could come to fruition. The sooner they could be together again.

Outside the door of the Great Hall, she slowed and paused, taking another deep inhale as she smoothed her skirts, straightened the small circle crown atop her head. Then nodding to the sentries, she waited as they pulled opened the doors and stepping in, she cleared her throat, making her way across the floor, to where the guards had Thalion surrounded, held captive by chains around his wrists.

At the sight of him, she froze and exhaled sharply, as though it were the first time she had seen him since Evernight. Her part needed to be well played, also...

"You..." She whispered... and her cheeks flushed as she knotted her hands. When she spoke again, there was a coolness to her tone, "Thalion Tel'nair. You stand accused of the use of magic within the territory of Doyle. Do you deny these accusations...? What defense have you?"
 
Magic quivered in his very bones and caused immense pain through his muscles, joints, and tissue. It was like a million hot pins probed his flesh repeatedly, stabbing deeper every minute.

“Come along you,” a guard sneered, jostling the shackles around his wrist and pulling him forward. The heels of his boots skittered across the cobblestone, losing traction against the force. Thalion balked at the pressure, pushing more weight into his heels but the attempt was in vain. There were too many hands pulling him on, and his muscles were too tired to fight back. The magic and his strength were both spent in equal measure. Smoke billowed off his skin, curling up his arms and wafting from his shoulders. The needles continued to press deep and one more yank sent him stumbling forward, fumbling for his balance.

After a few moments of resistance, he learned it was easier just to follow along. The yanking at the shackles reddened his wrists, his hands, and while nothing they could do to him hurt him more than the magic prickling through his bone marrow, he just wanted it all to be over with.

Walking obediently didn’t stop the guards from occasionally manhandling the chains, to declare their dominance and victory over him. He grunted in response, and kept on the path they led him along… straight up to the castle, through the halls, and into a grand room.

“Ya’s gunna get it now, mage,” a guard sneered under his breath into Thalion’s ear. The hot exhalation wisped a small section of his hair, oozing over his cheek and bringing with it the stale stench of bad breath.

Thalion looked up when the doors groaned on their hinges. The guards bowed, Thalion glanced up and didn’t flinch. “Defense?” he asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other trying to alieve some of the discomfort. “I have no defense for the likes of you and this kingdom.”
 
Her eyes moved over him and while she maintained a present air of icy indifference, something flickered in her gaze, unseen by the men bowed low. She didn't like to see him this way... Not even if in the end it meant their own salvation.

Gritting her jaw and forcing downthe uncomfortable weight, she shook her head at his words, "Then I have no choice but to declare you guilty of the use of magic. Sentencing will be carried out tomorrow morning." Her eyes flickered from Thalion to the guards as she nodded, "Take him to the cells and be sure no one gets close. He's clever, this one."

She turned away and the guards rose to carry out her instructions with little circumstance.

Later... Much later, when the sun had fallen and night cast her cloak across Doyle, Minette left her room and made her way down the dark, narrow corridors to the prison below the palace. She had arranged that Ben would be on guard that night and he nodded his head to her as she passed by him on the way to Thalion's cell.

Pausing before the bars, she curled her fingers around the cool metal and peered in at him, "I can't stay long... But I needed to see you. Are you alright?"
 
“Make sure he’s in steel, men,” one of them bellowed. “Can’t burn through steel, can you, pretty boy?” He asked, flicking Thalion’s nose with a proud smirk curling deep dimples into his tanned face. Thalion snorted and shook his head in response, but didn’t say anything. He followed along the taut chains with obedience as they dragged him from the magnificent upper floors, to the cells below. The air turned musky, damp, and cool. A shiver ran through him as he stepped down deeper. Echoed rippled all around from every noise. Water dripped somewhere, the boots, the breathing of the guards surrounding him.

He was convinced he could hear the pounding of his own heart in his chest.

“You’ll go in here,” the burly, mustached man who flicked his nose said, pulling open one of the doors and motioning him inside. One of the men went to remove the shackles, but he was waved off.

“Leave them on,” the mustached man instructed, letting the steel grated door swing close with a squeal. “He is a prisoner, after all.”

There was nothing to sit down on, or rest on, and the floor below was cool and wet, too much so that he didn’t want to crouch down on it. Surrounded by four dark walls and unable to lie down to rest, there was nothing else to do but stare. To look at the bits of rust that started to chip off as time passed, or gouged by other prisoners—anything to pass time. A fresh breeze through the mean barred opening with thick metal bars, and no glass, alleviated the stench, but the wicked draft reduced temperatures.

Ben was equally unpleasant and hadn’t said a word, though Thalion knew that was for the best in case someone else dared venture by. The sound of feet pattering down the stone spiral staircase brought him to the edge of his cell, curling his fingers through the bars and tilting his head to peer out through the darkness.

“Minette?” he hissed. “What are you doing here? I’m fine, but you shouldn’t be here.”
 
Smiling gingerly, Minette shrugged, "I had to approve the documents permitting your execution tomorrow. There's quite a bit to read through. I could be down here for hours and no one would catch on." Reaching up, she brushed her hand over his, shaking her head, "Did I mention I utterly detest this plan? I know I came up with it... but seeing you today, shackled like that."

Fingertips trailing along his arm, they grazed the cold metal and she frowned, "When this is over, I'll be asking Ben to address the soldiers about their care of captives. Doyle will not be known for this savagery, even towards the accused or condemned. Whatever they were taught, I won't stand for it. This cruelty."

Eyes meeting his again, she stepped closer, voice lowering, "The execution is set for just after dawn. But Thalion, if... if your mother doesn't show... if she doesn't come to your aid, you'll need to find a way to get out of it, and you'll have to run. And... and if that happens, I'm coming with you. We'll meet at Ben's cabin and we'll think of something else. Another plan... But you cannot stay in the city."
 
“It’s not so bad,” Thalion replied. “I did burn down a number of buildings. I would not have treated me really kind, either.” The guards had been tough, jostling him around all over the place, but it never crossed his mind as unfair or unjust. He wiggled his finger on the steel bars, massaging out the tingling sensation that crept up from the beds of his fingernails. His fingers grew still when her hand brushed over his, the contact of skin sending burst of electricity through the sharp pains. The kindness of others was a foreign affair.

He shrugged again, though regretted the decision to do so when his muscles pinched and didn’t want to relax. An ache rolled down the length of his spine, mingling with cold and pain, a confusing cohort of feelings that he was not equipped to deal with. Doing what he could to ignore the incessant misery of his physical body, he lolled his forehead against the bars and closed his eyes. The cool metal seeped into his skin, soothing the stabbing behind that collected behind his eyes. All he wanted was sleep.

Beginning to relax with a quiet sigh, Thalion cracked his eyes open just a sliver. “Tomorrow mornin’, huh?” he echoed, digesting her comments but saying nothing more outloud. He merely nodded and closed his eyes again.

In the background, the water continued to splash. The dripping increased neither in its rate nor its volume, yet by the time a few seconds had passed, it was as good as a hammer in his ear drums. Part of his brain analyzed the pattern, it was almost regular, but not quite. It was just chaotic enough not to come when he expected it, and then drip when he didn’t. The little droplets caused his thoughts to hiss and recoil, as if acid funneled right through his skull.

“She’ll come,” he finally remarked after a shake of his head. “She has to. She can’t be happy you made a move towards retaking the crown.”
 
"No, I can't imagine she's terribly fond of that thought. It feels good, Thal... Standing up against her. I just hope it works, or I've put you through this for nothing." Frowning, she pulled her hands back through the bars and to her sides, stepping away from his cell with a small sigh.

"I should go. I'm sorry it's so miserable down here... So much has changed since before Evernight. It never used to be this bad. Whatever I decide, if we stay or go, there's a lot that I need to fix in Doyle, first." Looking up at his, she smiled faintly, resting a hand on the bars again, "If it's any consolation at all, I won't sleep either. I find I can't... when you aren't beside me. Till tomorrow, my Love."

With a nod, she turned and with another apprehensive sigh, she made her way out of the prison and back the way that she had come. True to her word, sleep did not come easy for her, and she woke the following morning with an overwhelming weariness. It was early, yet, the sun barely a hint on the horizon, but already it seemed too lovely a day for such a foul occasion. Birds chattered noisily by her bedroom balcony and somewhere along the hallway someone was whistling.

Crawling from bed, she dressed and plaited her hair. Breakfast had been laid out, but she had little appetite, the thought of eating turning her stomach into knots. Settling for a glass of current wine and some bread, she ate, then reluctantly made her way from her chambers, down the long hall to where a small throng of guards awaited her arrival, Ben at the forefront.

She nodded to him, solemnly, then by his lead, made for the viewing deck, overlooking the yards.
 
Sleep was entirely unimaginable, though the night progressed with more haste than he would have anticipated it would have. The slot window, barely two inches in width between the ends of stone, breathed a little light from dusk until dawn. Through the small space overlooking but a section of the kingdom laid below, dawn sent shimmering rays over the horizon, bestowing a golden path from hills to horizon. He blinked into the sun, curling his fingers around the brick and pressing his face close to the bar, inhaling deeply the warming, fresh air.

Only minutes ago, the blackness had been absolute, but now the mist was visible and silvery. Against the backdrop of trees were silhouettes, still as an oil painting and darker than the ravens. Come mid-morning, the infernal birds would be hopping in the branches, waiting for when the collectors hauled their carts down the lane. Ravens existed in Evergrey in the same flesh they did in Green Reach, though there he could hear the cawing even from his cell.

“Aye, mage,” the cage rattled as the key slid and twisted open the lock. “Time to go.”

Thalion never had seen a single rope noose hanging from a gallows, surrounded by a herd of people before then, as they led him down the pathway, kicking at his heels to encourage him forward. The pain ebbed away from a dull ache into a cold numbness, as goose bumps prickled the length of his arms and spine. Death. Most of his life, he’d been surrounded by it at every corner, yet it never felt quite as real—as eminent—as it did in that moment.

The crowd split around them, flowing close but never interfering with his and the guards’ path. The mood of the people swirled in unseent currents beneath the dark surface of their faces. In a thousand strong men and women, there wasn’t a single smile or expression of doubt. The only sound was their feet on the aging stone and the howl of the wind rising above them. Every one of them must have felt the first bite of hatred, for the roared at Thalion as he passed—shouting up prayers against the evil incarnate, cursing him for their woes, and threatening to kill him if the noose didn’t do a good enough job.

Unfazed by the cries and outrage, Thalion lifted his head and peered back, searching for Minette… and Thalia, neither of whom he could see.
 
As she stood at the edge of the balcony, Minette looked out over the crowd, and found herself suddenly and inexplicably torn by the notion of what she was doing. These were her people, her subjects, and they were following what their queen had instilled in them. Their hatred and distrust of magic was something that she herself had caused, whether she'd intended to or not... when she had been put under Thalia's spell. But she had seen it, herself... the good that magic could do. She had lived through it...

It was her plan, but rather suddenly, Minette was appalled by the idea. She was engendering in her people a disdain for something that had saved her life. And regardless of the idea that it wasn't real, she had condemned Thalion to a terrible fate before the people he already had such apprehension towards.

It was her plan... but she couldn't do it.

Suddenly, Minette made for the edge of the balcony. Ben reached out a hand to stop her, but she shook her head and waved him off, as she called out to the crowd, "People of Doyle. My people. Before you stands Thalon Tel'Nair. A man accused of the illegal use of magic within Doyle. A crime punishable by death. A crime made so by the abuse of such abilities by the woman who stood in my place, who murdered your king and stole his throne. And I understand well, why you see such fault in it... for I spent far too long beneath her wicked spell, myself. It would be easy, then, to condemn all use of magic... To condemn all those who use it. But I have also learned that as there is good and evil in our world, so too does it exist among those possessed of magic. And I cannot in good conscience condemn this man to death... Not when he is the reason that I am alive before you, today. Not when it was his magic that saved me."

Breathing out, she looked to the guards below, surrounding Thalion, "...Release him. Let him go."
 
“Let him go?”

From between the throngs of people, the willowy figure of Thalia emerged. People split around her like she was the bow of a ship cutting through water, and not a single hand nor finger dared to reach out and brush against the dark silk and chemise of her dress, which hung from her bare shoulders. The woman, for as old as she must have been, was quite the beauty, but up close only reinforced that truth. She wore a fair complexion, entirely unlike the tanned skin of her son, and long wisps of black hair streaked with umber gleamed when they captured the light just rush. Even the wind seemed afraid to touch her, for it swirled around her and didn’t so much as send a wisp of hair out of place.

Her liquid brown eyes were soft, rounded by beams of thick, dark lashes, that should have been so friendly—twinkling, with her voice warmer than sunlight, but there was something in her voice… in her gaze… something violent and cruel, brilliant, but cruel.

“Yes, let him go,” she challenged once more, pausing once she was a few yards out from the bottom of Minette’s balcony. “I believe you’re wearing my crown, my dear,” she said to Minette.

The shackles went slack before the guards unwillingly fumbled to unlatch them. They clattered to the floor and, out of instinct, Thalion rubbed each wrist tenderly. The skin there bloodied and raw, uncomfortable to touch but he couldn’t help himself from rubbing them as his eyes fell to the back of his mother’s head. The beat of silence that followed from the crowd followed with his own breath being caught in his chest.

“I’ve come to reclaim what is mine, with or without you, Thalion. What are you thinking? You may join me and conquer those who hate you for who you are, or not, and I will be forced to destroy you.” The woman’s eyes flickered to the edge, her head angling back just enough that she could glance over her shoulder towards him. “People like them don’t like people like us, Thalion. You’re lovely woman up there can say all she wishes to on the matter, but you will always be hated for what you are. What you possess.”

“I think that’s just an excuse,” Thalion replied. “I’d rather ‘em hate me for my magic than for my actions.”

Thalia scoffed a pitiful laughter. “What a shame,” she said. “Very well. I didn’t want to have to kill you or anyone else, but it seems I must.”

A guard drew his sword at her, but with a flick of her wrist, she sent him tumbling backwards through the crowd, rolling until he fell back, sword well out of reach.
 
"Enough!" Minette called down to the woman, to the guards who drew their weapons in defense of their comrade, "You will yield! All of you! There's no need for anyone to die."

Her eyes shifted, moving to Thalia, and meeting the woman with a defiant stare, Minette shook her head, "You want my crown?" Reaching up, Minette pulled the circlet from her head, looking down at it, before she tossed it to the wicked woman's feet, "Take it. But it doesn't mean anything. It's not your kingdom, Thalia. It never was. A kingdom is not a crown or a palace... It's the people inside of it and the responsibility to protect them... And you failed the people of Doyle! Magic isn't the enemy... No doubt you would still be a self centered, tyrannical madwoman without it. And you will not so arrogantly waltz in to my home and demand a position you stole and expect compliance... These are my people, Thalia. And that will never change. No matter how many spells you cast or who you send to kill me!"

Eyes shifting to Thalion, she nodded, "And you don't own his soul... Not anymore. No one does. But his heart is mine, and mine his, and no magic can undo that. You've already lost. Best you leave, peacefully..."
 
"That is so sweet, and so naive, my dear," Thalia replied, stepping forward and crunching the delicate circlet beneath her foot. "Your people, you call them? The same people who herded after me once you were gone? The people who did not grieve the death of the king before? No, they are not your people. They are people who will serve power and your little speech, will so admirable, is very weak." The woman laced her fingers together in front of her, digging the balls of her feet further against the crunching of twisting gold and the grinding of precious stones into the cobblestone beneath. "You ought to have stayed gone, is what you should have done. The both of you. I care little for hearts, and you can own whomever you wish, but this kingdom will be mine."

She pulled her fingers apart and twitched a hand towards the sky, motioning towards the fluffy puffs of clouds above that blackened like they were struck with a plague. Murmurs of uncertainty rippled through the crowd, groups huddling together and all heads turning up towards the skies that growled. The morning sun was blotted out, turning the world around into darkly foreboding murkiness. Spires of lightening danced down to the horizon, illuminating the royal city in flashes of brilliant, hot white light. The gathered crowd, especially the nobles, scattered in fear for homes and houses. Windows were boarded and doors latched tight.

Thalion threw his head back and squinted up as the clouds encroached deeper, closer, until a heavy mist prowled through and around the buildings, bringing a terrible icy chill with it. The prickling of goose bumps along his arms was familiar... the coolness, the darkness, the mist.

Up above, a great scar in the clouds opened and falling from the beams of sunlight spearing down from above, swung three dragons-- all as black as night. Their wings whistled in the wind as they swooped down, fanning out over the city. The spaces between their scales in their chest glowed with a fiery light, their teeth becoming backlit as they separated their jaws and growled.

The fires consumed streets and building, casting it all as sooty confetti into the sky, which had turned a ghastly shade of dark orange. Unfettered flames devoured hungrily, charring everything they touched.

"Minette! Get down!" Thalion stumbled forward a few strides, turning his eyes away just in time for the brilliant light of fire and magma to explode from between the dragons' teeth. Paths of fire ignited below the dragons as they swirled around the skies above, cawwing and snarling between each blast.

"You can't win this war," Thalia called up to Minette, though was stepping up on clouds that lifted her to the balcony. "Give it up now."
 
It was Ben, of those in the balcony, who seemed to grasp the danger of the situation with the most fortitude. Moving quickly, as the dragon lunged, he grabbed Minette by the waist and pulled her down. Heat undulated, like waves, above her head as she curled up, pulse pounding hard in her chest. All around, voices were crying out, screaming in panic and in pain, but Thalia's seemed to rise above them, and Minette felt her pulse quicken at the closeness of it...

"Ben!" She called out, craning her head to look up at him, "You need to get everyone to safety! Evacuate the town, go into the woods!" The flames died down at the dragon swooped low and spiraled back up again, to readjust its position, and rising, Minette spun towards the edge of the balcony, "I have to get to Thalion!"

"I'm not leaving you, Princess." Ben hissed, looking to his men, who were staring wide eyed into the skies over head, "Do as she says! Get everyone to safety! And for Heaven sakes! Get to the armory and get us some heavy artillery! We need to take those beasts down, before the burn the kingdom to the ground." Looking back, he swore, catching sight of Thalia rising up towards them, "Minette, we're going! Now!"

And without giving her the chance to argue, he took her hand and yanked her to the doors. Once the guards were through, he pulled them closed, and as if would do much good, secured the bar in place. It wouldn't hold for long, but it was the only option that remained... and it would have to do.

As they ran, Minette glanced back, "I know these beasts, Ben! They're from Evernight. We need to get archers in place... and get me a bow!"

"You... But you're... Princess... You can't..."

Pulling him to a stop, she narrowed her eyes, "I can and I will! This is my kingdom, and I'm going to defend it..."

Frowning, Ben shook his head, but resuming his pace, tugged her along, down a hall and past the barracks, to where the armory lay. Inside, a throng of guards were readying weapons, but Ben bypassed them to grab two bows from their racks, tossing one to Minette, who caught it and slung it across her shoulders. Securing two quivers, he turned to the men, "I need archers on the battlements and parapets! Fire everything we have. Get those damn things out of the skies!"

"Aim for their eyes, their snouts and their bellies. These are their weakest points!" Looking to Ben, Minette's expression fell, "You need to help them, Ben! Trust me... I can handle myself."

"Princess, I..."

"Ben!"

Shaking his head, he stepped forward and without a word, collected her in his burly grasp, giving her a tight hug, lips falling to the crown of her head, "You be safe, Little Min."

"You, too, Ben." And returning the hug she turned away and retreated through the door, retracing her steps back the way she had come, towards the palace entrance.
 
Reaching the top of the balcony, Thalia stood on the marble bannister as Ben and Minette dashed off. She didn’t pursue them but turned instead to the scene unfolding before her. The fires burned like a temper, as if the leaping flames had a terrible anger towards the living world. They moved faster than a person could outrun them, though the livestock fleeing stood a strong chance, moving swiftly as they do. The air smelled and tasted like a hearth, while the horizon glowed orange beneath the smoky wind-dragged plumes.

“If it can’t be mine,” Thalia said aloud, spreading her arms out and inhaling sharply as her eyes rolled close. “Then let it all burn.”

Through the scar still left in the sky, behind the dragons, fell creatures of all shapes and sizes. Lilegifs tumbled into small chestnut balls and screeched, spreading their wee wings, and darting off. Oilers clicked, swinging in their mated pairs through the foggy haze… all the creatures Thalion knew and remembered. Even sea creatures fell from the sky, flopping down across streets and buildings and thrashing for water.

Stepping back a few more strides as the two worlds collided with booms of thunder and cracks of lightening, Thalion grimaced and pulled a bow from a body of a solider. He groped for arrows, collecting a few and pinching them underneath his arm pit. From the body of another, he unlatched the sword from the poor dead bastard’s belt and swung it around his own waist. The heat from the fires was immense, causing a layer of sweat to dribble down the length of his spine.

The soldiers that hadn’t deflected or fled turned bows skywards and sent streams of arrows up towards the dragons, though they proved maneuverable and swung around them. Those that hit seemed to slide right off from their thick scaled exterior.

Thalion strung the bow and turned the arrow skyward. The string twanged between his fingers and his eyes followed the arrow as it collided with one of the dragon’s necks, seeming to do nothing as it pinged off of it, allowing only a small corner of a scale shatter free on impact.

Sure, a shield spell here… a magic spell there, but that? That was magic on a whole different level, and Evergrey kept spilling down upon the royal city.
 
Minette moved swiftly through the hall and finally reached the entrance, slinging the bow from her shoulders and pulling an arrow from the quiver. She would never match Thalion's talent, but she had improved during her time in Evernight, and while she still loathed the idea of killing anything, even a creature as dangerous as the dragons Thalia had called forth, she couldn't leave her people to suffer, either. Thalia needed to be stopped...

As she slipped through the doors, she turned and glanced upwards into the skies. More creatures descended from the scar in the sky and she watched, half in awe, as they swarmed, her heart sinking lower at the sight of the wreckage. Roiling anger built in her gut and stringing the arrow, notching it back, she turned it upwards, pointing it not at the creatures, but at the woman on the balcony.

Her hands shook, trembling with fear, with apprehension and she swallowed hard, blinking through the tears that blurred her vision. It had to be done, but no matter how many times she told herself this, her fingers would not unleash the arrow.

Suddenly, from behind her, Minette heard a growl of rage and swinging round, she saw, just in time, a sword bearing down towards her - the guard who had taken to taunting Thalion swinging his weapon -at- her. With a small cry, she dropped backwards, crashing hard to the ground, bow clattering from her grasp, as she narrowly avoided the sharpened brunt of the weapon.

"Long live Thalia!" The raving man shrieked and he raised the sword again, as Minette scattered backwards to avoid a second swing.
 
Water drippled from the sky scar, not like rainfall, but in a deluge… lakes, rivers, streams all poured in, dousing the flames and turning into standing water in the middle of the streets. The drainage couldn’t keep up with the amass liquid, and it quickly crawled up to his ankles. Sapling trees cracked through the cobblestone, and through buildings, before growing upwards into the old, ghastly trees of Tanglerot soared upwards. They cracked and groaned as they grew, their vines tangling buildings, suffocating windows. Evernight was swallowing down the kingdom, bit by bit, and with every new growth, a dragon was there to burn it back.

The failed arrow to the dragon’s hide stirred within Thalion as he watched the dragon shake its mighty head like he’d been bit by nothing more than a mosquito and continue on with its rampage. They couldn’t win this fight. Against one dragon at a time, they’d struggled hard enough to win… and once, they didn’t even defeat the beast so much as hide and wait for it to get bored. The three dragons circling overhead was an image that turned his heart into lead. It weighed on his chest with enough force that his shoulders slumped. The screams of war and fear echoed loudly in his ears, thumping until a pain blossomed behind his eyes.

They would never win. The only choice left was to find Minette and flee to somewhere… anywhere…

His eyes snapped up to the balcony, where his mother stood. Her hands were wide, her eyes closed as she orchestrated the chaos around her. He had a perfect shot, but she was no longer important. Taking off up the royal street, he pushed his way through soldiers and people both coming and going—some fleeing, some charging, and threw himself in through the gate. He swung through the doors left ajar, pushing through the streams of servants escaping the castle.

‘Minette!” he cried. “Minette!”

“Have you seen Minette?” he asked a servant rushing past, though he only shook his head and shoved himself towards the door.

Up the stairs, Thalion threw himself to the second story two steps at a time.

“Minette!” he screamed, his voice heightening with panic at each scream. “Ben? Minette!”

It was the terrifying sound of ‘long live Thalia’ that drew his attention. He spun around and followed it, darting down a hall and turning into the room. Thoughtlessly, driven entirely by instinct, Thalion drew an arrow and released it straight into the man’s spine.
 
The sword dropped from the man's arms as the arrow embedded into his spine and with a strangled cry, he dropped to his knees. Minette did not hesitate the moment he was down, scrambling to her feet as she raced to Thalion, throwing her arms around his middle with a small sob, "I'm so sorry. This... this is all my fault! I shouldn't have... I should've just stayed with our plan. I just couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the way they were looking at you, and... and then I saw here up there, and I had a shot and I just... I couldn't do it! I couldn't take it. I'm sorry..."

Leaning back, she wiped her cheeks as she turned her eyes skyward, "She's mad, Thal. She'll tear the kingdom to the ground! How can we stop this? How do we stop her?" Even if they'd managed, by some small miracle, to stop Thalia - even if Minette had had time to unleash her shot, even if she'd had the courage... there was no guarantee that it would even had worked. And if it had, the devastation was still there... still happening.

Volleys of arrows were flying at the beasts over head, but nothing seemed to work and between the waves of water, the thick, twisting vines and the white hot flames of dragon's breath, there didn't seem to be an end in sight.

"What do we do?" She asked, looking to him with a hopeless shake of her head.
 
He dropped his bow back down to his side, but kept a firm grip on it when Minette stumbled over the man’s body and wrapped herself around him. His free arm closed around her shoulders, pressing her in close. “It isn’t anyone’s fault,” he said, “it just is what it is right now.” The roar of the flames burning outside the castle boomed over the roaring of the dragons, and the various chiming noises from the other creatures unleashed into Green Reach. Vines and roots wormed their way through the castle stone, burrowing everything in the wildness of Evernight.

“But there ain’t anything you need to apologize for. I just… I don’t know what to do.” One or two Evernight creatures he knew how to deal with. A Halfhag? A Drowner? Hell, he’d seen them a hundred times… fought them a hundred times more, but all of them at once? Scurrying about, confused and scared as they were? The creatures in the streets turned on each other, ripping each other limb from limb… chasing humans, none of whom knew how to kill Evernight creatures.

As long as they’d known each other, he felt like he always had some sort of solution; he could always figure something out. In that moment, he let her down because all he could do was shake his head and reply, “I don’t know.” He didn’t know what to do. Soldiers couldn’t be trained in the heat of battle on how to defeat the creatures and, more importantly, some defected to Thalia, and all were being slaughtered like lambs.

“I’m sorry, Minette. I wish I could do better, say more.”

A mortar slammed into the side of the castle, rattling loose dust from the ceiling and sending the chandelier overhead rocking violently back and forth on its tethers. Pressing his hand on her back, Thalion ushered Minette away from the center of the room. “We can run or we can fight.”