Of Fire and Swords

Well, that had escalated quickly. Strangely, though, Kyna did not feel afraid. She knew she should, but her mind had just gone numb. She was going to die and she'd pretty much accepted that now. They were going to kill her dragon and they were going to kill her. She had little hope that they'd see reason and even less that they'd let her go and she had NO hope that they'd release Meeth. So better that they just kill them together.

"I was wrong to accuse your people of attacking ours. That was not the case, but I stand by what I have said. We didn't attack yours and I would ask you to think about this; if my people could mistake another's attack as your people then could not you have mistake an attack on your lands as being my people? Perhaps no land is to blame. I have no proof and I have no way to convince you, but whatever I may be in your eyes, I am not a liar and I wouldn't tarnish my honor to save my life or my dragon's, and our lives are bound together in every sense of the word."

The blond smiled grimly. "Don't worry. You'll only have to sully your blades once. My dragon will die if I do and I will die if she does. Cast your judgement as you will."
 
Tyllios gave her a sad smile. "So Knights let us vote. I vote to release her back to her people to treat with them for a cease fire and so we can investigate what happened on our own soil further. All in favor with me please raise your hand." Sir Jaime raised his hand and he was the only one. "All oppose and think we should behead her please raise your hand." Sir Kevan raised his hand and other two did as well. A two to three vote. He looked at her and saw that she was not afraid and he respected her for it. He thought even though she was a savage that she was strangely beautiful and for a moment glimpsed them living a life together. Folly. he thought and impossible. Best be done with it and quick so he had a block brought in. The guards forced her head down. They had no executioners here for it is said he who passes the judgment must pass the execution even though some men don't honor that law but he would for he was an honorable man. He was in front of her has he unsheathed his sword. He touched her neck with it and raised it high. "Any last words?"
 
Kyna's heart pounded in her chest, her blood rushing through her ears, but she didn't flinch and she didn't struggle. She didn't curse or tremble or plead. She was a Rider and she would die with honor, knowing she'd told the truth and had done nothing wrong. Let the blood be on their heads. She was innocent. She closed her eyes as the blade touched her neck and took a deep breath, savoring every single one as she knew they were her last.

She could hear Meeth in her mind, calm as she was, warbling softly in song, a melody of comfort and strength and the Rider smiled, her entire face relaxing and her body releasing its tension as she accepted what was to come. At least it would be quick.

At Tyllios' words, she spoke softly, no hate or anger in her voice. "I forgive you. And please, send my body back to my people and burn my dragon. She deserves to fly again."
 
"Aye, I will rider." Or at least try. But he didn't say that out loud. He went to swing his blade but stopped when he saw his squire Jofferey trying to push past the guards. "Let him in." he called out to the guards. Jofferey came to him holding a human skull and began whispering into his ear. "Are you sure?" He asked his squire. Jofferey nodded. "Release her and put her back in her cell. She will be released on the morrow."

Sir Kevan went blood red. "What is the meaning of this? She has been tried and found gouilty in the eyes of men and the goddess. She must be put to death."

"Aye, perhaps in front of men but not the goddess she deemed it other wise. I sent my squire out to search The Rock for some sore of evidence to shed some light on this." He grabbed the skull from Jofferey. "Look at this! It's a skull of something definitely not human. It found in the ashes of The Rock."

"That proves nothing!" Sir Kevan yelled.

"Perhaps not but Jofferey found strange foot tracks and followed them and found strange disfigured men who wore," He paused and looked at Kyncaithia. "who wore black armor and stood ten feet tall and beast with them even stranger and bigger than her dragon. They was heading toward Hammerfall. Jofferey sent word to the Lord Commander of the upending attack but it is probably to late Hammerfall lays besiege or destroyed by now. May the goddess protect them." There sudden gasps of breath as all this was took in. "Guards take her back to the cell we must settle a different matter."
 
Kyna's limbs felt like jelly as she was hauled to her feet and she took several gulping breaths as adrenaline finally surged through her veins. She was alive. She was going to STAY alive! The realization made it so she almost couldn't walk and then almost couldn't breathe with the relief she felt as she was taken away and put back in her cell.

The Rider just laid there on the wood for a long few minutes, simply enjoying the feel of the wood and the breeze that ruffled her hair. Finally, though, she sat up and scooted back to the bars, looking up at the sky through them, her mind starting to focus again.

She'd been right and so had they. There was no breaking of the peace, there was a new enemy. A new enemy that was going to prey on her people and the Ravornorn alike. Kyna suddenly felt a burning desire to leave NOW. She had to get to her people, warn them! Damn, why were they keeping her here another day?! What was the point!?
 
As soon as the took her off Tyllios called back in the three Knights who left before the trial. After arguing for an hour over releasing the prisoner. Maybe he should have killed her but what is done is done and he did his best to uphold justice and protect the innocent. They finally got to the point where he wanted to talk about. This new enemy. He wanted to march towards them and save Hammerfall or at least avenge them. "The Lord Commander told us to stay put!" Said Sir Kevan. "So we must wait here till he comes back."

"Yes, good sir. You've had made that painfully clear. But what he said was to not attack the Drakobin unless attacked first we was suppose to stay and defend. But we have an unknown enemy in our realm destroying our towns. So we will march whether you like it or not. I propose to march the day after tomorrow." The kept squabbling over stupid issues. But the main reason was that they didn't want to follow Tyllios. He knew this but he must make them accept him. "I challenge you to a duel, Sir Tyllios!" Shouted Sir Robert. "For the right to lead the White Knights till the Lord Commander's return."

Tyllios cursed him. Why did the Lord Commander give him charge? Tyllios cursed him too. "I accept." They both stepped into the ring where the Rider was only a few moments. They drew their swords. Robert attack first putting Tyllios on defense. Robert was an excellent swordsman. Tyllios couldn't miss a step or it would be his life. Tyllios was barely able to keep up. He felt his end coming and cursed the Lord commander again. But be it luck or fate he Robert swung to hard and Tyllios dodged. Robert's sword stuck in the ground. Tyllios stuck his sword in Robert's back. Robert fell to the ground onto his knee.

"Curse you Tyllios." Robert coughed up blood. "I-I'll see you in hell!" Then Sir Robert fell dead.

Tyllios looked at the others and asked. "Is there any one else who wishes to challenge me?" They all kept silent. "Then this meet is a adjourned prepare tomorrow for we march the day after." Tyllios went back to his tent and started drinking ale heavily. He was half drunk when he stumbled to the Rider's cell. There was no moon out tonight and storm clouds threatened with rain, the only light came from torches and watch fires. He dismissed the guards and went into her cell. He laid his sword across his lap and he took a sit in the corner, blood still fresh on it. He took another drink and offered her some. "How does it feel to be free?" He asked her.
 
Kyna, eyed Tyllios warily. He was at least half-drunk and her experiences had taught her that drunk men were not to be trusted, even the best of them when they were sober. She kept close to the bars, but she did take the offered drink slowly. Her voice was steady, almost emotionless when she spoke, not wanting to trigger him. He'd had her beat and burned her when he was thinking CLEARLY. She didn't want to know what he might do while drunk.

"I will be free when I can fly again."

She drew her knees up, balancing her still-chained arms on them and she looked out to the night sky, feeling her dragon shift restlessly. Meeth didn't understand why her Rider didn't come to her NOW. Kyna wished she could explain it to her, but she couldn't in a way the dragoness would understand.

"Sir Tyllios....that freedom, it extends to my dragon, too, right?"
 
Tyllios laughed. "That would be a cruel fate. Only to be free to see your beast die." He laughed again. "There's a new enemy out there stranger than you. I plan to march towards one of our cities. He could be my head. But I can't sit idly by and let this keep happening." He was talking more to himself than to her. "We are sworn to protect the weak and innocent." He remember where he was at. "I apologize I doubt you wish to hear my troubles but I suggest you tell your people and warn them." He saw where he had burned her arm. He reached out and touched the barely healed burn and rub it with is thumb. "You must think me cruel but I-I had no choice."
 
Kyna had let out a silent breath of relief at his words. Even if he was drunk, they were reassuring to her and she was glad they'd got the point that killing her dragon or keeping her would pretty much cancel out any 'freedom' they gave her.

The Rider listened to Tyllios speak, not sure if he really remembered who it was he was telling his thoughts to, but she found she didn't mind so much now that she knew she AND Meeth would be free on the morrow. What she did mind, however, was when he reached out to touch her skin. Her first reaction was to jerk away, but she stilled herself, once again not sure what he'd do if she angered him. Even if she was technically not guilty, they still were treating her as a prisoner and now that she was so close to getting out of here, she wasn't going to jeopardize it by doing something stupid, something out of pride.

And it was pride that made her look away from Tyllios, her eyes angry, but it was something else, something she didn't understand that made her skin quiver under his touch. She'd never allowed a man to touch her the way he was without knocking his teeth in. Part of her wanted to do that to the Knight now, actually, but again, she resisted and after she'd gotten control of her glare, she looked back at the man, green eyes meeting gray-blue ones.

"I understand why you did it, but that doesn't mean I am ready to forgive you for it."
 
He took back his hand and took the wineskin back from her taking a huge gulp. "Aye, suppose I can't blame you for that. We are enemies ya know. But when you go back tell your people to stand down for a time I'm sure the Lord Commander will do the same with this new threat upon us it will be a blood bath for both sides to fight two different enemies. Just when you think you know it all and you think the world is a small place. You learn some thing new and the world grows." He stood up and tossed her back the wine skin. "Till next time." He made to leave but he thought he heard the clash of blades and heard war cries and cries of the dead. He shook his head thinking I must be more drunk than I thought.
 
Kyna had nodded, her only sign that she'd heard him and agreed with his words - and that was shocking in and of itself - before she'd caught the wine skin again. She felt relief when Tyllios stood to leave, but it was short-lived as her ears picked up a chilling sound and the Rider's body reacted without thinking, surging forward to run to the sounds of battle, every instinct telling her to fight...and then she was jerked back cruelly by the chains wrapped around her wrists.

Meeth roared then, hearing the battle, too and that was when Kyna knew her ears weren't deceiving her. The sound of blades and shields, armor and screams, yells and strange chilling howls from unknown creatures rent the air and Kyna's acrid green eyes snapped to Tyllios, frantic to speak to him before he left her here. "Release me, please! I can help you! These enemies are mine, too!"
 
The sounds became louder and cleared. Some thing was happening he was sure of it. Tyllios cursed himself for drinking. How did this happen? They should have no idea we was here unless Joffery was followed. He cursed him as well. He pulled his sword out of his scabbard when he heard Kyncaithia speak. He hesitated unsure what to do. "And what if it's your people attacking, what then? Give you the chance to join them?"
 
Kyna had had about enough of this bull****. What more did these morons need to realize her people hadn't attacked them?! She cursed, loudly and looked at Tyllios with impatience as well as exasperation and anger. "If my people were going to attack this camp to free me, they would have done it sooner." she pointed out and then glared at him, her wrists tugging on the chains, her body on edge as the sounds of battle grew closer.

Meeth. She needed to get to Meeth before anything else did.

"Sir Tyllios, I give you my word as Heir to the Drakobin Throne, if my people are the ones attacking yours, I will call them off. Let me go. Let me fight these enemies that have murdered my people. Let me help you."

Stars, was he so against her kind, so blinded by their differences that he could not see that she only wanted the opportunity to kill the bastards that had caused all this? Her people were dead and dying because of this pointless war and the Ravonorn's were, too!
 
Flames was rising kissing the sky making it look like dawn was coming but he knew there was a few more hours till then. He was about to yell back but held his tongue. He was too drunk to noticed what she said but he she was right that he could her help. He went to grab the key from his sword belt but it wasn't there. "I think I left the keys at my tent." There wasn't time to go look for them. So he stepped towards her. He raised his sword and hit the chains but he didn't break. He hit it again and again and again. On the fifth try they finally broke. "Your dragon is this way." He ran out of the cage and fell he rose quickly and but still stumble as he led the way to her dragon. His head was swimming and his thoughts clouded. The dragon was chained down to many stakes in the ground and few boulders. There was still guard there. He fell asleep on watch and didn't know what was going on. He woke him up, took the key to unlock the dragon and told him to find Sir Jaime. He went to start freeing the dragon but stumbled and fell. He cursed. "Here, you do it." He gave the key to the beast rider. "I swear though if you try anything I'll rip your heart out and feed it crows." He tried to sound serious and threatening but he slurred his speech some.
 
Oh, good grief!

Kyna's wrists were still aching from the beating they'd taken from his sword on the chains, but she reached out to the Knight and took his face between her hands, glaring at him in a silent admonishment to STAY STILL before she closed her eyes. Her body was trembling with fatigue and Meeth was demanding in her mind, wanting to be free, overjoyed to see her Rider, but Kyna pushed all that away as she focused on the one thing she hated to do above all else.

Heal.

Of course, curing drunkenness wasn't all that difficult and as her eyes started to glow with green light behind her lids, Tyllios would feel the effects of the alcohol fading from his system, like it was being drained from his blood. The entire process was painless...for the person receiving it and Kyna finally jerked back, letting him go with a gasp. Her body spasmed, feeling as if it were burning and she grit her teeth, breathing past it as she made herself move, taking the key from the Knight and starting to unlock her dragoness, ignoring Tyllios completely now.

Her eyes swept over her dragon with anger and if it hadn't for the fact that she'd given her word AND the attacking enemy, she would have rained fire down on everyone in this camp. Her poor Queen was dull-scaled and her wing was still mangled. Rameetheon had known enough to keep moving it, shifting it so it wouldn't heal in the awkward position it was stuck in, but the dragon could only do so much.

When the last chain came off, the great golden creature rose to her feet, letting out a roar that seemed to shake the earth and Kyna found herself laughing despite the circumstances as she approached the dragoness and Meeth lowered her body so her Rider could touch her wing. And then, as much as Kyna hated it...she started to heal the damage, uncaring at the cost to herself. She WOULD get her dragon back up into the air again. She'd sworn it.
 
She put her hands on his face and her eyes started to glow. He was scared for a second thinking that she was about to do some black magic but his clumsiness went away and he could concentrate now. He fell down to one knee when she was done. "I... What did you do?" But he was ignored has she quickly began to heal her dragon. He watched her amazed by what she was doing. He heard some one running from behind him. Thinking it was Sir Jaime or the guard he had sent to look for him he turned around slowly and barely managed to doge the axe that was swinging for his neck. He heard the sound of the wind swish bye. Too close. He thought to himself. The person wielding the axe was ugly thing. He stood taller than Tyllios with dark green scaled skin. He had long black hair all stringy and matted together. It swung a downward strike at him, its axe thudding into the ground and pulled it up with ease. Tyllios kept backing up dodging his blows and having his own strikes knocked aside away like a man swats a fly. He rolled behind him and stuck him in the back. Its body fell like to the ground.
 
Kyna was pretty much oblivious to what was going on around her and while that was dangerous and her instructor would have rapped her across the head hard for such foolishness, the Rider knew that getting her dragon in flying condition was her only hope of surviving this night, this attack. She was weak and she had no human weapons. Meeth would be her sword, her shield, the instrument of her wrath.

As soon as she got this wing cooperating.

Kyna could feel streaks of agony shoot through her arm and shoulder, but she was so deep in the healing that it almost didn't register in her mind...until she pulled back, her job done. It was then that the Rider gave a shriek, feeling like her body was on fire, like she was being branded all over again but this time everywhere. The feeling slowly faded down to something tolerable after a minute and Kyncaithia felt Rameetheon's mind in her own, soothing with trills and warbles until the blond took a shuddering breath and smiled faintly at the gold Queen.

The Rider moved quickly after that, ignoring the needs and protests of her body as she mounted the dragon, her entire being feeling complete the moment Meeth rose up to her full height and gave a roar. The Queen launched herself into the air then, her wings creating a windstorm on the ground before she got into the sky. Dragon and Rider climbed high, looking down at the battle below and Kyna grinned, her legs tightening on gold scales in anticipation.

Flame them, my lovely one. The black ones. Burn them.

They plummeted toward the ground and Meeth's mouth opened, spewing forth a blaze of white-hot flame that swept through the enemy ranks, missing the White Knights entirely. The dragoness gave a roar of triumph, soaring back into the sky before turning around for another pass.
 
Battle was taking place all around him. He saw many of his comrades fall. How can this be happening. Foe after foe came to Tyllios each one harder to kill than the last. He felt vulnerable because he wasn't in complete armor on. All he had was his breast plate, bracers and greaves. He suffered cuts on his arms and an axe smashed in his breast plate making harder to breathe. But for the time being nothing mattered. He couldn't feel all his cuts, bruises and a broken rib, he was in the moment. All the burdens he carried were gone all the mattered was life or death. He had a brief moment of respite as he gazed into the night sky and saw the dragon rider breathing flames on its victims. He thought for a moment that they would win the battle but all that was washed away as his eyes found the battle that was going on before him. The battle wasn't going in their favor and he knew that wasn't going to win. A small part of his conscious was telling to run, to live and fight another day, to warn the Lord Commander. But the battle lust was on him and seeing so many of his comrades dead or dying only intensified it. So he rushed towards the nearest enemy.
 
Kyna scanned the ground below when Meeth's flames lit up the dark sky, her eyes straining to see what was clear to her dragoness. The writhing enemies below were actually hard to spot, their armor as dark as their surroundings, but eventually Kyna got a good look at them and what she saw froze her blood. Those....were not dragons, but they were deadly creatures all the same...and they were taking flight.

The Rider overwhelmed her dragon's mind with her own quickly, forcefully making Meeth spiral to the side with her will alone as a burst of green fire flew by the Queen. The dragoness roared her surprise and then anger, bloodlust as she made to fly after the daring little rodent who would DARE shoot flame at her! Kyna wouldn't let her though and for a moment Rider and dragon's will fought the other before Meeth gave in to Kyna.

The Rider's green eyes watched the dark shapes fly through the sky with panic. There were at least five of them and Kyna found herself truly scared. Dragons battled each other in the sky, but never with their Riders. They sparred in the sky, yes, but that was for fun! Nothing had ever been a threat to the dragons while they flew, nothing but the nets and spikes during battle, but even those things were projectile. They weren't enemies that could fly.

And Kyna felt a chill realizing she didn't know how to fight them. They'd never trained for this. She held on to Meeth tightly as the dragoness spiraled avoiding another green burst of flames from two directions at mind, sending out her own red fire back at the threat, but more on the defense now than the offensive...and completely unable to help anyone on the ground anymore.
 
Blood crept down Tyllios's arm and around the pommel of his sword making it hard to keep a grip on it. He about lost it numerous times. He was surrounded by dead bodies and live ones creeping towards on all sides. He felt the end drawing close. Just one more, one more. He raised his sword to a fighting position saying come on. They made their charge but a three people on horses. Crashed into them breaking their charge killing them all.

"Tyllios," Said Sir Jaime while lifting the visor from his helm. "good to see you're still alive."

"Good to be alive." He fell down to one knee from exhaustion. "We got to sound the retreat."

Jaime hopped down from his horse and helped him up. "Yeah, I suppose so. These foul creatures spawned out of no where on us. We wasn't ready for this, too busy looking south."

"Aye, you're right Jaime." He laid a hand on his shoulder. "We need to gather as much as we can and to Haven. The walls are strong there in case the follow you all there and try to attack. Send a raven to the Lord Commander and tell him what happened."

"They'll be on our tails. We'll never make it."

"We just got to make it to the Red River bridge. There me and some others will hold it as long as we can."

"No, you must come! I won't leave you behind, fool!"

"It's an order."

The old man sighed. "Well let me be one of them to stay."

Tyllios shook his head. "No, I only trust you do what needs to be done. You'll be in charge once I'm gone."

Jaime hopped back on his horse and Tyllios hopped on it with them. They took heading towards the bridge that's about two miles away. Sounding the horn of retreat. As they rode off Tyllios looked up and the rider battling some other dragon looking creature. He wished she heard and knew they was leaving he wanted to help her but he didn't have wings so he said a silent good luck to her. Jaime glanced back and saw him looking at the Rider and said. "Good thing we didn't kill her, eh?"
 
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