The capital was in burning disarray.
The Regent dragged himself up to a building and leaned against it clutching his bleeding stomach. His face had gone pale, his air was coming in gasps.
Amlin looked more beautiful than he had ever remembered. She seemed to glow as she hovered above him, like an ethereal creature of a mythology he only vaguely remembered. He couldn't hear her, but he was smiling. She examined his wound, and knew it was grave.
"Can you stand?" She asked, and he seemed to hear enough. Though she made a motion too, to let him know she wanted him to rise, she helped him up, then helped him into a small house around the corner.
Damos, Fellaire, and Lius stood on the castle steps watching the carnage with indifference. Their stance changed when the silhouette of the dragon could be seen in the smoky clouds.
"Get your men to the gate. Now!" Damos ordered, he had clearly declared himself King.
Fellaire and Lius nearly tripped down the stairs.
Morrigan was flying. Though the magic of the experience languished under smoke. She had to focus on her breath as Reav closed in on the scene. Covac was close behind with the King, as if he hadn't trusted his right hand to deliver their greatest foe safely. Sandril seemed to be having the most fun, he had that look that looked so much like a smile, his jowls flapped in the fast wind, his tongue did as well. Morrigan pointed down below, noticing what they were noticing by the time she spoke.
"Look!"
At least a hundred men had formed up outside the gate. They had seen them coming. The clouds hadn't been as good of a cover as they'd hoped. Damos was there, a move that surprised the other two figureheads. Though the only thing they could think of was that he was attempting to make a statement, since they knew what he was doing, it did not have the same effect.
Covac landed next to Reav and relayed a message none of the humans could understand but they were soon airborne again. Covac threw the King off his back. Erimon, dressed in the armor he wore when he killed the wyrm prince, looked back like he hoped to convince Covac to take another path but he was nudged forward and knew he truly had no choice. He walked to the line, where archers had shots lined up. He moved past Midir's desecrated body but did not go much further.
"Who leads these men?!" The King demanded, his voice surprisingly as stern as ever.
Theris Damos stepped forward smirking.
"You survived? How unfortunate for you."
"Should've known you'd be in on something like this."
"You look, bigger than you did the last time I saw you."
"Where's my boy if I might ask?"
"You might."
Damos removed a bloody dagger, the King flinched but did not step. The usurper cleaned the blade against a rock. The King turned to Covac, but he would offer no aid. The King became enraged, he reached for his sword. Covac wondered if the King charged forward and got filled with arrows because he believed his son was dead, or if he believed his son being dead was the last tether he had to the throne. His body was still for a moment, and then he fell face first. Covac, though not sad to see his foe fall, felt disgusted for a reason odd to him. Despite the fact his wrongdoings had ruined him, the fact that he had had so much success against him had earned him some semblance of respect. He was a man to be feared.
Damos rose and sheathed his blade and said to kill the dragons. Covac took to the sky and Reav swooped down.
"Mage!" The Lieutenant bellowed before anyone could hear the approach. Cara pointed to herself like she still wasn't used to hearing the title, but she joined him in burning the dissidents. Reav bobbed in and out of arrow traffic. Covac's focus was Midir, but he was having trouble getting to his body, when he took an arrow to the side, he called out to Reav.
"Kill them all!" There was no other way. They all had to die before anything could be done for his son.
Damos was on his way back into the city, to take cover. Lius and Fellaire stayed on the field though they felt helpless against a foe they couldn't stand against face to face. When they did see Covac's face, they tried to flee because fire welled in his belly. Just before the gate, right before it closed, Lius tripped Fellaire and slipped in before her. And she was consumed by fire and fell screaming.
Reav swiped at pikemen, he sent them flying with swings of his arms. Morrigan could feel her heart thumping, she'd never been in the middle of such chaos, she'd certainly never been a part of the cause. She closed her eyes, wanting to disappear, wanting to go back in time and convince her father to never go, but she couldn't, her survival instincts eventually won out against her anxiety and she focused on the fight.
Creagach archers took aim at Reav, but before they found homes, Cara put up her blue shield, the missiles bounced off the shield and ricocheted back to the archers, finally finding homes. Cara harnessed the shield's energy into a ball the size of her hand, she threw the ball and it took out rows of enemies on its way to the gate and it expanded and blew up upon impact, it destroyed the gate after killing dozens.
Damos had not gone far, he stood on the wall above the burning gate, he shouted hoarsely.
"Light the arrows!"
Once the arrows burned the archers formed a line in front of Theris.
"Hit the big one!"
The arrows found Covac's wings, igniting them, he roared and plummeted to the ground. They could feel Reav's anger, his midsection warmed and they knew he was about to throw fire, but something calming came over him and started back to the mountain.
"We have to go back!"
"But what about Covac?" Morrigan asked, not wanting to leave him behind.
Reav didn't set off on a path of no return, he just got out of arrow range and looked down at his lord. Covac crashed into the ranks, he took stab wounds from pikemen but he kept fighting with failing strength, the fire on his wings finally went out. Theris appeared in the gape where the gate once stood and extended an arm as pikemen rushed past him.
"Finish him off!"
One of the pikemen lined up to throw right at Covac's head, but he was picked off the ground, Maev had arrived, and she brought Mindin. Damos looked up in horror, then fled deeper into the capital.
Mindin stayed at her father's side, torching anyone who approached.
Cara had seen enough, had exhausted what she could do from above.
"Put me down with them!" She demanded.
Reav did as she asked, he had never truly wanted to flee. Cara jumped off and Reav fought on the ground for a time. Cara rushed to the wounded Covac as quickly as she could, shooting fire at any who tried to get to her, though not many did, the dragons were getting most of the attention. Cara put up her shield around them, her hand extended upwards, her head against her knee as if she had braced herself for a blow that never came.
"There are still too many!" Mindin shouted, torching enemies through the shield.
Morrigan finally had had enough of cowering, she slid down Reav's body and joined the fray. Her father hadn't just been nice to her, she could hold her own, she killed two, the puking would come later, when she reflected on her actions. She slashed at a leg and then Sandril mauled the man and finished him off.
Cara's shield strained, but she held on, she mustered all her will when Mindin announced Heathens were arriving from the east. The ethereal beings swarmed the small but bloodied battlefield and easily carved through the rest of the rebel army. Silence fell, hundreds were dead before Morrigan had to kill anyone else. And then Covac dragged himself to his son's body, talon by talon. Nobody helped him, and he didn't groan. When he got to the lake, every traitor outside the city was dead and they were moving into the city to kill the rest.
Covac gasped, he knew there would be few left, his wife was at his side, she ran a wing along his back, they looked at their foolish son. Their headstrong son, their son.
Mindin couldn't look, she averted her eyes from her dead brother, her ailing father. The image of them both dead side by side was too much to bear. But she knew it was coming.
"Mindin," She heard him say, even raspier than usual, she had been quietly praying she wouldn't have to watch the end.
"I want you to," Covac said, blood in his throat.
She didn't want to, she truly didn't want to. But she bowed her head, she was loyal, so she made her way over to them.
It looked like a soul was truly all that was left of Midir, with so much blood gone he looked deflated, there was no muscle, he didn't look like the one she'd known for so long. Still she knew it was him, and she touched his head with her wing and uttered something under her breath, it was short and concise and a beam shot to the heavens from his body, his side continued to gape open until the light consumed him. Morrigan and Cara looked up, awe inspired. A white dragon flew out of the beam, restored, unaltered, it flew upwards, with the beam, until it was out of sight, and the beam was too. Mindin let out of a heavy breath and lowered her head again. Her father was next, he had moments left.
"Knowing he is at peace, means I can join him now."
Mindin whimpered. Morrigan and Cara did not intervene, it didn't feel right.
"Do not weep. I have longed to see my ancestors in the green valleys."
Morrigan found herself crying, she couldn't pretend not to notice what was happening anymore. She touched Covac's face, just below his eyes, and he allowed it, even welcomed it.
"I'm sorry," she truly was, she was truly sorry that they couldn't help him.
"The thought of dying side by side with a human has not entered my mind in my very long life. But you, young one. You have shown me the error of anger."
A tear welled in Cara's eye too.
"I'm glad I saw, before the end."
Covac coughed then went back to growling breaths.
"If more are like you, humans may have a chance at redemption."
They turned, sensing a presence, it was the Heathen Leader, it was impossible to tell where he was looking, or what he was feeling. But the fact he was there was telling.
"It's good to see you, old friend," Covac rasped. Morrigan swore she saw a smile on his face.
"I wish I was going with you," The breathy figure said.
"You will. When this world has its end."
The Heathen bowed, in agreement, and respect.
"I am old, and jaded. I will wait for you, all, for a very long time. Rally us, my friend. Will you tell the others to come together?"
The Heathen was honored by the request.
"I will do all I can."
Covac closed his eyes, he would say no more. Maev stayed with him, Mindin did too, until he stopped. Until his end. There was a brief moment of silence, of reflection, when the realization came that a pillar of the world was no more. Morrigan was weeping, Cara was sniffling with wet eyes, Mindin and Maev had their heads bowed and they heard a quiet sigh from the last lord.
"Will you help us, humans?"
They looked at Maev with unassuming eyes, not knowing what she wanted.
"With what?" Cara vocalized.
"Will you say the sacred words for him?"
Morrigan looked at Cara, hoping she would know something but she didn't. "We don't know them," Morrigan said with a dry throat.
"Any will do," Maev assured them.
All of them bowed their heads to Covac, Maev had her wing on him as she often did. Morrigan said her own words, quietly, that she was sorry again, that she hoped whatever lies beyond, that he would get there safely. Cara said she would never forget him, his bravery, his honor.
Covac's back split open, light seeped out like it had been trapped inside, and it permeated along his body. A very solid beam of white pierced the sky with no sound, it was so strong that Morrigan and Cara had to shield themselves from the light and breeze it was creating. Covac's spirit emerged energetically, he looked down at those below, like he wanted to show gratitude and then he flew up with the pulsing, spinning beam, until he was gone, until he disintegrated with it. It vanished like it had never been there, leaving a deeper silence.
"I must depart now, Lord Maev, to carry out his wishes."
The Heathen bowed again and took one last look at Morrigan and Cara before he rejoined his people who were flying back to the east.
It was then Morrigan realized Sandril was no longer with them, and her heart picked up its rhythmic thumping again, the beats were so strong she thought she would faint before the fatigue got her down. Cara realized he was gone too, Maev and Mindin even scanned the area, the sun was orange and was beginning to disappear behind the veiled horizon.
Theris fled up the stairs to the castle as fast as he could, looking over his shoulder, constantly having to regain his balance. When he got to the door he pulled on the handle with all his might, all attempts to open it were unsuccessful and he panicked until at last, with one final pull it opened and he ran forward and steel hit flesh.
The Jarl's head rolled down the steps, Larian stood before the headless corpse like he was to give it council. Amlin was behind him, she touched his shoulder with affection and the King couldn't hold back a smile.
Sandril was lying on his side near the wall, it was hard to tell if he was hurt or just asleep, there was no blood or visible wound. He had found the place where they had begun their journey, there he had fallen, in a familiar place. Morrigan had tears flowing when she ran up to him, with Cara in tow.
"The explosion," Cara gasped.
Morrigan fell to confusion when she couldn't find anything wrong with him. She reached into her satchel and removed a piece of jerky and dangled it in front of him. His nose twitched, then he reached his tongue out but didn't open his eyes. When he had it, he jumped up barking and wagging his tail. That was all he wanted all along, she should've known. Morrigan hugged him and he licked her face, Cara knelt down and petted him before he jumped into her arms too.
It was an hour before Larian appeared, holding a cane about halfway down the stairs. Amlin was helping to steady him. There were dragons in the city, but there was no fire, Maev, Mindin, and Reav were standing quietly in the only space they could fit in. The citizens were trying to pay attention to Larian, they needed some kind of a leader, some kind of a voice, but the dragons were hard to ignore.
"If I can make one thing very clear, let it be that the mistakes made by my father, who wanted nothing more than power, will not be repeated."
No cheers or applause came, not with so much uncertainty still.
"I'm glad the truth has been revealed," Maev said, her voice made many shudder, not due to harshness, just due to its unnatural sound.
"Dragons, elves, dwarves, all will once again be welcome in Dim-Eden. If there is anything I can do to begin with, to mend the loss of Lord Covac, please state it."
Maev turned to Reav and he nodded at her, and she continued.
"I wished to avoid war, by using the King as leverage to reach an agreement to reclaim our lands in Talamn Gan Rath. When my son took this matter upon himself, things complicated."
Larian nodded, sadly, he wished they had just been able to knock on the door and ask for a meeting. "I will speak with the council and set things straight."
"The effort alone would bring my thanks. For the time being, we will return to Siladrin, to mourn, and decide our next course of action. Bringing word to the elves must be among the first orders of business."
Larian bowed his head, "farewell, lord."
"Farewell, King Larian. I suspect much will change with your guidance, time will tell if that's for the better."
The wind picked up, blowing blouses and dresses as the dragons took flight and went back to the mountain. Once they could hear him again, Larian spoke up.
"The King, my father, is dead. The search for my mother is already underway. By right, I am now King of Dim-Eden. If any oppose my claim, they may speak, and their voices will be heard."
Larian groaned and clutched his wound, he felt Amlin touch him, just to make sure he was alright, he nodded but wished to depart and she helped him back up the stairs.
"Good job," she said softly and kissed the side of his face.
The King was on his throne, the two unlikely heroes, Morrigan and Cara, were before him. Larian actually remembered Morrigan, the night she had hit him, but he didn't bring it up.
"How old are you two?"
"If we tell you would it change anything?" Cara asked, smiling a bit.
"I'm just curious. How did two young girls get caught up in all this?"
"I failed," Morrigan said, a bit morbidly.
"You brought an end to this. How can you say that?"
"I set out to protect my father, Leyden. The head of your mother's expedition. I don't even know where he is."
Larian wanted to help them, they deserved help.
"There is a force on its way to Galtee looking for the Queen. I have sent my Guard Captain to Creagach to arrest Gab Harnair, another force to Balirand to arrest Petrice Dorrel, we don't know what became of Lius Scathe, coming up with people to spare is hard right now."
Morrigan wanted to yell at him, to remind him what he had just reminded her of, but she didn't, she allowed sadness to take her.
"She did resolve the issue, you said it yourself," Cara said, and Morrigan wondered if she was worthy of such a friend.
Larian nodded and resisted the urge to sigh.
"I will do what I can. But will need to hear more soon. In the meantime, you, Cara. I'm building a team of close advisers. Amlin Saras has joined my court as my hand, and I would like to offer you the position of court mage."
Cara was shocked.
"Me?"
Morrigan put on a friendly smile and nodded with approval.
"You've earned it."
"I mean. Can I think about it? I just now learned I can shoot fire out of my hands."
"It's an offer, not an order."
Larian rose, not wanting to deal with much more.
"You can go."
Morrigan tried to think if she had anything else to say, she would've had time because the King was limping slowly. She followed Cara out.
The King found Amlin in his chambers, she was sitting up on the side of the bed. She had that same look, when he'd seen her in his delirium. She was beautiful, he wanted her. From her smile she wanted him. They wanted each other, it wouldn't always be easy, they wouldn't always simply make love to avoid fighting, that night he needed her deeply, and she helped him into bed, and she wrapped her arms around him, and she kissed him goodnight and fell asleep with him, and he slept soundly, because she was there.
Morrigan entered her home. It was to be just her home, and Sandril's for the time being. All she wanted to do was sleep, she could do it for just a while. She wasn't going to give up on her father, she would depart again with or without the King's help, but she could sleep tonight, he would've wanted her to. Sandril already was sleeping, on her father's bed, stretched out like he had always wanted ownership of it. Morrigan removed some of the heavier things she'd been carrying and got into bed with her socks still on. She was still sick but it was passing, it didn't seem like it would become anything more.
"I can lead you through the caves..."
Morrigan noticed blue light at the door when she opened her eyes.
--
The King burned on a pyre in the center of the city.
His wounds had been closed, and he clutched his sword to his chest. Larian hated him more than he ever had and such an honorable funeral felt wrong for such a vile person, but he could not deny that Erimon had just last week held complete control of the kingdom, thus he burned like the kings of old just the same. Amlin was there with him, her head on his shoulder. There were dozens there, not the huge crowd Erimon would've expected. People were tired. They had just been under attack. Embers danced from the fire into the starry sky and burned with the stars, through the smoke, a rider approached the city, on the ground painted by moonlight.