Hail to the Queen (Sage Trilogy, Book 3) (21 page)

“Geez, Dominic,” Thorn laughed. “They’re not going to want to talk after that.”

“I’m sick of talking,” he said, staring straight at James. Alexander smiled and joined in the gaze.

“James, you are
…quite popular,” Thorn chuckled as Catherine fell to her knees.

“Why, Dominic?” she sobbed with her head bowed down. “Why would you join him?”

“I never belonged to you,” Dominic declared. “Especially not you. You chose the pauper over me, and you’ll have to pay for that choice. If any of those tears are for me, don’t bother. I’ve made my decision.”

“But you were one of us!” Catherine cried out, shooting up her head. “You believed in our cause!”

“I believed in our marriage,” Dominic sneered. “But when you broke my heart, and Kyran took my life, I realized that I had nothing to look forward to anymore. There was no reason to align myself with Allay any longer. You know what, just stop talking to me. Our business is finished. I only want him now.” Dominic pointed at James with his steel blade. James smirked and shook his head.

“You could at least take me to dinner first.”

“Can I kill them now?” Dominic asked Thorn who only chuckled and looked around him.

“Not yet, my rambunctious friend. They still haven’t given me a decision. It would be terrible of me to wipe them out before I’ve gotten an answer.”

“Well, tell them to hurry up. My eidolon is anxious to taste James’ blood.”

“Gross,” James commented as King Nathaniel stepped forward.

“Your Majesty,” the old King replied. “We do not have to go to war. If we could just sit down and discuss-“

“- excuse me?” Thorn chuckled. “War? I’m not talking about war. You see, war implies that there are two sides fighting against each other and each have a reasonable chance of overcoming the other. No, I’
m saying that either you surrender the stones to me, or I perform genocide on your entire race. It’s that simple. Now, you have exactly ten seconds to respond before the slaughter begins. Ten…”

“We won’t secede to you,” King Nathaniel spat at him as he backed away. “Guards! Sound the alarm! Evacuate the city. Anyone with any combat experience
must come to our location!”

“Nine…”

“But Sire, what about you?” a merchant asked. The King shook his head in defiance. “I stay here with my men. I will help with the power of the stone.”

“Eight…” Thorn laughed as he signaled with a finger toward Alexander and Dominic. “Seven…”

“See you later, James,” Alexander said with a wave. “If you somehow survive, we’ll catch up!” Alexander turned and ran away in a hurry as Thorn continued counting down. Guards poured into the courtyard and Arimus helped Catherine to her feet. The King of Prattle threw off his royal robe and clenched his fists, concentrating on the power within him.

“Four…” Thorn said. “Well, Catherine? What about you? Three…”

“WE WILL NEVER GIVE IN TO YOU!” Catherine screamed through her reddened face and flying tears. As soon as her words left her lips, her hair shot straight towards the sky, and the familiar tattooed markings began erupting from underneath her skin, the raw energy surging from the stone of Allay surrounding her in an electric purple wind.

“Two…one,” Thorn said, and with the last word echoing across the
valley, a rumble was heard in the distance. “Just remember, you brought this on yourself.”

“COME FIGHT US, MONSTER!” Catherine yelled, but Thorn just grinned and began backing away.

“That wouldn’t be fair to you. But tell you what, if you can fight through my army and get to me, I’ll be waiting just outside the entrance of Prattle. “

“Come back here, coward!” Catherine shouted as she charged
forward. A gust of wind blew in front of her, and she gasped as it caught Dominic’s fire-red eidolon, stopping him only an inch away from her forehead. “Dominic…” she said in disbelief as the winds thrust her back to safety. Arimus and James jumped forward and drew forth their eidolons in unison, clutching them tight and advancing slowly upon their old comrade. Just as James was getting ready to speak, the first shriek cut across the sky, piercing the ears of everyone in the Kingdom. All eyes glanced upwards, and that is when the first fireball hit.

Crashing into the shops, it continued to roll in a destructive
line, destroying one whole row in a matter of seconds. Another barely grazed the top of the castle entrance, and then, just as Thorn promised, the chaos began.

Hundreds of stone golems finished their march up the Prattlian mountain and burst through the entrance, continuing to advan
ce at the meager army of Prattlians and their Allayan guests. Strange spider-like creatures with knives sticking out of their legs began crawling over the debris of the shops, still on fire from the strange spherical fire that rolled upon them. More shrieks pierced the air and the sound of large wings were heard from above. High in the sky, nearly ten massive dragons, all of different colors, shades and shapes circled the Kingdom hungrily. And finally, small, children-like creatures, covered in ash, scurried around the golems and ran forward with squeals of joy as they saw their long-awaited prey.

“Have fun,” Thorn’s voice rang throughout the Kingdom as the creatures suddenly stopped and waited for permission to begin their attacks. Dominic smirked and pointed his red, machete-like eidolon right at James and the others.

“Eat,” Dominic said with a smile, and the creatures began attacking all at once. The evacuation was still in effect so many of Prattle’s citizens were still on the sidelines. The dragons began swooping down and taking guards into the air to feast on while others began shooting balls of fire directly at the castle. The spiders began picking off the citizens and the golems ever so slowly advanced. The black-ash children were the first to meet James and the others head-on in battle.

“What are these things?” James shouted as he plowed through ten at a time with his eidolon. They’re not strong but very quick!”

“I’ve never seen them before,” Arimus said, joining his student on the frontline. “But I don’t sense a life force. Don’t hold back! Protect the Princess and the King!”

“Guards!” King Nathaniel shouted. “Join the Sages in battle! Obey their every command!”

The guards drew their swords and began slicing at the screaming children-like creatures that seemed to be pouring in by the hundreds from behind the approaching golems.

“Take the small ones
!” Arimus ordered the guards. “We will handle the stone and spider creatures as they advance. Keep an eye on your King and our Princess!”

“That won’t be necessary, Sage,” King Nathaniel said as he placed a hand on Catherine’s shoulder. “Princess, I will give you the stone of Prattle, but if I am to die this day, I might as well give up my life to its power. You may stay on the side
lines if you wish, but I intend to ensure our victory. Join me?”

“Of course,” Catherine smiled. “I didn’t call upon the stone’s
power for nothing.”

“Catherine, no!” James sh
outed as the first golem made it to the middle of the courtyard and took a slow swing at him. “Don’t use the stone!”

“No offense, James, but…please sh
ut up,” Catherine replied as she turned back to the King. “Your move.”

The King’s eyes went white as bracelets of gold appeared around each arm. He looked up at one of the dragons soaring up above and pointed both arms skyward. He took a deep breath and a beam of light shot out from his clenched fists into the sky, piercing the clouds and the fog. It fired straight through the dragon, cutting it into two and sending it crashing to the land below
the mountain. The other dragons took notice and began descending slowly towards them.

Catherine concentrated on the swirling pur
ple winds. They closed in and wrapped around her entire body, making armor appear and covering her from head to toe in violet steel. A light blue cape shot out from behind her and in her right hand a sword developed, blazing with the same electric purple that had swarmed her earlier. She turned to the King.

“I don’t want the dragons
to interrupt the boys,” she said, her voice sounding muffled from behind the steel helmet. “So excuse me if I take a more direct approach.”

“By all means,” the King said. “Ladies first.”

Catherine nodded and ran behind him, heading toward the castle - the highest point in Prattle. King Nathaniel continued firing at the dragons as he ran with her, but the leviathans weren’t so easily caught off guard this time. They shot out balls of fire mercilessly, forcing the King to take a more defensive approach. Some of them he was able to block with an invisible shield surrounding his body, but most he had to dodge physically, using the stone’s power to lighten his feet.

Catherine paid no attention to the King and his battle with the dragons, concentrating only at getting up the castle. With the stone’s energy surrounding her soles, she jumped up the debris and
the castle’s small towers, one at a time, until she reached the highest lookout. With her sword still in her right hand, she reached out toward a nearby dragon with her left. A shot of light extended out from her left palm and wrapped itself around the blue dragon’s throat. With all her might, she forced it out of the air and pulled it directly towards the castle.

As soon as it was within reach, she released her grip, but the dragon was still speeding towards her
, caught in Catherine’s forced momentum. Even its house sized wings couldn’t fight against it. The Princess leaped into the air, and swung her sword down upon its neck, decapitating in one smooth swipe. The head rolled down the mountain awkwardly as the rest of its body crashed into the castle itself and then crumpled into a lifeless mass. Catherine took a deep breath and focused on taking down the next dragon in the same manner, capitalizing on the distraction King Nathaniel was providing.

“Catherine’s lost her mind!” James shouted as he dodged yet another golem blow. They were extremely slow, but it didn’t take his eidolon to t
ell him that one lucky punch could break his bones. And they were beginning to crowd him too, bunching up next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, each of them reaching for James with flailing fingers.

“Catherine can handle herself,” Arimus coughed as h
e rolled under one of the spider’s legs. He cut it off, and it immediately grew back into place. Arimus grunted and dodged another swipe at his head. “These spiders have the same regenerative properties as Jester!”

“Then obliterate it,” James shouted as he clashed his sword against a golem’s fist. The vibration
sent him back onto his butt and he narrowly missed a foot slamming down onto his head. “I’m having a difficult enough time as it is!”

“Why don’t you use your full power?” Arimus shouted. “You could eliminate the spiders and probably half of the golems in a few minutes!”

“I’m preserving my energy,” James sighed as he was given a second to increase the density of his eidolon. It was just enough to slice through a golem from head to toe, chopping him into boulder chunks with one swipe. “Well…at least the golems don’t look like they regenerate.”

“James! You didn’t answer my question!” Arimus said as he grabbed the lapel of a guard and threw him out the way of a child creature that tried
jumping up and clawing his face.

“What question?”

“Why are you preserving your energy? Why aren’t you using your full power?”

“Oh…” he muttered. “It’s because of him.”

Arimus followed James’ pointing finger beyond the chaos to a pacing Dominic, smiling like a wild man, glaring back and forth between the two Sages. Arimus raised his eyebrows in concern.

“I see,” he said as he turned back to the spiders. “For him, it doesn’t matter which of us he faces, as long as it’s a Sage.”

“If he’s joined that maniac, I’m sure he’s gotten stronger,” James sighed, feeling more confident with his eidolon’s newfound density. “He wouldn’t be so eager to fight otherwise.”

“Then which of us should engage him? We have no chance of truly ending this otherwise.”

“I’m the one he wants,” James said as he and Arimus started fighting back to back. Both of them were beginning to take down their respective enemy with blinding speed, even while they talked.

“This is true,” Arimus agreed. “But
unfortunately, I won’t be able to hold off both sets of creatures. I may be a Sage, but I am a disabled one.”