The Eternal Blade Saga Book 2, Chapter 34: Flames and Foes

There was no way to anticipate the heartache I felt when the entirety of the front end of our hall exploded in a brilliant display of destruction. My heart ached, and a part of it ripped away at the sight of the flaming debris falling to the ground. I had less heartache for the many Inquest and hired fighters who had found their way into our trap. It was a shame there hadn’t been more.

The explosion had been meant as a signal for attack. While the dead lay in the courtyard and the confused tried to make sense of what had just happened, we made our move. Clarkus signaled the others with a mighty roar, and our small group flooded the courtyard. We met what was left of our enemies head on in battle. Metal clanged, pistols fired, and blood spilled throughout until we were the only ones standing.

Clarkus spat blood at the ground. The charr’s lower lip had been badly cut from a blow to the face, and red matted his fur along his jaw line. “Is that all they got?” he growled.

“Seems too easy,” Seren commented as she wiped her bloodied sword on a dead norn’s tunic.

I nodded as I eyed the perimeter. “It does,” I murmured. “I don’t like it.”

“Maybe the Order took most of them out like they did on the beach,” Alena offered. Her golem loomed silently behind her while two small bone minions circled the asura’s heels. One of them turned its fleshless face toward Tuborg and hissed, eliciting a sharp nudge from its mistress.

“Creepy little creatures,” Tuborg said as he recoiled from the minions.

“These creepy little creatures just helped save your bark,” Alena retorted with an indignant huff.

“Quiet!” Clarkus commanded.

We all fell silent. The charr’s ears twitched as he listened and he put his nose to the breeze, sifting through the scents. He huffed and spat more blood at the ground.

“I smell oil and blood coming from the edge of the property,” he said, his long ears folded back. He snarled at something in the distance.

Ariella cocked her pistols and kept them upright and level to the ground as she swept her gaze all around us. She gave extra attention to the southern edge where we had seen them come from before. We all turned to look, half expecting to find more enemies waiting for us, but there was nothing I could see. Suddenly, something emerged from the background of my senses. It was like someone erratically beating a drum—two drums.

I turned to find Aedan Byrne with an arm wrapped tightly around Tuborg and a small blade at his throat. Tuborg’s greatsword lay on the ground between us and them. The firelight from our burning home cast dancing shadows along the sides of the lord’s face, making his already hardened features appear more severe. His cold, grey eyes burned with a rage that rivaled the fire burning behind him.

“Let him go,” I demanded. I raised my bloodied axe towards him, even though I was tired from our battle. I wasn’t about to show a sign of weakness in his presence. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “You harm him and you will not be leaving here intact.”

“Ugly words from a lady such as yourself,” the lord replied. “But then again, you are no lady, isn’t that right? Not by blood at least. It’s amazing what a bit of gold can buy these days. Your friend Rhys made sure to have those papers drawn up right away, didn’t he?”

Tuborg uttered a pained cry as Lord Aedan pushed the tip of his blade into the soft bark of the sylvari’s neck, drawing a bead of golden sap. I fought the urge to fly towards the lord and bury my axe so deep into his head, even a norn would have a hard time pulling it out again. I wasn’t the only one. I could feel the others tense and ready for another fight. But in doing so, we would risk the life of one of our own. It was a risk I was not willing to take.

Ariella sidled up next to me. She was a looking a little rough around the edges after our battle in the courtyard, but still charged and ready. “More enemies behind us,” she noted as she held her pistols at the ready. Blood seeped from a cut on her brow just above her left eye and she wiped at it with the back of her hand. She pointed out into the shadows as more Inquest, golems, and fighters emerged.

“There are two ways out, Nienna,” Lord Aedan sneered. “Either through our army or through the flames. I don’t believe you’ll survive either.”

There was a deep humming sound in the air and panels of the Inquest’s red projected shields rose up all around us. Everywhere we turned, there were flames or foes with nowhere for us to go. We were surrounded. From the start, we thought we had the advantage. I thought I was being clever when we left our trap. It was all for nothing. I thought tactics and tricks could give us the upper hand, but we were deceived. Numbers were the key, and the Byrnes’ had them. As more of our enemies emerged from the shadows and into the edge of the courtyard, I could see they had at least ten times our numbers.

The last two beams in the hall’s front frame finally collapsed, creating an opening and sending up two showers of sparks and flames that fell away from each other. Something about it caught Tuborg’s eye, and he strained to get a better look. What it was that had entranced him, I couldn’t say. All I saw were flames and the madman who held him prisoner.

“You know what it is I want,” the lord continued. Firelight glinted off his knife as he slowly twisted the point against Tuborg’s neck. He groaned, but remained rigid and unmoving. “Give me the blade. Right the wrong your parents made and we will show you mercy with a quick death. If you don’t—it doesn’t matter. We’ll kill you all and find it anyway.”

“Why don’t you just kill us all and get it over with then?” Clarkus growled, baring his fangs and eliciting a murderous glare from the lord. Upon seeing his reaction, the charr’s growl turned into a deep, throaty laugh.

Alena clutched her staff close to her. “None of that sounds very motivating,” she said as she looked up at me with great concern.

“We need to get her away from him,” Seren said quietly to the rest of us. “We need to take away his leverage.”

“How do you suppose we do that without him killing Tuborg?” Clarkus asked.

A winged shadow sailed through the smoke rising from the flames and disappeared for a moment before reappearing flying the opposite direction. The creature let out a piercing cry as it dove towards Lord Aedan, startling the man. He pulled his blade away from Tuborg’s neck and swung at Athena as she dug her talons deep into the man’s cheek. A shrill sound filled the air and the owl flew away.

Seizing the opportunity, Tuborg stomped down on Lord Aedan’s black leather boot and thrust his elbow into the side of the lord’s face. He stumbled over with a cry and nearly fell to the ground. As the sylvari ran back to us, picking up his weapon along the way, Ariella turned her pistols on the lord and opened fired, but her bullets broke against an arm shield of similar design as the ones raised up all around us. I spat a curse as we regrouped, standing back to back while we prepared for Lord Aedan to retaliate.

“Damn bird!” Lord Aedan spat. He straightened himself and pulled his sword from his sheath and turned his attentions turned toward us once again. “Damn you all! This is your last chance for a merciful end. Where is it? Where is the blade, Nienna?”

“I’m not handing it over to you or anyone,” I replied as I gripped my axe tight. “It was given to my family to watch over for centuries. I’ve been its warden for decades and I’ve seen firsthand what it does to people with weak hearts like yours. I won’t take that chance, so you can keep your misguided notions of mercy. There is no mercy in taking a life from someone who doesn’t wish to part with it.”

“Death will feel like mercy when we’re through with all of you. And after, we will tear this place asunder if we have to. We will overturn every stone and burn every piece of wood, and I swear to you we will find it.” His words dripped with hardened sincerity. His words were more than just a threat. They were a promise, one I felt deep in my bones, he would follow through on.

We were in no position to stop him. We were outnumbered and outclassed with weapons. In front of us, our home burned to the ground. Behind us, our enemies waited to attack and we couldn’t count on help coming. I couldn’t allow the risk. Now, I felt like a fool for not enlisting help. I wondered if I had taken that option, could I have saved us all?

I still had an option, one I had buried in stone and in mind.

“How long do you think you could hold the courtyard?” I asked my friends.

Clarkus huffed as he eyed the perimeter. “How long do you need?”

“As long as you can give me,” I replied.

“Then we’ll give you as long as we can,” the charr replied as he struck his breastplate with his closed fist.

Seren nudged my arm. “Why? What are you going to do?”

“Something either very smart or very stupid,” I replied, trying to manage a reassuring smile. “We’ll see how it turns out, then you can be the judge.”

She grabbed my arm, holding me back, as worry consumed her visage. “Don’t die. We still have a lot to talk about.”

I reached for her arm with my free hand and gripped it tight. “We do,” I replied with a smile before pulling away from Seren. I broke into a sprint straight for Lord Aedan. He had barely a moment to recognize what was happening and to get his weapons up and ready before I barreled into him with my shoulder, sending us both into the flames.