Once they had arrived at the west gate, they readied themselves for a fight to escape, but to their surprise all the guards that were supposed to be at the gate were not present, allowing for Rex and his companions to leave without issue. Shortly after passing through the gate they could see Lizz, Charr and Nessa all standing next to 5 horses with worried looks on their faces. “They should be here by now, I bet that snake lied to us!” Nessa growled angrily casting her eyes back to the city, she was secretly worried something had happened to Rex and tried hiding it behind anger. “Worried about me are you?” Rex said with a broad smile once he had reached his friends. Once the three saw Rex arrive unhurt, they were all relieved, even Nessa much to Rex’s surprise, “Only because I want to kill you, I don’t want them to beat me to it” Nessa growled turning away trying to hide her smile. “Well, we should leave before we continue this happy joy moment” said Lacey with an exaggerated fake h
“This would be so much faster if you were not slowing down this bloody horse!” Lacey called over her shoulder to Rex with a scowl, she could see the dust cloud getting closer with each passing hour. “Let me off and you will move faster, I’ll be fine” chuckled Rex. “No chance idiot prince! My father will never forgive me if I do that and then I’ll have to find what remains of your corpse!” Lacey yelled back rolling her eyes, what a stupid time for humour she thought, she knew Shaitan’s forces were closing the gap quite quickly and it was still another day and a half ride to the border and safety from those pursuing them. “Your father!?” Rex exclaimed in slight surprise, “Who is that?” he asked. “He is right behind us idiot!” she said through gritted teeth,” This is a stupid time for 100 questions!” This woman seems to have a quick temper and easily agitated Rex thought, if this was the daughter of Markus, she definitely did not have his temperament or patience he thought. “You nee
Once he had defeated Sampson and was heading towards Rex’s last known position, he caught up with his underling who was still also giving chase. “Master they are close to the border guard, if they get there it will be very tricky to retrieve him” the hooded man said bowing his head as he approached. “I’ve already thought about you idiot! Come with me, I have a new plan to get that bastard!” the man sneered with an evil grin. Coming up close to his underling, he put one palm on the head of his beast and the other on his underling’s beast, his eyes started to glow red before he called out, “Forward!” Feeling a sudden intake of energy, both beasts rocketed forward at lightning pace. They had overtaken Shaitan’s army and very soon Rex and his companions as well, “Do you mean to block their escape master?” the underling said as he noticed they did not target Rex’s group but instead continued forward. “I will give the guards at the border an offer they cannot refuse before Rex’s party ar
Seeing how determined Ean was in obtaining Rex, Markus knew they were not going to be able to leave without a fight, he was worried that even with their combined strength, they would not be able to do more than slow him down, Ean it seemed, had enough power to destroy an entire town of some of the Magnus family elite soldiers. Even though Markus was on of the three great generals of the land, he knew it was going to be hard, if he was by himself, he would be able to focus on his target to provide an equally matched fight, but he knew Ean would target Rex and his companions, maybe even Lacey and that would distract him giving Ean an edge. “For a general of your calibre, you seem hesitant Markus, is that fear or something else?” Ean sneered seeing the look on Markus’s face as he was deep in thought. “I have no fear of you, even with this new power you’re boasting” Markus said coming back to his senses and waved his hand at Ean, which wiped the smile from Ean’s face at his disregard for
Seeing that his killing blow had been stopped so easily, by one hand shook Ean to his core, looking up to see who had done it shocked him even further, standing in front of him was a man covered in red scales and green eyes, he knew who this was instantly. “Brother..I.I.” Ean stammered, completely lost for words, being in his brothers’ presence seemed to destroy every bit of arrogance he just had. “You have gone too far this time” the emperor said shaking his head with a look of pure distain in his eyes, lifting the blade away from Markus with a small stain of green blood on the blade, Rector summoned a ball of golden light in his hand before throwing it close range at Ean’s chest, sending him flying a good distance from where Rector and Markus were, rolling over a few times he stopped, laying motionless on the ground, satisfied, Rector looked back to Markus before whispering to him with a smirk and wink, “sorry I am late old friend, thank you for the flare, was a good idea.” Noddin
Riding North on their horses, Rex, Markus and Charr chatted, updating Markus on all the events that had transpired right up to their rescue from Shaitan’s arena. “You fought against an elder spirit and won??” Markus asked Rex after Charr recounted the battle with Balrog and her minions. “An elder spirit? That thing was from the spirit realm? Fafnir only said they had a prior grievance and asked to deal with her” Rex asked, he did not know much about the spirit realm, only the patches Fafnir had told him during their lessons. “Yes, the spirit realm is a place that only one human has gone and returned, it is a dangerous place for the living, it is where the soul of mystical beings like the dragons go after their deaths. Speaking of dragons, why did you not use Fafnir to help me deal with Ean, or at least against his assassin inside of the arena?” Markus asked raising his eyebrow at Rex. “That is something I don’t fully understand, Ean’s daughter did something to me, it seems to have
Feeling the force of so many magic users bearing in on him made Rex feel strange, he started to feel tiny surges of strength in waves course through his body, making him shudder slightly. Markus seemed to sense changes in Rex and whispered to him, “Are you ok Prince, what’s going on?” “I don’t know, I feel strange and my chest is starting to ache” Rex replied clutching his chest. As the witches came to close their circle around the group, Charr rushed out roaring swinging his axe trying to claim one of the women surrounding them, in his mind, if he was going to die, he would die like a real warrior, fighting until the end, he had forced one of the women back out of the circle and was dodging from side to side while bringing his axe skilfully into the fight, it seemed the woman was also just as quick, slipping past each swing and thrust. “I like the mountain men, always full of honour and courage” smiled Markus, seeing what Charr had done always made him feel honoured to be in the co
Once Rex and Charr were brought in and were laid out onto the free beds, the physician got straight to work, starting with Rex, she went straight into the basic check-up, with deft hands and an expert eye, ran over his body, before having a quick conclusion. “His temperature is through the roof, his pulse is weak and his breathing is very shallow, there is also this strange marking on his chest, any idea what this is and why it’s here?” the doctor asked Markus, pointing to the red symbols on Rex’s chest. “I don’t know what that is or why it is there” Markus said shrugging his shoulders, before an idea suddenly came to him, “that is the reason we need to the prince back to Dracones, to research those symbols with the academy, it was to be completed under secrecy, so I implore you, to keep any of what happened here it to yourself, for your sake and your towns.” He was trying to get the doctor to treat Rex as quickly as possible so they could return to the road, also while ensuring the
As the enemy soldiers charged, they quickly spread out evenly across each squad commanded by Rector’s defence, ‘They are testing our weak spots” Rex heard Rector say to Markus, who nodded in agreement as the small number of soldiers were killed quickly by Rex’s and Ley’s squads, Markus’s and Gwayne’s a few moments later, the barrage of fireballs from the walls reached the enemies’ position almost simultaneously, hitting the barrier created by their warlocks, most being stopped, the more powerful fireballs made it through and scorched the soldiers they hit, dying a few seconds after impact. “Are you going to try a counterattack?” Markus asked quietly, leaning over to Rector. “Not directly, no” he replied, stroking his beard, the enemy had not made a move since their test of his defensive line and it worried him, “Something is going to happen, I can feel it.” “What are you thinking?” Markus said, “I think they are scheming since their test proved our defences are solid.” “No defence
Everyone got dressed in silence, they were all thinking about what was coming their way with the battle. After a half-hour, everyone was suited up and ready to go, they all headed out of the room, down the stairs and out through the gate, stopping outside. Saying their goodbyes to Marcia, she hugged everyone before calling out and departing on Ulna. “Time to go and see your troops I guess” Lacey shrugged with a sigh, the closer it got to the battle, the more she started to worry. “That would be wise, seeing as they are formed up and waiting for you by the gate,” Ley said with a smile. As they all made their way to the southern gate, the entire group was silent, they were all apprehensive about how close to battle they all were, Ley seemed to notice this, “I think if anyone will survive this, it will be you all, I sense something different, something strong has formed between you, use that and you will be a force to be reckoned with, that rumoured scorpion pet of yours would be of
The sun was an hour from even touching the horizon, Rex was laying in the middle of Minet, Marcia and Lacey, all sleeping soundly, Rex snoring quietly, “Rex, wake up please, but do not wake the others, I must show you something.’ Even while inside of his dream, he knew the voice belonged to Rector, his father, it was loud enough to wake him, but not too loud to startle him, as his eyes blinked and focused, he saw Rector sitting in a chair watching and smiling, looking at the women, they were all dressed, which he did not remember them doing. ‘I would not intrude on a view that is not for me, I made sure clothes found them before I came in’ Rector said with a wink. Carefully moving Marcia’s hand off his chest, he slowly sat up, standing at the same speed, stepping over the women carefully, not wanting to wake them, ‘Is everything ok?’ Rex asked. ‘Let us go, then we can speak more freely’ Rector said, holding his hand out to Rex, who took it. Once his vision cleared Rex was in a dar
“Did you end up killing it? Surely not even you could kill something THAT big” Lacey added in. “Hang on…so you like for real saw and fought a tentaculum? A fabled flesh-eating tentacled monster from the books of legend?” Marcia asked, still visibly skeptical. “No word of a lie,” Minet said, “Rex and Raz stayed behind to let us escape, next we saw them, Rex was covered in shit and Raz’s head was split open.” “Well yes, I didn’t end up killing it, but we injured it enough it must have thought us too painful to continue fighting, it ended up losing 3 tentacles and 1 eye, Raz was hurt after it ejected some black shit that shot us into the trees, Raz hit some rocks, I patched him up best I could and carried him to the shack,” Rex said, recounting the events, leaving out some in-depth gruesome parts he wished he could forget, “So why was that muscle-bound axe man chasing you into the shack?” “Wow this is so much drama in a short time, how you even got anything done, I’ll never know,” Mar
“Well, my place is the closest to everywhere we need to be tomorrow and is away from prying eyes, and I have half a bottle of yarak spirits, we can share that, you can tell me all about your trip in a shortened version and we can have some fun, get a little sleep and then head out to our posts in the morning,” Marcia said with a smile. “I’m sold,” Marcia said, clapping her hands together. “I just had a thought” Lacey started to say. “Yes or no?” Minet interjected. “Yes, sounds good” Lacey nodded, walking with the women, “We weren’t told who we are serving with tomorrow.” “I don’t know about you, but I’m sticking with Rex” Minet shrugged. “That was what I was hoping to do, what do you think? Where is Rex?” Lacey asked, looking around for him. “Odd he would sneak out on us, this was supposed to be our night together” Minet scowled, putting her hands on her hips. “Sorry, I’m here, was just trying out a bit of magic I was shown earlier, good to know it still works, it gave me an id
Rex, Minet, and Lacey followed Rector into the palace, turning away from the throne room and traveling down a hallway Rex had never been before, “I don’t remember seeing this here” he stated, looking back, then back toward a large wooden door at the end. “That is because I do not allow this area to be accessed unless necessary, the war room has not been used since the Blood War, it saddens me to even have to use it again,” Rector sighed, walking toward the door, it opening as he approached. As they all entered the room, there was already a handful of older men present in the room who were pointing to places on a table that was in the center of the room, it showed the walls of the city and the fields beyond, many black figures stood in the southern fields showing the invading troops and their positioning, the old men were all yelling at each other for what plan they thought would be best, Marcia, Ley, and Markus were all at one end, Marcia was scowling at the men yelling, Ley was smil
“So whoever has brought this army has one hell of a grudge against Dracones, or father” Rex guessed, seeing how much dust over such a large area was being kicked up, “What was the scout's estimate?” “In excess of 30 thousand strong” Marcia replied, “That’s three times as many as Ean’s last army.” “Holy shit, how many defend Hale?” Rex asked. “About 10 thousand,” Marcia said, doing some quick math in her head, “Would be 18 thousand if we could rely on general Chris’s forces, but word is, he is currently under assault as well, it is almost like this attack has been co-ordinated from both sides of the realm at the same time.” “Three to one odds, battles have been won with a lot worse before” Rex replied. “Yes, but human battles did not have magic and monsters in their ranks either,” Raz said with a grin. “Holy shit!” Looking over to Lizz, who had cursed, which was rare for her, she was now pointing out toward the field outside of Dracone’s southern gate, to where a massive force, a
“So, you’re saying we can be released from the deal to suicide, to serve under you instead?” one of the soldiers asked. “Correct” Rex replied, “Instead of your life being a waste, why not use it for something better?” “We cannot accept that” the soldier replied, saddened, “When we swore our oath to serve, we were branded, if we break our deal, the brand kills us, so either way, we are doomed.” “Who would make you do such a thing?” Lacey asked, she was not the only one who was shocked, the entire group was as well. “Our new leader ensured our allegiance with spells” the soldier replied, lining up his sword, ready to pierce the heart, the rest of the group following suit, “We thank you for the offer, you are not like they say you are,” he took one last deep breath to ready himself, closed his eyes and slid the sword into his chest with a groan, after a few gasps he fell lifeless to the ground, followed shortly after by the remainder of the soldiers. “I did not think they would have
The sound of screams and metal hitting metal echoed out soon after the soldiers reached Rex and his companion’s position as they cut through their first wave. Lacey and Minet had teamed up on Rex’s right side and were diving, dashing, stabbing and blocking each other’s weak spots, many dead and dying fae laying around them. Raz and Lizz were on the left front, Lizz was throwing fireballs at their enemies furiously, scorching two, sometimes three at a time, Raz was standing fast between her and the front line, cutting down any that made it through to ensure Lizz could focus on what she was doing. “Looks like we underestimated a group of children,” Douve said with a sigh and smile, “Looks like it is up to us to settle this.” “Seems like it” Rex replied with a shrug, he was a little curious, everyone knew the royal family had power stemming from dragons, yet Douve did not seem phased. Bowing to Rex, Douve took a ready stance, so out of courtesy, Rex nodded his head, not a second afte