“I find a little hard to believe!” Marcia called out, taking a step forward, causing Deacon to take a step back. “My lord, I would never lie to you, I have been present for their confessions, and have brought the offenders with me to confess their sins to you in person” Priest Deacon replied, bowing to Rector, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat, if Deacon had proven true in finding who had infiltrated the palace, it implied that his three best generals would seem incompetent. “A most curious timing I might add Deacon” Markus said, eyeing him suspiciously, it was a little too perfectly timed, even pooling their resources, they did not find any way of proving the intruder’s identity or intentions, but Deacon announced he had, depending on what these people declared, it had the possibility of putting the three generals in a precarious position. “I know you all have doubts, but I would like for you all to see for yourself what I say is true” Deacon declared. “Very well, send for the
“This bloody water is freezing” Rex said once the water was waist-high. “Don’t be such a girl” Lacey replied, splashing water at Rex, covering him in water. “Hey!” Rex exclaimed as the water engulfed him, then he got an idea, adding a trickle of magic into his hand, he slapped water towards Lacey, which caused a large wave of water to fly towards her, dumping water on her. “What the!? Using magic is cheating!” Lacey retorted once the wave had passed over her, “Do I smell bad or something?” she asked. “Huh? That’s a strange question” Rex answered, slightly confused. “Well, you’re all the way over there, so obviously I must smell or something” Lacey replied with a cheeky smile. With a shrug, Rex started to wade over to where Lacey was, noticing as he approached her, she was in a patch of water where he could feel rocks under his feet, allowing him to stand in the water and it only reached the top of his shoulders, once Rex was within arm’s reach, Lacey reached out and grabbed onto
“Well, by the look of it, you look dressed appropriately for this” Rex replied, a smile on his mouth while he looked Lacey up and down. “Well, that’s great then, Lizz, good to see you again” Lacey replied, patting the front of her dress down, she found wearing dresses stupid and hard, she always felt like there would be a big gust of wind and it would blow up, plus she preferred the freedom and mobility that came from wearing shorts and a top. “Lacey, you look good!” Lizz replied with a slightly shocked expression in seeing Lacey wearing a dress, to Lizz she looked amazing. “Thanks, you too, father made Kealy and I wear these stupid things because there were visitors to the palace, Kealy likes wearing this rubbish, not so much for me, can’t wait to get out of it” Lacey answered, rolling her eyes. “Since father is here, I’ll be able to stay in the castle, so we can hang out later if you two want before the games” Lizz exclaimed excitedly. “Yeah, sounds like a good idea” Rex replied
“I would like to apologise for my earlier behaviour, it was most improper of me, and before you drink, I would like to propose a toast instead.” Spinning on the spot, Rex scowled instantly at who had interrupted him, Minet was standing next to Lizz, a tray of drinking glasses in her hand, with drinks already poured ready to go. “I have also asked Lacey to join us, but it seems she has not cooled down from earlier, but I did try my lord” Minet said, speaking in her soft silky voice again. “What is it?” Rex asked, eyeing the glasses of drinks suspiciously. “Almond and peach wine, from our finest vineyards” Minet replied with a smile. “Isn’t peach and almond smell the premise for poison?” Lizz enquired, looking at the poured drinks with the same expression as Rex. “Poising the prince would cause the annihilation of my family from the emperor in response, which helps none of us, so that is a silly presumption to make” Minet answered, showing a slight hint of annoyance at Lizz. “One
The sheer shock of being interrupted suddenly, left both girls unable to move for a few seconds, it was Lacey who then came to her senses and quickly darted behind the changing wall. “Rex! How the f**k did you wake up? I thought you were out for the night?” Lacey squealed, her face as red as a beetroot, Rex was currently standing on his bed, his talisman lit so bright it was able to light the entire room. “Most curious indeed my lord” Minet casually replied with a wink, slowly picking up the blanket she had dropped near Rex’s bed, and as she started to walk out of the room, she turned back and said, “Until next time,” she threw Lacey one last death stare, before striding out of Rex’s room confidently shaking her bum as she did so. “Ok Lacey, what the f**k is going on? Usually, a guy would love to have two naked girls in his room fighting over him, but this is weird” Rex replied, stepping down from his bed, the talisman starting to dim in brightness, Rex proceeded to illuminate the r
“Of course my lord” Deacon replied, a calm and casual look on his face, seemingly unphased by the gaze Rector shot towards him. Reaching into his robe, Deacon produced a small green handled dagger, very similar to the one Rector was currently holding, once he produced the blade, he walked up to Rector and bowed his head and held the dagger out to him. “Care to tell me why Justin is carrying a blade with your family insignia on it?” Rector said in a low growl, looking between the daggers and Deacon, who tilted his head to one side in confusion. “I’m sorry my lord, but THAT dagger I gave you is emblazoned with my family crest, but this one is not” Deacon replied, squinting his eyes while looking at the two daggers. “Do not think me a fool Deacon, I can see the insignia on the blade you gave me, but I can also see that on this blade, it was almost removed, quite terribly I might add, I can guarantee a royal weapons smith can verify my claim” Rector replied, showing Deacon a rough patc
Once Rector had greeted the procession into the city, Rex breathed a sigh of relief, he was petrified he would have had to do it, turning to Rector, who was currently watching the procession open and the governors of each region coming toward the pedestal, “Where did you go?” Rex asked quietly. “I shall tell you later my son, I apologize, I had something important to look into” Rector replied, turning to Rex with a soft expression on his face. Nodding to Rector, he turned back and watched as five cloaked people came forward in a line parallel to the pedestal, stopping just a few feet away from Rector and Rex, bowed and removed their cloaks one at a time. “I am Augur Strix! Governor of Bhutan, this is my region’s representative, my daughter Lizzetta!” Augur roared, turning and pointing to Lizz, who strode forward and stood next to her father, the crowd cheering loudly, Rex’s mouth dropped open at the announcement, once Rector dipped his head, both Augur and Lizz bowed, stepping back
“Well, it is definitely a surprise to see you competing, I’m surprised your father would allow such a thing” Rex replied, turning to see Lizz behind him, wearing a massive smile on her face. “Because I’m a girl?” Lizz replied, raising one eyebrow. “Because you are the governors only daughter, and I have a feeling this whole battle week thing is going to be a rough ride” Rex answered, taken a little aback at Lizz’s comment, relaxing a little when he saw her face soften. “Having seen quite a few of them, I know what I’m in for, don’t know what events will be on this year though, I have heard they are going to be quite exciting, I feel bad for you, you have never been in the battle games or have even seen what this is and you’re competing” Lizz said. “Yeah, was kind of thrust upon me” Rex replied, using his thumb to point to Rector behind him. “You’re a Magnus…” Lizz started to say. “Yeah yeah, I’ll be fine, I’ll do great, Magnus this, born from greatness” Rex interjected, using his
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