The North (Closed)

[KieranSoares]

With Riley staying at Schaller's side, the other Riders surged forward into the fight with a rekindled ferocity, knowing their Queen was being kept from them. Riley could see from her vantage point as Ezra led the charge, using whistle and fire signals to keep the battalion working together smoothly.

While many of the most dangerous weapons had been disabled, some remained intact or had been repaired. Twenty minutes after the charge, the first Northern dragon fell, both he and his Rider being veterans from the earliest days of Fiona's time as Rider Queen. But at the same time, several dragons were on the ground tearing at the wall. It was incredibly dangerous to be on the ground, a huge easy target to hit with cannons and ballistas, but the wall had to come down. And soon, a few new openings were carved through, and the first charge of the ground forces sounded over the vanguard.

Riley could see the massive wave of Northern blue and black alongside Imperial red and gold, a small force of English crimson, and even Welsh green, all charging in a shifting sea of glinting armor and rattling weapons. Soon they split into major ranks, leaving archers behind to fire at the walls and letting footsoldiers charge the gaps. Cavalry charged around the sides, drawing fire and aiming for the wider openings.

The clash was brutal, the Northerners having to try to force their way through bottlenecks and relying on the dragons to help them. While the North had far more in the way of numbers, the rebels had the terrain and defensive advantage, taking a page from the tactics of Spartans. And with their own dragons soon flying out, they had the means to repel Northern Riders too.

Schaller watched it all hazily, trying to gather himself to help especially when he saw Dzana being harassed by smaller dragons. Sam was still on the ground at the moment to direct things and break the wall's defenders. Idunn and Marth were mostly defenders for the moment in case other dragons tried to attack Soma's position. Andre, Gia, Blair, and Hadvar were all fighting alongside Ezra, Dani and Costa leading smaller groups to hit specific targets. For all the chaos of war, Soma had made sure each person knew their task and what he expected. And for the moment, it seemed everyone was determined to push on despite those fallen or missing.

By noon, Schaller was beginning to shake himself out of his stupor, having mustered the energy to push the other dragon away while his attention was somewhere else. It likely meant his focus was on Fiona again. But as Schaller properly came to, his anger reignited tenfold. Riley could hear him cursing as he sat up, no vicious word spared for Royer and his lackeys. His chest began to glow and radiate extreme heat as he looked northward, seeing that precious little progress had been made taking Hadrian's Wall. After several hours of trying, Soma had ordered the Riders to flank the rebels to harry them and even capture medics. While he wouldn't kill medics, he wasn't afraid to take them away.

"The archers and weapons on the walls are Soma's biggest problem right now," Schaller muttered to Riley in the first coherent sentence he'd spoken in hours. "No one had been able to get close enough to set them ablaze... I think I should make up for my absence by doing just that."

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley watched as Schaller snapped awake with sudden awareness, his anger stoked, she knew that her mother was being threatened all over again. She could almost hear the frantic screams as an elder dragon tortured Fiona, plumbing the depths of her mind and echoing it through Schaller.

“Then let’s even the score.” Riley said as she climbed Up Schaller’s ridge to the space between his head and horns. “For Ma.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Not caring about a saddle or harness for perhaps the first time in Riley's memory, Schaller exploded into the sky once she was secure, letting out a monstrous roar of frustration and ire. If Riley had been in front of him to feel the full force of it, it might've burst an eardrum. Cheers went up from the Northerners as Schaller came speeding in, arrows pinging harmlessly off his scales as he drew his head back and let loose a flood of fire from mere tens of feet above the wall. The Northerners quickly pulled back so not to be caught in the blaze, leaving the rebels to scream in terror and scramble to get off the wall. Some were so terrified to burn that they leapt off. While the ruined wall wasn't terribly tall in places, the fall would still injure, and even kill those who landed badly.

Riley was shielded from the enemy arrows and bolts for the most part, but so close to the ground and without a harness, she was in deep trouble if something went wrong. Schaller rained hell upon the wall for a solid twenty minutes before something indeed went wrong. Riley felt him lurch violently to the left with a roar, and suddenly she was ripped out of her seat by his great hand and held to his chest. She could feel him tuck his arms and head in, and then they hit stone. Onlookers saw the moment Schaller's wing was pinned to his side by synchronized bolt-throwers, and they watched him crash down into Hadrian's Wall and fall into one of the gaps, ripping it open wider just with his speed and size. The instant he stopped sliding, Schaller curled with his back to the enemy side, letting Riley loose from his hands. Northerners came charging back up to offer aid and surge through the gap again while Schaller tried desperately to rip the giant bolts from his side and unpin his wing. But he was exposed to attack from the ground now, and a wave of rebels broke over him, trying to wedge their weapons between his scales and tear him apart before he could take flight again. Riley was front and center for the most gruesome deaths she'd ever witnessed as Schaller snapped men up in his jaws, crushed and ripped them apart with his claws and tail, and finally had a moment to summon up a gout of flame to fill the gap with fiery death.

Riley was suddenly grabbed up from the ground and lifted onto a drake saddle by her Uncle Boar, his broad arm wrapped around her while his free hand wielded his mighty axe, slashing at any who got near. "Y'alright, lass?" He called over the din. "Anythin' broken, bleeding?" He knew she couldn't get back to Schaller at that moment with him fighting on all sides, but the Axemen would hopefully soon open a path for her.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley was disoriented when she was plucked from the ground by her uncle, hefted into the saddle of his war drake as if she weighed nothing. She had briefly lost consciousness despite Schaller's best efforts, but she had regained her wits quickly before as Boar secured her in the saddle with an arm around her waist and his axe at her disposal. Twisting to look for Schaller, she saw the wicked bolts that penetrated his wings and side, keeping him from taking off.

"I'm fine." She called back, glancing above her head to spot Dzana, perhaps the only other dragon that might be able to help her.

Pulling her whistle, she blew three short blasts to signal to Dzana, gaining the other dragon's attention to the situation. "I don't need her landing, but I need her to be a distraction. Lift me up high enough for her to grab me."

Riley paused when she heard a shattering scream and looking around, she realized that it was her mother, echoing through her brain. The pain that Schaller felt was affecting his rider all the way in Edinburgh and her empathetic children could hear the bittersweet ring. On one hand, Fiona was alive and able to touch them. On the other, she was in immense pain.

 

[KieranSoares]

Dzana slowed, gliding in above the din. Boar helped Riley stand on the saddle, even letting her step up on his shoulder. Dzana caught Riley in one hand and lifted her up to where she could climb into Sam's saddle, though he was still on the ground.

Dzana let loose a hail of fire near Schaller to ease some of the attack on him, then glanced over her shoulder as she was rounding back. "Tell me what needs doing, kit." She was aware of the mental battles going on as well thanks to her connection with Schaller.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley climbed into her father's saddle, using her harness to secure herself as Dzana circled the chaos. "Clear Schaller as best you can and help him remove the bolt. Then we'll focus on the weapons they still have."

Riley pulled on the reigns to direct Dzana back around, acting as her eyes on the ground to keep a visual on everything. Calming her own mind, Riley felt guilt at pushing Fiona out of her senses, but if she lost it now there was the potential to lose many lives.

 

[KieranSoares]

Dzana rounded back toward Schaller, making a quick hovering landing beside him and immediately tearing at any soldiers still striking at him or climbing on his back. Loosing brilliant purple flame, she opened up a space and dragged him back a few places so their allies could push through the opening.

"Brace yourself, Gyllhyr," Dzana growled to him before closing her jaws around the bolt in his side, anchoring her hand against him to pull the bolt out. It was painful but necessary, as they didn't have time to have it surgically removed. Schaller writhed and roared in pain, but once his wing was free, he bolted away from Dzana to channel his pain into bloody rage. He was bruised and scraped badly and he would have to retreat before he bled too much, but he was sure to let loose an inferno before he did.

Dzana launched into the sky without warning just before a number of cannons could fire in her, and she bit back by raining flame on the gun crews, following Riley's sharp eyes to strike decisively and stop those about to fire in other dragons.

In Edinburgh, Fiona's pain had not gone unnoticed. The warden had come to see what was going on and quickly hurried off to report to Markos that Fiona was bewitched or losing her mind. Markos was soon opening the cell, his wide eyes trained on her as guards waited anxiously by. "The white dragon has been wounded," Markos murmured. He turned to the soldiers and waved them away, only one remaining there at his normal post. Markos called after the others, "Hadrian's Wall is surely under attack. Tell the king."

Stepping into the cell, Markos watched Fiona closely. "Does he live?" He asked quietly, as if concerned for Schaller.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona had curled into the smallest ball she could muster, trembling on the floor of the cell as she embodied all of the pain that Schaller was going through in the moment. Her screams of pain were haunting, enough that her guards were frightened to even look in on her. She hoped that she frightened them, she thought to herself as she gritted her teeth against the searing hot pain in her side, her injured hand cradled protectively against her chest.

The sound of Markos's voice set her teeth on edge. There was rage in her eyes as she carefully lifted her head and looked up at the other caller, the promise of murder very real if only she had a weapon.

"Of course, he does." Fiona spat.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Good," Markos nodded, seemingly not as bothered by her gaze or screams. With what little she'd learned of him, he was probably desensitized from his own experiences thanks to the Church. "But I'm afraid that might not be so for much longer. And I know I'd rather he and the other elders on your side didn't die. The king has a proposition for you. Will you be as stubborn as yesterday, or would you care to listen?" He sat down cross-legged on the floor just out of her reach, waving the last guard away so they could talk one-on-one.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You can speak. I'll decide if I'll listen." Fiona said, pressing her forehead back to the floor as Markos seemed entirely unbothered by her.

Fiona closed her eyes against the pain that filtered through her as she felt Schaller retreating. She was too scared to cut off his connection completely. If she did, she worried she would never feel him again. Knowing that he was in pain, she at least knew that he was alive.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Brennan has informed me that he has a number of agents in place in Windsor ready to strike at a few key people. King Edward and Queen Ashleigh, Rissa and Shani McClure, and Jani Halfborn and the dragon Avfairn. He's said that he will order their deaths one by one until cooperate. Or, if you answer his questions, you will be given medical treatment and a proper room and food. You will be released when Princess Jane is returned." As Markos spoke, there seemed to be disdain in his voice for the king's ultimatum. Throughout Fiona's torture and time there, he didn't seem to care much for Brennan Royer's ideas or torture, but he seemed to be committed to doing as he was told.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Bullshit." Fiona snarled, lifting her head to glare at Markos. "It's all a bluff. There is no way he's infiltrated Windsor."

She saw the same expression on his features that he had carried the entire time. There was really no way to tell if this was a bluff or not, but Royer was crazy enough to actually do it.

"They'll take the wall today and he'll only have borrowed time." Fiona murmured, forcing herself to sit upright, her injured arm hidden from Markos's view. "Ask his damned questions."

 

[KieranSoares]

"They are the very same questions I asked you yesterday and you refused to answer," Markos murmured. There was exasperation there, but also a bit of pity. "Please, don't gamble with your allies' and family's lives. Those who gamble against Brennan lose. I've never seen him bluff about something so serious. Not to mention, the death of King Edward would be very beneficial to him, as would the deaths of those very close to you and Katherine Ghis. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather be done with all of this terrible business. I'd like to go back to being a historian. Torture is not something I'd wish on anyone. But I'm afraid my hands are tied. I would love to see you go free, dear lady. I really would. But I have a debt and loyalties to repay."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Debts and loyalty to a madman that will throw you to the wolves the first chance he gets." Fiona bit back a wince as she sat back on the stone floor, her body sore. "Do you truly think he'll let me go free? He'd be a fool if he did. However, he's already a fool for doing business with Stila Oliveras. I guess I shouldn't expect anything less out of him."

"We have 10,000 men at our disposal and more coming every day, as far away as Palmyra and Mongolia. Royer will have never seen the likes of them before, but I'm sure that he'll use it to his advantage. They aren't proper Scots, so they should be put down like wild dogs. Dragons...well, dozens. Northern riders, Johania riders, and more if I need. Elders and young alike. As I said yesterday when you, dear sir, refused to listen...Royer is well and truly fucked. Torturing Northerns isn't going to change that fact. In reality, he's only attacking his own kind, since he's so obsessed with Scottish blood."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Your sentiments about him are nothing I don't already know." Markos's gaze seemed to soften. "Hesperus told me you are an omen of the end. The end of what, he didn't explain. But I can certainly guess. Royer. Usurper Clan Kings. The end of this age of Scotland's history and the beginning of another... And I know that by trying to repay my debts to Royer, I have made myself your enemy. You will be my end too. Maybe tomorrow... maybe years from now. But we will come to dust because of you, whether you live to see that day or not. My ancestors considered yours their brothers and sisters, and I would have rather considered you the same, if not for our opposed circumstances. But the die has been cast, it seems. It is a great shame... I would have loved to work in a dragon haven. Master Rory and yourself were rather heroes of mine."

He sighed deeply and stood, dusting off his strange hide clothing. He didn't wear shoes, his overall appearance reminding Fiona of traditional druids and shamans. "I'm sure he will have more questions shortly... But I and my partner have been called elsewhere for now. The warden and the executioner will be questioning you from here."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona knew where he was going, and she instantly pulled herself to her feet. "You stay the hell away from them." She growled, her chains keeping her at a distance. "If you go near the wall and hurt my family, I will tear you apart. I've given him what he wanted. No more questions. He can hold up his end of the bargain."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You answered one question. I do believe I clearly specified that he had multiple yesterday." Markos sighed once more, stepping toward the door. "I would wish you luck, Your Majesty, but your situation has nothing to do with luck now." He closed the door, the latch locking shut before he disappeared from her sight. It was only twenty minutes before the warden returned, followed by the executioner and more men ready with other implements. But this time, they were accompanied by a furious Ramsey Royer. He was dressed in finer fabrics, but had light armor on as if he was ready for an attack.

"Good morning, Lady Blackstone," Ramsey greeted coldly. "I'm going to be very straightforward with you, madame. My father is displeased and I'm rather angry myself since your mutt sister kidnapped my new bride. So here are your options today... You will tell us everything you know about your son's strategies and the locations of Northern leaders, or you will be crucified and left alive to hang there in the elements til you speak. Is that clear, or do you need a demonstration?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"You flatter me, young Royer, thinking that there might be a way that I can hurt you in this condition." Fiona said as she took in the armor that Ramsey was wearing. "At least when your brother comes to speak with me, he has the courage to greet me like a man."

The vicious blow that came after her words was surprising. Fiona didn't even have time to break her fall, sprawling on the ground, as the warden yelled at her to be more respectful of the crowned prince. Her head was spinning in the most sickening way, blood pooling in her mouth from where her teeth had cut into her cheek. She spat at their feet, letting out a low groan of pain.

"Is your father so ill prepared that he doesn't know where the Northern leaders are?" Fiona murmured, glancing up at Royer. "They are right where they have always been. We don't hide like rats. We fight on the front lines with our people. Those of us that have to rule are still in place."

Fiona let out a sharp yelp of pain as the warden's foot closed around her abused hand, grinding the broken fingers against the stone. It was like something in her brain snapped and her fox came free to protect her human side. Fiona lashed out in an instant, taking the man down as she tackled him at the knees. Before anyone could stop her, she was on him, balling the chains around her wrists between her hands and pummeling him about the face.

 

[KieranSoares]

The other guards were stunned at her sudden burst of strength and rebellion, slow to charge in and tear her away. By the time they had her pinned face-down to the floor, additional manacles binding her hands behind her back and her ankles together, the warden was unconscious and quite possibly in danger of death.

Ramsey watched it all from the same spot, beyond the reach of her chains. When she was subdued and other guards dragged the warden away, Ramsey gave a huff.

"I don't know why we bother offering you anything, beast. No wonder the Empire thought your people were barbarians and saw fit to take the isles from you."

Looking to the guards, Ramsey waved them toward her. "Take her outside and finish preparing the post. We'll see how long it takes for the elements to break that barbarism."

Fiona was immediately dragged out of the cell and up the stairway. Passing through a few halls, the grey light of a rainy day broke over her as doors were thrown open and she was dragged into the walled courtyard of Castle Edinburgh. It was out in the open enough that servants and workers would be able to see her, but still guarded enough to catch her if someone took pity and tried to free her.

A tall post with a crossbeam on top had been created, support beams under the two arms giving it more of a triangular shape. Two men were already out digging the hole close by.

"I'm not going to offer you any more deals after this, Blackstone," Ramsey spoke as Fiona was pinned against the post, several men putting all their weight into containing her. "You have a very simple choice. Submit completely, or be crucified like the heathen you are. Then perhaps in a week or so when you're barely clinging on, we'll have the mercy to burn you as witch."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I've told you what you wished to know. The leaders of the North, as well as your princess, are at the wall. They will soon move here and overtake Edinburgh. What more could you wish to know?" Fiona asked, glaring at Ramsey as several men worked to bind her to the post. "If it's Queen Kayla that you seek, you'll have to go much further abroad to Trondheim. As far as for what my son plans, I can assure you that it will be a slow and painful death for you if you continue with this. Your father wanted answer and now he's got them. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a Royer wouldn't keep his word."

 

[KieranSoares]

"And I shouldn't be surprised that a dog doesn't understand that when she attacks her handlers, she needs to be put down. If it were up to me, you'd have been dead the moment you were within reach. But my father seems to think you're still worth something alive. And honestly... anything I can do to make your sister regret her betrayal is welcome."

Fiona's hand was flattened against the crossbeam, a large nail at the ready to drive through and pin her there. The men around her seemed to have no pity, especially not Ramsey Royer.

The moment the first spike was driven through, anyone connected with Fiona knew it. With the second, Schaller finally had to retreat from the battlefield as he couldn't focus between his own wounds and his partner's pain. By the time other dragons and medics got to him, he'd completely passed out on the south side of the wall, collapsed once he was in a safe area.

Thanks to Schaller and Dzana and Riley's risky attacks, the Northerners finally punched through the wall and got a foothold, forcing the rebels back so that they could no longer hold the choke points. Cannons were seized and turned on the enemy, and dragons filled the sky once more. In the course of only two days, they had taken Hadrian's Wall and the rebels began to retreat northward to defend Edinburgh.

Sam and his uncles and father were in the midst of the din, leading charges and fighting hand-to-hand. Despite Brogan and his brothers' age, they were ferocious fighters still, stirred to bloodlust by Owen's abuse and Fiona's capture.

When the battlefield began to clear, Sam took up his whistle and called the Rider officers in. He send a team to follow the retreating rebels and report back, but the rest he gathered to himself. Perched on his drake Kennah's saddle, both of them spattered with mud and blood, Sam forced down his adrenaline and rage to address them all calmly.

"Ezra. Lukas. I need teams to go out an' recover our fallen. They took up suicide missions to bring down these weapons an' I won't leave 'em to rot. We don' have time for graves... pyres will have to do. Make sure I get a full list of who fell."

He scanned over those gathered, already able to see a few missing. But as he saw Riley being placed down by Dzana, his brows furrowed and he scanned again. "Riley. Where's Andre?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley glanced around at the gathered crowd as her father asked where Andre was. She saw neither her husband nor Gia, but Marth was landing around the same time. She felt a ball in the pit of her stomach, combined with the screams with her mother that were echoing around, she wondered if Andre had taken it upon himself to do something risky.

"Marth? Where is Gia?" Riley called.

 

[KieranSoares]

Marth paused as she asked, and he immediately scanned around, even going so far as to briefly stand on his back legs to see over the wall in case she was on the ground. When he didn't see her, Riley could see the fur along his spine bristle with a sudden burst of anxiety. "I don't see her..." He told his Rider.

"Last I saw her, she was landed in the camp," Ezra spoke up. "I think Andre was reporting in. I saw her take off again but I don't know where she went."

Little did any of them know, Gia was rushing northward at top speed. Andre had heard Fiona's pain and watched as Schaller shared it and his own. He knew the ways of those who'd served the old Empire and men like Barbarossa and Micha von Morden, and after speaking to Finnegan Royer about his father, Andre had decided to slip away as quietly as possible in the chaos.

 

[heartofcourage]

"They went after her." Riley muttered, turning to look at Ezra and Sam. "We can all feel her and it's horrible. If he's not dead here on the wall, I know that's where he is. Gia's faster than most out here and I'm sure that he's long gone."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam was already staring northward, silent as he considered his wife's plight and the risk his son-in-law was taking with Fiona's life. "If they see him, they'll kill him an' probably her too..."

"The only people I can think of that could get Fiona out are Kell, Qira, or Jani," Ezra muttered darkly. "Andre's taken up a suicide mission."

While the Northerners rallied to march onward, leaving some behind to gather and burn their honored dead in ceremonial pyres, Andre had Gia drop him behind a hill blocking Edinburgh from spotting them, and he sent her into the woods near the city to await him. Packing away any and all markers of his station or connections, he donned drab clothes that would cover up most of his tattoos, armed himself with a bow and knife, and took a bundle of furs he'd brought from his camp. He'd use them to claim he was a hunter coming in to trade in case anyone stopped him. And while he was worried his eye color would give him away, he made sure to have his German accent at the ready to convince people they were Aryan blue, not cub-blue eyes.

Andre was able to make it past the gates where people were being searched and recorded, giving the name Jonas Kaufman and allowing himself to be disarmed peacefully of his hunting gear. Once free, he meandered through the city toward the castle, trying to make his trail believable between the markets in case anyone decided to follow. Once there, he watched a while outside a small side gate as the kitchen staff was carrying in supplies from a delivery wagon. Leaving behind his furs and cloak, he slipped into the line and picked up a small crate, telling any who asked that he was from the market and had been sent to help.

As Andre stepped into the courtyard, his step nearly faltered when he passed by a gruesome scene. He had to force himself to keep his eyes forward and not react, but he couldn't help glancing up occasionally at the bloodied, broken woman pinned against a T-shaped, tall post, spikes driven through her hands. Her bare feet were on a tiny platform attached to the post, perhaps more cruel than just dangling freely. If her knees gave out or she tried to relax, she would cause herself more pain. Clad in only a ragged, dirty tunic and trousers, she was exposed to the wind, cold, and an incoming rain.

On his second pass, Andre began considering his surroundings and the guards. He couldn't do anything while the kitchen staff was moving back and forth, and it'd be almost impossible to do anything during the daylight hours. As awful as he felt for his mother-in-law, he had to leave her there for the time being. But on his third pass, he casually walked a little closer to her so that he could make eye contact and mouth the words, "hold on." He couldn't risk any more than that. He'd already had a few people stop him with suspicious questions, and any step out of line would get the attention of people who might recognize him. Thankfully, pretending to be a laborer meant that no one important cared about him at the moment.