The North (Closed)

[heartofcourage]

Riley returned her husband's farewell hug, gripping him tightly before he scurried back into Rikke's saddle. Then she was alone with her thoughts. Her very loud and intrusive thoughts as she gave Marth his leave to speed a little faster.

"We'll lead them in and distract. Fly over the castle and then out into the bay. Draw their fire if we can." She called to Marth over the wind. "...This is for Gia."

 

[KieranSoares]

Marth didn't speak, but Riley could feel him inhale deeply as his chest radiated heat and began to glow blue. He darted ahead at her command, streaking across the open farmland and small copses of trees toward Edinburgh itself. They could see the tower now missing from the castle, the debris still laying where it fell and a section of the outer courtyard wall damaged.

Marth let out a monstrous roar to draw attention, his black scales clashing with the white clouds and blue sky. It was a rare sunny day in Scotland, as if she were welcoming her Queen home.

Within seconds of coming in range of the walls, ballistas and cannons began shooting only to fall short. Marth had become an expert at judging range despite his reduced depth perception. He'd spent a long time talking to cannoneers and engineers on the Northern side to learn how far these weapons could reach, so he strategically skirted the edge of their range. Anything that might reach him was going too slow to hurt him, or too inaccurate to strike anyway.

Marth made sure all eyes were on him, diving in as if attacking only to feint away as he headed for the bay. By the time they reached the harbor, the other Riders were coming in fast. Boulders and fire rained down along the walls, and a few of the quicker dragons dove down to claw ballista strings to disable but not break them permanently. Marth rounded back, but then suddenly pulled up hard just before a massive explosion went off in the harbor. Nestled in the opening of a warehouse, a huge culverin was aimed out at the water and a cannonball streaked under Marth to strike a Northern warship helping to blockade the place.

"They've got too much cover for me to drop something on them," Marth called to Riley. "Do we go in and light it up, or leave it for the agents to sneak up and take out?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley and Marth were monsters as they burst over the castle and Marth burned what he could. When the first explosion sounded from the harbor, Riley watched the shoreline closely and decided that they were beyond asking for subterfuge.

"We burn it to the ground." Riley called to him, ducking down lower over his crest to stay out of the worst of the fight. "Just as Ma promised them if they didn't give up."

 

[KieranSoares]

Marth didn't hesitate to do as she said, coming in fast over the warehouses and looping back for another pass after another shot went off. While the cannon crews were reloading, pitiful bolts pinged off Marth's hide. They weren't enough to even give him pause as he let loose an extended gout of blue flame directly into the warehouse while pulling up and shielding Riley. A massive explosion rocked the harbor district and splinters and shrapnel rained over the area. The burnt husk of the culverin remained, salvageable but unusable for the moment.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley pulled Marth's harness to direct him back over the harbor and then higher above the sea. Beneath them, she heard the sounds of return cannon fire from the Triad's ships. As the cannons distracted, she directed him back to the warehouses for another burning, keeping watch on his bad side to make sure that they wouldn't be caught unawares.

 

[KieranSoares]

Marth made a hellish inferno of the weapons harborside, but he was careful not to cause too much damage to the neighboring residential area. After some twenty minutes of circling and sweeping, any weapons left in the harbor were abandoned or ruined. Marth turned and climbed high in the sky to give Riley a view of the city, only to find her fellow Riders were already making quick work of the walltop weapons.

"There's a catch here somewhere," Marth growled, growing more and more anxious as everything seemed to be going too smoothly. Soon the vanguard would hit the gates which would already be thrown open from inside by spies, and Marth was nervous they'd see a repeat of London's west wall explosion.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Hold Marth." Riley called, feeling her partner tense beneath her as he watched the gates beneath them with a sense of deja vu. "We let Andre strike first and then we will follow. We have to trust that the information Soma has is correct."

She was just as nervous and tense, her eyes searching over everything that she could see from the vantage point. She was paralyzed by indecision, wanting to snap into action but waiting for something to happen.

 

[KieranSoares]

Right on cue, Andre shot past with Rikke and they dropped a large stone on a cannon nest, knocking a number of bricks and a few men off the wall top. But as they soared by, Rikke suddenly pulled up and Andre's whistle blasted a warning causing other Riders close by to pull up as well.

Emerging from warehouses and covered areas all over the city, dragons in armored harnesses began taking flight with heavily-armored knights on their backs. Suddenly two score armored dragons filled the sky and began striking out at the Northerners. Many of the Riders had long lances and some even had firearms, shooting or going in for devastating stabs with steel lancepoints.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley watched as riders dressed in armor took to the sky and she reached for her crossbow, blasting on her whistle to tell the others to scatter and make it harder for the armed men and women to catch them. She then spurred Marth towards the melee, her crossbow taking aim at the riders and their most vulnerable armor points.

 

[KieranSoares]

Soon the sky was absolute chaos as highly-trained knights and armored dragons gave their opponents hell. While the Northern Riders were lightly armored and faster with armorless dragons, they were much more vulnerable to damage. The Edinburgh Riders could stand up to much more punishment and it was harder to find weak spots.

Soma, overseeing from a ways away atop Idunn, helped Riley raise the alarm across the entire army. Knowing the Riders would need help, Soma decided to send soldiers toward the cannons and ballistae that were still intact, ordering them to gather ammunition and aid the effort. In the meantime, the vanguard pushed into the city with Kell's agents sweeping ahead for more threats. Squadrons of soldiers and guards tried to resist, but sheer numbers on the Northern side plowed through them.

In the midst of the fight, one knight seemed to recognize Riley as the leader, and he and two others came streaking her way intent to knock out the chain of command to cause chaos. Andre was close at hand to help, but the knights were trying to separate them to make Riley an easier target. One came screaming by with a lance aimed for Marth's chest, only for the young dragon to pull up just in time and rake his claws down the other dragon's back. The armor fended off damage, but couldn't stop Marth from tearing the knight from his saddle. The man was crushed in Marth's grip and dropped into the streets below.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley protected Marth's blindside by pulling on his gear, directing him to safety after he swiped the knight from his saddle. Marth wasn't sleek while flying, but she could direct him into quick maneuvers. Pulling free her own long glaive, she wrapped the reigns around one wrist and took control of the fight with both hands. As they streaked towards the other knight, Riley didn't hesitate to strike with the glaive, slicing through the man's harness with ease and watching as he partner rolled away to try and save his life.

 

[KieranSoares]

Unable to catch hold of his saddle in time, the knight ended up falling to one side. Instead of the solid platform stirrups the Northerners had, these knights had the classic free-hanging style. The knight's boot caught in his stirrup, leaving him precariously hanging and ready to slip out anytime. His partner was forced to flee the fight to have room to catch the knight if he fell, or to land and fix the issue.

Marth rolled back around as their targets fled, giving his full trust to Riley to watch his blind side as he sallied back into combat like a seasoned veteran. His blue eye caught sight of a small detail in the chaos and he suddenly turned toward a red male dragon carrying a knight with additional detail and trim on their armor. Knowing this was the leader, Marth bolted toward them. The knight's lance managed to snag Marth's shoulder, but it didn't stop him from tearing plates off the other dragon's back til he got his jaws around the knight's saddle and left leg. The red male let loose a gout of flame, but Marth rolled away before it could burn Riley. He also came away with the knight in his jaws. Marth took them into his claws and dove down and back toward the gates.

"I think this one could be useful to Kate," Marth called to Riley over the howling wind. "Maybe Kell can get some information out of them as to what's waiting for us around the city."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Drop him with Qira's group." Riley called back as the dove back towards the city gates with the knight firmly in his claws. "And then back to the fight."

As Marth's great wings buffeted against the air to slowly let them down, Riley unhooked from her harness and slipped to the ground, stalking towards the knight with her dagger drawn. "Tell me how to stop this, you son of a bitch. You were sent on a suicide mission and I would like to save as many of your kind and your dragons as I can."

 

[KieranSoares]

When Riley approached the knight, Marth's great hand forced them to their knees and his claw hooked their sword belt, tearing it away with ease. Riley could see they had the same embossed design on their armor as Blair, a map of Scotland with a diamond star where Edinburgh lay. This was one of Royer's "Dyne" soldiers, a group of elite bodyguards and Riders given the honorific name as a sign of station and loyalty.

When Riley got closer, the knight threw their crested great helm aside, breathing heavily and clutching at their left thigh where heavy denting suggested a broken hip or femur. Riley was met by familiar cub-blue eyes and a number of sharp and curving Erygonian tattoos across the left side of the young woman's face. Some of them extended up across the side of her head, partly hidden by short hair. She was far too young for an officer's rank, likely a decoy. She couldn't have been much older than Soma. She hid her pain well, glaring up at Riley with as much determination as she could muster even though she was clearly afraid. The scars in her armor and on her jawline suggested this wasn't her first fight. And as her own partner came in to land a distance away, he too seemed to be a veteran despite his youth.

Qira approached with his own retinue and Rissa, seeing Marth land nearby with a prisoner. As he came up and paused to see what Riley would do, the wounded knight took a deep breath and finally spoke in a heavy Scottish brogue. "Our orders were to harass the Northern Riders as long as possible," she admitted. "We stop when we're all dead or the king says otherwise."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Are you fucking daft?" Riley asked, looking down at the young woman as the put on an air of false bravado. "Royer gone. He doesn't give a shit about you or your riders. He won't give an order to stop this. He is hoping that all of you die."

"Queen Katherine is entering the city, whether you forces continue this suicide mission or not. You have the chance to stop this and see a brighter future, but you have to call them off now." Riley insisted, trying to make this woman see reason. "He never gave a damn about you. I promise."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm not fucking stupid," the young woman snarled back at Riley with a surprising ferocity. "But what else can we do? We've fought for Royer so long that we can't possibly hope to be allowed to live normal lives if we defect. We're his eyes, hands, and ears. We won Scotland for him and killed Mateo Emile. We installed Hess in London. What invading leader would risk leaving us alive, much less pardon us for what we did in Royer's name? We're all bound for death whether it's today in the sky or a week from now by the gallows once we've been tortured for information."

At this point, Qira had come to Riley's side, ready to offer help if Riley needed, but letting her control the situation fully.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Royer would do the same in a moment if you were to win today. Stab you between the ribs and leave you to bleed out simply because he wanted. You know too much for him. You don't know a thing about Queen Katherine. Call them off and you'll at least have the chance to plead your case." Riley insisted, ready to abandon the talking to take back to the sky. "Blair Dyne is alive and well, protected by these forces. The same can be given to you."

 

[KieranSoares]

The girl glared up at Riley for a long moment, her eyes briefly turning to the aerial fight. Lowering her head slowly, she nodded and motioned toward her partner waiting nearby. "I need my bag. There's no commanding officer here. He fled this morning and I took his marks of station... I'll try to bring them in but I can't guarantee everyone will listen."

At her signal, her partner approached cautiously. With a wounded and possibly broken leg, the young woman needed her partner's help to stand up. She unfastened her bags and they dropped to the ground. Looking cautiously back at Riley, the girl pulled out a case and opened it to reveal a set of smoke bombs and a strange red paper cylinder with a fuse. "Stern, put this out where there's room to land," she ordered her dragon, giving him the cylinder.

The dragon nodded, giving one last look to Fiona and Marth before stepping away to set the cylinder. When he lit the fuse with a tiny puff of fire, it began sparking and puttering, giving off a bright blue light and smoke. Within seconds, several Edinburgh Riders broke away from the fight and lit their own blue smoke bombs while heading for the flare.

The young woman stubbornly kept her head up, even when her partner returned and she had to lean on him. As she'd warned, only some of her allies answered the call to muster and surrender. Some began to flee alone, but a few kept fighting like hell despite overwhelming odds. Some fifteen landed nearby and were taken captive by Northern soldiers, their dragons' armor removed and all weapons and tools confiscated.

The young woman looked back to Riley as the sky calmed and the last Edinburgh Riders fell or landed. "I'm no leader... But I can talk everyone into playing nice if you can promise us a meeting with Blair. I don't trust your Queen, but I trust our sister in arms."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll bring you my aunt personally." Riley murmured as she holstered her dagger and turned to glance at Qira with a nod. "I'll vouch for all of them."

Riley then backed away to allow Qira to get the woman medical help. She walked back towards Marth, patting his scales as she looked back at the city. If things continued, it would be Kate's in a matter of moments. She had managed to do just what her mother would have wanted: secure the city with little loss.

 

[KieranSoares]

Once the last of the resisting Riders were felled or captured or fled, Kell's agents were able to sweep even faster through the city with no danger overhead. The wall defenses were taken over by Northerners, and units of soldiers began to spread out to seek out any other enemies and offer aid to civilians who needed it, especially those whose homes had been damaged.

By the time Kate reached Edinburgh's outer gate, Kell's agents were sweeping the castle inch by inch. A Royer banner- a bastardization of Kate's old coat of arms- flew above the portcullis. The blue and black with it's white bastion were symbolic of Royer's victory over Mateo Emile who'd been installed by the Empire. It was how Royer had taken power: by using the old Scottish hatred of the Empire to paint Emile as a usurper and Royer himself as a national hero. Now, as Kate arrived with Kell beside her and Bo and Shani in tow, the Royer banner was being cut down. Several younger soldiers, children and grandchildren of Kate's officers who gave their lives to get her out of Edinburgh safely, were hacking the false banner down. It dropped to the ground in front of the gate and cheers went up all around. Some cried "Long live the Queen!" til it grew into a chant.

Kell reached out to place a hand on Kate's shoulder. In front of so many people, he stayed stoic and cold. But he couldn't deny the feeling welling up in his chest seeing his wife enter her city again amid fanfare and loyal men. Behind them, Bo watched it all in awe from beside Shani. While he knew his mother's power and prestige, he had never seen her command such a reaction.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate rode her horse straight as an arrow, her fiery red hair trailing behind her as her green eyes took in the scene. The city had most definitely changed in the time that she had been gone, but not enough that she didn't see familiar sites. There would be much to be done to get it back to where she and Gale had it. Kate glanced up as a dark mass floated across the sky, Marth hovering with Riley on his back as they patrolled from the sky.

Kate wound through the streets, her eyes scanning over the people who dared to come out of their homes to watch her procession pass. The chants were loud in her ears, but she still didn't move from her rigid position. She was almost scared that this all might be a dream and that she was still in Mongolia.

"Burn his banners. The bastard used my colors." Kate murmured to her husband.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell nodded sternly and began delegating immediately as if he'd never lost his position as Lord Protector. Soon soldiers were dispatched across the city to take down the banners. By the time Kate reached the castle, men were already taking down the banners and piling them to burn as she'd said. Qira also rejoined them at this point with Rissa, having put Blair in charge of the surrendered Riders.

Waiting at the castle courtyard gate was one of Kell's leading agents, ready to report. "Your Majesty. Lord Protector. The castle has been swept top to bottom twice by our Wolves to ensure no gunpowder or chemical weapons about. We did recover a cache of gunpowder and weapons in the armory and found three potential assassins hiding, but no traps."

"Good. The failsafe?" Kell asked, using a suitably vague word for the secret tunnel under the castle.

"Secured and locked off, heavily guarded. Likely to be filled in and replaced," the agent answered swiftly. "Your Majesty. We have removed Royer's symbols of station including his banners and throne. Things are still being cleared out and cleaned up, but the castle is secure and the area where the tower was torn off is being sealed off until repairs can be made. It is my absolute honor to tell you that Edinburgh is yours, Your Highness."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate glanced at her agent and nodded, thanking him for his service. However, she wasn't about to sit on her laurels just yet. There was work to be done in Edinburgh to get the people back to normal.

"Open the grain stores. We have to hope that he didn't completely obliterate everything. Spread the grain among those that need it and offer them assistance as well."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Yes, Your Majesty," the officer confirmed, bowing and stepping away to gather men. Everything seemed to be organized despite the fast pace as the castle was secured and the Northern armies set to either tending the city itself or setting up camp outside the walls.

Soon Soma came in with Idunn to land and join his aunt, his own personal guard following close behind. Kell and Qira and Rissa were already back in their roles with absolute control and certainty. There was an absolute mountain of work to do as terrified civilians came to grips with being placed under a new ruler yet again. Since Brian Cross had passed and Gale took over, followed by Kate who was displaced by the Empire's puppet and then by Royer, power had changed hands five times in less than fifty years. And now, there was already tension as former Imperial citizens and Scots and long-displaced Northerners called the same land home. Many who'd fled to the Triad might never have their ancestral homes or land back, and many former Imperials were terrified of Northerners. It would be a long struggle to smooth things out.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate got to work immediately, having letters sent out to the lairds and ladies that had always been loyal to her. She also sent letters to those that were most likely to fall to her now that she was back on the throne. Dragons filled the sky as they were sent off to deliver those messages. She only paused when she saw Soma approaching, sending way those that were surrounding her to talk to him privately.

"Welcome, love." She said with a soft smile to her nephew. "Still up to this task?"