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"Elise, he is going to be the lord of a castle one day. Isn´t he getting a bit too old for night time stories?"

Henry sat on his bed, leaning back against the wall as he watched his wife telling their son a story. She did that numerous times in the past to help him sleep. He did not really like it when she did that, he never did. After the things he must´ve seen in the last couple of days it was understandably that it was difficult for him to sleep. But in his opinion he had to grow up at some point, and fairy tales wouldn´t help him with that.

Elise turned her head with a sigh, giving Henry a stern look. "No, Henry, he isn´t. He is 11 years old. He is still a child after all." She turned her head to smile at William. "Even if he himself won´t admit it."

"Maybe..." He sighed, standing up from the bed. "Maybe your right." He walked towards the improvised bed they had made for their son. It was a simple fur coat, laid on the ground, underneath the window. At least William had a pillow, filled with feathers. "Which fairy tale is it this time then?" Henry sat down next to his wife and met William´s gaze. "The one with the maiden and the dragon or the one about the land of silver rain?"

His son only frowned his brow and jumped up into sitting position. "Nuh uh!" He said pettishly. "Those aren´t fairy tales! Mama said they really happened! So they aren´t fairy tales! It just happened in a land far away!"

"He he." He shook his head in disbelieve. "That´s how almost every fairy tale starts, William." He chuckled. "A long time ago in a land far, far away." Again, he shook his head and smiled at his son who only sat there sulking.

"Henry." He heard Elise say his name. The way she said it, it sounded like a playful warning. "You shouldn´t talk about things you know nothing about."

"So you want to tell me-"

"That these stories are real?" She finished his question for him, her voice taking the serious tone from before. "Yes they are. I know them from a friend of mine. Do you remember, the young man who used to serve at my families castle I told you about? He said he was from a land called-"

"Close the gate!" A voice suddenly interrupted their discussion. The man sounded like he was nervous, very nervous. "Go wake up the grandmaster and the dragons, quickly!"

Henry jumped to his feet and yanked the shutters of his window open. His eyes went wide in shook. The main gatehouse had been captured and both the gate and the portcullis were open and the drawbridge was down. His jaw silently dropped as he froze in place and he realized what was happening.

"Henry..." He heard Elise with a type of fear in her voice he wished he would never hear from her.

"Father what is it?" William was about to stand up as Elise covered his eyes, hugging him tightly. He shoved her hand away and freed himself from his mother´s grasp, taking one step away from her. "I hear horses!" He cried out with a mix of excitement and fear. When he finally saw what his father was so afraid of, his eyes went wide all the same. "Are those-"

His question was cut short by his mother who took him in both of her arms, this time more securely than before. "Henry what is happening?" The fear and terror in her voice intensified.

After he took one deep breath he hear two loud roars coming from somewhere above the keep. He knew who these two roars belonged to. "Cyrvanyx..." He said to himself before he turned around to face his wife. "Elise you have to hide." His heart beat quickened as he reached for his dagger on his dresser. "Take William and hide in the storage room. It is-"

"I know where it is, Henry. But-"

"Good. Take the dagger and hide there until the battle is over. Don´t answer to any voice you don´t know, alright?"

"Yes..." She took the dagger out of hands that were shaking slightly. "Henry you-"

"Wonderful. Go there now and hide!" He was starting to breath a lot faster than before. His eyes seemed unfocused, looking nervously around the room. Never before had he been so nervous before a battle. But usually it was only his life that was at risk. But the fear for his family was just overwhelming, much more overwhelming than he would have ever thought.

"Henry!" Just as he was about to freak out Elise grabbed him by both of his shoulders and shook him out of his trance. "Calm down." She said those two words slow and calming, remaining eye contact with him the whole time. "I´m not calm either, but this is not the right moment to have a damned seizure!"

Slowly his eyes found their focus again and his breath was beginning to stabilize. "Thank you." He smiled at Elise and William. "Now go, hide!" He opened the door to let them both out. Without a second thought Elise ran out, holding William by her hand. Henry watched as they ran through the hallway and saw William looking back at him. "Go with your mother William." He already held back tears. "I love you!"

He remained eye contact with his son before he and Elise vanished behind a corner.

Suddenly the door to the room to his left opened, and another, and the next. All had been awoken by the united roars of Cyrvanyx and Arylaryl. Even one dragon looked around the corner, glaring at all the knights in the hallway. "What is going on?" Right after the dragon had finished his question the door at the other end of the hallway was kicked open.

"Everyone form up in the main hall!" The grandmaster walked out of his chamber accompanied by a foot soldier, who was probably the one that woke him up, if the roars didn´t already do that. Maldwyn held his greatsword in both of hands. It was as big as a man and used more like a spear in close combat than a sword. "And you." He looked at the soldier to his left. "Go and call the squires, all of them!" Without a word of protest the man ran in the opposite direction.

"Come on what are you waiting for? Get your arses in the main hall, now!" No one disobeyed his order and hurried out of their chambers as quickly as they could. Henry took his sword with him before he hurried after the others.

More dragons were coming up from their own chambers at that point, obeying the grandmaster's orders just like the knights were. Only one of the dragons strode towards Maldwyn, saying something to him that Henry did not hear. He was the elder dragon, Maldwyn´s companion, looking even more grim than he used to.

Once he entered the main hall the squires were already waiting for them. Luckily he was still wearing the gambeson and his padded leg wear. Grandmaster Maldwyn ordered him and all the knights to wear them all day. Considering that also the armor was already on display made him think that it was not luck, but prediction. Maldwyn knew that something would happen. Only he did not knew what or when.

"Sir Henry." He was pulled out of his thoughts as his squire approached him with his mail shirt in his hands. Without any further words he helped Henry into his mail shirt. He could have put that on himself, but that would cost more time.

He stood still as the squire put on the cuirass and sat down when the squire was putting on his legs protection and held out his arms when he was putting on the arm protection. While the squire secured the straps of the padded coif he had to wear underneath his helmet Henry put on his gauntlets himself. It would be a lot quicker if the squire would not have to do everything on his own.

Above the padded coif, he put a mail coif for even more protection. The armor of the dragon order was known for being one of the best, with only very little weak points every armor had.

Last but not least, he put on the helmet, himself, while his squire fastened the helmets leather strap. When his work was done the squire handed Henry his sword, bowing his head. He closed his now gloved and armored hand around the handle and unsheathed the blade.

"Thank you, Ludd. You´ve been a very loyal squire."

"Thank you, sir. I will continue to do so."

Henry forced a smile. "I´m sure you will." He took a step towards the door. Even if it took only minutes to put on his armor, it felt like hours to him.

As he looked around he saw that all the knights were ready, the dragons as well. The only dragons without armor must have been Cyrvanyx and Arylaryl. Gods, he hoped Cyrvanyx was alright.

He saw how his brothers were all flipping the visors of their helmets down, so he did the same. Trough the slit of his visor he saw Gareth looking at him before he flipped down his visor as well. "And so it begins." Gareth said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"No." Henry looked back at him even though he probably could not really make out his eyes with the visor down. "Now it ends."

the Grandmaster flipping down his visor as well, holding up his greatsword. "Come on now! Let´s show them the dragons fury! For we are the dragonhearted!"

"Raaaarrhhh!" Everyone roared and cheered, ready to unleash fury on their enemies as two squires opened the door.

First the knights stormed into the courtyard then the dragons behind them took to the skies. Henry roared as he sprinted towards the wall. Enemies were already on top of the wall, fighting the men-at-arms while others were still climbing up ladders. Beyond the wall, flying above the occupied outer courtyard he saw Cyrvanyx and Arylaryl, busy dodging what seemed like ballista shots. It was good to know that they were alright.

As he sprinted up the stairs that led on top of the wall he saw a big rock crashing into a tower, probably coming from a catapult or a trebuchet. Although it did only minor damage, it crushed two men of the order as it fell down.

Once he reached the top of the wall he realized that his brothers were following him. Only the grandmaster remained in the courtyard, shouting out commands. He saw men, his men, dying all around him. Some of which he knew even if it was only briefly. And suddenly the superior training seemed useless. For every enemy who died on the wall came two more. They were just too many, far too many.

If only they had more time to prepare and more men. Death surrounded him on all sides. He smelled blood, fire and smoke. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he tried to focus before he charged forth.

With all his might he tackled one of Lord Edwyn´s men and threw him of the wall, his ladder following shortly after. After that first blood he drew he began to enter a frenzy. He knew that this was his last day, his last battle. He had no need to hold back. It was time to show them that not only the dragons of the order had claws.

He slashed enemies with lesser armor, cutting trough linen and cloth, while he struck heavily armored opponents with the crossguard or the pommel of his sword and thrust into the gaps of their armor. It was easier said than done, but Henry was a master at what he was doing and his opponents were not. He fought as best as he could. And as long as he could.

Enemies dropped all around him, filling the ground with layers of bodies. He could feel that for a moment he was no longer standing on stone, but on a dead body. He did not know if the bodies around him were friends or foes anymore. He just killed everything in front of him that did not bore the orders banner.

After a while the heat underneath his visor got unbearable. His heart was beating so loud that its sound almost drowned all the screams around him. He had to stop for a moment to breath before he would collapse. Luckily one of his brothers held his back as he opened his visor to catch his breath.

A pain filled roar coming from the sky got his attention. His eyes widened as he saw a dragon in armor falling from the sky, with a ballista projectile in his chest. It even penetrated the armor and hit directly in the heart.

Only when he looked around did he realize that, that was not the first dragon who fell. He counted only five remaining. Five out of seventeen. It was already worse than the battle at Dimbarrow, far worse. For how long has he already been fighting?

He was so focused on the killing that he did not even realize what happened. He knew that they had ballistas, but they had to have far more than he anticipated if they shot down so many. As he saw an unarmored black dragon flying next to an unarmored green one a brief sigh of relief escaped his throat unintentionally.

He threw a quick glance into the outer courtyard and found it crowded with enemies. It was hard to see if there were more dead or more living enemies, for it appeared that many were burned by fire. A few armored dragons also lay in the courtyard, dead. Only one of them was still fighting, but Henry knew that that one would soon be dead as well.

After he flipped down his visor he went into the fight again, cutting down as many of those traitors as he could. The men he was killing were not Ulric´s men, they were Edwyn´s men, men he may have fought alongside with in a battle in the past. He almost forgot that.

The number of the men he slew was already countless, but they would not stop to come up these bloody ladders. By the time his sword as well as his armor was covered in blood he saw how one of his brothers got wrestled to the ground, completely overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

He knew that the wall would soon be lost.

But everyone kept fighting on, despite the desperate situation they were in. There was either victory or defeat. Edwyn would make no prisoners, he was sure of that. They wanted to destroy the order to sent a message to all the other lords who still served Albia. And that meant no prisoners.

Another of his brothers got tackled to the ground, but this time Henry saw it early enough to react. He shoved allies and enemies aside as he sprinted towards the lightly armored man on top of his brother-in-arms. Before he had the time to pull a dagger and finish his brother Henry rammed into him.

To his surprise the stairs were closer than he thought, so he ended up tackling the man down the stairs and followed right after. As they toppled down the stairs, Henry somehow got on top of him and heard the sound of his head smashing into the stone again and again.

Once they reached the ground Henry fell off of him and landed right next to him. With his right hand he was still holding onto his trusty longsword. He shook his head and got up, only taking a quick glance at the man next to him to ensure that he was dead.

He opened his visor to take a deep breath. He needed to calm down. When he heard a loud _thump_his gaze fixed on the four dragons who landed in the courtyard, two of which were Arylaryl and Cyrvanyx. Only four. Another one had died.

"What are you doing? We need you in the sky!" The grandmaster shouted at all four dragons. One of them, the red one, was unable to meet his gaze as he screamed. Maldwyn was probably the only man alive that had this kind of authority over dragons.

"We are getting slaughtered!" One of them stepped forth. It was the oldest, the veteran. "They were prepared for this! In this fight more of my kind died than in every past battle with Ulric combined!"

"Yes I´ve noticed. But it is not Ulric we´re fighting! we are fighting Edwyn!"

Henry turned his head away from the conversation as he heard men coming down the stairs. It were his brothers that retreated, a wave of enemies following them. Just when he thought it could not get any worse he heard a loud cracking noise coming from the side.

It was the gate that broke, not the first, but the second gate already.

He did not even knew that they had a ram, but apparently they had. There were still footmen who tried to hold the gate with everything in their power, forming a shield wall there where the gate had failed.

"Enough talk! Ready now for the final stand!" Grandmaster Maldwyn charged forth into the waves of enemies, men and dragon alike. One half fought at the gate, the other at the wall.

Henry felt how his last spark of hope slowly left him. As he fought on he thought about his family. His son, William and his loving wife, Elise. If he could save them by giving his own life he would do it without a second thought, but he could not.

But someone else could. Someone who could fly.

"Cyrvanyx!" Henry yelled as loud as he could, but he could not hear him. "Cyrvanyx!" After the second call he turned his head towards him. He opened his mouth to speak as he was hit in the head.

His vision was blurry in all of a sudden and he fell to his knees. At first he did not knew what hit him, but it felt like the spike of a warhammer, hitting the side of his helmet. Before he could get up the second blow followed.

The wind was knocked out of his lungs as he fell on his stomach. His vision darkened and his heart beat slowed down. And even though he felt hot and exhausted only a few seconds ago, he suddenly felt cold, almost freezing.

Decisions of his past crossed his mind as he closed his eyes.

And then the final breath escaped his lungs and the world around fell silent.