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Price of a Survival Part 3

Marl sipped from his cup of tea. The cup was too small, the tea too bitter and too hot, but he didn't complain as he brought the small white cup that was dwarfed by his plated hands. The brittle material made a slight tinkling noise as he drank down all of the tea. His host watched patiently for him to finish.

The cup was set down and a napkin placed over the top to prevent the overzealous servant from filling it up more. Marl had been trying to get him to stop refilling the cup, but the servant, a young, strapping lad with the pale white skin and silver hair of a northerner didn't seem to speak Basic and was eager to fulfill his duties. He wasn't here now and Marl hoped the thin cloth would be stop him.

"I think that this will be it." Marl looked up at his host with a genuine grin on his face. "After today, the war will finally be won."

His host, a man in full shining plate that seemed to sparkle, even here in the confines of a tent that was being lit by candles since it was still dark out. It must have taken a dozen servants an entire day to get the armor so pristine. The armor was segmented to allow for mobility without sacrificing protection, there was the symbol of a great winged dragon, reared back and spouting flames with jeweled eyes and silver scales and golden claws right in the center of his chest piece. The mark of House Raleigh, the royal family. The family that was split for there was another that wore a very similar set of armor, though he wasn't here.

The man who sat across from Marl was Lord Justin Raleigh, a figure of much importance in the politics of the Kingdom and soon to be king. He was the man that Marl was fighting to get onto the throne, along with nearly a dozen other Lords who had poured thousands of men, tons of gold and too many hours to count of effort to propel the youngest of old king's children to the top.

This had come with much resistance for the old king, who had died of age and sickness that had been plaguing him for months, had many children, all who wanted to get their hands of the crown, but only two were recognized as viable, the oldest and youngest, who each had a guardian dragon of their own.

Lords rallied and planted their banners behind their favorites. Marl had been the first to pledge his allegiance to Justin, providing his soldiers, his wealth, and of course, his dragon to the cause. Many followed suit and it wasn't long before two armies, the largest ever assembled in a such a short time were raised and ready for battle.

The oldest was Nelson Raleigh who was often favored before the death of the king as being the next in line since he was the first born son. Normally that would be the case, but the King had grown to dislike his eldest son, who was often bull headed and prone to violence. He had once cut the fingers off of a guest for taking the last bread roll. Marl had been there when the four bloody digits rolled into the bread basket along with the roll that was now ruined along with the rest of the night. Everyone was escorted out in a hurry.

It was rumored that Nelson lost his heir-ship that night which was why he hadn't been crowned the same day his father died. Instead, the crown was locked away by a special guard of both men and dragons who held no loyalty to a name, but the ruby encrusted, platinum crown of dancing dragons, each chasing the next in an endless circle.

The crown was in the castle that was barred to all, until the rest of the Kingdom sorted out who earned the right to sit on the mighty Throne of Bones as it was called since long ago, before the castle was built, there was an old and fearsome dragon who lived on the mountain top. He killed and pillaged daily, bringing his prizes and prey to his nest where a pile bone slowly gathered in the corners since the dragon loved to admire his work. Then, the ancestors of Raleigh led a garrison to the top of the mountain and slayed the dragon after a long and daring fight. They discovered the bone pile that had grown to be larger than the dragon and now the throne sat where the bones were. It was a mark of triumph.

The end of the war was near. Neither Justin nor Nelson had the resources to fight much longer and winter was coming, this next engagement would be the last and luck had given Justin favor.

A week ago a spy had reported that Nelson was marching with a much smaller force than usual in a bid to gather supplies from the relatively untouched western lands where the farmers were left alone so that the Kingdom would not starve. This was a war for the throne, not to kill its subjects.

Nelson was attempting to get by unnoticed with his small force that was made up mostly of his own guard and most trusted followers, but had failed. Now Justin, Marl and the rest of the army was waiting in the woods along the path that Nelson was taking. They had been waiting for three days and Nelson was due to arrive any time for his utter defeat.

Justin shifted in his seat, no more than a wooden stool just for little drinks like this. His armor was fine for protection, but very uncomfortable to just wear, though it would take to long to re-don if Nelson suddenly appeared so he suffered through his pains. "It's about time as well." He agreed with Marl's previous statement. "The people need a true ruler. My brother would only lead us to war."

Marl nodded and eyed the entrance as the curtain was pushed aside by the servant that he so dreadfully wanted to go away. He had a fresh pot of hot water in his hand and was walking right towards them.

Marl looked down at his cup and noticed the napkin had fallen off at some point. Had he brushed it off on accident, maybe a small gust of wind? He reached to reset it, but it was too late. The servant was there with a slight smile on his face as he refilled his cup with tea, the same tea that he had been sipping at for the past several hours.

"Thank you." Marl said politely and the servant bowed before refilling his master's cup as well. He then quickly left the two to their conversations.

Justin quickly picked up his cup and held to his nose and inhaled in the rich aroma. Marl frowned.

"How can you like that stuff?" He asked as he fanned at the steam that was beginning to waft into his face. It carried an earthy smell that reminded Marl not of freshly tilled ground, but mud.

"I grew up drinking this." He took his first sip, but it was too hot and he quickly retreated back with a burnt tongue which he held to the roof of his mouth. "I was beginning to think that you liked it too with how much you've drunk." He noted that Marl had drunk just as much as he.

"I don't want to disappoint the boy." Marl was speaking about the servant. "He seems to eager to serve and I'd hate to let him down over something as trivial as tea."

Justin waved a gloved hand that had jeweled rings, the rings of his family that he managed to secure before the castle was locked down. They were all colors and materials, all extravagant. "He won't care about your opinion. He knows he does his job well and he doesn't even make the tea."

"Well then." Marl picked up the cup and dumped the contents on the dirt. "No more of that." he replaced the cup onto the table, open side up. "No shall we get back to planning?"

"Of course." Justin nodded and looked down at the map that they had been using as a tablecloth for some time now. It had small wet rings scattered around the edges which were green to signify the woods. There was a wide cobbled path that went through the trees with a hundred yards of clearing on either side. The road began to go up a steep incline where it would hit some more rocky terrain.

Justin reached under the table and brought a box onto the table. He opened it up and brought out small colored blocks and began to set them down on different areas of the map. A large amount of green blocks went on the rocky terrain, blue to the woods and red on the cobble path. It signified the predicted battlefield.

"My brother will be marching straight up the center." He pushed the red blocks up the path until it was between a pincer array of blue blocks that were in the wooded region. He looked up to make sure Marl was watching, which was was. He was leaning on one arm on his leg and the other across his lap, he leaned slightly forward for a better view. "If we attack to early." Pushed the blue blocks in, crashing them into the red blocks that were pushed back and nearly off the table. "They will be able to escape and we can't afford to let Nelson escape or we will never catch him."

The two moved the blocks back into place. "Now we need to wait for the right moment." He pushed the blocks past the previous location and towards the spot that signified the incline and into the rocky area. "If we get him into a position where he has no escape." He pushed the blue block forward and the red blocks right into the green blocks, surrounding it. "There will be no escape."

"Simple." Marl commented. "A lot can go wrong."

"A lot can always go wrong." Justin said back. "This is the most viable option. I don't want anything fancy, I just want to end the war as fast as possible." He stood up with a determined look on his face. "Spread the plan and get to your position and wait for my command."

"Yes, sire." Marl bowed and left the tent, entering one of three camps that were set up for the army. The first was set up on the rocky ridge where a large amount of mounted soldiers were. There were going to ride into the enemy as they tried to run from the ambush that the other two camps would launch. The other two camps were set up on either side of the road and they contained the majority of the various lords and their dragons which would be enough to ensure Nelson would try to escape to the high ground. Marl was currently in the on the high ground in a camp built among the rocks.

The ridge had a lot of divots and side paths that the camps, which was more like many small camps, were hidden in and with the terrain, even a dragon from the air would have a hard time spotting them. Everything was perfect for this battle.

Marl walked towards the outer edge of the camp where his tent was. He passed by soldiers who were keeping busy sharpening swords or chatting amongst themselves. Overall, the mood of the camp was high with smiles on their faces as the prospect of victory got closer with every passing moment. Many said their hellos and greetings to Marl as he passed, he was well known since he was the closest adviser of Justin beside Justin's guardian Feil.

Feil was a beast of a dragon who, while on all fours, stood at an impressive twelve feet from the pads of his bladed paws to the top of his rectangular head that had a crown of thorny protrusions all of his face that ended in a pair of short horns that curled back and hugged against his ears. His scales were metallic, but dull as to not shine in the sun. They covered him from head to toe, not getting any softer except where it absolutely needed to for mobility and his wings were grand beyond scale. They stretched up high into the air, adding another eight feet to his height when not in use since Feil enjoyed showing them off and when in flight, they had an impressive thirty foot span.

Marl had only seen the dragon once before when he had first pledged his loyalty to Justin and it was a sight. The dragon was both imposing with his grandeur appearance and majestic by the way he held himself up.

He had asked Justin on multiple occasions as to why Feil did not join the battle since it was obvious he was a formidable beast, but Justin kept to himself about it. Marl was unsure as to why, he spoke nothing, but great things of the dragon, but still seemed... embarrassed about him at the same time.

Marl pushed aside the line of thought as his own tent came into view. It was a modest temporary setup for a lord with eggshell white canvas walls that were held up with thin logs stripped of their bark. Lying there, just outside the entrance was Ferelis who was sleeping peacefully, his red chest rising and falling with his breaths slowly. He would let the dragon be, but when it came to fight, he had better be ready.

Small hands woke Marl up. They pushed against his shoulders, rocking him from his unfit slumber since he had kept his armor on. Much like Justin, it would have taken too long to put it all back on in any reasonable amount of time.

"M'Lord." A young voice got his attention and Marl rolled over, groaning as bits of armor pinched and poked him. He blinked away the tiredness and saw that it was Duncan, his thirteen year old squire who had followed him across the kingdom for the last year. He had made the boy his squire as a form of payment to his father who had made his armor at no price. Marl had offered to pay coin for the very well crafted armor, but the old blacksmith had refused and so Marl offered to have his son squire for him which would give him valuable experience.

"Duncan." Marl said and pushed himself up, sitting on the edge of the cot that had acted as his bed for the entire war. Other lords brought small cities with them filled with vendors, wood for houses and other luxuries since they couldn't part without them. Marl neither had the patience nor the want to do such things. They were at war, not on an overnight stay in the wilderness.

"Lord Justin has called for everyone." Duncan had his hands crossed in front of him. He wore a leather tunic and basic breaches that looked very comfortable. He had a small dagger at his side, more for small jobs and tasks than self defense. There was also a small bladder as well, Duncan kept things simple, though he was plenty capable of throwing himself at more complicated tasks. "There have been sightings of a column of soldiers marching along the road, it's his brother."

Marl raised his arms over his head and stretched before standing. "Lead the way." He said and Duncan nodded and turned on the heel of his boot and walked out. Marl followed after the fair hair child that had proven to be a loyal follower. At first, Marl wasn't sure about the boy who had come to his manor with grime on his face and clothes. He had very little etiquette and was fairly blunt, often getting in fights with the guards and staff over small and often entirely unimportant technicalities. He had once insulted the guard captain once so much when he had insisted that he was doing his job wrong that the captain challenged the boy to a duel. Of course Marl had refused to allows such a thing even though both had wanted it. It showed that the boy had spunk which Marl liked and over the course of their time together, Marl had come to respect the boy greatly.

Duncan's hair bounced on his head as he led Marl through the camp that had taken a new form. The soldiers that had once been joking and laughing among themselves and passing the time were rushing to get their gear together and running off towards their designated positions. The eve of battle was upon them now.

Duncan stopped in front of Justin's tent and looked at Marl expectantly. He had something in his hand now, something that Marl had failed to see. A sword, not Marl's sword, but his own.

"What's that." Marl gestured towards the blade that was sheathed in a rather poor quality leather wrap, though the handle sticking out of it seemed fair. It had black leather wrapped in a coils that led up to a polished steel pommel.

"My sword." Duncan held it up to Marl who took it and slid it partially out to inspect the blade. It was of fine craftsmanship and he could see his reflection on the blade. "My father gave it to me the last time I saw him."

"Did he?" Marl asked and raised an eyebrow. "What do you plan on doing with this." He already knew the answer as the boy's face grew hard, his thick brows scrunching a bit.

"I'm going to fight." Marl wanted to laugh at what should have been a joke, but it was no joke. Duncan rarely made jokes, when he told anyone that he was going to do something, he had every intention of carrying through it, sadly for him, Marl was the final word in this decision and he had no intention of having a thirteen year old boy follow him to battle. While Duncan was there to serve him, he had made himself a promise to protect Duncan when he could. Soldiers fought and died for him, not squires.

"No you're not." The three words stung Duncan who tightened his fists.

"Why not?" He defiantly asked. "Why can't I fight."

"First." Marl handed the blade back to Duncan. "You're still a boy. Second, what would your father think if I brought back a box about yea high." He put his hand, parallel to the ground, just above Duncan's head.

"I can fight." He insisted and stomped a foot on the ground. "I've been practicing." He gave a light swing as if that was supposed to be enough to convince Marl.

"It doesn't matter." Marl spoke softly to avoid getting anyone's attention. This exchange was between him and Duncan. "You will stay here and await my return."

Duncan opened his mouth to say something, but Marl raised a finger. The conversation was over.

The boy watched as his lord walked off into the tent where all of the other lords and commanders were preparing the final parts of the ambush. Marl wouldn't need him anymore so Duncan stalked off in search of something to do.

He had already taken care of the horses, the soldiers under Lord Marl's banner were gone, having taken their gear to the front lines. There was nothing left for Duncan to attend to so he found himself at his own tent, a small and cozy tent that had enough room for a bed roll and his bag. He sat on the long end of his bedroll and dug into his bag for a piece of bread that he didn't eat. He was too angry to eat. He wanted to fight more than anything. He felt that it was his responsibility to keep Lord Marl safe and how was he supposed to do that if he was stuck in camp.

Duncan sat there fuming for some time until the camp was barren, minus a few other squires and servants who were cleaning up and getting everything ready for the return of the soldiers. The rest of the soldiers and lords, everyone who was going to fight, had left now. He sat there listening, it was dead silent, not even the birds were singing as the entire mood was hushed.

He could imagine the twelve thousand swords and thirteen dragons that made up Lord Justin's army sitting, dead silent in the rocks or behind the trees as Nelson march unsuspectingly down the road in a vulnerable column that would have been outnumbered at least two to one. The column would slowly and peacefully march down the road, up the hill, only to be attack from the read. Nelson would be forced to flee up the hill to the high ground, strategically it was sound, but it was a trap. Lord Justin and Marl were there waiting and would attack. Nelson would be surrounded with no way to escape.

It would be over fast and the fighting would be short, but fierce as two veteran armies clashed. The idea of missing it all put Duncan into an even more sour mood. The other people who had stayed behind made sure to keep clear of the fuming boy who was still holding onto his sword.

*Bvurrrr!*

A horn cried out, followed by several other horns. They echoed across the forest and hills as it marked the beginning of the attack.

---

Duncan could hear the horn, even from inside the mines. Time was running short and he still had a long ways to go.

The air was stale with little current going through the two miles of tunnels that led up the guts of the mountain from the very bottom to the top. Duncan crept up the ever upward slope towards the top, following the simple instructions that were given to him. Going up, the metal scones, meant to hold the torches that had rotted away long ago, would be on his right the entire time. If he found that they were on his left, then he was lost. It was a very simple way to navigate the tunnels, one that no one would think of unless they already had an idea. It prevented the need to make a map to navigate which could be stolen.

The mines were dark the entire way up and Duncan was forced to bring an excess of torches with him to make sure he didn't lose his light. One had was kept on the torch while the other was ready to grab his blade from his back in a moments notice. There wasn't supposed to be anyone in the mines that looked like they were about to fall with rotted support beams holding up the tons of rock and dirt that would instantly kill anyone it crushed. He had been warned of other dangers that existed as well.

The mines were abandoned since they failed to yield anything of worth, but sections had been closed off in the past before due to deaths. The deaths had not been from tunnel collapses, but some kind of poisonous gas that would erupt in an all consuming cloud and in the confines of the mines, very few who were caught in such events survived. Though he wouldn't have to worry about such things if he kept to the path, following the scones on the right that appeared every fifty meters, he kept his wits about him. He didn't become the best swordsman in the kingdom by being a dunce.

The tunnel began to accumulate natural light from up ahead, enough so that he no longer needed his torch that he quickly put out as to not alert anyone by accident. He tossed it aside, along with his spares into an overturned mine cart that had black streaks on it from the piles of coal it once carried to and from the bowels of the earth. The torches would be there if he needed to make a hasty escape, though if he failed, he had no intention of returning, this was an all or nothing job for him.

Duncan had been hired by a Lord Noel who was in fact, Nedric's true biological father. The man who had an affair with Lord Marl's wife during the civil war had been searching for Nedric ever since it was discovered that he had fathered a bastard son. He had no sons, no heir, no one to carry his family name until now.

At first there were only rumors of where Nedric had gone, but then rumors of a meeting between Lord Kar and the old lord Marl reached his ears after a servant who had witnessed the brutal murder of Nedric's mother and secret lover of Noel came to him and told him everything she knew. Now Duncan was here with one mission, extract Nedric and return him to Lord Noel.

Duncan knew that this was no easy task. Kar was often paranoid, which was why he lived in a fortress atop a mountain and with his old enemy Marl who had fought and defeated him at what would be called the Last Battle of Crown, he wasn't going to take any chances. Duncan expected more guards and tighter security all around as the two met to discuss some sort of trade. Duncan didn't know the details, only that he had to get Nedric out before the exchange occurred.

Reaching the mouth of the mine, Duncan hung back as he looked into a courtyard of stone with a singular, adult oak tree growing out of the middle. There was no one there, they must have all been at the gates on the other side where Marl and Kar were no doubt throwing insults at each other in the customary way that all nobles and lords did. Hopefully he would be in and out before they noticed anything.

---

Lord Kar stood on top of his gate with archers at either side of him as he watched the lone man rode forward on his horse, leaving behind his small company of heavily armed men behind who were also mounted. Kar was not surprised to see Marl arrive with such a force, they had fought on opposite sides of the war after all and old grudges didn't die easily.

The majority of the fortress' garrison was on the walls or near the entrance to the gate, watching for any kind of attack. It would be suicide, surely, to attack the four meter thick walls with horses and swords. It was more of a show of force.

Marl stopped close enough that Kar could see his face, stone cold and unemotional. The men looked at each other for a long moment until Marl finally broke the ice.

"I have the egg." He unwrapped a small package that he had on his lap. He pulled away the cloth gently until the white treasure was uncovered. He didn't pick it up, just let Kar see that it was there.

Caval, who had been watching from a perch on the side of the mountain took to the air, the slag on his skin sweeping off in a small shower of foul smelling gunk coming off with each flap of his wings.

Marl looked up, but didn't move. Caval would not threaten the safety of his one and only egg to kill him. He needed to hold onto it for as long as possible, which, as far as he was concerned was going to be until it hatched. There was no way he was going to give it up, not to Kar, Caval, anyone, his lordship depended on him retaining control. No one needed to know that through.

The black dragon landed heavily in front of the gate, cracking the earth beneath his weight. He curled his neck back into an "s" shape and looked down on the human. "You have something of mine." He hissed, not hiding any of the malcontent he had. How he wan't to burn the man, but sadly, dragon eggs didn't share the same fire resistance of a full grown dragon. They were just as vulnerable to the elements and predators as a chicken egg and had to be guarded at all times.

"In due time." Marl spoke defiantly back to the dragon and recovered the egg, stealing the sight of Caval's unborn child from the wyrm. He looked up at Kar. "Now if you would just open the gates so we can get this business attended to." He pulled on his reins a bit as his horse became nervous at the sight on the black dragon.

Kar was thinking about letting him sit out there for a bit longer, just to spite him after a long journey to get here. As much as he hated the man who had had sided with King Justin against Lord Nelson, who should have been king and not banished away for the rest of his life, he needed to get the egg back and angering the man wouldn't do anything for that.

Kar motioned to a pair of soldiers that were inside the main workings of the gate. They removed the locks that had been set and those on the ground began to pull apart the iron doors that stood twenty feet high. It took a massive effort for them, but the gate slowly opened.

With his way cleared, Marl and the rest of his company slowly moved forward. They rode slowly past Caval who stared them down as they passed him. He made no move to get out of the way, he would never move for that man. Instead, the humans were forced to ride around the dragon through the already tight path, giving him as much space as possible.

The company stopped in the courtyard where they dismounted with the help of some of the servants. The mood was tense as no one spoke. The two sides eyed each other and some even recognized each other. Old enemies were meeting up again as there were many veterans of the Civil War here.

When he was off his mount, Marl was led to the main building where the deal would go down. The rest of the soldiers would be left behind to awkwardly look at each other or to mind themselves... for the time being. Before leaving, Marl looked up at the top of the mountain and something looked back. It was almost time. His forces were in the walls and everyone knew that if one could get through the walls of a fortress, then it could fall.

Before Marl could even enter the building, there were two guards who stopped him and searched him. Marl kept the egg close to his chest, making sure that they didn't lay a hand on it. They didn't make any move for the egg, but they did look at it plenty of times through their visors, wondering how much their lord would give them if they killed Marl and took the egg from him. It was a tempting thought, but it could also go wrong and they didn't want to infer the wrath of Caval if the egg were to be damaged. They remembered how Caval had been when the egg was first lost.

Caval had prowled the grounds, eying everything as if it was responsible even though the spy had been thrown from the cliff, screaming all of the way down. His ruined body was still down there, picked clean by scavengers no doubt since there was no way to get to where it had landed amongst the pointed rocked below. Caval had been like this in recent days in anticipation and the guards and servants alike had kept their distance. Caval was only required to protect Lord Kar and they knew that he didn't often extend that to anyone else.

The guards took Marl's sword and crossbow which was his preferred weapon since he had never been that great of a swordsman, though he had recently taken lessons after Duncan had left. How he was crushed when Duncan had left him, not following Nedric, but simply vanishing over the night. While he could rely on guards to protect him, he was a lot more concerned about his protection.

Marl was led into a smaller room by a servant who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The room was large enough to comfortably fit two people since the room consisted of a single small table, two chairs and some other decorations that lined the stone walls or sat in the corners. It seemed to be some meditation room where a person could come and relax because Marl noticed that the room was sound proof. He couldn't hear anything from outside and he doubted anyone could hear what was going on inside.

The man rested the egg on his lap and waited for Kar.

---

"What do you mean he's gone?" Kar whispered, barely on the edge of just going ballistic. He looked down at the terrified guard that had been sent to retrieve Nedric from his quarters that had been locked up to prevent him from escaping just like this. "How?" He wanted to smack the guard around.

"The door was broken in." The guard was much smaller than Kar, just a short man. He had gone to the room to find a guard knocked unconscious and the door battered down with the prisoner no where in sight. "He was gone." He repeated what he had just said, afraid that he was about to be punished.

Kar clenched his fists in front of him, wanting to punch something. He didn't however, the guard had done nothing wrong. He would have a long conversation with the unconscious guard once he got the chance, but for the time being, he had a guest to entertain until Nedric could be found. He needed this deal to go through or Caval would never forgive him. Caval who was on some sort of over watch on his favorite perch that overlooked the fortress, had wanted to simply go and get his egg back, but after a long and tiresome argument, he had convinced him that negotiations were better. If the dragon found out that the deal had gone tits up already, there was no telling what he would do to both Marl and the fortress.

"Look." Kar leaned in close to the guard. "Get as many guards as you can and find him." Kar couldn't have given simpler orders and he hoped that the simple minded man could follow it.

When the guard didn't immediately go, Kar shoved him away to give him the idea which he did. He ran off in search of some others to go on a man hunt. There weren't many places to hide, unless he went into the mines which he prayed that he didn't. It would take days to search the mines and possibly lives.

Kar took several deep breaths as he walked away and began heading towards the room where he had told the servants to put Marl. It was a small room where it would just be the two of them, no room for tricks. They would have a nice conversation and get this ball rolling.

He was backed by two of his best guards, the same guards who had been with him at the Last Battle of Crowns. They had served him loyally and never faulted then and now.

He remembered that horrible debacle of a battle that led to their utter defeat. He remembered the war horns as they were promptly attacked from the rear. He had told Nelson that they needed expect an attack since marching across the lands would garner unwanted attention, but he hadn't listened. The need for winter supplies was too great and the farmlands were rich with food that his army needed to secure.

They had retreated up the hill into the rocks where they planned to make a stand, but that had been exactly what they wanted. Dragons, horseman, foot soldiers, all came streaming out of the rocks like a swarm of angry ants and attacked them with such ferocity that Kar had known that the battle was lost from the very beginning.

He had been near the front of the column with Caval when they were attacked. He immediately charge forward, relying on Caval to do as much damage as possible. Nelson had once commented that he would have lost the war a long time ago if it weren't for Caval who had proven to be deadly on the battlefield.

The dragon had lit itself on fire in his usual fashion and smashed into the charging enemy that wore the emblem of House Marl. At the time, Kar knew little of Marl or his dragon. He had seen them on the battlefield before, Marl with his crossbow, a cowardly way of fighting in Kar's opinion and his dragon Ferelis who was quick and agile and dispatched enemies with deadly efficiency, however they were no more dangerous than any other lord and dragon.

Caval quickly routed the first wave of attackers, leaving a dozen dead, trampled, bitten in half or scorched into unrecognizable shapes. No mere men could stand up against a dragon, so they brought a dragon of their own, one that Kar had never seen before.

It came in like a lightning bolt, quickly followed by a thunderous impact of scale upon scale. The silver streak collided with Caval, knocking him to the ground where he had quickly rolled and jumped back, using his wings to propel him further back out of this new harm's way.

What had attacked him was Feil, guardian to Lord Justin. The dragon was a magnificent beast of silver, metallic scales, instantly becoming a beacon on the battlefield.

Several of Kar's men had gone forward to attack the dragon, but were quickly put down, not by fire, but by ice. The dragon exhaled a massive, all consuming cloud of supercooled air that, if it didn't kill the men, froze them in their armor where they were quickly dispatched by a quick sweep of a spiked tail, shattering them into pieces.

There was no way to stand up the beast that was much larger than any dragon, even Caval who was large by most standards. He stood up and flared his wings which reflected the light so perfectly, Kar could feel the heat radiating off of them as they focused the sun's rays at everyone in front of him. The dragon looked ferocious, his wedge shaped head and face were covered in sharp spines that made Kar feel as if he could be cut just by getting too close.

The dragon didn't flaunt much more as Caval, not one to back down easily, rammed the dragon. The two were twined in a vicious ball of teeth and claws, ripping at each other as each tried to get into a position of authority over the other. No dragon had died this war so far, but it wasn't from a lack of trying. Dragons fought with such passion. Since they didn't use such things as swords and bows, their fights were so much more close up and personal. They used their body however they could and the more experienced dragons knew how to shift and twist to use gravity to roll themselves in such as way that they could turn a losing fight into a winning fight.

Both Caval and Feil were experienced, they twisted and turned on the ground, soldiers on both sides fleeing their path of destruction. Kar did his best to fight and keep his eye on the battle, cheering Caval on in his head as he ducked under a sword swing.

At some point, Caval broke free from Feil, his flaming scales having gone out and took to the air. He had a large gash running from his face and down his chest, it looked deep and painful as Caval was forced to flee. His wings flapped with a obvious twitch to them, he had lost and without Caval to carry them, the battle was lost as well.

With Caval gone, Kar signaled the retreat. For those who could get away, they ran, everyone else, including Nelson was captured. Kar escaped into the mountains with Caval and the remnants of his followers and hid in the fortress. It took a long time for him to learn that he had been pardoned along with all of the other lords after Justin took the throne. Even then, he remained, he wanted little to do with the outside world, but now he was being forced to face it once again.

Kar sighed at the entrance to the small room where Marl was in. He didn't bring a weapon with him and left his guards outside to make sure they weren't disturbed.

Marl looked up when the door opened. He had begun to wonder if he had just been left there for their amusement. Make the man wait for hours, make him mad and laugh at him. No, Marl didn't sense any kind of malice from the tired looking man who entered. He had bags under his eyes and wisps of sweat at his brow and sides of his face. He seemed to be under a lot of stress, better for Marl.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting." Kar sat down on the other side of the table and gave a weak smile to his old enemy. "There are always matters coming up that need my attention."

Marl accepted the apology. "Don't worry. Having been a lord, I'm well aware of the duties of running a compound such as this."

Kar crossed his legs and folded his hands, resting them on top of the small table that would have been barely large enough for a potted plant. "I hope this room is fine." He looked around and remembered just how small it was. He had used it in the past to collect his thoughts, but hadn't used it in some time. He noticed how there wasn't any dust collecting, the servants did a marvelous job in keeping even the back rooms of the fortress clean. Sometimes he wondered where they had even come from, they were always here, when he was a child and now, always keeping a diligent watch over the place no matter what he did to it. Thoughts for another time, he needed to keep Marl entertained long enough for his guards to find Nedric. Even if he knew the simple secret to escape through the mines, he would be slow and the guards would catch up quickly. The boy was turning out to be more trouble than he thought and once he was gone, life would return to normal. He didn't care what Caval did afterward, whether he cooled down and nested with his egg or took revenge, Kar was going to take no part.

"Would you like something to drink." Kar offered as a host should to a guest, no matter who the guest was. There were unwritten rules, customs and traditions that all people followed. The Creed of a Host as some called it. It was the idea of being a good host to anyone who let into your home and while on the battlefield, the two would have killed each other, here, such pasts no longer existed.

Marl shook his head. "No thank you." He kept a firm hold on the wrapped up egg on his lap. Kar glanced at it on occasion, but kept most of his attention on the man. He started with small talk.

"How long has it been since the war?" Kar asked as if he was just talking to another veteran. "Twenty five years?"

"Something like that." Marl tried to remember. "Nedric was born a year after the end of it."

"It seems like such a distant memory." It wasn't, he remembered it so clearly. "Such a silly thing. Brothers fighting brothers."

"Indeed." Marl didn't really agree all that much. Kar was hiding something and Marl wanted to know what. Was he plotting? He couldn't tell. Kar had mentioned that something had come up. "Can't be thinking about the past when there is so much happening now." He drove the conversation about the war, hoping to maneuver Kar towards a point where he could corner him. "Though, speaking of Nedric. How is the boy?"

Kar didn't like how fast Marl brought him up. He must have wanted to just get this over with as fast as possible. "He's doing fine. He has spirit, threw one hell of a fit when I told him that I planned to trade him to you."

"I would imagine." Images of the night Nedric ran came up. It was a night full of regrets. He had been so mad that his one and only son would not carry his name and how he had lashed out, killing the woman who he loved and driving close to him away. He was ruined, this egg was the only way to recover. "He was had spirit."

"Spirit indeed." The conversation was dry and forced between the two with no natural flow. "Didn't he run off with you guardian." Kar decided to tread into dangerous waters in an attempt to keep the conversation, no matter how bad it was, going.

"Yes." Marl said, slightly annoyed at being reminded. Every loved to rub that fact in his face that he lost his lordship, he was constantly surrounded by reminders everyday. "It was quite the blow." He ran with it though. "A lot has changed after that."

"I imagine." He looked at the egg. "Desperate times lead to desperate measures. Allow me to ask." He inquiries. "What made you steal the egg of a dragon that has a tendency to light himself on fire and then proceed to burn everything in sight?"

Marl gave a slight chuckle. "Not very smart, I agree, but Lordship has one single requirement."

"So this was a bid to recover your status?" Kar got a bad feeling. It didn't make sense to trade lordship for a boy. There was something else happening here.

The ground shuddered slightly. Was it an earthquake, no there had been no earthquakes in many years, none that shook the fortress.

Kar looked up as some dust fell from the ceiling. "What is happening out there."

"More than you realize." Marl stood up, holding the egg up.

Kar looked at him in bewilderment, not sure what was going on. He was betrayed, he knew that much, but how?

Marl grinned. "I need this egg, or rather, needed this egg. Now I need to tie up loose ends." He dropped the egg and Kar watched in horror as the rotund egg slipped through the cloth and fell to the ground, though there was a moment as it spun through the air that he realized what had happened. On the underside of the egg, the side which had been hidden the entire time was a hole.

The egg shattered on the ground revealing its empty contents.

Kar looked up and there was Marl with his hand overturned, holding a wicked blade that must have been hidden inside the egg, the one place no one would look.

'Nothing personal." Marl said truthful as he lunged forward and drove the dagger into Kar's chest. They looked at each other squarely in the eyes as the blade went straight into Kar's heart, killing him instantly. There was a slight gurgling noise as the air left his chest and the light from his eyes faded.

One down, now only one dragon to go.

---

Ferelis hated long walks in general and made him wish he had been born with wings, his father had wings, but his mother did not. He took on many characteristics of his mother from his shape and appearance, the only thing he really inherited from his father was his ability to breathe fire. It had been many years since he had seen his biological parents, unlike humans who often stayed in contact with anyone who shared their blood, dragons were more independent. They only stayed with family until they matured. While a dragon may stay in the same group that they were born into their entire lives, contact with family was sought after, if it happened, it happened. Though family was still important, a dragon would not blink an eye to help someone they considered part of their pack which was why Ferelis was on the march.

Claudius had come through with his informant. Nedric was being held by Lord Kar in a mountain top fortress and as soon as he learned this, he went off. He had nothing holding him to Claudius, he owed the man and would repay him in time, but for now, Nedric needed him.

He went off as fast as he could, sprinting into the wilderness with a general idea of where to go. The mountain fortress was close to a main highway through the mountains and therefore he began to search there.

He had been searching for a solid three days when he spotted something, or rather someone that he never imagined he would see again. Marl, his old charge who he had protected for many decades. The man he had left in order to protect Nedric. Personally, Ferelis had nothing against the man other than the pain that it caused Nedric who would on occasion fall into tears as memories sprung up. He had to comfort him in those times, pull him close as he wept into his scales. At those times Ferelis also wished he had fur to provide something soft, instead, Nedric had only hard scales to weep upon.

Now here was Marl with a company of men. Ferelis hid, not wanting to provoke any kind of confrontation. He watched as they turned off the highway that would have taken through the mountains into the Grey Marshes and onto a small winding path that Ferelis would not have guessed to have led up to a fortress. He then proceeded to follow after he was confident that he would not be spotted.

The path was long and very narrow, quite treacherous and it became clear why someone would build a fortress here. No one would be able to take it, no matter how large their forces were since siege equipment would never be able to make it up.

There were guard towers along to way, but they appeared to be empty. Something big was happening here with Marl.

Ferelis stayed hidden, opting to climb up the side of the mountain, using his claws to pull himself off of the road. Here he could watch what was going on and try to get a sighting on Nedric. While humans would have trouble seeing into the fortress, he could see it clearly. It wasn't very large, but sizable with multiple buildings with small courtyards on the edges, a garden all around a central courtyard. There seemed to be a rail track leading into the mountain from one of the side courtyard. He noticed a figure there with a large sword, but paid little heed. He watched the exchange between Marl and Kar along with Caval as well.

Nedric was no where in sight. He must have been inside when he saw the figure with the sword again, this time with another figure that was smaller and more familiar. It was Nedric.

Ferelis nearly jumped down right there when there was a thump behind him. Ferelis twirled around quickly to address what had landed behind him.

"A fly on the wall." A grand dragon of silver scales said in a threatening voice. "Flies are pests." He curled his lips back to show his teeth. They were sharp, like knives.

"Feil." Ferelis said as he took a step back, sending a small pebble cascading down the cliff side. What was the king's guardian doing here? What was going on?

"Ferelis." Feil became less threatening and even folded his wings and hiding his teeth. He had no interest in fighting this dragon when he knew that he was no threat to him. "I might ask why you are here, but that would be stupid. Just wait for the action before you do you duties as a guardian."

Ferelis relaxed now that he knew that Feil wasn't about to attack him. "What are you doing here?" He asked the dragon that dwarfed him. "The king should be in the capitol."

Feil walked to the edge of the cliff and gazed down on the fortress. "I have old debts to pay off to Marl. He helped me and Justin in our time of need and now I return the favor."

"What is going on down there?"

Feil turned his head to look at the smaller dragon and shook his head. "Do not worry about my affairs." While it was said kindly, he was just being told to piss off and he was happy to do so.

Feil spread out his wings and took off without warning, starting whatever he was planning on doing. He swooped down and the screams of people down below could be heard as a melee suddenly began. Those who had been with Marl drew their weapons and charged the unsuspecting defenders as Feil blew a long stream of ice across the walls that were saturated with archers.

There was a massive roar as another dragon took to the skies, fire sprouting from his body. Caval went up to meet Feil just like all those years ago.

Ferelis didn't watch, his eyes went back to looking for Nedric. Nedric and the other figure had gone into the mountain and that was were Ferelis was going to go. Whatever feud Marl had with Kar was his own.