Fire of the Inquisitor

Sable had never actually been to the human village before. He had studied it from afar with one of his mentors, seen maps of it in the queen’s library, and heard stories of it from soldiers who defended it during the war. In all these instances he never recalled a large black cloud hanging over the village, but he expected the dragon needed something to help it cope with being so far from the shadows. It also had the bonus effect of forcing the inquisitor’s little group into the battle completely unaware of what they were getting into.

Sable looked back to where Lucia and Flavius had fallen back to and waited for them to catch up. For humans, they had done a decent job of keeping up with his rigorous pace. He was only forced to stop once for the two humans to regain their strength through sleep and eating. Lucia had been surprised by the man called Flavius and his ability to keep up with them. According to the woman, his lack of food during his entrapment in the widow plant should have incapacitated him more. The male soldier credited his superior skills and his drive to save his people.

The inquisitor’s eyes lingered on the young human female as he thought about everything they had been through. For quite some time he refused to believe that the human soldier was real and not just another of the field’s illusions. Sable had been aware that a small number of women soldiers did exist in the human army, but he had attributed her appearance as the shadows showing him something familiar. Then there were all the questions, Sable had been sure that she was trying to get some damaging information from him to use against his lady.

But Lucia had turned out to be real.

“Is that the village?” she asked, as the two soldiers finally caught up to the inquisitor.

He nodded. “The dragon will be strengthened by the darkness of the cloud.”

“This isn’t good,” Flavius said, trying desperately to catch his breath. “I don’t hear any sounds coming from the village.”

Sable had noticed this as well.

Lucia withdrew the sword her captain had given her and pointed it toward her home. “What are we waiting for.”

“For the rest of our party to arrive,” Sable said.

As on cue four jelled osprey jumped out from the nearby trees and started making quite the racket. Flavius nearly fell over from surprise and Lucia greeted them with a large smile. The agile hunters let Sable now that they were eager to hunt what they called worthy prey.

“Looks like our odds just got better,” Lucia said.

Sable nodded. “Follow my lead, the dragon will be weak to my fire so he will look to kill me quickly.”

“We will watch your back,” Lucia said.

“Hopefully, the rest of the legion will be able to lend a hand,” Flavius added.

A loud roar, like the sound of a thousand osprey calling out, came from the village. It was as if the beast was telling them to stay away. Sable kept telling himself that It was impossible that the dragon knew they had arrived, but something kept bothering him. Whatever it was, he would deal with it head on and finish his lady’s mission.

He could feel his lady’s presence again, hear her voice calling to him. What had been a lingering feeling of longing in the Fields of Shadow was now replaced with overwhelming desire. He felt the need to please her but at the same time, he was terrified of her.

Lucia led the group into the village, the look on her face determined and confident. Her resolve must have affected the osprey, as Sable had to hold them back from attacking the dragon by themselves. Even Flavius looked eager to fight or at least get back to somewhere he was familiar with. Sable thought it better not to tell them all the suffering he was feeling coming from the people in the village.

Their first few steps in the village were cautious, to say the least. The air was frozen around them, causing every breath they took to look small explosions of white powder. The homes of the village were all almost covered in ice and what little light existed in the town came from small fires behind home windows. There were no people on the streets, none living at least, the few people they found, were frozen solid in agonized death stares. The concentration of these ice mummies grew greater as they approached the village’s center. It was here that the group got its first view of the invader.

The huge creature lay on top of multiple buildings, its head held high, but its eyes closed in what seemed like sleep. Its cobalt colored scales sparkled despite the dim light and its blade-like claws dug into the wall of the building the dragon was sitting on. Its muscular body was small compared to its long tail and neck, the latter ending with a narrow head topped with an impressive set of antler-like horns. The wings on the dragon’s remained folded and nearly out of sight if not for a few small movements.

“So you have finally arrived,” the dragon’s mouth moved, but its eyes remained closed.

Sable held out his hand, holding everyone back for a moment. The dragon may have sensed them in the area, but it didn’t appear he knew their exact location. The inquisitor looked at the two human soldiers standing next to him, gauging their reaction to finally seeing their enemy. Their faces had lost the confidence they had possessed not a moment earlier, but Lucia still had a grim look of determination.

“Look.” The younger soldier pointed. Sable followed her gaze to a large platform under the spot where the dragon was sitting. Tied to one of the dead men was a young woman about Lucia’s age, desperately trying to find whoever the dragon had spoken to.

“That’s the governor general’s niece,” Flavius said.

Lucia nodded. “We have to help her.” Sable looked at the young soldier, unsure of her reasoning. “Please, she might be able to help us.”

“Very well.” Sable looked out to the street again. “I will draw him out while you rescue his prisoner.”

Lucia nodded to the other soldier. “Flavius and I will circle around and wait for you to attack.”

Sable watched them the leave, picturing the street layout in his head so he could judge how long it would take them to get into position. At the very least their plan would tell them if the dragon could sense their very location. Sable was about to take his first step into the village square when something caught his eye.

It was a person standing on the ledge of the building the dragon’s tail was curled around. Covered with a cloak to hide their identity, the person was looking in his direction. That’s when he heard her voice.

“Take her,” it said.

Sable instantly felt her warmth wash over him. It was his lady, it had been so long since he had felt her inside of his mind that he had almost forgotten what it felt like. He immediately wanted to please her, he wanted to kill the person in the cloak. Then he thought of Lucia waiting for him to start his attack and despite the tremendous pull to please his queen he knew that he also need to aid the human as much as he could.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Sable ran out into the village square. His hand enveloped by his lady’s light he threw the fire toward the dragon’s head. The beast roared and opened its impressive wings and flapped them, sending a rush of cold air over the inquisitor. Sable sent another wave of fire toward the dragon’s claws, igniting the roof under it and forcing the creature into the air.

Then, came the creature’s most dangerous weapon, he opened his mouth and let with a wave of ice that froze anything in its path. That would have included Sable had he not made a quick dash under a vendor’s abandoned cart nearby. As Sable hoped the dragon landed in the middle of the square and let out another deafening roar.

“Come out inquisitor,” the dragon hissed. “Find your truth in death.”

Sable intended to, but not in his death nor the dragon’s. He emerged from under the cart his hand on the blade he kept on his back. The whole time he kept one eye on his enemy in front of him and the other the happenings behind him. The two human soldiers were making a run for the platform while the hooded figure watched above them.

“What do you plan to use against me?” The dragon laughed. “Your blade or your lady’s flame.”

“Misdirection,” the inquisitor said.

The dragon’s head jerked back in confusion, but it would soon become clear. The osprey had left their hiding spot at lightning fast speed and was on the dragon before it had recognized them. The nimble hunters jumped on their prey’s back and tore at its wings like Sable had instructed them to focus on. The dragon roared as his attackers removed his advantage of speed and a quick escape.

Sable wasn’t just watching the fight between the dragon and the osprey. He was running as fast as he could to meet Lucia on the platform. The two soldiers were struggling to remove the girl who was tied the corpse by a frozen rope and the looked equally relieved and confused to see Sable join them. The inquisitor applied his flame to the rope burning it away from the girl’s arm.

“Hurry.” Sable led to them underneath the platform. Making sure the dragon was still occupied with the osprey he turned to Lucia. “I have to leave you.”

“What?” The two soldiers said in unison. Lucia looked straight into his eyes. “But your mission.”

“Has changed.” Sable nodded. “I leave the dragon to you.”

“But.” Lucia’s looked for something to say and he could see her confidence start to wane.

“I know you can do this,” Sable reassured her. “You fought a witch alone to save me and the dragon is just a child of a witch.”

Lucia nodded. “Alright, we won’t let you down.”

Flavius was in shock by what was happening and the young woman they had saved only looked worried, but Lucia had regained her confidence. Sable looked out to the village square where the osprey had started to make a retreat, one of them had fallen to the beast’s jaws and most of them were feeling the bite of the creature’s ice, but the pack’s leader was still willing to fight.

Sable turned to Lucia again. “The dragon’s weakness is fire and the osprey will attack again when they see an opening.”

“We will make him pay for attacking the legion.” Lucia reached out and placed her hand on Sable’s. “Whatever you have to do, please keep yourself safe.”

Sable nodded. “Don’t worry, my lady is with me now.”