“Aiming that thing will be impossible if you have to swoop down to get a hit,” I finally replied as Aria looked over at the spear, then at me.
“Wait, wait. Aria. If I blind him with the gun couldn’t you throw the darn thing? It would be like a dart for you, right?”
“You would have to shoot him in the eye though, else this entire thing would be moot. Also, I’d have to try and get him one handed…” She began as I tapped my chin. No. That would almost be dumb. Almost.
I walked over to the lance and picked it up. Don’t get me wrong, it was impossibly heavy, but it wasn’t impossible to lift. Which gave me an idea.
“Attach it to Aria’s back. When the time comes, I’ll kick it down. If I go down with the lance, then just make sure the mages catch me.” I gave a thumbs up to the rest of them as Aria returned worried glances. I know she didn’t like to put me in danger, but sometimes, you had to be a little risky.
* * * *
That night Aria and I spent one last evening together. I’ll spare the details, but it was the first time I got her all to myself for a night, without the questionable influence of booze. I shouldn’t have been surprised with her being so forward in the privacy of our bedroom, but she was.
Regardless of how much we wanted to continue until morning, exhaustion would come eventually. When I awoke, I could see her writing, a soft blush on her cheeks. I didn’t see what it was and she quickly put it away as soon as she realized I had woken up.
“Here. You’ve already given me a lifetime of memories.” She picked up a scabbard shimmered with hints of orange and yellow and handed me a blade. It was light, far lighter than Caen’s blade, and much sharper.
A beautiful handguard fit snugly against my grip, evoking the soft waves of the sea. The handle didn’t allow for more than a single hand, but the blade didn’t need it. Quick slashes and swipes made up for the heavier blows.
“I’m giving this to you. You’re not just Charlotte, nor a knight.” I was halfway done with sheathing the sword before she leaned in for one last kiss on my cheek.
“If I die, then you’ll be the protector of the truth of this world, and the protector of the next generation of royal dragons. Okay?”
“No pressure much?” I blurted out before I returned the kiss with our lips locking for one last time.
“Love you too, and get some rest. We’ve got a big part to play.”
Chapter 21: Last Breach
I suppose it falls to me to describe the last day I spent with Charlotte. It might seem needlessly inhuman, but we spent the day compiling information on her journey with Aria. This was the last opportunity to have a record of what occurred without needing to hunt down secondary sources. Luckily, Charlotte seemed to remember many details about their journey, which will help me immensely.
Charlotte seemed to have accepted whatever fate had in store, at least on the surface. All of us did. We were simply individuals who had learned how to deal with events outside of our control.
My husband also talked about future plans, but most of those were moot; one can never truly plan for an event of such a scale. Even the talk of a burial ground was moot, as Charlotte brought up the potential lack of a corpse.
We had fried crisps that night, as we all exchanged nostalgic stories from our youth. I hope we can recreate this exact scene in the future, except with Aria joining us in our humble abode.
Myrtle “Mari” Innings
Grand Chronicler of Pre-eminence Council
* * * *
Climbing the Acadamae stairs filled me with a new sense of dread. This tower might have stood for hundreds of years, and been one of the three founding buildings of the Trinity, but nobody expected the tower to survive.
The trapdoor ladder slid down, as I stepped into Aria’s roost again. The massive white dragon was patiently waiting for me in all her glory. They had even managed to refine the straps holding the girdle together, as to give her a much greater range of movement.
The lance was mounted, hanging over her right side facing down, ready to be dropped. A few mages still scurried beside her, tiny ants ensuring that we were ready for the last fight.
::Morning, Charlotte.::
I still wasn’t used to hearing a voice inside my head, but I shot back with a smile anyways. Two massive diamond eyes looked over at me as I waved.
“Hey, Aria. Ready to do this?” I didn’t want to say that I had butterflies, but I did.
It must’ve been the dream of so many children over the years to ride a dragon, and here I was getting the chance in person. I was going down in history.
Sebastian was the one overseeing the operations as they double-checked that Coronacht was securely attached to Aria’s side. It would limit the range of her right paw and wing, not to mention the risk of skewering herself on the lance. Still, it was a risk we were willing to take.
“Is it just me or does it seem like if we don’t drop the lance as soon as possible, then we’re going to be the ones getting killed,” I added as the arch mage turned to look at the preparations, agreeing with the obvious.
“Correct. With it, the fight will be decisive, one way or the other. Without it, this fight will turn into a battle of attrition.” Sebastian stared with rare keenness, before walking away.
“We’re betting a lot on this, aren’t we?” I looked up with him at the dragonhorn spear, marveling at its soft shimmering veins. In a few short moments, I would be trying to wield the massive weapon.
Sebastian’s tone was dead serious. “We are betting the entirety of the Acadamae on the outcome of this fight, a royal dragon, and an entire contingent of the royal guards. Should we lose, the loss would not be just the abolishment of the Acadamae. I predict that the relics and artifacts of Cestra’s time will be destroyed to prevent such a revolution from ever occurring again.”
There was a brief moment of silence as he waited for everything to sink into my mind.
“You best get ready too,” he said, before walking away. Where did he have left to go?
* * * *
My turn to change into the fancy flight armor. The goggles cut down on my peripheral vision quite a bit, but without them I wouldn’t be able to aim while airborne. My plan was to hopefully score a shot on Lazarus’s eyes, which should give us the opening to drop the lance without risking having to dismount. Else I would have to try and kick the lance down, which risked missing the drop and ruining our ticket for a quick fight.
I double-checked the ancient rifle, giving it a good clean before heading out. It seemed despite the hundreds of years this thing had to be sleeping, it was still in impressive condition. Not a hint of rust.
Aria was impatiently waiting for me, as her massive tail swished back and forth when I finally emerged. I bet she’d be slamming her tail onto the floor if our landing stunt last time didn’t already take out a few support beams.
