2.04 - Aelyx

Aelyx – 20

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I awakened slowly. My eyes flickered open and I saw the canvas roof of a tent. Wait, only one eye was open. The left side of my vision was shrouded with darkness and something was covering part of my face. Reaching I felt the bandages.

"Ah, you are awake." A voice called. I tilted my head and saw a man I vaguely recognized as General Essar's personal physician.

"How long was I out?" My voice came out as a croak.

"It has been a while; you were attacked two days ago."

I swore softly. I tried to turn to look at the physician face to face, but as I shifted my weight, my back screamed in agony and I collapsed back onto the mattress.

"My eye?" I asked, unable to complete the question. It would certainly be a rather bitter irony if I had lost it.

"The blade missed it, you probably have a nasty scar down your face, but your vision won't be impacted."

I let out a sigh of relief. Then a thought struck and I chuckled in amusement. Take that Aemond, I got Vhagar and got to keep both my eyes.

"And my back?"

"The cut was deep, but I do not believe there will be any permanent damage. You were very lucky none of the cuts hit anything vital and the men who came to your aide were able to stop the bleeding after you passed out."

I hummed thoughtfully, trying to ignore the pain. "How long until I am healed?"

"You should be back on your feet within the next few days but it will be at least a moon before you will be able to move freely."

That was hardly ideal. "What about the Triarchy forces? Have they attacked?"

"There have been some skirmishes between their scouts and ours, but the moment it became clear that your grace was seriously injured General Essar ordered the men to fortify the camp. So far, the Triarchy have been unwilling to try and storm our position."

"So, both sides are holding steady." I mused before another thought stuck. "What happened to my attackers?"

"Half a dozen men tackled the assassin who fled before he made three hundred yards from the ambush. As best we can tell the Triarchy has no idea what is going on."

I blinked. "If they sent a group of assassins to kill me and then I'm not seen flying Vhagar the next day, I would think the conclusion would be pretty obvious. Although I suppose they might be worried we are trying to bait them."

"That's the rub, they didn't send them, well not directly at least."

"Pardon?"

"The men who attacked you were from the Praenor contingent. They didn't need the sneak into the camp, they walked right in a week ago with the rest of the men from their town."

"If they were Pentoshi why would they try and kill me?"

"One of them broke under interrogation. It seems that after you arrived in Pentos Triarchy agents made contact with Vico Bractis, the man you stabbed in the stomach, and began paying him for information on military matters within the area. When the army began to march, they promised him that if he was able to kill you, they would shower him with wealth and even make him the governor of Praenor after they annexed it, following their counterattack. He recruited the rest with similar promises and they ensured they were in the militia contingent sent to join us."

I rolled the information over in my mind, I supposed that explained the sloppiness of their attack. They were not professional assassins, just opportunists who had gotten desperate, well aware that there would be no rewards if I burned the army facing us. I cursed myself, for my carelessness. Amateur or not they had still nearly killed me thanks to my recklessness.

"Interesting." The Triarchy would know that they had agents in the camp, so they could guess that I had been injured or killed in an attack. But for all they knew their hired killers could have failed, been caught before they could act, or lost their nerve and never made an attempt. The Triarchy commanders could guess that something had happened to me, but they would hesitate to commit to an attack without being sure that doing so would not result in being bathed in dragon fire.

Even as the thought crossed my mind the tent flap burst open and one of Essar's aides-de-camps dashed in.

"The Triarchy is advancing."

"What!" I surged into a sitting position only to fall back as my back screamed in protest.

"They have been drawn up in their battle lines since first light. They started to shuffle their lines around an hour ago. We didn't realize what was happening at first because they had already done that twice before. But, then about ten minutes ago they began to advance."

"Shit" I muttered thinking rapidly. They outnumbered us two to one, but they were attacking an elevated entrenched position. Were the forces more equal, I would be confident in our victory. But, their superior numbers meant they could envelop our flanks or send enough men in to keep our entire line engaged while gathering enough men to burst through the lines at a specific point. We would lose I realized with cold certainty, too much of our strategy relied on me being atop Vhagar. I knew what I had to do.

"You" I gestured at the aides-de-camp. "What's your name?"

"Streabo Numanus, your grace."

"Help me up."

"What?" Squawked the physician. "You are in no state to go anywhere."

"And if I don't, there is a good chance the camp will be overrun in the next few hours. And I don't know about you but I don't fancy being killed or captured by the Triarchy."

He whitened and ceased his objections.

"Where are we going, your grace?" Numanus asked.

"Vhagar, if you can get me to her, I can mount her and destroy the Triarchy"

He nodded and moved towards the cot. He leaned down and I sat up, working through the pain as I slung my arm around his shoulders.

I swung my feet out of the bed and made to stand, only to realize I was not wearing anything on my feet. Seeing my dilemma, the physician hurried to the corner of the tent and produced my boots. He knelt before me and slid them on my feet, before tightening them. I stomped once and then pushed myself upward with Numanus supporting me. I hissed and staggered lightly but managed to stay on my feet by leaning into Numanus.

"Come on," I grunted.

Slowly, carefully, we pushed our way out of the tent. When we emerged the four guards posted outside goggled at us in shock.

"Well don't just stand there gaping." Numanus snapped in irritation help us. One of them hurried forward and slung my unoccupied arm around his shoulder while the other three fell into a triangle formation around us.

"We are taking the prince to his dragon"

We carefully picked our way through the camp, pausing every few minutes so that I could rest. The area was mostly deserted aside from the small handful of camp followers that trailed after every army. From behind us, I could hear the sound of battle cries clashing steel as the battle commenced. Gritting, my teeth, I attempted to pick up the pace. In the end, the journey that should have taken fifteen minutes took nearly an hour. I let out a sigh of relief as we passed through the final ring of tents and I beheld Vhagar. I started forward only to be held in place by my frozen escorts. Glancing at them I say their faces twisted with uncertainty as they started at the enormous dragon.

"Come on," I said. "We are almost there. She won't hurt you as long as you are with me."

The armsman supporting my left side gulped, before nodding resolutely, an action mirrored by Numanus. We started forward again. As we approached, Vhagar raised her massive head looking directly at us. I gave her a wan smile.

"Sorry girl, I got myself into a little trouble, I promise I will take better care of myself from now on." She snorted expelling curls of smoke from her nostrils. Not for the first time I wondered just how intelligent dragons were because I very clearly felt as though I was being scolded. We maneuvered around her and when we reached her side, Vhagar obligingly lowered her wing without waiting for a command.

My two supporters lowered me onto hands and knees and I began to crawl up the side of the dragon. I was rather grateful that only a handful of people were there to see it as I squirmed and scrambled up Vhagar's side, pausing every few seconds when the pain started to overwhelm me. At long last though, I heaved myself up unto her back. I collapsed onto my stomach, black dancing at the edge of my vision and blood trickling down my back from where my wound had reponed.

I began to crawl again, making my up towards Vhagar's head, until I reached the saddle at the base of her neck. I slid into the saddle before forcing myself into an upright position. When trembling hands I secured the chain across my lap and grasped the reigns.

I flicked the reigns. "Quptys!"

Vhagar rose to her feet, before crouching back down. She then leaped into the air, propelled by a great beat of her mighty wings. Vhagar and I winged our war over the camp towards the battlefield. As our shadow covered the ridge line occupied by the Pentoshi forces, our allies burst into cheers. I craned my neck to glance at the situation below. Based on what I could see the Triarchy had attacked our entrenched lines in an oblique formation, sending the majority of their troops at our left flank while dispatching just enough men at our center and right to keep them engaged.

With a touch of the reins, Vhagar banked left. As I soared above the heads of the Pentoshi, Vhagar let out a roar. Below I could see panic begin to grip the Triarchy forces and their formation began to collapse into chaos, with many already turning to run. It was too late for them.

"Dracarys"