The Order of Dragonfire

Chapter 24

Alex could only stagger back in shock as a flurry of arrows and flames flew past her. There was no mistaking it, that horn had sounded the call to arms of Serpensbane. But who would be using that so many miles away from the city? She jumped for cover as Thorn's group tried firing back, with a few bolts narrowly grazing by as she dived behind the rockery. Horses galloped past her in pursuit of the attacking tribe, with a couple of larger white horses stopping besides her.

The two riders were clad in easily recognisable armour; the heavy armour of a Serpensbane soldier, and the leathers much like her own of The Order of Dragonfire. The silver coated horses, famed for their speed and stamina, towered over her. The soldier removed her helmet to reveal a familiar smirking face.

"Well, look what we have here." Ava grinned. "I told you what would happen if you didn't keep safe, didn't I?"

Alex stared into the wilderness as the soldiers and sorcerers dispersed the tribe, slicing through the force that had been such a terrifying threat mere minutes earlier.

"No! This isn't possible. What are you doing here?" Alex stammered eventually.

"Isn't it obvious? Why do you think the council would send us out all this way?"

"To... to get me?" Alex asked. The council had changed its mind? That was unheard of. Did that mean they knew about Capital Tower's plans?

"What? Oh, no. Sorry." Ava frowned. "They want the dragonstones. A merchant confirmed the stories they'd heard and had the stones to prove it, and suddenly those rumours that weren't worth chasing were suddenly much more interesting."

"Oh." Alex mumbled as her face fell.

"But I think you might have had something to do with it, I suppose." She smiled again, letting Alex know she was only teasing

"But the tribe... and there are more coming." Alex said as she looked back towards the distant road, the reality of the predicament coming back to her as the shock wore off. They might have been scared when they were searching for a single sorceress and found themselves suddenly faced with a small army, but they would quickly regroup and were certainly a force to be reckoned with. With a little over a dozen of them the soldiers and mages had them outnumbered two to one, or so Alex estimated, but they were still a threat. Serpensbane's small reinforcements would be nothing against the mass of the tribe once it arrived. Icy dread ran through her as Alex realised that this was just a small temporary respite, but now her friends and helpers faced the danger as well.

"Yes, I suppose they might pose a slight problem..." Ava murmured, although she didn't seem genuinely concerned. Alex found Ava's refusal to ever take anything seriously to be somewhere between impressive and outright disturbing. Whilst she had claimed it was to keep her sanity, it sometimes seemed as if it was much too late for that.

"So what's your plan?" Alex asked.

"We deal with this minor aside and then head on to the stones. We're only a few hours away, if the stories are to be believed." She explained, putting her helmet back on and gesturing to the back of the horse.

"Quickly, climb up."

When they reached the caravan the fighting had stopped. The wagons had been densely packed with their inhabitants looking outwards, mostly still armed and ready to fight. Ava's horse moved to one of the other soldiers' in the ring surrounding the tribe.

"Were they any trouble?" Ava asked in a hushed tone.

"Not much. A few resisted, but they soon learned better when they saw we could heal anything they did and that we were only attacking the ones who forced us to."