Throne of Power: Ascendance

4. A Ship With Weapons

Draven

Draven was rushing down the road while bells rang behind in the distance. The smell of gunpowder spread through the streets like a cloud of black mist. The screaming of babies and the shouting of the guards behind them echoed through the air.

His band of warriors had by now reduced to a size of 15, or rather 14, as an arrow pierced a man's neck. His brother was excluded from this number, for he had fallen behind, looking for something he didn't know where to find.

Guards, Knights and Military officers were approaching them from both sides of the Great Road, but also from the alleys that connected it with the entire city and the port.

Downhill, he could see the crew of her brother's ship, now under the command of his sister, Cresselya, fighting against the Guards and Soldiers that tried to board it. This made him wonder why they used their cannonballs in the first place. But before he could dwell in his thoughts, he had to survive.

Unlike most ships in Cartago, the Golden Terror was one of the few that had embarked on the far land of Asakawa. A land upon which the blacksmiths made firearms instead of swords and the ships wore cannons instead of ballistae. And it also had the privilege that its captain knew a good smith, whom he had brought along with him, to create cannons for all of the Rebellions ships, few as they were.

Down the Road, three guards in red armour and two knights with their House's sigil carved on their plate armour ran towards them, eager to meet them and battle. As they ran, Draven's eyes fell upon the sigil and its meaning. It was a silver anvil on a cloud of darkness. And something told him that he had seen this before.

Draven threw an eye upon his men, their round shields and swords, axes and morning stars in hand, before getting the utmost marvellous idea of the day. 

"SHIELD WALL... CHARGE" he shouted and his men came closer together, banding their big round shields into one giant wall. For a moment, some stopped running and attempted to make an actual shield wall, but then they realised what he meant. They charged down the road, to give the Queensmen a good bash on the head.

And that they did. From up close, he could see the steel chainmail under the red cloth with the royal black crown sewn on it. He could feel their helplessness and fear as they kept going forward. Draven knew that they were thinking about the countless punishments the Queen could put them through if they didn't cut them down. Or, at least, if they didn't die while trying.

10 meters. He could now see the desperation in their eyes. He could look into their near future, one that both groups understood. A future that was covered in blood. Draven felt the impact burn through his right arm, on which he carried his sword.

He didn't know how it happened and had no time to think.

He awarded his enemy with a yelp of pain and pierced one of the knights between two of the plates of his armour. This was enough to allow his sword to cut the right side of his neck, before kicking him away. His men did the same and, soon enough, all 5 men who stood against them lay dead on the ground. Their pursuers were now closer, too close for comfort.

He and his band of loyal warriors broke into another run, to avoid the fate that had consumed so many on this day.

They ran in front of the Black Naese, a temple dedicated to the worship of the New God, Naem. If Draven had the time, he could've stared at it for hours. The temple was enormous, with its black towers reaching up for the clouds.

There were five such towers, four on the edges, taller than any other tower he had seen, with statues of Angels on top, pointing to the sky.

The middle of the temple was circular, with a spherical top made of gold. A black statue of the Eye of Naem, with its giant black eyelashes and the heart gem in the middle, towered over this top. This was representing the two main aspects of the god, the Sight and the Love,  attributes that all of his followers lacked. But even more fascinating was the fact that in legend, this eye was the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven.