Blade(Part 3): Dusk

Chapter 34: Catherine

The Falcon's crew now had the crewmen that left Sparrow with Catherine, and now a few of Queen Azia's sailors. They wore suits of golden armor, and were armed with mithril spears and khopesh swords, along with large rectangular shields that bore the strange crest of a gryffon that carried a khopesh in one talon and the same rectangular shield in another. It must have been what Queen Azia had intended to change Skaola's banner to. Hundreds of her own ships would sail beside the Falcon, along with hundreds more from Aetherian. Two hundred ships bearing the dragon of House Karvine, reinforced by two hundred more that carried the silver greyhound of House Williams came to the aid of Queen Azia and her Skaolan rebels. The combined forces of both Azia and Matthias' navies were a force to be reckoned with, especially against the naval blockade they were up against.

"Radames," Ptolemar suddenly said. "You made sure Taia got to a ship in the back of the fleet, right?"

"She'll be safe and sound," Radames promised. "King Matthias was gracious enough to save a spot for her on his own ship, and nothing will touch that vessel."

"Good," Catherine sighed. "Now, all we have to do is wait for Azia's word."

"I'm sure it'll come soon," Ptolemar hoped. "Hey, where's Arn?"

"You think I would want him anywhere near where there's about to be a warzone?" Catherine chuckled, nudging her brother with her elbow. "I told him to follow Taia and watch over her."

"With your mind?" Ptolemar teased, leaning forward. They both chuckled at the joke, but they quickly stopped, reminding themselves that they were about to go into a battle that could very well take their lives.

"Cat, listen," said Ptolemar. "Mom and I should not have left you on Sparrow for as long as we did. Especially alone."

"I wasn't ready to fight against Aziz," Catherine admitted. "Not as ready as I am now, anyway."

"No, you've definitely changed," Ptolemar complemented, then he put his head on his forehead and sighed, "Gods, you were twelve when we left you."

"It's no one's fault," Catherine promised. "You're Blades of Midnight. You go where tyrants are. Besides, I could have argued with mom to let her come with me until she was sick of it."

"Cat, do you honestly think that would have worked?" Ptolemar wondered.

"I would have persisted," said Catherine. "She would have gotten tired of arguing with me."

"Maybe," Ptolemar agreed. "Well, you've killed how many of the Peacekeepers? You're definitely a Blade, now." Catherine smiled at her brother's words. Her mother had charged her with hunting down the Peacekeepers that were the biggest threat to Queen Azia, but for the longest time, she never thought herself to come as far as she has. Now, she was about to fight on the open battlefield instead of from the shadows. Suddenly, she heard Queen Azia's voice from her radio.

"Catherine," she said. "Have the armada start the attack. When you make landfall, stay away from the entire northern half of the city."

"Um, okay," Catherine acknowledged. "What about everyone else?"

"King Matthias is warning them as we speak," Queen Azia assured. "They won't be in the crossfire."

"Then we'll advance," Catherine declared. "Wish us luck." She cut the transmission, then the ships of the armada began to fire their cannons. Giant plasma shells rained down on Apeph's fleet. A few of the three hundred ships blockading Septe's harbor caught fire from the shells, and then the allied fleet began to sail forward with all the speed that could carry the ships. They continued firing their cannons while the crewmen aboard Apeph's ships scrambled to their battle positions. The allies stopped firing with their long-range cannons once they were closer, and their lighter cannons began to fire. The Falcon began to fire with its bow cannons, at a ship of Apeph that was closer to it than the others. A large crack was made in its hull, then the Falcon sped to its maximum speed. The ram of Catherine's vessel smashed right into the cracked ship's hull, splitting it straight in half. The rest of the allied fleet around her did the same, disabling the Skaolan ships before destroying them and sailing past. Smaller, faster ships were between the allied fleet and the coast of Septe. They weren't fast enough to steer clear of the Falcon or any of Azia's ships before they were either destroyed by their cannons or split in half by their rams. The ones that remained were sunk by the long-range cannons of Matthias' ships. Once the smaller ships were destroyed, nothing stood between the fleet and the coast, and they made landfall. The Falcon touched the sands of Septe first, with a few of Azia's ships that carried more of her soldiers. Both the ships of House Williams and Karvine then touched the beach. Doors opened at the end of their bows to let the gold-scaled draconian soldiers of Aetherian loose, while Azia's soldiers had to jump off the decks of the Falcon and her own ships. They charged forth across the sands, killing every soldier before them that had Aziz's banner on his shield. The soldiers of Aziz trembled at the sight of Aetherian's draconians, and Azia's soldiers.