Links

Chapter One

Something moved through the brush along the crest of the north wall, sending showers of rocks and dirt tumbling down the vertical face. They collected on the cobbles of the walkway below, skittering this way and that when Althea Angevin walked and struck them with her heavy military boots. The princess' crossbow was drawn, her scythes rustling and clanking softly at her side as she moved. Behind her, Hazel and Magnus followed with their own bows raised and arrows nocked. Three sets of eyes were scanning the wall, the collective tension of the moment thick enough to slice with one of the many blades each individual carried. When a particularly large clump of earth fell from the top of the wall, Althea raised her free hand and signaled a halt. Her eyes squinted in the dim light of the lampposts lining the walkway, straining to find any indication of what it was they might be stalking.

"Prinnnncessss..."

The word was whispered from somewhere above the wall as the lampposts popped out, and it sent a shock of icy cold through to Althea's core. Whatever it was could speak, and it recognized her.

"Show yourself!" she called into the darkness.

She heard Hazel and Magnus suck in breaths in unison behind her. She raised her crossbow in the direction of the sound, her eyes finally beginning to adjust to the absence of light.

"Why not come up to play, Prinnnncess...?"

Althea shivered, the hiss of the feminine voice invading her every nerve. She wasn't one to spook easily, either. She moved her free hand to the handle of one of the scythes. Just in case.

"I'd be happy to play down here," Althea replied, feeling her heart begin to beat just a little bit faster than was ordinary. "Why don't you tell me who you are?"

"You liked to climb things as a child, Princessss...climb the wall...join us and we will talk!"

Again, Althea felt her blood run cold.

We...?

"Milady, behind you!"

Althea sprang into action the moment the jaws of a great snake clamped down upon her collar bone, firing the crossbow just once before it was flung from her hands. She ripped the scythes from their sheathes and slashed at the neck of the serpent as it smashed her body against the cobblestones and beginning to coil around her. Hazel was burying arrow after arrow into the creature's scaly hide, but it seemed utterly unaffected by the onslaught. Magnus, though, made a mad dash for the princess' legs, straining to rip her from the monster's clutches.

He was thrown against the wall by a great, bloody paw which had come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Magnus struck the wall with such force that several of the massive stones cracked and broke loose. Althea heard his cry of agony when the stones piled onto his form.

He fell silent and didn't move again.

The monstrosity lashed out at Hazel next, but she staggered backward far enough to avoid its killing swipe. Once recovered, she cast her bow aside and lunged at the lion-esque face of the creature with her axe. It dodged her attack, just as she had dodged its own.

Althea, one arm still free of the serpent's crushing power, continued to hack at the face and neck. It was getting harder, though, as the blood loss from the bite began to take effect and the air was squeezed from her lungs. At last, she managed a direct hit to the snake's left eye with one scythe.

It wailed and hissed, recoiling just enough that the princess was able to tear herself free. The moment she had, she whirled around, tore a hatchet from her belt, and hurled the weapon at the half-blinded head. It struck slightly off-center, but the skull was split almost in two. The snake dropped like a stone and lay still.