The Clutch of Sharys: Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter 39- Enter the Unknown 

Those who had lived unremarkable lives were sent to the everlasting hollow to be as effectless as they had been in creation. Those who had served well and delighted Sharys were whisked to the Everlasting Glade, to share in its power and delights for all eternity.

Things, unsurprisingly, were not going well by the time the image changed back down to the lower group. It shifted just in time to see Lilibet's wing get clipped by the edge of yet another colossal, roaring wave of dark water. The arena floor that used to show a facsimile of Corfu now thoroughly devastated by the Church's floods and Petra's curving, slicing spires. As the dragon struggled to regain her balance, Cheska’s injured leg made the monk unable to keep her seat on its back, throwing her into the air where she was promptly skewered through the stomach by a piece of ice from the Servant nearest her. 

The bright orange and yellow of the Farcan flag behind Cheska's face in the sky faded, flashing quickly to the grimacing girl in the holding pen below the arena, carefully lowering herself to its floor. Cara glanced away from the image up towards the bottom of the light Corfu above her, looking at the figure of Cheska sitting down, holding her injured leg. She wished she could go and help, but the roaring voice came back once again. "Watch." It urged her, turning her eyes back to the image. 

Bree had taken Stuk around the side of their opponent’s flank, darting through the air and pulling into a tight spiral as she flew by the opposition. While over the head the Servant who had skewered Cheska with ice, Bree tossed Smak, who landed on the back of the Servant's dragon and skittered up to where they sat with eager leaps. The countess pulled Stuk into a tight turn to dodge the enormous boulder of ice thrown after her, which missed Bree but hit Fatimi in the side as they tried to evade a different attack, a dragon's maw gnashing behind. 

Fortunately for their side, the rock also took out the rider pursuing Fatimi, both faces fading to dark overhead as their bodies faded to sparks in their air, soon followed by their dragons. 

The image changed quickly to the top of the Ice rider's yellow dragon, where Smak scurried up, splitting shadow into even more rats as it dashed towards the head of the dragon. Most of the shadow rats shot past the rider, who managed to blast off part of the rodent bulk before Smak flew at him, tiny maw open and ready for the sweet chomp of revenge. Cara watched as the man's mouth opened in a wordless scream as the rat latched onto his face, ripping apart the skin with its teeth as it bored towards his eye, bursting him into sparks.

Now watching the Church converge on Petra's cluster, she noted that quite a few riders were missing from the religious forces. Ahnn dove Kirial beneath a gnashing blue dragon, shoving one of her swords into its nose as they passed, the grasping, sharp claws over her head just barely kissing the surface of Kirial’s wings. The Servant fell rapidly through the air as their dragon disappeared into light, their rider turning to sparks before they hit the ground. 

Luca followed not far behind, diving in front of a spear of fire that was aimed at Petra as a desperate Servant tried to eliminate her while fleeing Lysander's hungry, gaping mouth. Ahnn pulled up as the Church’s Queen turned towards where Bree still flew, tightly pursued by the remaining six members of the Church's riders. Weaving in and out of attacks, dodging different elements and ephemera as she sped towards Petra and Ahnn. Bree stepped backward into the shadow of Stuk's wing and disappeared, briefly stepping out behind the closest rider and knocking them off their dragon with one blow of her hammer to their chest.

Quickly Petra and Ahnn snapped their reins, urging their dragons faster as they closed in on Bree. Ahnn's mouth was shouting something that Cara didn't have time to make out before waves of purple force emanated from the Kitisalian's throat, pulsing across the religious riders coming their way. Whatever noise the lady-in-waiting made was bad enough that several of the smaller, lower-ranked dragons slowed, their wings rapidly beating to change trajectory rather than fly at the source of the noise. 

Behind her, Bree and Petra took Lysander and Stuk up as high as possible with what time Ahnn bought them. Pulling close together, Cara sharply inhaled as she saw that, for the first time since the match had started, the two women took the same actions as the transparent copies of them did. Apparently, in their desperation, a Princess of Netis and a Countess of Ataran found themselves driven into teamwork by necessity. 

As the Church easily carved through Ahnn and Kirial after a moment's shock and hesitation from her onslaught, Bree and Petra raised their hammer and sabre, two bright weapons of defiance against some poor odds. Petra inhaled deeply, the image focusing closely on her as she raised her sword to the sky, eyes wholly consumed by the verdant green of her magic. 

Beneath her, Lysander took a great breath in, flapping his wings to stay in one place as the Church below them prepared somewhat hastily to shield themselves from the onslaught. Bree's hammer and Stuk’s claws began to build a slow, oddly familiar orb of writhing black shadow, and Cara got a small spark of hope in her heart that this could work. Her face set into a grim mask, Petra lowered her sword in a twirling arc before sweeping it out directly to her side. 

All around her, the sky filled with many different-sized crystals, gems, and rocks all suspended in the air as they hung on so many tiny threads, a constellation of earth dazzling in its scale and majesty. The image showed pieces of stone that stretched longer than the rooftop she stood on, others as small as her little fingernail, all of them dazzling to behold. This was the power of a King Rank’s rider, brazenly put on display with every bit of magic that the Princess could summon within her. Looking with disdain on the approaching forces, Petra gave the barest flick of her blade, and earth rained down on their opponents from the sky. 

Seemingly faced with two threats, the opposing Queen focused its attention on Bree while following the rest of the forces as they evaded the crystal storm that had already pierced several wings. Dodging the largest piece of rock, the Queen's rider, possibly familiar with Bree's work in a certain shardmatch recently, sent the tidal wave of water racing towards the Countess. 

Cara was taken aback when the image suddenly shifted away from Bree to Petra, who gave a small smile as she rotated her wrist and hand upwards, pulling all the crystals to a halt mid-air. It differed completely from what Cara saw their ghostly shades do, but at the same time, something inside told her it wasn't wrong either. The perspective quickly changed back towards Bree, the Countess suddenly sliding her hammer down, painting a black strap of shadow that she leapt into, leaving Stuk to easily outmaneuver the wave without a rider on its back. 

Before the lights could shift again, Cara knew where this was headed and felt a slight chill run down her spine, sending her skin alight with anticipation. Out of the shadow of the nearest crystal, the sizable chunk that had been easily avoided by the Church just seconds before, Bree appeared, already midway through her swing, excited snarl on her lips. The Servant riding the water Queen barely had time to reach back for his weapon as Bree's hammer crushed his skull into sparks, leaping off the dragon towards the nearest one below. She accidentally went slightly wide of her intended target but calmly lashed out a tendril of shadow with her free hand, pulling her up onto the saddle.

The shock of Bree's sudden assassination of their leader gave the rest of the Servant priests pause. They were a second too slow in reacting when Lysander unleashed a hailstorm of earth from its throat, rocks, boulders, mud, and sand spewing out in a deadly slurry that tore through three dragons and their riders, pushing them down in the landslide to be encapsulated by earth. Stuk flew wide of the flooded roofs of the arena-Corfu, the representation quickly being buried by the onslaught of rock and stone. 

Before she could be bucked, Bree ducked under a plume of fire a nearby dragon sent at her, diving into the air where a column of wind slammed her intended course, sending her flying to the side instead, Stuk diving after her.  

Changing back to Petra, the light above showed Lysander, teeth engaged with a red scaly throat, crimson in both scale and blood as Petra skewered its owner’s eye through with her sword. Moving on from the cloud of light that was all that remained of the Queen dragon, Lysander sent several other dragons into beams of light as the earthen King tore through wings and necks, routing what was left of the Church's forces underneath his ravenous rampage. 

By the time Bree and Stuk made it back up to the heavens, the match had been won, and Petra was slumped on Lysander's back, her body bent forward over the saddle as she laid her cheek on his scaly neck, shoulders heaving as she tried to catch her breath. The thrill of victory rippled through Cara as she watched Bree pull up alongside her, telling Petra something with a grin, to which the Princess shot a weak smile in reply. 

As the match ended and all those involved stepped back through the bleeding iris of light and out back to where they had entered, Cara quickly clambered back down the drainpipe she had utilized to scale the building in the first place. She wondered what it would be like, to be up there, fighting in a field alongside Bree and everyone else, a part of their victory and triumphs, free to express her magic and prowess without fear of harm. First, however, Cara would need to learn to ride, and her dragon would need a name. 

As the creature in question landed on the street beside her, Cara gently gave her a scratch before walking down the alley towards where the match had been declared, deep in thought. She had seen one of the many possibilities she could help this group become if they worked at it and were willing to teach her how to fly in return. If nothing else, such tactics increased the chances of Petra's success at claiming the throne and Cara's of being free from this whole mess. 

As she exited the street, she found Petra and the rest of the group clustered together off to the side, furiously discussing something among themselves. The Servants stood part of the ways off, talking to Adoni, who was listening and nodding with a rather pleased expression for someone who had just lost. Cara quickly made her way over to their little ‘clutch’ as Adoni had called it, looking at those around her. 

"Amazing work." She said, coming to a stop and flicking her heavy braid over her shoulder. "Not quite." Petra replied, sounding as tired as she looked. "Those weren't even the Church's actual combatants, and we still struggled." Above her, the Arena of light blinked out of existence. All of the water, earth, and other ruin were taken with it. 

Bree looked over at the princess with a small amount of confusion and disappointment in her eyes. "What do you mean those weren't the church’s real combatants? Were they just thugs in purple robes?" The Countess asked. 

"No, they're Servant's all right." Cheska said from where she sat atop a low garden wall. "They're just not the Church's fighting force." 

Petra nodded her agreement with the monk's words. "These are most likely a group of the scariest priests that Adoni could round up at the time, given that the Pupil of the High Servant only fights on her official business." 

Ahnn let out a tired breath as she stood, dusting the nonexistent dirt from the black cloth of her pants. "Your Highness. This was a ploy to force your hand one way or the other." 

"Exactly why Cara stayed on the ground." Petra murmured, turning to face the approaching Servants, Adoni at their head. The man gave them a nod before speaking, a slightly smug air tinting his words. "Well fought, little sister, though I must say, I expected more out of you and was sorely disappointed by your inability to provide." 

Cara snorted. "Big words for someone who didn't even take the field." 

"I seem to remember you didn't partake either, Lady Myzanti, so perhaps examine yourself before remarking again." Adoni said coldly, turning his hooked nose back towards Petra. 

"And yet, I have a dragon not large enough for me to fly. Remind me of your excuse again? You didn't have enough people to hold your hand or something of the sort?"

Exhaling hard, Adoni faced Petra once again, ignoring Cara. "Keep your people under control, sister, lest they face the consequences for sharp tongues." He said, his tone stiff. 

"No, I think she made a fair point." The Princess replied, an eyebrow raised in challenge. 

Adoni sighed, shaking his head and raising his arms in a weak shrug. "For what it is worth, I tried to reason with you like an adult, Petra. Clearly, this shows you remain unprepared for such treatment." 

"You call that reason?" Petra said, a scoffing laugh falling from her lips. "That wasn't reason. It was a pretentious, antagonistic lecture." 

"After an outright physical assault." Cara added. 

"You wanted this from the start." Bree growled, her war hammer still loosely swinging from her hand. 

"Lord Adoni. For all your appearances to the outside world, your intent here is clear. I beg you to not further waste our time with false indications to the contrary." Ahnn addressed the Servant, her tone as unreadable as ever, and the look of dislike in her eyes usually reserved for Cara was now instead settled on the priest in front of them. 

Smirking slightly, Adoni inclined his head. "Very well, then. I must say, this has been quite the... informative interaction, noble sister." Cara didn't like that he just capitulated that quickly, her stomach dropping as Adoni continued. "We shall meet again when alliances and allegiance are laid bare in our fight for the throne." 

"If you think you have the full measure of us from this interaction, then I hope you remember those words when you find yourself sorely mistaken and at a loss." Cheska said, standing up to her full height despite the injured leg. 

"No, let him find his moral victory." Petra drawled, her voice sounding bored. "For his soldiers couldn't bring him an actual one." 

Adoni smiled at them, baring his teeth as he spoke. "You talk large for someone barely standing, little sister. I've seen now what you're capable of, and even with such a glorious beast as your mount, you barely pulled out your victory." 

"But she did pull it out." Cara said pointedly, throwing the words out quickly.

"Tsk. You are a child. You all are. Hope for your own sake that you grow some before we meet on the fields of light." Adoni snapped those words and turned on his heel, gesturing to the Servants to follow him. 

"I shall cherish the time until then, as it will lack your presence!" Petra called after him, deflating once the group turned the corner, ignoring the barb she threw. 

Cara looked over at the princess in amusement, a thought occurring to her. "What was that about getting the last word in Petra? Didn't you scold me for that same thing once?" 

Petra scoffed, placing a hand in the middle of Cara's face as pushing her knowing smile away. "Hush, you clod. He's horrible and has been ever since he renounced his title and joined the Church." 

"He really is." Cara agreed. "What a perfidious pile of sludge." 

"Forgive my ignorance." Fatimi suddenly said, their quiet voice even fainter than usual from where they had sat by Cheska, back against the wall for the entire exchange. "But wouldn't that preclude him from a claim to your throne?" They still looked rather queasy and off-balance, but their grey eyes seemed slightly more focused as they looked up at the group. 

"No. He renounced his priority to the Royal family and swore it to the church, but if you think for a second that means they would give up that chance at power, you'd best fly off into the sun." Petra replied, shaking her head. 

"Your Highness. There remains the question of how they believe he will win that battle given the strength of you and Prince Fane's separate claims." Ahnn said, voice slightly thoughtful. 

"Yes, fine, but we can think about that on the way back." Luca cut in gently, surprising Cara, who had forgotten that the young man was there. "For now, we should go home. The church took Haron's body when they took me, and seeing as they've left, there's no getting it back right now. Nothing should keep us here any longer, and word of today will soon spread." 

Petra nodded, and together the group tiredly traipsed out of the city, climbing their dragons who waited outside of the walls. Luca was right, and people were already talking about the mysterious battle that had taken place earlier, shooting odd looks at the more noteworthy members of their group as they took off. 

"Are we sure that the Church left?" Cheska called as they took to the air. ”We don’t want to be followed.”

"The terms of the match are sacred. They have neither the will nor power to deny them." 

The Monk nodded, her dusky face creased with fatigue and pain as slowly, gradually, the dragons evened their course in the air, following the Shardroad north. After a few minutes, Petra huffed and gestured to Ahnn, who flew over straight away. "Keep an ear out for any pursuers, would you, Ahnn?" The Princess called over. 

"Your Highness. I am… drained. From the fight. I do not think I possess the capability to do such a thing at the moment." 

Ahnn had barely finished speaking when the idea sparked in Cara's mind. She reached her hand out towards the bushy-haired girl, palm filling with liquid sunlight that pooled out over her fingertips. Ahnn's eyes flicked to the gesture and back to Petra. "Your Highness. I will do my best." The Kitisalian said simply, pulling her dragon away as she nodded at Cara in assent. Curling her fingers in briefly before relaxing her hand, Cara released the light and power, which flowed from her to Ahnn's back, settling within her target's chest. 

Cara dropped her hand, feeling the cost of her magic deep in her bones. She knew her woes didn't compare to the rest of the clutch's, but soon they could rest, and time would heal most of their wounds. "The external ones, anyway." Cara thought, pulling her hands into the sleeves of her flight jumper, away from the frigid air that was raising red welts on her skin. 

And so, wounded and drained from their fight, the clutch limply flew through the open sky that now seemed so full of possibilities for Cara. What she had seen held in the beams of the sun had been both amazing and confusing to behold, and as she tried to describe it to Petra and Bree while they flew, the more they stared at her like she had gone insane. Eventually, they agreed to at least try some of the ideas, no matter how poorly Cara had explained them. 

By the time the tired, aching wings of their dragons set claws down on the pale grey stone of Cair Demesis, the victorious minds of Cara and her companions were already turned from the battle they had won. Each remained in silence, quietly sorting through their internal conflicts and preparing for the war ahead.