Page 51 of Her Royal Blood

Lex

Jarvis, Hawk, our newly recruited troops, and the Navarrian soldiers fought the Crypt Claw for two days straight until we were able to push back against their onslaught. As soon as we had disabled the ships and recruited the prisoners who were onboard, the Crypt Claw surrounding the ports launched an attack against us. It was two days and nights of full scale fighting. With very little sleep and constant engagement we were able to defeat the Crypt Claw at the ports. As they retreated into the city, we overtook them with the help of the remaining citizens and those Hawk had recruited from across Tobran.

During the wee hours on the third day of battle, Navarrah City was finally victorious over the Crypt Claw and we regained control of the kingdom. This was a massive victory for Navarrah City against Polonius and Brahman's Peak. Jarvis, Hawk, and I returned to the king’s stronghold exhausted, bloodied and covered in grime. We were greeted by my father and praised for our leadership and determination to see ourselves successful in this campaign.

“You have all earned a well deserved rest. With the remaining troops we’ll be able to rebuild and hold our ports.” My father wasbeyond proud and I’d dare say relieved that we were able to win this important battle.

“Thank you, father, I’m just glad we’re seeing some success. Hawk and I will go to Brahman’s Peak tomorrow and find a way to destroy their warship hangers and wipe out their inventory of airships. We’ll need Crypt Claw uniforms so we can get into the workshop.” I knew we were able to take several Crypt Claw uniforms off of the fallen soldiers.

With the Crypt Claw army dispersed throughout Tobran and intermingled with Vitoria prisoners, citizens who were forced to fight for Polonius upon threat of death, and all of the other mayhem, pretending to be Crypt Claw would be easy. They had no coherent leadership and were just following orders of the highest ranking guard who barked at them.

Polonius had spread himself too thin and he was soon to pay the price for his greed and avarice. I went to bed missing Aria but I could feel her a distance away. Her spirit was calm and while tense, she felt at peace. As much as I wanted to strengthen the bond between us and truly listen to her and ascertain the state of her well-being, I fell asleep before I could even put my thoughts together.

The next morning Hawk and I headed out towards Brahman's Peak. Cheyenne had been tasked with destroying Plonius’ airships. I wanted to help him with that endeavor to make sure they were destroyed before Polonius could get his ships in the air and regain his advantage.

We took one of the royal guard’s vehicles and drove for nearly two days. When we arrived at Brahman's Peak I could feel Aria closer as she was still at the Onyx Rah palace. We made camp just outside the gates of Brahman's Peak. Sleeping in the wild and on the ground without tents was never comfortable nor fun but it was the safest option for us. We sequestered ourselvesaway in an abandoned tool shed on an empty farm to hide from the Crypt Claw soldiers that marched along the road.

“There aren’t many of them,” Hawk noted as he kept the first watch. “Do you think Polonius has really spread himself so thin that he won’t guard his own palace?” Hawk mused. “This place has always been so heavily armed. I bet if I stay behind I could get half of the citizens out of here and into safer communities.” Hawk was speaking to himself for the most part, but he did raise a curious question.

“Unless the troops are in hiding, but why would they be?” I told Hawk as sleep clawed at my temple.

“They’re not. Polonius is banking all of his strategies on Aria, Sire, and Halo’s magic. As soon as he gets the Crimson Pitaya and those ships are in the air, he owns Tobran.” Hawk cautioned.

“Tomorrow we blow the place up,” I said as I fell asleep.

The next morning, I took a watch while Hawk slept. There were still no Crypt Claw guarding the gates and inside Brahman’s Peak, it was almost deathly silent. Hawk and I were dressed like Crypt Claw warriors, but remained hidden to rest up before entering the castle after driving all night and day to get to Brahman’s Peak.

Cheyenne was to go to the Obsidian Valley to test our warship and to ask for their support in defeating Polonius. He was supposed to move on to Brahman’s Peak and destroy the hanger where the warships were being stored as well the workshop where they were being made. He also had Crypt Claw uniforms so I assumed my brother made it to Brahman’s Peak already. This meant when we got inside, we’d have to either find him or the soldiers he brought with him for the mission. Our markers couldn’t be too distinctive, but each Crypt Claw uniform we wore had a black ink slash on the right elbow.

It would look like a smudge of dirt on the dark gray and brown uniforms which were a patchwork of gray and brown colors created to hide Crypt Claw warriors in the surrounding forests. The fabric was mottled and sporadic, as it didn’t have a graphic or organized print, which made having a random slash on the fabric less conspicuous. While Hawk slept I kept my eye on the palace, looking out for any sign of Polonius, of which there were none.

This only worried me because that meant he was likely still in Onyx Rah and still a potential threat to Aria. Hawk awoke just as the sun was setting and we headed out to the palace to find Cheyenne and get an update about our mission. Hawk and I marched proudly into Brahman’s Peak without incident. People stepped to avoid our path and in general most were as wary of us as they were all Crypt Claw warriors.

We entered the palace without incident. I’d been to the workshop before so we headed in that direction making sure to avoid eye contact with other Crypt Claw warriors. I was surprised to see that even inside the palace the Crypt Claw presence was almost non-existent. When we arrived at the workshop it was bustling with mechanics and technicians working quickly assembling the parts for five airships that were all in different stages of completion. Here, near the door of the workshop and the surrounding perimeter, was where most of the Crypt Claw warriors were stationed.

I could sense my brother Cheyenne was near, and when I saw the familiar black sash on one of the soldier’s arms, I nodded to him. He took one look at Hawk and I and his expression changed showing a recognition for a fraction of a second.

“We have all of the troops stationed,” he walked over to us and said. “Polonius will be happy with our progress. I believe the mission will be completed in just a few hours.” He was speakingin code, one that told me the bombs Cheyenne was ordered to place were almost all set.

“Great, when’s dinner, I’m starving,” I laughed, adopting the casual and brutal way most Crypt Claw warriors I’d encountered spoke.

This was more Hawk’s area of expertise, so I nodded to him and stepped back, giving Hawk room to take the lead.

“Right, it’s probably the same ol’ slop, but I’m starving,” the Crypt Claw guard who was also undercover said.

“We need to make sure that everyone makes it to dinner tonight. I heard there’s a meeting regarding the defeat in Navarrah City. I’m sure it’s gonna be some shit about needing to speed up production,” Hawk said loud enough for one of the Crypt Claw guarding the door to turn our direction.

“What?” He turned his scarred face to us.

He had a long ugly gash splitting his right eye into two sections.

“Yeah, Navarrah City has retaken the ports,” Hawk said using a gruff, almost grunting tone of voice.

“This is the first I’ve heard of it.” He furrowed his brow and for a moment, I wondered if we’d have to engage in an all out fight, but his face eased and he looked at us and laughed. “No one tells me shit. At least we still have troops on Onyx Rah, no one is getting in there, Polonius doesn’t need the ports anymore,” he scoffed and went back to his duty.

“Yeah, just a bunch of stupid prisoners coming from the Island, no more Pitaya,” Hawk agreed and laughed. “Best get everyone to dinner though, I do not need my ass handed to me.”

“Fuck that,” the scarred guard said. “I’ve already had Wadson on my tail this week. Fucking guy is a power hungry prick.” Wadson must have been the captain.

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