Draconis' Bane by David Temrick

stop being civil with you and
have your strung up for treason.” Kevin commanded.
    Henry spat on the
floor in front in reply.
    “Guards! Seize him
and lock him in irons!” shouted Kevin.
    No one moved as Henry
slowly got to his feet, dusting himself off arrogantly as he walked
back to stand next to Patrician Samuel.
    “I think not.” Henry
answered. “You are not in command here…”
    “The hell I’m not.”
Kevin shouted. “Samuel! What’s the meaning of this?” Kevin directed
at his uncle.
    “Well lad, it’s quite
simple really. When you entered the city, you walked into Terum
held lands. You don’t have any authority here…” Explained Samuel as
the guards in the hall leapt into action. The large General and his
younger brother were quickly subdued.
    “Now escort them to
the dungeons while I decide the punishment for assaulting a member
of my court.” Samuel waved them away dismissively.
    The guards muttered
agreement as they frog-marched the two brothers out of the audience
hall, their arms painfully bent behind their backs. They were
forcefully escorted through the large hall doors they had entered
through and once in the courtyard Tristan could see that his horse
was being dragged away to the stables. Her frantic neighing caused
Tristan’s anger to rise like a burning pit in his throat. With the
two men holding his wrists made it impossible to do anything about
her ill treatment. Tristan willed himself to calm his mind and his
captors grips loosened slightly. Quickly he formulated a plan, the
young Prince forced himself to completely relax and allow himself
to be marched to what appeared to be the armory and dungeons.
    Glancing over at the
baggage train, Tristan noticed a tarp covering one of the wagons
open slightly and a man stick his head out. His face was oddly
familiar to Tristan, but he couldn’t put a name to man. It occurred
to him that once they entered the dungeons, they would have no hope
of escape. In that moment he had made his decision.
    On his right step he
planted his foot and swung his arms together. The guards holding
his wrists were distracted by Kevin’s struggling and they tripped
over each other at his unexpected movement. Tristan drew his sword
and dagger in a flash, killing one man before he regained his feet.
Behind him Henry screamed for more guards who came rushing out of
the main hall. Tristan dispatched the second guard as one of the
guards holding his brother released his hold and turned to face
him. The guard drew his sword quickly and rushed forward with his
sword held high. Allowing his instincts to take over as they had
when practicing with his brother, Tristan forced himself to relax
as the guard advanced on him.
    The guard swung an
overhead slash wildly at Tristan, hoping to back him up. Instead,
Tristan parried the swing with his sword and drove his dagger deep
into the guards’ chest, piercing his heart and lung. The guard
gurgled helplessly as he dropped to his knees; a trail of blood
came out of the corner of his mouth as he swayed in place and then
collapsed forward.
    Another guard
released his older brother and came running towards Tristan,
drawing his sword as he ran. The young Prince blocked the slash
aimed at his left side with his dagger, spun around the man;
putting himself back to back with the guard. Tristan flipped his
grip on his sword and drove it deep into the guards back and
through his stomach.
    Without the two extra
guards holding him, Kevin yanked a hand free. An animalistic roar
escaped his brother and he grabbed the nearest guard and drove his
head into the guards’ nose. Blood showered everyone as the now dead
guard collapsed uselessly on the ground. Kevin grabbed another
guard by the tunic and launched him over Tristans’ head and into
the oncoming force of guards who had come from the audience hall.
The foremost guard was knocked back into the others, causing them
all to go down in a heap of tangled bodies. Kevin then grasped the
two