The Exiled Princess

Connection

Raiden had been a Shadow Guard for nearly five years, and still had no patience for the petty squabbles of nobles. So when Myron, captain of the Shadow Guard, charged him with the task of fortifying Greyfair's defenses, he'd leapt at the chance to leave Calbern.

But never had he thought this simple mission would turn his life around. When Astrid appeared at the wall, bloodied and exhausted, he'd felt a deep hum resonating in his bones. At first, he'd assumed it was the Seal's magic calling to him, but he quickly realized that wasn't the case. When he left Astrid in the care of the town's healer, the hum faded the further he stepped away from her. It was odd, to say the least.

Now Raiden stood once more at the top of Greyfair's walls, knowing that he should focus on the coming invasion. And yet Astrid's green eyes kept flashing in his mind, capturing his attention. He pushed the image away, gritting his teeth. She'd been wounded by a Fiend, poisoned by its claws. There was no point in getting attached to a dead woman.

"Sir," a voice cried from his right. "They're approaching!"

Raiden turned, cursing his divided attention. Normally, he would've sensed the Fiends far in advance, knowing of their presence long before anyone else. He swept his gaze across the darkening sky, steeling himself for battle.

Greyfair's tall stone walls and iron gate made it a formidable city to attack, one that Fiends would have normally avoided. But Myron had foreseen their arrival, and Raiden obeyed without question. All Shadow Guard had the ability to sense Fiends, to gauge their numbers and power, but only Myron had the gift--or curse, Raiden thought bitterly--of hearing the orders given from the demons in charge.

He was ripped from his thoughts by the Fiends' arrival. Hundreds of them, skittering out from the tree line and climbing the walls, their long teeth and claws flashing silver in the moonlight.

"Bows!" Raiden commanded the soldiers standing around him. He'd elected to stand on the northwest wall, on the right of the iron gate; it was the best place to survey the entire battle.

Arrows released into the night and agonized screeching filled the air. Several of the town defenders shivered at the sound, but took heart when Raiden shouted the command for another round of arrows to be released. More of the creatures fell from their climb up the wall, but still others persisted.

"Swords!" Raiden ordered as the first Fiend's hand appeared over the top of the wall. He held his own in a white-knuckled grip. As always, there was a mix of fear and adrenaline coursing through his veins.

A face with leathery skin and crimson eyes appeared in front of him and before anyone else could react, Raiden's blade whipped through the air, beheading the creature and sending its body careening backwards. The soldiers around him yelled in triumph and surged forward as the other Fiends began to appear in front of them.

Raiden hacked and slashed with the soldiers around him, letting his body work on autopilot as he allowed his senses to scour the battlefield. If there was a demon commanding the lesser Fiends, he needed to prepare for it.

To his immense relief, there was only the metallic taste in his mouth that came with the lesser Fiends, mindless drones that existed only to devour and obey. The poison in their teeth and claws was deadly, but they had no magic to aid their attacks like demons or archfiends did.

"City's breached!" a frantic voice next to him shouted. Raiden pulled his focus back to the wall to see a shaking messenger looking up at him. The boy couldn't have been more than fourteen, too young to be experiencing so much bloodshed. "City's breached," the boy said again, more quietly this time. His brown eyes were wide with fear.

Raiden scowled. "Tell the captain I'll take them," he said. "And stay behind the soldiers as much as you can." He met the boy's eyes to make sure he understood, then turned and sprinted to the stairwell leading back to the ground. If Fiends had made it through the gate, the entire village was at risk. Raiden didn't want to report back to Myron with news of failure.

He was on the offending creatures within minutes, blade slashing through the air with such force that many of them backed away warily. They knew a Shadow Guard when they saw one, and their crimson eyes were panicked as they scrambled to escape his range.

Raiden slashed and hacked away at the Fiends, desperate to keep them from making it any further into the town. But there were too many, and several made it past his one-man barricade. They sprinted towards the biggest building close by, the inn standing in the middle of the town square.

Raiden didn't hesitate. He dispatched the last of the creatures in the street before sprinting into the inn, where the innkeeper and her staff were cowering under tables and behind counters. He stabbed one Fiend in the back as it moved to lift the table, then followed the other creatures up the staircase.

His brows furrowed as a sudden thought flashed through his head. These Fiends were unusually organized for not having a general present. He stopped his pursuit for a moment and closed his eyes, allowing his senses to wander. There was still no icy chill that came with the presence of a demon, but a hum sounding through the air around him. Raiden ground his teeth. Whatever that...connection...was between him and Astrid, it was becoming a severe distraction.

A scream shattered the air and Raiden raced up the stairs. Two Fiends immediately pounced on him, its claws poised for his throat. He dodged one and blocked the other with his blade, then cut them down in two quick strikes. He kept moving, slamming his shoulder into a particularly large Fiend and it fell through an open doorway, revealing a barely-conscious Astrid.

She glanced at him, eyes wild and fearful, then turned back to her opponent, a Fiend with blood dripping from his teeth and claws. The healer caring for Astrid lay motionless on the floor by the bed. Astrid lashed out at the Fiend with her crude weapon and it hissed in pain as her blow connected with its shoulder.

Raiden took advantage of the Fiend's anger and whipped his sword through the air, beheading it in one blow. Silence fell around Astrid and Raiden as they took a moment to breathe. He held out a hand to steady her. "Are you okay?" he asked gruffly.

She nodded, though her face was drawn and pale. "I haven't felt well since Starfell was taken," she admitted. "I think my wound might be infected."

Raiden hesitated. "Yeah," he said at last. "Probably."

She gave him a sharp look, catching the note of secrecy in his voice. "I'll ask you about this again once the city is safe," she said firmly. "Give me the Seal."

"What?"

"Give me the Seal," she said evenly. "The city is being overrun. Even you can't hold them off on your own."

Raiden frowned at her, but recognized the logic in her words. He obeyed, reaching into his satchel and pulling out the crystalline necklace. Astrid hesitated, then took it.

The moment her fingers touched the crystal, the air around them rippled. Her blond hair lifted into the air as if a breeze was twisting its way around her body, and her green eyes turned a bright violet.

"Let's go kick some ass," she said quietly.