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[Eclyse Christian]

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“Riders and dragons from the south!” The call rang clear and hung listlessly over the heads of the troops. The collective deep breath was audible…a tangible thing, fretting at the edges of Eclyse’s sanity, threatening to pull just the wrong thread and unravel her nerve to the core.

She cast a sidelong glance at Kaylor, who sat astride his mount at her side. His visage was stoic as he vigilantly watched the pass for the first glimmer of movement. His eyes flitted to hers for only a moment, and he nodded reassuringly to her. His eyes betrayed some thought that lay far beneath, and he bowed his head and crossed himself, uttering a silent prayer in some ancient and foreign tongue. Then his gaze lifted again toward the pass. His expression was beset with an intensity that she somehow found comforting.

Eclyse lifted her eyes to the sky and murmured softly, half to herself, and half to the benevolent God to Whom Sir Kaylor’s prayers flew. “Please, if ye can ‘ear my prayer, watch o’er my Knight an’ keep ‘im safe. I’ll do my best t’ do the same.”

[Eclyse Christian]

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She heard and felt their approach before they could be seen. The ground quaked beneath the dragons’ heavy footfalls. The valley resonated in protest, but to no avail. The enemy had come.

To arms, Beloved Brothers,
The foe is at our door.
The peaceful dreams of long ago
Lay shattered in times of war.

And with a flash of fire, the battle had begun. Eclyse raised her axe and charged, a fierce and primal scream tearing from her throat. The sound was foreign to her-- sadistic and brutal. But here and now was no time to consider the changes that had taken place inside her since she had come to Stonegate. This was the time to defend her family, her brothers in arms. To defend those who had made her one of them in good faith, and without question. To defend those who believed in her, even when she had not believed in herself. To defend her Knight. To defend her very life.

Hold the Lines, Dear Brothers,
Stand fast as the living stone.
Sure as the fires of battle rage,
You’ll never stand alone.

Before her stood a great red dragon. She could smell the sulfur and brimstone on the chill wind of Stonegate Valley as his powerful jaws tossed aside troops like they were ragdolls. He lifted his head and roared voraciously, issuing a plume of flame that billowed hundreds of feet into the air. She held her course toward the tremendous beast, axe upraised. Her steed matched Sir Kaylor’s charger, stride for stride. But her brothers and allies were already falling around her. Kaylor took a sharp left turn as he defended himself from an attacker. The fleeting movement caught the dragon’s eye and his great head lowered swiftly, jaws wide.

“NO!!” Eclyse screamed. She cut to the left as well, putting herself between the dragon and her Knight. The blow of her axe barely cut the thick hide upside of the dragon’s face. She turned to retreat long enough to set up another attack, but she was not fast enough. The dragon’s jaws snapped, closing on her left bicep. His great teeth were spaced so that the bone was not crushed, but she heard the sickening sound as his teeth punctured and tore through both leather and flesh. This time the scream she heard torn from her lips was one of pain and anguish. She was injured, but not defeated.

Within mere moments, the dragon swayed dramatically and fell dead, his blood soaking the snow. Eclyse reigned her steed toward another fray, but found herself beset on either side by a pair of vampires. One used his magick to stop her escape while the other used strange and foreign words to summon illness and propagate fire upon her. As her steed broke free of the paralyzing effects of the first spell, he bolted away from the two, who immediately gave chase. As she rounded the corner of the stone library, a bola struck her and entangled her arms against her chest. The momentum of the heavy bola balls knocked her swiftly from her steed. She stood dazed as she watched a coven of vampires and a great grey dragon bearing down upon her. There was no running. There was no remounting. All she would remember before the darkness claimed her was a cold and emotionless command for the dragon to liberate her soul from its mortal sheath.

Take Heart, my Dearest Brothers,
My sacrifice is free.
Death will pass this way but once,
I lay down my life for thee.

The next thing she would remember would be Kaylor’s gentle hand upon her brow, urging her to wake. Quietude rested upon the battle-scarred valley. The prison was opened and emptied of its ransom. But it was all a façade, for what burned in her heart and the hearts of her Brothers in Arms was far from the peaceful hush that had settled upon them. And this was a war that was far from over.