Wings of Darkness
Thalia stared with eyes wide in pure terror at the pitch-black form revealed beneath the dying light of the sun.
Its massive body, sheathed in scales, coiled tight like a volcano on the verge of eruption and reared high into the air. At its apex, an enormous reptilian head fixed them with blazing red eyes.
Thalia's legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground. When the monster, snorting hot breath, unfurled wings wrapped in black membrane, the whole world seemed swallowed by darkness.
Barcas drew his sword and shouted in a sharp voice.
"Prepare the subjugation equipment at once!"
No sooner had the order fallen than knights burst forth from among the people scattering in panic.
They surrounded the magical beast, drove iron stakes into the ground, and fastened thick chains to their ends. Moments later, dozens of steel harpoons flew like arrows toward the monster's enormous body.
Thalia clamped her hands over her ears. A thunderous roar had erupted from the maw of the creature rearing its head high.
Each time its massive body, bound by dozens of chains, thrashed violently, the earth shook, and several stakes that could not withstand the force tore free and shot into the air.
"Everyone, take cover!"
Someone's cry rang out thunderously, and in the same instant the monster that had broken its restraints swept one wing with savage force.
Thalia screamed. Two or three tents were swept away by the monster's wingbeat, and half a dozen servants who had not managed to brace themselves were flung like scraps of paper.
One of their bodies tumbled near her, twisted at a grotesque angle. It was as if she were trapped in a nightmare.
"Bring more equipment!"
Barcas's rough voice barely held her fading consciousness in place. Thalia forced strength into her trembling legs and managed to push herself upright. Then, with a face drained of all color, she watched Barcas streak like a flash of light toward the rampaging monster.
He was charging straight at the enormous maw of a beast whose torso alone looked to stretch well over thirty feet.
"Barcas!"
His name tore from her lips like a scream, and in the same moment the monster's wing cracked toward him like a whip.
Thalia watched the scene with eyes frozen in horror.
A black wing vast enough to blot out the sky engulfed Barcas's body in an instant. Her world, too, went utterly black. But in the next moment, the pale blade in Barcas's hand sliced through the thick membrane as if it were paper.
Having severed the monster's wing clean across in a single stroke, Barcas cut through the thick bundle of muscle connecting it to the body as well.
In the blink of an eye, the magical beast that had lost one wing staggered, its balance gone.
Seizing the opening, Barcas drew a chain-scythe from his belt and hurled the hook-shaped blade into the hideous maw packed with awl-like teeth. Then he slid sideways, fastened the chain to a stake fixed in the ground, and yanked it with brutal force.
The monster, its lower jaw pierced by the chain-scythe, collapsed as helplessly as a fish on a hook. Thalia's mouth fell open in stunned disbelief at a raw power that seemed impossible from a body so slender and lithe, like a dancer's.
Gripping the iron chain with both hands, Barcas shouted to his men.
"Finish it!"
Dozens of harpoons immediately buried themselves in the monster's body.
The beast, covered in black scales, writhed its house-sized bulk in desperate resistance, but it was helpless against the relentless onslaught.
In moments the monster, bristling like a porcupine, went limp on the ground with its tongue lolling out. Only then could Thalia release the breath she had been holding.
"Are you all right, Your Highness?"
A royal guard knight who had come running from somewhere looked down at her with worried eyes. He, too, held a sword in one hand—apparently he had been searching for her and had rushed to the battlefield in haste.
The man hastily sheathed the blade and reached out a hand to help her up.
Thalia roughly struck the hand away and went to Barcas's side, where he was recovering equipment from the monster's carcass.
Winding the loosened chain around one hand, Barcas flicked only his eyes to look her up and down. Even under that dry gaze that seemed to assess the condition of something entrusted to him, no anger rose in her this time. Before she knew it, Thalia asked in a restless voice,
"A-are you all right? You're not hurt anywhere?"
When she examined him carefully with trembling eyes, she saw a dark crimson smear staining the side of his neck.
Thalia reached out and touched his throat. Fortunately, it did not seem to be Barcas's blood. She exhaled in relief—and suddenly felt a prickling at the crown of her head.
Lifting her gaze, Thalia found Barcas looking down at her with eyes that had widened ever so slightly, and she hurriedly lowered her arm.
His silence made cold sweat spring from every pore. Was he appalled that the woman who had spent her days striking his face or throwing things at him was now pretending to worry? Thalia fumbled with a flustered expression and muttered something like an excuse.
"I-if someone I've known for nearly ten years gets hurt right in front of me, it makes for bad dreams. I don't want to have nightmares because of you."
"…I doubt I shall ever appear in Your Highness's dreams, so that is fortunate indeed."
The same spiteful reply as always—and somehow, relief washed over her.
Thalia let her shoulders sag; they had been so rigid they were throbbing with a dull ache.
Barcas, quietly looking down at her, was about to say something when a scream rose again from the distance. Thalia turned her head and drew a sharp breath. Black monsters were blotting out the entire sky.
A royal guard knight murmured with a dazed face.
"Why would a flock of wyverns come at this time of year…"
"Instead of wondering about that, go fetch the subjugation equipment! Your Highness, come this way."
Barcas, recovering his composure at once, gave sharp orders and seized her wrist, striding across the camp.
Thalia stuck close to his back, moving her legs until the soles of her feet burned. The smell of blood and fire rose from every direction.
Chaos. The chaos she had waited and waited for had finally broken out.
But she felt no joy. Only a freezing terror coursed through her blood.
"Lord Siurkan! We've set up a defensive wall over there!"
As she watched the monsters smash carriages and tents indiscriminately with dazed eyes, someone shouted.
Barcas immediately turned that way.
"Do not leave this place under any circumstances."
Leading her half-dazed self to the center of the camp, Barcas spoke in a firm tone.
Thalia turned her head and looked around. A group of people had taken shelter before dozens of cargo wagons lined up like a barricade.
"Defensive magic tools are installed on the wagons. You will be safe if you remain here."
"Wh-what about you?"
Barcas let her question go in one ear and out the other and turned at once.
Thalia grabbed him urgently.
"Have you lost your mind? Where do you think you're going!"
"The defensive magic will not last long. The magical beasts must be dealt with before it fails."
Firmly prying her hand free, Barcas ran toward the melee.
Thalia stared after his retreating figure with a devastated face, then frantically chased after him.
"No! Don't go! Barcas! Barcas!"