Fea…

Felix found himself surrounded. Surrounded by trees, by snow, by ash…

All around him, came the noise of marching steel and men, the Lord's Chosen. They had him blockaded and left nowhere for him to run. The air was thick with mana raging against itself. His and theirs battled as both sides prepared for what would surely be the final showdown.

Gasping, he could only smell the stench of death and woodsmoke. A fire burned off in the distance.

Through the haze and snow and trees, the first wave of soldiers appeared before him.

Floriana…

As they grew near, Felix held his ground and dumped more of his mana into his surroundings. The soldiers did the same, nearly overpowering him in one fell swoop.

But he was not out of options. No, in fact, he had them exactly where he wanted them. They had made a grave mistake and now it was going to cost them.

I will atone… I will come back… I will live!

He closed his eyes and the soldiers saw their chance. They charged.

The rush of men faded as he concentrated. He needed to find it…

Reaching for their thin and strained bond, Felix called out for Fea. He called not with words, but with emotions. He needed her strength, but it would be difficult.

She responded, a trickle of hope. It was faint, almost nothing. However, it filled his tired soul. It brought strength back to his sluggish body. It rekindled his fire.

A rush of mana burst forth from him just as the blades of men tried to claim his life. They laughed and jeered until it hit them.

The forest erupted in an explosion. Trees toppled, and men vanished. Only a crater stood at his feet. Half the forest was gone…

***

Felix limped. He was exhausted to the bone, his muscles spasming in agonizing pain. Every part of him wanted to collapse and die. He was tired, so very tired…

Felix…

The voice calling was the only thing keeping him going. It was her, and she was just as agonized as he was. He could not let her down.

Before him, the mountain that dwarves had called home stood. Soon, it would not.

Trudging through the snow and frost and cold, his failing body moved. Her voice still ever present in his mind.

Blinking, Felix shocked himself when he nearly ran into the masterwork doors the dwarves had made for their grand entrance. Somehow, he had made it back. Yet the fight was not over, his was just the prelude to something worse.

The doors opened and a familiar hand grasped him, holding him upright. Nevrim guided him in quickly and before long he was sat down in a bed. Another friendly face appeared, his Sergeant.

"Are you ready?" Felix asked in his delirious state.

Ovidius gave him a nod and spoke. But the words never made it to his ears.

"Good, then wake me when they attack."

He leaned back into the bed, not caring that he was still in his armor. He had slept in hellish conditions before, compared to that? This was heaven.

Felix fell asleep, his dreams filled with the vision of a single woman, his mate…

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fea paced her throne room for the hundredth time, biting nervously at her nails. Her mate, her Felix, was hurt and hurt bad. She had tried to remain calm, had tried to distract herself. But even with their strained bond, she could feel his agony.

"Your Highness, you should come and sit," Yarnel said, floating up next to her. "We cannot have you fainting, or worse…"

"I can't! Not until he is safely back here!" she shouted, her voice echoing.

"Then, perhaps something to distract–"

"What?! What can distract me?!"

Yarnel shook his head and came to float in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "I come with good news, Your Highness."

She frowned and looked poised to strike him. "What good news?" she hissed, her emotions running wild.

"Lorenzen has awoken."

Her eyes widened at that. "Really? Where is he, I shall go see him at once!" Before Yarnel could respond she was already making for the main entrance of the throne room.

Quickly catching up, he darted ahead of her. "He is down in the recovery ward. I shall escort you…"

Fea said nothing, her feet moving on their own. Before too long, she and Yarnel exited into the Grand Hall and made for Lorenzen.

They passed by several startled groups of guards, but upon seeing her expression none chose to bother her. They knew to stay out of her way when she was upset, and she was very much past that.

Eventually, though, she reached her destination and came to a stop before a massive entrance. This was the recovery ward, and there were several dens taken up by wounded dragons.

"He is this way," Yarnel said, guiding her through. They passed by the many wounded, mostly scouts who had risked their lives to gather information on the humans.

Soon, they came to a stop before one of the larger dens. Inside, Lorenzen rested. His eyes cracked open and a toothy draconic smile appeared.

"My Queen," he rasped out.

Fea broke down and ran to him, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around his snout. "Shh, you don't need to speak," she said, even as tears streamed down her face.

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Her friend let out a rumbling purr. "I've heard… That you found someone to bond with?"

"Yeah…"

"Then… Does that mean… I can die?"

Her eyes widened in shock. "No! Absolutely not!"

Yarnel floated down close to them. "Forgive me for interrupting… But, after everything I've done to keep you alive, dying would set us back quite a bit."

Lorenzen's eyes narrowed. "I see… So I must… Continue… Then!" Without warning, the sapphire dragon began pulling himself up. Surprised, Fea fell away and stared up in awe at the machine that beat in his chest.

She was brought back to the present as he let out a groan. His entire body trembled as he came to stand at his full height.

"W-what are you doing?!" she shouted.

Even through the pain, he looked down at her and smiled again. "My duty, My Queen."

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Felix gasped, roused from his sleep by a forceful shake. Disoriented and beyond fatigued, he did his best to sit up.

"Sir!" the voice of one of his men called out, sounding panicked.

"What… What is it?" he asked with a wince. His voice sounded hoarse and his throat dry.

"S-Sergeant Ovidius ordered me to wake you! The… The Chosen are here!"

Through the fog in his mind, Felix parsed the man's words. His eyes widened and he immediately jumped out of bed. "Go–" He began coughing. "Go inform… Go inform Ovidius I'm on my way!"

The soldier gave him a quick salute and bolted out of his room. Meanwhile, Felix looked down and frowned. He had been stripped to his undergarments. I didn't do that…

Annoyed, he quickly searched the room and found his gear. Picking up his cuirass, he noted a large dent that he didn't remember getting. And, taking a look at the rest of his armor, it was evident that all of it was heavily damaged.

Damn it all! he cursed even as he set to the task of putting it all on…

A few minutes later, he was staggering out of the room and into the dwarven halls. He didn't know where he was going, but he could hear the familiar shouts of his Sergeant. Before long, he entered into the main chamber.

He came to a sudden stop and took in the scene. In the middle of the cavernous space was Ovidius and what looked to be Aldar. The two were shouting out orders as men and dwarves ran to their positions.

Beyond the two, stood the massive doors that led out of the mountain. Several dwarves were hunkered down, most with their ears up against the doors. One, however, was looking through a small slit and cursing.

Bringing his attention back to Ovidius and Aldar, Felix made his way over. All the while, he did his best to not look injured and beaten.

"What's–" He broke out into another coughing fit. "Gods damn it! Either of you have some water?!" he asked in frustration.

His sergeant gave him a quick salute while Aldar let out a chuckle and handed him a waterskin. "Here ya go," the dwarf said and Felix quickly downed the water.

"Thanks," he grumbled and handed the empty waterskin back. "Anyway, what's the situation?"

"The Lord's Chosen, they've started massing just outside of the dwarven defenses," Ovidius said.

"Aye, but what's concerning is the lack of numbers," the dwarf added and gestured to the dwarves by the doors. "They've counted only five hundred."

Felix took on a grim expression. "Sounds like a vanguard–"

"Or, you really did a number on them," the sergeant quipped. "We felt that explosion all the way here."

But Felix shook his head. "That blast barely dented their numbers. I only managed to catch a small contingent of them. The rest were too spread out." He pointed towards the door. "That has to be a vanguard unit."

But that begs the question… "Why do they only have such a small number here?" As he asked his question a pit began forming in his gut. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

Trusting his instincts, Felix ignored any responses and began to step to the door. "Move," he commanded to the dwarf looking through the slit. And when the dwarf began questioning him, he simply pushed them aside.

With a stream of curses in his ear, he peered out into the outside. There, maybe a thousand feet away, was a unit of the Lord's Chosen. But, what concerned him more was the banners that they carried.

A single ray of light streaming down from the heavens. The banner itself was a rarity, something few ever had the pleasure, or misfortune, of seeing. It was…

The High Prophet's personal banner!

Stunned, Felix slowly pulled himself away. He tried to swallow but now his throat was even more parched.

There's no way… Blinking, he tried to think of any reason why the High Prophet's banner would be here. It has to be a trick!

Still reeling, he heard the voice of Ovidius call out for him but something else caught his attention…

It brushed against his mana as it seeped through the doors and pooled at his feet. It was something familiar, it was something he had felt before. It was something terribly evil.

"MIASMA!" he screamed, already jumping back. To the naked eye, there was nothing but to those magically inclined they too sensed it.

The dwarves near the door followed suit and pulled away. "What in the Gods–"

The one who spoke was too close. Like a coiled snake, the miasma struck. Its victim fell to the ground, convulsing.

But, before anything could be done for the poor dwarf, another sickening feeling began to pervade the cavern. Felix gathered what little mana he had and tried to form a barrier.

All the while, a faint chant could be heard. The ambient mana– No, the air itself began to thrum in tune with it. The sickening feeling grew and Felix's barrier began to falter.

What is– Oh no! Turning towards Ovidius and Aldar, he screamed an order. "RETREA–"

He never got to finish his words.

In an instant, Felix found himself being propelled away from the doors. He soared for several dozen yards before crashing and tumbling into the ground.

Groaning, there wasn't a single spot on his body that wasn't crying out in agony. To make it worse, he was almost certain his right arm was broken, his sword arm.

However, the situation wasn't over. In fact, it was only beginning…

First, every magical light ceased to exist. Then came the screams, dwarven screams. And, as Felix staggered back onto his feet, a new sound began echoing throughout the entire mountain…

THUNK… THUNK… THUNK…

"Felix!" Sergeant Ovidius shouted in the pitch black.

"OVER HERE!" Felix yelled back and a few moments later his Sergeant came to his side.

"Thank the Gods–"

"No, don't thank them yet! We still have to get out of here!"

Even in the darkness, Felix could make out the Sergeant's confusion. "Sir, what about our trap?!"

"It's not going to work! That explosion?! That was a ritual! One that's designed to destroy all mana within an area!"

The man still looked confused but there wasn't any time to explain. "Get our men to start grabbing dwarves! We have to get out of here!"

Shaking his head, Ovidius gave him a salute before he began barking orders. "GET UP MEN! LIGHT YOUR DAMN TORCHES AND START HELPING THE WOUNDED! WE ARE RETREATING…"

Having just a single moment, Felix tested his mana. Nothing came, even his bond felt non-existent–

He froze. I… I CAN'T FEEL HER! His breathing began to pick up and his heart began to race. Panic was starting to take hold of him…

THUNK… THUNK… THWACK!

Suddenly, there was a burst of light as the doors began to buckle. On the other side, a battering ram could be seen.

The distraction was enough, he used it to center himself and focus. Things weren't looking good. With no mana and him still in bad condition from his previous fight, it was almost certain he would die here.

He closed his eyes and tried in one final, desperate attempt to locate his bond. In the end, though, he was unsuccessful.

I'm sorry Fea, so very sorry… Reaching across with his left hand, Felix grabbed a hold of his sword and pulled it free. I won't be able to keep my promise.

He opened his eyes, just as the massive doors gave way. But, instead of a hoard of men rushing to finish him and everyone off, a single elderly man appeared.

"Ah! There you are, Felix. I've been searching for you…"

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