//------------------------------// // 103 - Alamule // Story: Age of Kings // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// Emerald Edge would have liked to stay and give Sir Gallophad a proper burial, but even she knew that it was better to strike while the iron was hot. Sir Lionheart was as of now damaged from their fight, and she could not allow him the chance to recover from his injuries. “Emerald, you should first heal your wounds. You are hurt.” Posey pointed at her shoulder. Emerald had removed her armor to check on it earlier and fortunately, the beam of light that had punctured her shoulder had been so hot that it stopped her bleeding. Though it still hurt, she was at least able to carry on. “I don’t have time to be hurt,” Emerald insisted. “We need to remove Morn’s army from Masyaf.” She looked back to the palace. The sounds of battle were softer now, and she could see that the structure was still standing. With any luck, that meant that the Saddle Arabians were winning the fight. Around the two women were the bodies of more knights, killed earlier when they had tried to engage them after Sir Gallophad’s death, but they had been swiftly dispatched, even with the injuries they had. With the rest of them in Masyaf distracted by the palace and the Saddle Arabian army, Posey and Emerald took to the roofs and began making their way to the city walls. The Canterlot army still had most of their catapults, but if they could close the distance without being seen, then they wouldn’t be able to use them. “Morn must have been worried that we would actually be able to beat Lionheart and Gallophad,” Posey said as they ran along. “Why else would he have made Lionheart retreat?” “Perhaps that is so,” Emerald nodded. “Or perhaps he has another reason…” she concluded quietly so that Posey could not hear. Once they were at the city walls, Emerald gazed out to the farmlands and the vast expanse of sand beyond them, where Fort Alamule stood along the horizon. There was still no sign of Lionheart, but she wagered that’s where he would be. “Come on, this way.” Emerald was first to leap down into a bale of hay below, then proceeded through the farms, using the buildings as cover from any potential lookouts. “Would it not be more efficient to acquire some horses?” Posey asked.  “It’s better to approach on foot,” Emerald shook her head. “They’ll see horses coming from miles away.” The two women snuck away from the farms and onto the sandy dunes, running along in an arc to try and circle away from the front, where scouts were likely positioned. With Lionheart and Gallophad’s defeat, Morn would surely have more men on the walls now, but with the cover of darkness, they should be able to approach them unseen. That theory was tested when Alamule soon appeared before them in its fullness. The fort stood on a small rocky hill with grasslands and bushes surrounding it. Emerald was thankful for that. At least they wouldn’t have to stumble around sand nearer the walls. Posey motioned for Emerald to follow her and she crouched behind a bush, peeking her head over it and narrowing her eyes. By now, Emerald knew what her friend was doing and she tried to do the same, narrowing her own eyes and focusing her vision to try and see what needed to be seen. She eventually sighed and shook her head. “I still cannot do it, Posey.” “Don’t worry. It takes time.” Then she panned a finger from left to right. “Three archers on the walls. Lightly armored. I see another four spearmen patrolling behind them.” “That’s manageable.” Emerald nodded. “I was expecting at least thirty guards on the walls.” “The majority of the soldiers must still be in Masyaf,” Posey reasoned. “I had sent Gabriel ahead of us to see how many remain here.” “Good thinking,” Emerald agreed. “I hope Lionheart hasn’t prepared an ambush or something for us.” She looked at the gleaming Arondight in her scabbard. Without a weapon of her own, she had taken up Sir Gallophad’s legendary blade. The light on it had faded and it didn’t seem to be enchanted any longer, but it was still as fine a blade as anyone could wish for. “Unless he has the Staff, I do not think he will know,” said Posey. “But then we did not know the full extent of the artifacts’ powers. Best to be on guard in any case.”  “The artifacts are too much power for any one person to have,” Emerald said with narrowed eyes. “I am beginning to see why Star Swirl wanted them to be lost and forgotten.” “Yes.” Posey looked to the sky. “Em, should we find Morn in Alamule, you know what needs to be done…” The spymaster sighed. “I know. I know. I will have to do what is right for Canterlot. For the world.” She had wasted that chance once. She wasn’t going to let it slip by her again, even if that meant killing the human she loved. Did she even love him anymore? “Maybe I’m just in love with a memory,” Emerald whispered to herself. Posey either didn’t hear or pretended not to. “A ghost that I can’t get back.” There was a faint screech from above and from the dark, Gabriel dove down to them and landed on Posey’s arm. The archer grabbed a piece of dried meat from her waist pouch and allowed him to nibble on it as he squawked in between bites. “We were right. Most of Canterlot’s army is still in Masyaf. They still number at least forty within the fort, from what Gabriel could see, but there is no sign of Morn or Lionheart.” Emerald blinked a few times. “They’re… not there? Where else would they go?” “I do not know, Em. Perhaps they are just underground, where Gabriel cannot go, or perhaps they have returned to Canterlot? I do not have an answer for that.” “But if Lionheart were to go back to Canterlot, he would need to go through the tunnels of the mountain.” Posey shrugged. “Morn and the army made it through. With the siege weapons, no less. They must have found a way. Surely a single rider could make it through.” Emerald didn’t like this. Lionheart was their best chance at getting an artifact back on their side, and she needed to have at least one to have a hope of overpowering Morn’s mind control. Perhaps he knew this and had pulled Lionheart back to him to prevent Emerald from getting any. “Or maybe Lionheart is lurking somewhere in Alamule,” Emerald rubbed her chin. “So many unknown variables. But whether Lionheart is in Alamule or not, we must go in.” Posey nocked an arrow to her bowstring. “Then let us pass this test mightily.” The archer took up position behind the bush as Emerald ran forward, keeping low. The skipped up the rocks as quietly as she could, making sure her greaves didn’t clank against them on her way up. There was a small hedge of greenery around the fortress and it provided cover from the lookouts on the top of the walls, who stood as still as stone, their shining eyes piercing the dark. She finally reached the walls, with Morn’s soldiers none the wiser. Ready to begin, she pulled her hood over her head to hide her reflective hair and looked up. She found little indents along the surface and she used them to begin her ascent up the side of the fort’s walls. It was a high climb and Emerald’s left shoulder burned with every exert of strength as she pulled herself up, almost slipping once when her arm’s strength just left her. But she steadied herself and pressed on, knowing that they had to take this chance while the sun was still down. Dawn would break soon, but until then, she had plenty of darkness to cover her quest here. Emerald poked her head up over the battlements. There was a sentry coming along, his golden eyes not seeing her. The former pegasus waited until he was almost on top of her, then extended a hidden blade and reached up to stab him in the stomach. Without lowering her arm, she pulled and the sentry fell from the wall without even a single yell. The bushes below dampened the sound of the sentry hitting the ground, which Emerald was grateful for; with her shoulder in the state that it was, she wasn’t confident of a face-to-face confrontation. She continued to swing herself to the right, until she was under the first archer. Doing the same thing, she pulled him off and waited for the quiet thwack below before pulling herself up over the parapet, landing in a crouch and keeping to the shadows as she eyed the remaining archers and sentries.  With only five of them left, she would easily make quick work of them. As the next sentry came walking by, Emerald unsheathed one hidden blade and rose from the shadows. The guard was caught by surprise, but didn’t have a chance to utter any cry of warning as the spymaster plunged her blade deep into his neck. She was already moving as his body fell, drawing Arondight from her side. The archer turned as the sword scratched against its scabbard, but Emerald dashed past him and cut at his side and spun around again to slash him across his back as well. Arondight’s blade easily tore through his armor and he soon fell. The last archer’s attention was now on her and she drew an arrow to fire, but Emerald ignored her and kept going, only for an arrow to fly out from the darkness and hit her square in the neck. She was thrown to the side as the former pegasus rushed the two final sentries. One raised a spear, but Emerald cut it in half and then stabbed him straight in the chest, sending him down as another arrow took care of the last man. Emerald stood up and wiped Arondight on her sleeve before waving out to the darkness below the parapets, letting Posey know that they were done. She stood by a corner and marveled at Sir Gallophad’s weapon as she waited for Posey. These weapons were indeed the finest weapons made by human hands and they only had Honor Proof to thank for such steel. She wondered what he was doing now. Still free of Morn’s control, she hoped. The Light of the Lake’s yellow crystals, filled with light when Gallophad still held it, were now dull and worn, almost like the magic in the weapon had died with him. Morn had imbued their swords with magic through his own and that only helped Emerald understand just how much more powerful and dangerous Star Swirl’s artifacts were. There was a swoop of wings by her head as Gabriel flew by, then from the parapets, a pink haired archer threw herself over and landed with barely a sound, her hood also pulled over her head. “They are below. Mostly in the courtyard,” Posey whispered. “They do not seem to sleep. Morn’s enchantment keeps them ready.” “I still do not see Lionheart,” Emerald considered. “If he has abandoned this fort, then possibly Morn has chosen to abandon Saddle Arabia as well?” “We have trounced him at every turn,” Posey said, eyeing the courtyard underneath. “Aside from getting the Apple from us, Morn’s campaign in Saddle Arabia has not been a successful one.” Emerald had to agree, and wondered to herself if Morn’s other attempts to take over the neighboring kingdoms had been met with the same resistance. “I think we should sweep through the courtyard and take out what we can.” Emerald eyed the small braziers at a few entrances to the fort’s structure. “Then we check the insides. What should we look out for.” Posey’s fingers ran from left to right at two bells atop posts, one near the center of the courtyard and the other next to the biggest entrance into the fort. “If they sound the alarm, we may have too many to face at a time. If possible, we should silence them.” “You keep an eye up here, then.” Emerald tapped her companion’s arm. “Should I fail to take any by surprise, you know what to do.” The archer nodded as Emerald looked over the edge to the courtyard below. There was a wagon right below them, attached to nothing, but sporting a cartful of hay. That would be useful for her. Spreading her arms out, Emerald kicked off the parapet and sailed through the air for a moment before landing in the bale of hay with a rush of wind. One knight turned his head towards her, but made no move to investigate. Emerald had to prod him on a little and she let out a shrill whistle from the corner of her mouth. That got his attention and the knight grabbed a torch and drew his sword as he approached. That’s right, come on over… The knight approached, his sword gleaming in the torchlight as he moved closer to the haystack. Emerald peered out between several stalks of hay, and when he was close enough, Emerald reached out and stabbed him in the throat before pulling him into the haystack, sword and all. It had all been done quietly and without anyone else noticing, and unless they searched the haystack, they wouldn’t find a body. Emerald hopped out of the haystack and rolled behind a low chest high wall. There were torches lit near the two alarm bells. If she extinguished them, then people might notice.  Creeping around like a desert fox, Emerald picked up a piece of loose stone and threw it as hard as she could across the courtyard. The guards may have been under mind control, but even then they knew to investigate a suspicious noise.  In a pair, the soldiers approached the place where the stone had landed, swords drawn and torches blazing. Emerald knew she would only have one chance. She darted over to the unprotected bell and with a swipe of her sword, cut off the clapper. She ran out of the torchlight just as the soldiers came back. One alarm taken care of. One to go. She maneuvered herself behind a row of training dummies, keeping to the dark as she thought of a way to remove more soldiers. Her chance came when one knight waltzed by, patrolling her area. Emerald slid a hidden blade in a chink under his arm, then dragged him behind a dummy and rested his body against it. On her way to the second alarm, she approached two guards walking together, and raising a hand as a signal, she stabbed one through the neck with her hidden blade as an arrow flew out from the parapets, taking out the second one. Posey is really a good shot. She hid their bodies in some knee high grass, then proceeded on, taking out another six guards patrolling the fort alone, with Posey shooting another one coming down from the opposite parapets. His body slid off the stairs and fell perfectly in another bale of hay. Emerald got to the second alarm quick enough and before anyone could see her, she jumped and cut the clapper in a spin. Now without the alarms, there would be no further backup for the soldiers up here, unless she allowed them to leave. As much as it pained her to kill the soldiers of the kingdom she served, she did not want any reinforcements coming back to Saddle Arabia. The sun was now peeking over the parapets of the fort, signalling daytime was now approaching. With light coming in, Emerald could now see that Morn had adorned the fort with banners of his movement: banners of black and white, along with a red sword in the middle where the guard was almost as long as the blade and hilt themselves. It sickened her to know how serious Morn was in his world conquest that he even made banners and flags to put around. “May this finally be the end to his siege on Saddle Arabia.” Emerald drew Arondight and rushed the closest soldiers. She had already slashed a guard across the throat when the rest turned to face her. Posey fired another arrow and hit one square in the back as Emerald started swinging her sword, cutting through their armor and limbs like paper. A pikeman leapt down from a stairway to try and spear her, but Emerald rolled away and cut the back of his knees with a hidden blade, then as he fell, she spun around with a slash, finishing him off. Two charged her, but Emerald countered one of their blows, then grabbed him around the neck. Four others approached her without hesitation, but then she threw her captive into a wooden scaffolding by the wall and it collapsed down on all of them. With Arondight and Posey’s help, eventually the courtyard was cleared and all of Morn’s men were lying dead on the floor. “All clear, Posey.” Emerald sheathed the sword and looked at the banners distastefully. Morn’s conquest needed to be stopped. “Maybe not.” Posey joined her in the courtyard after leaping down from the parapets. “I shall check below. Maybe find a way to signal Sombra that we have bested Morn’s men in Alamule.” “I already have a plan.” Emerald grabbed one of the fallen torches. As Posey ran below with her bow drawn, Emerald approached the closest banner, then raised the torch to it. Fire caught on the bottom of it and began to spread up, slowly reducing the piece of cloth to cinders. She did the same with all the other ones and for the very last, she climbed to the very top of the fort using various cracks and handholds, her injuries aching and her body tired, but she pressed on, eventually arriving reaching the fort’s highest peak. She gazed over the minute grasslands and vast desert, able to see for miles and miles, then bent down and set the final banner on fire. Sombra would be able to see it burning from Masyaf, should he be paying attention. More for herself, Emerald raised the torch high and yelled at the top of her voice. This would be their first triumph against Morn and it was not going to be the last. She would do everything in her power to stop him and bring an end to this war.