Age of Kings

by A bag of plums


113 - The Vision of an Eagle

Emerald Edge had stood in the throne room, surprised that the tables could be shifted away so easily to give Magnus and Sombra more room to face off. She didn’t agree with this, seeing as there was an enemy army outside their castle walls right now, trying to get in, but Rake had assured her that no one was going to get killed. It was a Northern tradition to fight, even for no reason, so something like this wasn’t too out of place.

Emerald had looked out one of the windows, hoping to see her friends safe somewhere, but as of yet, they hadn’t seem to come in from the town yet. She could only hope that they were still safe from Morn’s Unified.

“Are you ready, King from Over the Mountain?” High King Magnus Rein dropped his cloak at his throne and gave his arms a good wiggle.

“As ready as I will ever be,” Sombra replied calmly. He had kept his cape on, and it billowed around him although there was no wind indoors. He held his scimitar firmly in his right hand, while his other hand was held at the ready in case he had to do any acrobatic maneuvers.

“An interesting weapon, that.” Magnus lifted Hel in one hand. “Wider at the top than the bottom. Does it not throw your balance off?”

“The increased weight at the tip makes for a more efficient cutting edge,” Sombra replied, flourishing the weapon.

“And that I shall see in combat.” The high king ran a finger along his axehead. “Are you ready then, King from Over the Mountain?”

“As I have said, I am ready.” Sombra’s feet disappeared in shadows.

Emerald, Rake and the rest of the Northerners in the hall stood off to the side, out of harm’s way, behind the tables that they had pushed away from the center. For such a proud and long lived people, Emerald thought, they certainly seemed to be backwards in terms of social etiquette. A war raged outside and they still thought they had time to do all this?

“Then you shall perform the first move, king.” Magnus planted his feet side by side and waited.

Sombra moved to the left, as did Magnus. Emerald had seen this many times before; both fighters were looking for an opening to strike. Only, the entire city was under siege and at risk of being invaded. She almost wanted to shout at both of them for prioritizing this fight instead of rallying the troops like they should be doing.

Then Sombra took a stab at the high king, seemingly trying to see what would happen. Magnus lifted his axe and parried Sombra’s strike, then moved closer and lifted his axe high, ready to bring it down. The Saddle Arabian king lifted his sword to block the strike, but when the axe connected with his scimitar, the force sent him down and he used that chance to melt into the shadows on the ground and disappear. Hel’s blade cut into the ground’s stonework and sent cracks snaking out from the center. From behind Magnus, shadows converged and Sombra appeared above the throne. In one powerful motion, he blasted himself forward like a comet.

“That’s far enough.” Magnus turned to see him coming and lifted his axe close to his mouth.

He then let loose with a mighty yell, his voice reverberating around the room as the sound waves crashed into Sombra. The dark comet veered away and touched down, but Magnus kept shouting, his voice projecting a tunnel-like blast as it chased Sombra around.

Finally it stopped and Magnus seemed to slump a little bit. Emerald looked at the table next to her. There had been a lump of butter there before, but now it was melted. Had the High King’s voice done that?

“Impressive.” Sombra came out from behind a chair and dusted himself. “Might I suggest that we have sparred enough?”

“Very well…” Magnus lifted his axe and rested it on his shoulder. “And your abilities too are something I have never seen out here in the Frozen North. You have fought well, King from Over the Mountain.”

“Great.” Sombra sheathed his blade and smoothed back his dark hair. “Then now could we deal with the more pressing matter at hand? The invading army?”

“Aye.” Magnus too, stowed his weapon. “Stronghorn. Assemble the men we have and take back our city.”

“Wait, that’s your plan?” Emerald had to stop him. “To just go out there and fight?”

Magnus scratched at his beard. “Yes. Is it not that simple?”

Emerald and Sombra shared a look. “Your majesty, the Unified, Morn’s army, are always led by knights. Specifically, Knights of the Round Table of the late King Dawn Saber’s court of Canterlot. As we did in Saddle Arabia, taking them down will lead the army into disarray and that is where your people would be able to repel them out of the Frozen North.”

“I have encountered one of them, yes.” Stronghorn touched at a mark across his right arm, where his flesh seemed to have turned black around a cut. “A knight of red armor and a blade as black as night, with gems imbued in it that are even darker than the blade itself.”

Emerald knew that weapon well. It was Gram, the Darkness of the Lake, the jet-black blade of her former brother-in-arms, Sir Agramane.

“You know who leads the army here, do you not?” Sombra watched Emerald’s face scrunch up in thought.

“I do.” She nodded grimly. “Your majesty, that knight is Sir Agramane of Canterlot. His sword, Gram, is said to be able to cut even the thick hide of dragons. Morn has empowered these swords through Excalibur. I am afraid I do not know what they are able to do now.”

“On that, I am able to shed some light.” Stronghorn pointed to his blackened arm wound. “Or really, shed some dark about it. It is like his sword is able to bend the shadows themselves, using them to his advantage to release blades of shadow through the air. I was only able to get away with a simple cut because of one of the guards, who sacrificed his life for mine.”

“Shadows?” Sombra waved a hand and darkness grew around it. “Perhaps I would be able to take him on. Are there any more knights leading this attack? When they attacked Saddle Arabia, there were two of them leading the charge.”

“Aye. That there is.” Stronghorn nodded. “Though I have not gotten a good glimpse of him. Somehow, he is able to control nature itself. It was him who destroyed the outer gates.”

Emerald thought hard about this one, but in the end, there wasn’t enough information to go on.

“These swords, they are fantastical. Weapons capable of rivaling my great Hel.” Magnus tapped a finger against his gold and silver weapon. “Emerald Edge, the Raven Knight. And Sombra, the King from Over the Mountain. If we are to work together to defeat this foe, I would like their swords added to my collection. They would prove valuable in time to come after this.”

“These swords belong to their bearers. I cannot-” Emerald was stopped by Sombra. “What?”

“What good are their weapons to them once they are gone?” he whispered. “You buried that weapon with the knight back in Saddle Arabia, but it was because as king, I allowed it in respect to you. This is a different land. This king does not yet know you like I do.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Emerald snapped at him.

“I suggest we give him what he wants. They would be of better use to someone still living.”

Emerald wanted to protest more, but she had no better reason than to lay them with their bearers. Sombra was right. These were powerful weapons that would do better in a capable human’s hands, enchanted or not.

“Very well, High King Magnus. The swords will be yours to take.”

The Northern king rubbed his hands together. “Excellent. Then I shall prepare for battle. Stronghorn, my thane, you will help the Raven Knight with whatever she needs. I leave her in your capable hands.” He turned and disappeared out a side door with a cluster of his stewards.

“Once again we are to face an enemy together?” Stronghorn laughed and pointed to the side of his head. “We have survived worse. What had become of your kingdom? After the druid attack?”

“Well, they came back,” Emerald said. It had all been such a long time ago. “They tried to take Canterlot, but we stopped them.” After that, she gave him the brief summary of Morn’s eventual betrayal and how he was now in control and his plans for world order.

“A United Kingdom?” Stronghorn laughed even harder. “He is right that no kingdom would submit willingly. But rest not, we will overcome this.”

“We will.” Rake walked up to them, a mug in one hand. “I am afraid war is not so much in my field of expertise. I shall leave you to plan with Stronghorn. I trust you already know each other.”

“Yes, I suppose we do.” Emerald nodded. “But what will you do?”

“Have no worry, I will join the battle when time comes.” Rake drank from his mug. “But as for planning, I will sit this one out. We must find the rest of Jarl Gruff’s patrolmen. I do hope they are still alive.”

“And the rest of my friends.” Emerald hopped out the gates of the castle. “Sombra, go with Stronghorn and prepare a strategy to face the Unified.”

“What will you do, Emerald?”

“I will find them. I shouldn’t be long. And I will get them here safely.”

Sombra looked at the Axe of Jorgjafylki at her side. “Should any foe face you, I am sure you would win.”

“That I will. I will see you soon, Sombra.” Emerald made her way to the base of the castle walls, while Sombra headed back inside with the high king’s thane.

Emerald looked up at its surface, remembering what she and Posey had done outside. Perhaps if she could get somewhere high, she would be able to get a good idea of where she could find them. A part of her still worried that they might’ve met danger, but Posey and Moon Tide were with them. Posey was a capable fighter, probably as good as she was. As for Moon Tide, or the name she was now going by, Amber Fang, Emerald had seen what she could truly do. No enemy would dare bring them upon themselves, controlled or not.

Finding grooves and depressions within the stone work, Emerald kicked off the base of the wall and began making her way up. She kept going all the way up one of the wall’s towers, using its bricks and even windows to get herself higher. Eventually, she made her way to the very top of the structure, where she had found a wooden beam jutting out of the wall. It was a perfect place to situate herself as she got a good look around the city, looking for any sign of her friends.

She could see burning buildings, courtesy of the catapults that had already stopped firing, from beyond the outer walls. She could see Morn’s army all over the streets, some still in combat with vikings, but Emerald did not see any of her friends in the fray.

“If I were Posey, where would I lead them…?” she said out loud as she thought. She pointed both hands at her own head. “Think, Emerald.”

She narrowed her eyes as she tried to look further out, looking for any tell as to where her friends might’ve gone, whether it was footprints or a dropped piece of clothing, or anything, but she still saw nothing. She kept looking, straining the back of her eyes as she tried to put her tracking training to use.

But then her vision darkened for a second and she fell back, a little startled, almost falling off the tower. She leaned back forward and tried that again and this time, the world around her stayed dark, with the moving shapes below becoming multicolored.

“Is this it?” Emerald looked at her hands, seeing she was now covered in a blue hue. “This is what Posey taught me!”

The world looked startlingly different. It was darker, for starters, but she could now see things she could not before. Colors that flickered in the streets below like candles. There were blues, whites, reds, and golds. All of them moving around like ants in the cobbles. Emerald had no idea what the different colors meant, but she kept looking around for Posey and the rest of her friends.

A screech reached Emerald’s ears; it was a familiar sound to her after having traveled with Posey for so long. She looked up to see Gabriel circling above her head, the eagle clearly knowing who she was.

“Gabriel! Posey must not be far from here,” Emerald scanned the streets below. Now that the special vision had tuned out the fires and smoke, she was able to see the ground level more clearly than ever.

Then she spied a cluster of golden shapes moving about in one of the side passages. Familiar robed figures tossed magic at a trio of oncoming knights and a smaller one stabbed at them with a shortsword.

“There they are…” Emerald blinked and the eagle vision was gone.

Gabriel squawked something to her, then began circling near her. Emerald didn’t get what he was trying to say, but when she looked down, she spotted a well placed abandoned wagon covered in snowfall. There was a mound on it that resembled all the hay bales she had jumped into and she smiled.

“Thank you, Gabriel.”

Emerald spread her arms to her side, then as she kicked off the beam and sailed through the air, Gabriel flew along beside her, screeching as she fell towards the wagon. She dropped in it with a puff of snow into the air. It wasn’t as soft of a landing as she was expecting, but she was at least unscathed.

“Come on, Gabriel. We’ve got to help the others.” Emerald brushed snow off her nose and got out of the wagon.

Drawing her sword and the Jarl Gruff’s axe, Emerald made her way towards her friends, having committed the path to her memory from having seen it from above. She was there in a heartbeat and she approached stealthily behind one of the knights, who was busy trying to gut Guard Streak with a spear.

Emerald swung her axe at his midsection and she felt the blade cut through his chainmail easily and slashed through the small of his back. The man reached back and tried to grab her, but Emerald kicked him in the back of one knee and he went down, allowing her to jab a hidden blade through his neck. The knight went down without a sound, but the other two attacking her friends turned to face her now, both of them equipped with swords and shields.

As they attacked, Emerald parried their blades with her scimitar and attacked back with her axe, cutting gashes across their shiny armor. From behind, vials of magic sailed through the air and smashed against one of their backs, instantly making his armor bubble and boil. The knight switched his attention back to Emerald’s friends just as Posey jumped from the roof above, pushing him down and stabbing her hidden blade through his visor.

With only one left, Emerald kicked at his shield, knocking it aside and cut her axe down into the knight’s helmet. The Canterlotian took one step back slowly, then dropped his sword and shield before slumping against the building.

“Emerald, you made it just in time!” Parisa Pie hopped out of the building towards her like a jack rabbit. “Is the king safe?”

“Glad to see you all too.” Emerald gave her a quick hug. “Sombra’s now discussing tactics with the high king and his court. I came out here to find you lot.”

“And tis a good thing you did.” Nightfall held out her satchel for Emerald to see. “I’ve run out of magic.”

“And food. Don’t forget food.” Jewel Pin rubbed her belly.

“Wait, you ate everything during the skirmish?” Posey couldn’t believe her ears.

“Stress makes me hungry.”

“We were fighting for our lives and you were eating?” Posey slapped a hand to her forehead. “Em, I really cannot understand Jewel Pin sometimes…”

“Don’t y’all worry. We’ve still got plenty o’ apples.” Apple Bean worked to diffuse the situation.

“Mighty fine thing that we keep our apples separate from our supplies.” Golden Nugget laughed. “We should get out of here, though. We don’t want to be spendin’ any more time out here than we should.”

“There are two Knights of the Round Table here leading the attack on Nidaroats,” Emerald told her friends. “Sombra and I are going to go remove them from the battle.”

“And then we’ll chase ‘em out like we did in Saddle Arabia?” Honeygold asked excitedly.

“That we will.” Spectrum put her hands on her hips proudly. “And we’ll make sure they won’t ever want to come back here!”

“That’s not all,” Emerald continued. “The high king of the land also has an Equestrian artifact in his possession.”

“He has one o’ them flashy weapons?” Honeygold asked. “Why don’t we just take it and use it against Morn’s Uniforfid?”

“Probably the same reason Emerald didn’t just take Excalibur off King Dawn Saber,” Light Speckle mumbled. “Excalibur was King Dawn Saber’s right to rule Canterlot. I am sure the high king would also have similar circumstances.”

“It ain’t fair,” Honeygold complained, stamping one foot on the ground. “These things belong to Em’s people- er, ponies, in the first place, and havin’ ‘em would make everything so much easier!”

“Not to mention if Dawn Saber had forked over Excalibur, the world wouldn’t be in this whole mess at all,” Spectrum agreed.

“Won’t that just make you the queen, then, Em?” Honeygold snickered. “That’d be amazin’ if you were in charge!”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t possibly run a whole kingdom.” Emerald quickly shook her head. “I may be a spymaster. Or a knight, but I am no queen.”

The sound of metallic footsteps crunching on stone became apparent to Emerald and she hopped around the building to have a look. The streets were mostly quiet now that the sounds of fighting had died down. She hoped that the remaining vikings out here had found their way to safety. As for her group, they still had to get to the castle and finish planning this out.

If High King Magnus were to engage the Knights of the Round Table in combat, surely his axe would overpower whatever enchantments Morn has placed on them, she reasoned.

She had seen him in action first hand. He was able to go up against Sombra, so that would mean there would be a chance they would take down the invaders without too many losses.

“Come. I must get all of you to the castle.” Emerald gestured to her friends that it was time to move. “From there, we can plot our next course of action safely.”

“That is… while the walls hold,” Amber Fang said grimly.

Emerald looked at the stone walls surrounding the castle and its gate and portcullis. Even now, dust shook from its walls as the invaders tried to smash through it with their weapons to no avail, unable to bring their catapults close enough to hit it. It was going to be hard to get back into the castle, but Emerald knew they would find a way.