Chapter Forty One
Year 490; Icarus Manor
Rarity
“What?!” I yelled, descending the stairs again. I stopped right in front of Blake, Opal standing to the side nervously. “How do you know?”
Blake looked up at me, and in one look I could tell he wasn’t lying. Our respective houses may not have been terribly close, but the two of us had been friends for ages. We were both around the same age, and getting tangled up in things that didn’t concern us was a favorite pastime. But most importantly, I had learned to read him like a book, and knew that he was sure of what he was saying.
“I overheard him talking about it to the guard captain- I think they were the only two who were supposed to know about it. He said he wants his soldiers to position themselves around the enemy in a way that dad can kill her quickly, then make it look like someone else did it. He’s even going to swipe her Charm and replace it with a replica.”
Opal paced around us annoyingly. “The two have never liked each other, that much is obvious. Especially after that whole Goldoa fiasco a few years back nearly cost him his life and position. Makes sense he’d blame Icarus for it. And if he’s going to make a move for the Charm, I can see he aims to topple Icarus as a whole and absorb the house, the power-hungry bastard.”
Blake nodded to all of this. “I made a break for it as soon as I could- he should have no idea I’m not asleep in my room. When I passed Trottingham on my way here, the attackers were still only impeded by the locals, so we should still have a chance to stop him.”
Opal and I agreed immediately, and we descended to the armory to prepare as best we could. I got a few bits of armor together- a chest plate, some arm and knee guards and a buckler- as well as my rapier. Opal slipped on some chain mail and called it done, and we dashed back to the foyer.
We were halfway out the door when Opal stopped, hitting herself in the head. “Agh, we need someone to stay behind for Sweetie Belle... Gimmie a sec.” She dashed outside for a moment, scanning the streets, then spotted someone making their way through in no particular rush. “Hey! Lyra, get over here! I need you for something!”
The figure, a girl of about sixteen who lived in town, and I had met a few times, looked our way for a moment before coming up to meet us. Opal knew her better, thankfully. “You and Octavia wanna keep an eye on Sweetie Belle for a while? We’ve got a murder to stop.”
Lyra winced slightly, but then nodded. “I’ll do it. Tavi’s not really in much shape to... do anything, really, right now. Just had a bad breakup. I can handle things for a few hours. Where are you-”
She didn’t get to finish asking her question, because the three of us were already on the move out to the edge of town. When we hit it, Opal looked around for a moment. “How’d you get here? I’m not seeing anyone with wind magic or anything.”
Blake strode up to us. “I told you, I ran here.” He held up his hand, and I saw with surprise the Leo Charm wrapped around his knuckles. It resembled a crude image of a lion, with golden fur and a red mane, and was translucent just like the Icarus Charm. “Decided to steal one of dad’s ideas and swipe the real thing, leaving him with a fake. He’s probably figured it out by now, but I was able to get away before he noticed anything.”
With a grin, he slid the chain over his head, and a quick change took place in his body. A tail, with fur the same color as his hair, sprouted from his lower back, and his ears became pointy as they migrated to a position atop his head. His knuckles swelled slightly, and I could imagine claws springing forth from them. The transformation only took a second, so I guessed this wasn’t his first time using the charm. With his new features, coupled with the low and springy stance he took, I had to admit he looked rather cute.
I never got the chance to tell him that, though. Opal threw her arms back with a small roar, and a flash of light replaced her with a large white cat. I wasn’t sure what kind of cat she resembled, but she was far from a tiny house cat. She was big enough- and I small enough- that I was able to slip onto her back and ride without hindering her speed too much. I did so, and she and Blake took off at a run. Blake, surprisingly fast in this form, led the way to the battle, alternating between running on two legs and all fours.
As we ran, he filled us in on what the fighting was all about- apparently it was all one huge snapping point for two other houses- one based in Trottingham, the other an invader seeking to conquer the house. The home team was holding up well so far, being able to fight without endangering themselves too much, as well as having assistance from various volunteers in town. However, the attackers had them beat in raw numbers and strength, and they knew they couldn’t hold out forever in a one-on-one battle. So as soon as they were sure fighting would ensue, they called for help from Leo and Icarus, their two closest neighbors.
I could see Rytas’s plan unfolding before me- he wanted to throw the four houses into utter chaos, and come out on top of the situation himself. It didn’t matter how the battle really went, his plan would set it up so that one of the other two houses would have appeared to done the deed, severing the head of Icarus. While attacking and absorbing another house was an act frowned upon but not usually punishable, the defenders would be punished brutally for betraying someone they called upon for help, and the attackers would surely be crippled after being repelled. Either way, Icarus would be in disarray after the fact, and Rytas would be the one to pick up the pieces.
Fueled by panic and rage at the lengths that this man was willing to go, I prepared myself for whatever was to come. I understood what his plan was, but the question now was what our plan would be. By the sounds of it, this was going to be a brutal battle, and we’d have to dive into the middle of it to get to mom. The sun was making its trek across the sky, but we didn’t stop for food. We were all too nervous to eat, and had precious little time anyway.
After a painful wait, the outline of Trottingham finally became visible on the horizon. My heart raced, and I could feel the tension in both of my companions. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen soon.
As we got closer, it became apparent that a battle was hard underway. Even this as far as we still were from the city walls, stray arrows and blood littered the grass. The echoes of colliding steel and the odd explosion could be heard, and Children of Air could be seen battling it out above the city. Clearly we weren’t too late, but for how long?
We cautiously peeked around the edge of the gateway leading into the city, and realized our mission was going to be harder than we thought. The battle seemed to be reaching its peak, with the four small individual armies all giving their final push at each other. Blake tore the Leo Charm off quickly, wrapping it around his hand again and shaking his head. His features rapidly returned to normal. “Thing drains your strength after a while. I doubt I could keep it up much longer like this, let a lone in battle. So... What’s our plan?”
Opal rose from her crouch where she had been thinking, and spoke sharply. “Don’t stop moving. Keep close to me and don’t engage anyone. Shields up. Someone give me a some weapons.” We looked around for a second and handed her a discarded shield and a bloodied sword. She equipped them both properly, then began scanning the chaotic crowd. Blake and I drew our own weapons and adjusted our small shields. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest, and I could tell by the way Blake’s unoccupied fingers were flexing and un-flexing rapidly that he was just as on edge.
“There. I see them over there, by the vendor stand.” Opal said abruptly, and the two of us scrambled over to the wall to see. It took a moment to find where Opal was pointing, but soon I was able to pick out the figure of my mother, still fighting viciously with her rapier. The Icarus Charm was in full effect- a pair of crystalline butterfly’s wings sprouted from her back, and she darted back and fourth with sharp, stinging strikes. My heart began to slow slightly with relief. She’s still alive. We’re not too late.
But like a stone dropping, like a heroic piece of music suddenly veering off with a darker, more rapid pace, I saw that on the ground was Rytas. A large shield was strapped to one arm, and the scimitar in the other zipped around him and bit into his enemies before they had a chance to block. He was low to the ground as he fought, just as animalistic even without the Leo Charm. The scimitar was a blur as it spun and swung around him, and I couldn’t help but think of what he was apparently planning to do with it soon... I forced the thought out of my mind.
“On my mark, start running. We’re getting right in there with them, and if worst comes to worst we’ll just kill him. If not, he’ll think better of it and abandon the plan, what with smarter witnesses around.” She walked over to the gate, standing now in plain view of anyone who cared to look, and readied her sword. Her foot skidded back, and she was a second away from charging. Blake and I looked to each other, and I could see in his diamond-blue eyes that he was as scared as I was. He gave a terse nod and moved to Opal’s far side, and I took my place on the other.
“Charge!” Opal barked, taking off like an arrow, the two heirs scrambling to keep up. She didn’t slow as she collided with the crowd, mowing them down with shield before her and sword swinging in ineffectual arcs. Blake and I were right behind her now, heads down, shields up. We didn’t have time to attack, but we both gripped our swords still.
We were halfway buried in troops now, a few Icarian troops noticing our presence and covering us, but all of a sudden something changed. It wasn’t anything physical- soldiers were still fighting, the sounds of battle still echoed, nothing new was visible- but something in the air had definitely changed, and I was horrified. We didn’t slow, we didn’t change our strategy, but I could tell I wasn’t the only one feeling it.
Time seemed to be gradually slowing as the crowd thinned out, and my mind was screaming at me too loud for me to gather my thoughts. All I could think of now was getting to the end, and wondering what it was I’d see when we got there. Suddenly, Opal stopped short, and I ran into her and bounced back to the ground, landing roughly. Blake skidded to a halt an inch from doing the same, and looked forward, terrified. I didn’t want to, but I slowly moved my own gaze to where my companions were staring.
Just in time to see the curved, bloody sword pull out of my mother’s back.