Redemption

This is a scene from The Bar Story. Tristan, the true leader of the black dragons of Wales, has returned to fight his evil half brother Onyx for the throne.

The arc of fire that was each swing of Redemption was almost the only thing I concentrated on. Swing, thrust, parry, repeat. The clang of metal on metal with force was almost the only sound in the room. I breathed as Talon had taught me. In through the nose, out through the mouth. So far, we had been well matched. So well matched that now the challenge was coming down to stamina and concentration. Who would slip up first? Me or Onyx?

I wondered briefly if Redemption had some sort of power given by Aminan. If it had been given power it must have something to do with stamina because I was not tired in the least. Winter had sent her thoughts to me a couple of times just to reassure me and I’d briefly gotten a glimpse of her with Dai which meant two things, the rescue was successful and Ashley was gone. I knew Mary would take care of Ashley. I wasn’t worried about that at all. However, I’d also see that Caden and Derek had disappeared. That was another fight but this time it was one I couldn’t focus on at all. I would stumble with Onyx if I thought about that bastard Caden besting Derek in any way.

I watched Onyx circling around to my right and tracked him with my eyes and Redemption. He was up to something. It showed in his eyes. The evil glint. The hint of satisfaction. I let my gaze flicker farther to my right and saw Talon and Fayne standing at the edge of the area where we fought. What was Onyx up to?

I saw his sword swing just then and brought up Redemption. As my sword pushed his away I saw the glint of metal in Onyx’s free hand. A dagger! He’d thrown one not at me but at Talon! My eyes darted to my best friend in time to see him twist out of the dagger’s path. A dragon behind him went down with a roar but then as my eyes darted back to Onyx I realized it was too late. I arced my body backward, twisting my shoulders away from the swing of his blade but it wasn’t enough. I felt his sword tip slice along my right arm, pain radiating out from the cut.

Onyx grinned evilly and I felt fury rising within me. Stay calm! I heard Talon’s warning in my head but it was too late. I feinted to the left and Onyx took my bait thinking I was too angry to put much thought into my actions. He moved to my left intent on parrying my thrust but there was none. His right side was open and I took the opening. Redemption slid easily into his shoulder right down to the bone. I heard the crowd gasp and then Onyx was stumbling back, shock in his black eyes as he saw the blood gushing from his shoulder. I’d missed my mark just slightly. Enough that I hadn’t gotten him cleanly through the heart as I should have.

Onyx stumbled again and I wondered if maybe I hadn’t hit an artery of some kind because the amount of blood soaking his shirt was more than I would have imagined. The next thing I knew Onyx was down and I closed in on him a split second later. As I moved in his sword arced toward my head and the crowd gasped again but I spun backward, Redemption hitting his sword awkwardly so that I felt the hit reverberate down my arm. Then Onyx was moving to rise and I shot back in toward him, Redemption slicing toward his hand and knocking his sword away and ending the movement at his throat.

Silence filled the great hall as the black dragons beheld the tyrant who had ruled them for three hundred years on his back, blood pooling beneath him from his shoulder wound, his sword lying useless on the floor several feet away, and Redemption gleaming like fire at his bared throat. My chest heaved with the force of my breathing. I stared down at my half brother and felt the years of exile fall away. This was my house, my land, my people, my sept. This is where I belonged and it was time for me to take back my rights.

“Onyx Blackthorne, your mother killed mine in order to marry our father,” I said in a voice loud enough that everyone in the great hall could hear. “You tried to kill me twice over when our father died. You’ve sent assassins to kill me and my daughter Rhiannon who is my rightful heir. You have not succeeded in anything you’ve attempted to do to thwart me.”

“That’s where you are wrong Tristan,” Onyx sneered his eyes filled with hatred. “I kept you from your people for three hundred years. I ruled this sept and I kept you in exile. I doubt that any historian would feel that my accomplishments were not worthy of being recorded in the annals of our sept. What you do with this sept now will be nothing next to what I have done. The black sept is feared by every other sept. That is not something you can change just by killing me and becoming wyvern again. You will fight that prejudice for the rest of your li-…”

I cut off his words the easiest way I knew how. I cut off his head. Redemption arced into the air once more, Onyx’s blood dripping from it as my half brother’s head rolled away from his body, pushed there by the force of my blow. The gasp that went through the hall at my swift move was deafening. And then silence reigned. I felt Talon and Dai move to flank me, saw Fayne at Winter’s side with her sword drawn. I looked at my people and for one long moment I wondered if they would turn on me. And then, almost as one, they knelt before me in acceptance of me as their wyvern.

I looked Talon and sagged in relief. Dai was grinning. I looked over my shoulder at Winter and saw love shining in her eyes. I glanced down at the cold dead eyes of my brother’s head and felt a surge of pride in my accomplishment this day. I had defeated my greatest enemy. My sept was mine again… Now what the fuck did I do? Go to Disneyland?