The legionaries behind her thrust their short swords in perfect unison, a meat-grinder of Imperial iron that rapidly reduced the fleeing horde to a pile of butchered, steaming husks.
The woman stepped back from the fading carnage, shaking the dark blood from her blade. She turned her head, her gaze sweeping over the alleyway, before locking directly onto Ana.
The fierce, battle-hardened Paladin froze. She instantly lowered her blood-soaked sword, ignoring the gore and the mud, and dropped to one knee upon the cobblestones, bowing her head in absolute reverence.
"Domina," the woman spoke, her voice trembling with an overwhelming, fanatical relief. "You are safe." Immediately, the legionaries surrounding the woman dropped to their knees, remaining perfectly still until Ana signalled for them to rise.
Ana moved toward the kneeling commander while the remaining soldiers fanned out, their heavy boots clanking against the cobblestones as they secured our perimeter. Yet, even in the midst of the chaos, I caught many a helm casting sidelong glances at her. It was unyielding reverence—the exact same terrifying devotion I was accustomed to receiving as a Targaryen and a dragonrider.
"Maria, it is good to see you. You may rise," Ana commanded.
The woman obeyed, standing only after she had been directly addressed. Such iron-clad discipline was rare, even among the Kingsguard.
"Tell me all that has occurred in my absence," Ana instructed.
"We breached the city after the Princeps shattered the gates, but we immediately encountered heavy resistance from these shadow-husks," Maria reported, a grimace tightening her soot-stained features. "The legions were assigned sectors to subjugate. I was holding the northern district when a dragon attacked the vanguard. It distinguished neither ally nor foe; it simply burned everything it saw."
"Where is my brother?" Ana demanded, her voice tightening.
"The Princeps engaged the beast directly to hold it at bay. He ordered me to fall back with the surviving legionaries," Maria confessed, a heavy, bitter guilt lacing her words.
The sheer gravity of her statement was not lost on me.
"We must hurry, Ana, or else Caraxes may doom your brother," I voiced, genuine concern bleeding through my exhaustion.
Maria looked inclined to agree, but Ana shook her head.
"If anything, Daemon, my brother will slaughter Caraxes without a second thought if the cost in Roman lives outweighs the benefit of sparing him," Ana countered grimly. "We must hurry before this devolves into an absolute crisis."
"I will send a contingent of men with you, Domina," Maria quickly interposed.
Ana shook her head. "That will not be necessary, Maria. They would only die a pointless death, and my magic is not at its prime to shield them from the shadows. Nothing will harm me, be sure of that. You must remain here and protect the men under your charge."
Maria offered a fleeting, blood-stained smile. "That is almost word-for-word what the Princeps instructed as well."
Ana gave a faint, exhausted smirk at that. Within moments, two fresh Imperial cavalry horses were brought forth from the formation, allowing us to mount up and ride hard for the north.
We spurred the Imperial cavalry mounts into a hard gallop, their iron-shod hooves striking sparks against the cobblestones as we tore through the burning labyrinth of Qohor.
Above the roar of the flames, another massive, earth-shaking roar ripped through the night. But it was immediately followed by a high, desperate whine. It was a sound I had never heard Caraxes make in all our years bonded together—a sound of genuine, helpless agony.
We were forced to slow our pace as the narrow alleyways became choked with the shadow-possessed. They lunged from the smoke, their void-like eyes tracking us. Ana rode at the vanguard, her Valyrian claymore shearing through the dark husks from horseback, while I cleaved any that managed to slip past her guard with Dark Sister.
As we pushed further north, the dense architecture finally broke, granting us a horrifying vantage point.
Towering over the ruined manses of the northern square was Caraxes. The sheer sight of him stole the breath from my lungs. The Blood Wyrm was crippled. Across his broad, crimson chest were massive, jagged lacerations that wept steaming, near-boiling blood down his scales. He was grounded, his wings thrashing uselessly against the ruins.
In a moment of pure, horrified distraction, my mental discipline slipped. I desperately reached out through the blood-tie, trying to project a sense of calm to my mount.
It was a catastrophic mistake.
The moment my consciousness brushed against his, the sheer, blinding agony of his wounds rebounded directly into my skull. A massive, crippling headache drove like a spike behind my eyes. I cried out, my vision violently flashing white as I slumped forward against my horse's neck, dropping my guard entirely.
The shadow-possessed seized the opening.
They were no longer just mindless husks; the dark magic within them was mutating, twisting their features into horrific, demonic visages. Half a dozen of them swarmed my mount. Rusted blades and shadowy claws tore brutally into the horse's flanks. The beast screamed, collapsing beneath me. I was thrown hard into the mud, my torn stitches ripping open with a fresh, searing burn.
Beside me, Ana's horse suffered the same fate, dragged down by a mob of the abominations.
We were entirely grounded. Through the intersecting alleyways, a blinding wave of heat washed over us as Caraxes unleashed another furious torrent of fire in the distance, illuminating our grim reality.
I hauled myself up, hacking wildly at the encroaching shadows, but it was Ana who bore the absolute brunt of the ambush. She was a storm in the midst of shadows, her Valyrian steel moving with a speed that belied the heavy weight of her claymore. But the oppressive, ambient heat of the dragonfire rolling through the streets was taking its toll. Panting heavily, she paused just long enough to unstrap the heavy, steel armguards of her ringmail, letting the metal clatter to the cobblestones to allow her to move faster.