Ember Legacy, Volume 4

Chapter 30: Death of a Kingdom

Kingdom of Vale

Western Reaches

"Humans have reason to hate us dragons. If one dragon turns against humankind, he is a great and terrible foe."

~ Kathryn Fogleman, Tales of the Wovlen: The Dragon Son

TRIGGER WARNING for torture scene

Jeanne paused, wearily leaning a hand against the nearest tree trunk. Her legs felt like jelly, barely able to keep her armored form upright. She knew it must be far worse for her redheaded Knight up ahead, who had also come to a stop at another tree just in front of her. Pyrrha's ornate armor was far heavier, though one would think the bulk of it made little difference if they were to see how magnificently she moved in combat.

Right now, though, her Knight's shoulder's sagged under a burden both physical and emotional.

The blonde's hand snuck down to the pouch at her side, checking for perhaps the thousandth time to make sure the fist-sized Orb was still secure. They'd been running almost constantly for the past several hours, taking small walking breaks before starting into a sprint once more. Both of the Mistralian women were aptly conditioned for such an endeavor, but even so, there was a limit to the Human endurance.

"We should rest," Pyrrha murmured, turning so that her back was against the tree.

"Yes, My Lady," she agreed breathlessly.

Only after she'd received her squire's acceptance did the redhead finally allow herself to sag to the forest floor and lean her head back against the tree trunk, eyes closed as she continued to gulp down air.

Jeanne slid to the ground as well, facing the other woman, but she couldn't allow her eyes to rest. Instead, she observed the other woman in profile, watching the trails of sweat as they ran through the dust and dirt on her face.

She'd never seen her look so beautiful, so magnificent.

Eventually, both of their breathing slowed enough for them to be truly resting, though neither woman made any attempt to move. And all the while Jeanne's mind was whirring with conflicted emotions, the loss of first Coco, then Nora and Ren, weighing heavily upon her. But none so much as what she felt when she looked at the one person in her life she'd follow anywhere, do anything for, give her life up for without even a second thought.

"I can't keep doing this," she whispered blankly.

Pyrrha stirred at that, turning her head and opening her eyes to gaze at the blonde with her brilliant emerald green orbs. "What was that, Jeanne?"

"My Lady…" She swallowed thickly. "Pyrrha. I can't… I'm finding myself unable to repress what I feel any longer."

At that, any lingering traces of lethargy were gone like a startled flock of birds. Pyrrha sat up straight, her eyes shining with a multitude of emotions of her own. "Jeanne…" she breathed anxiously.

"I don't care anymore, Pyrrha," she continued earnestly, clambering up and onto her haunches. "The Order be damned, I just cannot bring myself to care anymore. I can't deny the feelings I have for you, and if… If we fail in this task… I just…"

"You cannot think like that," the redhead interjected through what seemed to be numb lips. "Ruby and the others…"

"We don't know if they will ever find us, or if they have survived… Nor Lady Nebula and the other Valesian Knights of Artemis… We might be it, Pyrrha, just the two of us…" Jeanne took a deep breath, screwing up her courage. "I love you, Pyrrha. I know we've danced around this in the past, but it's there, I can't just bury it anymore."

"And… And I…" Pyrrha swallowed, the rivulets of sweat now joined by tears. "And I love you, Jeanne, but…"

"I know, I understand, but right here and now, out in this forest…" Jeanne hadn't realized she'd started to crawl forward until she was hovering over the figure of her Knight, the other woman looking more like prey frozen in place than the warrior she was. "What does it all matter?"

"We have to stay true to our ideals," the redhead whispered weakly, eyes flickering back and forth between Jeanne's own sapphire blue ones.

"Ideals be consigned to the Abyss," Jeanne whispered back. "I'd give it all up for you."

"Jeanne…"

She leaned closer, hesitantly, but then noted that Pyrrha was doing the same. The blonde felt her pulse hammering in her ears, threatening to overwhelm her, but it wasn't quite loud enough to cover the sharp snap of a twig from somewhere nearby.

Both warriors sprang apart and to their feet, the tiredness in their bodies washed away by a tide of adrenaline. Shields and swords were both in their hands, Jeanne clutching at her new weapon determinedly as her eyes scanned the forest, awaiting her Lady's orders to fight or flee.

"It's stronger this way!" a feminine voice called out, one Jeanne recognized and knew well.

"Ruby?" she murmured incredulously.

Just then, a dark figure slipped noiselessly from the shadows next to them. Clad in her usual garb of purple tunic with black leather pants and boots, Blake graced them with a wide and relieved smirk, her tail swishing playfully behind her. "Found them," she called out behind her.

"See, I told you, Yang!" the brunette laughed as she came into view, several yards back. "Find the Orb, find our companions!"

"Yeah, yeah, godsdamned thing still makes my scales crawl," her blonde sister grumbled.

The pair of Mistralians just stared at the approaching party in shock, open-mouthed, as they sheathed their weapons. And then Jeanne noted that, along with a certain platinum-haired Elf trailing behind Yang, there was another pair of familiar figures.

"Fancy meeting you here, Lady Nikos," Nebula greeted them tiredly.

"Lady Violette, Lady Gayl," Pyrrha called out, her eyes picking out each as she wordlessly clasped forearms with Blake in greeting. "Where are…?"

Dew sighed and shook her head, tangled dark blonde tresses swaying dejectedly to match her dark tone. "We lost the both of them to the constant fighting since we saw you last."

"I… I am sorry to hear that," the redhead managed, choking back her emotions.

"Alright, so at least we found you guys," Yang sighed heavily, folding her arms across her chest. "I can't sense Coco nearby, did you lose her somehow?"

"And where are Nora and Ren?" Ruby asked worriedly.

Jeanne gazed at the brunette sorrowfully, her throat closed off. She could only shake her head, tears spilling down her cheeks anew as she found herself unable to let her friend know of what had transpired since they last saw one another.

Pyrrha, of course, was able to draw the tattered remains of her dignity around her like a shroud and cleared her throat, her gaze focused on a point somewhere past Yang's head. "Coco… she fell to a pair of Onyx Dragons, but not before slaying one herself… the other was taken down by Nora…"

Yang stumbled backwards at the news, feeling behind her sightlessly. Weiss was there in an instant, wrapping her small arms around the Gold and holding her reassuringly.

"While Nora… and Ren…" A sob broke past Pyrrha's composure, but she managed to recover once more. "Nora fell to an Orc horde, and… and Ren stayed behind to delay them, for us… and b- because he c- couldn't… couldn't…"

That was all she could manage as she closed her eyes, bowing her head. The Cat Faunus next to her, tears of her own filling her amber orbs, stepped in to hold her close.

Jeanne started slightly as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, Ruby pulling her into a tight hug. The blonde couldn't contain it anymore, sobbing loudly into the brunette's shoulder as they all gave what comfort they could to each other.

Vale Keep

The agonized screams that rang out through the dungeons beneath the castle would never be heard in the light of day. They were so far underground, so buried behind doors and winding passageways, that even the denizens of the keep itself were blissfully unaware of the chamber that had been recently outfitted for one very particular purpose.

A wooden table had been placed almost vertically up against the wall but at a bit of an angle. Currently strapped to the surface, spread-eagled and naked, was a miserable, sobbing form. Her face was obscured by ratty strands of brick-red hair, congealed blood and dirt almost masking the once-lustrous color. Her body was crisscrossed with scars, some pinker than others, but the vast majority of them were recently given.

The victim's head twitched slightly at the sound of each heel striking the floor as her tormentor paced around the circumference of the stone room.

"So, let us summarize what we've discussed today, shall we?" Cinder continued her pacing, a wide and beatific smile on her face. "So far I have retrieved from you everything I'd need, really, to destroy your precious Order several times over."

She stopped at the side of the table, amber eyes eagerly roaming across her handiwork. The hooked blade on her hand came up to caress the side of the restrained woman, causing the both of them to shudder slightly, though for different reasons. With a smirk, Cinder slipped the point of the blade into a spot just above the hip and began to work her way upwards.

Another hoarse scream was torn from the throat of the abused woman, but it ended soon thereafter when the blade was retracted. Cinder reached over to the nearby tray to retrieve one of the numerous Healing Potions she'd stockpiled, unstopping the vial to sprinkle some over the wound. The gash soon closed up, leaving a bright pink scar in its place.

"But so far this has all been just a prelude," Cinder continued gleefully as she placed her tools back upon the cart. "All of this was already known to me, but reinforces my belief that you want to please me, you want to tell me everything you know." She turned once again to grip the matted hair, hauling back and exposing the despondent face before her. "And you do, don't you?"

"Y- Yes…" Octavia gasped weakly.

"Good girl." She let the Valesian Knight's head flop back down inelegantly.

"Have you ever heard," the raven-haired woman purred throatily as she resumed her pacing the room, "of the warrior-poet Shan Yu?" She paused, seemingly waiting for a response from the panting redheaded woman that was not forthcoming. "No? Well, allow me to educate you, dear girl…"

Cinder walked by the nearby tray, this time picking up a slender surgeon's scalpel as she passed. "You see, this brilliant Human wrote volumes on war, torture, the limits of humanoid endurance. Quite the work of art, I assure you."

She stopped in front of the girl, grabbing her by the top of her hair once again and pulling her up from where she sagged in her restraints. "Almost brilliant enough to be written by one of my own kind," she mused. Octavia's eyelids fluttered weakly, making her snort in derision before letting the girl's head flop back down again.

"He said, and now this is only a loose translation, I assure you…" Cinder resumed her pacing, the clacking of her heels rhythmic and steady. "Live with a man for forty years. Share his house, his meals. Speak with him on every subject. Then tie him up and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day… That day, you will finally meet the man."

Cinder stopped at the foot of the table, regarding her victim consideringly. "I'd say it's now time to meet the real Octavia Ember." Her face contorted into a sneer as the name slipped from her lips. "It's an insult to my mate that such a puny human, filled with squishy bits, bears his illustrious name."

With a snarl, she slashed outwards across the belly of the redhead before her. The skin parted easily, revealing the minuscule layer of white fatty tissue before the wound welled up with bright blood. Octavia jerked slightly and gasped at the sudden pain.

Cinder eagerly watched the blood as it ran down her victim's body in rivulets, coating her lower torso. Before the blood loss could become too severe, she applied the healing draught once more.

"I want to know," she purred into Octavia's ear, "about the Dragons."

"D- Dragons?"

"The ones who accompanied you from Vale, you pathetic little whelp."

The redhead nodded shakily, her head barely moving. "T- Two of t- them, a G- Gold and a- a- a-"

"Yes, a Gold and a Silver," Cinder completed for her impatiently. "Names, describe them, you fool!"

"Y- Yang, b- blond huh... huh… hair… l- lilac eyes..."

"Yes, I expected that one," the raven-haired woman dismissed. "As great a thorn in my side as that pest is, I want to know about the other. Who is she? Who is the Silver?"

"Ruh… Ruby… brunette… and with… s- s-" Octavia paused, sucking in a rattling breath. "Silver eyes…"

"What?" Cinder's incredulous retort made the redhead flinch away from her. Crimson-tipped nails dug into her skin as she gripped her jaw, turning her face towards her own. "Did you say silver eyes?"

"Y- Yes," the redhead gasped out painfully.

With a growl, Cinder dropped her head and resumed her pacing, this time at a quicker tempo. The bloody scalpel was flung to the tray with a resounding clang.

"Ancients be damned," she hissed. "Silver eyes… I should have gotten a better description from Emerald, pathetic as she was… Nor did I see the eyes while she was in the castle… But it must be her, it must be a hatchling of that damnable murdering Silver…"

She paused in her walk, hands clenched furiously at her sides. "Summer," she snarled, the word like a vile curse as it left her lips.

Cinder smiled, then, ever so slightly. "Well, at least I know the endgame, now," she mused. "They'll be coming back here with the Orb to oppose me."

She strode over to the single door, flinging it open. Her lieutenant, a towering man clad in a sleeveless white tunic and dark trousers, jerked to attention.

"Send out the summons," she ordered curtly. "I finally have this kingdom in my hands, ready to spread the flames across all of Remnant and wipe out these pesky humanoids once and for all. I will not be thwarted."

"It will be done, My Lady," the Red male bowed. "Should I send all of the missives you've prepared?"

"Yes, yes, all of them," she waved her hand airily. "I want everyone in place as soon as possible."

She closed the door once again, her irate mask slipping until she had a look of coy anticipation as she leaned her back against the door, hands clasped demurely behind her.

"Now, then, my dear. Let's explore that volcano a little more, shall we?"

The choked screams never left the small chamber but carried on for many hours more.

Kingdom of Vale

Western Reaches

The eight members of the reduced Fellowship of the Orb sat in silence around the campfire. Ruby had decided that, with as far as they had all traveled, they should simply make camp there for the night. Their pursuers were far behind, and they needed the time to recover, to reconnect…

And to mourn.

The tears had flowed freely among all of the women as Pyrrha and Jeanne recounted what had transpired since they'd parted. The blonde told of their harrowing encounter with the Dracolich and other undead, and her redheaded Knight picked the tale up where they ventured through the fabled halls of Rockhome.

Ruby, in turn, offered up their comparatively tame experiences in both the Hold and the Aerie, as well as what support she'd been able to garner so far, though when such reinforcements might show up was unclear still.

When Nebula took over with her small group's exploits, however, the mood became even grimmer.

"The entire Kingdom has fallen into disarray," the indigo-haired Elven Knight related. "While you were gone, we tried to do what we could from the countryside, but were unable to reach Vale itself. Lady Gayl and I had decided to head towards Vacuo for help when we finally ran into you all."

"How did this all devolve so quickly?" the other Elf in the group questioned.

Dew sucked in a bracing breath. "The King and the Royal Mage were both assassinated," she finally blurted out.

"Gods," Yang breathed, clutching Weiss close to her side.

Nebula nodded wearily. "With all the rest of the leadership in Vale decimated, there was only one council member strong enough to attempt to hold things together. Lady Cinder took over as emergency Regent until the uprisings have been put down, but she hasn't really been doing all that much to fulfill that promise…"

"Most of the so-called bandits roaming the countryside are actually Orcish war bands," the blonde Valesian Knight affirmed. "But we've clashed with some rogue Knights from the Order of the Cardinal who have taken up arms against their own countrymen, leading us to believe there is more to this than what appears to be on the surface…"

"I'd say you were right with that belief," Ruby stated levelly. Her eyes had taken on a familiar swirling stormy grey as she scanned her companions seated around the fire. "I have the strong suspicion that this Lady Cinder is, in fact, Cindeshthyaleramathe, the mate of Ember."

Nebula sat up straight, her olive eyes flashing angrily. "Do you mean to tell me a Red Dragon is now reigning over my kingdom?"

"Worse than that," Pyrrha intoned softly. "She must have orchestrated all of this, all the killings and the uprising and the invasion of the Orc hordes…"

"Can you be sure of this, Ruby?" Blake pressed.

"I am," the Silver replied confidently. "Dragons are nothing if not egotistical…"

"It's true," Yang interjected with a shrug.

"...And all of us derive our Common names from our Draconic ones. Cinder is quite likely the Common derivative of Cindeshthyaleramathe, and a Red like her would think nothing of keeping it as she infiltrated the Valesian Council."

"So, then," Jeanne stated quietly. She stood, hand resting on the hilt of Crocea Mors. "We will be bringing her down, correct?"

"That's the plan," Ruby agreed, standing as well with her red cloak swirling about her. "It was always my intent to oppose Cinder, and now that she's shown her hand…"

"...We know where to strike," Weiss added, the Elven Mage coming to her feet determinedly as she gripped the hilt of Myrtenaster.

"And take back our Kingdom," Blake added from where she now stood in between Ruby and Pyrrha.

The redhead got to her feet with a resolute sigh. "Though this is not my kingdom, I would be honored to fight by your sides in its reclamation."

"And we would be more than grateful for your help," Dew assured her, stepping up and resting a hand on her fellow Knight's armored shoulder.

Nebula stood up as well, her arms crossed resolutely. "It's not going to be easy," she cautioned. "And will likely become bloody before we are done with it."

"And we'll be ready for whatever she throws in our path," Ruby replied before turning to the only member of the group still sitting. "Yang?" she prompted softly.

The Gold was sitting cross-legged, staring into the fire, her eyes drifting between crimson and lilac as nameless emotions swirled behind them. "We've faced, what, five Dragons now, all sent by Cinder. How many more might she have to throw at us?"

"It doesn't matter," her sister returned with quiet confidence. "We're reunited once again, we have the Orb, and we can handle anything as a group."

"Right." With a sigh, the Gold got to her feet, her gaze unwavering from the campfire. "I'll not let Coco's death be in vain."

"Or Nora's, or Ren's," Weiss added softly, placing a gentle hand on Yang's arm.

"So, we keep moving forward?" Jeanne prompted.

"We do," their brunette leader replied firmly. "And may those in our path tremble in fear before us."

A/N: So, that was a thing. Many things, actually. Have I perchance gotten everyone to despise Cinder's character as much as I do? The bit regarding Shan Yu is another homage to Firefly (all hail Joss). Also, yes, I'm an incredible tease with Arkos.

Next up, we'll see just what has been arrayed against our intrepid adventurers. Hang tight, only four chapters left in this tale, but it's going to be a wild ride still...

Hugs for my wonderful Beta, KellyConnely, and much love to you readers and reviewers for sticking with me! So very many this time, and so many variations to calling me a monster… bankerrtx01, AntonSlavik020, carpenter656, that-which-dwells-below, TacoKing23, Phoenix8221, Boombox94, Foxinstrazt, RatedRSuperStar87, ZHsteven, allie300093, Ninjapandas0010, FourNails1341, Haley Earthstone, Crescent Sunrise, OverDude12, Bman000444, Minesniper. Still, I really am sorry for all of the induced tears, and that I couldn't reply to each and every one of you. I love Nora so much, it actually hurt to write that last chapter.

Stay shiny!