"What do we do now?" I whisper, looking at the dragon and hoping he wasn't as clueless as me.
"Why do you ask me?"
"Because we are in this shit right now because of you."
"How is that my fault?"
"I told you not to go out there, but you insisted to..."
"Now is not the time to blame each other. We are both in danger, so come with a plan."
"Can you defeat whatever is on the roof?"
He hesitated for a moment.
"I don't know. Perhaps. The mana flow is shifting all around this area's surroundings..."
"And what does that mean?"
I gulped, shifting from a foot to the other, then halted at once when I heard a screechy roar that made the windows almost shatter.
"It means we are surrounded."
Pyrope's eyes morphed into slits and his body tensioned. I took a few deep breaths, trying to keep my calm as much as possible, pushing away all of my thoughts that conjured the dungeons of the king's castle. There was no use.
"Damn it! Now I see that the blizzard stopped. If that thing is on the roof... it probably found us because of the footprints we left on the roof. I was careless with way too many things. Or... is there something else?"
I pulled the hood of the cloak over my head, tucking all the rebel strands of hair, but it wasn't going too well because of my trembling hands and, eventually, I gave up, preparing my daggers instead. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.
"The priests were at the river... so they knew where to look for the escaping prisoners or were they following the location of the pouch? Such a valuable item..."
"Pyrope, is it possible to put a tracking device on a precious item?"
"Yes. There are many tracking spells... Wait, the pouch?!"
"I guess so. We must give up on it."
"But... No! We went through so much trouble to acquire this pouch. That would mean to give up on a lot of power... Which you need... and I need!"
"Power that I can't use at the moment. This pouch can be our lizard's tail... How can we get away without being seen?"
"I won't give up on it! There is..."
Before he could say anything else the rooftop was blasted away in a second with a wave of fire, the molten remains and still burning ashes pouring like an incandescent dust rain all around us, setting on fire the remaining drapes and carpet. I was too shocked to even flinch as the balcony and the wall crumbled before my eyes. Pyrope instantly sheltered me under his wings. I slowly turned my head up, carefully not to lose my cowl, and stared at the four-winged white horse that was flying steadily above us, while its rider stared back at us. I immediately recognized Bezmal, all dressed in white and green, with her long black hair flowing in the wind, the priestess exuded a terrifying aura that seemed to seep into the remaining corners of the room. She was frowning and in her expression I could read uncertainty.
"She didn't expect to see us. Maybe this tracking spell thing is not showing the exact location and she just had luck?"
Pyrope tensioned behind me and I placed a hand onto his arm, hoping he would understand.
"Wait," I whispered to him. "Let's assess the situation first, then we can risk an all-out attack."
"Should I deal with that horse?"
The dragon uttered the last word with such disgust that I understood it was something personal. I suppressed my curiosity and nodded, noting in my mind that if we escaped, I should definitely ask him about that pegasus.
"Only if it's needed."
"It's always needed with those bastards," he growled, baring his teeth, which gave me goosebumps, as I have never seen him so serious before.
Bezmal and the pegasus didn't come any closer. I had the impression that she was unsure whether to break the ice by starting a conversation or to call for backup, so I figured she sensed Pyrope's power or something else made her hesitate. Therefore, I figured I should keep her busy as much as possible and act first.
"Lady Bezmal," I cried out loud, hoping that my voice wasn't trembling, but it sure sounded like a chipmunk version, so I cleared my throat fast before I spoke again. "Which fact do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Could it be because you lost something?"
My knees were trembling and my stomach dropped in waiting for a reply. Bezmal seemed somehow reluctant... or just pissed off.
"Who are you?" she finally asked. "Who sent you?"
"I will let that to your imagination, what's important now is that you came. It took you so long, even after all the trouble I've been through leaving those clues behind. I was clumsy, I admit it. I was tired of waiting now, I thought you didn't notice them, or worse, that you intentionally ignored them."
"So you're saying that you lured me here on purpose?" she had an annoying smirk on her face. "It's quite amusing that you say that, when you're all alone. I hope you'll be as talkative when we'll interrogate you later at the castle."
I almost threw up at her threat, but managed to force a giggle.
"Damn it! Even buying time won't help me. She isn't intimidated by my words and she is backed up by an army. My plan failed, but I will fight with her anyway. I can't get to that killers' castle ever again! They will torture me..."
Right at that moment, I caught a glimpse of Bezmal's hands and I knew she was up to something, maybe another explosion like the one from earlier.
"Burn that horse!"
Before I could finish my sentence, Pyrope already charged a wave of fire towards the flying black horse, but the creature dodged it easily and went straight for us. The dragon attacked it before it could get near me, and went for Bezmal, but she jumped on the floor and we were now facing each other, while the flying monsters were on a battle rampage in the sky. I tried to ignore the fire tongues that adorned the air above and focus solely on the priestess.
"You should surrender," she said, moving slowly her large sleeves. "I may spare your life. You could make things easier for both of us if you just tell me what I want to know."
"Ah, and after that I suppose you will let me leave... barely alive but with no chance of survival from the wounds... or send your minions to finish me off?"
Bezmal laughed and the sound made my skin crawl, giving me the urge to strike her down. I didn't move though, just waited and prayed that Pyrope would return fast on my side, but the sounds coming from above weren't too promising. I didn't dare move my stare from Bezmal, as I felt she would make a move if she would have caught me off guard.
"You already know the answer to that."
"I wasn't born yesterday," I replied with a calculated amount of boredom in my voice. "Just a little piece of advice: you shouldn't start a war without giving it a proper reflection first... unless you are absolutely certain that you can win... without losing more than one victory is worth it."
"Yeah, great speech, Miha. It will surely make her retreat just by citing Sun Tzu's Art of War. What the hell is wrong with me? But a bluff can still have some impact on her."
Strangely, it wasn't fear I felt anymore, but the wish to confront her. I knew that no move of hers could be just for show and everything was coldly calculated, then I recognized the faint smell in the air: it was the same powdery floral scent, reminiscent of candied violets, that I smelt in my room from the castle.
"Any small victory is worth it," Bezmal replied unimpressed. "That's how you win wars. You can tell me who you are, or not. Frankly, I prefer the second option, because I have very few subjects left now in the dungeons to test my new creations. It's hard to find one that is so resistant as you."
"So she relies on poison again... this may be a concentrated version... Doesn't she have any other abilities? Was that fire her own doing? She must be immune to that poison or other poison types, a sort of Mithridate... She looks very confident in her poison, that's why she doesn't use any other trick?" The tips of my fingers were slowly turning into a deep purple that spread to my veins, blackening them, followed by the weird numbness and she observed that, a large grin spreading on her face. I could see how the purplish veins were turned back to normal because of Pyrope's healing pearl inside me, but that worried me more than the poison. "Damn it! So it's really a concentrated poison. I can't wait for Pyrope. I have to try something, before I turn into a zombie."
I placed my hand on my mouth, pretending to cough, while the other was hidden under the cloak, then whispered powder and in my hand was the white powder I snatched from the castle, the one used to keep in check the summoned heroes. I feigned dizziness.
"What...? Poison?"
"It's no use. Once you inhale it, it's over," the priestess said, moving reluctantly a step closer and pulling out a sword from her staff. "Your body will feel like you're on fire and the pain will overwhelm you."
"What kind of poison is that?" I moaned, pretending I had troubles with my breathing.
She took another step, this time with confidence.
"It's a poison that induces the same mind-shattering pain as the werewolves feel just before their transformation, only ten times stronger, and without the transformation, combined with a secret poison recipe of mine. Not that you would understand the art of poison. Soon, you will beg me to kill you."
"Weird. But if the poison from that night in the castle was similar to this one now, it sure didn't provoke that kind of pain. Was it altered by the effect of that white powder and she has no idea about that?"
I muffled a scream and Bezmal laughed.
"Don't worry. You won't die that easily. I have many things to ask you about..."
The moment she took another step towards me and she blinked slowly, as I was expecting since I noticed her slow and deliberate gestures, I blew all the white powder into her face, then redrew from her sword's range.
The effect was quite instantaneous. Bezmal blinked two times in surprise, then she fell to the ground. Her breathing was becoming more laborious and her eyes closed. The priestess was completely at my mercy. I rose to my feet, unsure of how to act next.
"What if she is just faking weakness? That would be extremely arrogant or just plain dumb from her part. She's not even breathing anymore. Could this powder cause some sort of paralysis if used in high dosage? Or in combination with whatever she was spreading now? Should I just throw a knife at her?"
As I was wondering what to do next, without risking my life, a hoof just flew extremely close to my head and stuck into a wall, followed by body parts of the pegasus, while Pyrope landed next to the priestess body.
"How did you...?"
"I'm not sure."
"Is she dead?"
"I'm not sure."
Pyrope narrowed his eyes at me, then at the priestess, and in one swift move he severed her head. I shivered.
"Now we are sure she's dead. We need to have a long, proper talk about that, but for now we really need to get away. Just us defeating these two is nothing short of a miracle, especially from your side."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nevermind. I guess we were just lucky."
"If it's just luck, I think I've used my dose for at least ten years. Anyway, I don't think it was supposed to be that easy."
"No, that's for sure. This woman was definitely stronger than you. The mana in the air shifted from before. I don't feel that pressure anymore. Maybe they didn't have time to get real enforcement."
"Or they underestimated us because they were looking for the escaped prisoners. We should leave as long as we can."
I breathed deeply a few times, trying not to throw up at the sight of cracked bones and guts around me, while mentally preparing myself for another round of flying.
"Ah, wait a little."
I took Bezmal's clothes, jewels, and her staff, and put them into my pouch, but moved aside her head, then gathered the pegasus' body parts. After all was done, I took Bezmal's head, tied its hair around my waist, and climbed on his back.
"Burn them. Make sure there won't be anything recognoscible at them."
The dragon flew a few meters above, then blew fire over the remains, turning them into ash and melting the rest of the floor. With a last look at the fortress, we departed towards the north.