above the bodies, a sword in one hand, an axe in the other.
Solina grinned. "Deramon!" she cried to him and bared her bloody teeth. "Do you remember me, weredragon? Will you come die at my feet too?"
The memories filled her like fire in an oven. Deramon, cruel Captain of the City Guard, had always loathed her. He had once accused her of stealing from a temple—she had only taken one gem!—and twisted her arm, and would have beaten her had she not kicked him and escaped. Today she would do more than kick him. Today she would twist his arm too, until flesh ripped and bone snapped, and she would laugh as he screamed.
"Come to me, weredragon! You would torment me as a child, but I've grown. Come die."
He stood below, bodies around him, and stared at her. His eyes were narrowed and cruel. A cut ran down his face, dripping blood. For a moment the battle died, and the only movement was the thrashing of the wounded, the only sound their moans. Solina and Deramon stared at each other, and she grinned, prepared to dance.
Deramon nodded and stepped back.
Solina snarled and ran down toward him.
A dozen weredragons emerged from the shadows, shoving boulders.
Solina screamed. "Cowards! Fight me!"
They shoved the boulders and cried, and Solina slammed into the stone. She tried to climb above a boulder, but more piled up. She growled and punched the stone, bloodying her knuckles. Her men ran down to join her and pushed against the boulders, shoving them back.
"Break down their barricade!" Solina cried. "Kill them all."
But the weredragons were cowards. They piled up more stones, and she could not break through. She shouted to them.
"Deramon! Deramon, you coward! Fight me like a man. Or will you hide like a rat? Do you think your stones can hold me back for long?"
Soon she was forced to stop. She stood panting before the pile of boulders. Sweat and blood covered her. She spat, licked blood off her blade, and screamed. Her voice echoed like a hundred demons. Her men crowded around her, breathing heavily, swords drawn.
"Get hammers," she told them when she'd caught her breath. "We're breaking through."
Not waiting for a reply, she shoved her way through them so roughly she knocked one man down. She stormed upstairs, teeth gritting, until she emerged back onto the surface. She stood in the courtyard, dizzy with the heady smell of death.
Lord Acribus came marching across the courtyard, armor and sword bloody. He nodded his head at her.
"My queen." His voice was like crackling gravel.
"How are the other tunnel entrances?" she asked him, holding her blades crossed.
Acribus spat out a tooth. "They blocked them," he said. He uncorked his flask, took a draft of spirits, and swished it. When he spat it out, it was bloody. "Bastards put up walls of rock. My men are hammering at them. We will break them down soon."
Solina shook her head. None of this made sense. Did Elethor truly think he could win this way? Did he expect to survive, locked in darkness behind rock, forever buried underground?
"He'll die down there," she said. "He has enough food for winter, maybe. When spring comes, they will all starve. Unless…"
She thought back to the days she'd enter those tunnels with Elethor. Years ago, they would sneak underground most nights, undress in darkness, kiss each other across their bodies, make love in shadow where none could find them. She would scream in the darkness with nobody to hear, nobody to hurt her, pity her, judge her. One midnight, they had made love in the Chamber of Artifacts, their bodies pressed together as the wonder and secrets of the world covered shelves around them. Elethor had pressed her against a cold stone wall. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, head tossed back, and gasped at amulets, crystals, and…
She snarled.
"The Portal Scrolls," she said.
Acribus grumbled and scrunched his face, as if seeking more loose teeth with his tongue. "My queen?"
She growled and clenched her fists. "They have two Portal Scrolls down there, magical artifacts that can send two weredragons into the forest." She nodded. "Elethor will try to flee that way, or send his sister to safety. Come, Acribus." She started walking across the square. "We head into King's Forest."
Acribus snarled and followed. "If Mori the weredragon whore tries to escape, I will catch her." He clutched his wounded arm where the princess had stabbed him. "I will make her envy her dead brother. I will make