Song of Dragons The Complete Trilogy - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,163

as possible. If they lingered, she'd march to Dies Irae, confront him, and die. "We've talked of rebuilding Requiem; they'd know to go there, realizing we'd think the same thing."

Gloriae considered him, head tilted, as if she were a bird of prey deciding when to swoop. Kyrie wasn't sure why he cared about her welfare. He hated Gloriae almost as much as he hated Dies Irae, didn't he? So what if she confronted Dies Irae and he killed her? And yet... Kyrie didn't want her to die. She was a Vir Requis. She was his companion. And she was Agnus Dei's sister. He would do what he could to save her.

"Why don't we hide in these woods?" she asked. "We might have a better chance of finding the others here, if they're still on their way."

A gruff voice answered behind them. "This is why."

Kyrie and Gloriae spun around to see five soldiers charging at them, swinging swords.

Kyrie snarled and raised his dagger. He deflected the sword of a sallow-faced soldier with a missing tooth. The soldier grunted and swung his sword again. Kyrie ducked. The sword whistled over his head. Kyrie thrust his dagger and hit the soldier's chain mail; his blade did the armor no damage.

He leaped back. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Gloriae had killed one man, and was battling the others. The soldier swung his sword at Kyrie again. He parried with his dagger, grabbed a branch, and yanked it. He ducked, and the branch slapped the soldier's face.

Kyrie thrust his dagger. It sank into the soldier's cheek, scraped along his skull, and entered his eye. The man screamed. Kyrie pushed the dagger deep, twisted it, and pulled. It came free with blood and eyeball juices.

A second soldier swung his sword at Kyrie. Kyrie jumped back, tripped over a root, and fell. The soldier raised his sword. Kyrie threw a rock at his face. The sword came down. Kyrie rolled and buried his dagger in the soldier's thigh. He twisted and pulled the blade. The man fell, and Gloriae's sword slammed into his head.

Kyrie panted, glancing around. The five soldiers were dead.

"Stars," he muttered, heart pounding and fingers trembling. "I only killed one, and you killed four, Gloriae. And you're not even out of breath."

She pointed her bloody sword to the mountains. "But I can't kill four thousand."

The sounds of battle had alerted the army. Soldiers were leaving the camp and running toward the trees.

Gloriae wrenched a sword out of a dead soldier's hands. "Ever use one of these?" she asked Kyrie.

"Of course," he lied.

Gloriae shoved the hilt into his hand.

"Good," she said. "Now run!"

They ran between the trees, branches lashing their faces, roots and pebbles threatening to trip them. The sounds of soldiers came behind—clanking armor, shouts, hissing swords.

"We go to Requiem, you say?" Gloriae asked as they ran.

Kyrie nodded. "To the old palace, where Benedictus and Lacrimosa lived. Where you were born."

They ran, sap on their faces, until night fell, and the shrieks of nightshades shook the forest. They hid in darkness, huddled in an abandoned wolf's den, under a hill behind the dangling roots of an oak. As nightshades screeched, Kyrie and Gloriae held each other and shivered.

BENEDICTUS

"Well, here's a pretty sight," said the soldier. He reached for his sword. "A father and daughter weredragon out for a stroll."

Ten other soldiers stepped out from the forest. They wore helmets and chain mail, and carried shields emblazoned with Dies Irae's coat of arms. They stepped onto the road, eyes narrowed.

Benedictus grunted. "We're simple travellers," he said to the soldiers. He took Agnus Dei's hand. "Let us be."

The soldiers surrounded them. They drew their swords as one, the blades hissing.

Benedictus glanced at Agnus Dei and nodded.

She nodded back; she knew the signal.

Together, they shifted into dragons and swung their tails.

Benedictus hit one soldier. He drove the spikes of his tail through the man's armor, and slammed him against another man. Agnus Dei took down two more men.

The remaining soldiers charged, blades swinging. Benedictus blew fire. The flames hit three men. They screamed and fell. Agnus Dei shot flames too, hitting two more soldiers.

Three soldiers remained. They were foolish enough to attack. Benedictus lashed his tail and knocked two down. Agnus Dei clawed another. With a few more swipes of their claws, the soldiers all lay dead.

Panting, Benedictus and Agnus Dei shifted back into human forms. They stood staring at the bodies.

"We made a bloody racket," Benedictus said. He panted and wiped sweat