Chapter Fifteen:

Dangers and Dragons

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The dragon roared again, and Harriet had to force herself not to let her hands fly up to her head. Her head was pounding from the sound, and as she looked around to see the faces of the men behind her, they all had similar expressions.

Terror and hopelessness gripped her and everyone around her, but as Leopold's leg gently nudged her arm, she turned to look at him, matching his grim expression. They had known it would be a tough fight, but it seemed not only were they hilariously outnumbered, but also at a terrible disadvantage. They certainly didn't have a dragon under their control.

Harriet could see the other army getting closer, and she adjusted her shield in front of her subconsciously. In mere minutes they would meet.

"Forwards!" Leopold shouted, his voice booming even against the sounds of the approaching army. Harriet broke into a jog beside everyone else, and then into a run, her legs pumping as they brought her closer to the other side.

Her heart was in her throat, her mind buzzed with adrenaline, and she felt like she was going to throw up from the fear, but she kept running. Everything seemed to be moving faster than normal, and suddenly, Leopold shouted for them to halt less than one hundred yards from the other army.

"Stop! Shield wall!" He called, and Harriet dropped into a crouch, placing her shield in front of her as the other men pressed in and they all crowded around each other, forming a wall of shields around and above them. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Leopold dismount and then usher the horse away, and then with deafening sounds her attention was brought back to the soldiers about to run into their wall.

With a clash, the other army ran into the wall, and Harriet felt her shoulder strain from the effort of keeping them back and her ribs contract from the sheer force of it all. For a few moments it was all just the battering of the army running into the shields, attempting to force their swords through the wall of shields, but then the army of Marenta and Ecrivenia moved forwards.

As one body, Harriet and the rest of the army moved ahead, beginning to go on the offensive. Her arms and shoulders ached already, but despite the pain she soldiered through, sticking her own sword through the cracks to join in the offensive effort.

Suddenly the shield wall broke, and just like that, it was no longer ordered combat. However, in moments the other army backed off, and Harriet and the other men looked around each other, confused. That was until they saw what was hovering above them.

"Get under your shields! Quickly!" Harriet heard Leopold shout from somewhere nearby, but she was already following his orders. She brought her shield up and over her just in time for it to be hit with a burst of flame. Sweat was beginning to trickle down her face from the heat, and she could feel her arm burning, but instead of focusing on those aspects she looked around her.

To her right she saw Garreth in a similar stance, but as she glanced behind her she felt abruptly sick. Some men weren't so lucky as to get under their shields in time and Harriet turned away and shut her eyes, not able to look at the men currently burning as her eyes clouded with unshed tears.

The dragon finally let up and as he flew upwards, the other army advanced, trying to catch them all off balance. Harriet slammed her still hot shield into whoever had decided to try and get to her, keeping them away with the scorching metal.

While Harriet did use her sword, she never looked to see if she found her target. She didn't want to know or focus on it, and despite the fact she felt her shoulder becoming bruised from the effort, she preferred using her shield. Maybe if she was lucky she could just knock everyone who approached her out instead of killing them.

Once again, the other army backed off, but this time, Harriet surged forwards, following them, ignoring the loud shouting of Leopold behind her, telling her to stay back.

As the army behind her was put under a volley of flames, Harriet rammed into some of the soldiers from the other army, seeing from the corner of her eye that some of her fellow soldiers had done the same thing.

In a gap between her challengers, she couldn't help but glance up to the sky as the dragon gave another roar. However, Harriet's eyes widened as her eyes followed along the long silver chains glinting in the sunlight as they hung from where they were attached to the dragon's legs.

She brought her eyes back down to earth as another person crashed into her, but her mind was on the dragon, and her next free moment, she followed the chains with her eyes down to where they were being held by four men.

Harriet's eyebrows furrowed, and as she noticed the flashes of light coming from somewhere near the four men, a realization hit her. The dragon was being controlled. After all, why would he be in chains if the Carigan army knew he would help them?

Harriet crushed her shield into another person, this time scanning the crowd of fighting men to see if she could find Garreth. She finally found him to her left, and she moved towards him, hitting men with her shield as she went. Soon she was right beside him, and she caught his eyes.

"C'mon!" she shouted. "I need your help. Can you cover me?" Garreth nodded before beginning to follow her as she made her way back towards where she was. A plan was quickly forming in her head, and by the time they were within twenty yards of the four soldiers holding the chains, Harriet could see just how the dragon was 'agreeing' to be on Carigan's side.

A swirl of violet light surrounded a dark haired and clothed woman in the middle of the four men, and as she sent that violet light towards the dragon flying above, the dragon let out a roar and a burst of flame. Harriet clenched her teeth. They were hurting him in order to get him to do what they wanted to. Turning to Garreth, Harriet quickly spoke.

"We need to take out the four men holding the chains, but we'll have to distract the woman."

"I'll get three of the men, you get the other man and the witch," Garreth replied, and Harriet nodded. It was the best plan they had. With a rush, they ran forwards, Harriet pushing into the man that she had been assigned to. However, it seemed the man had been expecting it, as moments later he had her in a headlock.

Fighting for breath, Harriet brought sword handle up, trying to hit him in the face, but as his fingers got closer to her neck, he let out a startled yelp, pulling away his hand with a curse. Harriet glanced down to see Clark bristling in his holster. She fought back a hysterical laugh, and instead used the distraction her mouse had created to knock the other man out, slamming the sword handle into the top of his head, causing him to let go of the chain that he was holding.

Looking over, Harriet could see Garreth still fighting one of the men, but Harriet couldn't focus on him for long. Eyeing the witch, she paused. The wild-haired witch was watching her with eyes to match her violet spells, and Harriet knew she would need something to distract the woman if she was ever going to get closer to her.

Making a split second decision, Harriet slid her arm out from the leather straps keeping her shield to her, nearly groaning at the pain it induced in her shoulder. There was definitely something wrong with it, but she couldn't pay attention to it yet.

Taking the shield in one hand and the sword in the other, Harriet flung the shield at the witch's scraggly black haired head, causing the other woman to bring her hand up, but as she was doing so, she left herself open, and Harriet charged forwards, tackling her to the ground.

They tangled together, and Harriet's let out a yelp of pain as the witch pressed down on her injured shoulder. Harriet struggled to bring her shoulder out of her grasp, but instead brought her elbow up into the witch's face, grimacing as the force combined with the metal caused the witch to howl with pain as Harriet knocked out one of her front teeth.

In retaliation, the witch brought a knee up into Harriet's armor covered stomach, causing her to gasp, but in that moment, the witch didn't attack Harriet, instead she sent a burst of lavender light towards Garreth who was still fighting.

Horrified, Harriet watched as he fell to the ground, but she could see him still moving even once he fell, as if he was struggling to get up but couldn't.

Only one man was holding one of the chains now, and the dragon was still flying overhead. Harriet tried to think, but the witch rolled over on top of her, putting a knee to Harriet's throat.

"Give up, little boy," the witch said, sneering as blood dripped down her face and neck.

"No," Harriet replied, bringing her own knee up so that way it connected with the back of the witch's spine. As the witch froze, Harriet threw the woman off of her, causing the other woman to tumble several feet away. Surging to her feet and flying towards the last man standing, with a grunt Harriet ran into him, and with a carefully placed sword handle to the skull, the man crumpled downwards.

The wild haired woman screamed from her spot on the ground, and Harriet's eyes widened as she quickly glanced back at her and then whipped back around at the thunderous roar that almost burst her eardrums.

The dragon loomed above her, majestic as the many hues of his green scales glittered in the light of the fires that he had created. His luminous yellow eyes peered down at Harriet, and he bowed his head to her.

"My thanks, young soldier. If you find yourself in any sort of personal need, do not hesitate to find me," the dragon's voice echoed inside of Harriet's head making her gasp.

"But how will I find you?" She said hurriedly, more than aware of the battle raging on around her.

"Simply call my name. Xenon. I will be there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I daresay I should join your efforts." With those last words and a swoop of his massive wings, Xenon took to the sky, lighting it again with fire, but this time it rained down on the side of Carigan's forces, not Marenta's and Ecrivenia's.

Harriet was about to smile with victory when she found herself tackled to the side. She scrambled to get up, but the witch kept her down. She had half a mind to call Xenon, but she had a feeling she'd be better off waiting to use up his promise.

"How dare you release my dragon," the witch spat, her mouth filled with blood from where Harriet knocked out one of her teeth. Harriet continued to struggle, inwardly grimacing as some of the bloody spittle landed on her cheek.

"How dare I? How dare you force him to be a tool in a war he had no part of," Harriet answered through clenched teeth. The witch growled at her, and Harriet finally was able to shove the woman off of her, but as she made to get up she found herself frozen from the waist down.

"I don't think so," the black haired witch said, her eyes wild.

"You can't kill me. You can't take or save a life with magic," Harriet said, saying what she desperately hoped was true. If her experiences with Gardenia were any indication, they were.

"How do you know that?" The witch demanded, grabbing hold of the front of Harriet's armor.

"I took an educated guess," Harriet responded. The witch sneered at her.

"Well, unfortunately you are right, but that doesn't stop me from causing you pain." Harriet automatically stiffened at her words, but her actions were met by maniacal laughter. "Oh no, not now. This is a different kind of pain. The kind that festers and worries and eats away at you as you try to find a way to stop the inevitable from happening."

Harriet glared at the witch but a moment later it was replaced with an expression of fear. The witch began to move her hands through the air fluidly, an acidic green light shining from her fingertips.

"I could curse you and not tell you anything, but I think the knowledge of the curse will do you more harm than the curse itself." The witch smiled wickedly, her blood covered teeth reflecting the light from her hands. "On the tenth birthday of a descendant akin to you both in blood and spirit, he shall be cursed to take the form of the creature you have released. It will only be broken if he can be loved and accepted by one of your blood and another dissimilar to you in spirit."

The green magic rushed towards Harriet and her world spun as the curse hit her, but then it righted itself and when she next blinked open her eyes, the witch was gone and so was her spell on Harriet's lower legs.

She heard a gasp to her right, and she quickly looked over to see Garreth was sitting up as well. Harriet hurried over, kneeling beside him despite the pain in one of her legs from being tackled so much.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Garreth said, waving her away. "I don't think anyone's going to come by here for a bit. I may just lay down and play dead."

"I thought you said you were fine?" Harriet asked, her eyes trying to scan his body for injuries but not finding anything as his whole body was covered in armor.

"I am. I'm just a little bone weary. I think whatever it was she cast at me took a bit out of me. Make sure to come find me when it's all over."

Harriet nodded before shakily getting to her feet. "I'm going to go find Leopold." Garreth gave a single nod of his head before leaning back on the ground. Harriet sent him another worried look, but otherwise turned around, eyes searching the battlefield for any sign of the great king.

Her eyes finally located him, but they widened at the sight before her. He was attempting to fight four men at once... and he wasn't winning. Harriet rushed towards him, fighting her way through the crowds of still fighting men.

Finally she got to him, and tripped one of the men he was fighting. Leopold glanced at her, but otherwise didn't comment as they stood back to back fighting.

In between slices she heard Leopold grunt, and she moved to the side to accommodate his need to take a step backwards, but as the man he was fighting brought his sword forwards, Harriet could see it was more than just a need to take a step back.

Moving around him, Harriet took over his part of the fighting, putting herself in front of him despite his quiet protests. In moments, she had knocked out the soldier she was facing, and she turned around in time to see Leopold stagger to the ground.

"Sir, are you alright? What's wrong?" she asked, grabbing a hold of one of his arms.

"I may have gotten a few too many slices to the leg," Leopold answered, and Harriet glanced down to see evidence of his statement as blood ran down over the silver metal of his armor. With a grunt, she slung his arm around her shoulders, taking the bulk of his weight.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting you away from the fighting. It will be over soon anyway."

"What makes you figure that?" Leopold asked, all the while grimacing as she helped him across the nearly empty battlefield.

"Garreth and I might've freed the dragon, and now said dragon is raining fire down on Carigan's army." Leopold's eyes darted to look at her, and Harriet fought back a smile. She was glad to know she could still surprise him, even if the fluttering of her stomach at his small smile wasn't exactly helping her help him back towards their camp.

"You freed the dragon?" Harriet nodded. "Then I suppose we are all in your debt," Leopold said, and Harriet turned her head away to blush and to hide her quiet laugh. If only they all knew who Harriet and Garreth were. Leopold was saying his entire army was saved by a woman and a double-crossing spy.

Leopold suddenly stumbled, and Harriet clutched onto him tighter.

"Maybe we should just stay here and wait for the field medics," Harriet said, gently lowering Leopold to the ground and then sitting herself.

"That might be for the best," Leopold replied, before eyeing Harriet. "Are you hurt as well?"

"Save for a very bruised shoulder and maybe a couple of cracked ribs from using the shield as a battering ram, no," Harriet said, deciding not to mention the witch and her cryptic curse. She didn't really want to think about that at the moment. Considering the war was over, she figured she'd have plenty of time to think about it later.

"You still need to get them seen to."

"I know, your highness."

"Good," Leopold said, lying back on the worn earth. After a seconds thought, Harriet followed his lead. "Mr. Greenfellow?"

"Yes, your highness?"

"I think you are more than warranted to just call me Leopold now." Harriet froze where she lay.

"Thank you, Leopold." She paused, not sure what to say. Was now the time to tell him? To say who she was? She mentally shook her head. No; she would wait until they were both healed and well-rested. However, the guilt at that decision wore down at her. She opened her mouth to speak, unable to stop the rush of relief as she finally spoke the words she'd been dying to say for a week.

"Then you can call me Harriet." Leopold suddenly turned to look at her, his mouth opening slightly and his eyes frantically searching her face to see if she was telling the truth, and as Harriet felt a rush of magic wash over her, the spell finally releasing its hold, she saw his eyes widen in recognition.

"Harriet?"

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So I might've lied. There was a wicked witch. Oh well.

What do you think of the witch's curse? What about Xenon's promise? What do you think Leopold will do now that he knows who she is? Let me know in the comments!

The next update should be sometime next week, so keep your eyes peeled!