The War of the Isles

17. Ursula

Dhara was a good climber. She knew exactly where to find the footholes within the pit. I paid close attention to where she placed her grip so acutely before making a climb. Her assessment was flawless. The footholes she touched ensured that we completed our climb quickly enough.

When I looked down, true to Dhara's word, some of the Forty Second soldiers began to fire arrows from their crossbows onto the Yahanbhagis. The Yahanbhagis tried to resist, but for the most part were on the lower grounds of the pit compared to the Forty-Second Soldiers. Had we not claimed upwards, we would have been in Direct line of fire from the arrows.

 Once we had made it to the top of the pit wall, we descended downwards in the same fashion. The outer part of the pit wall was not very far from the ground.

After we had reached the end of our descent, I found two Forty-Second soldiers waiting for us. Dhara passed some instructions onto them and dismissed them immediately.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on?" I asked her as we walked towards the palace.

"Where do I start?" she replied. "The dinner was not a pleasant experience. The idiot King.."

"That's not the place to start! Get to the point!"

"Right," she said pausing for a moment to think. "Well, after dinner, I entered my room to calm myself down. The dragon pit could be viewed from my window. I saw Charlie's visage dangling from Mika as they flew away."

"Wait," I replied in disbelief. "Are you telling me that he actually betrayed us?"

Dhara clenched her jaw, perhaps to build a grip on her emotions. She then breathed deeply.

"We all have our demons, Ursula. The Charlie I know would never betray anyone. If he left, he must have had his reasons."

Dhara did not believe in Charlie's desertment. That felt reassuring to an extent. But the apprehension around my chest continued to bother me.

"King Arco's Dragon fleet is gone! We will be executed. What do you do?"

Dhara turned her right eye at me and said calmly, "The Old Bone is dead."

"WHAT?" 

We began to walk towards the palace. I could see only Chaos around me. I looked over at where my tent was placed and saw a Senior officer pass instructions to the soldiers and dismiss them. 

Turns out, Egon, Sammy and I had left our tents a little early to be involved in the chaos that was happening around us.

I looked around me and then at Dhara as hurried. "What do you mean the Old bone is dead? What is happening?"

"I have not finished my side of the story," replied Dhara. "After I saw the flames erupt from the Dragon pit, I knew that I had to act quickly before our unit could be in any jeopardy. Luckily I did not have to deal with any dragons for the time being. I am usually good at battles that do not involve dragons. I first climbed out of the guest chambers and moved swiftly towards the castle where the Old Bone slept. I climbed its wall, found a window for an opening, and made my way towards the Old Bone's chambers."

"How did you know where to go?"

"Easy. All aristocrats live the same way. The gaudiest section of every palace belongs to the King. As I traversed my way through the chambers, trying to go as unnoticed as possible, I looked for places which showcased the most expensive ornamentation through their paintings and decorations. I came across a door with a rear triangular black diamond for a knob. On the opposite side of the door, was a gigantic portrait of the Old Bone centred around a gold-plated frame, engraved with the most exquisite design and etched with rubies. I knew, that this door knob and this door had to belong to the King's chamber."