1
It was spoken, by our Elders,
that a darkness would come,
a shadow that would turn
brother on brother,
a plague of fire and steel.
A plague of fear
in the form of a dragon.
Those who still live remember
when the Vitalion came,
their endless legions broke through
the people like a mighty steel wave.
And with their metal they brought fire.
They brought the very beast of prophecy.
A dragon.
Man and beast and the earth herself
collapsed beneath its curse.
The Deiran, were broken,
our heroes and dreams were
swallowed in unquenchable flame.
The dragon destroyed everything.
Even as our people clung
to the edge of an Abyss,
they had one hope.
That a hero would rise
to fulfill the prophecy,
a warrior of light to do battle
with the very Inferno itself,
to crown a dragon,
kill a dragon.
We must reach Garrick
with the Falarica by Lamma's Eve.
I'll leave at dawn.
I was pursued... A Vitalion patrol.
Vitalions?
They should have moved on by now.
Only a few patrols are left.
They're delayed
with attacks in the south.
It's alright.
- The dragon sleeps.
- Corvus has spies everywhere.
- It's only a matter of time...
- Time, time...
My niece must come with me.
It would if it were not so.
The Leode will be safe,
should anything happen...
Perhaps.
The Leodrine still awaits the prophecy.
It's getting light outside,
I'll double back toward the ford
and head north.
And then?
I'll keep them interested as I can.
Elenn. Elenn. Rise, my child.
- Aunt?
- Dress yourself.
Plain. We need to leave.
Leave? Where?
I know you were eavesdropping
so you can drop the mummer's act.
But we have no servants...
No escort
It's the plainest one I've got.
It's a wonder one of the servants
didn't steal it when they ran off.
Where are we going?
Open it.
Some say it was a great weapon,
broken in an ancient battle.
Is this the Falarica?
It is now the path
to Deiran independence.
For your impertinence.
Magister Corvus,
we found one of Garrick's men.
Very good.
I apologize.
The Guard can be a little
overzealous with traitors.
There's only one traitor here.
The Emperor is master in Deira now.
We Deiran are his subjects,
so you are traitor to him.
You plot to make Garrick King.
Garrick is no king but a low-born
pretender to a broken throne.
Beautiful aren't they?
They are despised by us Deirans,
and yet they possess
the greatest of all qualities.
They are survivors.
But I digress.
The Vitalions, in their wisdom,
pride themselves on employing
some of the finest interrogators
in the known world.
Priests from the disease
and rat ridden islands of Ravalan, mainly.
They worship some particularly
bloodthirsty gods out there,
and they have found the time,
and inclination,
to raise torture to a veritable art form.
I once saw them remove
a living man's skin in a single piece.
Not to worry,
I prefer more civilized methods.
It is painless,
after the initial discomfort
but I'm afraid you'll be dead
within the hour.
There.
Now, you will tell me everything
you know about the Falarica
and the one who guards it.
I'm sorry I brought you
into this child.
You shouldn't concern yourself
with such things.
Your father would not have wished it.
Aunt, I'm not a child anymore.
Stay calm, girl.
You have a pass?
Where are you traveling?
The Leode of Ghel.
We bear candles for the sisters.
With no servants?
They ran off,
taking everything you lot
hadn't already burned or stolen.
Forgive her.
She was raised with indulgence and
forgets the inevitabilities
of occupation.
I thirst.
No, not you. You.
Here, your wine.
Sclabia!
Scum! On your feet!
I said on your feet!
Elenn. Go.
Come on!
I'll kill you.
Lief! Get the horse!
You killed my aunt.
Whatever is in that sack
of yours killed your aunt.
Now cover the body.
You know my orders, Corvus.
Request denied.
The information is reliable.
The woman who bears the Falarica
is likely headed south
towards Anondea.
The rebels are going to crown Garrick.
- A dozen men...
- Garrick?!
I'd have thought he was too busy
wooing sheep
- and stealing Vitalion wine.
- Allow a coronation,
and the rebellion will become
a full-fledged Deiran uprising.
You are a Magister,
they're your people
and soon to be your problem,
you deal with it!
To enforce the law,
I must have soldiers!
Indeed.
Do you know where this supposed
coronation is being held?
No.
Do you have any information
that could conceivably lead
to Garrick's death or capture?
No.
Perhaps it has escaped
your attention, Corvus
but this Legion
is being transferred north.
Deira is nothing
more than a muddy little footprint
on the road to Minneaus.
A united Deira would present
a problem in the future.
The dragon will make that difficult,
may the Gods forgive us.
The Deiran should be suitably
terrorized for years to come
and Garrick would be king all of a day
before his Deiran allies
cut his throat.
Request denied.
Hey beautiful.
Goodbye, little one.
Oh, no, no.
No!
No!
Leave her be!
If it means that much to you,
then you go first.
But do us a favor,
don't use her all up.
I'd like a little fight left for my turn.
Gods, woman! Leave it.
You don't believe
that cock n' bull story
that she fed the scales do you?
She's a thieving little whore,
run away with her master's treasure,
just like every other servant
wenching in the country.
I won't say it again, Leif.
After all we've been through,
you take some giglets part over me?
And here we were gonna be partners?
There's plenty
of sympathizers blood to spill,
plenty of plunder,
and women.
I've got enough blood on my hands.
What'll you do Aedin, try farming?
My father was a farmer.
So was mine,
and the happiest day of his life,
was the day that poor bastard died.
Well, if we're to part,
let it be in friendship. Eh?
Come here.
No bastard holds a knife to my throat.
I'll not forget.
- Another time, m'lady.
- To hell with you!
Like enough,
but not this day.
Hedge-born villain!
He wasn't always that way.
War what comes after
changes some men.
This is yours.
I'm sorry for whatever part
I played in your aunt's death.
It ain't safe for you here.
Just get past Butcher's Creek,
then join the road again.
Farewell, lass.
Please, please, I need to get to Ghel.
Can you help me?
I've got my own problems.
- I am Elenn of Adair...
- I'm no sort of escort
Ghel's dangerous.
Still crawling with Vitalion patrols,
thick as fleas on rats.
And they'll be lookin' for me.
If it weren't for me you'd still be bound
and heading for the gallows.
I'm grateful, but I know enough
not to stick my head back in the noose.
My life's worth more than that.
Sorry, lass.
My aunt owned a large tract of land
south of Queen's Ford.
It takes a full day to ride the perimeter.
It's mine now.
I'll give you all you can ride around
in the morning
if you can take me to the Leode
at Ghel in three days.
It'd take two days to get to Ghel...
off the road for a man.
In battle condition.
Hard country between here and Ghel.
You think you're up to it?
Yes.
All right. What's on the table?
What?
What can you give me now.
As security.
In the case that you can't keep
your temper,
you claw up some face
I can't scare off with a pen knife?
Here. It's all I have.
I can trade it for coin
when we get to Ghel.
What's in there?
It's not mine to give...
A full morning, you say?
Sun up to noon.
- I choose the horse.
- Well, then I need an oath.
On the haft and hilt,
I am thy man and soldier.
The name's Aedin.
- Elenn Baretheon.
- Aye, you said.
Now stick to the trees.
Stupid fool.
You heard what he spoke?
Yes, Master.
Then bring it to me.
Kill those who carry it.
You're heavier than you look.
Pretty dress. Shame about the color.
What are you doing?!
Keep moving princess,
we've got a long way to yet.
A plague of fire.
Aye.
Dammit!
Gods in hell...
Thieving bastard!
- Careful.
- Give it back!
Not till you answer some questions.
Now put that thing away
before you get lucky.
How the hell did you get this thing?
Who are you?
And don't give me any she-tank
about joining the Leode of virgins.
Elenn, run! Get out of here!
Aedin, come on! Run! Run!
What in hell's name is that thing?
Black magic?
Who's after you?
Come on!
You got any magic for this?
Oh shi...
I've got you.
What the hell have you drug me into?
Take off your wet clothes.
How'd you find this place?
I have a network of caches along
all the major trade routes.
- You're a smuggler.
- Yep.
And you're a liar.
What else is
in that little hole of yours?
You fought in the war
with King Aldred,
was he as beautiful as they say?
I don't know.
I spent most of my time
buried in a trench,
trying to keep my feet dry
and my head out of dragon fire.
What did you do after the war?
After the invasion...
like most I kept fighting
long past sense.
When I went home
there was nothing left.
So, I fight other men's battles now,
and pick up things
on my travels when I can.
It's been a life of little meaning.
Well I think it sounds romantic,
always on the run,
living by your swords and your wits.
You're full of wine and a warm fire.
Come the morning you'll remember
the misery and loneliness.
Get some rest.
We've an early start
It's going to get more dangerous
from here.
We're moving into dragon territory.
We'll have to stay to the trees.
We're in its territory now, keep still.
We'll be safe for now.
What else are you keeping from me?
This better be the best bloody
farmland in Deira.
Do you think it's gone?
Maybe so, maybe no.
We never could figure
the damn thing out.
Neither could the Vitalions
for that matter.
Only a Paladin can kill a dragon...
Well, we didn't have one handy
at the time.
Last night... late last night. Did we...
did I say anything... you know.
I always say too much
when I'm drunk.
No. Nothing I can think of.
Did we do anything...
Nope. Nothing.
You'll live to die a virgin yet.
- Help!
- Keep yellin', that'll fix it.
Clooney, it's been so long.
Son of a whore!
That's for Dunotten.
Bastard tried to kill me.
Stuck a sword right through my side.
You left out the part
where you were standing on my head,
in three feet of water.
Aye. I did.
He was fighting for the enemy.
- The Vitalion?
- No. The Daegens.
May they rot in hell.
They did, right after you set fire
to their keep.
Aye. They were bra times.
I missed ya. Come and sit.
My wives shall entertain you.
With what little we have.
Wives?
If you want to see that horn again,
don't mention the coronation.
How about becoming more agreeable
before you get us both disemboweled.
From where I was sitting it looked like
you were being agreeable
enough for the both of us.
When the laird's had enough
to turn sad and sentimental,
I'll get the horn and we'll slip away.
I know this tune.
My mother used to hum it.
It's an old song. About ties.
Ties that hold things:
people, ideas,
strong ties and weaker ones.
It's a sad thing now, but before
the war it was a song for lovers.
Don't let go.
Enough!
Lace those peckers away, boys!
There's dark deeds need doing.
You too, Aedin. I'm not asking.
What are we after tonight?
Trelawneys.
It was them who sold me out!
I see some one.
Shut it, ya wee turds.
There's one of them now!
Sneak up and give him
a little taste of the ol' iron.
Why me?
Because you're my guest
and took advantage of my hospitality.
Now give me your sword,
we wouldn't want it rattling
and give you up.
We're right behind you.
Who goes there?
You're pretty good with a stick.
You can thank me later!
I've got the horn.
Slow down, you're going to fast,
I can't keep up.
How much further?
Oh.
Enter.
Leave us.
I understand you have information
on a young woman
traveling with a smuggler
acquaintance of yours?
The Vitalions treat you pretty well
for a Deiran, don't they?
I'm sorry child.
Your aunt was a keeper
of our Lore and magic.
Hers is a terrible loss...
Garrick will be crowned
at dawn on Lama's Eve.
As a Baretheon
the task might naturally...
The coronation...
I'm afraid I am unversed...
My aunt was the protector.
She didn't even want me
to come on this journey.
I failed to learn the magic
I was taught.
If my aunt had born a child,
I'm sure it would have been the one...
Faith requires courage, Elenn.
You must have faith
to find the path that is laid
out before you
and to find the courage to step onto it.
The sisters are preparing
for the Vigil of the Paladin tonight.
The acolytes
have prepared a bath for you.
You must be tired, after your ordeal.
Oh.
One days morning.
They await the Paladin.
The prophecy says the warrior
will manifest at mid moon,
enter the circle and save the Dairen.
A hero of great faith,
with the power to walk through fire.
It's yours.
Am I to wait all night
to have my bowl refilled? Do I?
I used to spend hours here
when I was a little girl.
My father would hold me on his lap
and read me stories
as I turned the pages...
Over here is Anyon,
the first king of the Deirans.
As he stood before his victorious army
and held his sword aloft,
the lightning gods filled him
with power,
his boots melted
the stone beneath his feet.
Two dragons;
one poisons the land,
the other heals it.
Do you believe that?
My father said
that they were just stories.
You're leaving tomorrow...
Aye...
Will you be joining the sister's then?
They'll keep me here, no doubt.
Just long enough to see
my aunt's wishes fulfilled and me
the pretty wife
of some influential laird.
Aye...
someone clean.
Aye.
The deed has been prepared.
You are a Paladin.
To crown the dragon,
you must first kill the dragon.
Paladin.
Gods, the Paladin.
The Paladin is here!
The Paladin.
Bring me the girl.
Alive and unharmed.
What's happening? Is she hurt?
She has begun the glyderinge,
her dream quest.
- She's the Paladin.
- What?
There' no time to spare.
You must take her to the hermit
on the shores of Lough Aislinn.
She must undergo her anointing.
Aedin, you must take care of her.
Her fulfillment has drawn the Dragon.
The two are now linked.
It won't rest until one
destroys the other.
You're a part of this now, Aedin.
Blessings of the Gods be on you. Go!
We have to keep moving.
Traitor!
We need to move faster.
Get back.
Elenn.
Back.
Come on.
If it catches our scent
we won't out run it.
We've got to keep moving.
Come on. Just a little bit further.
We're there.
Hey!
Hey!
What do you want?
Oh no! Don't you bring
your troubles around here!
We've come from the Leode!
I don't care where you come from!
Take your strumpet and piss off!
We're coming in.
What you do... What's going on?
What's going on?
Those are precious artifacts.
- So is she.
- What's happening?
She's its keeper.
She's entered the glyderinge.
Gods above!
- The Paladin...
- You've got to finish the ceremony.
We haven't much time. Candles!
Celyn berries! Do you know them?
She's going to die, man! Quick!
Leif.
I should have known.
Hello again, old man.
I've told you,
I have nothing more to sell you.
Hello, old friend.
Looks like you turned traitor.
No, it's about revenge.
- Where are your new friends?
- Where's the girl?
Miles from here.
For a smuggler,
you always were a terrible liar.
You can still just turn and walk away.
No, no.
I've been looking forward to this.
Is this the glyderinge?
Remarkable.
Like all your battles, Aedin,
this is one you cannot win.
Now tell me where's the girl.
Defiant to the last.
That girl just killed you.
Oh no.
Where is she?
He took her.
I've sold him many things
in the past...
Didn't think I had magic
left to pluck his birds.
Is she alive?
The Glyderinge... not finished.
She's fragile...
may not wake.
Elenn.
Wake up.
It's the latest fashion in Rhona,
I believe.
I am Corvus of Renonia.
You are Corvus the traitor.
Born into a family of Deiran nobility.
My father, in his wisdom,
made himself useful to the Emperor,
and I spent my youth
and education abroad.
I have seen so many things, Elenn.
Magicians in Hottonium who summon up
dueling beast of horrific size,
only often to be devoured themselves,
Sarinese shaman who lie facedown
on glowing coals, unscathed.
However,
none have intrigued me
more than this.
The missing part.
I have soared for so many years
to make it whole,
and at a great cost.
The blood of one dragon
shall anoint the other,
and the land shall be healed.
What do you want from me?
In my hands,
it's just an old unicorn horn,
broken,
inert
but reunited in the hands
of an anointed Deiran priestess,
the last of her kind...
It is a vessel of immense power.
Don't you see?
Me, to collect the necessary pieces.
You, to fulfill your destiny
and reunite the Falarica.
I knew it when I saw you in Ghel,
and I know it now,
seeing you here
before these two pieces.
It is to this purpose
that you have been anointed.
You know nothing of my destiny.
You are wrong.
Take the girl.
This is no longer a Vitalion matter!
You are beginning to vex me, Corvus.
This relic, this girl, they are nothing.
Burning religiouswomen
does not stop revolutions,
quite the opposite.
The girl will be executed immediately.
What is the charge?
- Treason and sedition.
- You have no evidence.
Two weeks ago you were bleating
on about a mountain of evidence!
There is none.
Magister Corvus,
you are very close to finding
yourself at the end of a big pike.
I petition for trial by combat.
I have no interest
in your primitive Deiran custom.
As you are aware,
the Vitalion have agreed
to observe certain Deiran laws.
She comes from a noble family.
There is no evidence.
Trial by combat must be observed.
Very well, Corvus.
She shall have her trial by combat.
But you shall represent the interests
of the Empire in this, not hers!
She shall have three days.
And if a champion doesn't emerge
she will be executed.
If they do,
you will battle them to the death.
Win, and she dies.
Lose, and she's free.
Three days.
We've got a heavy one here.
Don't you die on your own,
I want to kill you myself.
Night, night.
Am I where I think I am?
Depends...
Do you think you're in heaven?
No.
Then yes.
Sleep.
He wants you rested,
so he can kill you properly.
Tell Clooney...
Baretheon's girl...
She's the Paladin.
Come with me, Elenn.
I can get you out.
Why should you?
Because a vibrance
and an instinct like yours is so rare.
I will not...
I can not let them take you from me.
No.
Strabus will see me fall.
Forget this land,
forget these people, forget the dragon.
I want to take you to a place
where none of this matters.
No.
What difference is your death
going to make?
Well more than my life will
if I leave with you.
I have petitioned for trial by combat,
but I've been forced to fight
for the Emperor.
If no champion comes forward
by noon tomorrow,
you will be executed.
Gods above, woman!
No champion is coming!
Do you know what they'll do to you?
For the last time,
I beg you,
come with me
and forget this foolishness.
Then you'll die,
Lama's Eve will pass,
and Garrick will not be crowned.
Clooney!
Clooney you bastard, set me free!
Clooney!
Aedin!
It seems your lass needs a champion.
They're going to execute her
without one.
Elenn of Adair,
you are charged with the crimes
of sedition and treason,
for which you will be executed.
How do you plead?
I do not plead.
I am a Deiran.
And you are in a Deiran fortress
upon Deiran lands!
Very pretty for a Deiran girl.
No plea.
A trial by combat
has been petitioned on your behalf,
and it seems that a champion
has emerged.
Bring out the prisoner!
Pretty dress.
I like the color.
And do you accept this man
as your champion?
Yes.
So be it! Trial by combat!
Bring that bitch to heel
and then throw her back in her cage.
Let go of me.
I did not expect such fervor
from Corvus.
He seems quite taken by the girl.
Survival is still the stronger
instinct, Strabus.
Who is she?
A Deiran witch.
She has an old horn
that Corvus was truly obsessed about.
He calls it the Falarica, I believe.
It is significant to the Deiran Kings?
The Emperor has interest
in royal artifacts.
The man who brings him the horn
would be smiled upon.
Do you have it?
Vitalion justice!
Finish it!
To kill the dragon
she must unite the horn...
It is her...
destiny.
I am almost grateful to you
for ridding me of the traitor.
Throw him to the dogs.
That's the problem with you Deiran.
You never have the good sense
to stop when you're beaten.
Elenn!
The dragon!
We need to get to the Summit
of lliak by dawn.
- Why?
- The coronation.
Grab that horse.
Faster, come on!
We cross into open ground,
we're dead.
It's me the dragon's after.
Here, take this to the coronation.
Corvus said you must unite the horn.
What are you doing?
You're the Paladin.
You'll think of something.
Wish me luck.
Luck?
The coronation.
I need an escort to take me
to the Summit of lliak before dawn.
It'll take till sunset, for a man,
in battle condition.
Don't let go.