The night sky was orange with fire as the two armies clashed. Richard fought hard on the front line to protect the castle along with its occupants but he could see that his side was losing. The enemy was larger than expected and had sophisticated weapons to boot. He kept fighting however not wanting to let the lord of this castle down.

Then he heard a soldier scream and another. He turned to see a mighty ogre barreling through the soldiers as though it was bowling ball the soldiers were the pins. Richard flew towards the ogre and smashed into the side of it. It veered off it's course and ran stupidly into a wall knocking itself out cold.

Richard took the opportunity to fly up to see what else the enemy had up its sleeves but his eyes went wide with horror seeing the weapons rolling up. Trebuchets. Dozens of them. Ready to attack. One launched its load flying right towards him. He swerved out of the way. The sudden gust of wind threw off balance a little and he watched as the fireballs smashed through the walls. The raiders were in the castle. Time was short.

He flew towards the high tower. Lord Gallant and his children were taking refuge there. They needed to know the dire news. Richard burst in through the open window skidding to a halt "Lord Gallant!" He said catching his breath, "They've breached the walls".

Silence filled the room. The last line of defence was gone. It was only a matter of time until the raiders would occupy the castle.

Lord Gallant got up and limped towards his armour. "Richard. I want you to take my family to safety. My oldest son Jacob has a manor to the north of the crystal canyon. He'll keep them safe" Lord Gallant calmly said.

"Father aren't you coming?" His daughter Jessica said.

"No. A lord never abandons his castle" Lord Gallant replied.

"But there's too many. You'll die"

"Then I'll die"

Richard was shocked hearing that. Did he just want to abandon him? "My lord. Wouldn't it be better for me to stay and fight with you?" He replied

"No. I want you to protect my children." He said putting on his armour "I know you will keep them safe. You saved Harold yesterday after all"

"But Lord Gallant surely…"

"This is not your fight Richard. You've done more than enough tonight. My Knights and army will defend this castle to the end. You will take my children away to safety. I know you'll keep them safe"

"Lord Gallant please I…"

"Those are my orders Richard! You will take my children to safety. This task is more important than protecting this castle. Please. Do what I say." Lord Gallant demanded as he put on his helmet.

Richard was torn. Lord Gallant was in no condition to fight and would surely die but Richard was in no position to argue. Lord Gallant had made up his mind and Richard couldn't do anything about it.

"Understood" Richard replied with a small bow.

"Thank you," Lord Gallant calmly said.

"I'll stay and fight by your side then" Jessica defiantly said

"No! Harold needs you."

"But father…" Richard places a hand on her shoulder.

"Time is short. I'm sorry but we need to go" Richard said. Jessica looked back and forth between his father and Richard conflicted. She couldn't let her father die but she hated to admit that this was no time to argue. She began to cry.

"I love you dad" She sobbed.

Lord Gallant hugged Jessica tightly. "This line will not end tonight. Make me proud" They let go and Lord Gallant ran towards the door. "Go now! We'll buy you time!"

The door slams shut leaving Richard with Jessica and Harold "You heard Lord Gallant" Richard said "Come on. Let's be quick. The raiders will be in the castle soon"

"We can take the hidden exit" Harold piped up, "It's in the kitchens and will take us well outside the walls"

"Lead the way" Richard responded and the three of them ran through the corridors of the castle towards the kitchens. The floor was converted with broken shards of glass and rubble as the castle took a pounding from the boulders.

They were near the kitchens as a raider jumped through a window slamming Richard into the wall knocking the wind out of him. Before he could recover the raider punched him in the side of his muzzle dazing him for a second. The raider went in for a second strike but Richard dodged it. He then gave a loud roar and punched the raider twice in quick succession. The raider rolled backwards towards the window and then fell over the windowsill falling to their doom.

Richard composed himself seeing Jessica and Harold waiting for him "What are you doing!?" He shouted just as an explosion rocked the floor, "We don't have time to stand around get going!"

They resumed running and we in the kitchens, the floor caked in food. Harold led the others to the pantry where after dinner digging he found a level and gave it a pull. One of the walls opened up showing an ominous dark tunnel. Harold and Jessica went inside as Richard grabbed a torch. Using his tail he then pulled the lever again sealing the wall up and they jogged down the tunnel.

They could still hear the fighting outside but it was muffled from all the dirt that was above them. They continued down the tunnel for what seemed like hours but eventually they could see moonlight. They leapt out of the tunnel, the lord's children catching their breath whilst Richard looked around to see if there were any rogue raiders. None but he could see the ominous glow of the castle burning.

Jessica and Harold got up next to him as they watched the castle burn. One of the towers collapsed knocking down the church as the bells rang in defiance. Harold wiped away a tear while Jessica balled her fists. Rage filling. Richard noticing, put a hand on her shoulder.

"Anger won't help. It won't reverse what happened" he said.

"So what am I supposed to do! Just forget this ever happened?" Jessica shouted back pushing Richard's hand away.

"No. But there are other things in life to worry about" Richard replied pointing behind Jessica. Jessica turned to see Harold crying his eyes out. She had never seen Harold as upset as this, even as a toddler Harold never threw a tantrum. She looked at the castle again as another tower fell. She looked away and went to hug Harold who hugged him back tightly letting their tears out.

After several minutes Jessica loosened her grip. "We'll always be together." She whispered "I'll never abandon you". Harold nodded in response. "Come on. We best get going. We have a long walk ahead of us". The two got up and began to walk North.

Richard looked back to the castle. He watched it burn for a few more seconds before lightly pounding his chest with his right hand and gave a slight bow. "Your children will be safe in my hands, Lord Gallant" He said quietly and then caught up with Jessica and Harold. They were silent the rest of that night.

---

This is an intense YCH that I got from  BigGoodWolf

Richard belongs to me