Chapter 7 - The Battle of the Iron Pass
The Iron Pass was a narrow, jagged gorge surrounded by sheer stone cliffs three hundred feet high. At the narrowest point, Duke Vane’s men had built a massive timber wall studded with iron spikes, behind which two hundred archers stood with notched arrows.
As the Royal Vanguard entered the mouth of the gorge, Lord Corvus—Vane’s chief commander—stood atop the timber wall, a arrogant grin on his face.
"Halt, traitors!" Corvus shouted down, his voice echoing off the canyon walls. "Lay down your arms and surrender the peasant girl, and Duke Vane may grant you mercy!"
Mara rode out to the front of the line, stopping her stallion fifty paces from the wooden wall. She removed her silver helmet, letting her dark, copper-streaked hair fall loose over her shoulders.
"Lord Corvus!" Mara’s voice rang out, clear and powerful, carrying a strange sonic resonance that vibrated through the stone beneath their feet. "I am Princess Aurelia Sunfire! Stand down, lay down your weapons, and answer to the King for treason!"
Corvus laughed, turning to his archers. "Loose!"
A cloud of fifty black-feathered arrows rained down from the timber wall, whistling through the air straight toward Mara.
Julian drew his shield to jump in front of her, but Mara held up her hand.
"No, Julian," she whispered. "Watch."
She thrust both hands forward, palms open toward the sky. The golden phoenix crest on her chest blazed with blinding intensity. A massive wall of golden, shimmering fire materialized ten feet above her head, turning the dark canyon bright as noon.
The volley of arrows struck the fire wall and dissolved instantly into grey ash before reaching the ground.
The archers atop the barricade screamed in terror, dropping their bows.
Mara stepped her horse forward, raising both hands toward the massive wooden wall. A beam of pure, white-hot solar fire erupted from her palms, striking the center of the heavy timber structure.
The hundred-foot-wide wooden wall did not merely catch fire—it exploded into a shower of harmless glowing embers, clearing the entire pass in a single, magnificent flash of light.
The mercenary army behind the wall fell to their knees in absolute horror, throwing their swords onto the gravel.
"The Blood-Mark!" one of the garrison captains wept, pressing his forehead to the dirt. "It is the true Sunfire! Gods forgive us!"
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Julian looked at Mara in sheer awe, pulling his sword high into the air. "For the Sunfire Princess! Forward!"
The Royal Vanguard roared with unified victory, charging through the open pass without losing a single soldier.
