Chapter Text
July 9th, 1267
Aldersberg, Lower Aedirn
The chaos that unfolded in front of Draya was a sight to behold. All around her, soldiers were in a frenzy. Extinguishing fires, manning the volleys. She was practically blind, the smokes of the countryside set a dark fiery plume through the sky. The sun hadn't shone in days, fires ravaged as far as the eye could see. Draya was stationed on a tower in the merchant's district. She was the only soldier amongst the few merchants who didn't flee the city. She knew many of them would die. Brave fools they were.
"ALRIGHT! LISTEN UP!"
Draya stood on a barrel, making her tall frame tower over the merchants.
"THOSE PLOUGHIN' NILFGAARDIAN WHORES HAVE BEEN HITTING US ALL DAY WITH THEIR FIRE SCORPIONS."
Another blast rattled the wall behind them, many of the merchants ducked down, others screamed loudly. None of them deserted.
"OUR WALLS ARE THE BEST IN THE NORTH, BUT WE CAN ONLY GET PUMMELED LIKE THIS FOR SO LONG. OUR TASK IS TO ELIMINATE THOSE BLOODY SIEGE MACHINES."
Draya let out a rallying cry, only a few merchants screamed back. The small group was ready to charge up the walls. Draya stepped down from the barrel and unsheathed her sword. Yet, before she could even step foot on the stairs, a green hurtling ball of fire smashed into the guild office behind them. The flames engulfed the merchants, they didn't even have time to react. All that remained was Draya. She brushed the soot out of her Warriors Plait. She knew Aldersberg was a lost cause.
Draya listened intently to the drummers, making out their code through the crackling flames.
CITY IS LOST, EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF
All around her, the cries of Nilfgaardian warriors rang. Draya had to hide, and fast. The only way out seemed to be the sewers. She ran to the fortress walls, there's always an entrance in the walls. Upon entering, the stench of blood was overwhelming. Above her, the shuffling of boots and screams of Nilfgaardian Tongue ran out. The screams of mercy that the Nilfgaardians vehemently ignored would haunt Draya the rest of the day...She had grown indifferent to the slaughter.
Winding through the castle walls, she had deftly avoided the Nilfgaardian's. The entrance to the sewers lay below her. She unsheathed her sword, there would be drowners awaiting her below. She'd rather die by a drowners claws than be executed by a cackling Blackclad. She paused and looked around her before opening the manhole. This split-second decision changed her fate, one could say it even saved Draya's life. Though, that didn't seem to be the case at first.
In front of her stood a Nilfgaardian, short and stout, a clean sword in hand. Draya didn't have time to surmise why the man's sword lacked Aedirnian blood. She was not about to be his first.
Draya parried the first blow. She was ready to slash soldiers stomach, anger still seething from the Brothers-in-Arms the Black Ones mercilessly killed. She never got to exact justice. Draya and the Blackclad were interrupted by the Zerrikanian Fire Scorpion that would determine their fate.