The stone beneath City Hall burst apart.
From the darkness below came a roar like a thousand iron gates dragged across the earth.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
Men stumbled.
Lamps went out one by one, and in that sudden darkness every faction drew steel.
“Hold!” cried Wayne.
But fear had already loosed the arrows.
A Scurlock guard struck a Triad captain across the face.
The captain answered with a dagger-thrust.
Three men fell before either lord could speak.
“Traitors!” shouted Scurlock.
His guards formed a shield wall.
Wang’s captains answered with curved blades, darting between the benches like wolves among sheep.
Steel rang against steel.
One Scurlock man fell beneath a shower of short blades, while another seized a chair and broke it across a Triad soldier’s shoulders.
Lionel’s men stood apart for a heartbeat.
Then Lionel smiled grimly.
“If everyone is fighting,” he said, “we may as well choose a side.”
His guards charged.
The council chamber became a battlefield.
Scurlock’s men fought in tight ranks, their shields locked together.
Wang’s warriors moved like water, striking from gaps and retreating before the counterstroke.
Lionel’s mobsters attacked both sides, hoping to break the balance and seize City Hall for themselves.
Wayne drew his sword.
He met the first attacker at the foot of the council table.
Their blades crossed once, twice, three times.
Wayne turned the fourth stroke aside and struck the man’s wrist, sending his sword spinning across the floor.
“Enough!” Wayne thundered.
No one heard him.
Then the floor split.
A black claw rose through the broken stone.
Every warrior froze.
It was larger than a carriage wheel, plated in ancient metal, its fingers ending in hooked talons.
Steam hissed from the joints.
Behind it came another claw.
Then another.
Grandmother Bright raised her staff.
“The Dragonheart does not serve Gotham,” she whispered.
The creature below roared.
“It rules it.”
For the first time that morning, the factions lowered their weapons.
Outside, bells began ringing throughout the city.
From the South Quarter came the sound of marching feet.
From the markets came horns.
And beneath Gotham, the Dragonheart awakened fully.
Ping:
Dreamquest 