Elizabeth and Ayax had to abandon the chariot almost immediately.
Leila had slammed a fireball into the wheel, forcing Elizabeth to grab Ayax and leap out. Her boots slammed into the ground with teeth-jarring thud and she skidded for a second before dropping her girlfriend.
“Sorry!” she exclaimed, right before she sidestepped a charging knight. As the second knight closed in with her lance, she leapt into the air and slammed her hammer into the knight’s chest. The horsewoman was knocked off her saddle but Elizabeth didn’t have a second to spare. Other knights were circling her.
Ayax heard her girlfriend’s apology, but didn’t have time to respond. She was already putting a shield up to block Leila’s fireballs. Using the gem in her staff as a focusing point, the troll charged her cousin’s lightning spell to about half-strength and unleashed it.
Leila blocked that with a hastily put up shield, but was thrown off her horse by the blast. It bought Ayax enough time to close in on her with several strides. She raised her staff to slam it down on the mage.
From where she was near the wrecked chariot, Elizabeth was somehow managing to dodge the lance strikes from the horsemen. As she hit another cavalryman with her hammer and knocked him down, the Otherworlder saw two of her opponents peel off, charging right towards her girlfriend.
Ayax, completely unaware of the danger, was hitting Leila. Blow after blow was smacking the mage backwards, sending spiderweb cracks through her crimson shield.
“Ayax look out!”
The troll glanced behind her and Leila seized the distraction to grab Ayax with a levitation spell. The mage threw the troll into the air, and held her as the horsemen started to pick up speed.
The horror welled up in Elizabeth’s heart and suddenly, nothing else mattered. Every step she took seemed to be a jump. She could hear her armor screeching as its articulated plates scraped past one another. The Otherworlder leaped into the air, hammer scything. The titanic blow killed her target in an instant but there was still another knight charging.
Ayax wasn’t sure what was behind her but she knew she had to get out of the spell. Her hand reached into her pouch and found her cards. Screaming a Word of Power, she threw several cards that tore into Leila’s shield and exploded. The mage’s concentration broke and Ayax fell to the ground. The troll turned around and her eyes widened at the knight, its lance levelled at her.
Only for a warhammer to spin through the air and bury it’s spike into the knight’s back. The knight howled, lance dropping. Ayax immediately leapt out of the way, eyes trying to find Elizabeth.
She found her girlfriend, just in time to see one knight slam his sword into Elizabeth’s head. The Otherworlder tottered, reeling back, just in time for a second knight to ram her lance into Elizabeth’s back.
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Elizabeth’s relief at having saved her girlfriend vanished as her head exploded in agony. Before she could even scream, she was thrown forward. Thrown perhaps was an understatement. She was catapulted so suddenly, and violently that she thought she was on a roller coaster for a second. Then she was toppling, rolling and suddenly face-first in the dirty snow. It was like she’d been kicked but so much worse. A throbbing agony pounded up from her back and spread to every part of her aching body.
“Elizabeth!”
The broken howling scream sounded like Ayax. No, Elizabeth realised it was Ayax. With great effort, she looked up and her eyes widened.
Ayax was standing over an enemy, whose chestplate was cratered in like an elephant had stomped on it. She now leapt over the corpse, black eyes narrowed, a wolf’s snarl twisting her normally stoic expression. She was dancing, leaping past spell and hurled debris, her staff spinning. There was an energy crackling in the air. Despite the day having had no wind, Elizabeth suddenly could feel a cold breeze blasting through her visor.
“You killed her.”
Leila snorted. “You know she’s not actually dead. Then again, you’re just some dumb monster.” She sent another scarlet bolt at the troll.
To Elizabeth’s dismay, the bolt slammed into Ayax’s chestplate. The troll nearly lost her staff as the bolt sent her skidding backwards and onto one knee. Leila grinned. Elizabeth stared.
Then Ayax stood back up. She was surrounded by a dark blue glow and her black eyes shone. The air crackled as Ayax stepped forward, and as she stepped, the snow in her path was blown away. Suddenly, Elizabeth realised that the cold breeze in the air was coming from her girlfriend.
“You and your kind took everything from me! EVERYTHING!”
Ayax charged. The troll whirled past a bright beam of scorching light. She batted aside a fireball. She ran through the torrent of fire that erupted from Leila’s staff. It scorched her clothing and her hair, but she didn’t notice. She dropped her staff and tackled Leila to the ground.
The Otherworlder, staff knocked out of her hand, tried to go for her dagger. Straddling her, the troll seized the human’s arm and wrenched it. Leila screamed as her arm fell to the snowy ground in a completely unnatural angle. That scream was cut off as Ayax began to pound the former bully’s face, with her bare hands.
“When will it be enough? WHEN WILL IT BE ENOUGH? You wanted a monster to kill? Well kill me! KILL ME!”
“Ayax!”
The troll froze. The cold wind stopped. Leila said nothing as Ayax staggered up. The bully just lay on the snow, her face bruised, nose broken, eyes swollen.
Ayax didn’t care. Her eyes were searching for the sound of the voice and when she found Elizabeth, lying on the ground, arm outstretched, her mind suddenly clicked.
“You’re alive. You’re still here.”
The troll ran to Elizabeth. Her helmet was dented but intact. The lance hadn’t penetrated, but the armor was badly dented and concaved into the Otherworlder’s back. Pulling Elizabeth’s helmet off, Ayax found her girlfriend staring at her with wide eyes.
“Ayax? Are you—”
“I’m okay. I…where is it hurting?”
“My back. I…What was…”
“No time to talk. We need to get you out of this.” Ayax’s hands flew over the straps of Elizabeth’s armor and soon the Otherworlder was out of it.
“My head…I think I’m alright, but I think it broke some ribs,” Elizabeth hissed.
“Come on, I’ll get you on a horse. We need to get out of here.” Leaning on Ayax, Elizabeth let her girlfriend support her to one of the leftover horses. “I’ll ride, just sit tight.”
Somehow, Elizabeth was able to get onto the mount with Ayax’s help, despite the pain she was in. Gasping, trying to stay focused, she took a deep breath. “Ayax, we…we need to talk about what happened.”
From where she stood next to the horse, Ayax blinked. “What happened—Oh.” The troll averted her gaze. “Okay.”
Sighing, Elizabeth forced herself to smile and gently touched her love’s cheek with her hand. “I still love you. I just have questions.”
A rare smile flashed over Ayax’s melancholic expression. “I understand. Let’s find somewhere safe to treat your wounds first.” Leaving the horse, Ayax quickly grabbed the other horse and loaded up their scattered supplies and the remnants of Elizabeth’s armor. After tying the horses together, the pair set off at a slow trot down the highway.
Snow began to fall behind them and as Ayax and Elizabeth started to disappear down the distance there was a broken gasp from Leila.
But Ayax and Elizabeth had no way of hearing that.
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While this was all happening, deep in the mountains of Kallistos in Athelda Aoun, the ancient ruin was being explored.
Timur had organised Dwynalina, Aloudin and some of the more experienced members of the group to cover certain areas, but all had agreed that it probably was a good idea to let everybody stretch their legs. All of the refugees had agreed to remain within the city itself and in groups of more than one.
That is, everybody but Frances and the orphans of the convoy. Most of the children with parents had accompanied them. Frances however was not going to let a group of unsupervised children run off into the city without some spells on hand.
Thankfully, after one of the younger orphans had gotten lost, and was only found thanks to the harpies in the group, most of the children and teens were more than willing to undergo some training.
Taking a deep breath, Frances nodded in satisfaction as she watched her gaggle of students rotate from lifting rubble from the ground. Once they dropped the rubble, they sent flares of magic into the sky that exploded and slowly drifted down.
Frances half-covered her ears as the students finished their final spell, an ear-piercing shriek that had some of the surrounding adults muttering mutinously.
“Alright, now, stay in pairs of two and before you do something, think about if it will hurt,” said Frances. “Class dismissed.”
Nodding, most of the youths practically vanished. A few thanked Frances before running off after their fellows. Smiling, Frances was about to leave, when someone grabbed her arm.
Frances turned to see Hattie release her arm. Her dark blue eyes were narrowed, but also averted.
Watching the half-troll, Frances waited quietly, keeping a small smile on her face.
“How can I help you, Hattie?” Frances asked.
Squirming, Hattie met Frances’s calm gaze. “I want to be stronger.”
Frances nodded. “Alright. May I know why?”
“That’s none of your business!” Right after the words left her mouth, Hattie winced, her shoulders sagging.
Frances didn’t let her smile fade. “Hattie, I don’t mind teaching you some more advanced spells. You are smart and you are talented. And I…I do feel that I owe you.”
“Then why are you asking?” Hattie asked, her arms crossed.
“I’m worried about you. I know I don’t have any right to be, but I think you’re hurting.” She watched as Hattie’s eyes widened. “Is that why you want to be stronger?”
Hattie couldn’t meet Frances’s eyes. She stood there, arms crossed, letting her long brown hair hide her face.
She nodded, once, and looked back up at Frances again, her lip trembling.
“Alright. Let me teach you a fireball spell. This is something my mother taught me.”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Hattie frowned. “I thought your parents hated you?”
“My birth parents do. I’m talking about Edana, my adoptive mother and teacher. You know her better as the Firehand.”
Hattie’s eyes widened. “You mean the Fatbubbler herself?”
Unable to help herself, Frances giggled. “I haven’t heard that nickname in a while. You know, she’s really nice when you meet her.” At Hattie’s sceptical glance, Frances took a deep breath. “To start the spell…”
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It was dinner time when everybody had returned from their exploration. The market square was large enough for everybody to find a spot and there were even some old stone benches for people to sit. Others even used some of the abandoned buildings that had once been shops and living quarters. The wood furniture was long rotted to dust, but they still offered shelter.
The convoy’s leadership were all huddled together in one of these shops. It looked to have been in its heyday, a restaurant or bar of some kind as there seemed to be a long bar counter. Here they unpacked some of their rations and sampled a fresh trout that Olgakaren had caught.
The harpy swallowed her bite of food and used Epomonia’s proffered handkerchief to wipe her mouth. “I think settling here would be difficult, but there’s a lot of promise. I flew up to check the farming terraces and they’re overgrown, but they still stand.”
“And I found the lift His Highness mentioned. It doesn’t work, but all the counterweights and the magic runes are still there. We just need a lot of rope and we have plenty of mages to re-enchant the runes,” said Aloudin.
Blazey the blacksmith chuckled. “You know it’s funny. This is a ruin and it’s too…big, but the houses are already there. Some of them even have running water still, which is insane.”
“The goblins set up a very early form of plumbing, mostly because their population was so huge that they needed to figure out a way to dispose of waste. I wouldn’t recommend using the toilets, though,” said Timur.
“Noted, Your Highness, but I think you get my meaning. This place couldn’t be better. I even found a good place where I can set my shop back up.”
“I like this place as well, Blazey, but there is one concern I think we need to think about,” said Dayren. “What happens if Thorgoth marches an army down the Greenway?”
“We would be first in his path,” said Frances. She pursed her lips. “We could fortify the entrance to the city. There’s only one entrance as Timur said, but there is a risk.”
“The problem is that there’s no other place we can go. Think about it. What place has houses that are already built, water, and even farmland?” Blazey asked.
Frances glanced at Timur, but he was remaining silent. She didn’t need him to speak to know what he was thinking, though. She knew her love would prefer to stay in Athelda-Aoun. He was simply trying to remain quiet so as to not let his love for the past sway their decision.
She had, however, made hers.
“We can reduce the risk. One of the problems with the Lightning Battalion is that we’ve grown in size, but we have no base of operations. Athelda-Aoun has the room to be a good base and it’s centrally located enough that we can sortie to assist either Erisdale, or maybe even probe the defences on the other entrance of the Greenway.” Frances crossed her arms. “Also, if we settle here, Erisdale can move its garrison in Kwent up to here. I think I can convince Earl Forowena of that. They’d essentially be doing the same job, and the single entrance here is more defensible than the walls at Kwent.”
“No human or Erisdalian would have trouble with us settling here. This land isn’t claimed, which is a little strange now that I think about it.” Aloudin leaned his elbows on the bar table. “Oh I get why individual settlers wouldn’t have bothered. The farmland is separated from the city and this place is just too large for a small group to just come in. I’m just wondering why no kingdom has bothered to claim it.”
Dwynalina chuckled. “For the reasons you mentioned, Captain. There’s a lot of work to be done to make this city productive and generating taxes again.”
“But for our purposes, it fits pretty well, doesn’t it?” Timur asked, his face splitting into a wide grin.
Dayren couldn’t help it, a laugh escaped from him as well. “It seems so, Your Highness. Assuming we can get Erisdale to help us garrison this area and to help us set this up.”
“I’ll call Earl Forowena tonight,” said Frances.
“You should also call your grandmother Eleanor. If Erlenberg has a refugee problem, maybe they can send some to us. We have more than enough space after all,” said Timur.
“And they have money, good thinking my love,” said Frances. She blinked, her cheeks slightly reddening.
The prince leaned in closer to her, resting his head on his chin. “I aim to please,” he said, smirking.
Frances rolled her eyes, but she was unable to hide her smile. “So it’s settled then?” she asked.
Everybody nodded and Timur straightened. “Well, then we’re staying in Athelda-Aoun.”
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“Liz! Liz!”
Elizabeth blinked. As the numbing sleepiness fell away from her limbs, the thudding pain in her back came to life. She was leaning against her horse’s neck and slowly falling sideways.
She stiffened, her body protesting as fingers wrestled with her reins. Somehow she yanked herself upright in a burst of vigour.
And then it was gone. An invisible weight pulled her chin down and drew her eyelids close.
A new, warm body pressed up against her back. Elizabeth’s eyes flickered open as Ayax pushed her forward on the saddle. Four-fingered hands pulled the reins from Elizabeth’s hands.
“Ayax, dearie, what are you doing here?” she whispered.
Ayax sounded alarmed, and yet she seemed to be coming through a tunnel. Part of Elizabeth’s mind told her that that was bad, but she was just so tired.
“Liz, there’s something really wrong. Stay awake, please! Don’t leave me!”
“Silly, why would I leave you? I want to stay here with you,” Elizabeth whispered. She tried to raise her hand to Ayax’s cheek, but her arm didn’t seem to respond. She yawned. “Just let me rest for a little bit.”
“No. Liz? Liz!”
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Ayax watched Elizabeth’s eyes close. She hadn’t disappeared. But the troll knew she was running out of time. Kicking her horse into a gallop, she yanked out her communication device.
“Martin! Ginger! Pick up dammit!”
“Ayax? What’s going on?” Ginger asked.
Ayax almost cried in relief. “Elizabeth’s going to die if you don’t find a village for me!”
“What? Did you run into that cavalry company?” Ginger gasped.
“I don’t know! We ran into a squad led by Leila and a squad but I have no idea if they’re on their own or part of that company! Where are our men?” Ayax asked.
“They should be at Simula’s Cross! Where are you?”
Ayax did some quick calculations. “That’s almost two days away! We were just at Lehrbach when they jumped us! Is there anywhere we can find near us?”
There was silence and some scrabbling. She could hear Ginger muttering to herself. Ayax couldn’t make out what her friend was saying, only that the tone of her voice was heightening.
“Ayax, get the fuck off the road now!”
“Get off? Why—”
“Just do as I say!”
Ayax pulled back on the reins. They were in the middle of a thick pine forest, the road sloping gently upwards towards the pass that led to Leipmont. Carefully, she trotted her horse off the flagstones, making sure that the second horse she’d tied to their saddle continued to follow.
After a few minutes pushing past underbrush and ducking under branches, she was deep enough in the woods that she could only just see the road. To go any deeper she’d need to dismount. The land sloped upwards the farther she got from the road.
“Right, do you mind telling me what—” Ayax clamped her mouth shut as her keen troll ears heard the thunder of horses on hooves. From the rolling sound that echoed on through the trees, there were quite a lot of horses.
In the distance, from her spot far from the road, Ayax could see a cavalry company canter past the spot she and Elizabeth had just been. Almost too horrified to breathe, Ayax said nothing as they rode past.
Only when Ayax could no longer hear them did she whisper. “They’re gone. I guess our cavalry was tracking them?”
“Yeah. They got the lead on us a bit. The good news is that now we know you’re about two days ahead of us,” said Ginger.
Ayax breathed a sigh of relief, not even caring that she could hear how smug Ginger was being. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Now, there is a village nearby called Atra’s Rest. If you take the northern fork toward Leipmont, you should reach there by evening. It’s friendly and there’s a ranger garrison in it.”
“Would they have medical supplies?” Ayax asked.
“Yes. What’s going on with Elizabeth?”
“A knight hit her at full tilt with a lance. Didn’t break her armor, but she’s really groggy.”
“Damn. You need to get her there as soon as possible.”
“On it,” said Ayax. She was about to guide her horse back to the road, when she started to hear the road shake again. Frowning, she watched as the cavalry company that had just passed, ran back up the road again.
The reason why became apparent when Ayax glimpsed a bruised Leila holding onto her horse, screaming orders at the cavalry company. She whipped her horse faster and faster, somehow keeping pace with the fresh horsemen. On and on the company rode, back in the direction they came from.
Back in the direction that Ayax had to go.
Ayax swallowed. “Ginger, Leila… I thought I beat her to death but she’s alive. She’s leading the company back east.”
“In your path. Fuck! Hold on, let me—”
“Ginger, how long would it take by foot to reach Atra’s Rest?” Ayax asked.
From where she had her map spread out, Ginger blinked. “Ayax don’t be stupid. Yes you could make Atra’s rest on foot—”
“Then how do I do it?” Ayax asked.
Ginger shut her eyes and sighed. “We—we’ll need to use the horses as much as we can to conserve your strength. I’ll direct you. You basically need to travel about two hours through the thicket and then, you’ll have to dismount for the rest of the way.”
“Alright—”
“Ayax, you have to dismount because it’s a climb. The fastest way up Atra’s rest is a steep goat’s trail, barely narrow enough for one person. From what I can tell, there will be spots you’ll have to pull yourself up by your hands. And you’ll have to carry Elizabeth the entire way.”
“How long will it take?” Ayax asked.
Ginger buried her head in her hands. “I estimate six hours for a single person. You’ll be going up that trail for four hours, Ayax, more than that with Elizabeth on your back, especially if you set a reasonable pace.”
“I know.”
Wiping her eyes, Ginger groaned. “Ayax, if you push yourself too hard, you might die of exhaustion, or lose your footing and fall.”
“Would you have me do nothing while Elizabeth dies?” Ayax demanded.
“No, but I’m saying that you need to be careful, okay?” Ginger hissed.
Taking a deep breath, Ayax nodded. “I know, Ginger. Thank you. Now where do I go?”
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Ayax had taken a few minutes to stabilise Elizabeth, but she was nowhere near as good a healer as her cousin. The best she could do was put her girlfriend in a sort of fugue state.
This was why she rushed the horses through the brush as quickly as she could. She only stopped when she finally reached the climb.
For a moment, Ayax wondered if she could make it. Ginger hadn’t been exaggerating. The land had curled up into a steep grey slope that she could barely make out in the dimming light. Half-rock, half-scrub, all craggy and covered with clumps of snow, she wasn’t sure there was actually a path.
“Ginger, you said there was a path?” Ayax asked into her communication device.
There was silence, until a male voice spoke up. “It’s Martin right now. Ginger’s getting some food. And yes, there is a path. It might not be marked but it’s on the map we got, which Igraine’s rangers made for us.”
“Then it should be reliable.” Ayax narrowed her eyes and sighed with relief. Her eyes had finally spotted a zig-zagging path of scree that snaked its way up the mountain. “Found it.”
“Good. How’s Liz doing?”
Getting off her horse, Ayax put a hand to her girlfriend’s pulse. Her skin felt cold and a little clammy. Her pulse was slow.
“Not good. I need to go now. Is there any way we can contact those rangers?” she asked.
“No. They don’t have a mirror. I’ve ordered our riders to rendezvous with them however so you should be safe once you get there,” said Martin. Ayax heard her knight friend swallow. “You got this, Ayax. One step at a time.”
Nodding, the troll quickly shed her armor. Using her staff, some ropes and even the leather reins from their horses, she tied Elizabeth to her back, using the staff to create a kind of seat for her girlfriend.
Once that was done, Ayax pocketed a few rations in her equipment belt, and set off.
Elizabeth wasn’t a very heavy person, but Ayax knew her girlfriend weighed about a hundred and fifty pounds and was mostly lean muscle. Even though Ayax knew she was in good physical condition, she wasn’t surprised when she started to feel her muscles start to protest.
She forced herself to breathe. In and out. Cold air spiked the inside of her lungs and tore across her lips on the way out. Her breath came in little puffs of vapour.
One step after another, Ayax and her burden rose. The weight of Elizabeth against her back pressed down. Yet, the mere fact that the troll could feel her love comforted her. That meant Elizabeth was still alive. She was still able to live in her world.
Tired eyes, blinking away sweat, stared at the ground ahead. Well, ground wasn’t quite accurate. The winding path fell off to one side and not into a void. It fell off to a tumble that Ayax knew would kill her and Elizabeth if she lost her balance. All Ayax could do was lean against the slope, using one hand to steady herself.
The most dangerous parts of the hike were when Ayax had to turn around. Whenever the path twisted around to cut a new angle up the slope, the troll was briefly without support on one side until she could get her hand against the other slope.
Her gloves were already beginning to wear. Maybe it was because she was dragging her fingers against the rock. Maybe they were already worn. Ayax wasn’t sure. Time was beginning to lose its meaning.
There was only the next step, and the next. The weight of Elizabeth pulling her down. Her shivering legs as she took step after step. The crunch of her boots against the scree-strewn path.
Sometime after the sun set the hike turned from trying to treacherous.
It wasn’t the darkness that was the danger. With the interfering dim light of the sun gone and the clear white light of the moon, Ayax found she could see better.
It was Ayax’s strength.
Every step suddenly felt twice as heavy. Every time she sucked in air, her lungs rebelled. Snot dribbled from her nose and sweat blinded her, but Ayax was too tired to wipe it off.
She only had the energy to take a few sips of water and keep marching forward—
A bad step and Ayax tottered. She slipped, arms pinwheeling, screaming, Ayax threw herself sideways, arms outstretched. Somehow she grabbed a crack in the rock. Her fingernails burst into a rictus of pain, but the troll held on and yanked herself back onto the path. Exhausted, she slumped against the slope, arms spread out.
She wanted to lie there and not get up. She wanted…what did she want again? Elizabeth wasn’t going to die. She was going to go back to her family.
Ayax pushed herself up, shaking her head. Was she being selfish? Sure, Elizabeth said she wanted to stay with her, but if the war did end…say ten years after the war? What would happen then?
She didn’t want to break Elizabeth’s heart. She wanted her love to be happy.
Shaking, forcing herself to take another step, Ayax blinked back her sweat. What was she thinking? She couldn’t afford to question herself. Elizabeth was depending on her.
But would it be better for Elizabeth to return home? To her family? To where she was safe? In that world of hers with all their amenities and luxuries and technology?
Ayax swallowed and stormed forward, only to find herself slowing to barely a walk. She pushed the questions to the back of her head. She pushed herself to make another step, and another. To suck in the biting cold air, and to keep on walking, and hoping that the weight on her back wouldn’t disappear.