Chapter 63:

I was still cursing the arrogant captain under my breath when I moved to the tent entrance.

"I'm never having walls in the command tent again," I muttered to myself as I poked my head out against the protests of my personal guards.

Stepping out of the tent, I looked around to see where the hoofbeats were coming from. Finding the source, I grimaced as I recognized those were not any of our colors. It appeared that while the enemy was in a full route, they wouldn't go down without a fight. Seeing the opening in our camp, they had sent some fast riders around the sides of the battle. Now, an entire squadron of around 100 light cavalry units was coming with torches, ready to set fire to our tent and probably abduct any generals or nobility they could.

I moved out of the way, and the guards filed out of the tent. There were only fifteen of them, but they were elite warriors. However, they had no horses. The five-to-one odds without horses were not something I would count on. No, not alone.

Looking around, I saw that another ten or so officers and nobles were forming up behind the guards. That wasn't going to be enough. Past them were the non-combatants. The corps of scribes were the generals' wives and their servants and maids. Alana was herding them all together and out of the way. This was going to get ugly.

I was just glad the approaching enemy didn't have any ranged weapons on them. It gave me a few seconds to think. If I didn't come up with something brilliant, though, they would end up running us down with ease.

My heart sank into my stomach as I desperately searched for some sort of escape. Were there horses or something we could maybe ride away on? No, the pickets were too far. There were no choke points, just flimsy tents that the horses were trampling over.

I looked at the defenders. The guards stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me, unflinching. It was easy to see the concern on their faces. But at the same time, it was obvious they trusted me. They would stand until the end. It wasn't enough. Still, I gave a few orders, and they fanned out into a wedge, supporting each other. It wasn't going to do much against the charging horses.

Looking over my shoulder, my eyes met with Alana's. There were so many vulnerable behind men. I cursed. This could go very badly. Returning my attention back to the charging horses, I watched as they stepped up into a canter. When they crossed 100 yards away from us, I made my decision.

"Hold," I commanded and broke ranks. Sheathing my dagger, I reached over and pulled out the backup sword from the guard standing next to me. Then I started to run.

As quickly as I could, I picked up speed. Seeing the loan man charging, the leading cavalry lowered their lances at me. My charge didn't slow down at all. Reading my two swords, I ducked low under the lance.

With explosive power, I stepped up, casting Dance of the Jester. I flashed forward with the most efficient mana usage possible. Not trying to suppress the other aspects of the spell made it actually the flashiest it could be.

I glowed and sparked, afterimage after afterimage darting through the line of horses. With each step, I shifted sideways. As I moved, I slashed. My targets were nothing lethal, just horses' and riders' legs. The cavalry was twenty abreast, and I managed to make it across all twenty in a half second, cutting out the front legs of the leftmost horse and the rear legs of the rightmost horse.

The riders tumbled as the horses sprawled to the ground, screaming in agony. The horses behind tripped and piled up. Some were able to leap clear, but not most of them. I flashed after those that made it free.

My swords hacked in a dervish of blades as they searched for every tendon. When the backup sword I borrowed lodged in a bone and cracked, I borrowed one from the owner of the horse as he fell.

I felt my head start to throb as I burned through my remaining mana. The display was a magnificent finale that made me sick to my stomach with the amount of blood that flew around me.

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Finally, panting, I stopped on the other side of the horses. Almost every horse was injured at this point, and half the riders had been maimed or crushed beneath the horses. The rest tumbled free but were slow to get up. I stood panting, out of breath, out of energy. My head throbbed from lack of mana.

Slowly, the feeling came back to my body. My joints hurt from repeated strain. I probably had stress fractures in my legs and feet. I had cuts all over from where lucky slashes had gotten to me.

I took a step, and my knee almost buckled. Pushing the pain down, I took a second step after the mob of soldiers. They looked confused, but they didn't lose sight of their targets as they sped toward the guards.

The guards rushed forward to meet them, still outnumbered more than two to one.

The engagement was bloody. All but two of the officers joined in the fray, and I stumbled one step after another toward the melee. I watched as soldiers on both sides fell. I forced my legs to move faster, but it barely made any difference.

By the time I reached the back, the battle was almost over. Many of the enemy cavalry had been cut down, as fighting on foot wasn't their forte. Still, the weight of numbers prevailed, and all 15 of the guards lay dead or injured, along with several of the nobles.

Earl Ingress led a force of three nobles standing between the non-combatants and the eight remaining cavalry officers. Then I reached them.

I cut down two from behind before they even noticed me. Forcing out one more burst of Dance of the Jester, I cut through them one at a time until the last one was stabbed through the chest by the Earl and his men. I watched as the servants rushed over to check for wounded on our side.

My eyes found Alana. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes were wide as she walked toward me. People milled around, but I seemed lost. I lost track of time slightly as people moved about me. My attention was fleeting, and I focused only on my friend's face, looking for a sense of fear or accusation. I knew witchcraft was not particularly appreciated here, and it was rather obvious what I had done.

Relief flooded me as I only read the concern on her face. I didn't know why I cared so much. My mind had a moment of clarity and remembered that Dance of the Jester wasn't my only spell. Concentrating on the absolute last dregs of my mana, I forced out a powerful burst of Fool's Constitution, and I lit up like a firework. I saw Alana's eyes go wide, and I just smiled at her through the light show. But then her mouth opened in a scream.

"No!"

A fierce pain shot through my chest. I looked down to find four inches of a sword poking out of my rib cage.

"Witch…. Possessed." Words came from somewhere around me.

I attempted to breathe in and felt nothing but burbling fluid enter my lungs. It missed my heart somehow. I could feel the beat as it pumped fluid into my chest cavity.

Turning, I found Earl Ingress standing behind me. He let go of the blade, pale-faced with abject fear on his face.

"Witchcraft," He repeated breathlessly.

I reached behind me and yanked, pulling the blade out slowly in an almost impossible motion that nearly dislocated my shoulder. He just stared at me as I pulled the blade out of my back.

With the same blade from my back, I rammed it through his sternum, and he fell to his knees. His lips moved one more time, but nothing came out.

I tried to activate Fool's Constitution one more time, but I had no more mana left. Completely run dry, my head was filled with a spike of pure pain.

A screech behind me caused me to turn again. The world moved at a snail's pace as I tried to move. I nearly fell over, but my legs held for a moment longer.

The last two nobles stood behind me. One had his sword drawn back for a strike at my neck. Before the blow could land, a screaming Alana threw herself at him, grabbing his arm, staying my execution.

He paused and looked down at her in surprise. The other noble didn't freeze and buried his blade deep into her ribs. And I heard her gasp out the last breath in her lungs.

My vision went red, pain forgotten, breathing forgotten. I knew I only had seconds. Lunging forward, I couldn't even begin to describe how those two men died. I could only see the horror in the faces of the non-combatants watching us from a distance away.

Stretching my arm out to Alana's still body, I collapsed, unable to reach her. As I looked up into the sky from my knees, a familiar smiling face filled my vision.