I took another step back, still searching the field of ghouls to see if there was a route out for the knights. I urged the horses not to be frightened, careful to keep only them in mind, though they were trained to trample people with weapons, so it was hardly impactful.
I absent-mindedly picked at the dry mud that clung to me, nudged the stone that had found its way into my boots, and took another step back. The wind shifted, and the smoke moved to blot out the sun, casting the field into shadow. The acrid smell of burning flesh accompanied it.
Tometh met resistance as the knights circled their horses, no longer believing they could break through the masses. The shield wall along the path had disappeared into the street while still shouting for one last push to close the iron gate. Ghouls swarmed the ruined and still-standing trebuchets, searching for the mana circuits within. Some lingered by the wall, pawing at the unobtainable source of mana.
My mind moved on to where to go next. I could find refuge in the city and help or move north to find the closest town and warn them of the coming trouble. I leaned towards the latter since it would get me closer to Drasda, and without Tometh, I doubted anyone here would care to listen to me or allow me to have a weapon.
An immense amount of mana was dumped onto a spell cast by the gate to incinerate the ghouls blocking its closing. The roiling wave of fire burst from the street, engulfing the hoard and pushing the back enough for the iron bars to ring shut.
A weak cheer arose from within the city, but my attention was back on Tometh. A ghoul charging towards him had paused to look back at the spell, not for how it lit up the area or the outcry of its kind, but for the mana. I looked back to those ghouls who were more interested in the unobtainable mana within the wall and the scraps hidden inside the trebs.
I’d had the fortune of not being on the receiving end of their thirst for mana and forgotten that was their main motivation. Killing those without was an unintended consequence for them, and the coven had to expend much effort to get them to leave the higher ambient mana they craved.
I clicked the steel fingers of my gauntlet against the thumb. Its design didn’t have any crystals, relying on the capital's ambient mana to power its many enchantments. It was content being fed a steady stream of the little I offered it so as not to attract attention, but I hadn’t seen an end to its hunger.
So, if the ghouls wanted mana, I could provide a better lure than any rune.
I planted my feet in the grassy field while rethinking the risk of attracting the ire of even the closest ghouls. I removed my archer's glove, pulled up my sleeve, and interlocked my bare fingers with cold steel, making as much contact with the armour as possible.
I fed mana into it, and the enchantments lapped it up. Learning my lessons from the crystals, I took it slow at first, but time was limited. A knight had already been dragged from their horse, and Tometh struggled to fight through with only a dagger. I forced through as much mana into the metal as it would allow.
The ghouls lingering near the city gate took notice first, pausing their assault on the gate. The build-up of mana interfered with my senses, like staring into the midday sun, and I had to rely purely on my eyesight for the first time in forever. My arms twitched as mana flowed from the air into the rest of my body before being shoved into the gauntlet through them.
The metal heated uncomfortably as the enchantments ran out of anything to repair, resize, sharpen, or polish.
I hadn’t thought much about the next step after every ghoul’s head from the gate to the wall snapped towards me in a wave. I’d hoped to gain at least the attention of those between Tometh and his team, but the gauntlet’s capacity to hold onto mana exceeded my expectations.
It surpassed the level it was used to in the depths of the capital and leached a portion into the starved soundings as it struggled to hold onto what I provided. That portion found its way back into my body to be recycled.
I mistook the ground shaking for my legs being unsteady from the strain, but I simply hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings. The peculiar sight of the knights riding with the wave of ghouls kept me upright as my head spun.
“Throw it!” Tometh shouted, but my arms and attachment to the piece of armour protested. I still had the sense to listen to him, especially considering the surge of pale bodies sprinting toward me.
However, the best I could do was let the gauntlet slip off my arm and boot it into the trench. The kick left me off balance, and I tripped over my unresponsive feet as I turned to run, my face meeting the cool grass.
An arm covered in steel curled under my stomach and pulled me from the ground. The ridges in the chain sleeve prodded my skin but were preferable to the pouldron I was then draped over. I let my head sway against Tometh’s back as the sound of hooves approached.
“Open the gate!”
“Open the gate,” echoed someone from beyond the iron bars.
“Don’t do it.” “They’re right behind!” “Go around.”
“Im going through the wall if you don’t open that fucking gate, and we’ll see how useful it is to anyone after that.”
I couldn’t see ahead, but from the sounds of a brief scuffle, click of a latch and squeak of hinges, the gate was opened. After being carried through the narrow opening, I lifted my head to watch the horses hurriedly squeeze through before it was slammed back in place.
Tometh walked past those guarding the gate before depositing me on the cobblestone, propped up against a doorway. I went cross-eyed and hit the back of my head into the door to follow his hand as it pressed into my forehead.
“Healer! Jaid, where are you?”
“Here, sir,” a woman said, pulling a wounded militia member from her horse. “Is she worse than an open fracture on the thigh?”
“I don’t know. My diagnostic spell isn’t working.”
I wanted to remove his hand, but my arms didn’t respond.
“What’s wrong with her hands?” Jaid asked as she tore open the pant leg of her knocked-out patient. She pushed the bone shard jutting out of his thigh back inside, making my stomach churn.
“What?” Tomate asked, already pushing back my long sleeves.
“Owe,” I commented. “That’s going to take a few days to heal.”
“What?” Jaid asked, finishing with the spell to close up the leg wound and come look at my arms. She couldn’t figure out where to hold them, considering the entire length was an ugly reddish colour with black veins interspersed. “Try never spellcasting again. What the fuck did you do?”
“You’re being dramatic,” I said, leaning into the doorframe. “This is just my body’s way of saying I used too much mana. Happens every other week.”
Though not this badly, I left out.
Jaid delicately turned my arms over. “Mages don’t tend to be able to burst their mana channels since they’re not physical.”
“She’s an odd one,” Tometh said. “And I think I know why the diagnostic isn’t working.”
“Care to share?” Jaid asked.
“No.” “She doesn’t have a definable outline of mana for it to latch onto.”
I glared at the captain, who was no longer a blurry mess to my eyes. “Is that how you thank someone for saving you? I would be more appreciative if you found me a new gauntlet rather than blabbed.”
“We’re trying to save your life; your little secrets don’t matter if you’re dead.”
“I wouldn’t say she's in any danger,” Jaid said, setting my arms down gently. Her slender fingers gripped my chin while the other hand checked my throat for a pulse and pulled open my eyelids. “I’d say she's in shock from mana drain, and her arms are just badly bruised. Nothing life-threatening, but I’m still sceptical about you using mana again.”
“Just bruised?” Tometh asked, turning on his healer. “I didn’t have the order sponsor years of your training for you to diagnose this as ‘just bruised.’”
“Exactly. Which one of us is the trained healer?”
“What’s happening here?” Captain Hauser asked, still up on his horse without a hair out of place. A full squad followed behind him with their weapons still gleaming or in their scabbards.“Who cast that spell, and under whose authority was the gate opened?”
“Captain Tometh, sir,” a more decorated guard from the gate answered.
Tometh stood to face Hauser while Jaid stayed kneeled by my side. “We had the time. Only hesitation to open the gate could have cost lives.”
“You know the gates open for no one once they are closed while under an attack.”
“They should not have closed with no ghouls nearby, and while my team was still out there, per that same regulation. Leaving them for dead is a greater crime than any you can accuse us of.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Tometh’s team picked themselves up from where they rested, stopped tending to their horses, waved off the healers standing over them, and collected around their captain. They were battered and lacking a lot of their weapons and armour pieces, but I'd feel safer standing with them than Hauser’s people.
I tried to help by persuading his horse to buck him off, but they were too well-trained to give in.
Hauser’s frown didn’t waiver, and he moved on to the next issue. “And the spell? You again, I assume?”
“No,” Tometh said, stepping to the side to reveal me. “Valeria over-imbued an enchanted item to gain their attention.”
There were shouts from the guards, and the gate shook from the first ghoul crashing into it. More followed to block the field from view, replacing it with pale arms reaching through the iron bars. Those in the front hissed at the iron touching them but had nowhere else to go.
The gate held firm as polearms were slipped between the bars. The bodies didn’t drop since they were pressed together tightly enough to keep them standing. A glass full of oil and a lit rag sticking out the top was thrown over the gate. The horses, some at the direction of their riders, backed away from the fire as it splashed over the ghouls.
“These creatures have made us wield fire inside our city; may the Mother save us from ourselves.”
The words and sentiments were shared amongst many of those gathered. As one of the few elements unable to be healed through magic, I could vaguely understand their fears.
“So,” Hauser continued, the flames glinting in his eyes as he stared at them. “The Drasda girl, again, has just the right solution for your problems but not the city’s? The information you needed to mount a quick defence, the alchemy material to form a crater for your retreat, and now an enchanted item to save your team from being swarmed.”
“What’s your point,” Tometh asked.
“We could look past her transgressions during a winning battle, but now we’ve been forced back to our gates with the public in alarm; there’s more appetite for passing blame. We will not shoulder that burden, and unless you want us to consider more deeply why she coincidentally always helps you, step aside.”
I had a very long and convincing argument ready for them to show that I was helping, that I was the reason the situation wasn’t terrible and that I was the reason they should have an army coming to help them.
Except I was tired of trying to force them to let me help, and at this point, there wasn’t much more to help with besides killing ghouls at the gate. They could lock me up, and I’d either get out on my own, or Faraya could get me out in a few days. The corner of my lips curled at the thought of Yis being the one to come get me and what he’d say to them.
“She’s been conscripted into the 2nd as our runner, so as her captain, I’ll dole out punishment for her transgressions as I see fit. And if you want to talk about my involvement, first consider who the people want defending them. Us, or you?”
I expected his team to look at him in shock that they would have to put their careers in jeopardy for me, but they stood firm without so much as a glance.
“Fine. Harbour her if you want,” Hauser spat. “The commander wants a squad to help out the influx of civilians from the outer limits and defend the rear. I’ll let him know you volunteered. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear you’re going somewhere that not even you can hope to fuck up.”
He turned his horse round and rode back down the street, passing through the throng of carts, animals, and people laden with belongings streaming towards the city's interior.
“Thanks,” I said, happy not to be in bindings with my arms in the state they were.
“You’re lucky it was him asking. If it were a captain I got along with, then you’d be in bindings.”
“Somehow, I doubt you get along with any of them.”
A few in his team snickered, including Jaid, as she bound my arms in gauze lathered in balm. Their jaws clamped shut as his glare swung across them. “Can you walk? We need to move now if we want to make sure the back gates shut after everyone makes it inside.”
“She shouldn't be going anywhere but a bed,” Jaid said, levelling her own glare.
“My legs are perfectly fine, apart from a scratch or two.”
She ignored me. “Why’s she not in chainmail, captain? What’s with the rags? Fuck, where did she even come from? Sennal said she was an informant…of sorts.”
“Valeria wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the fighting,” he said. “You can all ask your questions while we get to the back gate. She can ride with you.”
Jaid put her hands under my arms to help me to my feet. I’d regained the feeling in my limbs but wasn’t happy about it since there was nothing to feel except a dull pain. Her horse was kind enough to lay down so I could climb on, cradling my well-bound arms. Jaid got up behind me as the rest of the team mounted up. All were there, healed from most of their injuries except the bruises and scrapes that weren’t worth the mana.
The first question on the ride there was why they were listening to the cowardly captain. Tometh said guarding the rear was as good a place as any to do good, which was begrudgingly accepted. I shrunk away as the rest of the questions that poured in were all concerning me.
The city's sprawl extended far beyond the gates and stone structures protecting the inner city. Therefore, those who had not considered evacuating now congregated towards the centre, bringing their farm animals and belongings. Some looked to have family welcoming them into their homes, but most had nowhere to go.
We rode single file in the opposite direction of their flow, not getting anywhere fast. The sound of the nearby gates taking hits, the growls of ghouls, and shouts from defenders stirred them into more panic. Fights broke out over belongings, outside food stores, and lodging.
Tometh had to remind a few shopkeepers of the laws regarding taking advantage of emergencies, and his team shouted down those yelling or brawling to stop or be detained. I took the time to rest and attempted to explain the spell notation I did remember for the non-targeted healing to Jaid.
Once we neared the gate and the start of the flimsier wooden buildings, the crowd thinned as fewer people trickled in. A group of armed individuals in regular clothing played cards as someone nearby hawked a handful of metal trinkets. Another stood guard at the partially closed gate and collected coin from someone coming in after a back-and-forth.
“Protect your loved ones from evil! This amulet is made entirely of electrum and combines the best of what gold and silver have to offer. Give your families a carefree solution to the scourge besetting our walls. The metal's ability to conduct mana—”
He stood atop an upturned wooden box and was the first of the group to notice our approach. To his friends' surprise, the hawker leapt off the box and took off sprinting. They turned from their card game and reached for the swords and spears leaning against the wall.
Once they saw why he ran, they followed right after.
“Go retrieve their weapons and whatever they took from people,” Tometh ordered. “But release them after; I’m not interested in running a prison.”
Half our numbers spurred their horses forward as they galloped after them, quickly gaining ground.
“I don’t think that was electrum,” I told Jaid, having not felt any gold or silver in the amulets.
She patted my shoulder. “Oh, you sweet thing. There were a million more things wrong with what was going on there, but you’re right. That was probably brass.”
Tometh watched after his team as they disappeared around a corner and rode up to the gate. “Gate closing! Is anyone out there?”
There was no response. “Tames, Hanover, ride down the street and see if anyone is still making their way here.”
“Sir.”
“Sennal, go back to headquarters and scrounge up a few extra hands to carry over our stockpiles and bring them here. See if you can scrounge up some chain and a new bow for Valeria…and please don’t let the other captains see you.”
I glanced down at my wrapped hands and fingers, wondering how he expected me to bend my fingers, let alone shoot.
“Will do, captain. No promises on the last part.”
“Jaid, find somewhere to set up a healing station if you’re done with the girl.”
“I’ll check the butchery across the street so no one complains about the smell of blood later.” My healer got off the horse from behind me and offered a hand to help me down.
“No thanks, I think I’ll stay up here,” I said, feeling safer on the horse since I couldn't use my arms. Jaid had managed to seal the scratches across my body, yet she didn’t feel confident using a new spell she didn’t understand to fix internal damage.
She shrugged and went to check the nearby stores and houses with the remaining team. People peeked through their curtains, watching us from most windows. The bottom floors were devoid of life, with the storefronts ravaged down to bare shelves. Most didn’t open to the knights’ knocking, and those who did kept glancing up and down the street, asking when the gate would be closed.
The two riders sent out soon returned alone. “Sir, chased off a few looters, but no one else seems to be coming this direction. Two families were packing the last of their stuff, adamant on leaving for the countryside instead.”
“That’s fine by me; it’s their decision. Help the rest of the team find a place to set up.”
If I weren't counting the horses, the captain and I were left alone. But I did count the horses since they were far more entertaining and talkative company than he was. That was until Tometh turned to face me, and I readied for what my orders would be.
“Thank you for saving them.”
I shrugged, feeling too awkward by the directness to look him in the eye. “It was an easy choice…Thanks for not handing me over to Hauser.”
He saw where I was playing with the gauze fringe wrapped around my finger. “You say that while covered in injuries. I know knights who wouldn’t make that trade.”
“I wasn’t lying when I said these would be gone in a few days.”
“And what have you done in the past to know that piece of information?”
“Uh, this and that.”
He obviously expected more explanation, but I didn’t think telling him about the last time I over-imbued an alarm system would do me any favours.
The team returned with the weapons they had acquired from the ‘hooligans’ who had run away and a sack of silver and bronze that would be used to purchase equipment for the team. The excuse that it would be impossible to return the roe to the rightful owners sounded hollow, but I wasn’t about to go running around asking who wanted their coins back.
The other half of the team found a young family willing to lend us their now-empty storefront and attic of the three-storey building as our base. Them being near the corner, and therefore part of the defence of the core on two sides, worried them and played a large part in why they would let a bunch of knights stay with them.
Sennal returned with a chainmail shirt that reached my elbows and extended out over my waist. It also came with a hood. Despite being shrunk to the smallest proportions, it was slightly large on me, and the hood pooled around my neck. She shooed me into the lavatory to change while Jaid insisted on joining me to check for more injuries.
There was a long-sleeved red shirt and matching trousers to go underneath the chainmail, and I needed Jaid’s help pulling it over my bandages. To finish off my new armour set was a leather vest that strapped over the chainmail, matching archery gloves and boots that came up to my knees.
Having so many layers over my arms was unsettling, especially when I tried to grip the new short bow. Once dressed, I joined the rest of the team in the bottom-floor storefront for their meeting. Sennal tied back my hair so that it didn’t get tangled, pinched in the chain, or get in the way as it was known to do.
“Good, she at least looks the part,” Tometh said, approving of my new colour scheme.
“I’m glad you approve, sir,” Sennal said, stepping away. “Cause I may have run into the new commander, and he wanted to see the two of you before sundown."