Picking up the real targets slowed her down, with shaking arms and bent knees, leaning fully on the post when she heard the command "tilt ones split" passing down the roundabout, unsure what it meant she jumped and yelped when Chess pulled her back to the seat and then turned the card a complete one eighty and switching places with the cart from the inner lane, tying the reigns to the apple and pulling out a bladder.
Wiping his forehead and taking a full deep throated drink before passing the skein to Allen, "drink" he commands, and she obeys without thinking, letting the water wash down her sore throat before he took it away, "you done good out there girly", his gruff voice sounding above the blasts and cries from the battle raging around them, "didn't think you had it in you to hold so long with no rest" falling silent and taking another swill before passing the water back to her, "not too much or you'll get sick" he added before letting go.
After drinking as much as she could Allen slumped in her seat and closed her eyes for a second before Chess slapped her thigh, "not the time" he commented, "stay sharp or death will sneak right under your skirt", just letting her arms rest and stamina to replenish was more than she could hope for standing at the post in what seemed like an endless battle, "get ready to go again in a few minutes" cranked her out of her respite and not long after that came the order "tilt ones double" and Chess brought them back to the outer circle in a strange twisting path bringing them dangerously close to the other wagons in a marvelous display of skillful driving.
Unable to admire the intricate dance of the heavy wagons in the pitch dark wilderness for long as they aligned to the others and her 'one job' was up again, surprisingly calm, Allen found the battlefield almost unchanged.
standing back up with some efforts, she noticed it wasn't Mot in front of them, steadily lifting the gun to it's firing position and picking a lone enemy in the center of her field, breathing and pulling the trigger got the expected result of a group of enemies appearing out of thin air around him, focusing on not losing her target while the gun went through its "reload" and "aim" sequence let Allen shoot him again.
Special sections lead to special consequences and the second hit did not disappoint, first was the group of enemies charging directly at her faster than the outriders could tackle them, but the more severe was an enemy outlined for a brief moment outside her field before he flung a small purple orb in her direction, its slow trajectory let her dodge it but a powerful explosion and Chess's cry of "what the hell?" told her it wasn't any cause for celebration and the enemy used her distraction to close the distance.
Unwilling to take another hit without a fight Allen slung her gun to her shoulder and drew her CuteLass that cried "hiya" when drawn startling both her and her assailant.
Her first chop went "swish" followed by a "whoosh" uppercut and "tang" parry, with a shrill "shiiii" and a twisting "ping" before a "TADA" stab and pull dropping the enemy from his precarious perch on the rail.
Turning to the next attacker with a sidways slash and the sword screaming "wiiiii" before slicing his raised hand at the elbow, a kick to the face was enough to fling him to the loving care of two outriders and she sheathed the awkward sword before taking aim and shooting at another enemy.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Vowing to test her weapons before going to battle and silently thanking the thousand years old experience of being a pirate for the virtual muscle memory of using this type of sword and gun fighting style she didn't know if the weapons were helping or deterring her and had no way to test it at that moment.
It all seemed like some practiced dance, the wagon circling in the middle with the attackers going on some strange rows routine challenging the outriders and occasionally trying to partner with the wagons, she didn't dare attacking the same target twice again in fear of the magical retaliation, only helping outriders already engaged got them to pretty much leave her alone.
A familiar purple glow got her attention just outside her sight range and though it didn't have the target outline she took aim and shot it, causing a small burst of purple light to illuminate a group of people standing to the side, immediately covered in darkness again.
One other noticeable effect was a group of enemies surrounding a rider were gone leaving only one enemy sneaking towards them, Allen shot the sneak and when he cried out the rider trampled him.
Wary of another retaliation Allen sighted the area where the hidden enemies stood and as her eyes lingered a soft red outline formed around several figures hiding in the dark, taking her time and countering the steady motion of the wagons she took aim and shot one of them in the head just before they were gone behind the curve, quickly crouching and returning to her field of fire she could see the footmen rushing over to the area where their assumed commanders were standing.
Picking out random targets as they scurried off to the dark she heard the "tilt ones split" command and apparently Chess was the last to confirm because right after his shout the wagons before them made the change in a smooth motion not even breaking the roundabout stride.
With all the combatants retreating back to the wilderness and the defenders picking up a cheer a sharp "silence" command was called and obeyed in the gloom of the battlefield, afterglow of still raging spell and mundane fires painting a grim picture as outriders picked fallen comrades and hauled them to one of the wagons, only now could Allen notice that the roundabout wasnt a stationary fortress but actually moved forward in a much slower pace allowing for a defensive formation that kept the vulnerable drivers away and the deadly defenders facing toward the line of battle.
A burning wagon came into view in the distance and Allen realised it wasn't an impregnable fortress as she assumed, as it drifted out of sight behind the bend she heard Chess mumbling "poor sods without a gunner they were gonners", he then pulled her back to the seat, "you done good by me girl" and added with a chuckle, "though you could probably stop doing the sound effects", bursting into laughter, "swish, swing, tada wahahaha, that was good", then he leaned forward fiddling with the reigns in embarrassment, "and give a warning when you duck a spell like that", he breathed, "frightened me something silly when it scorched the header less than five centies from my face".
"Sorry" was all she could say before a body dropped right next to her and Chess shouted "good job Tammy", jerking the reigns to pull a short evasive maneuver and avoiding something big lying on the ground "we were lucky they weren't more of them", he finally breathed, "looks like we're out of danger for now" and he pulled the reigns when Allen finally noticed a stone building splitting the road and behind it in the distance were the lights of a city, she didnt even notice when they stopped going in the roundabout, so tired and dozing on and off without Chess waking her.