XLVII. A GLIMMER OF HOPE
The reinforcements, such as they were, numbered only a few hundred of Duvachellé mounted knights. As they broke against the wall of undead and other monstrosities, it was sufficient to halt their foe's unrelenting swarm, but not nearly enough to turn the tides of the battle. Rowena ordered the remaining one hundred and fifty bowmen to retreat towards the Aes Sidhean lines, taking advantage of their foes confusion and diverted attention. Just as they were breaking what passed as lines and entrenchments, an arrow riddled wyvern buzzed them from above, shrieking madly with pain and rage.
Rowena popped off three shots in rapid succession, each landing solidly on its body as it banked for a strafing run of flames. As the opportunistic undead and reptiles closed in around them, Rowena ordered her archers to focus fire on the wyvern. Hesitantly, most complied, getting off at least two shots before being taken down or watching their comrades get eaten alive by voracious lizards. In the end, the wyvern fell like a stone from the sky, crushing a great many undead; but so too did Rowena find her forces one-quarter weaker. Had they been warriors of Alfheim, they would have utilized a precision strike, targeting the beast’s limbs or eyes to bring it down with half as many arrows. Unfortunately, the Aes Sidhean archers, while talented, lacked the skill and nerves to pull off such a maneuver in the heat of combat.
Rowena loosed her arrows in rapid succession as they made the slow, arduous push to regroup. Each of her shots was carefully timed and aimed so that one of her dwindling arrows struck two or three undead at once. Upon spotting an opening, she broke for it, blundering right into the path of a charging goblin riding a wolf as tall as she was. Rowena bent over backwards, narrowly avoiding the riders axe, and fired the last of her arrows into its back from that same position. As she stood, she slung her bow and unstrapped the sword and shield from her back. Behind her, the archers followed suit, drawing swords as they formed a loose formation.
Rowena tore through the horde of undead, flipping and twirling in flashes of silver and green, looking all the part of the dancer rather than swordswoman. With the nimble swiftness of a cat, she snaked her way through the hordes, ducking and diving through wild swings hurled at her by her enemies. Reptiles fell clutching severed sword arms as she passed, and the undead exploded into dust and crumpled piles of rusted armor.
From the corner of her eye she could see the gates of Alfheim, its black iron like twisting, flowering vines. It was guarded by two cyclops and several man-like creatures clad entirely in black armor with capes like a starfield fluttering in the hot, putrid air. That was her true destination, into the city and temple above, where that monster Osric indubitably lay in wait. Yet so long as she was tied to the slow and uncoordinated Aes Sidhean archers, she could not reach her goal; nor could she just abandon them to die, not after what happened with Fiora.
Shaking the thoughts from her head, Rowena leapt forward and spun, blade extended, becoming a cyclone of death for several beats as she cut open a path. The Aes Sidheans rallied to her and forced the opening, finally able to lay eyes on the battered line of halberdiers and Colby-Nau.
A bolt of lightning to her left caught her attention. A mass of writhing demons was concentrated about a single point, and she caught a glimpse of Alice’s bright blonde hair in the center of it. Too many bodies separated them however, and all her arrows had been spent. Rowena knew she could fight her way over with relative ease as the enemy mostly had their backs to her; however, that would mean abandoning her current charges, many of whom had not yet fought their way towards the line. If she was going to stand a chance of defeating the sorceress and Osric, Alice’s skills could prove invaluable. With only a moment’s hesitation, Rowena took off towards the center of the field, only to be halted by several loud trumpets blasts from the rear.
* * *
The circle around them had steadily gotten smaller, and Alice found herself unable to keep up. Her spells were becoming weaker and harder to cast, at several points her vision narrowed, and she thought she would pass out. Aichlan did his best to shield her and be her sword, but even he was weakening. His mail had been broken, and each blow saw more links tumbling out from beneath his torn and bloodied surcoat. He wore a large gash on his forehead, and his wounded thigh was a visible cause of distress, hampering his movements. Alice grit her teeth and dug deeper still, casting a feeble electric net to protect their flanks, only for it to be broken quicker than the last. She clicked her fingers left and right, popping off small bolts that amounted to little more than static shocks. Drawing upon her element made the battle easier, but she was unwilling to tap into it as she had upon finding Fiora’s partially decapitated corpse. The letter she had received from Asketill had shaken her resolve more than she cared to admit, and there was still Osric and the witch to deal with. Ultimately, it would be meaningless if she could not even reach them, but still, the threat of being consumed by lightning was sufficient deterrent.
There had been some commotion earlier, and a good portion of the enemy horde had turned to face it, though not nearly enough to give either of them the slightest hope at victory. The ground was littered in corpses several bodies deep, and a viscous soup of mud, blood, and spilled bowels. Each step was a challenge; their footing often gave way underneath or shifted to tumble down the small mountain of corpses they had created. Not that there was anywhere for them to flee, even if they did manage to make an opening, they could not hope to get very far.
Several war horns sounded in the distance, and for an instant, the chaos seemingly came to a halt. The undead stopped in place as if awaiting orders, whilst the lizards and faceless craned their heads towards the sounds. Abruptly, several ranks of undead turned and left, marching towards the rear. Voracious faceless and reptiles quickly filled in the gaps, lunging right into Aichlan’s sword and Alice’s lightning. With the herd sufficiently thinned, Aichlan cut down a blemmy and a lizard, grabbing Alice by the hand as he made a break for it.
Breathlessly, Alice followed Aichlan as he weaved and slashed his way through the horde. Several times she stumbled over the fallen, and each time he risked everything to pull her back on her feet. Her magic was spent, she could no longer even draw a glyph or rune to cast, her entire body was overcome with a burning numbness, as if she were a block of ice set afire. Aichlan stopped short as the club of a giant crashed down in front of them, launching several hissing and snapping reptiles into the air. Before the dust could settle, Aichlan had led her between the giant’s legs and into another throng of undead. They seemed endless, far more than the initial and quite dismal ten to one odds. Then again, if not everyone was able to handle their ten, then it was no surprise it had spiraled so catastrophically.
A crossbow bolt whizzed by her head, but Alice had no time to register who fired it as Aichlan dragged her across the battlefield. She wanted to be useful, to fight for herself, but could not find the strength. Someone shouted, and another bolt struck a reanimated Colby-Nau that had lunged at her from the side; his face was caved in and bore bite marks across its torso, his organs trailed between its legs as its right arm was steadily consumed by fire. A wave of frigid air billowed over them, freezing several of the undead as it passed.
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Two of the recently dead rose up from the ground and before Alice could even utter a scream, they took up arms against the horde. She was stunned to find that the undead appeared to be fighting to defend them, and wondered who had summoned them. None in their group were versed in necromancy of any form. Before Alice could ponder further, she found herself being led into a clearing where the fighting was not nearly as close or intense. Rassvette quickly approached Aichlan and embraced the light to heal his wounds as a brown skinned boy with golden eyes -Zuri if she recalled- pulled her back, shielding her as he fired a crossbow bolt into the face of an undead elf. She was equally surprised to see Maleah and a young child wielding spells well beyond her years.
“The hell is wrong with you people?” Zuri barked as he reset the crossbow. “Everyone in this damned army have a death wish?”
Alice opened her mouth to retort, but froze in stunned horror as the child weaved a spell in her tiny hands that raised several dead to serve as defenders. While no expert in necromancy, she had heard rumors that it took years to master such a spell, and even longer to use it on anything other than a lower animal. This child, whomever she was, demonstrated the ability not only to raise men and elves, but to command several at once.
The enemy forces slowly but surely began to regroup, marching in the opposite direction. In the distance over a shallow rise, columns of Rhodarcian knights in deep blue and gold armor met their front. Amongst the vaguely familiar banners of a once enemy, Alice spotted the stylized sun cresting the horizon on a white field ringed in blue; the battle standard of The Order of Dawn. As the enemy pushed forward, the scope of her own battle dead became painfully evident. In the distance, what remained of their right flank stood in shambles, their last stand in the lee of a giant root structure. A horse cried out and a knight of Duvachellé charged past in pursuit of a fleeing goblin rider, followed quickly by several more knights clad in crimson and gold flying the Dorso Banner.
Maleah lifted the child and thrust her into Zuri’s arms. “Take Keres and go.”
“Hey!” Zuri awkwardly took the girl as Maleah took off. “Where the hell are you going?!”
There was a flash of silver and green to her left, and Alice looked up in time to see Rowena cut down two Faceless and make a mad dash towards a giant wrought iron fence at the base of the tree; the same direction Maleah was headed.
Rassvette let out an exhausted sigh as he released the light. “We should get back to Leila.”
“Like hell,” Zuri hoisted Keres up on his hip, shifting his crossbow to his free hand, “I didn’t come all this way just for her to get herself killed anyway.”
“I’ll go.” Aichlan propelled himself up with his sword, clutching his side with a pained grimace. “You civilians need to get out of here if you can, I don’t imagine this battle will end favorably.”
“All the more reason I’ll not leave her here to die.” Zuri angrily shrugged off Rassvette’s hand. “She’s got all this guilt and isn’t thinking clearly, she thinks she needs to be the one to kill her brother as some redemptive act or whatever. Even if it kills her.”
“I said I’ll take care of it, now go!” Aichlan wiped the blood from his brow with an offered kerchief. “Alice…”
Alice folded her arms over her chest and glared at him, daring him to finish the thought.
Aichlan simply breathed a resigned sigh and pocketed the rag. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Rowena snatched up the quiver of a fallen archer without missing a beat and fired two shots at the eye of a cyclops. The first struck just outside of its eye, and it managed to raise its arm to block the second. An orc leapt out from behind the cyclops’ trunk like legs, barreling down on all fours like a charging boar. The arrows broke or bounced impotently off the demon’s rock-hard skull, serving only to enrage it more. She fired another at its shoulder, tripping it up briefly, only for the beast to continue its charge upright. Rowena fired the last two arrows into its soft and blubbery stomach, but the effort didn’t so much as slow it down. She swore and threw down her bow to draw her sword, tensing as she waited for the right moment to leap out of the way.
Eth rocketed between them riding a flume of fire, leaving the orc split in two in his fiery wake. Rowena picked up her bow and continued her charge as Eth circled back on foot to follow her. The statuesque sentinels clad in heavy black armor finally stirred, leveling their great halberds as they slowly advanced. Their armor had no visible weak points, and she knew she lacked the strength to go against them head to head. Rowena slowed her pace, allowing Eth and to her surprise, Maleah, time to catch up.
Rowena slowed to a brisk walk and the other followed suit. “Can you take it?”
Eth looked from Rowena to the Armored demon and shook his head. “One, maybe.”
“My brother is at the top of this tree, isn’t he?”
Rowena nodded as she steeled herself for the encounter. “More than likely.”
“Then that’s where I’m going.” Maleah drew her short sword and broke into a sprint. “Cover me!”
“Wait you idiot!” Rowena reached out to grab her, but she was already two arm lengths away. “You’ll get us all killed!”
Aichlan clasped Rowena enthusiastically on the shoulder as he ran past. She spun around in surprise as Alice jogged over, drenched in sweat and out of breath. Alice held out her palm and launched a bolt of lightning that hit the armored demon square in its chest, causing it to stumble back a step. Taking this as his cue, Eth hurled himself forward on a plume of fire, just as Alice collapsed into the dirt. Rowena swore and knelt to give the exhausted mage a drink of water. Alice gratefully took the canteen and downed half of it in several gulps while Donough led Clarissa towards them. He easily cut through the straggling undead while Clarissa scurried over to lay her healing hands upon Alice.
“Are you ‘urt?”
Alice shook her head and weakly held Clarissa’s hand in her own. “No, just wiped out.”
Clarissa clucked her tongue and retrieved a blue ampule from her satchel. “You should be more careful. Why are you on zee front lines anyway?”
Alice cracked open the bottle and shot the liquid like a cheap vodka. “I could ask you the same. Gods, that tastes awful.”
Rowena helped Alice to her feet, who looked infinitely better in the few moments after taking the strange liquid. “Are you alright?”
Alice nodded and slammed her fist into her open palm, causing a brief discharge of electricity. “Ready.”
Eth had already cut down one of the armored demons, and Donough was en-route to help him take down the third. Aichlan and Maleah made quick work of several reptiles and were already passing at the gate. It had already been breached and one side hung from a single hinge, bent and dented. The two slipped through as the second cyclops lumbered after them. Alice took off, weaving a spell in her hands, forcing Clarissa and Rowena to hurry after her. The young mage launched an ice spike the size of a mature oak, propelled by frosty hurricane gales, impaling the giant right in its chest.