A full group of bloodied raiders retreated along a gore-slick street with arms laden in the spoils of their conquests. They’d robbed homes of gold, silver, gems, and jewelry, all the while tearing weapons and armor from the fallen. Over their shoulders they carried the bound forms of tearful slaves, women and children snatched off the streets, some bruised, beaten, and defiled.

Each raider wished to delight in wanton despoliation a moment longer, but the sounds of renewed combat amongst the roar of flames and plunder alerted them to enemy reinforcements far earlier than they anticipated.

Now they rushed back through the streets they’d come, as their time of unchallenged ruination had ended.

Suddenly a window shattered with a violent cascade to deposit a raging barbarian in their midst along a desolate street.

Nethlia crashed down atop the human she’d tackled through that fateful window. His bones shattered beneath the demoness’ imposing bulk, he spat free a shower of blood alongside a scream of pain.

Shock stunned the newly arrived pillagers.

This was the alarming scene Autumn stumbled into as she fled the exit of the demoness’ destroyed home. Just as she skidded to a hurried stop before an enormous man wielding a large two-handed axe, one of the men yelled out in their native tongue.

“Fuck it’s the Demons! Kill them!”

Once more, violence engulfed the street as the raiders tossed aside their plunder and assaulted the party, forcing them to split apart.

Autumn found herself before that massively built and heavily bearded, viking-like man. He swung his axe towards her with swift and deadly accuracy. All Autumn could do was summon her shield in haste. The blade bit deep within and lifted Autumn off her feet and flying towards a weakened door of an adjacent building.

Damaged by fire and plunderers, the door couldn’t withstand the force of a flying witch crashing into it and exploded into a shower of splinters. The magical shield finally gave way as Autumn tumbled inside through mud and hay.

Burning manure and iron filled Autumn’s nose as she tried to heave what little clean air there was into battered lungs.

Looking about, she saw she’d been flung into a small stable; barrels of water and feed stacked up against the far wall while rows of pens lined the sides. Dead carcasses of cattle and horses lined all the pens bar one as a lone Nightmare resided within.

The trapped black horse’s whickering neighs of distress escalated as it saw Autumn crash and tumble in.

Not too long after her ungainly entry into this ablaze stable, the imposing form of the raider marched within. His eyes shone with intent as he chased after the crumbled girl. Upon reaching her as she scrambled among the mud and hay, he unleashed a powerful kick to her side, sending her flying once more in a haze of coughing.

Autumn groaned as she rolled to a stop.

Her newly conjured shield had shattered with that kick. Pain flared along her side from what force had broken through. She was pretty sure one of her ribs had cracked. As Autumn struggled to her feet, the human raider finally got an actual look at her, having simply reacted on instinct before.

His face flashed with confusion at the sight of a human girl before him.

“Ay?! What is a shaman-daughter like yourself doing in this demon-lands?” his eyes flickered with misplaced understanding and offense.

“Traitorous whelp! You are cavorting with these foul creatures! What? Your own kind isn’t good enough for you?!”

Autumn glared as she spat out a globe of blood into the ash and mud. With words muddled by pain, she spoke back in his own language.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! Why are you even doing this, attacking these people? What did they ever do to you?”

He looked at Autumn in disbelief and anger.

“People?! These are but monsters. The ancestors would be ashamed of your words, girl! How long have our peoples fought against these demons? How long have these foul things fed upon the grace of our spirits? Too long. As for these particular ‘people’ here? The strong eat the weak!”

His manic grin gleamed in the flickering firelight.

“They aren’t monsters, you are!”

His grin turned hard as Autumn yelled.

“So the pup thinks it has a bite, does it? Good, I’ll enjoy breaking your spirit and if you survive, I think I’ll gift you to my daughter. A shaman-daughter, even a rebellious one, would make a good bride-price.”

Purple-hued magic struck him across the face as he finished talking. Turning slowly, he glared at Autumn, unhindered by the fear she’d tried to impart.

“You’ll regret that.”

He stalked across the mud and hay as Autumn back-peddled, all the while launching jinx after jinx against his salt and scar-marred body. Each splash of violet energy washed across it like waves upon a rocky shore; sturdy and unhindered by the fear.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Closer and closer to Autumn he came, as she cast with wild abandon.

Her spells grew stronger in tune with her spiking heart-rate. With each pulsing beat, a violet lightning coursed across the rapidly shrinking gap, and what had been an unhindered step became more and more halting.

However, it wasn’t enough. A viscous backhand caught her across the face and sent her sprawling into the mud below.

With blood on her lips and stars in her eyes, Autumn struggled to ordinate herself, only barely twisting about to face the raider. He stood above her, rolling his neck to shake off the discomfort her jinx had inflicted.

“Hmm, not bad for a pup. Such tricks are useless before the might of a Bearmaw warrior.”

Autumn replied with magic rather than words.

Mustering all the fear she had inside both her hat and herself, she leveled her wand and cast the greatest jinx she could. A great tidal wave of dread crashed into the raider and he stumbled back, crashing into a burning pillar behind him. The smell of burning flesh and hide assaulted her as the raider screamed. As she scrambled to stand, a forceful stomp shattered the bones in Autumn’s wrist and sent her wand skittering out of reach.

Autumn screamed as the pain rocked her body.

A second kick cracked into her jaw and silenced her.

“Here I was being nice. I suppose that even a pup may draw blood every once in a while.” The raider growled as he stalked towards the moaning girl lying in the mud.

Another kick met Autumn’s ribs, driving her to curl up in pain, whimpering.

The raider crouched down before Autumn’s battered face and clamped a rough hand around her swollen and bruised jaw. Blood leaked from cracked lips and down porcelain skin onto his callused hands. Autumn glared in defiance of a puffy eye, much to his amusement.

“Under all that mud and hair, you are quite the looker, aren’t ya. Haha. Have something to say, shaman-daughter?”

The stench of blood, sweat, and cooked meat rolled off him as he breathed foul breath onto Autumn’s face. Her cracked lips parted in a whisper.

“Hmm, what was that?” He mocked as he dragged Autumn up by the chin, her neck straining under the pressure.

“I said, Fuck You!” Autumn plunged her iron knife into his neck like a viper’s strike. While she was clutching at her pulsing pain and writhing in the mud, she’d secreted her keen knife from within her hidden away vambraces. Concealed by her billowing sleeves, she had awaited for the opportune moment to attack. Blood burbled and pooled around the embedded blade as the iron glinted in the firelight.

“You bitch!”

Autumn’s jaw crunched under a heavy blow, another cracked her eye-socket, and another her temple, causing her to black out.

She awoke as thick hands twisted around her neck and hauled her aloft. She kicked feebly at the ground and against an unmoving chest. Points of light dotted her vision as the blackness crept in. Choking. Gasping. She struggled again and again, but each movement slowed against her will.

Screams of a panicking Nightmare drew the last of Autumn’s meager attention. The black horse bucked and thrashed against the stable gate as its hair began burning. Chaotic eyes met with Autumn’s dimming orbs.

There was a pleading there, a cry for help. There wasn’t much the witch could do. She was out of magic.

She was dying.

Slowly. Inch by inch.

The Ferryman turned his grim smile her way.

Beautiful, she thought. The Nightmare that is. She didn’t want it to die.

With a weak, grasping hand, she reached out into the darkness towards that sturdy gate. Perhaps it was luck. The gate had cracked the wood when it was fastened, allowing water to seep in and slowly rot it over the years. With one last enormous kick of the Nightmare, the gate faltered.

The Nightmare bolted free of its burning fate. It collided heavily with the raider holding Autumn in a choking grasp, sending both humans crashing to the ground before fleeing out into the night.

Smoky air rushed into Autumn’s lungs as the hands around her throat disappeared and a coughing fit racked Autumn as she collapsed back down onto the floor.

The raider staggered to his feet away from her, grasping at his neck where blood flowed freely. When the fleeing beast had struck him, the knife had slipped free, now his vital lifeblood spilled freely. Yet, even mortally wounded, he still sought to kill the vulnerable witch. One hand wrenched up the discarded axe to loom threateningly above.

Eyes of hate glared down at Autumn, but she only grinned through blood and loose teeth, for she had won.

Silhouetted in the shattered door behind him was a figure like rage incarnate. Her broken lips glinted with blood while shadows cast upon battered and bruised sockets. Shredded clothing hung freely off her right side, leaving one breast free to shine in the light of the fires. Sweat, ash, and gore clung to her skin and matted her hair.

She stood now a victor and savior both.

Unaware of his impending doom, the raider growled at Autumn’s defiance. Just as he raised his axe high to kill her, a vial shattered across his back.

Alchemist’s fire bloomed from the point of impact and ignited. Instantly, a conflagration of immense heat engulfed the raider. He screamed as his muscles and bones flash-boiled, the smell of roasting meat and burning hair ruined what little breathable air remained.

In a vain attempt to save himself, the scorched human rushed towards the barrels of water he’d seen before and doused himself with it. However, much like Greek fire, Alchemist’s fire was not quenched by water, but encouraged instead. Screams resounded till his lungs melted from the super-heated air and in his final moments of pain and terror, Autumn grabbed what fear she could to refill her hat.

Pyre watched unblinkingly with quivering, dilated eyes.

“Pyre.” Autumn’s voice rasped.

The sound broke Pyre from her trance and the disheveled alchemist rushed over to Autumn as she lay on the ground.

Either she hadn’t yet noticed her state of dress or just didn’t care. After struggling out of her robes, she slipped them over Pyre’s bared shoulders and bound it tight to cover her ashen-lilac breasts. Wide, flaming eyes blinked in confused shock as the reassuring weight of the coat rested upon her and a murmur of thanks escaped her lips.

“The others?” Autumn asked.

It took a moment for the words to register in Pyre’s mind. “They’re still fighting. I heard you screaming…I came as soon as I could.”

“Right.” Autumn bit back a scream as her broken wrist shifted. “We need to get out there and help.”

Pyre nodded distractedly as she shuffled around in her bag.

“Pyre, we need to go.” Autumn attempted to stand, but Pyre pushed her back down.

“No. Let me wrap that wrist first…I’m the healer…so, you listen to me now…I need to…I need.” Pyre trailed off as her eyes glazed over.

“Focus, Pyre.” Autumn bit her lip as the pain flared again. “Healer. ok. Wrist. hurts.”

Quickly, Pyre splinted and bound her wrist with bandages, preferring to reserve the healing potions for more life-threatening wounds. After doing so, she helped collect Autumn’s discarded weapons. A hurriedly cleaned knife was stuck back into its vambrace while the wand went into her good hand.

The pair rushed out of the blazing smoke-filled barn, leaving behind a charred husk of oozing meat.