A/N hey guys! so after my little poll, the two stories "As this last breath leaves me" and "Love Blossoms in Hate" were tied! so I broke it with an easy flip of a coin, and here we are. I was able to recover the files of the first two chapters, so I will use those heavily as a bases for this first chapter, but not completely. I Hope you all enjoy, im really excited to be back. Thank you all, and be sure to leave a review, and maybe a fav if your feeling generous.
The gleaming steel swung towards Humphrey's head, causing him to duck to avoid decapitation. Setting his feet under him, he surged forward, and slammed his shoulder into the wolf in front of him. The wolf was lifted from his feet and flew for a second or two before landing upon the blood covered earth floor. Rolling his arm and shoulder to relive the pain from the impact, Humphrey started towards the wolf, seeing his eyes lazily cross over him, and then to his sword, and a distant fear entered his eyes. When Humphrey reached the wolf, he grabbed the hilt of his sword with two hands and thrust it into the wolf's chest. His mouth shot open in a silent scream, before he fell still. using his last reserves of strength he pulled the blade free of the flesh and metal of the wolf's breast plate. Leaning on it, he turned and looked around. Both armies were still clashing for dominance over the other. Humphrey wasn't with his army because he had followed a sergeant's order and with a group of a hundred men flanked to the right to hit the enemy from the side.
Still looking around, he saw that he was the only survivor from the clash his wolves had encountered. Trying to continue the sergeant's order would be futile, so he made his way back to his ranks. Assessing his wounds along the way, he had a large gash where his greaves had failed, and a bruise on his head after his helmet had deflected the hilt of a sword. Wincing in pain as he removed the helmet and stuck it between his arm and side; and dragging his sword behind him, he arrived at the back of his ranks, filing in with the fresh reinforcements from the war camp his army was supporting. Abandoning the fighting would be considered desertion, and he would be executed. He would still more than likely be receiving a punishment for going to the wrong division of troops either way, but it wouldn't be something extreme, and he needed a rest.
Walking with the new fresh soldiers, he felt their eyes on him, and he knew he stood out. He was obviously battle weary, his armor dented and his sword chipped in multiple places along the sides. Thankfully, no one asked. Looking to the front lines along the march to reinforce his men, he saw their battle commander, Winston, leading a cavalry charge into the main enemy force. The grey horse he was sat upon looked amusingly just like him, and they struck down any in their way. Humphrey also saw his wife Eve leading the wolves at the front lines. Humphrey had the pleasure of sparring with Eve once, and knew how ferocious and devastating she was in battle. He felt genuinely sorry for any soldier; his army or not, who had to face her.
In another thirty minutes, Winston's cavalry had destroyed and demoralized the enemy, and Eve was cleaning up the remains. Receiving orders to turn back to camp, the fresh wolves groaned. It seemed they had wanted to revel in the fighting. The walk back was less eventful, and the only new senses that filled any ears was the rare and small clash of fighting before the enemy group surrendered or was killed. When they arrived at the sea of tents that housed their marching army, Humphrey instantly went to find his field sergeant and inform him that he was still alive. Humphrey lied his way out of a punishment of desertion with saying he had rejoined the fighting at the head of the charge, and then was dismissed to his tent. Taking off his dented and crushed armor and unstrapping a shield, he set them down on his cot and dressed in a tunic and poorly made pants. with a dagger strapped to his waist and a small patch of leather around his tunic, he was somewhat prepared if the enemy had some how managed to mount a counter-offensive. Reaching the wide open space for the cooks and chefs of the army, he waited in line for his food. He received a hot heap of steak, with vegetables accompanied by an assortment of spices.
Scanning over the tables with his eyes, he saw what he was looking for, and headed over to a table with only a few soldiers. Seating himself away from the soldiers and next to the person he was looking for, he saw Kate, Winston and Eve's daughter, going over a few books with a plate of food all but barren besides a few scraps. She looked up and smiled at Humphrey, her amber eyes shinning brightly from the cook fires that reflected off them. She sat down the book and hugged him tightly, aggravating a few scars and bruises on his back that he had over looked. He hugged back, happy he had been able to find her so late into the meal time.
"You had me so worried Humphrey! Why are you so late?"
Scratching the back of his head, he told her how he had to report to the sergeant to inform him he was in fact not dead from the battle. She listened respectfully as he told his tale. Afterwards, she showed him something she had learned from her books today.
Kate was a magician. She was able to manipulate energy around her to do her bidding. Being one of the only magic wielders in their army, she was incredibly important. She would usually stay back in the army and use magic to kill wolves that belonged to the enemy if they themselves didn't posses a magic barrier inserted by another magician. Though she usually had a hefty kill count in a battle, she was still highly unqualified to be a battle magician. She didn't have the skill to battle another magician, only enough to kill unprotected soldiers. Still, she went to the battles, and when not in battle, she studied books to teach her discipline and spells.
"Watch this Humphrey" she said with a devious smile.
She muttered a word or two under her breath, and Humphrey saw a soldier lifting a fork to his mouth and his hand took a weird jerk and stabbed himself in his chest. It hardly punctured, but the soldier did give a aggravated curse. This caused the wolves around him to laugh, and even Humphrey and Kate chuckled.
"You will be able to make soldiers kill themselves now, huh?" asked Humphrey, taking a bite of his steak.
"Yep, I think it will defiantly help" she said with a happy smile, obviously pleased she had learned a new spell. She then stuck the books in between her arm and side, and stood. Humphrey did as well, not caring that he hadn't finished his meal. She giggled at him and he walked with her to her tent, which was shared with by her parents. Both Kate's parents knew Humphrey, which was one of the reasons he had the honor of sparring with Eve. Though he was clearly bested when it came to Eve's ability with a blade, it was still a fun and invigorating challenge to fight her.
Kate invited Humphrey into the tent, but he politely refused, saying that he was very tired from the day's events, and in pain as well, and that he wished to sleep. Kate gave him another hug then retreated behind the flap of her tent. Humphrey turned and walked back to his tent, passing many soldiers and blacksmiths and weapon arms dealers for the army along the way. Once he got to his tent he cleared off the gear from his cot, and laid down upon the cot. He found it difficult to fall asleep after a battle, and this night was no different. Every detail, scream and wail of pain echoed in his head. Humphrey stayed awake and watched the celling of the tent, like he excepted it to move. Finally, his eyes became to heavy to hold up, and he drifted into his dreams.
To Humphrey's disappointment, his sleep was short lived, and he was awoken by a loud horn being blown. It took a second for Humphrey to realize that it was the warning note, played only when we were either being attacked, or were attacking. Humphrey didn't have time to get a new or repaired set of armor, so donned his current gear, even the chipped sword, and ran out of his tent. Instantly, his shield came into use. When he walked out, a enemy happened to be right there, and swung a heavy two-handed sword. A burning pain flared in his left arm as he blocked the blow full on, and he twirled and chopped downward, catching the wolf in the gap between his shoulder plate and neck chain mail. Humphrey pulled the sword free and watched the soldier fall. His arm flared up again when he moved it, and upon closer inspection, realized it was broken.
He cursed under his breath and started to make his way through the rows of tents, soon emerging into the cook area. It was under full scale attack, and the attackers were winning. He rushed into battle, abandoning the shield as it was to much for his broken arm. He charged towards two enemies, one with a pike and one with a broadsword. Both had the advantage of reach on him. He had to be cautious if he was going to disarm and kill these two. Cursing himself for getting in this situation, he started to back up as the two advanced on him. He bumped into a table, and saw a fresh, hot bowl of soup, probably for one of the chefs themselves. He struck the tip with the hilt of his sword and sent the contents splattering the two wolves.
He took his advantage and stabbed his sword through the bottom of the jaw of the broadsworder. Humphrey's sword erupted out the top of the wolfs skull. He then pushed the handle up so it was horizontal, and broke the wolfs neck. He then pulled his sword out and ducked as the pikeman thrusted his weapon at him. It missed Humphrey by inches and impaled his dead friend in the stomach. Humphrey whipped his sword up and watched the blade pass through the wooden stick of the pike. The wolf who was left defenseless was easily cut down by a soldier who came to help him. Humphrey assisted the rest of the wolves in defending the cook area, before he departed and ran to the tent Kate, Eve and Winston shared.
He shoved his way in, and saw only Lilly. Lilly was Kate's younger sister, only twelve years of age. The purple eyes that gleamed up at him almost gave him a smile, but he was to serious and in to much pain to show one.
"Are you ok?" she asked with concern, looking at his left arm. Humphrey waved off the question and responded with one of his own.
"Where are your parents and sister?" Lilly thought for a moment, then told him that her parents were helping the other soldiers, and he didn't know where Kate was. That scared him, so he ran out and stopped a passing soldier.
"The commanders daughter is in their, protect her." He said sternly, and with authority. He must have sounded very convincing, because the wolf didn't even ask his rank, just simply nodded. Humphrey left him with Lilly and started to search the camp for Kate, killing any of the opposing army he encountered. He received a new collection of cuts and bruises while doing so. On the northwestern side of the camp, completely opposite of Kate's or his tent, he heard a female scream. He knew who it was in a heartbeat, and canceled out any other sounds. Following Kate's wails, he saw two soldiers, one gripping the longer fur on her head with his hand and pulling her away. The other soldier saw Humphrey and ran to dispatch of him. The opposite happened, and Humphrey, after disposing of the soldier, tackled the one who held Kate. They wrestled around for a bit, and Humphrey ended up on the bottom. The wolf grabbed his dagger from his belt and stabbed it through Humphrey's broken arm, pinning it to the floor.
Humphrey screamed in pain, and felt hands around his throat constricting the life out of him. Suddenly, the hands loosened, and then released. Humphrey looked up at Kate, and realized she must of killed him with magic, now that she wasn't screaming. She helped him up, after pulling out the knife from his arm, which caused Humphrey to curse violently. Kate spit on the body of the man.
"The empire soldiers need to know when to quit" she said distastefully. Humphrey nodded, not trusting himself to speak with the pain he had in his arm.
"Here, let me get that" she said as she placed her hands upon his arm and healed him. Humphrey had once asked why she didn't just heal the whole army. She had responded with a laugh and said that though you can use the energy around you to manipulate most things, healing required a certain concertation and focus, and the energy had to come from the caster. If she healed to serious a wound, or tried to bring back someone from the dead, the energy it would take from her body would be enough to kill herself.
Humphrey smiled and clenched and unclenched his hand, as well as a few other activities. Although the spell looked to drain Kate, she refused to go back to the tent with Lilly and stayed with Humphrey as they helped the rest of the army round up the last of the empire's soldiers, and executed them. The attack had been surprising and shocking, and rendered them almost immobile for the first few seconds. But after that, their army crushed the empire, and only thirty-six casualties were reported. Of those thirty-six, the soldier Humphrey had appointed to guard Lilly was on the list. He had died from his wounds seconds after a sword impaled him. Lilly had taken the fallen wolfs sword and surprisingly bested the empieral soldier. Winston had suffered from a large and deep cut on his chest, and was being mended by the healers. Eve was covered in blood, but not hers, and just watched the executions take place.
Since Winston was absent because of his battle wounds, Eve took charge for the time, and appointed extra watches on the gates, Humphrey included in the extra watchman's. He hid a groan, being way to tired to stand on guard for his three hour appointment. Luckily though, he was able to get a new set of armor, so he was as comfortable as you could be in battle apparel. Then Eve took Kate by the hand and quickly dragged her to their shared tent. Humphrey assumed she was in trouble for something. Dead wolfs in empire clothing and armor were periodically carried out in front off the camp and burned. The soldiers who were doing these acts usually cheered, as well as some of the men on guard duty. It was a revolting thing to cheer at, but anything to be happy about these days was something to be cherished.
By time the moon was three quarters of the way down the sky, Humphrey was relived and given the permission to return to his tent. He did so immediately, not even taking off his armor as he lay down on the cot and fell asleep, his dreams non existent as though a black blanket was covering the pictures. He would have spent days in this dream trance, but was awaken by Kate near mid-day. She said that her mother wished to speak with him privately, which both confused and scared him. Kate told him to relax. It didn't help.
He pushed open the flap of the tent, while Kate sat outside. The tents inhabitants were both of Kate's parents, and two captain prestige soldiers from their ranks. Humphrey sat across from them both, and one he was seated, Winston, though covered in a multitude of bandages, spoke up.
"Humphrey, I don't need to explain to you that our forces are spread thin. It was a bad idea for King to separate us in four main offensive groups. That being said, it has done some good, but if a force is hit to hard, they have no reinforcements. Main group 2 has stopped sending reports to the rest of us, and we are concerned not only about their safety, but for the fact that their mission was the most important. We have decided to send a group to their last reported location and recover what remains if possible, and if not, ultimately finish their mission.
"So, we are sending Kate, and Hutch and Cando, the wolves behind me. Kate insisted that you accompany her and them. She says you are a formidable swordsman, which I know is true, but I don't want to be giving away my best men. We have decided that the ultimate decision be made by you."
He quickly answered, saying he would do as Kate wished. He did not know if this pleased the four wolves in the tent, but he could not live with himself if he found out Kate had died on her adventure, and he could have made a difference. The wolves in the tent soon nodded, and told him to pack essentials, while food and water would be supplied. His essentials were clothes he could wear when free from armor and others. As he walked out of the tent, he saw Kate with a wide smile, and she walked with him to her tents, saying how much safer she felt now that someone she actually knew was accompanying her on her trip.
the next day
"Calm down" said Humphrey as he set his hand gently on his horses snout. He blow a gust of wind from his nostrils, but other than that, was calm there after. Having succeeded in calming the horse, he saddled it, packing equipment and essentials. To the left of him, Hutch and Cando were doing the same, both of their horses seeming more big and muscular than his scrawny horse. The name of Humphrey's horse was Blindside, because that was the only way one could get the jump or element of surprise on an enemy with the horse. Humphrey thought it was demeaning of the horse, but once he laid eyes on it, he bitterly realized that the owner was speaking the truth. He was standing outside the gate of the camp, with Hutch and Cando, as they waited for the female they were assigned to escort to the last known location of the main force number two.
The horses soon broke away from their three riders, pawing at the cracked and dry desert floor and looking for any signs of grass in the immediate area. When ever a patch was found, Blindside was left out as the other horses went at it all for themselves. He felt immense pity for Blindside, and the horse's predicament brought him back to his child hood. When the gates shifted open again, Kate rode out on a brown horse, the same color as Blindside. But this horse was much more bigger than any animals present, and it looked like it could take on the entire empire by itself. The she-wolf upon the horse is what really drew Humphrey's attention though. She was draped in entirely gold armor, with a sword, the sheath matching the color of the armor. He saw out of the corner of his eye Cando staring her down intently, like he had a major attraction for her.
Humphrey hated that. Though he didn't like to admit it, he had a fancy for Kate, and found her as not only the most gorgeous wolf in the world, but the nicest and most open she-wolf to match. The three males reined in their horses and mounted up. Taking a quick look of the physical geography of Startongo, and marking their destination, they started off away from the camp. A few minutes in to the start of their journey, Humphrey steered Blindside to Kate, and smiled at her, Kate returning it.
"A little...much, wouldn't you say?" Humphrey asked, pointing to the armor Kate wore. She shrugged, the plates on her shoulders rattling as they moved.
"I think it is perfectly appropriate. And it looks nice, wouldn't you agree?"
He smiled at her response. "The main effect of armor is to stop a sword or pike or arrow from ending your life, not to make your enemies stare at you in awe, then just cut you down."
"I would rather them stare at me in awe, before I cut them down."
"Wouldn't you just use magic anyway?"
She nodded her head. "I would like to use a blade if it came to it. I don't want an imperial magician to know there is an enemy magic wielder in the area, then he or she would target me."
Humphrey nodded, understanding. He knew Kate was a gifted magic user, but to fight against someone who has had years of training studying every field of magic, was as good a death wish as any. But he had never seen Kate use any physical weapon before, and was unsure that she could hold her own in a fight.
"You know how to use that sword on your hip?"
She looked down at the sword and pulled it from it's sheath, a hissing sound ringing in his ear as she did. She judged the feel in her hand, and swung it experimentally in front of her. Her strength was their, but the form was not, and the sword seemed to fit uncomfortably in her hand, even if she liked it. The sword was to heavy for her, he realized. He would have to spar with her the nights they could before they reached the second division of the army, so Kate would grow stronger and more disciplined with a deadly slab of steel. He told her what he had been thinking about, and she agreed to the idea, openly admitting the flaws in her technique, but not nearly as much as Humphrey had seen.
An hour into the trip, they came upon a small village, to small to be noticed on the map. The horses whined and pulled back, seeming hell bent on avoiding the village. Though the males had agreed to go around, Kate wanted to go in. Even with all their reasoning, Kate had told them that her father had put her in charge of this operation, and she chose to take a detour. Carefully, the males tethered the horses to a nearby shrub, and then one at a time entered the ghost town, Kate in the middle as they moved in a V formation, the sides of the V being in front. The town seemed dead except for the chill that surrounded it, which was weird, considering they were in the hottest region of Startongo. With a few dreadfully long minutes of walking the group reached the town center, where they all stopped in disgust.
Right in front of the stone steps that lead to the hall, the towns inhabitants lay dead all over the floor. Blade wounds, arrow shots, and burns littered the bodies of the men, woman and children, and a few birds who preyed on already killed food scavenged through the first few bodies. Kate's cheeks bulged, and she ran over to a nearby house and was sick. Hutch went towards the bodies and studied one of the wolves who had died in what seemed like a defense. Taking a look at the town patch and insignia, he told the three that this was the town of Yahumma, a small supporter of the rebellion. Anger and hatred filled their hearts as they left the town and rode as fast as they could past it, Kate taking a mental note to report to her parents when the time came.
The revolting sight at the town center had rendered all four of them mute, nobody speaking until the moon set and they decided to spark up camp. They found a patch of desert with the Node river running through it, which ran through most of Startongo. Hutch and Cando got fire wood, while Humprhey and Kate stayed in the camp area to set up the sleeping rolls and get food prepared. Once that was done, Humphrey unsheathed his sword and drew a large circle to the side of the makeshift fire place. Kate watched with quiet interest, her amber eyes again reflecting the glow from the fire as Hutch and Cando now prepared their food.
When Humphrey was done, he told Kate to grab her sword and join him. A smile showed on her face as she did as told, and took a fighting stance on the side of the circle. Humphrey stopped Kate from attacking and watched her ready stance, telling her to do what was comfortable but instructing her on fatal mistakes she was committing. Once he was contempt with her stance, he removed her sword from
her hands, and handed her a heavy stick. He equipped one as well. Kate looked confused but didn't argue.
Humphrey got on his side of the circle, and after a few seconds, made a sudden move towards Kate. He didn't attack, but Kate still reacted and pulled her sword up to defend herself from nothing. she shook her head and got back into her stance as he went back to his side of the circle. He did the same move, but this time Kate didn't react and kept her gaze on his chest and arms, predicting when he would move them to strike. He used his feet and without her even noticing before it was to late, swept her feet from under her.
She cursed and got back to her feet, and they got ready again. They did this until their food was ready, and even afterwards to. Kate learned fast, and soon took in the whole picture, not just Humphrey himself, and was able to anticipate most of his moves as he was doing them. Though she knew what he was doing, she wasn't fast enough or confident enough to block or dodge most of his attacks, and Kate's own attacks were sloppy and left large openings for Humphrey. At the end of the little practice session, Kate had a collection of bruises, scrapes and cuts, while Humphrey didn't even break a sweat.
Kate
Kate walked to the stream and stripped of her armor, easing her way into the cold water of the stream. The males turned themselves in respect of Kate, all facing the other way to give her the privacy she needed. It was dark enough and far enough that even if they looked they wouldn't be able to pick any one part of her out, but it was still a nice gesture. Kate enjoyed the nice cool water after she got used to it, and she sat there for a while, sitting in the water. Her mind drifted to the engagement she just had with Humphrey. But it wasn't about the instructions or even how their engagement went.
Though he didn't sweat much, there were a few times where their bodies had locked while locking the wooden sticks, and she was poring. Some had made its way on to Humphreys chest, which he kept bare, and he didn't seem to mind the water on him. It really outlined his muscles and the definition on his chest. Humphrey really had a very arousing figure...
She stopped her train of thought right there. She cursed herself of being so easily captivated, and focused washing her body with the cool water before she lay on the bank for a half an hour to dry off. She watched the moon and stars in that time, distracting herself from any thoughts she had in the stream. Once she was dry enough, she returned to her horse, the males still giving her the privacy she wanted. After donning her clothes however, she seated herself next to the fire next to Hutch, and warmed herself. She saw Humphrey leave once she sat, and he walked over to the stream and proceeded to wash himself, Cando and Hutch joining him, though they were at different parts of the stream. When all were finished, Hutch was the first to say goodnight to her and the group before he retired. Cando and Humphrey soon joined him, Kate assuring them that she would take first watch, for the imperial group that had gone through Yahumma might still be lurking around. Even so, she was skeptical that they would be moving this late in the night, so she let her mind again wonder, but to a more... appropriate pleasure.
Kate expanded the reaches of her mind in every direction, using magic to sense the creatures and plants around her. It always gave her a different kind a feeling all together when she felt and heard and saw what the creatures of the world did. Though she could not see through their eyes, or smell through their noses, she could relive their memories, and that was as close as she could get. She loved to search the memories of birds, always jealous of their ability to fly high over the clouds and see the ground rushing past you, or feel the air nip at your feathers. She was lucky to destroy her trance like connection with everything around her as soon as she did, for Cando woke up, and went to take her place. Kate snuggled up in her sleeping roll, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.