Bringing the Dawn
Chapter Eleven
The Fourth and Fifth Witch
"Ages of war and sorrow
One needs much to survive
Danger hiding in the darkness around us
Your sword is the only law
Brave enough to challenge your enemy?
Never underestimate the power of evil
Those creatures are born to kill
Trust your blades and black blood will spill."
-Swordmaster by Battlelore
33
Thunder rolled across the sky, with streaks of lightning streaming against the clouds. Rain fell in windy drizzles, soaking the seven travelers as they followed the flatter ground around the Rhine as they moved south. Lack of rain had caused the river to shrink, but it seemed that this would soon be remedied by the weather. It was the first rain of the season and the first rain since the previous summer. The Strike Witches, and their companion, trudged through long grass beneath the storm.
Lightning burst above them with a booming crack, and Yoshika cried, "I really hate this!"
Sharing her horse, Aurora held her hand from behind, "It's just loud noise, don't let it scare you."
"She's right," Perrine replied, riding just ahead of them. "We'll keep moving and this will pass."
Aurora nudged the horse she was sharing alongside Trist and his mount, Nymeria. They had journeyed with him for a week now, and for the most part he kept to himself, riding either far behind or ahead. His presence unnerved Yoshika and Lynette; Sanya and Eila didn't seem to have an opinion, and despite being from Gallia, it was Perrine he seemed to get along with the least. His general refusal to ever look her in the eyes while speaking frustrated Perrine to no end. It was an attitude that had begun to develop throughout their time together. At first it had been subtle, something Perrine had hardly noticed, but now it was growing day by day.
"So, share the wealth?" Aurora asked him, reaching her hand out.
"'fraid not, lass," he shook his head, continuing to look forward. "You finished off the last of the whiskey last night. All our flasks are dry."
"There's not even any wine left?"
"Not even a drop."
Aurora sighed loudly and frustratedly, swearing and murmuring in Suomish. Eila rode past her with Sanya and shook her head, "You people, I swear."
"Hey, Eila," Yoshika spoke up, still trembling from the thunder booming in constant intervals. "I was wondering this ever since we ran into that guy back in Denmark... how did you become a wizard? Or, uh, what is a wizard exactly?"
Perrine slowed Hasufel and shook her head, "Honestly, such a thing is common knowledge. Are you really saying you don't know what a wizard is?"
"N-No..."
"Oh lay off her," Aurora grumbled. "She's from Fuso, remember? When was the last time you heard of a Fuson wizard?"
"She's been in Europe for nearly a year now, that excuse no longer works," Perrine did not let off.
Trist joined the conversation, "I'd like to hear this story too. Believe it or not, not all of us Gallians are versed in all the different kinds of magic there is. To me, it's all the same I suppose. 'cept Neuroin's magic is a whole lot more evil than all of yours."
"What an astute observation," Perrine muttered.
"Well, if you're all interested..." Eila sighed, scratching her head, "...I guess I can tell you. It's not all that special, and the more interesting parts require a higher mind to understand. Basically a long time ago before any of these kingdoms and lands were these kingdoms and lands, ancient people found a way to use magic without having to be a witch. It's hard to explain in words... but basically a powerful spell is performed that attunes a person's body to understand and use the remnants of a magical fire that died out a long time ago. We call it the Ancient Fire, and the spell is very painful and... ah, not all of us survive it. Once 'attuned', we wizards can understand old writings that tell us how to use this fire to do nearly anything."
Aurora finished for her, "Which mostly means making her magic do her chores for her. And occasionally, you know, burning people alive."
Eila bit her lower lip and looked away.
Yoshika simply scratched her head in confusion, "Uh... could you start over. I didn't really understand it."
"What didn't you understand?" Eila asked her.
"All of it," she replied.
"Honestly," Perrine said again, "it's really not that different from our magic minus the 'attunement' nonsense and being able to use your magic for a variety of things. Do your research and you'll see that our magics both stem from the same source."
"And how do you know all this?" Trist asked, with a bit of a smirk on his face. "We knights were considered quite educated back in my time, and I don't know any of this. Granted, I wasn't paying attention to what Eilar there said."
"Sakamoto taught me," Perrine proudly explained. "She always said a well-disciplined mind worked well with a well-disciplined body. Not only did she train me hard in the art of swordplay, but made sure I was educated as well."
Trist smiled to himself, and said, "That's good. Glad to hear it."
Perrine thought that comment odd. Come to think of it, despite his general refusal to show proper manners when speaking to her, he did seem to have some sort of strange interest in her wellbeing. Whatever the reason was, it made Perrine uncomfortable.
They rode on, with the conversation idle and directionless. The rain kept drizzling down, unchanging, while thunder boomed and lightning streaked across the sky. Even with the rain, the river was rather low.
"This is a ford, I think," Aurora pointed out.
Sanya, who had been snoozing while resting her head against Eila's back suddenly sat up wide awake. Eila caught onto it immediately, "Sanya, what is it?"
"Something's on the other side of the river," she said in a worried, scared voice. "S-Something big, like a lot of little something's all together."
"Makes sense," Trist commented. "A ford is a good place for an ambush, generally speaking. It's not like I would know any of the enemy's movements or tactics or anything though."
"Wait!" Sanya gasped, "Something's moving really fast the other way too...t-through the sky."
"Dark Ones!" Perrine shouted, "Everyone dismount and ready your weapons. Trist, you... make sure the horses don't run off."
"An honor really, m'lady," he shrugged.
The witches dismounted, focused east waiting for the threat Sanya had spoken of. Perrine stood side by side with Aurora. After several battles with her, she was growing more confident fighting alongside her. Lynette was not far behind them with Gloryhammer beside Yoshika, and Eila and Sanya were behind them.
"We're being hedged in," Aurora said, looking over her shoulder across the river. "Think we should make a break for it south?"
"No," Perrine shook her head. "If the Dark Ones are in this area, it's our duty to eradicate them. Just because their primary duty is to hunt us does not mean they won't slay any other poor souls they come across. I don't want innocent deaths that could have been prevented."
"Yeah, let's take 'em then," Aurora nodded, smiling. "I've been itching real hard to take a swing at Neuroin's tools. The best part? You can't set the bloody Rhine on fire!"
"Yeah yeah," Perrine muttered.
Without a moment's warning, a score of skirmishers flew across the treetops, blowing up a flurry of leaves behind them. The whistling of arrows and the twanging of a bowstring could be heard as Lynette thinned their ranks before they even reached the warriors. Her arrows exploded outward with magical force, sometimes destroying three or four at a time.
"You know, when you're not a wreck, I feel like I could kiss you!" Aurora shouted back at their archer.
Lynette simply smiled, blushed, and gave a ladylike bow before raising Gloryhammer and felling another enemy. The skirmishers that made it past simply fell to Aurora and Perrine. After a quick scuffle, Yoshika pointed north.
"T-That way, l-look!" She cried.
Coming in from the north, strafing them were six sharp-shooters; the same kind that had nearly killed Perrine and Aurora in Britannia. Lynette's face went pale, and her confident stance suddenly became loose and weak.
"Lynette!" Perrine cried, "Don't do this again! If you do this again we're all going to die!"
The burden was not entirely on Lynette this time though. One of the sharp-shooters went up in a ball of infernal fire from Sanya's wand. From the south, two more were approaching on them.
"Looks like Neuroin really wants us dead," Eila commented. She raised her hand to bring forth a magical shield to keep her and Sanya safe. It was a great, spectacular thing of swirling runes against magic circles. It made a sound like metal striking a bell as sharp-shooter bolts were deflected. Another explosion from Sanya's wand eradicated one from the south.
"Great," Perrine gritted her teeth, "Just great!"
She didn't have much more time to complain as bolts of black matter were shot in her direction. She dove into a headlong roll and avoided being skewered a second time. A few bits of shrapnel scraped her back, but the wounds were superficial. She was on her feet again in a second and was relieved beyond words to see Lynette firing back. The sharp-shooters were strafing and moving to avoid her arrows, but the pressure on them was keeping them from firing accurately. Nearby, she saw Trist taking cover at the tree line as he unsuccessfully tried to keep the horses under control. They were panicking and making a break for the woods. Only his loyal steed stayed.
Yoshika, frozen in place, was suddenly pulled into the protective guard of Eila's shield by the wizard. Aurora was also scrambling for cover in the tree line.
"You two get those ones!" Perrine shouted to Sanya and Lynette, and pointed to the four north. "I'll take the other three."
"How do you plan to do that!?" Eila demanded, "You'll get yourself killed!"
"How do you think I'm going to do that!?" Perrine snapped at her and broke into a sprint, ignoring her words of caution. Bolts came hurling her way, but with nimble feet she dodged and rolled to avoid them. Bits of shrapnel still cut her in several places, the most painful being straight over the eye. She didn't need to be too close, and soon she had closed the distance enough.
"Tonnerre!" Perrine screamed, and let her magic do the work. Thunder cracked and lighting burst forth from her hand to obliterate one sharp-shooter into a thousand fragments. She barely had time to admire her handiwork before screaming again, "Tonerre! Tonerre!"
She stood breathing hard. The amount of magical energy she had channeled into those three spells was tremendously exhausting. She supposed this was how Eila felt after her fight with Siilasvuo. While she would have loved to just sit down and rest, she knew this battle was unlikely to be drawing to a close soon. She turned around to see the last sharp-shooter erupt in a fireball. Perrine jogged over to the group before stopping to catch her breath.
"That's all I have," Sanya told them, an apologetic expression on her face.
"You did great," Eila told her, and put an arm around her shoulder.
Lynette approached Perrine and asked, "How are you doing? Y-You're bleeding in a few places."
"More than a few," Perrine winced. She took off her glasses to wipe the blood from her brow and eyes. "Miyafuji, if it's no trouble-"
"N-None at all!" Yoshika quickly dashed over and went to work to patch Perrine up.
Aurora and Trist stepped up the group, and the veteran witch looked quite relieved. She clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Look! Look! I got to keep all of what's left of my fingers this time around! Good job, all of you!"
Perrine smiled, and felt insurmountable relief that the only price they had to pay for that fight was a few scratches on her part. While her magic was already nearly spent, her physical exhaustion began to fade away as Yoshika's magic mended her cuts. She sighed as her aches and stings began to slowly fade one by one.
"When make camp tonight, I'd like to mend your clothes," Lynette told Perrine.
"I'd appreciate that," she told her, and hadn't even really noticed how frayed her surcoat was. Not only her surcoat, but her skirt and tights as well. It gave her the appearance of a ruffian or vagabond, and she wanted none of it.
Trist sighed loudly, and shook his head beside them, "That's very noble of you, Miss Clostermann..." He said her last name awkwardly, in a strange way like it was uncomfortable, "...but honestly, risking your life like that was rather reckless. If you'd died, who would have carried out Miss Sakamoto's mission?"
Perrine exhaled irritably at his remark. He sounded distinctly Gallian there, or at least Perrine felt like she would have said the same thing if it had been someone like Aurora rushing off to take four sharp-shooters alone. She was going to reply, but noticed everyone looking off to the west over the river. Perrine turned to look at what had caught their attention, and saw two-score Gallian horsemen riding before countless footmen. Flying Dark One skirmishers were already soaring past them to start the fray early.
"Okay, someone really wants us dead!" Aurora shouted, looking about frantically. "Where the fuck did Grima go!?"
"I don't know," Trist answered, surprisingly calm in all that was going on. "I was under the impression you witches could handle anything. What's a small ground army?"
"You shut your mouth, Gallian!" Aurora retorted, bringing Planet Smasher to the ready. "You're probably all calm because they'd drag you back to Paris when you tell them you're a prisoner."
"You're perceptive... Suom," he smiled dryly, and put his hands on his hips as he stepped over to the only horse still with them; his. From his pack he retrieved a longsword, and a shorter sword meant for parrying with his off hand. "...the problem is with that, I'm not going to tell them I'm a prisoner. Call it a knight's honor."
"Should we attempt to parley?" Perrine asked the rest, hand on her rapier as she watched the enemy start approaching the river from the forests of Gallia.
"C-Can we?" Yoshika stammered.
"They were keen on having us dead last time," Eila pointed out, shaking her head, "I think anything coming out of Gallia is on the order to kill right now."
"...and our horses are scattered..." Lynette gravely reminded them. She raised her longbow, and conjured and arrow, training it on the closest skirmisher. There were less than twenty spearheading the assault, with the rest probably destroyed in the first attack. A couple seconds passed and she let the arrow fly, bringing forth a new one before the first even found its mark.
"So, we stand and fight?" Perrine said, steeling her nerves for the battle ahead. "Dear father in Heaven we must be outnumbered twenty to one here!"
"Yeah, but we're witches," Aurora stood by her side, smiling with her weapon in hand. "In my old line of work, we were worth at least fifty of any regular soldier!"
Perrine raised her free hand, and tried to conjure up some spark of electricity. The only thunder was the kind marking the sky presently. That was it, she was completely out of magic, so the option of clearing the enemy out by the dozens wasn't there. She shouted to the rest, "Everyone, retreat back to the trees! Those men on horseback are going to ride us down in the open like this! Lynette and Eila, try to deal with them. I'll work on the skirmishers with Aurora, and Trist... you, uh, try not to die!"
"Alrighty then," the older Gallian twirled his longsword in his right hand, "heh, time for a bit of a rough and tumble."
The Strike Witches, and one man, fell back as the sounds of hooves splashing through the shallow Rhine echoed out. Skirmishes hit the ground as Lynette's arrows whistled. Aurora's Planet Smasher cleaved one Dark One and using the momentum from that strike she destroyed another. The riders were scrambling and spreading out to better avoid the arrows coming at them.
"These ones seem a bit sharper," Aurora commented, then swung again.
Perrine ran a skirmisher of her own through, keeping half an eye on the approaching men. "Yes, now let's hope their weapons aren't."
Nearby, Sanya was taking cover just behind Eila and her handy shield. Yoshika was at the front lines with Aurora and Perrine. For once she had her longsword, and clumsily managed to beat back a single skirmisher who had kept her on the defensive. Two more advanced on her, but Aurora came at them like a bolt of thunder, smashing them both down and shouting, "Not this fight, kid! You'll get your chance at glory some other time!"
Yoshika nodded and scrambled back, looking for some sort of hiding place.
Lynette was doing the most work, firing off arrow after arrow. Even making active efforts to evade, her aim was still great and she was making every other shot. Rider after rider fell, and occasionally the horse and man behind them would trip and be sent flying into the water. Panicking horses reared and threw off their riders as they broke from the battle in fear. These were not trained warhorses, and it seemed the Gallian forces under Neuroin were using whatever they could get their hands on.
Still, the riders circled around them through the trees, albeit awkwardly. Not every mount was cowardly, and the riders seemed privy to basic tactics. Eila covered their flank, raising a shield to guard her from behind, and using her other hand alone to conjure magic. She brought forth her normal bolts of energy. They blew horse and rider apart in a sickening fashion and split trees.
"I can't do this forever!" Eila warned them all.
Perrine felt anxiety and panic biting at her faced with the sheer number of enemies. Aurora's axe was well suited for dismounting and countering cavalry, but her rapier was not. While she could turn away spears and swords, and more or less keep Lynette covered, she felt like she wasn't contributing. She began to realize the riders were hedging them back into the open by keeping pressure on their flank. After six or seven bolts of magic, Eila threw her hands down and shouted, "I'm going to pass out at this rate!"
Lynette was panting, sweat pouring from forehead as she weakly conjured up arrow after arrow. She was missing much more consistently. Aurora's lack of defense was showing as well, and Perrine could see various cuts and lacerations from spears on her. Now the footmen were advancing on them, circling around to flank. At least, they fought on Perrine's turf. She deflected their sword strikes, keeping them at bay, but wasn't finding many openings for counter attacks, their numbers were just too much.
"I can't..." Lynette fell to her knees, panting, "I can't do it!"
Her momentary weakness was spotted by one Gallian soldier, who dashed between the witches, recklessly going in for the kill. Trist's parrying sword's point went through his throat and he went tumbling to the ground. "Honestly," Trist said, side stepping a jab at him and swiftly removing his attacker's arm with his longsword, "what kind of low-life goes after a helpless little girl?"
"Desperate ones," Aurora grunted, her own exhaustion peaking.
The pushing and hedging by the enemy was more or less successful as they were forced out into the open again by pressure from the flanking.
Above the fighting and shouting, one powerful voice shouted, "Lay down your weapons, now! My men too!"
The Gallian's backed off, and standing out in the open in the long grass was a man with a flowing red cape signifying his leadership. He held Yoshika in one strong arm, and had his knife against her throat. He must have grabbed her while everyone was preoccupied. The witches stood facing him, panting from exhaustion. With a moment of 'calm', Perrine's adrenaline was fading and she was only now aware of the scrapes and cuts she had suffered. She had a particularly bad gash right under her left breast that was bleeding heavily. Clutching it, she stammered out, "L-Let her go, you monster! Her magic only heals; it does not harm!"
"No witch's magic does such a thing," He called back. In his arm, tears were pouring down Yoshika's terrified face. The claim was ludicrous but this was not a time for arguing. Everyone was silent, and the only sounds was the falling of rain and the constant booming of thunder. Again, the man shouted out, "I said, lay down your weapons!"
Perrine was the first, dropping her rapier and stepping towards him boldly. She had a plan.
"You back right up!" He demanded, shaking the knife threateningly. "Don't think I'm afraid to cut her throat!"
"Take me instead," Perrine told him. "Do you know of me? I'm Perrine Clostermann, the one leading this little band of warriors. Surely Neuroin has his eyes set on me and not some little harmless Fuson girl, right?"
"That is the one he wants..." One of the Gallians muttered.
Eila suddenly spoke up, "Perrine, stop it! Don't negotiate with him!"
"There's no better plan, now is there?" Perrine said back, taking a deep breath and trying to think of something. If they took her alive, she assumed she could simply rest and then blast her way to freedom with magic. If they killed her, then that would complicate things.
"He wanted the wizard too!" The red-caped man said, and eased his grip on Yoshika. "Where is she!?"
"Dead," Perrine bluffed. "Died back in Denmark to Jari Siilasvuo. It's just me."
"What about the others?" One of the soldiers asked, "They're witches, what do we do? And what about that one?" He gestured at Trist, "Who is that?"
"Me?" Trist said, dropping both his swords and raising his hands to show they were empty. "Their prisoner from the last battle. It's a good thing you guys came. That Perrine there can toss lightning about from her fingers. Why, it's a wonder she hasn't killed you all by now."
The leader bit his lip and looked unsure, "Yes, we were told you were capable of such feats. Where is your lightning, witch?"
"I don't want to kill my fellow Gallians," Perrine bluffed once more. "We serve different means, but we're all Gallian, are we not? I don't want to harm any of you but... if you do not release my friend and let the rest of them go, then we're going to have trouble. Take me instead of her."
"And I have your word you won't use your magic."
Perrine nodded, "Bind my hands and you'll see. I want the rest of them to go though. They're no use to Neuroin."
Perrine approached the two of them, and the red-caped man let go of Yoshika and then roughly grabbed Perrine into the same hold with the knife at her neck. Yoshika scrambled away, crying openly as Aurora and Lynette both grabbed her into a tight, protective embrace.
"You!" The leader pointed at Trist, "You too, you're with us now. You're free."
"Relatively speaking," Trist nodded, his expression neutral.
Aurora then shouted, "He's lying! He's not our prisoner! He defected, and he comes with us!"
Trist sighed heavily and glanced at Aurora, clearly unhappy, "You just complicated a lot things, you know?"
"What do you mean?" Aurora asked, matching his glare with her own sinister one. "You're not running back off to Gallia to tell them all about us!"
"This is not a conversation we should be having out loud!" Eila loudly complained. "You two have to be the dumbest-"
The red-caped Gallian suddenly shouted, "All of you shut up! Men, take that man prisoner and kill the rest. Neuroin just wants their bodies."
"You bastard!" Perrine screamed, and for a moment, felt the cold edge of the knife against her throat. Then something happened, something unlike anything Perrine had ever felt or experienced. Everything went white for a brief moment, and she felt herself falling forward, completely numb with the only sound in her ears a sharp, high pitched ringing. She felt her body shake as she hit the ground, and feeling returned. Her whole body was tingling in some strange sensation. It was the same tingling sensation her hands felt when she used her spell, but this time it was all over her body and much stronger.
Her vision began to return, and she rolled over on her back. Eila was crouched beside her, Sanya too, and Eila reached out to touch her. She retracted her hand like she had been hurt, and the two of them were yelling something but Perrine couldn't hear. She managed to get to her knees to see what was happening. The man who had held her hostage there was on his back with smoke rising from him, mostly likely dead. Around her, she saw the Gallians backing away from her. Aurora was swinging her weapon in their direction to scare them off as she made her way to Perrine.
Trist was there before her, he pushed past Eila and Sanya and helped Perrine to her feet. He winced like he had been hurt as well, and like the other two he was trying to say something. Perrine looked west, across the Rhine, and saw that even more Gallians were coming to reinforce them. This time, nearly all of them were on horseback.
She shoved Trist away, and again he winced like her touch had been painful. Perrine raised her hand and shouted the word, "Tonerre!" without hearing herself. A massive blast of lightning came from her hands, greater than anything she had ever created. It centered on a single fleeing Gallian, but sent several flying away from where it impacted. Her spell inspired their flight even more, sending the hundred or so men fleeing towards the reinforcements.
"-rine! Perrine!" Came the voices of her friends, and Trist.
The weird tingling feeling all over her body was disappearing rapidly, and everything was starting to return to normal. She turned around, feeling dizzy and spent, and suddenly lost her balance. More than one pair of hands were there to catch her, and she wondered a bit why Trist seemed concerned about her. She wondered if he saw her as some sort of way for Gallia to be liberated, and therefore an asset to be protected. It felt like there was more to it though.
"Come on, Perrine, talk to us!" Eila's worried voice rang in her ears. "Are you okay!?"
"Yeah... yeah...jus' fine..." Perrine muttered, feeling the world spin around her. "What happened?"
"What happened?" Trist repeated in what sounded like disbelief. "You've just been struck by bloody lightning! Lightning that just roasted that poor bloke from the inside out! To quote this very wise lass beside me, are you alright!?"
"Forget about the lightning," Perrine told him, and the rest. "I just spent all my magic, literally all of it. I need... I just need to rest."
"No time rest," came Aurora's voice. "We need to move, now!"
"Where!?" Eila asked in distraught. "This is it, we're done for!"
Now Perrine could hear Yoshika's crying turn into scared wails accompanied by Lynette's soft whimpering. They were doing precisely nothing for the company's morale.
Then, Sanya's voice came, "E-Everyone, get to the forest line. Don't give up!"
"Yeah, better to die in the trees," Aurora sighed.
"Got a plan?" Trist asked Sanya.
"Yes!" Sanya exclaimed, "J-Just wait, you'll see!"
"Eh, why not!?" Aurora gave a crazy laugh, and quickly picked up Perrine. "Come on you, let's see if Sanya's on to something. If not, always nice to die in the shade, right?"
"It's overcast!" Trist told her as they hurried along under Sanya's instruction. "Bloody lightning just struck-"
"Shut up!" Eila shouted over him. "Shut up both of you! If we're going to die, I'm not going to listen to this. And for Ilmatar's sake, would the both of you move!"
She was referring to Lynette and Yoshika. The former grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her along, lagging behind the rest. They quickly made it to the tree line, and thankfully the approaching reinforcements stalled as the men regrouping with them shouted things. While the witches couldn't hear what was being relayed, Perrine assumed it was warning about her magic. She wondered how long it was going to stall them.
"Look!" Eila shouted, then gave a wild laugh. "That way, to the south!"
Perrine saw Eila quite excited about something, and Sanya smiling contently. The rest of the group peered south, and were graced with a magnificent sight. A large group of warriors on horseback were thundering down the flood plains, just now coming around a bend into full view. They bore the red and black cross standards of Karlsland, and at the lead were two women. The enemy Gallians faltered, any thoughts of a final push to finish of the witches now replaced with the idea of retreat.
The Karlslandian horses moved fast, and the ones the two women rode were the fastest. They were closing the distance rapidly, and soon the company could hear the brown-haired girl leading them shout, "Lassen Sie sie nicht fliehen! Der Gallreicher muss sterben!"
"I don't know what she's saying," Eila was smiling, with her arm over Sanya's shoulders, "but I know it can only be good. If I didn't know any better, I'd say we found our witches."
"Good timing and a good first impression," Perrine commented, allowing herself to relax as well. "Though, it remains to be seen how they'll greet us."
"We're a-all witches, aren't we?" Lynette stammered, still shaken up. She and Yoshika were close together, arms over one another for comfort and behind them Aurora had a hand on each of their shoulders. "We're on the same side, they'll g-greet us well, won't they?"
"That's what I hope," Perrine replied. "I just don't like to make strong assumptions. Oftentimes they're wrong."
"Tsk, pessimist," Aurora muttered.
"Actually," Trist spoke up, raising a hand, "she's saying to kill all the Gallians, I think. My Karlslandian is rusty. My mates and I went pub-hoping across Karlsland once, so I picked up a bit of the language."
"Fascinating," Perrine rolled her eyes. "On the off chance they're killing every last Gallian out of principle and barbarity, at least the two of us can pass for Britannians."
"You're right," it was Eila who agreed. "Both of you sound like you're from Britannia, especially him."
"Grew up there," Trist told them. "Spent a lot of time there too when I was doing knightly things."
"What constitutes as 'knightly things'?" Aurora asked.
"Mostly wooing pretty girls," he answered with a playful smirk. "'Course that was before I settled down and-"
"Tell us about this later," Perrine cut him off. "Or never, I don't care. But this isn't the time for chit-chat."
The Karlsland riders rode across the ford, driving the fleeing enemy into the forest on the other side where they were scattered and finished off. The witches' position only gave a fleeting glimpse of the battle before them, but it was quickly decided that the two leading this force were indeed the witches they were after. They were incredibly skilled riders, their movements always synced and harmonized together showing that they had ridden together for a long time. The dark-haired one fought with a long, unwieldy looking Fuso glaive that shone brightly. The other girl, a small thing with short blonde hair, used a shining longsword to astounding effect.
Several other warriors on horseback kept a short distance away from the group, watching them and chattering back in forth in their language. They looked cautious, but not hostile. One of riders, a young woman, rode up to them and more or less yelled out, "Gibt es hier jemanden, der Karlslansch spricht!?"
Aurora wondered aloud, "Why do people from Karlsland always sound so mad?"
"Shut up, Aurora!" Eila shot back at her. "Anyone know what she said?"
"Ah," Perrine thought hard for a moment, "I heard 'Karlsland-something' in there. I think she's asking us if we're from here, or speak their language. In that case, uh... Nein!"
"No, no, no," Aurora shook her head, stepping forward, "You gotta do it with more heart, sound more angry to fit in or else she won't understand! Like this, nein! Nein! Nein!"
Both Eila and Perrine hung their heads in embarrassment as the Karlsland girl gazed upon them in confusion. She looked over her shoulder to her companions and calmly said, "Ich verstehe das nicht."
They shrugged in confusion and stared at the witches.
Perrine spun on her heels and shouted at Aurora, "Great, now they think we're crazy!"
"At least they understand," Aurora huffed, crossing her arms indignantly. She looked across the river again, where warriors in red and black were pursuing and riding down the Gallians in their dark garb. There wasn't much to do but wait anxiously and see what would happen next. The Karlslandians were having absolutely no trouble hacking their foes to pieces, and within a half-hour they were riding back across the ford with two bloodied-up witches leading them. In the meantime, Yoshika had tended to the wounds of her friends. As she healed them, the riders watching them muttered in suspicion, the word, 'Hexen' coming up more than once.
The leader of their group, the warrior with brown hair approached the group with her comrade. She spoke a few words to the warriors in their language, and then dismounted. Her polished armor and face were splattered red, and she still held her long glaive. Two swords were on her back, crossed, and looked more symbolic than practical. Beside her was the other girl, who wore a lighter suit of mail, and the only blood on her was on her sword.
"So we finally meet," the brown-haired girl said to the witches, smiling slightly and sizing them up. "I assume one of you is Perrine Clostermann?"
"That would be I," Perrine stepped forward, bowing properly. "To whom do I owe this pleasure?"
"Gertrud Barkhorn," she introduced herself, "and this is my companion: Erica Hartmann. Welcome to our little slice of Karlsland. I believe some thanks are in order for our timely rescue."
"Ah, yes," Perrine was surprised by how forward she was. "You have my deepest thanks for your swift action."
"Mine as well!" Lynette quickly added, clearly intimidated.
"Thanks," Eila kept it simple.
"Yeah, thanks," came Aurora.
"Mhm," Trist nodded.
Sanya yawned.
Yoshika suddenly exclaimed, "M-Miss Barkhorn, you're injured!"
"What?" Barkhorn looked surprised, "No I'm not. What are you talking about?"
"Yes you are!" Yoshika insisted, and quickly stepped forward to Gertrud. "Under your arm, here!"
She pointed to where the armor she wore was weak and exposed. The mail was frayed, and colored red from her blood. Barkhorn raised her arm and suddenly winced, gazing at the injury just below her armpit, "God, I didn't even notice this. Some Gallian bastard must have gotten his spear through when I wasn't focused."
"You got stabbed with a spear and didn't even notice?" Aurora asked in disbelief.
The blonde girl, Erica Hartmann, finally made a noise. She chuckled and said, "Trudie is always like this. She gets so into fighting that she doesn't even notice when she's hurt. This looks deep though, you'd better have this dressed fast."
Barkhorn rolled her arm and shook her head, "It's a scratch, no need. Don't call me 'Trudie' in front of strangers either."
"A scratch can still get infected though," Erica pointed out. "You just splashed through dirty river water. But we don't need to remain strangers, do we? That's Perrine, who are the rest?"
"Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen," the younger Suom introduced herself first. "A wizard of the Northern Order at your service. This is Sanya Litvyak, my very dear friend."
"A pleasure to meet you," Sanya yawned again.
"A wizard?" Barkhorn peered at her closely, "Really?"
Eila nodded aloofly, "Uh-huh. I got some pretty amazing magic and all that, but it's nothing special." She raised one hand, and white fire danced between her fingers in impressive patterns.
"Oh get off it," Perrine rolled her eyes at Eila. "Her magic comes in handy when it's good for her. She's a good companion and friend, but don't listen to her or be impressed by her parlor tricks."
"Someone's jealous," Eila smirked.
Aurora spoke up, "I'm her sister by the way. I used to be a witch, and fought as a mercenary years back."
"Mhm," Barkhorn didn't seem to care about that. "And you two?"
"I'm Yoshika Miyafuji," The Fuson girl introduced herself, "If you take off your armor, I can help with that wound."
"No need, I have surgeons and physicians for this sort of thing."
"No, you don't understand Miss Barkhorn," Yoshika smiled a little. "I'm, ah, a little better at this sort of thing than a physician or surgeon. Trust me!"
"When we ride back to camp, it's only a few kilos down the river," Barkhorn answered, not looking particularly enthused.
Lynette introduced herself last, "I'm Lynette Bishop, a pleasure to meet you Miss Hartmann and Miss Barkhorn."
"Miss Hartmann," The blonde Karlslandian girl chuckled. "It makes us sound really formal, doesn't it, Trudie?"
"Stop calling me that," Barkhorn quickly whispered back at her. She then cleared her throat, "Alright then, let's talk more back at camp. I want to know who you all are, where you're going, and why Neuroin is so personally interested in seeing you dead and... Wait, who's he?" Barkhorn raised her weapon, and pointed it at Trist, "Those are Gallian colors."
"A-" Perrine tried to answer, but was cut off.
"Bloody hell, can't a man wear black without being some Gallian rogue?" Trist was bluffing hard, and it seemed to be working. Barkhorn was already lowering her spear as he continued, "Second off, these are not Gallian colors, they are Neuroin's colors and if I were with Neuroin I wouldn't be strolling about with witches, now would I? We've been together well long enough for me to slit all their throats in their sleep if I wanted. Since I have not done so, I clearly do not fancy them dead."
"Okay, okay, I get it, just stop talking already," Barkhorn turned around and began stepping towards her horse. "Come, we'll make for my camp then."
"We need to gather our horses first," Perrine told her. "You can go on ahead, I doubt we're so dense we'd miss your encampment."
"Can we take her?" Hartmann pointed at Yoshika, "For Trudie's wound."
"What did I say about that?" Barkhorn snapped at her, already slowly riding away.
Hartmann stuck her tongue out at her friend, then addressed Miyafuji again, "Please? She's gotten sick from injuries she didn't clean before because she said they were too small to worry about. Even a scratch can kill, you know, especially by the river."
Miyafuji nodded and stepped forward, "Yes, I know about that kind of thing. I used to study medicine with my family in Fuso; they run a clinic. I'm not going to just clean the wound and bandage it. My magic can fix almost any injury, short of, uh... b-burns..."
Aurora stood behind Yoshika and put her hands on her shoulders, "Our new friend Barkhorn isn't burned, is she? Hartmann, is it? Yoshika will ride back with you?"
"That was my plan."
"Alright then," Perrine spoke up. "We'll meet you two when we've found our good-for-nothing horses in this forest. Good luck and take care of her, Yoshika, we wouldn't want to come all this way for nothing."
"I will, thanks," Yoshika smiled and nodded, walking with Hartmann to her horse. "I don't think she's in any danger, but it's always good to take care of these things so they don't become a problem."
Hartmann and Yoshika rode off to catch up with Barkhorn and the rest of the Karlslandian riders. The rest of the witches went to scouring the forest for their cowardly mounts. They were in high spirits despite the brutal battle that had nearly been the end of all of them. Their rescue left them with a lot to be happy about. Not only were they safe, but they had finally found the witches they had been searching nearly two months for.
To Be Continued
Author's Note/Commentary- The second fight where they're pushed into the trees was written around the song Dai Kessen off the Strike Witches OST. I think it fits the tone of the battle perfectly before it goes south. Listen to it if you need the taste of heavy metal washed from your mouth. I actually like the Strike Witches OST quite a bit. I listened to it a whole bunch while writing this back when I had my old computer.