Trial by Fire

"To battle! To battle!" war cries shook Eoleo awake from his dreamless sleep. He sat up straight in his tent to see Baghi already arming himself. In place of his usual fur cap the Passaj mountain man had a bronze half helm. He had a thin Passaj crafted sword. Beautifully ornamented, Eoleo thought, let's hope it holds up in a fight.

"We're under attack," Baghi frowned and handed Eoleo his broadsword. Eoleo stood up and wildly strapped his breastplate to his body. Red hair flung in front of his face, uninhibited by his usual ponytail. In one arm he held is blade unsheathed and followed Baghi out of the tent.

All around them soldiers chaotically armed themselves with weapons and armour. They had an assortment of tools, swords, bows, spears. None of them were true warriors like the Champan men and women. Only a few had been called upon to fight the Kaocho invaders earlier, and then the shadow beasts during the Grave Eclipse. The rest were farmers, cobblers, merchants, and so on.

Eoleo saw no hesitation as they armed themselves. They may not know how to fight, Eoleo thought, but they are not groping. This gave Eoleo hope, but he also worried they didn't have the correct amount of fear. That will change, Eoleo thought sadly. He followed Baghi and a small group of already armed Ayuthay soldiers east to the mud flats. A lightly armoured woman with a bow and short sword ran past him. Nora, Eoleo recognized the scout from the last council meeting. Amiti seemed to know the girl, he seemed to trust her. At any rate she was much faster than Eoleo. He struggled to keep up.

The group emerged from the camp to witness the battle already raging. Kobolds and Hobblegobs clashed their toothed blades against the Ayuthay blue armour and weapons. Arrows flung from the bows of Ayuthay archers unorganized fashion. Ahead of him, Eoleo saw Nora struggled with the bow. She's brave, but no warrior yet, Eoleo thought.

Eoleo caught up with Baghi, Nora, and the others who were blade to blade with the beasts. He saw that they were covered head to toe with a thick dark brown mud. In their hands were toothed swords and torches blazing with unnaturally bright red fire. They hid in the flats, Eoleo realized. That's how our scouts didn't seen them.

Finally, Eoleo's sword met the enemy. He found himself remembering his last fight. He recalled the feeling of helplessness of watching the Tonfon boy Shui die and letting the assassin escape. Being able to help again cleared his mind from the stress of the last fight. He struck down the weak minded beasts with ease. The straight forwardness of the fight eased Eoleo's mind and he let the rhythm of battle absorb him.

A cry for help cut through his trance, "Eoleo!" Without realizing it he had been separated from Baghi and Nora. The cry was from Baghi and it came from closer to the camp. But Eoleo was surrounded by kobold warriors. He was covered in their mud and blood. They seemed to back off as tens of their comrades lay dead in Eoleo's wake. Mud came from their long furred snouts as they snarled.

Eoleo looked towards the source of the cry but found his way was blocked. The konolds weren't backing off, they were forming a circle around Eoleo. Each of them pointed a blade at the pirate. The largest growled loudly, displaying a blood filled mouth and yellow teeth. In his left hand was a torch of bright red fire with tongues of flames that moved quickly and unpredictably. Suddenly, they moved inwards, all at once. The organization and synchronization of the attack surprised him.

Eoleo cleared his mind again and in a fluid motion spun around letting out a burst of fire psynergy that drained him. All around the pirate a cyclone of fire engulfed his attackers. They ran into the mud flats aflame.

"Eoleo!" Baghi's cry sounded through the night yet again. He looked towards the camp, to try and scope out Baghi. He saw a column of kobolds and hobblegobs sprinting towards camp. They neglected to protect their sides as Ayuthay soldiers attacked them. Ayuthay soldiers were too disorganized to do anything but attack the sides of the column. The speed of the Kobolds was great. Those at the head of the column were already entering into the rows of tents. They're aiming for something, Eoleo thought.

Then he saw Baghi and Nora. They were surrounded by hobblegobs. At their feet a few Ayuthay soldiers and many hobblegobs lay dead or dying. Eoleo ran towards them and tried to let out a burst of fire psynergy but he was already spent. He cut off the head of the nearest hobblegob and grabbed the falling beast's red flame torch. He yelled at the monsters surrounding Baghi and Nora, and threw the torch to the ground. It exploded into a fury of sparks, unlike any torch Eoleo had ever seen.

The hobblegobs surrounding Eoleo all turned to fight him, ignoring Baghi and Nora. The first to engage Eoleo had its flimsy sword cut in half and belly stabbed. The next three aimed heavy swings of massive clubs at the pirate's head who dodged. Eoleo threw a counter attacks that pierced the heart of one and cut off the arm of the second. The point of Baghi's sword emerged from the torso of the third Hobgobble.

The beast fell to the ground dead as Baghi and Nora joined Eoleo in the fight. Nora took down the largest hobblegob with a quick strike to the throat as Baghi and Eoleo hacked and slashed the others. They catch on quick, Eoleo thought. Finally the beasts were downed.

The three looked back to the camp. The monsters cursed and fled as the Ayuthay soldiers gave chase and shouted victory chants. Leading them was Amiti himself, his blade bloodied and robes torn.

"We won!" Baghi shouted. Eoleo looked at the tired and muddied Passaj warrior. He noticed a smile took the place of Baghi's usual frown. Then he looked to the south, the moonlight barely illuminated a herd of animals galloping away from the camp, back towards Ayuthay. Eoleo's heart sunk.

Nora seemed to see it too, "We lost the horses."

Eoleo sat in his usual chair at Amiti's council. The morning sun was starting to creep through the tents light blue fabric casting coloured light onto the table. The advisers young enough to fight all had in the battle the night before. Amiti's old sword master Bellator had been particularly potent. He stood at the entrance of the tent unwounded, his beard covered with blood and dirt. Eoleo was again amazed by the Ayuthay bravery. Baghi sat to his left nursing a slight shoulder wound. Bogho stood nervously staring at Amiti, who sat at the head of the table, his robe still torn from the battle. He wore no crown and was adorned by no gold.

Eoleo looked down at his hands. They were bloody and muddy from the fight. He still hadn't washed himself or his sword. It stank of kobold. His shin stung in tiny spots where the sparks of the mysterious red torch fire had burned him. He pushed his untied red hair away from his eyes.

"Which of you were within the camp when the first of the kobolds entered?" Amiti began the meeting abruptly.

"I," Bellator said.

"What exactly happened?" the King asked.

Bellator shifted uncomfortably. "Well, first I was out on the field with the rest of the troops. We were disorganized. No one expected the attack in the middle of the night. The way the beasts emerged from the mud was... unheard of."

"They're organized," Eoleo agreed.

"Exactly," Bellator continued. "Perhaps more organized than the Koacho army was when they attacked Ayuthay before the Eclipse." He let out a scoff.

"How did you end up in the camp?" Amiti asked.

"I saw their formation. It was a good night for a battle, lots of moonlight. They were headed in a straight line, directly towards camp. Almost like a spear. Our troops hammered themselves uselessly against the spears shaft," he said.

He looked around slowly at all the advisers in the room, casting guilt to each and every one of them. "But the shaft of the spear isn't the dangerous part, it's the head. So I followed the head. And it lead directly to the horses. They cut the horse reigns and scared them off to the south. Some they slayed."

Amiti frowned. "This was their goal? To scare off the horses?"

"Yes. I never would have thought that beasts could possible have a goal," Bellator said, "But last night changed my mind."

"I don't think they can have a goal. They're beasts. Someone must be controlling them," Amiti said.

Eoleo looked at the King. "It must be. Whoever did this wants to slow our pace. They knew they couldn't defeat us, so they aimed to maim us."

Bogho agreed, "They want to make sure we wouldn't make it into Morgal before the Sanans did."

Amiti nodded. "It's likely Emperor Wo has control of the beasts. Or some other enemy unknown to us. But we must continue."

Eoleo gave Amiti a firm nod. He needs to know we're all behind him. There can be no doubt. Not now.

"So, is it possible? Can we make it there before the Sanans?" Amiti asked. Ever since he reunited with his friend, the new King of Ayuthay, Eoleo was the expert on when and where Sana would attack Morgal. The truth was that he didn't know.

"I have to assume they made all haste for Belinsk. By sea. Sanan ships are as slow as sea turtles," Eoleo recalled countless times pirating the brutish vessels with his father. The memory gave him a pang of grief. "We maybe could have beat them to Belinsk by horse. By foot..." He shook his head.

One of the adviser let out a sigh. Baghi's frown grew. Amiti looked serious. He always looks kinda serious, Eoleo thought. I suppose it's a good time to be serious.

Amiti turned to the Master of the Ravens, the woman who sent out messages by bird. "Send a message to Queen Sveta. Inform her about the battle."

"Your majesty, there still hasn't been a response from the Queen. I'm running out of birds."

"Running out?"

"I believe they're getting shot down on the glacier, just as Eoleo has said," the Master of the Ravens looked at Eoleo.

"Send it anyway," Amiti ordered, "and tell her we mean to come anyways. If Belinsk is taken, then we will retake it."

"Retake it?" one of the advisers said. He seemed to hardly be able to believe his ears. "Your majesty," he protested, "Belinsk is an ancient castle city. With stone walls thicker than your throne room."

"I know," Amiti shot back, "I've been there."

"We have no siege weaponry. How can we hope to challenge Emperor Wo?"

"Would you have me leave the beastmen to another ten years of slavery? Maybe more? No, I will not abandon Queen Sveta and her people," Amiti said. The adviser was silent. Amiti continued, "If Belinsk is under Sanan control when I arrive, I will find a way to take it back. Any of you are free to turn back if you choose."

The advisor looked guilty as he stared at his shoes. Amiti turned again the the Master of the Ravens, "Send ravens to all the major Angaran cites. We must rally against Tonfon."

"What about Bilibin?" Eoleo asked.

Bogho nodded. "Lord McCoy has no love for the beastmen. Most of Morgal came from land that was once owned by his family. He might see the Sanan invasion as an opportunity to take some of that land back."

"You're right," Amiti nodded, "We will send no ravens to Bilibin or any of McCoy's cities."

"And what of the road? When we will march?" Bellator the sword master grunted.

Amiti thought for a moment. "The soldiers need the morning to rest. To bury the dead. We will begin the march at noon. We should be able to make it to Belinsk in less than a month. I've done the trek by foot before."

As long as there's no more monsters hiding in the mud, Eoleo mused to himself.