Chapter 25: Ambush
"RIDE!"
Shianni lunged at her target, the man, so focused on the few remaining knights and elven bodyguards had not even noticed her.
She buried her dagger to the hilt in the back of his neck, in that sweet spot between the helmet and chest plate, the mercenary jerked back causing his horse to rear before throwing him off making even more panic.
Shianni cursed, having lost her dagger she was now unarmed, but what was worse were Ladies Bridget and Margaret.
They simply sat there in the saddle, lost in shock and fear, prey animals frozen as the predator raced across the field towards them.
"WAKE UP SHEMS!" the Bann shouted.
Bridget recovered first she darted a quick look at the Bann, all around them people were fighting and dying.
"This way," Shianni shouted, the death of the man close to her had opened a small gap in their betrayers circle, it would not last long, but it might be enough.
"This way," the elven noble shouted turning her horse.
Bridget Glass responded first, she turned and started to follow.
Margaret remained frozen.
Shianni made it through the gap and turned to look back, she could see the younger girl fighting with the elder, trying to pull her after them.
So far their enemies were too busy fighting with Shianni's guards and the few remaining knight to notice, but that would not last long.
"Come on," she hissed under her breath.
Bridget pulled harder on her sister's arm.
"COME ON!"
Margaret Glass' horse reared, nearly dumping her on the ground, her sister did manage to pull her onto the back of her own steed, and quickly followed after Shianni.
The two women made it through the gap, just as a pair of warriors tried to break off their attack and come after them.
One of Shianni's men blocked their path, wounding one and driving the other back.
Shianni saw the man take a crossbow bolt in the neck; he reared in his saddle, no longer able to help them.
She did not wait to see the brave man fall.
She turned her horse and rode for all it was worth, the Glass girls, now on a single horse behind her.
Shianni frowned.
She still did not like their chances.
They were outmanned, and outnumbered, if her guards did not prevail…
Their attackers would run them down like grass.
Somehow the younger Glass girl managed to get their horse to catch up with hers. The poor animal was struggling under the extra weight, but still was doing its best.
"What is going on!" she heard one of the girl's cry out.
The elven Bann's eyes narrowed.
It was a good question.
An arrow whizzed past her head.
Perhaps they would live long enough to get the answer.
IOI
Em was terrified, practically wailing in her ear.
Bea tried to ignore it; she was a decent rider but…
This was hardly the kind of riding she was used to.
Another arrow whizzed past them, she hoped that they were out of the range of the crossbows the men carried now, but a lucky arrow could still end their lives just as quickly.
Bea was terrified; her heart was pounding in her chest. Part of her could not believe she was still moving, that they were all still alive.
We are not warriors, she thought.
Neither she, nor Em was used to this kind of violence. Her scholar's mind refused to stop working, evaluating what she had seen so far.
The men from Highever were attacking them, why?
Their own men had turned on them, why?
Behind them over the din, their attackers had finally noticed their escape.
The survivors rode in pursuit, shouting war cries and raising their weapons.
Bea struck her horse in the flank, urged it faster, but with Em's added weight, there was little the poor beast could do.
"KILL HER!"
"DEATH TO THE CONCUBINE!"
Their attackers' words pierced Bea's soul.
Clearly these men were not after Bann Shianni and Em. Obviously, these men were not bandits looking to rob them.
She almost sobbed.
It's me, she thought with a whimper.
They are here to kill me!
Why?
Another arrow flew past her head; Bea ducked down lower, trying to be less of a target.
The chase continued.
Why?
IOI
They were riding hard across an open field, their pursuers gaining quickly.
Shianni did not like their chances at all.
There were trees in the distance, those might offer some cover, but she suspected that they would never make it; their attackers would overtake them long before they reached those woods, and even if they did reach them. The trees would slow their mounts making it far easier for the attackers to surround them and finish them off, and they were all unarmed.
The elven noble shook her head.
They were damned either way.
If they could get some kind of lead, get out of eyeshot, maybe they could find a way to hide in the woods, back track back to the road, and get help, unlikely given the speed of their pursuers, but…
She heard a shriek behind her.
She dared look back.
One of the men had seized the elder Glass girl by her cloak and was trying to yank her off. The younger girl turned her horse just enough to bring its flank into the pursuer's mount's front legs.
The horse stumbled and the rider lost his grip.
Not a bad move, Shianni thought with a hint of a smile, but it was not enough.
She frowned.
From behind, to the north she saw a full company of armed men approaching, also wearing Highever colors, coming to join the attack, reinforcements for their attackers, no doubt.
Shianni cursed under her breath.
Whatever happened she would not make it easy for these bastards.
She had not fought hard enough against Vaughan and his cronies.
Her eyes narrowed.
She would fight harder today!
If she was to die she would make damn sure that these bastards knew that they had paid for her life!
The reinforcements were riding hard, several of the men already had crossbows out, as soon as they came into range, it would be all over.
The newcomers' fired…
…Straight into the middle of nobles' attackers. Panicked cries went up from the surviving ambushers.
From the front of the newcomers a different war cry went up, but no more brazen then the ones from the men behind them.
"FOR HIGHEVER!" the leader shouted.
"HIGHEVER!" the men around him responded.
Shianni almost sobbed with relief.
It seems their real escort had arrived.
If they were in time well…that remained to be seen, they…
Something struck the elven Bann from behind, she gasped at the pain that coursed through her.
She slumped forward as their attackers finally caught up with them, just as Highever's men reached them and the world turned bloody again.
Shianni did not see it; something struck her in the head.
She fell from her horse…
…after that…darkness.
IOI
Margaret shrieked as their horse was struck mortally by an arrow.
The poor animal pitched forward, spilling both sisters to the ground…hard.
Bea shook her head, trying to clear it, behind her Em lay moaning pathetically holding her leg.
The scholar crawled over to her sister, trying to pull her out of the fray. All around them knights and mercenaries clashed.
Em cried out as Bea drug her next to their fallen mount, the elder Glass' leg was bent at the wrong angle, she whimpered with every breath.
Bea's eyes darted around them, looking for a place to hide, but they were still too far from the wooded area, on an open plain with battle going on all around them.
She shook her head.
The only thing they could do was try and stay out of the way.
We are not warriors.
The captain of the Highever soldiers was knocked from his horse, yet that did nothing to stop him. He rose quickly drawing a great sword with a blade almost as long as she was tall. One of their false guards tried to ride the warrior down.
He paid for that.
The Captain dropped down and severed the man's horse's front legs, sending him flying over their heads. No sooner had the soldier from Highever dispatched that threat that he wheeled on the next, seizing a crossbowman that had gotten too close to the fighting, and tore him to the ground. The Captain did not even bother using his sword; he simply struck the man with a hard gauntleted fist.
The bowman lay still.
Bea shook her head.
The Highever warrior was a giant, six and a half feet tall at least. A silver helm bearing the laurels of the Highever hid the warrior's features as he barked orders to his fellows. He…
"HARLOT! YOU DIE!"
Bea shrieked as one of the false soldiers tried to attack her. She dodged barely avoiding the sword strike that would have taken her head.
Bea glanced around the battlefield, looking for a place to flee…there was none.
She whimpered.
They were not warriors.
The would-be assassin was grinning at her, holding his bloody blade, his eyes hungry, eagerly awaiting the coming kill.
Bea began to back pedal, she tripped and fell to the ground.
The man lunged.
Bea grabbed for what she had tripped over, a large kite shield.
She brought it up before her.
The killer's blade thunked against its surface, but did not go through.
The assassin snarled and swung again and again.
Still be blocked, she was screaming for aid, but no one heard her.
Their defenders were far too occupied.
The bottom section of the shield splintered. The man focused his attack there.
The bottom half of her shield broke away.
Bea who had been struggling to regain her feet once again found herself shoved back down.
The man kicked at the damaged shield forcing it away.
He raised his blade, ready to bring it down on the scholar's heart.
A crossbow bolt struck the killer in the face, the projectile easily piercing his eye socket.
The killer staggered, his weapon fell from his hands.
He collapsed near his would be victim.
Bea lay there gasping for breath, sobbing with relief and fear.
She looked around the field once again; she might not have been a warrior, but…
It looked like the tide had turned.
All around them the mercenaries were starting to scatter the few that weren't now found themselves badly outnumbered. The false Highever men, their armor slightly different from the real escorts were easy prey for the Highever Captain and his men.
These men did not even try to retreat; they fought on trying to get through the protective perimeter the Highever soldiers were starting to form around the wounded nobles.
Bea saw the Captain cut down another of their attackers; the giant was a force of nature. No one seemed to be able to stop him.
It was then that Bea saw it; one of the false Highever soldiers, the man was wounded but clearly not dead.
He had a long wicked looking blade in his hand slowly, slithering like a snake he was trying to sneak up on the Highever Captain.
Bea's eyes narrowed.
I am no warrior.
That did not matter.
She was scared yes, but…
But…
She picked up the broken shield and shrieked.
She was angry!
ENRAGED!
How dare these bastards attack them!
How dare they try to harm her!
How dare they injure her sister!
How DARE they!
Bea's world turned red, blood red!
The wounded killer turned, he tried to bring up his blade.
He was not fast enough.
Bea struck him hard across the face, sending blood and teeth flying. The man slumped down.
The scholar was not done.
How DARE they!
She wailed like a shriek!
She brought the shield up and down, up and down.
The point of the broken edge made even more lethal by her furious strength.
How DARE they!
IOI
The Highever Captain turned, ready to defend himself, but even as it was done, the veteran knew that the turn was too slow. The warrior had noticed the killer trying to sneak up from behind, noticed, but was far too late.
Too close, the Captain realized far too close.
I'll take an injury, the veteran thought, but hopefully it would not be mortal.
The warrior never got the chance.
What the Captain saw gave the warrior pause.
It would have given anyone pause.
This small dark haired noble woman in a fine dress, bringing a broken shield down again and again on the head and neck of her attacker, she struck with a fury unchecked.
She shrieked like a wild animal, the kind of shriek that would scare even the stoutest of hearts.
The Captain's weapon lowered.
The girl had likely saved a life today, the Captain's.
The warrior would not forget that.
The girl continued to shriek continued to attack, the man's head was no longer there, his leg spasmed with each strike.
The Captain stepped up.
"Milady, it is over," the warrior said.
"It is over."
The Captain grabbed the shield.
The noble woman glared up, looking ready to continue the attack.
The warrior took a step back, not wanting to startle the clearly hysterical and armed young woman.
The warrior raised her hands.
"It is over," she repeated.
IOI
Bea whimpered her face and hands covered in the killer's blood.
She wheezed, trying to get breath back into her.
She…she…
She looked down at her bloody hands.
Oh Maker!
What had she done!
The Highever Captain planted his weapon in the bloody ground, the giant held out a gauntleted hand.
"It is over," the warrior repeated.
Bea looked around, she saw only Highever men around her, real Highever men, some on horseback, most now on foot.
Bea swallowed hard and handed her shield to the warrior, who took it gingerly.
The giant laid it on the ground before them.
Bea was shaking, but slowly her mind was starting to work again.
She giggled slightly.
They were alive.
She giggled again.
They were safe.
A rider rode up to the giant of an officer.
The warrior straightened.
"The remaining attackers have fled Lis, shall we pursue?"
"No," the officer said, "Secure the area while we see to the wounded Hammond, and see if any of these bastards still live."
The giant looked down at the man Bea had pulped.
"Perhaps one of them can give us some answers."
"Yes Captain," he said with a salute, and rode off.
The giant warrior sighed, and stepped up to Bea.
The scholar whimpered and tried to crawl away.
"It is okay," the warrior soothed, "You are safe now, we are friends."
The warrior removed his helmet.
Bea gasped.
The face was not what she expected.
Short reddish brown hair, cut short, but feathered out about mid ear, giving a more feminine appearance, strong cheek bones, and stern yet compassionate eyes, but that was not what surprised her.
No, what surprised her was that the giant was not a he at all.
He…was in fact a she, a young woman, a giantess to be sure, but a woman none the less.
The warrior woman gave her a respectful bow.
"I'm Elissa Cousland," She said, "I take it you are Lady Glass?"
Bea nodded dumbly.
The warrior smiled.
"I wish it was under better circumstances, Milady," she said with a chagrinned look, "But…"
She picked up her blade, and cleaned it off.
She sheathed her sword as she helped Bea to her feet.
"Welcome to Highever, Lady Glass."