Disclaimer : I own the plot and any characters you don't recognize.

Lady Knight 2: The Prophecy Ends

Chapter 3: On the Road again

"Remember Keladry, handle your men carefully. We can spare only these two squads and the ones you'll get in New Hope. Plan your strategy carefully. Take care of Haley. He's a powerful mage and needed for the ream. He's only on a loan." said Sir Garth the older. "Ride to New Hope, now. I won't delay you any longer."

Once Kel and her company had been on the road for sometime, Neal sneered, "Haley, isn't that a girl's name?"

"Yes, I'm very well aware that it's a girl's name." replied a tall, dark stranger.

"I'm sorry." said Neal, "I just think your name is . . .well . . . unusual. Why don't we start over. I'm Sir Nealan of Queenscove. And you?"

"Haley of Astrowcamp."

"Astrowcamp. How bizarre. I've never heard of it. Where is it anyway?"

"It's a rather small fief at the lower tip of Tortall. My mother sent me off to Corus when I was eight. I lived as an apprentice for a steel mage. He was a sword maker. I discovered my talent when I started making swords move on their own. The master steel mage thought he was going mad. He sent me to mage school."

"You can make swords move on their own?"

"Only one or two. If I had enough energy, I could probably move about ten. Of course they aren't experts or anything. They're only average."

"Interesting. I hear you're a war mage. What kind-. Here comes Kel."
Haley turned around to see Kel riding up to them with Sergeants Vance and Soraton at her heels. " Hello Haley, Neal. I know you've probably already met but this is Sergeant Vance and Sergeant Soraton. Sergeants, this is Haley of Astrowcamp, our new war mage." said Kel

"Nice to meet you" said Sergeant Soraton politely.

"You are our war mage. You're but a child." scoffed Sergeant Vance.

"Sergeant Vance, please be polite to our guest." said Kel warningly. To Haley she said, "I hope you except my apology. I assure you that won't happen again." Before Kel had time to say anything else, the sparrows sent on scout duties pelted back to Kel shrieking. They pecked and reported to Kel. Within a few seconds she got a count. "There seems to be war party set to attack us. It probably contains 20 to 30 flying creatures, possibly stormwings. Sergeant Soraton, please take your squad and hide them in the woods ahead. Attack with arrows first. We want the element of surprise. If the enemy out numbers us by a squad, let loose half your men. Save your other half for arrows and reinforcements. If you see us struggle, let loose your remaining men. Haley, hide in the nearby trees and work magic where you see fit. As for the rest of us, we'll stay here like sitting ducks. Sergeant Vance, have your best men on warhorses. Neal, take a warhorse, too." said Kel, looking around to see if there was anything she missed. She exchanged Hoshi for a warhorse from a solider. "Ready? Rest your weapons causally by your side but within arm's reach at a second's notice. Alright. Move out."

Kel and her company had not ridden more than half a mile down the road when they smelled the stormwings. Immediately, the company halted and unsheathed their weapons. A second later, they found stormwings attacking them from above. The stormwings were no closer than 20 feet from the ground, when arrows bombarded them from nearby trees. With a forth of their men dead or wounded, the stormwings retreated to the air. A moment later, they attack again. This time, they tried a new tactic, magic. Using their stormwing magic, they sent bolts of multi-colored lightning at the soldiers. Before the lightning could strike the ground, a rich navy dome encircled the soldiers. As soon as they realized magic wouldn't work, the stormwings creased using magic and circled the soldiers like vultures looking for prey, waiting diligently for the unknown mage to become tierd. Kel hand signaled Haley to destroy the dome and conserve his magic. The moment the dome disappeared, the stromwings attacked from above. They flew in rows and hurtled at top speed towards the ground. This time, they were wary of arrows pelting from the trees and easily dodged them. Upon reaching the ground, they slashed quickly at nearby soldiers then immediately flew up. A few minutes later they returned for a second attack.

'They've been trained' thought Kel. 'And they've definitely have a leader. There's no way they could attack in such perfect formation without one.' She scanned the sky for any signs of a stormwing hovering in the sky. Not even a glimpse. 'Of course! The leader wouldn't fly in plain sight.' Hastily, she fished her griffin-feather band from her saddle bags and slipped it onto her head. This time, when she gazed into the sky, she saw a stormwing yelling out commands while hovering over the fight. The stormwing, which resembled a scarred but determined looking man in his early 30's, wore a distinctive red band around his forehead. Guessing that this was the stormwing she was looking for, Kel shot at the leader stormwing. The stormwing easily dodged the arrow and regarded her for a moment. Deciding that the fight was more important than a lone knight, the leader ignored her and turned his attention to the battle. Angry at the stormwing's lack of respect, she fished out another arrow and aimed for the leader. As her arrow was shooting through the air, it suddenly glowed navy and multiplied to 50 arrows headed straight for the leader. Confused, the stormwing tried to dodge all of them at once but failed when the one true arrow pricked his wing. Before the stormwing could react, Kel had an arrow ready at her bow and released it. This one pierced his eye and he fell lifeless to ground. Puzzled by the death of their leader, the stormwings hesitated to attack. That was their fatal mistake. Archers from the forest took advantage of their hesitation to shoot and kill most of stormwings. The remaining ones limped away through the air.

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Plenty of action in this chapter. Thanks for reviewing Lady Bee. I'm out of ideas. Help me?

Lady Bee : I like Dom too. He'll definitely have a big part in this story. I don't know about romance, though. I'm not very good and I don't want to ruin the story.

~mygerbil