The next morning, Kel woke early. She had agreed to teach Fhire to fight
with a glaive, and she wasn't going to go back on her promise.
"Very good, Fhire!" She was showing Kel what she already knew. It wasn't much, but she was a natural.
"All right, I am going to teach you how to kill with a glaive. You start by pushing it forward, like with a sword, but then you slide it, so that it slices. Do you understand?"
Fhire nodded, and showed Kel the motion. "Very good."
She showed her how to use it as a hook, how to swing it properly, and how to hold it so she would never lose any fingers.
"Girls! Settle down, it's time to go!" Dom said, catching them both by surprise. "Gods, Kel, if you two go on like this, you're going to kill yourselves!"
He kissed her on the cheek. "Just thought you might want to know, we actually are leaving in a few minutes. So let's go!"
They sprinted back to their rooms to pack, and made it outside just in time.
"Kel, we're just going to be walking our horses, right?" Fhire asked.
Kel nodded. "Great." Fhire said, letting Triaxx out of her box. "No hurting anyone in the party, and don't go out of my sight."
Triaxx jumped down and barked. Kel laughed. She was just like Jump.
At nightfall that night, they arrived at Steadfast. Kel noticed the look on Fhire's face. "Don't get too excited, this isn't our final destination. We're going to a much bigger, less intimidating place." She laughed. Fhire grinned back.
"Who goes there?" A soldier yelled from the top of the wall.
"Sir Raoul of Goldenlake!" Raoul yelled.
The gate opened, and they all rode in.
There weren't enough rooms for all of Kel's party, so many of them shared rooms. Kel knocked on Dom and Neal's door. Neal opened it. "Hey Kel, Fhire."
He let them in, and they sat down. "Fhire, get comfortable. Remember, we're your friends. Not your betters." Neal said.
"Well, Kel's your better, but Neal isn't." Dom said, earning a punch from Neal.
"What about you, Dom? Are you her better?" Kel asked.
"That depends on the time of day, fair Keladry." He said, earning a punch from Kel, so everyone was even.
They stayed in Dom and Neal's room for a little while, talking and laughing the night away. Reluctantly, Kel and Fhire returned to their room.
"Thank you, Lady Kel. That was fun."
Kel laughed. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. And thank you for calling me Kel. When Raoul was my knight master, he always insisted I call him Raoul. He said Sir or My Lord made him feel old, but I still couldn't bring myself to call him Raoul."
Fhire laughed. "Does sir make you feel old?"
Kel shook her head. "No, I just think it makes you less comfortable."
Before Fhire could answer, they were both asleep.
They left first thing in the morning, as it was only a day's ride to New Hope.
When they could see a speck in the distance, Kel sat more comfortably.
"Why are you so anxious, Lady Kel?" Fhire asked.
"I was afraid I'd gone the wrong way."
Dom laughed. "She's done it before."
Kel shot him a look. "No I haven't."
"That's what Neal said."
"Neal!" Kel yelled.
"No, I didn't! I was framed!"
But no one could hear him. They were laughing too hard.
Just then, a flurry of Kel's sparrows came flying directly at them.
"Scanrans!" Kel yelled. "We're under attack! Get in formation, prepare yourselves for combat!"
They pulled out their swords and lined their horses up. "Stick with me, Fhire."
Kel looked down. "Jump, distract them."
The dog seemed to nod, and ran off barking.
"Fhire, you said Triaxx is a good fighter, right? Well, now's her chance to prove herself."
Fhire nodded. "Triaxx! Take out as many as you can." The wolf didn't move.
Fhire started to repeat her instructions, but Kel cut her off.
"No time. They're here."
Kel gripped her glaive tightly. "Today you are going to see the glaive in use. It should help you learn."
The first wave of Scanran soldiers came towards them.
"Charge!" Kel yelled. She moved towards the first man, cutting off his head with her glaive. Peachblossom trampled a man, and she could see Jump hanging off of one man's arm. She gutted three men before they could swing their axes. She looked up at Fhire, who was also fighting well, her gelding, Night Warrior, trampling as many men as Peachblossom. Kel could see she wasn't focused. Just after slitting the throat of the man coming up behind her, Kel looked back at Fhire. She was having a hard time with an exceptionally large man with double axes. And there was another coming up behind her.
"Fhire! Duck!" She yelled, and threw her glaive at the man coming behind her. It pierced him in the chest, and he fell over. Taking out her sword, Kel felt a piercing pain in her leg. She looked down. Her left leg was gushing blood at the calf. She looked up. There was a man with a large rusty sword, grinning at her.
"You cut my leg, while I'm on a horse. Really smart." Kel said, killing a man on her right side.
"I will not hear you talk to me that way, wench!" He yelled, swinging his sword at her head. She ducked, and stabbed him with hers.
"Fine then, don't listen."
She heard a horn blow, and looked up. The Scanrans were retreating. She glanced at Fhire, and saw that Triaxx had come out of her box, and was helping Jump maul one last man.
Kel galloped over to Neal, who was off his horse, healing one man's arm wound.
"Neal, when your done, I need you."
He looked up. "Why?"
"I'm injured, Meathead."
His eyes widened. "You? How?"
Kel shrugged. "I was watching out for Fhire, I got caught off guard."
He nodded and went over to her. "I should have known. If you're going to get hurt, you're not going to get hurt badly." A minute later, there was nothing left but a thin white line. "I don't know what he thought it was going to do to you."
Kel grinned. "He knew I was a woman. He thought I would faint at the pain or something."
Dom walked up to them. "By the look of it, you'll faint from the blood loss. C'mon, drink something." He handed her a canteen of water. She chugged the entire thing.
Kel rode over to where Fhire was sitting on a rock. She got off her horse and sat beside her. Triaxx climbed into her lap and went to sleep.
"You fought very well, but you seemed to lose your concentration. Was something wrong?" Kel asked.
Fhire shook her head. "the man in front of me told me I shouldn't be fighting because I'm a girl."
Kel knew the way to deal with this. "What did you do?" She asked.
Fhire looked up at her and grinned. "I gutted him. It was fun!"
Kel laughed. "Let's go, Neal looks pretty pale, anyone with minor wounds will have to wait until we get to the fort."
They stood up. "Everyone on your horses! We leave in five minutes! If you can't ride, get someone to tie you to your horse!" Kel ran over to the man she'd threw her glaive into and grabbed it.
Fifteen minutes down the road, they could almost make out the shape of the fort. "Almost home." Kel said.
She saw movement in a bush. "Hold!" She yelled. Everyone stopped. She pulled out her glaive and walked quietly into the trees. She couldn't see anything, but she knew what she'd seen was not an animal. She signaled for another man to come. Fhire appeared at her side, silent.
"My lady!" A young woman came out of the threes.
Kel stood up. "Fhire, go get Neal." She looked at the young woman, pale under the dirt on her face. There was a trickle of blood on her forehead, and she was holding her left arm. "What is your name?" Kel asked softly.
"Meghyn, my lady. Please, you must listen! They took New Hope. Just this morning. Almost everyone got out, through the secret exits Master Numair made. They didn't follow. They didn't want us, they wanted the camp. They killed as many of us as they could with arrows from in the fort. About twenty, I think. I got so far because I was in the far end of the field. I paused, and they almost killed me."
She showed Kel her arm. An arrow had grazed it. "When did this happen?" Kel demanded.
"Yesterday, just before we went in, My Lady."
Neal walked up to them. Well, he staggered, but Fhire helped him.
"I don't know how much I can do, I've exhausted myself."
"Just clean her wounds, we'll bandage them."
Neal nodded. After he finished, Kel brought Meghyn to Peachblossom, so she could get some cloth to bandage her wound. "Don't worry." She said, seeing the scared look on Meghyn's face. "After Neal has recovered some of his energy, tomorrow he'll heal your wounds completely."
"We set up camp here! Everyone in this party needs rest, and if we're going to attack our own camp, I think we need that rest!"
She signalled for a meeting. They sat down beside a small stream.
"Alright, this is going to be one of our most dangerous fights." She said to Dom, Neal, Merric, Fhire, and Captain Walford, the captain of the three units of soldiers. "We have the advantage in this fight, even if they are the defensive. They are new to the camp, and they don't know their way around yet. We attack after nightfall. Walford, one unit of your men are going to be a distraction. They are going to stay close enough to catch their attention, but not close enough that they can shoot you. Understand?"
Walford nodded.
"Dom, your men are going to stay hidden, but in the trees as close as you can get to the camp. Merric will go with you, he led every expedition last time, he knows exactly where the good hiding places are, and the Scanrans don't. the other two units of Walford's men will go with you. Neal, you are going to stay with Walford, because they will do the least fighting. I believe you'll get enough rest to fight, but I don't want you exhausting yourself."
They all nodded. "Kel," Neal said, "Where are you two going?"
Kel stood up. "Well, meathead, someone has to let you all in, don't they?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hah! I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooo evil! I love it! Almost 2000 words, and quite a bit of action!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it was great. You're getting there, while I write this, I have 46 reviews! I'll be nice and post it with out the other four!
Fhire: I don't think I've even made up any characters for you to use. I guess you could use Captain Walford, but he doesn't have a personality yet, sooo. . . anyway, I don't think I made up any other characters, did I?
Kelly Masbolle: I'm glad you're enjoying it, I'll have to read your stories!
I've been getting a few ideas for stories from people, and this I say: don't waste them on me! I've got most of my story planned out, so if you have good ides take credit for them, and write your own stories, or find someone with writers block. Mine's gone. At least, for this story!
Thanks, unolimbo
"Very good, Fhire!" She was showing Kel what she already knew. It wasn't much, but she was a natural.
"All right, I am going to teach you how to kill with a glaive. You start by pushing it forward, like with a sword, but then you slide it, so that it slices. Do you understand?"
Fhire nodded, and showed Kel the motion. "Very good."
She showed her how to use it as a hook, how to swing it properly, and how to hold it so she would never lose any fingers.
"Girls! Settle down, it's time to go!" Dom said, catching them both by surprise. "Gods, Kel, if you two go on like this, you're going to kill yourselves!"
He kissed her on the cheek. "Just thought you might want to know, we actually are leaving in a few minutes. So let's go!"
They sprinted back to their rooms to pack, and made it outside just in time.
"Kel, we're just going to be walking our horses, right?" Fhire asked.
Kel nodded. "Great." Fhire said, letting Triaxx out of her box. "No hurting anyone in the party, and don't go out of my sight."
Triaxx jumped down and barked. Kel laughed. She was just like Jump.
At nightfall that night, they arrived at Steadfast. Kel noticed the look on Fhire's face. "Don't get too excited, this isn't our final destination. We're going to a much bigger, less intimidating place." She laughed. Fhire grinned back.
"Who goes there?" A soldier yelled from the top of the wall.
"Sir Raoul of Goldenlake!" Raoul yelled.
The gate opened, and they all rode in.
There weren't enough rooms for all of Kel's party, so many of them shared rooms. Kel knocked on Dom and Neal's door. Neal opened it. "Hey Kel, Fhire."
He let them in, and they sat down. "Fhire, get comfortable. Remember, we're your friends. Not your betters." Neal said.
"Well, Kel's your better, but Neal isn't." Dom said, earning a punch from Neal.
"What about you, Dom? Are you her better?" Kel asked.
"That depends on the time of day, fair Keladry." He said, earning a punch from Kel, so everyone was even.
They stayed in Dom and Neal's room for a little while, talking and laughing the night away. Reluctantly, Kel and Fhire returned to their room.
"Thank you, Lady Kel. That was fun."
Kel laughed. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. And thank you for calling me Kel. When Raoul was my knight master, he always insisted I call him Raoul. He said Sir or My Lord made him feel old, but I still couldn't bring myself to call him Raoul."
Fhire laughed. "Does sir make you feel old?"
Kel shook her head. "No, I just think it makes you less comfortable."
Before Fhire could answer, they were both asleep.
They left first thing in the morning, as it was only a day's ride to New Hope.
When they could see a speck in the distance, Kel sat more comfortably.
"Why are you so anxious, Lady Kel?" Fhire asked.
"I was afraid I'd gone the wrong way."
Dom laughed. "She's done it before."
Kel shot him a look. "No I haven't."
"That's what Neal said."
"Neal!" Kel yelled.
"No, I didn't! I was framed!"
But no one could hear him. They were laughing too hard.
Just then, a flurry of Kel's sparrows came flying directly at them.
"Scanrans!" Kel yelled. "We're under attack! Get in formation, prepare yourselves for combat!"
They pulled out their swords and lined their horses up. "Stick with me, Fhire."
Kel looked down. "Jump, distract them."
The dog seemed to nod, and ran off barking.
"Fhire, you said Triaxx is a good fighter, right? Well, now's her chance to prove herself."
Fhire nodded. "Triaxx! Take out as many as you can." The wolf didn't move.
Fhire started to repeat her instructions, but Kel cut her off.
"No time. They're here."
Kel gripped her glaive tightly. "Today you are going to see the glaive in use. It should help you learn."
The first wave of Scanran soldiers came towards them.
"Charge!" Kel yelled. She moved towards the first man, cutting off his head with her glaive. Peachblossom trampled a man, and she could see Jump hanging off of one man's arm. She gutted three men before they could swing their axes. She looked up at Fhire, who was also fighting well, her gelding, Night Warrior, trampling as many men as Peachblossom. Kel could see she wasn't focused. Just after slitting the throat of the man coming up behind her, Kel looked back at Fhire. She was having a hard time with an exceptionally large man with double axes. And there was another coming up behind her.
"Fhire! Duck!" She yelled, and threw her glaive at the man coming behind her. It pierced him in the chest, and he fell over. Taking out her sword, Kel felt a piercing pain in her leg. She looked down. Her left leg was gushing blood at the calf. She looked up. There was a man with a large rusty sword, grinning at her.
"You cut my leg, while I'm on a horse. Really smart." Kel said, killing a man on her right side.
"I will not hear you talk to me that way, wench!" He yelled, swinging his sword at her head. She ducked, and stabbed him with hers.
"Fine then, don't listen."
She heard a horn blow, and looked up. The Scanrans were retreating. She glanced at Fhire, and saw that Triaxx had come out of her box, and was helping Jump maul one last man.
Kel galloped over to Neal, who was off his horse, healing one man's arm wound.
"Neal, when your done, I need you."
He looked up. "Why?"
"I'm injured, Meathead."
His eyes widened. "You? How?"
Kel shrugged. "I was watching out for Fhire, I got caught off guard."
He nodded and went over to her. "I should have known. If you're going to get hurt, you're not going to get hurt badly." A minute later, there was nothing left but a thin white line. "I don't know what he thought it was going to do to you."
Kel grinned. "He knew I was a woman. He thought I would faint at the pain or something."
Dom walked up to them. "By the look of it, you'll faint from the blood loss. C'mon, drink something." He handed her a canteen of water. She chugged the entire thing.
Kel rode over to where Fhire was sitting on a rock. She got off her horse and sat beside her. Triaxx climbed into her lap and went to sleep.
"You fought very well, but you seemed to lose your concentration. Was something wrong?" Kel asked.
Fhire shook her head. "the man in front of me told me I shouldn't be fighting because I'm a girl."
Kel knew the way to deal with this. "What did you do?" She asked.
Fhire looked up at her and grinned. "I gutted him. It was fun!"
Kel laughed. "Let's go, Neal looks pretty pale, anyone with minor wounds will have to wait until we get to the fort."
They stood up. "Everyone on your horses! We leave in five minutes! If you can't ride, get someone to tie you to your horse!" Kel ran over to the man she'd threw her glaive into and grabbed it.
Fifteen minutes down the road, they could almost make out the shape of the fort. "Almost home." Kel said.
She saw movement in a bush. "Hold!" She yelled. Everyone stopped. She pulled out her glaive and walked quietly into the trees. She couldn't see anything, but she knew what she'd seen was not an animal. She signaled for another man to come. Fhire appeared at her side, silent.
"My lady!" A young woman came out of the threes.
Kel stood up. "Fhire, go get Neal." She looked at the young woman, pale under the dirt on her face. There was a trickle of blood on her forehead, and she was holding her left arm. "What is your name?" Kel asked softly.
"Meghyn, my lady. Please, you must listen! They took New Hope. Just this morning. Almost everyone got out, through the secret exits Master Numair made. They didn't follow. They didn't want us, they wanted the camp. They killed as many of us as they could with arrows from in the fort. About twenty, I think. I got so far because I was in the far end of the field. I paused, and they almost killed me."
She showed Kel her arm. An arrow had grazed it. "When did this happen?" Kel demanded.
"Yesterday, just before we went in, My Lady."
Neal walked up to them. Well, he staggered, but Fhire helped him.
"I don't know how much I can do, I've exhausted myself."
"Just clean her wounds, we'll bandage them."
Neal nodded. After he finished, Kel brought Meghyn to Peachblossom, so she could get some cloth to bandage her wound. "Don't worry." She said, seeing the scared look on Meghyn's face. "After Neal has recovered some of his energy, tomorrow he'll heal your wounds completely."
"We set up camp here! Everyone in this party needs rest, and if we're going to attack our own camp, I think we need that rest!"
She signalled for a meeting. They sat down beside a small stream.
"Alright, this is going to be one of our most dangerous fights." She said to Dom, Neal, Merric, Fhire, and Captain Walford, the captain of the three units of soldiers. "We have the advantage in this fight, even if they are the defensive. They are new to the camp, and they don't know their way around yet. We attack after nightfall. Walford, one unit of your men are going to be a distraction. They are going to stay close enough to catch their attention, but not close enough that they can shoot you. Understand?"
Walford nodded.
"Dom, your men are going to stay hidden, but in the trees as close as you can get to the camp. Merric will go with you, he led every expedition last time, he knows exactly where the good hiding places are, and the Scanrans don't. the other two units of Walford's men will go with you. Neal, you are going to stay with Walford, because they will do the least fighting. I believe you'll get enough rest to fight, but I don't want you exhausting yourself."
They all nodded. "Kel," Neal said, "Where are you two going?"
Kel stood up. "Well, meathead, someone has to let you all in, don't they?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hah! I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooo evil! I love it! Almost 2000 words, and quite a bit of action!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it was great. You're getting there, while I write this, I have 46 reviews! I'll be nice and post it with out the other four!
Fhire: I don't think I've even made up any characters for you to use. I guess you could use Captain Walford, but he doesn't have a personality yet, sooo. . . anyway, I don't think I made up any other characters, did I?
Kelly Masbolle: I'm glad you're enjoying it, I'll have to read your stories!
I've been getting a few ideas for stories from people, and this I say: don't waste them on me! I've got most of my story planned out, so if you have good ides take credit for them, and write your own stories, or find someone with writers block. Mine's gone. At least, for this story!
Thanks, unolimbo