Iraina rode the rest of the way in silence, furiously contemplating ways to exact her revenge on Gawain. So far, none of the ones she had come up with matched what she wanted done to him. "If only I knew what he was most afraid of. Then maybe I might be able to figure this out. But knowing that he's a knight, he's probably not afraid of anything." Dark Wings under her snorted, as if disagreeing with her. Iraina laughed. "I hope you're right Wings, otherwise, I may never get this right."
As they rode through a canyon, Iraina gazed up at the huge walls of snow, towering over the caravan. As her eyes swept over the tall walls, a terrible sense of foreboding came over her. Her stomach clenched and it felt as though someone had tied rocks to her feet, so strong of the feeling of not wanting to go into the canyon. Deep inside her, she knew something was going to happen.
Suddenly, Arthur galloped by, his horse kicking up snow as they raced past her. Soon, the thundering of the rest of the knights' horses hooves were heard as the rest of the Sarmations galloped by, following their commander. Making a quick decision, Iraina kicked her heels into Wings, she pushed him into a canter; following the knights at a slower rate.
Soon, she came upon the nights, all stopped and looking out across... Iraina gasped. There was a large frozen over lake in their path. Looking around, she saw that there was no other way, and that they must cross the ice in order to continue on without backtracking their path and running into the Saxons on their way. Besides, the Saxons were already almost upon them. For the past hour the drums had been getting steadily louder and louder, until Iraina feared that if they didn't speed up, they would catch them within the hour.
She heard Arthur turn to one of the knights and tell him to tell the villagers to get out of the wagons and spread out. Quickly, Iraina dismounted and grabbed Wings' head gently, signaling him to follow her. Iraina followed the knights out onto the ice, flinching every time that it creaked and groaned beneath them. The drums grew louder and louder.
Iraina kept an eye on Arthur at the head of the column, and one eye on the ice beneath her feet. She stopped as the frozen water cracked and groaned under her feet.
"Knights?" Arthur's voice floated back to her. He had stopped and had turned his horse around, looking at the knights. Bors was the first to answer the roman commander.
"Well, I'm tired of runnin', and these Saxons are so close behind my ass is hurtin'."
"I never liked looking over my shoulder anyway." Commented the quiet Tristan. Iraina had to agree with the fierce looking man. She had never liked running away, and always having to glance behind her.
"We can finally put an end to this racket." Iraina had to agree with the blonde haired knight on that, the drums had been slowly driving her insane.
She almost rolled her eyes when she heard Galahad's response. "We'll finally get a look at the bastards."
"Here. Now." Those words, spoken with such conviction were what decided Iraina. Looking around, she found a young man, and handed DarkWings over to him, making him promise to take care of the large war horse. Grabbing the saddle bags off of his back, Iraina made her way to where Arthur was standing, talking to Jols. She came upon the two as Jols nodded and turned to one of the villagers.
"You. Take the horses." Iraina watched as the knights readied their weapons, and prepared themselves for battle. Guinevere walked past her, touching her shoulder briefly before going up to Arthur, where he was talking to a village boy, Ganis.
"Nine." the woad princess interrupted. "You could use two more bows." Arthur could only stare as the two woad women strode over and placed themselves in the line of knights.
Iraina stepped in between Lancelot and Gawain. Lancelot turned as she moved besides him and raised an eyebrow at her, and waggled them at her, a smirk lifting his lips. At that moment, Iraina knew that Gawain hadn't been joking, and had actually told the dark haired man what she had said. Scowling at him, she turned her glare on the blonde haired knight on her other side. And if looks could kill, Gawain would be dead, six times over.
Her glaring was interrupted by the pounding of the drums getting louder and louder. Iraina watched from across the ice as the Saxons came into view. For a fleeting moment, Iraina wondered if Galahad's words were thought out. They were rather ugly. She was snapped out of her thoughts as Lancelot spoke.
"You two look frightened. There's a large number of lonely men out there."
Iraina opened her mouth to retort, but Guinevere beat her to it.
"Don't worry. We won't let them rape you."
A snort escaped Iraina as the curly haired knight fought for a reply to that. He stopped though, and shifted his attention to the men across the lake. The line of warriors watched as a Saxon raised a bow and shot a single arrow, testing the distance. Iraina laughed bitterly as the arrow fell short of the line of knights and woads by a good fifty feet.
Arthur smirked, looking at the arrow as it slid to a stop. "I believe they are waiting for an invitation. Bors, Tristan." He nodded to each of the men.
"We're far out of range!"Guinevere protested. Arthur gave her a small smile and turned back towards the Saxon ranks. Iraina watched as Tristan and Bors both raised their bows into the air. She was shocked and awed to see that Tristan had placed four arrows on his bow string. The least she could manage was two.
The two knights pulled back and released the tension in the bows. Iraina followed the arrows as they flew in the air, and then landed in the midst of the Saxon lines, killing a few. This caused plenty of surprised anger among the Saxon troops. They bellowed their war cry and started to make their way hesitantly across the ice.
The nine fighters each raised their bows, aiming at the Saxons. Iraina pulled back along with the rest of them, and was about to release when Arthur's voice stopped her.
"Hold until I give the command." he ordered. The Saxons moved closer and closer. "Aim for the wings of the ranks. Make them cluster." The roman commander took aim,then released his arrow, followed by everyone else. Their arrows hit their marks, a number of Saxons falling to the ice.
The nine fighters continued firing their arrows into the Saxon ranks, but soon the leader became smart enough to figure out what was happening. The Saxons once again spread out into their formations, holding the lines steady. Inwardly, Iraina cursed. Now they had less of a chance breaking the ice under the Saxons. As the Saxons came closer and closer, it occurred to Iraina that the ice wasn't going to break. Just as she was about to voice this, Arthur got to it first.
"It's not going to break. Fall back! Prepare for combat!" The line of warriors dropped their bows to the ground and each picked up either a sword or an ax. Iraina desperately wished she had her double bladed staff, but that couldn't be helped at the moment, her father probably realized that a large staff wouldn't travel well in a saddle bag. For now, she had to deal with the long broadsword that Jols had picked out for her. Iraina glanced to her left and saw Dagonet standing uncertainly, shifting his weight back and forth on the ice.
Why would he be uncertain? The thought passed through Iraina's mind just as Dagonet threw down his monster of a sword and picked up the large ax from the pile in front of him. With a loud war cry, he ran out onto the ice, swinging the ax over his head. Iraina could only stare at the large man as he made his way to the center of the icy lake.
"Cover him!" Arthur shouted, bringing Iraina back into focus. She looked at the bow lying on the pile, and then quickly shook her head. Reaching around Lancelot, she picked up the shield that was laying on top of his pile, and ran out after Dagonet.
"Iraina!" Guinevere's distressed voice carried across the ice, but Iraina ignored it. Sliding on her knees to where the big man was hacking away at the ice, she pulled up the shield just in time to stop two arrows from sinking into her body.
"What- are you- doing out here?" Dagonet asked in between strokes.
"What does it look like I'm doing? Getting a drink! I'm saving your life you big oaf!"
"Why?"
Iraina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Here they were on the brink of death, and he had so many questions. "Logic. You saved my life, Now I'm saving yours. We're square."
Two more arrows thunked into the shield, one going all the way through and piercing her arm. She winced at the sharp pain. "Hurry up and break the damn ice!" she yelled as more arrows flew around them. It seemed her words helped. With a final cry, Dagonet brought the ax down one last time, and was rewarded with a resounding CRACK! As the ice finally broke. A final arrow found it's way past the shield and landed in her leg. With a cry of pain, her leg collapsed, just as the ice underneath her gave way.
As she fell into the icy water, Iraina couldn't help but scream. Bad mistake. After she went under, she immediately inhaled a mouthful of water. Kicking towards the surface, Iraina pushed her head above the water, coughing and sputtering. One hand reached out and grabbed the slab of ice and she hung on with all of her strength. Slowly, she felt her hand slipping, and with a calm resolution, she realized that she was going to die. With water blurred eyes, she could see the ice cracking and splitting it's way towards the line of knights. Iraina could barely make out the form of Guinevere trying to come to her rescue. With the last of her energy, Iraina shook her head, making it clear that she didn't want her to come out onto the ice. Finally, accepting her death, Iraina let go.
Lancelot watched with horror as Iraina dropped her bow, and grabbed his shield and ran out onto the ice after Dagonet.
"Iraina!" a voice filled with terror screamed. It suddenly came to him that it was his voice that had screamed. The dark haired knight's heart clenched painfully as he watched the arrows fly through the air towards the vulnerable pair out on the ice. Raising his bow, he deftly shot any of the Saxons that came close enough to hit the pair. But his alone were not slowing down the Saxons. There were too many, and no matter how hard he tried, there was always one more to take his place. Helplessly, all he could do was hope that Dagonet was strong enough to break the ice quickly.