Steel, Fire, Honor and Ruin
Chapter 11
…not trained, but chosen…
/ooooooo\
Location: Somewhere North of Marienburg, in Middenheim… or maybe Nordland
Day: 30
"Hold still, darn you, I don't want to screw this up."
Maria Shepard waited for her horse, now named George, to stop walking and begin munching on some more grass before she leaned forward once again and tried to see her reflection on the metal plates protecting his rump. Small knife in hand she continued cutting away the burnt and blackened ends of her hair.
"There, all done." She ruffled her hair and tried to not to grimace at the hatchet job that was now her head. She wasn't a vain person, but in a world of gritty street gangs and hardened military personnel, keeping her hair nice, clean and well maintained had mattered to her. Now thanks to that black dragon she didn't even have comb to brush the tattered mess out.
With a heavy sigh at her own fickle luck she stored the knife back into one of the saddlebags and pulled out the map she had stolen form the Reiksguard camp.
"Okay," she began unfolding the paper and tired to get her bearing. After staring at it, walking around George a few times looking at the horizon, and once again staring at the map; it was clear after two days of trying to keep Marienburg firmly behind her, that she was stuck.
Ridding in a general North-Easterly direction had placed Maria firmly in the middle of nowhere. Grasslands as far as the eye could see. The last tree she had passed disappeared over the horizon yesterday just after lunch. The map was decidedly blank for miles around. Hell, it didn't even show the exact boundaries between the provinces of Nordland and Middenland. Nothing existed out here to even make it worthwhile. She could be inside either at this point.
Staying off the roads had kept her out of Reiksguard hands, but now she was risking not only her own life, but her horse's. They both needed water, and her two waterskins were going to be dry by tomorrow. Horses could drink quite a lot and Maria had started to feel bad for George carrying not only her, but a metric crap ton of armor plating on his back. Whether or not her giant of a horse was perfectly capable of doing all this without a problem was knowledge Maria sorely lacked. She had researched all she could on the Empire, Elves, Dwarfs, everything else that lived and breathed on this strange world; but she hadn't had the foresight to learn even the tiniest shred of information on the primary mode of transportation for ninety-percent of the planet's populace.
Maria looked up from the map to glance guiltily at George, who just so happened to be staring back at her as he continued chewing. She moaned. "I'm sorry, alright! Just, look, when we get to the next town, I'll buy you a bucket full of carrots. Horses like carrots, right? Apples? Either and or both?"
Seemingly satisfied playing on her guilt George went back to eating more grass.
Focusing back on the map, Maria went over her options. She had traveled far from the ocean, but there were eight towns spaced almost evenly along the coastline. If she rode George back that way eventually she would come across one of them. That would mean rationing her supplies and water for the trip through the empty grassland back to the coast. However, that plan had one major drawback. Of the eight coastal towns listed on the map, four of them had a solid black line crossed through their names. Something, somebody's or some force of nature had already wiped most of them out. She had no idea how old this particular map was, but a fifty-fifty chance of ridding up on a deserted or destroyed settlement wasn't very enticing.
So that really only left option two. Maria would have to start ridding hard East. That would take her officially into the province of Middenland. Through forests and over rivers, but more importantly back toward civilization. There was a major route, named the Great North Road, that twisted through the forest and connected nearly every town and city from Marienburg to Middenheim, and then continued further North into Nordland and their capital city of Salzenmund and beyond. From that point, she could then make her way to the port city of Dietershafen, and finally catch another boat to Ulthuan.
Maria folded the map up and stuffed it back into her leather purse/bag. Muttering apologies under her breath she got a solid grip on the saddle, before she jumped as high as she could and began the arduous chore of pulling herself up and into the saddle. The herculean task of hauling her armored ass onto the horse's back complete, she snapped the reins.
"Come on, George. We're off to Middenland."
/ooooooo\
Day: 32
Was it unsporting to use your biotics to levitate a rabbit helplessly into the air right before you shot it? Maybe the cute little guy had deserved better… but whatever guilt Maria had felt disappeared with the next rumble from her stomach. Rationing the meager helpings packed in her saddlebags had literally been killing her.
Maria pulled her stick back from over the small campfire, blew softly, and then took another bite of cooked rabbit.
"Mmm. Oh man that hits the spot." There was a second stick of meat still over the fire, and she gave it a half-twist before taking another bite. "I tell you George, I wish I had some seasoned salt or pepper, but just having something warm in my stomach was worth the hassle of skinning and cleaning that little guy."
Chewing on another bite, Maria looked up into the night sky. Tree tops blocked most of her view of the stars this time. She had arrived in the large forest covering Middenland just yesterday. Right now, she was camped next to a stream so small her horse was able to walk over it with ease. It wasn't even on her map and if she had to guess by its chilly temperature it must have been spring fed.
Even though she had been in desperate need of water, the stream was a bit of a disappointment. Four days since the fight back at Marienburg and Maria still hadn't had a chance to clean herself up or check her wounds over from the whole ordeal. She was positive if she checked her arm and chest both would be blood-stained when that dark elf sliced her up with his sword.
When she reached the next town, a bath was quickly becoming priority one.
She peeled the last of the rabbit meat off the stick and stuck it in her mouth before tossing the stick into the fire. Just in time too. Her second stick of skewered meat was smoking nicely.
"Fun fact George," Maria addressed the horse grazing quietly behind her as she chewed. "A person can actually starve to death just eating rabbit." She picked up her second stick and blew lightly across the meat. "It's called 'rabbit starvation'. We learned about it during our Alliance survival training back during N-school. Wild rabbit is too lean. Too much protein and not enough fats. So tomorrow if we see anything bigger, I may have us stop and take a shot at it."
She took a bite and couldn't stop a smile. "The funny thing is, rabbits and hares, they are naturally found only on Earth. And even then, only in certain climates. N-school is held in Rio de Janerio, where only a single species resides." Another bite of meat. "The 'tapeti'. So, imagine this. There we are being told by our expert that if we ever find ourselves lost in the rainforests of Brazil, we need to eat more than rabbit to stay alive, until rescue or we find our way out. I mean, seriously, if I ever get lost in a rainforest, I think my options range a little wider than hunting down cute little rabbits."
She ended up laughing. "And then – this is the best part! I gave the lieutenant seated next to me a nudge and pointed out the fact that we are all marines who aren't even going to be on Earth most of our careers! Our entire class had been pulled from ships or colonies outside of Sol system. The guy could barely keep a straight face and, I shit you not, gave me a wink before raising his hand and asked the Colonel teaching us what the odds were of rabbits being shipped out with the rest of us when we graduate! I don't know what was worse, him asking in the first place, or me snorting out loud just after he did! Oh man did that cost us later on but the look on his face was worth it!"
It felt good to be laughing again. It hadn't escaped her notice that one month had already passed since she had marooned on this world. And there was sure to be at least another before she reached Ulthuan. Keeping a positive attitude was another thing they had been taught.
Maria munched down the remainder of her rabbit meat and tossed the stick into the fire just as she had done with the first. She stood up from the fire and watched the flames dance. "You know George, you keep being such a good listener and we might make story time a nightly ritual."
She turned to her horse and immediately noticed him standing perfectly still and staring into the black forest. Both his ears were pointed directly ahead. Maria was immediately tense. Her previous horse had done the exact same thing just before those Vampires had showed up.
Campfire behind her, Maria followed his gaze. Farther out into the forest she could see pairs of red glowing eyes staring back at the two of them. Pairs of eyes.
Adrenaline spiked through her. It wouldn't have been so bad if she could see what was attached to those eyes, but the forest and night hid their bodies, so her imagination started off at a run. What the hell had red glowing eyes? How big were the creatures? More importantly, how many teeth did they have?
Maria risked a glance over at George standing at least five feet away. All her gear was tied on his back, including her armor's helmet, both her pistol and submachine gun, and the map. If he bolted into the forest on her right now, she wasn't close enough to grab onto him. Steven had shied away from the Vampires and been openly distressed at the situation, but George hadn't moved a muscle yet.
When she looked back into the forest the number of eyes had definitely increased. And their glow was stronger. Whatever these things were, they had crept closer without her even hearing them move through the brush.
"George, promise you don't run off on me and I promise to keep you alive," she said softly trying to keep the animal calm. Then, louder, she cleared her throat. "If you can understand me, I was just planning on settling in for the night. You mind not creeping around in the shadows? Makes my horse jumpy."
Nothing from the eyes.
"My name is Maria Shepard," she tried in Reikspiel. "I am a Spectre and a Sorceress."
Again, the night was silent, but another six red eyes suddenly appeared. Way too many for comfort now.
Maria ground her teeth. "Okay then I bet you'll understand this." She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck as the holographic outline of her tech-armor appeared over her stolen Reiksguard armor. It glowed just as brightly as the fire behind her and lit up her small camping space even more. She took a few steps forward putting herself in between George and the red eyes.
"I'm giving you to the count of three to vacate the immediate area," she announced to the eyes. "Failure to comply will be met with deadly force."
None of the eyes moved. Correction, some moved closer. Screw counting. She raised her right arm.
"Three!"
Maria followed her shout with a biotic warp blasting into the night. The two pairs of red eyes directly in the path of the attack vanished as the warp passed through the low brush. Maria started walking toward the red eyes and moved her arm to the next pair, firing off a second warp. Those disappeared as well. Then she launched a third warp at the next pair of red eyes. Those eyes were gone in a flash of biotic power.
She marched further into the forest launching off another four warps. None of the eyes left until they were targeted directly. But after each warp, none of them returned. In less than a minute Maria and her horse were alone in the night.
"That was creepy." She stood and waited to see if any of the eyes returned, but nothing happened. Maria shut off her tech armor and slowly walked back to her campfire. George hadn't moved a muscle.
She was worried her little display of power may have unnerved him, so she approached slowly. When she stood in front of him the horse did nothing more than sniff her outstretched hand and let her to scratch his chin, before he found something more interesting on the ground, beginning to chew up a stick.
Maria smiled at him. "You are a rock, you know that?" Then she looked around into the dark forest and sighed at her predicament. Pulling the leather bag off his saddle she slung the strap over her shoulder and was reassured to feel the weight of her weapons still inside.
The one time she takes the bag off and look what happens.
She plucked two thicker logs off the pile she had gathered together earlier and threw them on the fire. It was a good thing she had the foresight to gather enough firewood to last through the whole night before it got too dark.
Maria wasn't sleeping tonight.
/ooooooo\
Day: 34
George was making great time. A week after leaving Marienburg and Maria was now positive she had entered the province of Middenland and was well on her way to the capital of Middenheim.
The proof? After just a few days stuck in the forest, they had found the Great North Road! A twenty-foot-wide gravel packed roadway well maintained with the tree-line cut down another ten feet on both sides. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, a light breeze blew down the road; after ducking low hanging branches for the last six days, this was heaven.
Twenty yards ahead of her a group of shaggy-brown shapes burst out of the tree-line and ran out onto the road, forcing Maria to pull hard on the reins and bring George to an early stop. She stared open mouthed at the deformed monstrosities blocking her path.
"Oh shit." Heaven was booby trapped.
Beastmen. There was no mistaking the humanoid forms, the mutated mash-up of man and beast. Some looked identical to the three corpses she had met on the road to Nuln. Varying mixes of goat and man. But there were others here as well. One had the head of a lizard. Another had the face and jutting tusks of a hog. All were hideously disgusting versions of their namesake.
And they had spotted her. In a chorus of mad animal cries, they charged. Some wore small and worn sets of leather and metal armor. Some appeared to be carrying swords and axes. Most were naked, and remembering the dead humans on the road, Maria guessed they intended to kill her the old-fashioned way.
Could her horse outrun them? Probably, maybe. For how long? Would they chase her down the road all day long or give up? She certainly wouldn't be able to lose them in the forest. Maybe she could scare them off? All these thoughts blurred through her mind in half a second.
George stomped his feet and let out a harsh neigh. It wasn't a noise Maria had heard either of her two horses make so far. And it wasn't a gentle sound by any means. She kept the reins tight in her left hand while her right dived into her bag and pulled out her phalanx pistol. It was the first thing her fingers had touched.
Turning the horse so she wasn't shooting directly over his head and ears, Maria aimed her weapon and pulled the trigger. The lead beastman's chest blossomed red and he fell… only to be trampled down by those still behind him.
Maria grit her teeth and fired again. And again. Two more of the beasts collapsed. Faster she fired three more times, and three more beastmen died, but the group still came on.
The beastmen were clearly not backing down and she couldn't risk overheating the thermal clip on these guys. Not when other options were available.
"We're outta here George!" she yelled, stuffing the pistol back into her bag. Pulling on the reins she steered him away from the beastmen, intent on fleeing down the road. The horse, a large animal in its own right, and a mount some of the toughest soldiers in the Empire rode into war, interpreted her commands differently. At Maria's urging he faced down the road but continued the turn another one-hundred and eighty degrees, so they once more faced the beastmen head on.
And then in a blink he accelerated to a full gallop, throwing Maria back at the suddenness of it, and charged the beastmen. Panicked, Maria nearly lost her balance as she held the reins in a death grip.
"This isn't what I meant!" But it was too late. She looked forward and saw the bloodshot and maddened eyes of a beast just feet from them. She screwed her own eyes shut and the next second the horse and beastmen collided.
Armor, cloth, and flesh impacted the metal plated chest of the horse and were slapped away like grains of sand hitting a mountain. Swords and axes struck at them both and Maria could feel the blows against her legs and arms, but none of it overmatched the protection of her stolen armor. Beastmen shouts surrounded them. George continued his gallop through it all, never losing his footing and never slowing down.
Heartbeats later and the impacts suddenly stopped. Maria opened her eyes and saw nothing but empty road ahead. She craned her neck and looked back. The gravel road was red with blood. The dead and trampled littered the ground. Other beastmen were struggling back to their feet and shouted to the sky as they tried to renew the chase. They would never catch her now.
Maria took in the scene and shook her head, a wide smile growing on her face. "George, you son of a bitch, that was freaking amazing! You –"
A grating roar then drowned her out. A deep bellow of pure fury that rolled over the gravel and shook the trees lining the road. She had just turned her head when a beast standing taller then her horse burst out of the trees ahead of them and with a speed something of its size shouldn't possess ran directly into her galloping horse.
It was like being hit by a truck. Maria was thrown completely from the saddle bouncing hard off the ground several times and over the forms of the beast and horse as they rolled and slid together in a tangle across the gravel.
The world was spinning, and Maria's face felt like it was on fire as she struggled up on her hands and knees. She was probably sporting some serious road rash. Just as she got her knees under her something kicked her in the head sending her flat on her back. A brown and furry shape stood over her with something raised over its head.
Maria didn't wait to find out if that something was sharp and pointy. With a blast of biotic power she sent the brown shape flying away. Regardless if the spinning world waited or not Maria forced her feet under her and stood up.
A shriek from an animal on the road got her attention and she blinked a few times to see the biggest brown shape standing on a struggling mass of shiny silver metal plate.
George.
Her hand went to her hip but came back empty. Her sword was amazingly still belted to her hip but the bag holding her pistol and submachine gun was gone, flung off in the crash. Nothing was on the road except for a spear, dropped by the beastmen she had blasted away. She grabbed it without hesitation and with a step put all her strength into throwing the spear into the back of the creature as it raised a huge double-headed axe above its head.
The spearhead sunk deep into flesh. With another bellow the creature spun around to face her, giving the horse the opportunity to get back on its feet. And now Maria got a full look at her attacker. It was something she recognized from storied fantasies she had read back on Earth.
A Minotaur. The thick muscled torso of a man with the head and legs of a bull and two horns, each four feet long, extending out of its head. It swung its double-bladed axe in front of itself and let out a gravely roar.
"Get the fuck away from my horse!"
The minotaur ran at her. Heavy hooved steps digging into the gravel road, quickly gaining speed and momentum. Maria fired a cryo-blast into its chest, but as the frozen flesh shattered away revealing muscle and bone it only spurred on the beast's anger.
It was on her in moments, swinging its axe down with the strength to split her in two separate halves. Maria side stepped the swipe and the axe bit deep into the road inches from her feet. She then raised her right hand and sent a warp blasting point blank into the minotaur's face.
Skin split, dissolving away, along with the creature's right eye. For her trouble the minotaur swung its arm with the back of its fist catching her in the chest. The strike picked her up and tossed her away like a rag doll.
Maria landed back on the ground. In an instant he was above her again, swinging the axe down with a bellowing shout. Maria glowed with biotic power and created a barrier in front of her outstretched hands. The axe struck the barrier like a hammer blow but didn't penetrate the shield. Enraged the minotaur grabbed the weapon's haft in both hands and began smashing it down against the barrier. Over and over, determined to overwhelm the strange blue wall with brute force.
Maria winced with every blow, but her barriers were created to hold back bullets, rockets and worse. Even starving from her trip through the forest, a pissed off bull wasn't going to out last her in this contest. But he did have her trapped. With the axe coming down so hard and fast she couldn't risk lowering it even for a second.
A flash of sunlight against silver off to her side signaled Maria's rescue. George had returned, and none to happy over being tackled. Maria watched the horse run right up to the minotaur and rear up, kicking out at the bull with its front legs. The minotaur swung one of his fists into the horse's armored side nearly knocking him over. Undeterred, George spun around and swiftly kicked up at the minotaur's head with his back hooves, clipping the beast just under the chin. Dazed, the minotaur swung his axe wide trying to fend off the kicking horse.
Maria had her opening. She got up on a knee while she grabbed for the last weapon she had available. Her sword.
Low to the ground she swung the sword with all her strength and caught the minotaur just above the knee. The blade sunk deep cutting through thick muscle and striking the bone. The minotaur's leg gave out and he fell to his knees with a guttural roar of pain.
Maria yanked the sword free, then dove and stabbed the sword straight into the minotaur's remaining good eye. Terrifyingly the bull's hand still rose and wrapped around her entire torso, squeezing her with all its remaining strength. The metal chest plate groaned as Maria continued to thrust the sword deeper into its skull.
With a shout she pushed forward and toppled the bull onto its back, her weight on the blade finally giving it the strength to pierce the back of the minotaur's skull and drop down to the hilt, cutting into the earth under the horned head. The minotaur's body spasmed once and his grip fell away from her chest, the hand slapping to the gravel road.
Maria's breathing was fast and heavy. Standing up she yanked the bloody sword out of the head and turned quickly to see if any of the remaining beastmen from earlier were still hungry for the kill. Instead all she saw was fat, furry, behinds as the surviving monsters fled the road and disappeared into the forest just as quickly as they had appeared.
"And don't come back!" she shouted hoarsely. Probably a good thing the road was empty. That wasn't the fear inducing victory cry she had intended it to be.
The fight was over, and the aches and pains started making themselves known. Maria's head felt far to small for the pressure building inside. The road rash on the side of her face started to burn again. In hindsight, that visibility reducing, suffocating helmet didn't seem like such a bad idea now.
She took a step back and her heel collided with something, causing Maria to fall on her butt and sit earlier than if she had hit the ground. She looked down and saw she was sitting on the chest of the dead minotaur.
George came wandering over to where she sat and put his nose right in her face, huffing horse breath all over her. She took his head in her hands and scratched his chin. Looking him over he appeared relatively unharmed. His armor was dented and scratched all over, but he wasn't even bleeding. And he hadn't limped or favored a foot when walking over to her. Still solid as a rock.
She smiled at him. "When we get to the next town you, my fine stallion, are getting the royal treatment. A full bath and brushing. And we are talking buckets of apples, carrots, pears, oranges, whatever they have for you big guy." Horses didn't eat oranges, did they? She'd have to find out.
Sitting felt far to good so that's where she remained for a few minutes as she continued stroking George's head. The time allowed them both to come down from the rapid violent turn of events.
Eventually Maria pushed off from the minotaur, and then froze when she saw the saddle on the horse's back. It was wrecked. The buckles on the saddlebags had torn and spilled her supplies and the last of her food all over the road. Both waterskins had burst under the weight of the horse and minotaur falling on them. On a whole the saddle was still attached to his back and appeared ridable, but that was the poorest of consolation prizes.
She looked back at the part of the road the minotaur had first tackled them. Yep, there was her stuff. Her phalanx and locust were somewhere in that mess as well, and there was no way she was leaving without them.
Head pounding, face bleeding, Maria took a deep breath and started walking up and down the road as she tried to salvage whatever she could.
She may have also stabbed the dead minotaur a few more times… it was all his fault after all.
/ooooooo\
The road remined blessedly empty as Maria rode George down the gravel road, and the forest turned dark with the passing of the day. Although, considering this was one of the major northern routes for the province, she should have encountered civilian traffic of some kind over the past few hours. Instead, nothing.
Did the beastmen scare them all away? She supposed she'd find out soon enough since directly ahead of her the forest opened into a clearing and the gravel road ended at a stone wall, the closed gates barring her entry into the town or city. Torches evenly spaced out illuminated the top of the wall and she guessed it was no more than twenty feet high.
As she rode closer to the gate Maria noticed a few guards appear on the wall armed with bows and crossbows. None of them were particularly aiming directly at her, but it was obvious they had the ability to shoot her, or anyone, who wished the city harm. The gates opened soon after and Maria brought her horse to a stop and dismounted as six soldiers came out to meet her, three of them carrying torches.
She gave them a wave. "Hello."
All the soldiers at the gate paused and the two in the lead shared a look. A little voice in the back of Maria's head started laughing hysterically that she had screwed up another first contact, and she had done it with a single word. Give the Spectre a medal.
Alright, time to salvage this before things got out of hand. And by salvage, she meant lie through her teeth.
"My name is Maria Shepard," she said while grabbing a hold on George's reins and walking calmly toward the soldiers and the city gate, "Reiksguard Knight and I travel to Nordland."
The lead soldier laughed. "Reiksguard? You got a high opinion of yourself, don't you miss…"
He trailed off and stared, along with the rest of his men, as Maria finally got close enough to be illuminated by the torch light. She smiled to herself because she knew exactly what they saw. A woman wearing Reiksguard armor leading a huge armored horse, and the both of them covered in scratches, dents, dirt, and dried blood.
Self-consciously, Maria ran a hand though her hair. They got a good look at her hatchet job too. Thanks in part to that damn minotaur, her armor's helmet was left back on the road after the attack. Crushed flat like a tin can.
The soldiers all stared at her, so she cleared her throat. "Where am I?" she asked politely.
That seemed to break the trance. The lead soldier blinked a few times. "What?"
"Where am I?" She motioned to the gates behind them. "The town, what is the name?"
"Bokel. The city of Bokel." He looked her up and down one more time. "That's the armor of the Reiksguard Knights."
"Yes," she replied pulling out her best smile.
"You're a Reiksguard Knight?"
"Yes."
He squinted at her. "You're a woman."
"Yes." Keep smiling Maria.
"And you're a knight of the Reiksguard?"
Whelp, he's stuck in a loop. Pretending to be a witch hunter had been hard enough but put on the Reiksguard armor and you succeed in breaking the primitive minds of the Empire. Huzzah. Taking full advantage of their stunned state, Maria covered the remaining ground and walked right up to the lead soldier.
He didn't look that much older than her. Probably explained his skepticism in accepting her claim. Short black beard and black hair partially covered by a helmet. He also had a nasty looking scar on his left cheek. Must have run into the beastmen once himself. He was wearing a blue shirt and metal chest plate while his pants were white. Correction, mostly white. They were covered in faded mud stains. And that one looked closer to blood now that she was close enough to get a look. Probably a memento when he got that scar.
Maria stood in front of the man as he continued to just stare back at her. She gave him a second and then motioned with her free hand to the city behind him.
"May I?"
That seemed to work. He nodded then stepped aside.
Together he and Maria walked through the gates and now she was formally inside the city of Bokel. Behind her the gates were shut, and a metal crossbeam was slid firmly in place with a solid thunk.
Most of the remaining soldiers were keeping their distance from her as they returned to their posts along the wall, resuming their nighttime vigil. The soldier with the scar who had spoken to her outside the gate remained at her side and was doing a poor job of trying not to stare at her.
"Your name?" she asked him.
He pulled himself together and almost looked like a soldier standing at attention. "Captain Alvin of the Bokel City Guard, sir. Er, ma'am – sir."
Ugh. So that's going to be a thing apparently. If being a woman and playing Reiksguard was going to be so difficult she'd need every advantage she could get.
Maria waved off his blunder. "Sir is fine, Captain…" she stopped and gave him a look, "Captain Alvin?" Didn't sound very Empire-like.
"Blame the parents," the Captain practically growled, and she had to bite back a smile at his expression. He waved a finger at her. "What the hells happened to you?"
"Beastmen," she replied.
Under his helmet one of Captain Alvin's eyebrows rose. "A beastman jumped you?"
Maria's expression hardened. "Beastmen," she immediately corrected. "Midday down the road. Fifteen to twenty. And one big, uh…" crap! what's the word for minotaur?! "one big beastman," she finished raising a hand as far as she could above her head to give them an idea.
Captain Alvin grimaced and looked off guiltily. "Ah, um, around midday you said?"
"Yes." She took a step closer to the Captain, who then quickly took one step back. Her smile may not have worked but her glare certainly did.
Seemingly remembering who was standing in front of him, Captain Alvin straightened back up and stared over her shoulder. "Sorry, ma'am – Sir! The forest has been growing more treacherous these past few weeks. The beastmen have been banding together in numbers. Raiding and burning the smaller settlements and farms. Intercepting trade on the road. The soldiers we sent as escorts were killed with the rest of them. Things were getting bad. Yesterday the Knights Panther dispatched four dozen men from the local chapter-house to deal with the curs. They found the growing herd and put them to route. Killed most of them and the rest fled back into the depths of Drakwald Forest. The knights have said they plan to keep up the chase, to make sure the bastards stay gone."
He pointedly looked at her bloodstained appearance and gave a wince of sympathy. "You must have run into one of the more stubborn groups still putting up a fight. My apologies, sir. I meant no disrespect. I'm sure you gave as good as you got."
Maria continued to stare at the man. He seemed sincere enough, and his story would explain why she had got off lucky after killing the minotaur, since the rest of the beastmen had immediately fled. The memory of the Knights Panther running them down was probably still fresh in their minds.
Technically the Reiksguard were a knightly order, they were just solely loyal to the Emperor. There were many other knightly orders throughout the entire Empire. Groups of like-minded soldiers who had decided to not fight for any one man, city or province; but instead dedicated themselves to an ideal or even a particular god. That wasn't to say they didn't directly involve themselves in the day to day affairs and politics of the Empire, however. The knightly orders consistently lent their aid to anyone who needed it, and if that someone was, say, an Elector Count or even an Emperor, then that knightly orders' prestige, and honors, and wealth, would rise with their growing victories.
During her stay in Nuln, Maria had read her fair share on the different knightly orders. The Empire's history was their own, and vice versa. Out of the dozens that were officially recognized, three stood out above the rest as the most powerful and skilled of all the orders. They were the Knights of the White Wolf, the Knights Panther, and the Knights of the Blazing Sun. While each of these orders was a serious force to be reckoned with, the Knights Panther had the most members, covered the largest territory, and had been active in the Empire since their founding over two-thousand years ago. When they went to war, in any numbers, people stood up and took notice. The small rabble of beastmen never stood a chance.
Either that or Maria was simply so badass that they had collectively pissed themselves and ran crying when she stabbed that overgrown bull through the eye. Yup, she'd go with the epic eye-stabbing.
"I assume you'll want to stay the night. I'll have one of my men escort you to the barracks," Captain Alvin said as he waved another soldier over. "Major Knopf commands Bokel's garrison, but if you need anything, I command the night watch. Just find a runner and send him my way."
The city's barracks promised food and bedding, but it could also raise any number of problems if she decided to spend the night surrounded by other soldiers. Major Knopf being the biggest unknown and potential threat. If he questioned her identity, she wasn't sure she could bluff her way out.
Maria stopped the Captain before he could address her escort. "Sorry, no." She held up her hand and raised her fingers in count, "I need a bath, beer, and bed. Best place in Bokel?"
Captain Alvin's brow furrowed. "Not the barracks?"
"No."
Maria watched the man closely and was surprised when a flicker of shame came over his face. "Sir, I'm sorry if my earlier, um… surprise at your rank, offended you, but I give you my word that the soldiers of Bokel are professionals, one and all. We are duty and honor bound to lend any aid to the Emperor and the Reiksguard Knights."
Great, just great. Now she was trapped. If she pressed the issue and didn't accept the Captain's hospitality word would eventually get out. The Captain's superiors would be told, and then probably the city's leadership. Heads would roll because they had insulted not just anyone, but a knight in personal service to the Emperor. Twenty credits said they'd be sending apologies back to Altdorf and begging forgiveness before the night was done.
Biting back her frustration, Maria forced a smile. The relief was plain to see on his face as the Captain relaxed.
"Thank you, Captain Alvin." She looked over at the younger soldier was to be her guide. "Lead the way."
/ooooooo\
The city passed by in relative quiet as Maria was led down the streets. It was fun to draw comparisons back to Nuln. The two places were almost identical, except everything in Bokel was a little bit smaller. A little bit less cramped, and a little bit more rural. Only the main thoroughfares were lined with stone and there were fewer brick buildings here than in Nuln.
But the place was still too busy to simply have a small-town feel. The sun had disappeared several hours ago, and the moons were out, but groups of people still milled about on the lamp lit streets. And if people were awake, shops and more obviously bars and taverns, stayed open to take their money.
In fact, the one place just ahead of them had a roaring business. A crowd rapidly gathering in size began filling up the street just ahead of Maria. She could hear a chorus of yells and shouting as people pushed together. A few of them were even carrying torches and lanterns to help keep the street bright. The light reflected off the chest plates of several of Bokel's city guard.
The soldier walking beside her tensed. "Uh-oh."
Maria glanced at him. Uh-oh?
A woman's scream pierced through the night air. The soldier beside her swore before he broke into a run down the street. Maria stared at his back. Something told her this wasn't just an instance where happy hour had gotten out of hand. She pulled on George's reins and got him moving at a quick jog. Whatever was happening, Maria didn't want to risk getting directly involved, but she'd provide the soldiers back-up if things became too much for them to handle.
She met up with her escort as he was questioning one of the soldiers already at the scene.
"Couldn't you do anything?" her escort barked at the soldier.
The other man looked around helplessly. "Like what? You know how they are! I wasn' going to get in their way!"
A woman screamed again. Maria tried to see over the heads of the furious crowd and discovered they were in front of a three-story tavern.
Her escort looked back and forth between Maria, the crowd and the inn. "Get back to the west gate!" he shouted at the soldier. "The Captain needs to be here! Now!"
The soldier took off at a run, back where Maria and her escort had just come. They had been walking through the city for a while though, it would take time for the Captain to arrive. Her escort seemed to figure that out as well. He quickly called the few remaining soldiers together and they began pushing through the angry crowd, shouting at the top of their lungs for the civilians to make way. Hardly anyone budged and the ring of people was deep.
"Fiends in Ulric's realm! This is a warning to you all!" A man's voice rose over the crowd from somewhere in the mass. "There is no place you can hide, no place the templars of Sigmar won't find you! Witchcraft in service to the dark gods will be purged! Burnt to nothing more than ash in holy fire!"
The familiar rhetoric dragged up memories of Nuln and the time Maria witnessed the witch hunters storm a butcher's shop and fight the man inside. Uh-oh, was an understatement of epic proportions.
"Heathen!" someone in the crowd shouted.
"Ulric defends all!" shouted another.
"Burn the fiend!" shouted the rest.
Under it all was the faint sounds of someone sobbing.
Maria's stomach clenched. Oh god. The witch hunters had caught someone and now they and the crowd fully intended to burn the accused alive.
The Empire had rule of law, they had a system of courts, but more often then not, especially outside the largest cities, judge, jury and executioner became the ones who pointed the finger first and shouted the loudest. Maria had read about this side of the Empire, hell she'd nearly experienced it firsthand back in Bretonnia, but aside from that one day in Nuln she never had to face it directly.
She shouldn't be here. She didn't want to be here. A part of her brain told her to keep walking, to not get involved. The other part saw how little gain the soldiers had made through the crowd and just asked she give them a chance at getting things under control.
Maria kept a hold of George's reins and pulled him close to her, so his huge chest was at her back. If she were being honest, there was no real choice here.
"Make a hole for me buddy." She pulled him with her right into the crowd.
The huge horse parted the sea of backs. Every person he touched wisely decided standing in the way of the armored horse was a bad life choice. George kept a steady pace, and those who didn't move regretted being knocked against his chest. Maria kept herself right beside him and as they passed by the struggling soldiers each quickly followed in his wake.
When the horse finally cleared the crowd and Maria found herself standing within the inner circle she froze, her mouth open and her eyes wide at the scene.
Three witch hunters stood in the middle of the crowd directly in front of the tavern doors. The tallest of the three was standing alone and shouting out some more dribble to the gathered crowd. The other two witch hunters held the accused by the arms between them, no mercy or forgiveness on their faces, even as a stone was thrown from the crowd and struck their prisoner in the face.
It was a young woman. She had pale skin and long black hair that fell past her shoulders. She was barefoot and wearing nothing except a sleeveless ankle length grey gown. The witch hunters probably pulled her straight from her own bed. When the stone struck her face, it left a nasty cut that began to bleed down her cheek, and she cried out in pain.
The witch hunter that had been speaking to the crowd turned back in anger when the young woman cried at being struck. He closed the space between them as the woman pulled helplessly against the iron grip of the two holding her. The tall witch hunter backhanded her across the face. The young woman continued to sob but when the witch hunter launched a punch at her stomach, she screamed, kicked, and fought against them as though it was the end of her entire world.
Bang!
The nearest people shouted out and pushed back from the center of the circle, and the three witch hunters' heads jerked toward the violent noise.
Maria stood in the center of the crowd. She held her phalanx pistol straight up in the air before leveling it directly at the lead witch hunter. She didn't remember drawing the gun or stepping out from the crowd. None of that mattered to her now. The conflicted emotions from earlier were gone.
Maria locked her eyes on the tall witch hunter.
"Let her go."
The tall witch hunter just looked at her. He had shaggy brown hair that curled under his wide brimmed hat, and a dirty face with days' worth of stubble on his chin.
He glared back at her. "What the hells are you suppos' to be?"
His hand was already moving to his belt, toward the pistols tucked away. If he were a smart man, he would have seen the threat in Maria's eyes or heard it in her voice.
"The man with nine toes says, what."
She hadn't said it in Reikspiel. He blinked. "What?"
Maria pointed the phalanx at his right boot and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun firing was instantly followed by the man's scream of pain as the tip of his boot was blown off in a spray of blood. He fell on his ass and cradled his bloody boot in his hands. Bye, bye big toe.
Her pistol slid over to the remaining pair of witch hunters still holding the young woman in their arms. She had just fired a strange looking pistol twice in quick succession without making any moves to reload it whatsoever. The obvious threat was plain for everyone present to see.
"Let her go. Now."
They weren't outright scared of her yet but the fear over what she would do next was there and that was all Maria needed. The two witch hunters unceremoniously dropped the young woman to the ground. Maria waved her pistol and motioned them over to their fallen friend. As soon as they moved, Maria quickly made her way to the young woman, never letting her aim on the witch hunters waver.
She stood above and beside the woman. "You okay?"
Looking down at her the answer was obvious. She was not okay. The young woman sat on the ground staring back up at Maria with wide terrified eyes as she curled her arms around her stomach and hugged herself. Tears continued to run down the bruises covering her face and the cut she had received was still dripping blood. Against her pale skin you could already make out the imprints where the witch hunters had roughly handled her arms. Her whole body was trembling.
"P-please…"
She looked back up at Maria with the faintest glimmer of hope in her eyes. Maria had seen that look one to may times already. It was the look of someone who knew they were already dead and even the barest hint of salvation was almost too painful to endure. If she didn't help the young woman now, her spirit would break entirely.
"You are safe." As soon as Maria said the words the young woman covered her face with her hands and began sobbing in relief.
Maria eyed the crowd and had to consciously smoother the fury building up inside her. Most of the people present had recovered from the shock over her strange weapon and were back to looking like a group of animals that had just had their kill stolen out from under them. The three witch hunters stood together with nothing short of pure hatred on their faces. The one with the missing toe was already back on his feet with the help of the others.
"Who do you think you are, huh?" he asked with a sneer. "We've sworn to route out all evil and the fiends that stalk this land, and here some filthy whore in damaged armor comes out of nowhere and defends that scum? Who – what – are you?"
Maria ignored him and saw the few soldiers that had arrived standing together with the crowd. She pointed to the one that had acted as her escort and a second standing beside him.
"Help her," she ordered, motioning to the young woman on the ground. She didn't trust anyone present enough to turn her back on the young woman right now.
Whether from the authority in her voice or simply too stunned by the turn of events, the two soldiers actually obeyed and stepped out from the crowd to stand over the still crying woman.
"Now you hold on!" the tall witch hunter shouted pointing to the soldiers. He had his arm around one of his pals and limped on one foot. "That woman is a witch! A fiend of the forest, who has worked with the beasts within to stalk our lands and slaughter our people. She is guilty! Sigmar and Ulric demand her death, and we shall carry out the execution!"
A number of the gathered crowd shouted out in agreement and moved in closer to the witch hunters. In response all of Bokel's soldiers shied back. None of them had left yet and most hand their hands already on their swords, but none of them looked ready to raise them against the citizens they were supposed to protect. She needed someone of significant rank to give them their orders.
The witch hunter had a cruel smile. He noticed that fact too. "We are the templars of Sigmar's justice!" he shouted raising his free hand to encompass the people gathered around. And then he pointed at her. "Only those allied to the dark powers would dare stand against us! Name yourself woman!"
Geez that guy was mouthy, especially considering she had already removed his toe. But if he really wanted to play this game then Maria was perfectly fine with that.
Maria lowered her pistol and went a step farther to stuff it back inside the bag at her hip. No one here was wearing enough armor to stop a bullet anyways. If she fired it somebody would get hurt in the crossfire. Not that she needed it dealing with these Neanderthals.
"My name is Maria Shepard," she answered loudly so the crowd would hear. Maria kept her gaze locked on the witch hunters and slowly walked forward, closing the distance between them. "I am a Reiksguard Knight. I serve the Emperor. I kill for the Emperor. I say you are wrong here."
Now came the part where she bet everything on a single hand. "My name is Maria Shepard. I say you all need to leave."
She walked right up to the three witch hunters, stood in front of them for a moment, and then calmly walked around them, to stand between them and the crowd. Maria kept her back to the witch hunters and pulled out her sword, holding it loosely in her hand at her side, as she met the eyes of everyone gathered; so there would be no confusion as to her intent.
"And I promise," her voice taking on a menacing growl, "if you do not, I swear to Sigmar, to Ulric, to Ranald, to Morr, to Manaan, to Taal, to Shallya… I promise I will kill you." She had just listed off nearly every god of the Empire. Well, everyone she remembered at this particular moment.
A slightly manic expression came over her as Maria remembered another. "I swear to Khorne, I will kill all of you. Leave. Now."
Those standing in front of her stumbled back immediately. Putting as much distance between her and them as quickly as possible. With the inner part of the crowd pushing back against the outer part, even those who may have misheard her were convinced it was time to leave. There was a safety in numbers, and no one was willing to stand alone in front of a crazed looking woman claiming to be a Reiksguard with no fear in her eyes and a sword in her hand.
Maria allowed herself a smile as the crowd dispersed. Lie, lie, lie. Oh well. We use the weapons we've got. Practically the N7 motto.
Up the street, Maria saw and heard a group of horses riding quickly toward them. The calvary. Late as always, so technically right on time. She spun around to face the three witch hunters. Each of them was looking at her as though she had suddenly sprouted horns and a tail.
"You are no Reiksguard," the leader claimed in a hoarse whisper. Eight soldiers brought their horses to a halt and dismounted. She noticed Captain Alvin was among the group, pushing past the remaining citizens, and coming toward them.
Maria looked back at the witch hunter and gave him her cheekiest smile. With a wink, she leaned forward.
"No," she confirmed just loud enough for only the four of them to hear. Each of them balked at her in horror. If Maria really did sprout horns at that moment, she doubted it would make them look at her like any more of a monster.
And that was all it took for one of the witch hunters. The man not holding up their leader and standing on Maria's right, yanked a pistol off the bandolier on his chest and pointed it at her.
"Die demon!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger.
Maria saw him reaching for the gun probably before he even knew he was doing it. She grabbed the arm holding the gun and raised it into the air just as he fired. Maria dropped her sword so she could then disarm him without killing him. Still holding his arm, she kicked one of his knees out from under him. As he fell, she yanked his arm back down and around his back. The painful pressure she was putting on his shoulder forced the man to drop the pistol, and as soon as he did, she put her boot on his back and pushed him face first onto the ground. It would have been so easy to either beak the arm or dislocate the shoulder, and she really wanted too, but Maria caught herself just before she actually did it.
"That's enough!" Captain Alvin's voice boomed out as he reached their group. The soldiers behind him already had their own weapons drawn.
Maria stepped back from the witch hunters as she bent down to pick up her sword. She prepared herself to be surrounded by swords and crossbows, but instead the guardsman all circled the witch hunters. The man Maria had so thoroughly humiliated was just now climbing back to his feet.
"What the hells is going on here?" Captain Alvin demanded as he took in the scene, his gaze lingering on the young woman still on her knees in front if the tavern.
The tall witch hunter limped and pointed at Maria. "Captain Alvin! This woman is making a mockery of the Reiksguard! She is in league with fiends and devils! I demand you take her into custody at once!"
Maria saw the moment the Captain realized she was here and a part of this mess. It was almost comical how his face and shoulders sagged, and his expression took the look of a man who knew his life had suddenly become far more complicated.
Still, Maria had to give him credit. He pushed the feeling aside and took charge instantly.
"Samuel, get that lady a cloak or something to cover herself," he said pointing to the same soldier that had escorted Maria earlier, and who was still standing beside the young woman Maria had saved. "And get her off the street for gods sake. There's a young miss crying at your feet, man, act like a guardsman and take care of her."
The soldier, Samuel, bent down and helped the young woman back up on her feet. She managed a single step before her legs gave out, but Samuel quickly scooped her up in his arms and took her inside the same tavern the witch hunters had so recently dragged her out of.
The tall witch hunter was beside himself with anger. "Captain Alvin, that despicable creature isn't –"
Maria whipped her sword up and put it directly under the man's chin, the point of the blade pressing just enough to dimple the skin. Ha! For her that was pretty good sword-work.
She glared at the witch hunter. "You, quiet." She looked at the Captain. "The witch hunters attacked the lady. They were going to kill her. I stopped it."
Captain Alvin had a hard expression on his face. He looked over the three witch hunters before pointing at the ground.
"What happened to your boot?"
Maria lowered her sword so the tall man felt comfortable enough to answer. "She shot off my toe!" he ground out, pointing an accusing finger at her as well in case there was any confusion. "And she did it with a strange pistol I've never seen before in my life.
"Captain, this woman is not a Reiksguard!" he continued quickly, now that her sword wasn't at his throat. "She admitted it herself! Just look at her! Can't you see she's covered in the blood of those she's killed? You need to arrest her! Now!"
Captain Alvin glanced at her so Maria just offered him a sigh as she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Some people, am I right?
The Captain looked back at the tall witch hunter. "Gerhard, she just rode into the city less than an hour ago. The blood belongs to her and the beastmen she had to fight just to reach Bokel. Moreover, I witnessed Jan pull a gun on her myself." He looked back at his men and pointed over to the witch hunter that had attack her. "Jan, you are under arrest for assaulting a Reiksguard Knight. Take him away."
Three of the city guard walked up to the witch hunter, roughly stripping him of his sword and other weapons, and then started marching him away from the scene, presumably to a prison cell.
Gerhard tore his wide brimmed hat from his head and threw it to the ground. "Captain Alvin, have you taken leave of your senses! My comrades and I are well within our rights to hunt down and exterminate all threats to the Empire! We have all sacrificed much for the good of this land! For you to allow this woman free leave within the city, interfering with our sacred duty, is nothing more than treasonous!"
Maria's eyebrows rose at his outburst. Wow, doubling-down are we? That was fine. The whole reason Maria had even intervened in the first place was her ace in the whole.
"Captain Alvin," Maria interjected, the fury she had felt earlier blazing in her eyes. "The lady is with child."
Captain Alvin's jaw dropped. The witch hunters' jaws dropped. More than one of the soldiers around them swore and growled out in anger.
"Are you sure?" the Captain asked staying calm.
Maria nodded. She wouldn't be absolutely certain until she questioned the young woman herself, but she'd bet her life she was right.
When the witch hunter had punched her in the stomach the look on the young woman's face spoke for itself. She had been terrified beyond rationale thought. She had fought with all her strength just to protect that part of her body. The look on her face went beyond instinctual self-preservation. She was fighting for the future of her child.
That's why Maria had acted so suddenly. One look at that poor girl, how could she not help her? The whole reason she was fighting the Reapers was to defend the same thing that woman was trying to so desperately protect.
Captain Alvin clenched his fist and pointed at the with hunter. "Gerhard, Major Knopf promised, when you and your men arrived in Bokel, our full cooperation. But that promise was conditional on the fact you'd alert the guard to any foul presence within the city. You have broken that promise sir, so I hereby expel you and your fellow witch hunters from Bokel."
He waved the rest of the soldiers forward. "The sacrifices you have made in service to the Empire will not be forgotten. My men will escort you to the nearest doctor. I make this promise, you will not be kicked out on your asses until they say you are fully healed and capable to travel, preferably, far from here. Am I clear?"
The tall witch hunter scowled and looked half ready to launch himself at either Maria or the Captain. And she sorely wished he would try.
Instead he only gave a curt nod. "You are the doom of the Empire Captain… but we will depart Bokel as soon as we are able."
"Good." Captain Alvin waved his hand absentmindedly. "Get out of my sight."
The remaining soldiers got back on their horses or fell in line behind the witch hunters and led the limping pair of black coated individuals away.
Captain Alvin ran a hand over his face and let out a heavy breath. "I don't want to live in an Empire without the witch hunter orders' protection but, damnit all, do they have to be such cold-hearted bastards?"
Maria was slightly taken aback by his words as she glanced toward the backs of the witch hunters. What the Captain had said was nearly word for word what other inhabitants in the galaxy had to say about the Spectres.
They may be a necessary evil but there were limits. Saren proved that. Tela Vasir proved that. Two great Spectres Maria had been forced to put down herself because they had gone too far.
A ghost of a thought floated up in her mind. Would that be her someday? Hunted and gunned down by the next inductee into the ranks? Would she eventually go too far when trying to stop the Reapers?
"Well, come on," Captain Alvin said as he started for the tavern. "Let's go make sure the lady is okay."
Maria fell in step behind him as her earlier thoughts vanished. If she was still willing to stick her neck out for people like that young woman, then the day she became like Saren and Vasir was still a long time off.
/ooooooo\
The young woman's name was Johanna Vogel. She was currently seated at one of the tavern's dining hall tables, wrapped in a heavy wool blanket and sipping from a bowl of broth provided by the innkeeper. That man was entirely distraught over anything like this happening at his business in the first place and was bending over backward to provide whatever Captain Alvin asked for. He hovered anxiously around the room and had already shooed any of the other patrons away, ensuring Johanna, Maria, Captain Alvin and a few other city guards had the whole dining room to themselves.
Captain Alvin had been very gentle in his questioning. Johanna was only nineteen years old. She had married two years earlier to a farmer in the town of Dienste, a smaller settlement when compared to Bokel and located further south down the Great North Road. Maria had actually passed the place without knowing when she was still riding George through the grassland-wastes outside Marienburg.
Johanna was here in Bokel because fourteen days ago the beastmen herd had burned the outlying farms surrounding Dienste. This included her husband's farm, and he had died with the local militia trying to defend it. Johanna had left Dienste the next day, along with other refugees, intent on traveling to Middenheim and hoping she could escape the beastmen that had killed her husband while also finding work in the bustling city-state.
Captain Alvin was seated at the table beside her, while Maria sat on the other. His face took on a tortured look and Maria knew he was finally going to ask the big question.
"Johanna, are you pregnant?"
She set her wooden bowl back down on the table and her hands immediately disappeared under her wool blanket. She stared at the remaining broth as her eyes teared up once more. The silence in the dining hall was deafening.
"Yes," she finally replied in a small voice.
Captain Alvin nodded. "How far along?"
"Two months, I think." A single tear fell onto the table.
Maria had to force herself to remain seated and not march straight to wherever the witch hunters were and put a bullet between their eyes. Instead, she put a hand on Johanna's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. Married for two years and finally pregnant, only to have her husband taken from her by insane beasts.
The soldiers in the room shuffled uncomfortably on their feet. This was the side of war no one got used to.
"Did you try to tell the witch hunters your story?" the Captain asked next.
Johanna shook her head and began sniffling. "They wouldn' listen! I don't know why they even wanted to kill me! I came to Bokel three nights ago and have been staying here waiting for the next trade caravan to Middenheim! I haven' done anything! I haven' hurt anybody!
"I was just turning in for the night when I heard the noise on the street and then they broke down my door and started yelling at me! They said I was a witch, leading the beastmen town to town with my magic! I screamed at them to get out of my room, but – but then the tall one hit me! And then the – the other two grabbed my a-arms and dragged me out of my room! I-I tried to fight them off me! And I called for – for help but no one c-came!"
The tears were falling freely as Johanna told them her story, but suddenly she turned angry. "I kicked and scratched and bit but every time I fought back, they would just hit me again! They dragged me down the stairs and out of the tavern while everyone else watched! And then I was in the street and surrounded by people I never even met and all of them wanted to kill me for simply surviving my husband's death!"
Something caught Maria's eye while Johanna spoke. She leaned back in her chair and blinked a few times before she realized what was wrong. She was having a hard time at first focusing it down, but the air around the young woman was moving. The air was thickening. Being drawn to Johanna and gathered just above her shoulders in such a small amount Maria would have missed it if she hadn't already been sitting right next to her.
Johanna was gathering air around herself. She had magic.
Maria nearly fell out of her chair. Holy shit, the woman had magic. Whatever the witch hunters had got wrong, they had at least been right on that account.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Johanna shook her head, her straight black hair waving back and forth around her face. The air around her shoulders disappeared with her anger. "I just don't know what to do now…"
Maria tried to contain her freak-out. Whatever, the woman had magic, it didn't matter. Maria had magic for goodness sake. She just didn't know what it did or how to access it. Not to mention her biotic abilities.
What the witch hunters had done to her was wrong. And what they had planned to do to her was unforgivable.
Maria glanced over at Captain Alvin and was surprised to see him staring right back at her. The look on his face said it all. She was so busted. Apparently, she hadn't handled her freak-out as well as she had hoped.
She'd need a battle plan.
Captain Alvin reached out and held the bowl of broth up for Johanna, patiently waiting until she took it again from his hands. "Johanna, I need to have a word with the Reiksguard. We'll be right outside."
Her head snapped over to Maria so fast she feared the young woman would suffer whiplash. "You're not leaving yet, are you!?" she asked, her voice nearly gaining a hysterical pitch.
"No," Maria promised as she rose from her chair. "Be right back."
Captain Alvin led Maria just outside the dining room and still a little further so their voices wouldn't carry back. He had both his hands on his hips, and once he had found an appropriate space to talk, turned back around to face her.
"She is coming with us," Maria declared, cutting him off before he began.
Captain Alvin's eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?"
Maria folded her arms across her chest. "Johanna comes with us. The barracks. She sleeps with us tonight. Tomorrow, you take her to Altdorf. You and other soldiers."
"Ulric's teeth and claws…" he whispered, stunned into complete obedience by Maria's quick thinking.
"Does she have magic or not?!" He shouted the first word of the question but quickly caught himself and finished his sentence in a hushed tone. Okay, maybe he wasn't completely stunned.
Maria knew enough to look a little guilty at being caught. She shrugged and rose a hand with her finger and thumb only about an inch apart.
He blinked at the action and immediately looked outraged. "What the hells does that mean to me?! A little? A little touch of magic? I just sent one man to jail and exiled another two because the woman they caught had just a tiny piece of magic?! What's a few beastmen outside our walls, eh? It's just a few, what harm can they cause!?"
The act of him shouting her down in a hallway but still keeping it a hushed whisper would have been funny to her if they hadn't been discussing Johanna's very future.
"Johanna is not a danger," Maria shot back angrily, throwing a thumb over her shoulder. "Johanna is scared. Johanna is not safe. Johanna needs us – you – to help her."
Captain Alvin ran a hand down his face. "Gerhard was right after all. She could be leading the beastmen through the forest. We don't know what she's capable of. For all we know that 'little bit' of magic could be pulling the beasts back toward Bokel right now."
It hadn't escaped her notice that the Captain had already stopped using the young woman's name. He was already distancing himself from her in case the worst came to pass. And that was seriously pissing Maria off.
"No."
Captain Alvin stopped. "What do you mean 'no'?"
"No," Maria repeated. She pointed to her chest, "Reiksguard." Then she pointed out to the town, "Idiots." She let her arm drop down to her side as both her gauntleted hands clenched into fists. "Johanna comes with us. She is safe with us. Tomorrow, you and other soldiers take her to Altdorf. Colleges of Magic train her. New life for Johanna."
The Captain frowned at her. "Listen to me, it's not that simple! Major Knopf is going to wake up in five hours! When he hears about this she's not –"
"I say, No!"
Maria sunk every ounce of authority she had into the word. It was the voice she used to force murderous crewmembers to work together. It was the voice that made Batarian terrorists back down without firing a shot. It was the voice she used to tell Sovereign and the rest of the Reapers to shove their superiority up their own asses.
There was no way in hell she was going to allow this young woman to be harmed again if she could help it. Her life had been shattered, her husband taken from her, and her unborn baby threatened. Maria had zero control over her own life right now. If the best she could do was help this woman start over, then that's what she would do. Maria had drawn her line in the sand, and she would hold that line against whatever this world decided to through at her.
Captain Alvin took a step back from her as he raised his hands in surrender.
"Alright, okay," his eyes were wide, and he was looking at her as though she would strike him down at any second. And at this point, she wasn't sure she wouldn't. "Alright, we'll… I don't know, we'll figure something out. Technically, I'm just obeying orders anyways, I don't have the authority to stop you from doing what you want. Johanna can stay at the barracks tonight. I promise she will be safe there. Tomorrow… tomorrow is tomorrow. I'll talk to the Major."
Maria released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and gave the Captain a curt nod.
"Good."
Captain Alvin nodded slowly in return. "Okay, now that is that and we're all friends again, you mind taking a few more breaths and calming your own 'little bit' down."
He waved a finger around in her general direction as he spoke, so Maria looked down at herself.
Around her entire body, coming directly off her stolen Reiksguard armor, were thin wisps of pitch-black smoke. They trailed up around her limbs and moved with her when she moved. It was almost like she was a log thrown on a fire and was now smoking from the charred edges. Except for her it was all over, and she wasn't on fire.
Maria raised her hands up in front of her, clenching her fists a few times while she closed her eyes and tried to will the smoke away. After a half a minute of mental chanting, and a smoking body still smoking, Maria enveloped herself in the blue glow of her biotics before releasing a small burst of power.
That seemed to work as the smoke was pushed off, the black tendrils drifting away to nothing in the hall, disappearing along with the biotic power.
Maria lowered her hands back to her sides and just stood in the hallway in front of Captain Alvin.
Having just witnessed her whole display, the Captain leaned to the left and right as he looked her over. He shrugged, seemingly satisfied. "You good?"
Maria nodded and couldn't help herself. "You good?"
"Not my place to judge," he replied with a second shrug. "Reiksguard are the Emperor's men for a reason. I guess, in this case, his women. If the most trouble you're going to cause is trying to convince me to save that girls life… hell, I can live with that."
He stepped past her and headed back toward the dining hall. "Let's get you and Johanna to the barracks. But this time I'm escorting you both the rest of the way."