Steel, Fire, Honor and Ruin
Chapter 13
afraid of the dark?
/ooooooo\
Location: The Great North Road, Middenland
Day 36
The Major wanted her gone early. Maria Shepard could still see stars in the sky when she rode her horse, George, out of Bokel's east gate.
How's that for early.
Though saying goodbye to the city had been easy, saying goodbye to Johanna had been harder. The younger woman was obviously upset when Maria had stopped by her room to bid her farewell. Life sucked sometimes, there was no way around it. All Maria could do was wish her good luck.
Now she was back on the road. Ridding George into the sunrise. If they kept up their current pace, Maria expected to arrive at Middenheim, Middenland's capital city-state, sometime in the late afternoon. Before lunch would have been better, but Maria had stuffed enough food into her saddlebags that she could have fed a small army.
The road was empty for much of the morning and it wasn't until the sun was gaining height that Maria rode past another person. A caravan of four covered wagons and a few guards as escort. Being a city on the edge of the province surrounded by forest, Bokel probably imported several goods from the larger city-state.
And thanks to a borrowed helm no one looked at Maria twice. It wasn't as nice as her previous helmet, and it lacked the red and white feathers sticking out of the top, but it hid who she was and that's all that mattered.
So what that she could barely see the road in front of her thanks to the tiny eye slit? Not like vision was important. She'd tried to keep the visor up, but every third bounce in the saddle just ended up knocking it back down again. And after the fifth failed attempt to keep it in place, Maria just gave up and let her mind wander as George took her down the road.
/ooooooo\
Lunch came and went before she knew it as Maria continued down the road. It was a little disappointing that her beautiful morning had slowly been replaced by an overcast sky. The wind had picked up as well, blowing across the gravel road and scratching branches together along the tree line with its persistent gusts.
George kept his pace. Much faster now on the smooth gravel road than they had originally been going on their trek through the forest. At one point he even decided, all on his own, to launch into a quick gallop, throwing Maria back at the suddenness of it.
She immediately freaked out, clutching the reins, and tried looking around for danger. Of course there was nothing around, George just felt like running. Maria had no idea horses even liked doing such crazy things, especially when they were carrying a passenger.
Her horse's self-indulgent sprint didn't last long, and he calmed down slowing back to a trot only after a couple of minutes. Maria did her best to relax as well… the whole adventure nearly gave her a heart attack.
She pulled him over to the side of the road and pushed out of the saddle.
"Getting a little excited, George?" she asked pushing up her helmets visor. "Did you see a squirrel or something?"
He didn't grace her with a reply. She grabbed the reins and started walking down the road. It had been a few hours since she had stretched her legs anyway.
"I'm not saying it wasn't fun," she added. "But the first few seconds scared the hell out of me. Just give some warning before you do that."
Up ahead Maria spotted a group of horses suddenly appear on the road. A small bend in the gravel provided the slightly eerie effect of the riders having come straight from the forest.
Unhurriedly, Maria maneuvered George off the road and onto the grass as the riders approached. She turned her back to them and pretended to fidget with the saddle but was really spying on the group out of the corner of her eye.
When they got close enough Maria was surprised by what she saw. There were four horses but only three riders. Two were easily identified as soldiers, with the one in the back guiding the rider-less horse. The man leading the group stood out like a sore thumb. An orange robe flapped against him in the wind, with a long orange beard blown across his shoulder and his orange hair waving wildly about his head.
He was a Bright Wizard.
They continued down the roadway and past Maria with barely a glance. She pulled George back onto the gravel and watched them ride toward Bokel.
She gave George a pat on his armored neck. "Looks like Johanna gets a fire mage as her first introduction to the world of magic. I hope he treats her right."
An image suddenly popped into her head. One of Johanna, the slight framed, pale skinned woman, but her long black hair dyed bright orange to match the wizards of that order.
She grimaced. "Ugh… not a good look for her. I wonder if she'll get to choose what branch of magic she wants to study? Or maybe that wizard will just creep her out like that vampire did to me and declare what type of magic she's stuck with?"
With thoughts of her own weird circumstances filling her mind, Maria gave a small tug on the reins and continued her walk.
/ooooooo\
Location: Outskirts of Middenheim, city-state of the Empire
When Maria had first seen Nuln, she had been duly impressed. Middenheim blew that reaction out the airlock. It was a freaking mountain with buildings slapped on top.
She saw it coming a literal mile away. The road she traveled left the forest and opened to farmland. The plateau the city-state had been founded upon was the only thing rising five-hundred feet into the sky for over a kilometer in every direction.
Middenheim covered the entire top of the plateau. There was no way up the sheer cliff faces and into the city-state except for four large causeways. As if the mountain's natural height wasn't enough, Middenheim was still protected by a towering stone wall running the entire circumference of the mountain top. Tall buildings could be seen beyond the wall, the grandest of which was the vast castle-cathedral that was the Temple of Ulric. Ulric was one of the oldest gods in the Empire's pantheon. He was so old that the man who founded the Empire, Sigmar, someone who was now lifted up as a god himself, worshipped Ulric when he was alive. Naturally this causes some tension between the cult of Ulric and the cult of Sigmar, with both sides claiming to worship the primary patron of the Empire. More than once in the Empire's long history that tension had boiled over into actual violence.
What fascinated Maria the most about the city-state was inside the temple itself. According to legend, Ulric wanted this mountain as his fortress and domain on the earthly realm. He smashed the top of the mountain away with a single strike of his fist, leaving only the flattened plateau behind. It is here his followers first built the primitive beginnings of Middenheim.
But one part of the plateau was claimed solely by Ulric, and he marked his place by leaving a raging silver-white flame burning in the stone. It was around this flame the early settlers built the Temple of Ulric. According to legend this fire has been burning on its own for thousands of years and is a symbol of Ulric's favor gracing Middenland. As long as the fire burns, their god smiles on them, and Middenheim will never fall to evil.
Everlasting fire aside, Maria had also read about the men who would occasionally step into the flames to prove their devotion to Ulric and gain his favor. Incredibly few succeeded. So few in fact, that the act hasn't been duplicated since the time of Sigmar, when he was dueling the tribal chiefs and trying to get them to join his growing Empire. History claimed that during the last fight, Sigmar was knocked back by his opponent causing him to fall into the fire. Instead of dying, Sigmar just jumped unharmed out of the flames and with a renewed god-like strength struck down his foe with a single blow. Thus, the tribes joined together under Sigmar's banner and the Empire of today came to be.
So, yeah, this place was pretty cool. Maria wouldn't have minded playing tourist for a few hours, maybe a day, as she took in the sights. How often would she get to say she had warmed her toes over a magic fire that had been burning for the last three-thousand odd years?
Unfortunately, the reality of her situation had quickly doused the flames of her enthusiasm. Much like her sailing adventure down the river Reik and through Altdorf, Maria wouldn't even be able to enter the city-state proper.
The reason? Because she was wearing stolen armor and pretending to be a Reiksguard Knight.
At the base of each of the four causeways leading up into the city-state were small towns. Maria was sitting on George's back smack in the middle of the northern town, Arenburg. Her journey would eventually take her out of this town and continue even farther north along the great north road, but for now she was looking for place to spend the night, preferably off the beaten track.
Middenheim had quickly transformed from a glorious must-see city-state, and into a minefield requiring careful navigation. Because she was a Reiksguard, a knight of the Emperor, and Middenheim was the military hub for the entire province.
Maria quickly discovered that soldiers were everywhere. And not just the rank and file troops she had seen drilling outside Nuln and within Bokel. No, here in Middenheim, even technically just outside of Middenheim, lived the elite knights of the Empire.
Knights of the White Wolf. Knights Panther. Knights of the Order of the Broken Sword.
Everywhere she looked she saw groups of knights in pate armor, lances raised high, warhammers held in tightly gripped fists, ridding through the towns, either up into the city-state or back into the dark depths of the forest to do battle with the fierce creatures within. Probably beastmen. Sometimes worse.
When Maria had first arrived and was still keen on entering the city-state she had ridden George straight to the base of the western causeway, then nearly shit herself, spun George around on the spot and tried to make herself as scarce as possible. At the base of the causeway were soldiers of Middenheim talking with another pair of knights wearing the unmistakable gilded silver suits of plate armor, with red and white feathered helmets held relaxed under their arms.
They were a pair of real, in-the-flesh, Reiksguard Knights.
So, here she was. Her ass still planted on George's backside as she meandered down the streets of Arenburg. Well, the outskirts now. Every bar and tavern she had crossed by had a handful of soldiers already inside. At this point it seemed to be something she would just have to try to work around. As one of the four largest cities of the Empire, being on the edge of one of the most dangerous forests, along the junction of three major roads, and you had a perfect recipe for a military hub.
She pulled on the reins and brought the horse to a stop. It was getting dark, she was tired and irritable over running into soldiers left and right, and she really didn't want to spend another night under a tree. The three-story building on her left was the last tavern, the last building, on the street before you left the town and entered back into farming country.
She jumped off the horse's back and started leading him to the stables behind the inn.
"Time to meet the locals George."
/ooooooo\
The locals were friendly... enough. Maria had no doubt it was thanks to the stolen armor. Since she had taken the helmet off everyone was shooting glances her way. She was currently sitting by herself in the dining room, back to the wall, plates arranged on the round wooden table in front of her. Despite being on the edge of town the tavern was busy. Ordinary folk filled out the hall, with a few colored uniforms brightly standing out. To Maria's surprise there was even a group of five dwarfs sitting together at their own table.
Food was amazing, and that made up for everything. She was having steak with a side of steak. There were potatoes and carrots, but she was really focused on her steak. Here she was stuck in the dark ages and yet somehow Maria was eating better than her entire time commanding the Normandy SR1.
Something was seriously wrong with that. First thing she did when back in command of the SR2 was upgrading the kitchen. Find someone with the evil genius to concoct food worth dying for. Rupert Gardner had been good, but after seeing something still wiggling in his pot, Maria had been reluctant to sample his gumbo. She managed to trick Miranda into having a bowl before the rest of the ship.
Maria's fork stopped halfway to her mouth as the memory resurfaced. She leaned back in her chair. It had been done in good fun and that practical joke had broken the ice between her and the rest of the Cerberus crew. She may not have agreed with their organization's methods, but that crew had some good people.
Why did it already feel like a lifetime ago?
Her eyes snapped to the center of the table as a coin bounced across the wood.
"Copper for your thoughts lass?" Maria looked up to see a very short man with a very large beard staring back at her. Nope, not a man. A dwarf. He had walked all the way from his table to hers without her noticing.
At least she hadn't jumped in her seat. Didn't need the whole place knowing how inept this particular Reiksguard was.
The dwarf pulled out the chair across from her and took a seat, a large mug in his hand, each finger as thick as two of hers together. Before sitting he looked about four feet tall. A cloak hid most of his solid frame and the gigantic black beard peppered with grey covered the entire front of his torso, so thick that he had it separated into five braided parts. Small circles of gold kept the individual braids tidy. His short black hair reached his ears and was just long enough that it had begun to curl. In the softer candlelight of the dining hall the dwarf's eyes had this little sparkle in them that sent alarm bells ringing through Maria's head.
This was going to be interesting.
She set her fork and knife down and picked up the copper coin. A quick glance across the hall revealed that his four colleagues were still drinking back at their table.
Maria put the coin back on the table and pushed it back to him. "Sorry. These," she tapped the side of her head, "going to cost you at least a silver."
The dwarf ginned, showing his teeth, and took the copper coin back.
"That's an interesting accent you've got there," he said. "Can't say I've heard the like."
Dwarf, one. Maria, zero. And she didn't even know what game they were playing yet.
Maria picked up her fork and knife and started carving into the remains of her steak. "You mind? I bought two plates and I'm hungry."
"A woman with an appetite." He gave her a nod. "I like that. Eat up. I'm sure the Emperor pushes his men hard. Or women, in your case."
Maria shrugged in return, so the dwarf chuckled and took a swig from his mug. His Reikspiel was better than hers but that's probably because he had several decades of experience under his belt.
He finished guzzling down a hefty portion of his drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Name's Nagrim."
She finished chewing her steak. "Maria."
"Maria," Nagrim repeated, looking at her so intensely she was sure he was committing everything he now knew about her to memory. Or maybe that's just how dwarfs looked in general? She hadn't met enough of their kind yet to guess. "How long since you've joined the Reiksguard then Maria?"
"Two years," she replied finishing her second steak and now focused on what remined of her vegetables. "How old are you Nagrim?"
"Three-hundred eighty-four years. You?" he asked.
Three-hundred and eighty-four years old. Compared to an Asari lifetime he was just leaving the maiden stage. From what she knew, Dwarfs could potentially live well past a thousand. The oldest the Empire had heard of lived to be just over one thousand six hundred.
"I am twenty-nine."
Nagrim blinked. Then he smiled wide. "Twenty-nine and already a knight of honor. Ha! Haha! Brilliant! You umgi always surprise me. Good on you lass!"
Umgi? That didn't translate. From how he said it, Maria supposed it was their word for Empire citizens or maybe humans in general.
Figuring he would want to question her some more; she took the initiative.
"What brings you to Middenheim Nagrim?" she asked him.
He grunted and shook his head. "Poor manners I'm afraid. One of your nobles paid the builders of Karak Hirn to reinforce his town. Fortify walls, build up his castle, that sort of general thing. A fair deal was struck but payment has been slow. The noble is claiming coin is in short supply. I met with your Elector today to impress upon the importance of his keeping their promises to ours."
He took another drink. "Todbringer is an honorable man. I know he'll get the noble to loosen his purse strings and pay us what we are owed."
Maria swallowed a forkful of carrot. From what she had read, an oath was sacred to a Dwarf. Whether a promise was made by them, or made by others, it was taken seriously and held up as something truly unbreakable. If this noble had honestly promised to pay them a certain amount, then the Dwarfs would have him pay it. One way or another.
"Is that what you do?" she asked. "Settle debts for your people?"
"Aye," he nodded, "that's what I do. A Reckoner's life isn't the most glamorous, but we keep the mountain holds, and you men-folk, honest." Nagrim shifted in his seat and shot a glance over his shoulder. "So, what are you going to do when the soldiers over there finally finish their beers and challenge you to a duel?"
Maria coughed, dropped her fork, and began choking on a bit of potato. She made a brilliant sight as she reached for her drink and struggled to down the weakly fermented mead without spitting it all back up. Nagrim just watched her with no more than a raised eyebrow as Maria took a few struggled breaths.
"I'm sorry," she finally gasped. "What did you say?"
Nagrim jerked his head back. "The soldiers back there. Ever since you walked in they've been sending looks your way. Surely you've noticed?"
"I stopped caring when my food arrived."
"Fair enough," he grinned. "My table's closer to them than yours, so my companions and I heard them discussing amongst themselves who should fight you when all of you were done eating. Apparently, there's some disagreement as to whether or not you even know how to hold a sword." He barked out a derisive laugh. "Personally, I just think they needed a bit more liquid courage before approaching someone wearing that armor of yours."
Maria looked over to the table with the six soldiers. Two of them already had their heads turned in her direction but quickly looked away when she made eye contact.
Great. Awesome. Just what she frickin' needed. This was just like the rivalry between the Alliance Navy and the colonial garrisons. Ground-pounders versus vacuum-breathers. Except in this case the local boys knew how to swing a sword, while Maria was still learning how to hold one.
She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. It is late. I just ate two steaks. I don't have to accept the duel if I don't want to."
"Ha! That's what you think, is it? As the higher ranked soldier, you don't have the luxury of turning down a challenge. Not here, not now. That's not how these things work." Nagrim took a quick drink but still managed a hearty belch. "You know, a Reiksguard would generally know such a common thing."
Damnit! Dwarf, two. Maria, zero.
A chorus of chairs squeaking against the floorboards signaled the fact Maria had run out of time. The six soldiers all stood up from their table and walked purposefully toward Maria and Nagrim. It was insane how fast they seemed to move through the tavern and then suddenly they stood in front of her.
The man in the lead offered a small bow. He looked good. He was the tallest and had the largest build in the group. There was a confidence in his eyes as he met Maria's own.
"Master Dwarf. Reiksguard." He straightened back up and made a point to stand well at attention while clearing his throat with a light cough. "I am Lieutenant Wyatt Seidel. For the honor of the Middenheim guard, I challenge you to a duel."
Maria looked at him, then back at Nagrim, who had a very smug looking grin on his face. "Well? Get to it Reiksguard. Defend your Emperor's honor."
/ooooooo\
The universe hated her. That was the only explanation to explain her crazy messed up life so far. Street gangs. Geth. Collectors. The Reapers. Random nobodies challenging her in random bars.
Maria stood just outside the tavern and in the street. Lieutenant Wyatt Seidel was standing on his own just a few feet in front of her. And directly in front of the tavern's doors stood their growing audience consisting of the other five Middenheim soldiers, the dwarf reckoner Nagrim and his four fellows, and a handful of other tavern patrons in varying stages of drunkenness who wanted to see the show. Since the sun had set, a few had lit lanterns to help light up the street for everyone to see.
Lieutenant Wyatt was wearing his uniform of blue shirt and brown pants, but he and his men hadn't been patrolling in armor. This close to the powerful city-state it probably wasn't a requirement.
He shrugged the shield off his back and pulled a warhammer from his belt. After a moment of consideration, he looked at Maria and then dropped the shield to the ground, off to the side and out of the way.
"We'll keep this simple," he said, loud enough for their audience to hear. "One weapon each. Hammer against sword. First blood for you, full contact hit for me."
Maria mulled that over in her head. First blood for her meant Maria had to score a hit on the Lieutenant's body and make him bleed. Full contact for him meant Wyatt had to land just one solid hit on her body to count as a killing strike. Made sense since she was still in full armor. Technically Maria had it harder since she had to strike her opponent just so to make him bleed, but refrain from injuring him severely. However, since she was wearing armor, Maria could also be far more aggressive in her attacks and throw her weight around.
With a heavy sigh, Maria reached for her sword, then realized she still had her small bag filled with both her firearms over her shoulder. She eyed the crowd suspiciously and was loath to just set the bag on the ground for someone to snatch.
She pulled the bag off her shoulder and walked over to the only person she could trust under the circumstances.
"Nagrim," she held the bag out to the dwarf, "could you watch this for me please. And do not open. Empire secrets."
The look he gave her made it clear what he thought of 'Empire secrets' but he still took the bag with a nod. "I'll watch your things Reiksguard."
"Thank you." As soon as she started to turn away, she spied Nagrim and the rest of the dwarfs immediately start passing coins between themselves and the people directly around them.
"Are you betting money on this?" she asked.
One of the other dwarfs huffed loudly. "Of course we are! Months away from the mountain holds, forced to drink the weak piss you umgi serve for drink. This is the best entertainment we've had in weeks!"
Glad to be of service. Maria turned away from the gamblers, pulled her sword free, and marched back to stand in front of Lieutenant Wyatt, who was busy warming up his arm by swinging his warhammer around in wide arcs. He stood light on his feet and was already watching her like a hawk, taking her measure now she had a weapon in her hands.
Oh good. He had experience fighting.
Maria watched his hammer continue to swing about. Crap. Crap, crap, crap. Need a plan. Any plan will do.
"Just so we are clear," she said slowly, "all I need to do is make you bleed, right?"
Wyatt nodded. "I'll give you a good hard knock before that, my lady. Begin?"
Maria took a breath. "Begin."
The Lieutenant didn't waste anytime and came at her fast while she was still panicking in her head. He took the warhammer in a two-handed grip and thrust the flat top straight at her chest. Maria skipped back as Wyatt then raised the warhammer over his right shoulder and swung down diagonally aiming for her own shoulder.
All at once Maria saw her opening. She leaned back as far as her armor allowed and the hammer flew past just grazing her chest plate. As soon as it passed her by Maria reached out with her free hand, grabbed his shirt, pulled, and smashed her forehead into his face.
Wyatt dropped his warhammer and fell flat on his back in the middle of the road. Blood began to drench his face from a rapidly swelling and coloring nose, and he clumsily reached for his face still in a daze.
The audience was silent until…
"HA!" Maria looked over to see Nagrim with a wide toothy grin. "HaHaHa! That! That is how a duel is won properly!" The rest of the dwarfs were all smiling broadly amongst themselves.
At least Maria could put on a show for them.
Lieutenant Wyatt managed to push himself up on an elbow with his other hand on his face. "How in the hell was that a respectable duel?" He pointed angrily up at Maria. "You call yourself a Reiksguard?! You haven't a shred of honor in you! You Reiklanders are mad, and your Emperor madder still for letting you in his retinue!"
He pushed himself back up to his feet, swaying only a little, and swiped his warhammer from the gravel. He pointed it straight at Maria, who discreetly started putting more space between them.
"You bitch! I'll show you what happens when you insult the proud legacy of Middenland!"
As soon as he took a single step a sharp twang! sound filled the air as a an arrow imbedded itself into the gravel an inch in front of his boot. He and Maria both looked over to see one of Nagrim's dwarfs holding a crossbow while the others suddenly had axes in hand and were staring down Wyatt, along with his other soldiers, with menacing eyes.
Nagrim himself had yet to draw a weapon as he stepped out of the crowd. "Lad, if you stopped to think about this for a moment, you'd recognize what a sorry mistake you're about to make."
Wyatt spit blood out of his mouth. "Stay out of this dwarf. This doesn't concern you."
Despite only being four feet tall, when Nagrim drew himself up, he still managed to look down on the Lieutenant.
"Now you listen to me boy. When was the last time you fought a beastman? A grobi? An orc? Did they all stand straight and still as you swung that hammer of yours around? You were wide open for a hit and she took advantage of it. You wanted to fight a Reiksguard this night. And whether you like it or not, that's exactly what the lass gave you. A fight with the best your Empire has. There's no disgrace in this.
"And if that's not good enough for you, I'll say this. The Reiksguard serves as your Emperor's personal guard. Insulting her, and him, is more shameful than anything else. As the Emperor's allies, we dwarfs won't put up with any of your pitiful posturing. So threaten her again, and it will be my axe drawing your blood next."
Wyatt's angry gaze kept bouncing from Nagrim, his dwarfs, and Maria, before he finally gripped his warhammer and pushed the haft through a loop on his belt. He wiped his hands on his pants, leaving bloody streaks in the process.
He tried to wipe some of the blood from his face with his shirt sleeve and then outstretched his hand toward Maria.
"Reiksguard… I'll keep my guard up next time. Well fought."
Maria sheathed her sword and shook Wyatt's hand. The best she could offer him was a smile. As soon as their hands met, a hearty cheer went up from the small audience, with the folks offering congratulations to the both of them. The Lieutenant quickly released her hand, then picked up his shield and called his men to him. Together they started marching down the gravel street and back into town. No doubt the first stop would be to have somebody look at the man's nose. The crowd began dispersing as well, some going back into the tavern, while others began heading back to their homes, some more drunkenly than others.
Maria looked back at the soldiers as their uniforms disappeared into the night. She felt bad for Wyatt. She hadn't won the duel by his definition of 'honorable means', but she wasn't going to lose any sleep over it. The guy said first blood and she had even questioned it before they began. Any Salarian would complement her scrutiny of the rules. A Turian would praise her for standing her ground against an aggressive opponent looking for a fight. An Asari would agree it was the best way to end the dispute without risking further harm to all parties, while the Alliance would approve her quick-thinking.
And the Krogan… point one her way that wouldn't love the fact she had used a headbutt to solve her problem. Wrex and Grunt would have been waiting to congratulate her with a near crippling slap on her back.
Nagrim walked up beside her and held out the bag holding her weapons.
"Thank you," she said, slipping the bag's strap back over her shoulder.
The dwarf smirked as he held out a small leather purse and gave it a shake. Coins jingled inside. "No, no. Thank you, lass. I made a fair bit of gold off that fight." He dug a finger into the purse and pulled out a single gold coin. Holding it between two fingers Nagrim examined the currency with a critical eye, then held it out for Maria.
"Here you go lass. Only fair you get a share. Your head did most of the work after all," he finished with a toothy grin.
That got a small laugh out of her as she took the coin. "Thank you."
Nagrim stuffed the purse somewhere under his cloak. "Come back inside now. I want to say I bought a Reiksguard a drink before I have to head back to my hold." He turned and marched back through the tavern doors, leaving her alone outside.
She wanted to follow him. Oh, how she wanted to. The tavern had good food and she had already bought a room for the night. And her suit's replacement helmet was still sitting on her table inside. Drinking with the dwarfs sounded fun and that warm bed was practically calling her name. But she couldn't go back inside. Not anymore. She knew it as soon as the dwarf told her those soldiers had wanted to duel her.
Maria quickly walked around the back of the tavern to the stable where the horses were kept. She found George, probably just about to fall asleep the poor guy, and mounted back into the saddle. She steered him out and back onto the road, shot one last glance over her shoulder, then snapped the reins and pushed the horse further north.
Middenheim was crawling with soldiers. Six of those soldiers now had a juicy story to tell as soon as they ran into some friends. A story of how a woman armored up as a Reiksguard had been challenged to a duel and won by headbutting her opponent.
The story would spread until the knights of one of the many orders eventually heard of it. Those knights would be sure to want to at least glimpse this strange woman. And once word passed among them, how long would it be before the two actual Reiksguard Knights she had seen earlier heard the story as well? And once they got wind of her, well than, all bets were off.
As Maria rode George further out of Arenburg and away from Middenheim they passed by fields of crops and acres of farmland. The stars and two moons winked in and out of existence as a cool breeze blew clouds across the sky. Further up ahead Maria could just make out the looming shadowy mass that signaled her return into the thick forest.
She took a deep breath, inhaling the night air, and blew it out slowly.
"Another night spent under a tree George."
/ooooooo\
Location: The Great North Road, Nordland
Day 38
"According to the map, we should almost be on top of the town of… of Beekerhoven? Beekerhoven? That's a strange name for a town. Beekerhoven. Huh, maybe I'm just missing the correct pronunciation?"
She looked up from the map and glanced over at her horse, who was quietly grazing. "You're the local here. How do I pronounce Beekerhoven? Bee-ker-hoven? Or maybe, Beek-er-hoven? How about Beeker-WHOOO-ven? I like the last one, but I wouldn't count on it being right."
George just ignored her. Maria could hardly blame him. Since the debacle back in Middenheim, she had pushed through that entire night without sleep, intent on getting as much distance between her and the Reiksguard Knights as possible. After a short nap the next day, Maria had again kept up the fast pace, only stopping for a quick layover at a small inn along the road where she and George could rest, eat and drink.
It was now night on that second day out of Middenheim, and they were camped out in the forest a few yards off the road. The trees and brush weren't particularly thick where they were camped, but a few points along the well-traveled road Maria was surprised by how tall and large the trees were growing. Over the last stretch, some of the trees had grown so large that they towered into the sky, with their branches growing so wide and far out that they completely covered the road beneath, forming a natural canopy of leaves.
It was pretty cool ridding underneath all that. Even now a few trees around her had grown to enormous heights with their branches spreading in all directions. They would have been blocking her view of the night sky, but the cloud cover had grown thicker as the days went by. It was almost pitch black in the forest tonight. The only light was thanks to the small fire Maria had started as soon as she had picked their camping spot.
She continued to look over the map. Beekerhoven should be close. So close she had almost decided on ridding on through the night until they reached the town. But with the lack of visibility and her hard push through the first two days had instead convinced her to just relax it out until the sunrise.
Once they reached Beekerhoven… Bee-car-who-van?… it was just a mile or two to the Nordland capital city of Salzenmund. They were practically touching on the map. And once in the capital city Maria could cut her travel time in half by catching a boat down the River Salz toward the sea, disembark at the town of Stavern, get back on the road, and ride for only two days max until she finally, finally, arrived at the port-city of Dietershafen.
Of course there was the whole matter of finding a boat and captain willing and capable of taking her to Ulthuan, but she'd deal with that when the time came.
Maria folded up the map and stuffed it back into her purse/bag. She picked up a few more logs and placed them into the fire, then after staring into the flames for a minute rapidly found herself yawning. She hadn't had much sleep over the last forty-eight hours and exhaustion was catching up.
"What do you say to turning in early George?"
Her horse whined and stomped a hoof into the grass, which caused Maria to perk up and look his way. Wasn't often he answered one of her questions. Actually, he never answered her questions.
George was staring off into the night, both his ears pointed in the same direction, and then shook his head up and down, let out another whine and stomped the earth. Maria followed his gaze and quickly discovered the cause.
"Oh, come on," she murmured.
Out in the dark were a pair of red glowing eyes. Two pairs actually. Spaced a couple of feet apart and at least three or four feet above the ground. Red glowing eyes just out in the night. Staring back at Maria and her horse. Just like on her ride through Middenland.
Except these had gotten closer than the ones before. Close enough Maria was able to judge how high off the ground they really were. And just like before, they had done so without making any noise to alert her of their presence. George had caught them before her once again.
But unlike last time, George wasn't staying still. This time he seemed agitated as he pounded the ground once more and shook his armored head up and down.
Well, biotics had gotten rid of them last time, but the message didn't seem to stick. Time to up the ante. Maria pulled out her phalanx pistol and aimed down at the red eyes. Her horse hadn't left her when the beastmen attacked, so she figured a couple of gunshots wouldn't scare him off.
"My name is Maria Shepard. I am a Spectre and a sorceress." She'd give them the same warning one more time, just to be civil. So far the eyes hadn't been openly aggressive. "I do not enjoy being followed. I am giving you to the count of three to leave. If you fail to comply, I will shoot you."
The two pairs of eyes began to move as one to her left. Maria's aim followed them.
"One."
The eyes continued to move slowly. George stomped the grass again.
"Two."
The eyes stopped moving left. And began moving closer.
Maria skipped three and fired. As soon as she pulled the trigger, two large furred shapes came jumping out of the night on Maria's right side and tackled her brutally to the ground. The attack caught her completely by surprise. She, and her aggressors, skidded across the grass and dirt.
As her head swam, something bit down across her entire right forearm and she fought to keep a grip on the pistol. At the same time another of the shaggy mystery attackers seemed to lay across her body and tried to get at her face. She used her left arm to push back with all her strength.
Maria's vision cleared as the attackers continued their aggressive attack. It felt like whatever had a grip on her right arm was trying to ripe the entire limb free from its socket. Away from the fire it was difficult to see, but when one of the creatures snapped its putrid smelling jaws directly at her face, she got an up close and personal look.
It was a pair of wolves. Two wolves were clawing and trying to tear through the Reiksguard armor as Maria struggled to fight them off. But when the wolf on top of her moved, allowing light from the fire to brighten their bodies, that's when Maria's heart began to race and fear truly coursed through her.
They weren't normal wolves. They were decayed. Rotting. Fur and flesh were stripped away revealing the muscle and bone beneath their entire bodies. Skinless jaws bit Maria's arm, so close she could see through the cracks in the skull. No normal wolf could survive such grievous wounds. They were obviously dead but moving and trying to kill her all the same.
And through it all, the biting, the clawing, they were entirely silent. Not a noise escaped from their jaws. The only sound filling the forest were Maria's own panicked struggles.
"Fuck! Fuck!" She tried pushing them off but both wolves had managed to sink their teeth into her armor as their flailing paws continued to try and gore her open.
"Get off me!"
A burst of biotic power from her body sent one wolf flying. The one that had sunk its teeth into her right arm refused to let go and only flopped over on its side as the biotic energy struck it. It quickly righted itself and continually shook its head back and forth, dragging Maria a few inches in each direction across the ground, as it tried to rip her arm off.
"I said get off!"
She enveloped her left fist in biotic power and punched the undead wolf in its decomposing face. The impact shattered the skull sending bits of bone and brain matter in all directions. Its head destroyed, the wolf's body just crumpled to the ground beside her and remained unmoving.
Her victory was short lived. Maria just managed to sit up when another undead wolf directly in front of her leapt at her, its jaws open unnaturally wide. She raised her phalanx and managed a single shot before the wolf tackled her, knocking Maria back to the ground. Teeth locked around the arm, and it took her brain a moment to come to terms with the fact that the undead wolf had just swallowed her arm up to the elbow.
Another wolf appeared on her left and charged, presumably the one she had sent flying with her first biotic attack had returned. Maria managed to fire a cryo-blast that successfully struck the wolf's front chest and torso. As the wolf that had swallowed her arm continued biting and clawing her, Maria's eyes were locked on the second wolf as she watched one of the undead creature's front legs shattered to pieces. It fell over itself, landing right on top of her and the other undead creature, then just maneuvered itself using its three remaining legs so it could bite down on Maria's shoulder.
Cryo-blasts were useless unless she could freeze the head, but the arm with her omni-tool was pinned under the wolf on her shoulder, while the other arm still holding her pistol was currently in the process of being swallowed by the other wolf.
Two bursts of biotic power failed to dislodge the wolves tearing into her armor. They were crazy strong and refused to yield even a little. A paw raked down her cheek and neck and Maria screamed out in pain. She still had her phalanx tight in her grip, so she just started pulling the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Suddenly a lump of something settled on her legs which Maria easily kicked off. The weight on her swallowed arm was drastically reduced. Almost by half. When Maria looked up she saw her arm sticking out from the body of the wolf that had swallowed it. Her bullets had completely blown apart the creature's spine and all its thrashing had caused it to tear itself in half. The rump and hind legs were sitting motionless down by her feet.
Maria dropped the phalanx between her legs and then stretched her right arm out across the ground. Unbelievably, the top half of the wolf was still biting her arm and clawing at her body. With her arm flat on the ground, Maria channeled biotic power down the limb and sent it exploding outward. The area around her arm exploded, showering Maria and the remaining wolf with dirt and decaying wolf gore.
Her arm free, Maria gathered more biotic power in her fist and punched the last undead wolf directly in the skull. Its head exploded and immediately after the body ceased struggling.
Maria pushed the rotten corpse off herself and grabbed the phalanx resting between her legs. She rushed to her feet and swept the entire area with her pistol raised.
Just beyond the campfire Maria spotted her horse in a desperate struggle. The fourth and last undead wolf had its jaws clamped on the underside of George's neck and was trying to tear into the horse with its paws. The horse was in a panic, rearing up and trying to kick the terrible creature off, but its front hoofs couldn't land a decisive kick.
Maria switched on the pistol's aiming laser, sighted the base of the wolf's head, waited for George to rear up once more, and then fired.
The bullet cleaved straight through the wolf's skull, destroying the brain and severing the spinal cord in one go. When George's hoofs landed back on the ground the wolf's corpse crumbled under him. For good measure he started pounding what was left into nice smaller pieces.
Maria began moving toward him but kept her pistol raised, held steady in both hands, as she checked all corners of the night for more red eyes.
"George, talk to me buddy!" she stepped right over the fire, barely acknowledging its presence as she scanned the forest. "You okay? Calm down now, the wolves are dead… deader I guess."
Reaching the panicked horse, she grabbed his reins and pulled hard to bring his face even with hers. He struggled in her grip.
"We got them alright?" she tried to sooth him, forcing her own voice to sound peaceful and even. The attack had been incredibly violent and fast. Shock and awe on steroids. Tearing her gaze from the forest she looked into the horse's eye. "I've got you now. Calm down. I need to make sure you're uninjured. I've got you George, that's it."
The horse stopped squirming around and finally remained still, but Maria could still hear him breathing heavily. She examined his neck and found the armor punctured in a number of places, but there didn't appear to be any blood. She ran her hands up and down his head and neck, but he didn't flinch from any pain. Keeping him still Maria then checked the ground around to see if any blood was dripping down his legs.
Nothing. Holy crap, he was fine. Thank you anybody. Just like with the minotaur, his own heavy armor plating had taken a beating, but in the end saved his life.
A wind blew through the forest, shaking leaves and rustling branches. It was enough that Maria spun around and had her pistol raised in half a second. She scanned the darkness surrounding her again, but still saw nothing.
Last time there had been plenty of eyes watching her. This time there were only four pairs. Why? If the undead wolves had attacked in the same numbers as before, she wouldn't have been able… able to…
A cold dread filled her. If the crazy freaking undead wolves had attacked in the numbers she had encountered back in Middenland, she would have died there. No question. End of story.
That was an uncomfortable realization.
"George, I'm making the executive decision that we will ride through the rest of the night until we reach Beekerhoven."
He didn't argue.
She moved to put the phalanx back in her bag, then froze when she noticed it wasn't on her hip.
"Oh no," her eyes swept the small campsite. "No, no. No, no, no, no. I am not losing my locust to a bunch of zombie wolf assholes!" Maria kept her pistol in an iron grip as she jumped back over the fire and searched the ground for her stupid purse/bag.
"Where the hell are you?!" she ran over to the rotten wolf corpses and spotted the bag with the strap torn in two laying beside the last wolf she had killed. To say her heart skipped a beat at the sight would be an understatement.
She bent down to grab the bag but ended up dropping to her knees in the grass. Adrenaline spike wearing off must be messing with her balance. Maria took the bag and tied the severed strap back together. It only lost a few inches and would now hang tighter against her body anyhow leading to less chance of losing it in the future. Thankfully her locust, map and coin purse were all still inside.
Another gust of wind shook the trees and sent Maria's heart racing. She tried to stand but it took two attempts to get back to her feet. She had to get a grip. Honestly, undead wolves were pretty mundane if you thought about it. Just an ordinary wolf, but dead. Yippy skippy, who cares? A wolf was a wolf. Bang, boom, dead.
Yippy skippy? Where the hell had that come from? Adrenaline spike coupled with simple exhaustion. She hadn't slept in a while. This is what you get.
Using her biotics Maria picked up a ball of dirt and smothered her campfire, casting the surrounding area into darkness. Her omni-tool provided all the light she'd need back on the road.
George, once more a rock, waited patiently a few feet away. At least he should have been a few feet away. He looked a few feet away. But when Maria started toward him it took considerable effort on her part just to walk the distance.
She literally fell against the saddle and had to hold on with both hands to keep the world from spinning.
What the hell? Adrenaline wearing off, no she was fine. Breathing steady. In, out. In, out. She'd had worse scares in her life. Was she tired, yeah, but her N7 training had prepared her for that. If you couldn't handle sleep derivation you didn't pass, simple as that.
Maria pushed her head from the saddle and had to blink a few times at the large red stain covering the leather and running down the metal plates before it finally dawned on her that it was blood.
Her blood.
She looked down at herself and grimaced. She was a mess. Her armor was punctured and scratched to hell just like her horses. But she was also covered in vile rotten disgusting wolf bits and blood, with a healthy layer of dirt caked over all of it. Except for the part by her collar there. That was fresh warm blood still dripping down her armor.
Wait. That was because one of those wolves had hooked his claws on her face and neck and given her a nasty scratch. Was that why she couldn't feel the left side of her face? Maria glanced back down her chest.
Well this can't be good.
She pulled on George's back and yanked open the saddle bags. She had two waterskins packed away that she had barley touched in her escape from Middenheim. Maria tugged the first one out and popped the cork.
Leaning her head back, Maria began pouring the water out over the area she remembered being scratched, doing her best to clean the wounds that were undoubtedly there.
"Damnit Miranda. What's the point of upgrading my body with heavy skin weaves complete with synthetic fiber lattice shunting, along with heavy muscle weaves perforating the muscle with micro-fibers to reduce muscle stress and exertion, if a freaking undead wolf can just run up and tear through all of that with a single swipe of his mighty paw?"
Maria stopped pouring water down her neck as she burst into giggles. "She is going to flip when I tell her four-billion credits was worthless against a park animal." She giggled again, nearly dropping the waterskin, but only spilling some on her boot.
Somehow that splash of water penetrated her foggy brain, reminding her she had life threatening injuries that needed care. That fear managed to sober her up just enough.
"Yup," she swallowed heavily, pouring the last of the water out, and then reached for the second waterskin. "I'm in trouble."
/ooooooo\
Don't fall off the horse. Don't fall off the horse. Don't fall off the horse.
This was Maria Shepard's mantra, and by golly, she would live by it. Because living literally required her to stay in the saddle. The saddle she wouldn't fall from. This saddle, right here, between her legs.
What had it been again? Two years plus change since she'd had someone between her legs?
That's why she could not, would not, fall off the horse!
"What the hell am I even thinking about again?" Maria groaned as George galloped toward the nearest town. Which was rapidly approaching if that solid brick wall ahead was any indication.
The town's gates loomed in front of her but unlike Bokel it seemed Beekerhoven kept the lights on all night. Along the high stone wall above and near the gate large fires had been lit to help the patrolling guardsmen see into the night. She even spotted a pair of cannons up there. Wow, if this place had cannons guarding the doors maybe Beekerhoven was bigger than she first thought.
George brought his galloping to an end as the gates cracked open and another pair of armored knights rode out followed closely behind by six more guards.
At least Maria had a general idea of how this was going to go. As long as she didn't make a scene, there shouldn't be any problems. Swinging her leg over George, Maria hopped out of the saddle and prepared to greet the approaching men.
The only question is, why was everyone sideways? Why was the city gate sideways? It looked a lot taller now too. Maria reached for George, but her hand missed him by a mile. He had also grown quite a bit, and was sideways just like everyone else.
Oh, wait.
She was the sideways one. Her dismount from the saddle had ended with Maria falling flat on the gravel road. She pushed herself back up so she was at least sitting on the ground instead of laying on it.
There we go. Much more dignified.
Maria waved at the knight who quickly jumped from his horse and jogged to her side. "Hello," she began with a smile. "My name is Maria Shepard. Could you –"
"By Sigmar…" the knight stared at her as he dropped to a knee in front of Maria. "What happened to you?! Are you alright, my lady?" He reached for her face but stopped before touching her with a wince.
Maria nodded; a bit more emphatically than she had intended. "Yes, never better. Just a scratch. Could you –"
"Who is it, Erhart?" one of the soldiers standing back at the gate called out.
The knight, Erhart apparently, stood, grabbing Maria under her arm and hauling her up with him.
"Reiksguard!" he shouted back. "And she's injuried! Call for the doctor!" He started pulling Maria with him back to the gate, as the second knight rode past and grabbed George's reins.
A few of the soldiers looked at each other. "Did you say 'she'?"
"No, I said Reiksguard," Erhart growled back. "I also said to get the doctor. Now!"
At his sharp command two of the soldiers ran back through the gate, as the rest stood aside allowing the knight to escort Maria into Beekerhoven.
Ha! She made it! One more step on her journey to Ulthuan complete. And these guys even took her for a Reiksguard on sight!
Maria smiled at the knight helping her, so Erhart did his best to smile back. He seemed like a decent sort, she decided. Good thing she hadn't made a scene back at the gate.