Chapter 7: Duty

"Aren't you excited, Sevvy?" said Cynthia, almost squealing in delight.

"…sure, if you say so," said Severa, voice indifferent. "Nervous" might be a better description. Or perhaps "terrified." Today would be the first time that their unit ran a mounted patrol, and Severa had lost quite a bit of sleep worrying about the weather. Summer storms could be brutal, and flying a patrol in the middle of one of them would be idiotic. Even if you can keep aloft, your mount's likely to injure herself navigating the winds. And your weapons and armor? You might as well be a lightning rod.

Despite Severa's fears, however, the day had dawned with fair, if slightly overcast, weather. Immediately after breakfast, the recruits had headed for the stables to ready their mounts—though Zoe, who had arrived to the meal late and had fallen asleep in the middle of her second helping, had to be shaken awake first.

"Well, Starlight and I have missed being in the thick of things," said Cynthia, scratching her mount behind the ears. Starlight, a magnificent beast with a jet-black coat and feathers, snorted in pleasure and blew into Cynthia's hair, eliciting a delighted giggle from the commander.

"We're not in the thick of things, we're running a patrol," said Severa. She had just finished brushing out the mane of Blizzard, her own mount, and reached up to pull her saddle down from the rack.

"Well, it's the closest to the thick of things that we've been in a long time," Cynthia retorted. "Besides, I've been itching to flex my muscles."

"To show off to your underlings, you mean?"

"Awww, you don't need to make it sound like that!"

"But you do want to show off, don't you?"

"…maybe a little…"

Severa shrugged, smirking. "Well, I'll be sure to bring along a healing staff, if that's the case."

"Come on, have a little faith!" said Cynthia, pouting.

"Oh, don't worry, it's not for you. It's in case the recruits are so impressed with you that they fall out of their saddles." She cinched the last strap tightly around Blizzard's midsection and winked. "That's a real danger, isn't it?"

Cynthia opened the door of the stall, taking Starlight's lead rein. "We'll see how much you tease me after you've seen my totally awesome techniques!"

"I look forward to it," said Severa, grinning.

They formed up in the courtyard: eight riders, lances braced against their stirrups as their pegasi stomped at the ground. Severa checked her shoulder strap to make sure that her staff was properly stowed, but ready to be drawn out at a moment's notice: battlefield healing was a tricky prospect, and a few seconds often made all the difference. As soon as she was assured it was properly stowed, she turned to Cynthia. "Well, anything you want to say before we take off?"

Cynthia twisted in the saddle to look back at the other recruits and raised her voice. "All right, people, listen up! The very first official mission of the new Ylissean pegasus knights is about to begin! I want you all to show me what you've learned out there, and don't hold back! Let's all do our best together, okay?" She punched the air with her free hand. A rather ragged chorus of assent greeted her.

Severa glared back at the recruits. "Unacceptable! When the commander gives a speech, you ought to respond with a nice, crisp 'Yes, commander!' Try it again! Are you ready?"

This time, the knights shouted in unison. "Yes, commander!"

"Hmph! Barely adequate, but I'm sure it will improve, given time." She looked over at Cynthia. "On your order, commander."

Cynthia, looking somewhat befuddled, shook herself. "Uh… right. Everyone, take off in pairs on my mark!" She touched her heels to Starlight's side, and the pegasus leapt forward, building up to a gallop before launching herself into the air with a mighty wingbeat. Severa and Blizzard took off a breath later, with the remainder of the recruits just behind.

Cynthia leaned over towards Severa, trying to make herself heard over the wind. "Wow, you sure sounded scary back there."

Severa allowed herself some self-satisfied preening. "But of course. I learned from the best. I used to watch my dad whip soldiers into shape all the time."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, then," said Cynthia. She nodded. "All right, we'll move a bit further north before we start running maneuvers."

The air was crisp: not too warm, and not too cold. As they flew, the clouds began to break up, until they were flying through a clear, blue sky. Severa looked down to see the countryside unfolding beneath her like a quilt: rolling fields and pastures bracketed by hedges and fences, with the odd grazing herd of cows or flock of sheep. Ahead of them, a river split the landscape, looking like a wide, blue ribbon from their vantage point as it meandered its way down from the northeast. Cynthia raised her left hand as they approached the river, and Severa read the signs: "form up" and "wait for orders." She raised her own hand in acknowledgment and relayed it down the line.

Though the recruits were somewhat slow to respond, they eventually managed to get into a satisfactory formation. Once that was done, Cynthia brought Starlight into as steady a position as she could manage and began a series of signals.

At "Break by pairs," the riders split into three groups, moving into a long, slow glide. Cynthia's next signal, "attack run," was enthusiastically complied with. Severa watched closely from near Cynthia's position, evaluating. Ellen's a good rider, for all her shoddy lance-work. I'll have to remember to compliment that.

Things got a little complicated when Cynthia signaled "form up" again: Lily's glide took her too far over, and she nearly collided with Renee. Fortunately, neither of them was injured, but it was a close call. Even from far away, Severa could hear Paula's voice shouting a variety of colorful insults in the Feroxi knight's direction.

As Cynthia raised her hand to relay another series of signals, something caught Severa's eye: a series of bright lights, steadily rising into the sky from near the river. There's a village down there, I think… She squinted, trying to make out the pattern. During the war, Laurent's mother had devised and distributed a series of magical signals, to help ensure the safety of the population. The magic was rudimentary enough for almost universal use, and everyone involved in the military had worked hard to learn the signals.

She called over to Cynthia. "Somebody sent up a light. I'm going to see if I can read it." She nudged Blizzard in the direction of the village, squinting. If it was a bit darker out, it would be easier to read.

Let's see. Two red lights, then three in violet… Oh gods. She wheeled Blizzard about, climbing higher, and flew back towards Cynthia. "Risen sighting!" she shouted as she approached.

"Risen?!" Cynthia's eyes widened. "There's a village down there!"

"They're calling the villagers back out of the fields and barring the gates, but that'll leave the crops exposed." Severa shook her head. "I hate to ask our recruits to jump straight into combat, but it'll take awhile for one of the other units to make their way out here, and I don't want to wait any longer than is absolutely necessary."

"Agreed," said Cynthia. She raised her voice. "Listen up, knights! There's a pack of Risen somewhere down there, and we're going to find them and kick their butts! Understand?"

Severa led the responding chorus. "Yes, commander!"

The eight pegasus knights headed into a descending spiral until they were only a few dozen feet above the ground, giving them a better view. "Keep your eyes peeled!" shouted Severa over her shoulder. Looking to her left and right, she could see small groups of people heading towards the village gates. Some of them looked up as the pegasus knights swept overhead, and their cheers came faintly to the knights' ears. Cynthia, flushed with excitement, shaded her eyes with one hand. However, it was Teresa who called out first.

"Ahead of us, to the left!" She raised her lance, pointing. Severa looked in that direction and saw the indistinct forms of Risen moving across one of the fields, parallel to the road.

The terrain is mostly clear… good. This way we don't have to worry too much about colliding with trees. There were approximately a dozen of the Risen. Slightly over half of them were shambling, hulking revenants, their movements as jerky as a puppet with half its strings cut. Behind them were an assortment of humanoids that might have been a gang of bandits in life. Two carried axes, one a sword, and two held lances in their rotting hands. No archers, thank Naga. That would be a real nightmare on their first deployment.

Cynthia signaled twice. "Break by pairs. Attack run." Severa settled into a position at Cynthia's wing. "All right, Cynthia, handle this," she called ahead, grinning.

"Easy peasy!" Cynthia called back, holstering her lance and hefting a gold-bound tome in front of her. She held up her free hand, pointing it towards the nearest Risen, and shouted the spell. "Thoron!"

Twisting bolts of lightning sprang from her palm, scorching their way through two of the lead revenants. Severa hung back, looking back over her shoulder as their comrades made their move. Paula, Teresa, and Ellen flew lead Equipped with lances, they swooped lower, the hooves of their pegasi almost skimming the ground as they closed for combat. Paula and Teresa both made solid contact with their targets, and two axemen fell, dissolving into dust. Ellen, nerves getting the better of her, pulled up too early and missed the swordsman.

The Risen's heads turned at an inhuman angle to watch them go, twisting almost completely around, and Severa felt a faint wave of nausea. She suppressed it and looked forward for Cynthia's next signal. The commander signed a moment later. "Switch lead unit. Re-engage."

"Oh, all right," she muttered, urging Blizzard past Starlight and into the lead.

Cynthia grinned at her as she flew by, flashing her a thumbs-up and shouting, "Go, go, go!"

Lowering her lance, Severa headed in the direction of the swordsman that Ellen had missed. Renee, Lily, and Zoe followed, switching with their respective wingmates and taking the lead. Severa, flying more swiftly than the others, rammed her lance through the body of the Risen swordsman, feeling the familiar sensation of the body crumbling to dust beneath her weapon. Been awhile, hasn't it? One of the lancers lunged forward, stabbing at her, but she swung her own lance, batting the thrust aside as she passed. She heard Cynthia give a whoop from behind her and felt a flash of light and heat at her back. She didn't have to turn to know that another bolt from Cynthia had evaporated the creature.

Another two revenants fell to Renee and Zoe's lances, but a sudden shout from behind Severa made her heart leap into her throat. She turned to see Lily toppling from her saddle, the lance of the remaining Risen bandit through her leg. She hit the ground hard, rolling with the momentum, and screamed with pain as the lance was torn free. The other revenants moved towards the prone knight, claws extended.

Frantically, Severa pulled at Blizzard's reins, trying to bring her mount about, but she already knew that she wouldn't be able to turn in time. None of the other knights would be able to help either: they had already passed by.

All but one, that is.

Teresa, shouting a battle-cry, hefted her lance and hurled it at the first revenant, simultaneously pulling at her pegasus to slow it. The weapon passed all the way through it, sticking in the ground beyond, as Teresa landed between Lily and the second revenant. She reached behind her in the saddle, drawing a long dagger, and leaned down out of the saddle as her pegasus charged forward. The blade stuck in the creature's eye, and as it flailed to the ground, her mount trampled it into the dust.

As the Risen soldier moved forward to pick up its lance, Teresa wheeled her mount. Almost casually, she plucked her lance from the ground and, as the creature straightened, stabbed it through the chest. It dissolved, the dark magic that gave it false life dissipating.

Teresa jumped down from the saddle and ran over to Lily, dropping her lance in her haste. Severa landed moments later, already pulling her staff free. Teresa pulled Lily into a sitting position, cradling her to keep her from falling back.

"Ngh… Teresa, that really was something," said Lily weakly. "Really beautiful, the way you handled that…"

"How is she?" said Severa, running up.

"Losing blood fast," said Teresa, her tone grim. "I think the lance hit a vein."

"I'm really tiiiiiiired," Lily muttered. She giggled weakly. "Sleepy sleep time…"

"Try to stay awake, Lily," said Teresa, as Severa cut away at the fabric of Lily's uniform to examine the wound. The soldier's guess had been correct: the thrown lance had punctured one of the deep veins, sending a steady stream of blood flowing onto the ground. This could be tricky.

"Just keep her talking, Teresa," said Severa, lowering the staff towards the wound. "Don't let her fall asleep."

Teresa nodded. "Lily, just focus on my face, all right? Listen to my voice."

Lily giggled again. "Mmm. Yeah, I guess I could do that. You have a nice voice… nice face…"

Now is hardly the time for flirtation, Severa thought irritably. She tuned out the others' voices until they were no more than background noise, bending all of her concentration on knitting together Lily's leg. Healing is one hell of a hard job… I don't think anyone gave Brady enough credit for what he did.

Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead as she channeled magic through the staff. Slowly but surely, the wound began to close, and Lily's breathing steadied. As the wound closed, Severa allowed the light to fade and sat back with a sigh of exhaustion. She realized, with a jolt of panic, that she could no longer hear Lily talking: the Feroxi's eyes had closed.

"Is she—?" she began, her tone panicky.

"Sleeping," said Teresa, placing two fingers at the hollow of Lily's neck to take her pulse. "She seems to be fine."

"Thank Naga for that," said Severa, nearly faint with relief. Blizzard had walked up behind her, and she leaned heavily against the pegasus's legs, prompting her mount to lip affectionately at her hair.

"You sound almost concerned," Zoe drawled.

"Of course I'm concerned!" Severa let a wry note enter her voice. "And not just because training a replacement would take too long. I don't want anyone's hard work—mine, or yours—to go to waste."

The green-haired woman shrugged. "Kind of you to say so, I suppose."

"You suppose?" Severa said, glaring.

Cynthia stepped in, her tone almost giddy with relief. "Now, now, let's not fight. Look on the bright side: since you had some practical training today, we can be done with drills for the day." She giggled at her own joke, though nobody else seemed to find it as funny.

Paula raised an eyebrow. "Bright side?"

"P-practical tr-training?" Ellen stammered.

"Our commander's bad jokes aside, you did a good job," said Severa. "Keep it up, and I might eventually be convinced to admit that I trained you."

That, at least, was enough to get Paula to smile. "That's our sub-commander."

Cynthia nodded decisively. "Right! We should take care of everything before we clear out. Paula and Renee, head over to the village and let them know that everything is clear. Zoe and Ellen, make sure that the battlefield is cleaned up. We don't want to risk farmers stepping on some rusty Risen weapons."

"I'll see to finding a cart for Lily," said Severa, getting to her feet and brushing dirt off the back of her uniform. "There's no chance she'll be riding back to the capital."

"Thanks, Sevvy," said Cynthia.

As the knights went about their tasks, Severa patted Blizzard on the neck. "Good work out there, girl. I'll make sure you get a treat at dinner tonight, eh?"

The pegasus made an approving sound, butting her head playfully into Severa's chest. "Glad you approve. Now then, we've got a job to do. Shall we be off?"

In a pounding of hooves and a flurry of feathers, mount and rider winged their way off into the blue summer sky.