The Shattered Realms: Hanalea ana'Raisa
Fangs of the Wolf
Chapter Two
Captain Hanalea ana'Raisa was sprawled out on her back, by the Drynewater her breath mingling with the cold air. Simon Byrne, her bound Captain of the Guard, and childhood friend sat beside her.
"Think we will get any news?" he asked, looking down at Hana.
"We crushed their vanguard. You think they'll continue?" she responded, not opening her eyes.
"They have the men to spare, Your Highness," he responded with the usual Byrne bluntness.
Hana sighed as she sat up, turning to look at Simon she nodded. "True, they do," she looked out at the Drynewater before her and took in the sight with the sun high above, but even then the weather was cold and hostile, usually so for the marching season.
"Your Highness! A rider approaches!" came a shout from the rear. Hanalea stood up turning around with her usual grace, Simon coming to a stand beside her, like a dark tower, his sharp gray eyes, focused on the rider before Hana's did and he stepped in front, hand on the hilt of his sword.
Hana pushed Simon out of the way as the rider came within view. Demonai. "We have received a message from our scouts in Marisa Pines Pass. A battalion worth of flatlanders are coming up. Shilo Trailblazer has us falling in with you while she and the rest assist General Dunedain and the Queen along the border with the Water Walkers."
Hanalea nodded and brought her fist to her chest in a salute. "We are glad to have Demonai with us. Your longbows will come in handy on the heights."
The Demonai returned the salute and nodded. "I'll bring the rest of them up, I gave orders to meet us at Marisa Pines. We'll meet you there." the Demonai saluted and rode off.
"A battalion...really? What is Karn thinking? He already lost twice that much," Byrne said in Hana's ear.
"Not sure, but we did lose a salvo in the process as well. We can't spare men like that, the flatlanders can," Hana growled. "Soldiers! Fall in, we are moving out," Hanalea ordered, her voice reverberating down from the mountains in an echo.
Her eyes darted up, and she could see the clouds on Hanalea peak, the ancestor for which she is named - lightning danced around. Although the storm hadn't reached them as of yet, that horrible weather would be on them by nightfall.
'The wolves are running,' echoed in her mind, her mother's words coming back to haunt her. Hanalea blinked as reigns were jammed into her hand which broke her out of her thoughts.
"Hana?" came Simon's blunt voice.
"Sorry, just thinking of the future, more & more these days." Hana replied, worry kneading its way to her stomach.
The salvo formed up, and began their advance to Marisa Pine's Pass, to meet the force from Arden that was headed their way. An entire new force of men, quite unusual for a second wave but it had happened before.
They always knew how desperate the King of Arden, Gerard Montaigne was, after his offer of marriage was spurred by Rasia ana'Marianna, Queen of the Fells. That was followed by an invasion within her first few months as queen.
They routed the Ardenian army then, they will route them now.
It took them several hours, and as they progressed to Marisa Pines, the sky darkened, noticeably.
Hanalea was riding Spirit, and he tried to take the bit and forge ahead, he knew how close they were to Marisa Pines. He also could feel the temperature dropping.
"Easy Spirit, we won't be stopping at Marisa Pines," she said softly, and it seemed he understood, as his ears laid back and he showed his teeth.
"Your Highness, I must urge you not to fight on the front lines. You are the Princess Heir, you must survive," came beside her, from Byrne.
"Relax Simon, those cowardly southerners will need many men to take down this young wolf," she laughed looking over at him. His black hair framing his dark face to where it looked like he was a painting of an old warrior, long ago.
He leaned in close to Hana to look in her bright emerald eyes, and she turned to focus on him as well. Leaning to him, she brought her lips to his, holding the kiss for several seconds.
The bond between Captain & Princess never interfering, as they had been together for several years now. A highly kept secret, of course, from her Mother, the queen, and her Captain of the Guard.
"You know our parents would kill us if they knew we were an item," Simon said softly.
"Maybe just you. Mother, I think would be okay with it," Hana replied. Her mother had told her what happened between her & Amon Byrne years ago when she had fled the Queendom to attend Oden's Ford, fleeing a forced marriage to Micah Bayar.
Hana was given a full history from that moment of the realms at large and what Arden was trying to do, was bring them together again...under Arden instead of the Fells.
"Father I think would accept it as well, after he scares the day lights out of you," she laughed. Her father, Hanson Alister - High Wizard, and Royal Consort had a fearsome reputation as the most cunning & powerful Wizard since Alger Waterlow, once known as the Demon King. Her fair, golden hair came from him.
"I think my father would crucify me, he is always 'duty first'," Simon said, looking back over his shoulder as if his father might be there.
A noise in front drew their attention, and off to the right side of the column came a rider, a Highlander this time.
"We are within a mile of Marisa Pines, Your Highness. Shall I relay the order to make camp tonight once we reach -"
"No, we will be linking together with the Demonai already there and headed to the pass. We need to keep Arden from hitting the Vale where their numbers will benefit them. Make sure the officer in front knows this," Hana barked, interrupting him, then the Highlander, saluted and peeled off to report back.
As the salvo came within several hundred yards of Marisa Pines, they peeled off right to the Pass, Demonai falling in to their left, and to the right of the column riding at full speed was Hana & Simon, assuming the lead of the column.
"That weather will be upon us within the hour Your Highness!" shouted the Demonai officer as Hana road up beside him.
"Indeed, and if the wizards were correct in their prediction it will be a welcome ally in the coming fight. Those flatlanders aren't used to our climate, even with the twenty years of war we have been in," Hana laughed, Simon remaining stoic as usual, that stubborn Byrne personality showing through.
"It will also hinder us, although I do believe the enemy will have a much worse time in it than we will, Your Highness," Simon said finally after a few silent minutes.
After another couple minutes of silence they finally reached their location, the bulwark that had been built after driving the southerners south the first time.
"Take up positions now on the cliff heights. I want all hands at the ready, and give us a good warning! Mobilize - now!" Hana ordered as she dismounted, her boots crunching in the snow, and she pulled the reigns of Spirit tight as she lead him to a tree.
"Corporal!" picking out a mounted Highlander who was getting off her horse, she turned to see the Princess Heir addressing her, "I want you to gather the horses, and tie them here, get several men to help you!" She shouted, turning toward the bulwark without waiting for an answer.
She ran up the steps on the left, men already at the gate, men on the right side of the bulwark and men to either side of her, Simon right behind her, hand as usual on his sword.
"Captain! I see them in the distance! They are coming," shouted a Demonai warrior.
"You may let your arrows fly now, we will stop them here! For the Queen in the North," shouted Hanalea, her voice reverberating off the walls, the sound of her sword hissing free of its sheath and a roar came from her men and the clatter of metal as they prepared themselves for the oncoming horde of the Red Hawk of Arden.
As if on cue, Hana noticed movement out of her peripheral vision and she focused she instantly knew what it is - the storm is upon them. She looked back to the peak of Hanalea, now obscured by the storm and she raised her head in a silent prayer to her Wolf Queen sisters, and as she opened her eyes she could hear the howl of the wind - her sisters were with her now.
The Red Hawk of Arden against the Gray Wolf of the Fells. Another battle, another grudge match, another dance of death that was claiming the lives of those who have no business going to the Breaker so early.
The wounded howls of men could be heard as Demonai arrows found their mark, she could see several mudbacks with the black fletched arrows in their necks.
Her salvo holded their position, forcing the flatlanders to come two at a time due to the narrow width of the bulwark. She surveyed the scene in the blink of an eye, her spearmen held the heights of the bulwark, along with several archers, those with swords & axes were at the gate - ready to spill blood for their Queen.
As Hana turned, she grabbed Simon by the arm pulling him with her as she stepped off the bulwark. She came around the post and into the ranks of her men.
"Keep line formation! Do not push forward, make them bleed for every step they take!" Hana shouted, her voice barely audible over the sounds of battle and the screaming of the wounded and dying.
She felt a rush of wind pass by and a sharp pain seared her right cheek. The trickle of blood that ran down, she paid it no mind; she had suffered worse wounds before in the heat of battle.
She pushed forward, several men parting for her and she found the front line. She dodged a swing from one mudback, then with a back handed grip on her sword, slashed his arm open, blood spilling in a trail as he flailed back, being impaled by a spear from above. A guttural groan was all that escaped his throat before the spearman pulled his weapon free.
Spinning counter clockwise, she raised her blade overhead, blocking an axe from a mudback who she sent flying back with a kick to the stomach into the men behind him. Following through with that she ran another mudback through, ducking below the strike of another mudback, she pulled her weapon free and severed his arm before putting her sword through his neck.
She jumped back gaining a little distance between her and the mudbacks, to give her a little space to work with for the next contestant who wanted to enter a dance they would only have once.
She felt a presence to her left, and she knew without looking that it was Simon - her captain, and lover. She turned to the right, parrying a strike from one mudback, Simon leaned behind her to cut him down, He then stepped in front of her, blocking the strike of another and Hana followed suit to cut that one down.
It was their normal routine, fighting the enemy back to back; she knew the bodies of the mudbacks littered the ground, and many more joining them as the arrows overheard continued to fly - the black fletched Demonai arrows that never seemed to miss.
The mudbacks seemed to slow, the weather finally showing its affects on them being in a hostile country, and a call to retreat went up from the rear and they pulled back in tatters, leaving their dead behind.
The cries of victory filled the air from the Fellsian highlanders, a cheer for the decisive defeat they handed to Arden.
Hana and Simon were covered in blood from the ones they cut down, and they turned to face each other - Hana threw her arms around Simon.
"Captain! Our losses are minimal! We suffered mainly wounded; we have only eight dead! Fifteen wounded," said a Highlander as they stepped forward, the yellow scarf at their neck denoted their rank as a lieutenant.
"That is good news, scavenge what we can from the dead, and then send a detailed report to the General with my compliments. I may organize a scouting party once this weather clears...we need to know what we are facing," Hana said as she stepped back from Simon to face the officer.
"Simon, place a guard here to keep watch, its time for us to make camp, and clean this blood off. Find me once that is done and we will discuss strategy to further hold the line if they show a renewed attack," Hana ordered, although she kept her voice softer then normal.
"Yes, Your Highness. I'll see it done," Simon said, that Byrne duty showing through once again as he brought his fist to his chest in a salute, and headed to the Bulwark to fulfill his orders.
His gray eyes were alight with pride and emotion knowing that his love was still alive, and that perhaps the mistakes of the past could be rectified when they were calling the shots.