Chapter 62 – Face the Beast
Shu's bold proclamation was met with stunned silence. Finally, Kiba asked the question that Flik was sure everyone was pondering. "You mean to pit our army against the entire Highland force?"
Instead of a curt reply, Shu chuckled, allowing a small smile onto his face. "Lord Riou, permit me to explain my strategy." The strategist's enthusiasm pulled everyone forward. Flik leaned towards Shu and Riou, waiting for the brilliant plan. Shu cleared his throat. "First, let me say that there's no way the New State Army, with little more than twenty thousand soldiers, can defeat the fifty thousand of Highland."
"That's just great," Viktor groused. "Are you saying we can't win?"
Shu dismissed Viktor's question with a wave of one hand. "Calm yourself. We will win without killing them. We will win by taking the head of Luca Blight."
"That would change the political situation in Highland," Klaus added, running his thumb across his cheek. "Despite the questions surrounding her birth, Princess Jillia would possess the remaining royal blood. It's well known that she doesn't favor her brother's policy of military aggression. There would be hope for a peaceful settlement if she took the throne. But," -he glanced sharply at Shu- "all of this hinges on being able to kill Luca Blight. We can't fail."
"We won't," Shu answered. He gestured towards the map. "The Matilda and Maximillian Knights will ride north to keep Culgan's Fourth Army from joining the battle. The Winghorde will provide support in this effort." Camus and Miklotov snapped smart salutes while Max bowed gingerly. "I've already explained to Luc that he must drive the Harmonians out of the coming battle." Flik thought he could imagine the absent mage's sneer.
"That leaves our main force of infantry and archers to face the White Wolves, who will inevitably lead the march on South Window." Shu pointed to a rise on the road, just west of their current location. "Riou and Kiba will anchor our position here, at the top of this hill. The rest of the army will deploy on either flank, below the crest. Gilbert and Valeria will be on the left, Humphrey and Viktor on the right. The archers and mages will be positioned behind the battle line with Freed as the infantry reserve."
Shu looked up from the map, glancing from general to general. "Our goal is capturing or killing Luca Blight in battle. All of your efforts must be focused on surrounding and eliminating his personal unit. Therefore, when the battle begins, I want Lords Riou and Kiba to begin a feigned retreat."
Flik had been studying the map intently. "I get it," he murmured. "You figure Luca will chase them right into the middle of our army."
"Indeed." Shu clasped his hands behind his back. "We don't have the power to defeat fifty thousand soldiers, but none of that matters if we surround Luca Blight with our twenty thousand. Victory will be ours."
"Father, you must be careful," Klaus admonished, rubbing his hands. "In Luca's eyes, you are a traitor. He won't hesitate to kill you."
"I'm not afraid," Kiba replied with a grim smile. "Let him come; I've been in combat longer than he's been alive."
"We will win," Riou assured them, his face betraying no doubt. "We'll win, and we'll rescue Ridley!" His words were met by enthusiastic clapping. Flik clapped as readily as the other generals. The situation was desperate, they had to fight, and they had to win.
"This briefing is adjourned," Shu announced. "Rest now, and fight well tomorrow." Exhausted from the day's fighting, most of the generals began to clear the tent.
Viktor thumped Flik on the back. "Nothing like a good plan to raise the spirits," he declared. "It'll all be a matter of timing. We'll have to hold back until Luca's just over that ridge. Hey, where're you going?"
Flik had been studying the map again and noticed something that displeased him. He began walking towards Shu, who was speaking with Apple. "I'll want you to call in Kasumi. There are a couple of things I want to discuss about her part of the mission." His eyes shifted to take in Flik approaching. "Is there a part of the plan I can elaborate for you?"
"You seem to have forgotten me and my men," Flik replied. "Where am I to deploy tomorrow?"
Viktor pulled up behind Flik, putting a hand on his shoulder. Flik looked back as his friend said, "Your unit's in no condition to fight."
"Let's be honest, your command was decimated in this battle." Flik turned back to face Shu. "I don't assign any blame to you. In fact, your efforts ensured that Culgan didn't get into our rear, but your part in this campaign is over. You probably have half your men fit for duty."
It was a perfectly logical argument, but Flik didn't feel in the mood to listen to it. "You can't leave me out of this battle," he argued, voice rising. "I won't stand aside during the critical battle."
"I need your unit intact," Shu answered, his facing showing the beginnings of a frown. "Putting your men into the line of battle would be detrimental to that goal, all things considered."
"I don't have to be there long," Flik pleaded. "Only long enough to use the Fire Spears. Let my men strike first, and then we'll leave the fighting up to the infantry."
Shu sighed, rubbing at his forehead with the knuckles of his fingers. "You're not going to relent on this, are you?"
Viktor laughed and stepped beside Flik. "Of course he isn't. He's stubborn that way."
Shu quirked his eyebrows. "Once. Use your Fire Spears once, then get behind the rest of the army." His voice became tight. "I will relieve you of your command if you don't obey those orders."
Flik could feel himself smiling broadly. "That's all I wanted."
"You're dismissed," Shu said tersely, turning to speak with Kasumi as she entered the tent. Viktor and Flik walked out into the muggy night.
"Don't push your luck," Viktor suddenly warned.
"You mean with Shu?" Flik shrugged, thinking of the strategist's threat. "He wouldn't do that. Besides, I'm not about to disobey his orders."
"I'm not talking about Shu," Viktor answered. The two men stopped at an intersection, rows of tents spreading out around them, the hastily built palisade visible in the light of the nearly full Blue Moon. "Don't do anything stupid, like confronting Luca Blight by yourself."
"You think I would?"
Viktor faced Flik, looking him in the eyes. "Yes," he said seriously. "You get intense in battles. If you thought you could single-handedly win the next battle by some foolish action, you'd forget caution entirely."
"It wouldn't be foolish if it won the battle," Flik answered sharply.
"Just remember that your life is important to many people," Viktor replied. Then he shook his head and his comforting, goofy smile reappeared on his face. "Ah, I don't know why I'm all serious anyway. It won't even come to that. Tomorrow, we're going to thump Luca Blight and bring this war to end!"
"Right!" The two men shook hands in the middle of the camp and marched off to their respective units.
In the morning, Flik gathered his remaining men and explained their part in the upcoming battle. Looking at his mercenaries, he could see the truth in Shu's warnings. There were little more than three hundred present of the six hundred that had left Dunan Castle. Still, he had his four senior sergeants, and the men appeared to be in fine spirits. He mounted Nightstar and led them through the dirt streets of the camp to take up his position at the rear of the line.
At one point he passed by the men from Greenhill, who were preparing to march. Lady Teresa and Shin were going through the final review of the archers. Flik couldn't help but note how strange it was to see her on a battlefield. When she'd joined the army, he'd assumed that Shin would lead her contingent in her place, but she'd never once shirked that responsibility.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her chewing her lower lip. Trying to sound reassuring, Flik said, "Don't worry. We'll win."
Teresa frowned. "You say that with such confidence, but Luca Blight is a terrifying enemy. Still," -she sighed, her apprehension fading- "if we let fear paralyze us, we'll be killed for sure. Good luck, Flik."
"Good luck," Flik answered. Nightstar carried him beyond the archers. His men took up their place, waiting as the army began to exit the camp, heading west. The waiting was difficult, and he kept looking over his shoulder as the sun rose in the east, expecting to see the Highland Army marching out of the light.
No one did, and eventually his turn came. Flik pulled the collar on his yellow shirt up and rode Nightstar forward into the dust the rest of the army was kicking up. With his head down, he didn't see much of the countryside as it went past, but he knew they were leaving the forests around Radat behind, returning to the plains and great manors around South Window.
They reached the rise Shu had selected for the battleground before noon. When Flik arrived, he could see that the rest of the army was filing out into the lines that Shu had dictated. The far right of the line was covered by trees, while the buildings and walls of a manor anchored the left flank. Flik and his men had a hasty lunch on the forward side of the hill. Above them, on the crest of the ridge, were Riou and Kiba's men. The remainder of the army was hidden on the reverse slope.
The first scouts of the Highland Army appeared in little more than an hour. For a moment, Flik was afraid that they'd try to attack his men, to test his resolve, but they turned and trotted away. A looming cloud of dust in the distance marked the approach of the enemy's main body. Flik wondered what Shu would do if the White Wolves weren't leading the march.
That concern was dispelled soon enough, when the enemy halted to dress lines for battle. Flik could see the plumes on the helmets of both cavalry and infantry, marking them as Luca's men. There were a lot of them, but not so many as the New State Army. Flik lifted his eyes, scanning the road behind the White Wolves. There was no sign that any reinforcements were imminent. It looked as though Shu's plan might work.
A horn blared from the enemy side. Flik looked down to see a banner unfurling at the center of their line. The image was of a two-headed wolf, the Beast Rune, blue against a white background. In the heat, it appeared to shimmer and waver, almost as if it were radiating light. The sight made him uneasy, reminding him of when he'd seen that same image in the night sky. Gritting his teeth, he banished the thought. Now was not the time for fear.
The enemy was leading with heavy cavalry, more than a thousand men and horses bearing gleaming armor and long lances. It struck Flik as a strange place to put them, but he wasn't going to complain. He drew his sword. "Fire Spears, ready!"
The Highland charge built momentum, rising from a walk, to a trot, then a canter, closing the ground. Flik began to grin. They meant to use the heavy cavalry for shock, right from the outset. From the way they were bunched up, they'd apparently never seen Fire Spears before. He would make them respect the weapon. "Steady!" he shouted. "Let them come closer."
The ground rumbled under the pounding of horses' hooves. Flik held his sword up high, letting the sun catch it so that his men could see the light. The Highlanders had reached the foot of the hill, their lances coming down as the charge reached into the final gallop. "Now!" Flik cried, his voice drowned by the oncoming roar. His sword chopped down to provide the visual cue.
He suddenly felt the heat of the flames as the sweat on his skin evaporated. He watched as the charge came on, rushing to meet the fire. Flik nodded his respect for his opponents. They seemed to show no fear, even though they couldn't avoid being engulfed.
As quickly as they'd started, the Fire Spears stopped and the Highlanders were completely obscured by flames. Flik couldn't help but wonder if their whole unit was going to run right into the fire. It didn't matter. As devastating as the attack was, a large number of Highlanders would likely survive, and Flik had to get his men out of the danger zone. Yet his eyes remained on the blaze.
A single horse and rider emerged out of the conflagration, completely covered in fire. Flik could see individual strands of the horse's mane glowing bright red as the hair burned to ash. He clenched his teeth, reminding himself that war was never pretty.
Impossibly, the Highland rider approached his men, still galloping, despite the flames streaming off him. That's when Flik realized the couldn't hear the horse's agonized whinnying, or the man's howls of pain. In seconds, the rider's burning lance transfixed one of his men, who was too stunned to defend himself. The mercenary's dying scream was overwhelmed by the rumbling of thousands of hooves. Flik swung his head back to the fire and watched, horrified, as the charge poured out of it, smothering the flames by sheer mass. He could see that there were hundreds of Highlanders who'd just suffered terrible burns, but few of them appeared incapacitated.
"Retreat!" Flik yelled. He was fighting his mind's urge to shut down, to not believe the images in his eyes. There was no standing against this. His men began to scatter away, trying to avoid the lances of opponents who apparently didn't feel pain.
Nightstar was a nimble horse, and Flik managed to turn her completely around and heeled her to accelerate as quickly as she could. He twisted back and cast bolts of lightning towards the closest pursuers. One man was knocked off of his saddle, but the others absorbed the attacks without slowing.
A few of his own men were retreating with him. Flik could see Rossgard off to the left side, Hix and Tengaar on the other. Tengaar's braid whipped wildly as she tried a spell with her earth rune. The ground behind Flik buckled, cutting down the legs of the nearest Highland horses. That part of the charge faltered momentarily as the enemy went down in a tangle, giving Flik's group the time to get to their allies.
Kiba, sword in hand, was at the forefront of his line as Flik's men streamed past. "Steady!" the older commander hollered. "We shall repulse them!" He glanced at Flik and shouted, "What the hell happened?"
All Flik could answer was, "I don't know."
Once they were through Kiba's men, Flik reined Nightstar in, turning to watch the battle. For the second time in one day, he saw an impossibility happen. A man might be stupid enough to throw himself onto the spears of a prepared enemy, but no horse would ever be that suicidal. That was why charges against steady infantry rarely worked.
It did this time. Flik gaped as the Highland horses literally ran themselves right up into the spears of the New State Army. They, and their riders, suffered gruesome wounds as spears punched through their armor. Then the first spears began breaking, snapping as the charge pressed home.
Finally, Flik began to see Highlanders die. Whatever enchantment had given them this supernatural bravery, it wasn't proof against death.
A volley of arrows snapped through the air, over Flik's head, and towards the enemy lines. Huge bolts of Jeane's lightning flashed out of the sky, their impacts obscured by the slope of the hill. Flik realized that the battle was spreading as the Highland infantry caught up to their cavalry. Like the cavalry, the infantry seemed to be endowed against pain.
"Commander, we should move back," Rossgard suggested. "We need to find the rest of the men and reorganize the unit."
The center of the New State Army, under Kiba and Riou, buckled as the enemy cavalry forced open a gap between the two units. They were being pushed back, pushed off the top of the hill. A moment later, the flag of the Beast Rune appeared at the crest, and under it was a rider on a black horse, all in gleaming silver armor. Luca Blight.
Men began to flee from the banner and the King of Highland, who plunged down into the fray, his sword chopping left and right. A ring of bodyguards rode around the king, trying to keep up with him as he battled. Flik understood that, just as they were seeking Luca's head, Luca was seeking Riou, to put an end to this war by cutting down the leader of the resistance.
Nightstar took a few steps forward before Flik realized that he'd unconsciously given her the command to walk. He reined up, unsure of his intentions. Soldiers from Riou's unit were rushing by him, some throwing down their weapons, trying to escape. The center was unraveling; they were on the verge of losing this battle and possibly the war. What could he do?
"Commander!" Rossgard shouted, fear showing on his voice. "It is dangerous here. What are your orders?"
Luca Blight's sword flashed twice, each strike killing a soldier. Flik firmed his grip on his own sword. He couldn't see Riou, but he knew that his leader was somewhere in that mess. "That way!" Flik yelled, pointing his sword at the King of Highland. "Forward!"
Honestly, he'd fully expected to go alone, but the men around him responded, following as he advanced into the rout. He wasn't sure how long he could divert Luca's attention, but he hoped it would be long enough for Riou to escape.
Flik fought his way towards Luca and his bodyguards, his sword slashing into the faces of enemy infantry who refused to flinch, his lightning knocking aside enemies who never screamed, even in death. More enemies moved up to take their places, and the number of allies fighting around Flik dwindled. His advance began to slow. As close as he was, he wasn't going to make it to Luca after all.
The bodyguards on Luca's far side suddenly came under attack, falling to the spears of some brave State infantry and their commander, Viktor. With the Star Dragon Sword in his hands, he slashed at one of Luca Blight's protectors, knocking him off his horse. Flik, in desperation, heeled Nightstar forward, trying to get to his friend. He pressed her through a narrow gap, his sword and shield swatting aside enemy spears. Nightstar shivered uneasily at the closeness, but found her footing and got past, clear of the enemy infantry.
The bodyguards nearest to Flik rode forward to meet him, four against one. He reined Nightstar in, waiting to see how they would come at him. A knife flashed through the air by him first, flying into the throat of one bodyguard. Rossgard and Hix rode by on either side, and Flik was aware that Tengaar was behind him.
"Follow us!" Hix shouted.
"We'll clear the way!" Rossgard added.
Flik legged Nightstar forward again. Ahead of him, Hix and Rossgard each drew one of the bodyguards. The one remaining bore down on Flik, who called on his lightning rune. The blast stunned the Highlander, and Flik followed in with his sword, jamming the blade into the armpit of his enemy.
Beyond the tumult, Flik could see that Viktor and Luca Blight were circling on horseback. Their swords clashed together, an echoing crash of steel, and suddenly both men were attacking with a flurry of blows. Flik wrenched his sword out of the bodyguard and urged Nightstar onward. He saw Viktor's smile as he arrived, heard Luca Blight's answering snarl. It was time to face the beast.
Flik tried to circle in behind Luca Blight, but he saw the move and rode to meet Flik, Viktor following close behind. Coming head-on, Flik brought up his shield and braced for Luca Blight's strike. It clanged against his shield, ringing it like a bell, bending one corner back. Flik's answering thrust hit nothing but air. Viktor, still chasing, flashed by, and Flik was out of position.
He reigned Nightstar left, trying to catch the fight. Luca suddenly turned, cutting directly in front of Viktor, causing him to heel up unsteadily. Luca's sword hammered hard against the Star Dragon Sword as Viktor tried to regain his seat. Flik reached within again, calling for his lightning rune to save his friend. The bolt crashed against Luca Blight's breastplate, rocking him back into his saddle and scoring the silver armor. The King of Highland glared menacingly at Flik.
But Viktor had recovered. Together, the two of them tried to overcome Luca Blight. He wasn't to be subdued so easily. With his sword in a two-handed hold, he whipped it back and forth with astonishing ease. Flik found himself parrying more often than attacking, and none of his hits against Luca's armor appeared to penetrate. Flik's arms began to ache with exertion. He could see the exhaustion in Viktor's face too, but Luca showed little sign of slowing.
Luca's black mount suddenly bumped hard against Nightstar, knocking her off course. Flik struggled to regain control, but for a moment, Viktor was left to face Luca Blight alone. Both men were incredibly strong, both experienced combatants, but the King of Highland seemed to be fighting in a possessed rage. Viktor parried high and low, but was unable to block when Luca's mailed fist, tight around the grip of the blade, punched him in the face.
Viktor fell roughly out of the saddle, rolling over the ground. He didn't rise when he finally stopped. Luca turned to complete the kill, but Flik, in desperation, had brought Nightstar back into the fight. His shield wobbled as he parried Luca's jab, and his sword seemed to slide ineffectually along Luca's armor. The two began a tight, turning duel. Luca's sword and fist pounded against Flik's shield as Flik sought desperately to gain the initiative. He wanted to see if Viktor was all right, but didn't dare take his attention off of the King of Highland.
Luca Blight began laughing maniacally, and his attacks increased in tempo, slashes raining down on Flik's shield. One such slash split the top of the shield, nearly down to Flik's arm, before Luca's sword stopped, stuck in place. Sensing an advantage, Flik thrust at Luca, trying valiantly to wound him. Luca Blight wrenched his sword, still stuck in Flik's shield, pulling Flik's attack wide. All Flik could do was hold his seat as his shield was jerked back and forth. Sharp bolts of pain coursed up and down his left arm. Finally, with a snap, and another sharp pain, the straps on Flik's shield gave way. It flew off into the air, free from Luca Blight's sword.
Without a shield, Flik attempted to hold his own against Luca Blight. Flik parried away slashes and jabs. One of Luca's punches clipped his left shoulder, but Flik managed to recover, catching Luca's blade in a bind with his own. The two swords screamed, and Luca bore down, pressing Flik back. Flik's arms began to wobble and he was suddenly reaching for air, taking rapid, shallow breaths.
Nightstar trembled, gave a hysteric whinny, and a spray of blood splashed against both Flik and Luca Blight. The sword bind was broken, giving Flik his only chance. He kicked Nightstar to all speed, even as he saw that one of her ears had been bitten off. She responded in a frantic gallop that quickly cleared Luca Blight's larger horse. Droplets of her blood sprayed at Flik's face, nearly blinding him. When he cleared his vision, he saw that he'd well outdistanced Luca Blight.
He couldn't go back to finish the fight. Nightstar refused to heed any command, but continued running. However, even if she'd been under Flik's control, he knew he wouldn't have turned back. He didn't have the strength left to face the beast.
And so, amidst the wreckage of a shattered army, Blue Lightning fled the battle, Luca Blight's mocking laughter ringing in his ears.