(-a/n- Man what a week (or four!) I'd forgotten how hectic life is once you're back at school! I'm taking more subjects than anyone else in my year and therefore am kept busy with all of my work, not to mention the start of the hockey season, performing arts tour rehearsals and the distractions of a new hamster!…well lets just say I've been incredibly busy! I'm really hoping (once I've settled back into my routine) to update once a week :D (-excluding my two week Music tour!)
As always thanks to the awesome people who review, all of your reviews really encourage me to keep updating :D
These are the wonderful reviewers:
hail flying spaghetti monster, geka0taitsume0taikaiyou, Nyleve, Ayswen, ThJaFl, Grace of Masbolle, PuddyTatt, JaBoyYa, Yabberli, truffletruffle01, ObSeSsEd WiTh ROXAS, lady knight keladry, epobbpLady Sapphirea, Golden23, SaoirseWaveglow, Kathy, cher bear, the. dead. addict., Transfiguration, Evil Bunny of Death, Cede, ErythaAbbs of the faeries Lady Muck, crazylittlefox, Forget Me Not Blue, Stoned Lorikeet, Erynfaer, Hasamaki, BlackWidow12, omateido, x17SkmBdrchiczxx, soupcan, seven3eight, Devouring Sarcasm Phantasm, oirishgoddess, SongOfSilk, ACertainJustice, Me, SavingSaturn, storywriter10791, Rycr, killinguwithumbrellas, elfie-may, On top of cloud 9, 13.shimer.13, emerald lady, Beth, charity, Hunchbook, demon-gal68, Bookworm, rootless californian, Macko, NotAfraidToLive, brezzybrez, Serilia, Pie of Doomeh, Uncertian Destiny, Serilia, moon lady13, RLM, LadyCrazyMonkeyPants, StockingsLady Zarobiti, Solute the Star, Sati Naberrie-Snape Scarlet Ice Cascading, Joanna, ElentarielDark Emo Shadow, seekerchick06, tricksterslioness &Mapstone?.
SarahE7191I did, Maths, statistics, English, English literature, biology, physics, chemistry, French, Latin, music, P.E & R.E :D
Right or Ryn 300???
youdontwant2no I'm making it up as I go…(something which I do a lot in life…especially in Maths :D) It would be quite cool to learn how to fence…but I prefer hockey :P
fairydust000 Thanks for the message…it prompted me to finally finish this chapter!
Confusedknight xxx
Evening came and so did the retreat of Maggur's men. Both sides withdrew to their camps to nurse the injured and rest their exhausted soldiers.
Kel had lost track of the hours that she had spent on the battle field but she was so tired that she was having difficultly thinking straight. The battle had been a horrendous mess with men fighting everywhere and anywhere until felled by injury or fatigue.
When the defending force retreated to the campsite, Kel cared very little for food or water and instead staggered back to her tent, stinking of blood and sweat. Still fully clad in her armour she fell asleep the moment she lay her head upon the ground.
She wasn't the only one. Alex was likewise exhausted and once satisfied that Kel was alive and relatively uninjured, he collapsed beside her into a deep sleep.
As Kel and Alex lay sleeping, oblivious to the world around them, men were sent out to collect the dead and injured, whilst others were stationed on guard duty, just in case.
Eight hours later and no longer feeling as though she was at the door to the Black God's realm, Kel woke up and rubbed her eyes. To her surprise Alex was still asleep. Kel couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Alex properly sleeping and was shocked at how different he looked. He looks a lot younger, she mused, wondering not for the first time how old Alex actually was.
She was just debating whether or not to wake Alex up, when he opened his hazel eyes, staring blearily at her for a split second before his gaze cleared and his eyes regained their usual alertness.
'You should go and get some food,' he remarked, 'I expect this truce won't last long.'
Kel nodded and left the tent. He sat up, with a sigh and covered a yawn, gazing at the tent flap which Kel had just disappeared through. There was no need to tell her that he'd been up half the night covering both their guard duties, he thought. She had enough to worry over.
Now feeling ravenously hungry, having not eaten much the night before, Kel ate her fill of slightly stale bread and dried beef. She washed her meal down with a canteen of water and stood up, stretching her arms.
Kel felt incredibly stiff and decided to go for a short walk to loosen up her limbs. She set off between the tents, stopping randomly to stretch out her muscles properly. All around her she saw men in much the same state as she was -dirty and battle worn.
As she reached the end of the plateau and unwelcome sight met her eyes; the bodies of the dead fighters had been piled unceremoniously, just behind a bend in the rock face. They lay sprawled, bloody and lifeless in the morning sun. These were people's fathers, brothers and friends, all dumped here because there was nowhere else to put them.
Kel retched, suddenly feeling sickened. Refreshed from a night's sleep and well fed in the light of this glorious February morning, it had been easy to forget the horrors of battle for twenty minutes. The reality came crashing in a wave of sorrow and her throat constricted.
She turned, unable to face the sight of the dead men any longer. You're meant to be a warrior, she told herself sternly, you're meant to be able to stand the sight of a few dead men. But the old tales of gallantry on the battlefield were lies, Kel now realised. Never did the tales describe the sightless eyes and twisted limbs...
Kel blocked off that thought and tried desperately to think of anything other than the grisly sights that she had seen over the last few days.
Returning to the main part of the camp and Kel discovered that the men were all assembling. She slipped in behind Ricth's huge form, to listen to what she presumed was the plan of action for the day.
'My men,' said Llatimor, 'now is not the time to grieve for those we have lost. You have all fought like heroes, and very soon our women and our children will be safe in Rokang. Defend this pass with all the strength you have left, and tonight horses will come from Rokang to bear us safely there.'
A new man's voice sounded, one which Kel didn't recognise, and due to the mass of people in front of her, one which she could not put a face to.
'Yesterday you all fought as individuals,' said the man. 'Today you will fight as units. Your squad leaders all know the battle plan and we ask that in ten minutes you assemble with your squad. Our new recruits will join those squads who have suffered the heaviest losses and when the enemy come you will meet them with all the strength and bravery befitting a man from Sekholm.'
The meeting disbanded with a mighty cheer, the men filled with a fresh hope for the coming day. Kel wondered what the "battle plan" was. A well thought out strategy would be the difference between survival, or annihilation for the men of Sekholm.
When Kel reached the point where her squad was assembled, she did a quick headcount; seven including herself. They had lost three. Kel knew that Kenl wasn't dead, just injured. It could be worse, thought Kel as she looked around at some other squads who numbered only four.
After a few minutes a new fighter joined their group. To Kel's disappointment it wasn't Fassin, but the new man seemed to be nice enough, not that that would matter in the coming battle, thought Kel. However before they had even started to go over the plan for the battle, the horn sounded; the enemy were approaching.
Kel hurried after the rest of her squad to assemble in the path, to meet the oncoming rush of enemy fighters. Kel's squad attacked and withdrew, then drove in somewhere else. Their change of strategy seemed to be confusing the enemy and after an hour or so, it was clear that the enemy was taking heavier losses.
As Kel charged into battle yet again, seeking out an opponent, she realised that Alex's squad was fighting next to hers; buoyed by the sight of Alex, whole and healthy she parried the enemy's attack and disarmed him efficiently.
At that moment something whistled past her helmet, instinctively Kel dropped as arrows reigned down around her. Next to her someone else dropped, two arrows sticking from his neck. His dying screams could scarcely be heard over the clamour of the battle, but Kel saw Jackoyb's mouth open wide, blood gurgling in the back of his throat. Slowly, as Kel watched, the agonised twitching resided as his whole body went limp. He was dead.
She stood up to find the rest of the squad, or what remained of it, staring in horror at their fallen leader. The arrows were still raining down and each stationary man posed a target.
'MOVE,' she roared, springing up. 'RETREAT!'
The men suddenly jerked out of their horrified trances and fled after her up the pass. Once hidden behind stone rock, the men dropped to their knees moaning in grief for the loss of a person who had trained and mentored some of them since boyhood.
She stared out over the carnage and fought back her own feelings of sorrow. Jackoyb had been a good man, a brave fighter. Another squad had retreated and as she watched, she recognised Alex supporting, half carrying one man who clutched the stump that had once been his arm, blood splashing out onto the rocky ground.
Healers rushed out to aid the man, hurrying him away. Alex spotted Kel and sought her out, trying in vain to wipe his hand clean of the warm, scarlet blood that covered them.
'We lost our captain,' she said despairingly, 'he was the one that knew the –' but Kel was interrupted by a horn call –a request for immediate aid on the battlefield.
'Then you must lead them,' said Alex as he turned to face Kel, his hazel eyes solemn.
'What?' spluttered Kel, unsure if she had heard correctly, 'I can't-'
'Look at them,' he said harshly, grabbing her shoulder and hauling her around so that she faced the sorry group of soldiers from her squad, 'they need a leader or they'll all die.'
'Alex,' said Kel urgently, 'I don't know anything about commanding-'
'Then learn,' he replied flatly, 'or you're all dead.'
He hurried away, back to his squad, leaving Kel rooted to the spot. Anger fuelled by despair was coursing through her. Panic welled in the pit of her stomach, how could Alex just abandon her like this?
Another, shorter blast of horn call, prompted her into action. She marched over to her squad mates, determination etched into every step.
'Get up,' she instructed in a voice quite unlike her own, 'I said get up,' she shouted. 'We've been summoned onto the battlefield to aid our fellows, now for the love of Mithros let's MOVE!'
Shocked, the men stood up, gathering their weapons in surprise as they looked down upon the smallest soldier in Sekholm's army, who was currently glowering up at them, fierce determination shining in her grimy face.
'We fight,' she said simply and with a roar, she charged down the hill. After a split second, the men followed her, adding their voices to her war cry and as a unit they charged into battle. Dimly, somewhere in the back of Kel's mind registered a fierce pride in her squad.
Alex, who had watched the whole spectacle out of the corner of his eye, as he instructed his squad, smiled inwardly, all it took was a little push in the right direction.
As Kel fought, a different section of her brain seemed to be scheming and calculating. She kept an eye out for potential risks such as enemy archers or enemy reinforcements and at several times ordered the squad to withdraw and regroup. Oddly, keeping an eye out for her comrades wasn't as difficult as she'd envisaged.
Hours later still and Kel had managed to steer her group out of the worst situations, and despite the freed slave fighter taking a wound to the thigh, no one else had fallen. The group learned to respond quickly to her calls, and nobody questioned her decisions. Kel sometimes thought that she could see traces of relief in their faces; relief that it was she, and not they that were leading the group.
Their latest plan of action, one which they had discussed hurriedly over a twenty minute break in fighting, incorporated charging an area of the enemy line, fighting one opponent and then retreating to dive in somewhere else. In this way, they went wherever help was needed most, often coming to the aid of other depleted squads.
Kel didn't even notice the protestations of her body anymore. Every muscle ached and there wasn't a square piece of her that didn't need to rest. She had acquired several small injuries; a gash on her arm bled freely, and her right wrist still objected to it's usage after the previous day's injury, but she ignored them.
At last, after inexplicably long hours, both on and off the battlefield, night fell and the enemy retreated. Now the soldiers waiting in tense silence, slumped together, or desperately searching for friends, to see if the horses from Rokang would arrive.
Night had well and truly fallen by the time sixty horses arrived, lead by a group of dark-haired men. Wearily men heaved themselves atop the first horse they found, and began to start the journey up the pass. Someone had light the huge, communal funeral pyre and acrid smoke made Kel's eyes smart, as she struggled through the crowds of people, trying to find Alex.
Instead of finding Alex, she came face to face with Rhonda.
'What are you doing here?' she asked blankly.
It took Rhonda a few moments to recognise her.
'Mithros!' she exclaimed, her eyes wide.
'Have you seen Alex?' asked Kel, too tired to care what Rhonda thought of her.
Rhonda shook her head. Kel swore;
'Where is he?' she muttered.
With Rhonda following close behind, Kel picked her way through abandoned tents and cooking pots, until she came to the edge of the camp, where at last she saw Alex. He was standing in the pass, alongside three other men, all of whom were facing out into the darkness, their eyes eagerly scanning the Basin for any sign of movement.
As they approached, Alex turned, and his face, illuminated by the light of the moon, registered surprise at seeing Rhonda.
'What are you doing-'
'I volunteered to help bring the horses,' said Rhonda impatiently. 'By the Black God, you both look a right state.'
Kel was too tired to even comment. If she looked anything as bad as Alex did; bloody and tired, her shining armour covered in scratches and dents, then Rhonda was right.
'How goes the evacuation?' said Alex.
'The men have been instructed to leave everything,' replied Rhonda, 'most of them are escaping as we speak.'
'Good they've all-'
One of the guards let out a cry and then dropped, stone dead, an arrow sticking out of his eye. Kel reacted instinctively and she barrelled into Rhonda and Alex, forcing them to the ground as more arrows peppered the remaining three guards.
Out of the darkness appeared twenty or so men, some clutching bows, others gleaming swords.
'Let's move,' said Alex hoisting the two women up, and together they sprinted away, pursued by the foremost men of the attacking force. Rhonda slipped, and tumbled down several metres. Alex was further ahead, shouting futilely to raise the alarm. Kel spun on her heels and ran back to help Rhonda, who was back on her feet and swearing like a fisherman.
Kel leapt into battle, aiming not to wound, but to kill. She had killed two men before an arm yanked her back; it was Alex.
'Let's go, there's too many.'
Kel noted that several other men lay dead, ones felled not by her own sword but by Rhonda's daggers. Once again they sprinted away up the path, and WHAM! Something punched into Kel's shoulder, a second later there was excruciating pain.
She dropped to her knees, the world spinning violently. From far away a voice screamed 'Kel!'
Someone slapped her across the face and Alex's face swam into view.
'You've got to get up!' he said, his voice panicky.
Vaguely Kel remembered how to use her legs through the thick mist of pain that was building inside her head. Stumbling and tripping, held up by Alex on one side and Rhonda on the other, they reached the camp.
Kel felt strong arms lift her onto a horse and she cried out in pain as she jolted around on top of the horse as it cantered away from the camp. Blackness was clouding her vision. She was screaming even though she wasn't aware of it, and then she fell, deep into the welcome depths of unconsciousness.
'Where is she?' shouted Alex, as he pushed past other injured men in the infirmary.
'A healers on her work,' said the deep voice of the freed slave. Fassin's dark eyes were filled with worry as he regarded the man who he knew to be Kel's friend.
'She's not?' choked Alex.
'She live, good chance healer give her,' he said, gripping Alex's shoulder in a gesture of comfort. Alex swallowed, forcing back tears and trying not to notice the blood which still glistened on Fassin's tunic; Kel's blood.
'Can I see her?' he demanded.
'You be…er…' Fassin searched for the right word, 'waiting, then you see.'
Alex slumped into a chair, wringing his dirty hands in his lap.
'Thank you,' he said eventually, after a few minutes of silence, 'for getting her out of there.'
Fassin shrugged. Just then Rhonda came through the door. Alex leapt up.
'She's going to be fine,' she said. Alex stepped forward and embraced Rhonda, shaking in relief.
'Can I see her?'
'If you go and get cleaned-' but she didn't have time to finish as Alex had released her and dashed inside. Rhonda watched him go, a thoughtful expression on her face.
Alex entered the room and crossed the space to Kel's bed in three strides. She lay, pale and immobile on the sheets, heavy bandaging visible underneath a large clean shirt which was serving as a nightgown.
A healer was checking her pulse.
'It was in the God's hands for a while,' said the healer tiredly, 'but she pulled through and provided that she rests then she should make a full recovery. The arrow was embedded in her scapula, but it missed the artery that would've proved fatal. We've healed the bone and as much muscle as we can, the rest will heal naturally in time.'
'Thank you,' said Alex, gratefully.
'The man bowed, that's my job,' he said as he finished examining Kel's eyes. 'She won't be awake for several hours, so I suggest that you get yourself cleaned up-' he touched a gash on Alex's cheek, which healed instantly, '-and then return here in the morning.'
Alex thanked the healer yet again, and with one last look at Kel, departed.
Alex overslept but as soon as he was awake, he hurried down to Kel's bedside and since she was still fast asleep, though her cheeks had more colour in them than the previous night, Alex wandered off to find himself some breakfast.
He hadn't been to Rokang for years, but little had changed. He still found the great mess hall, with it's burning hearths and hams hanging from the rafters. Smelling the delicious scents that wafted from the kitchens, Alex discovered that he was ravenously hungry and stuffed as much hot soup and bread in him as he could possibly manage, before returning to the infirmary.
By the time he returned, the infirmary was packed full to bursting, with people joyfully being reunited, or women searching frantically for their husbands and fathers. Many had broken down with grief at the news of a loved one's death.
A woman with straggly blonde hair, clutched at his shirt, tears pouring down her cheeks.
'Tell me he's not dead,' she wailed, 'tell me!'
Alex tried to comfort the woman as best he could, asking who it was that she was looking for and then, realising that the woman was maddened by grief he gently detached her clutching hands from his shirt and sought out Kel.
As he entered the room, his young protégée smiled weakly up at him.
'How are you feeling?' Alex asked as he sat down.
'Like I've been run over by several stampeding bulls,' she replied, 'and you?'
'I'm fine,' he said smiling. 'Apart from the scare you gave me, I'm absolutely fine.'
He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.
'Are you sure you're going to be alright?'
Kel nodded wearily. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, until Kel asked;
'How many did we lose?'
Alex swallowed, 'Thirty four men and five of the new slave fighters.'
Kel shut her eyes tightly, as though trying to block out the images of the horrendous past few days.
'Hey,' said Alex, squeezing her hand once more, 'if it weren't for you, it would be a lot more.'
At that moment, Fassin poked his head around the door.
'You awake,' he said, as he invited himself in. Kel nodded.
'If it weren't for Fassin here…well…' said Alex, not being able to voice the terrible alternative. 'He swung you atop his horse and galloped for safety. Rhonda and I stayed to help the stragglers.'
'Thank you,' said Kel awkwardly in Common.
Fassin replied in his native language,
'It was no trouble,' he said, his dark eyes twinkling. 'Just don't make a habit of it.'
'I won't,' said Kel with feeling.
'Little idiot,' said Alex fondly, ruffling Kel's, now clean, hair.
(-a/n- So that's the fight over! Next chapter you will learn what Kel's next 'mission' is in Scanra. I hope the fight was believable; I've tried to make it as realistic as possible. As always reviews are much appreciated, as you might get an update before I go on my Music Tour to the USA! )
Much love,
Confusedknight xxx