Chapter 6 Moving Through the Lands
Sophie yawns. The going had been quite slow. The convoy had made it to the bridge and was slowly using the teleport gate to transfer to the other side. The process is a bit slow. One cart at a time passing through a field created by the gate to the bridge on the other side. A man would then go through and come back to tell the next cart to go through. This was to make sure that the carts didn't smash into each other as they went through. She was currently in the back, acting as a rear guard. They had indication that the Lyndell knights had caught on to their movement and might try to stop them, a small force having begun to march from the capitol into a nearby fort. Posturing that was often the precursor to an attack. Though no knight had come after them yet they were expecting it soon.
Hadvaar on his horse was next to her. "So your majesty. Any thoughts?" He asks part of the rear guard with the Elden Lord.
"On what?" She asks, looking at lord confused as to what he was asking her.
"Our chances." Hadvar says simply resting on his horse and eyeing Sophie. Wanting to see both what she would say as well as the tells that weren't spoken.
"You're more familiar with Lyndell than me." Sophie says knowing the General would probably be more familiar with the Lyndell knights and their strategies then she was having been part of their inner circle at one point.
"Not in running from them." Hadvaar corrects her. "Your the one who is the expert in that." He says referring to how much Sophie had evaded and fought with them in the past. Sophie is practically an expert at fooling them by now. "You even gave some of my own men the slip in the capitol."
She looks around at the surrounding plains, her eyes studying the landscape. "Well we made it pretty far. Better than expected. They often overlook things they think are insignificant." She says knowing from experience.
"Hence why you made it to the Erd Tree." Hadvaar says remembering the way the Lyndell knights were baffled at how a lone warrior was not only able to make it past them but then kill their leader all before they could react to the situation despite multiple knights warning their officers of a tarnished intruder within the city.
"I guess." Sophie says. "To be honest. I only made it that far because of my friends." She admits.
"Anyone in particular?" Hadvaar asks, a bit curious. He had never heard she even traveled with anyone let alone had many allies before becoming Elden Lord.
Sophie nods. "One. A woman who acted in the stead of my finger maiden. Sadly though she sacrificed herself so that I could be Elden Lord."
Hadvaar nods thinking about it. "Well at least it wasn't in vain then. Many soldiers in the lands have died so needlessly. The Erd Tree brings them back eventually but things need to change in the lands." He says looking about.
Sophie nods. She couldn't agree more. Though she just needed to figure out how to make the change happen. How would it be possible? As she watched the surroundings she couldn't help to think about the problems still in the Lands Between.
Though as the last few carts cross the rear guard gets the call to go back and Sophie refocuses herself. The Elden Lord forgetting her troubles for now and has torrent trot towards the portal. General Hadvaar would be the last to cross so she went ahead and came over to the teleport point which was fully open with a large blue portal.
Passing through the portal she would feel a familiar tingling sensation for a moment as she passed through before finding herself far on the other side of the broken bridge. Ahead of her on this side she could see the line of wagons moving along. Ava was guiding the path of soldiers coming through and when she sees Sophie she walks up to her. "Everything is moving smoothly." She reports.
Sophie nods. "Any information for me Captain?" She replies very formally. Wondering if their scouts had caught any new information.
"The army hasn't made a move as far as we know. I think they are expecting us to take the road to the lift and attack us while we are trying to move down it." She says.
Sophie nods. "Then it seems as if everything is according to plan." She says. "Thank you." She says softening a bit.
Ava nods as well. "I hope so." She says. "Either way you'll know what's going on." Sophie nods, trotting away following the troops.
The march continued down the road, things were all clear all the way to the lifts. The way into the pass separated into two lifts one large enough to move carts into the hidden mineshaft below and the other made for moving personnel down into the mines. Both were close enough that they could use them in tandem but it would take a bit of effort to get the full convoy down and into the pass.
Once again they arranged the convoy moving the carts one by one onto the lift. Lowering them down and getting the next one just like with the teleporter. Using both they slowly began to make progress into the pass. This time Sophie takes the front. Raynor comes with her and a few other soldiers meant to make sure the way forward was clear. As they head down the lift to enter the chamber below Sophie looks around. Among the ruins she sees a few fresh dead Lyndale soldiers.
Sophie looks to Raynor. He simply nods. "I got it." He touches a body and freezes up. His eyes glowing white as he sees a vision.
Sophie watches from the side wondering what he was seeing. "So what's going on?" She asks worried about what happened to these soldiers.
"Send the cart back up!" Raynor shouts suddenly.
Sophie blinks. "What?" She says starting to look around for the danger. Assuming he had seen someone or something dangerous.
Suddenly a massive land octopus drops from the ceiling between her and Raynor, the other soldiers scattering, getting away from the creature. Sophie sighs. "Godamnit." She swears "These things suck!" She shouts backing away. The cart that had been lowered with the first group was pushed back up into the lift and the guards of it moved to defend the supplies, the lift bringing the men down brings another group of soldiers who look surprised to see the sudden appearance of the strange creature.
Raynor looks at the squid dodging away from it as the tendrils of the grotesque fleshy creature flail around at him. "How did it get here!" He shouts, annoyed by the appearance of the unexpected monster.
"They like damp places and the whole cave system is full of stagnant pools!" Sophie shouts "Last time I was in here there was a magma Drake!" She adds as She fires one of her spells into the back of the octopus, damaging it. The creature turns and bites at her but Raynor throws a bolt of lightning from behind it, electrifying the octopus.
"When I looked at the body I saw 5 of these things!" Raynor shouts, once again dodging as it whirls to attack him. Trying to keep far away from its grotesque body.
"Where are the others!" Sophie shouts suddenly, very afraid. Sophie looked around at the ceiling above. As she does they hear men screaming as they run off. Some of the scattered men had found another. Looking up at the ceiling Sophie gasps and dodges as 3 more fall. Soldiers scattered Sophie now fighting 5 land octopuses at a time. She had expected the pass to be perilous but not this quickly.
"God damnit!" She uses Lorretta's Bow once more, firing arrows of blue light in every direction trying to dodge away from the creatures attacking her, The tendrils coming in from all sides. Suddenly A knight coming from the elevator rushes towards the octopi and with a large ax completely severs its tendrils. General Hadvaar had arrived just in time. \
"Having trouble!?" He shouts over the wailing of the creature he had just cut.
"Loads!" Sophie shouts back.
Raynor brings one down with his lightning, getting out his sword and doing his best to doge out of the way of attacks as well as stab and deal damage. Sophie kills another with her electric sword. Another is felled by some of the troops who had isolated one and the remaining two began to back away. General Hadvaar scaring them off with his ax which was now alight in rich red flames. "Serves you right!" He shouts brandishing the flame enchanted ax.
"Get out of here!" Sophie says joining in then gives a sigh of relief as the creatures flee.
"Was that all?" Haadvar asks Sophie.
"No there are bats further in the cave but, other than that I think I cleared out most everything else when I came in." She admits walking forwards towards the entrance of the cave they were in. At the mouth she could see down the pass, the massive ravine, a tangle of pathways and lifts down to Liurnia at the bottom. A faint green mist down below revealing the infestation of poison blooms at the mining camp.
"Seems mostly clear until the bottom though." Sophie says walking back towards the others.
"Alright. We meet in this cave and then send the wagons on their way down to the bottom." Hadvaar says.
"We are almost there then?" Raynor asks.
"We are making progress." The General says to correct him. "Almost everything depends on if our enemy has caught onto us and isn't waiting for us when we emerge and how well our allies are doing."
Sophie nods. "By now they should be moving to secure key points in the lake and the west side of Liurnia. If all went according to the plan we should be able to meet them at the divine tower and if not then the divine tower will also be a good place to stop before we head to stormhill directly."
Raynor nods. "Sounds good then." He says thinking about the plan. They were at least halfway there. Though it would still be some time before they were safe.
Returning to their work the soldiers began to assist in moving carts up and down the lifts. It was a tight squeeze for some and the process was rather slow but, soon the convoy was in the pass. Everything seemed to come together. Nicely so once everything was set they began to move again. Sophie was in the front with Ava and Raynor.
"Are you sure you don't want me scouting ahead?" Ava asks as they start down the ravine
Sophie sighs "I'm sure. You're a good shot and we need a good shot in the front in case we encounter bats." She says "I came up here alone last time so this time we will have to take a new path to accommodate our carts." She said on high alert as they walked along the narrow road. A sheer cliff on one side and a large drop on the other.
"So how many bats might we expect? 4, 5?" Ava says used to small amounts of the giant bats even in dark caves or ravines like this one.
"Think like a dozen or so." Sophie says "The winding caves, lush vegetation. There are a lot more giant bats here than anywhere else in the lands between and for some pretty good reasons. So don't freak out if you see a bunch."
Ava sighs "Good to know." She says getting her bow ready. She now understood why she was in the front of the convoy. They needed their best shot to defend it.
The convoy wound down the road but saw no sign of any enemy soldiers or aggressive wildlife. They begin to relax a bit just as Sophie stops "hear that?" The road in front of them moved into a cave. Ava and Raynor stop to listen as well. Inside this cave they heard the flapping of wings, slow and powerful. Ava lifts her bow, knocking an arrow while Raynor readies a bolt of lightning and Sophie charges her bow spell.
The flapping got louder then they heard a shriek. Suddenly giant bats began to dive out of the cave scattering in all directions. Ava fires a shot hitting one straight through the skull killing it. Another goes down by Raynor's bolt and a third is hit by the magic arrow and sent falling down the side of the ravine in an explosion of blue light. Though as the three reacted they noticed the bats weren't fighting back. The attacks only scatter them more.
"Wait, are they running away?" Ava asks, watching the man-sized bats fly away.
"Yeah." Sophie says cautiously, getting out her sword. The katana sparks with electricity. As she steps forward she looks about "I don't see any-" she is suddenly caught off guard as she notices water moving in the pool ahead of her. Someone was walking through the puddle. Someone she couldn't see.
Sophie instinctively rolls back. "Assassin!" She shouts
"What?" Ava says confused looking around for a person who was attacking unaware anyone could go fully invisible.
"A black knife! Keep up your guard, he is invisible!" Sophie says doing her best to stay away from where she thought the assailant was trying to find more indications of his location as she did.
"The hell!?" Ava shouts.
Raynor holds up his Shield "what? I thought they were dead!?"
Sophie sighs "I've fought with a lot of these shits. I don't know why this one is here though." She admits.
"Maybe they are after you?" Ava suggests. "Maybe Lyndell really wants you dead and is willing to hire someone to do it."
"Whatever the case, he is ready to go." Sophie says hearing the footsteps of the assassin as he ran towards her.
As they stood outside the cave, they saw no indication of the assailant. Maybe he was waiting for them to let their guard down. Maybe he was waiting for the right time to strike or maybe he was trying to hide. Whatever it was Sophie needed to think fast. "Come on, let's go." She says walking forward. Slowly and carefully. Ava and Raynor following. Suddenly she stops again. Then slices with her katana. Hitting nothing. "Dammit I was sure he was." Suddenly she feels herself getting grabbed from behind the black knight holding his weapon aloft, aiming it at Sophie's heart.
"Shit!" Raynor says Shield bashing the now visible assassin, knocking him off Sophie and to the ground.
"Thanks." Sophie says, feeling her heart pound in her chest. That was far too close. She suddenly dodges away from the assailant. After hitting the ground he was once again invisible but now between Raynor, Sophie and Ava. Sophie blocking the escape route and the other two blocking the road up towards the carts. They heard the assassin get up then stand still. No one moves.
Raynor looks straight ahead, studying the ground. Ava and Sophie as well. Troops behind them quickly came up to see what was going on. "Stay back!" Sophie warns "the assailant is invisible! Don't get close " The soldiers stop then back away. That was when Sophie saw it. Dust being disturbed. He was trying to use the distraction of the soldiers to move again. "Ava on your left." Ava fires a bolt to the left. They could hear someone hit the ground.
"There!" Raynor shouts, launching a lighting bolt from his hand. The assailant screams in agony as he is hit, losing his cloaking momentarily. Sophie charges and jumps on top of him. Ava stamps on his arm making the assassin lose his knife.
"Damn you." He shouts realizing they had caught him. Sophie keeps him from going invisible again and Ava takes the black knife away from him.
"Who hired you!?" Sophie shouts grabbing his head pulling it back ready to pound him into the ground.
"The true Elden Lord." The man spits back.
"I'm the Elden Lord." Sophie says simply "be more specific."
The assassin stays quiet. Sophie pounds his face into the rock, lifting it up she could see black blood leaking from his hood. Turning the dirt below him into a slate gray in color. "Tell me!" She shouts.
"I'll die first!" He shouts back. Sophie groans
"You'll regret saying that. Last chance." He was silent. She pounds his head into the rock twice more. Turning the small spot of gray into a large smear on the stone.
"Gideon Ofnir!" The assassin shouts losing his cool once he realized she wasn't just going to kill him outright. At least not with her sword but, would make sure the death was agonizing and slow.
Sophie freezes up. "You're a liar. He is dead. I killed him myself." She says angrily.
"Gideon lives, he hired me himself." Sophie looks at Raynor then Ava. She then lets his head go but stays on top of him.
"Bind him up. We will get information later." Sophie says looking to a pair of guards moving in to tie him up. Ava looks his knife over and puts it in her bag keeping it.
"Do you believe what he said?" Raynor asks as the soldiers haul the prisoner away.
"I'm not sure." Sophie says "I killed Gideon or at least I think I did. He helped me gather the great runes but, in the end Gideon attacked me to stop me from getting to the Erd Tree and becoming Elden Lord so I don't know why he'd suddenly change his mind even if he was still alive." She says, folding her arms. She didn't like this one bit.
"Weirder things have happened." Ava says "For now though it doesn't matter we just need to get out of here."
Sophie nods "right." She says standing up and looking into the cave. "One thing at a time." She tries to push the feeling of anxiety in her stomach away as they keep forging ahead. She would learn the truth soon enough.