The Tale of Daemonica

Ambush!

'What is your line of command?' Daemonica asked on their way to the stables, pulling on the fur cloak Redviolet had given her to protect her in the cold wind from the snowy mountains.

'Whoa! What?' Redviolet wondered. But when she saw Daemonica's genuine confusion, she shook her head with a smile.

'Listen, girl, you'd do well to forget all the nonsense they probably stuffed you with while being pretty safe behind the walls of Andala.' Red waved away Daemonica, who didn't quite agree with her.

'I can see there is something in you, otherwise you would be already changing the guards on the walls. We have our leaders, I could have told you more about them yesterday, but it seemed to me better to throw you straight into the water.' Redviolet, smiling broadly, greeted the knave at the stables. Daemonica stopped half step.

'Oh, come on,' the redhead laughed at her over her shoulder without slowing.

The stables were busy. Redviolet halted and put a friendly hand on her shoulder.

'This is the frontier, here everything is about the survival of the people we are bound to defend. We are all equal in battle, and the leaders among us speak for themselves by their actions. They are followed out of respect for their abilities, not by order.' Red said more forgivingly and headed further inside the stables. She asked her no more.

Daemonica looked back at Cedris one last time. On its walls she saw a figure in an orange-black robe with dark hair blowing in the ever-growing wind, looking in their direction. At the gate, Redviolet joined the two women riding at the head of their group of only a few dozen riders. However, she did not stay alone for long.

'What a lovely afternoon for a ride,' came from her right side, where Vidarfry had just slowed his horse.

'Only that it doesn't apply to us,' said Axtios, with a note of irony at her left. Necro, who had just passed him with a completely unreadable expression on his face largely hidden under the hood of his dark greenish robe, did not even slow his pace and continued forward.

'Right after you, honey!‘ Vidarfry reached out from the saddle towards Rascal and slapped him lightly on the buttocks. The stallion's muscles stiffened beneath her hand, lying loosely on his neck. The horse leaped forward to the northener's roaring laughter. The three of them joined Necro, who was already accompanying Reknak and Riihad aside from the ride.

'Reknak here seems rather tired of your trio's whims,' Riihad said earnestly, but his young face showed barely concealed amusement. He did not look at Daemonica yet.

'We need someone up front. You three, the rookie and Reknak.' Riihad added, with a slightly mischievous smile, to the startled Reknak.

'Her name is Dae, Rii.' Axtios spoke up unexpectedly. Riihad straightened in his saddle and gave her a nice smile before urging his horse. Then he headed back to the rest of the ride.

'So what's going on, Rek?' Vidarfry asked cheerfully as he caught up with Reknak's propelling horse.

'We haven't heard from Morghat in the mountains for too long.' Reknak brushed him off with annoyance and sprang forward. They rode at a brisk but relatively comfortable pace through the ascending landscape. To Daemonica's relief, the hangover was fading with equal speed in the fresh air. On the way they passed one village and then several farmhouses crouching in the shadow of the mountains with their peaks still white. They were approaching a narrow pass in the rock massif. Ahead of them, a pair of men on horseback were already on their way toward them. One had a longbow on his back, the other a heavy crossbow.

'Luciandar, Draiax,’ Reknak nodded at them when they met.

'Hail, Rek, no news of Morghat.' The men with the bow didn’t waste time. He was the taller of the two, with a very fair skin, a straight face, and long raven hair that flowed loosely to his shoulders, covered by a dark cloak. Reknak frowned.

'How far away are the others?'

'About an hour at a slow pace behind us.' Reknak answered briefly.

'Draiax.' Luciandar turned to his companion.

'I'm going.' He said only, and galloped off in the direction from which they had come.

'It's too quiet in the valley, I have a bad feeling.' Luciandar turned back to their group.

They all followed Luciandar as he started toward the ravine without further delay. At the pass, they slowed their pace so as not to draw unnecessary attention to themselves with the sound of their horses' hooves. The pass was not very long. But its height seemed to overwhelm them below. At its end lay a green valley, bounded on one side by a wild river flowing from the mountains, and on the other by a steep mass of rock opening into the hilly landscape to the east. Luciandar stopped and stared toward the not-so-high rocky hill on the left side of the road. The hill above the road ended in a vertical cliff, on the other side its rocky ridge sloped down towards the river. Daemonica noticed that, on closer inspection, tongues of white smoke crawled along its top. Without a word Luciandar urged his horse forward and galloped towards the rock. Its western wall, facing the pass, ended with a wide overhang that spanned the entrance to the cave. About fifteen horses stood under the overhang. They left their own horses in the same spot and quickly, though cautiously, climbed to the flat top of the hill. There, by the smoking fire, was a group of warriors. Some of them were wounded.

'You're late.' A red-haired giant rose grimly from the fire. His face and armor were covered with dried blood. Luciandar approached him and put his hand on his muscular shoulder. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment.

'I'm sorry.'

'There are dozens of wild men hiding in the forest below. The bridge over the Silver River is guarded, we were very lucky to cross it and pass through the forest almost unscathed. And I have no idea what else is coming our way.' They all looked toward the ravine, which was rumbled by the sound of approaching horses' hooves.

The mood at the top of the hill, where they had all gathered, was as gloomy in the setting sun as the clouds against them coming from the east. The horses, who would have been more than a nuisance on the rocky terrain, stayed by the cave and in it under the overhang. Daemonica listened to the discussion between the officers and stared down at the narrow plain below, at the end of which grew a forest, into which the road from the pass they had come was plunged in a sharp turn. The forest that was full of enemies. As she understood from their conversation, the chances of cavalry hiding on the road from the bridge, which could not be seen because of the forest, were too high for them to risk retreating through the ravine. The casualties would be too great, and the enemy would still get through them. Cedris would be warned well in advance, but the homesteads on the way to it might be easy prey for the raiders. It was necessary to reduce as much as possible the number of enemies who could reach the pass along the road below. But if Morghat's estimate was even slightly accurate, they could not stop them completely. Daemonica was unclear as to why such a strategic location was not under constant surveillance. But it was too late for these considerations now.

The clouds from the east had covered almost the entire sky. The icy wind that blew them in dug under the skin. The water in the river to her left raged with wild water that came from the mountains with spring melt, threatening to spill from the banks. Drums and war cries sounded in the woods after them. Daemonica, like many others, looked in justified apprehension to where the road vanished into the forest. She knew, as did everyone else, that the enemy far outnumbered them, and that the only chance they had was the rock they were on. The top of the bare hill in the east, sloping down to a fold of road whose contour was sharply outlined against the dark sky, was illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun coming through the pass from the west and reflected off the gilded armor of the riders who had just appeared on it. Their red cloaks flowed behind them, and the commander's helmet, despite the distance between them, showed a red plume that attested to his rank. The riders stood still, the enemy had no chance to see them through the forest.

'That's Arnvin's unit! What are they waiting for?' Redviolet cried.

'They see something we don't.' Daemonica said what she thought out loud. Few glances rested on her.

'The bridge.' Morghat growled. The first drops of icy rain began to fall from the sky.

'The hill's about to get soggy, that'll slow them down, but…' Daemonica had everyone’s attention now.

'But eventually, they'll lock us in here with no way out.' Thaedis finished her reflection, going over his beard.

'And we have no idea what lies beyond the bridge. We cannot afford to rely on the help of royal soldiers.' Luciandar looked thoughtfully at Daemonica.

'Is there any way down to the river quickly and undetected?' Daemonica turned directly to Morghat.

'There is.' Morghat's eyes flashed.

'And could someone show it to me?' Daemonica smiled, and without realizing it, her courage lifted the hearts of many of them.

'With pleasure,' Morghat laughed suddenly, and pulled up a wide, chained belt on which two axes swung and headed for her. The faces of most of them were now fixed on a tall, dark-haired woman archer standing a short distance away beside a beautiful, blond woman in a blue robe. She nodded. Morghat was immediately followed by several other warriors. Axtios and Vidarfry were already at Daemonica’s side.

'You'll need backup.' Luciandar joined the group.

'Anna and I are going, too.' The blonde beauty said in a sweet voice.

After a brief discussion, when everyone was familiar with their tasks, Daemonica, with a portion of them that included mostly close-range combatants, headed down the rocky slope of the hill toward the river. Mages and the rest of the archers defended by Riihad and Reknak, among others, had the task to keep the enemy, who had no idea of their numbers, busy long enough to distract them from the group on the slope. Luciandar's party, including Redviolet with a broadsword on her back, left them and hid behind a rock about halfway up the slope. Daemonica felt the tingling in her fingertips as the defensive spells of the beautiful sorceress Ceneen descended upon her. The rain was getting heavier, and the rocky path they had taken to the group of boulders just above the foot of the hill was already slippery. Just as she leaned breathlessly against one of the boulders and picked up the crossbow from her back, the enemy charged out of the forest, shouting mightily, and headed for the hill. The royal troop on horseback started down the slope toward the curve of the road, from which a dark patch moved toward them. Along with her, Vidarfry hid behind the boulder, Axtios literally disappeared.

It took only a few brief moments for the raiders to cross the meadow between the forest and the hill. The storm was now in full force, and the water was rolling down the slope in streams. As the first enemies passed, and the evening gloom illuminated the magic of the wizards on the hill in various colors, the first darts from their crossbows penetrated the attackers' armor. It took the enemy a moment to realize that the hits had not come from the top of the hill. Many of them were already well above when they began to turn toward them in confusion. Daemonica changed the crossbow for a sword and shield. Beside her, Vidarfry was leaning on a two-handed sword.

'Now show what you can do, Cen!' he laughed and nudged Daemonica conspiratorially with his elbow.

A blue light illuminated the rock above them, behind which the other part of the protagonists of their ambush was hidden, and the enemies, returning down towards them in the confusion, were thrown by a magical gust, literally, at their set weapons. A bearded warrior had just landed heavily on Daemonica's shield when Axtios appeared before her eyes, smirking, ending his life with a single dagger strike. The low-grade shield in her hand broke at two as the warrior's body slid down it. She crouched to avoid another man's axe and tripped his legs. When he hit the ground, there was an arrow in his exposed neck. Daemonica felt the familiar thrill of battle. Fully concentrated, however, she realized that while each was in this fight for himself, they were all in it together at the same time, each watching the other's back.

Now they were trying to push their enemies across the slope toward the road, where she hoped they would meet the royals. A new wave of confusion in the ranks of the opponent before them soon proved her right. Not a few enemies were moving up the slippery slope toward the top of the hill, but those at the top had to deal with that. Soon she saw the gleaming armor of the now-footed king's soldiers not far from them. At the same time, however, she saw a dark patch approaching from the road into the backs of the royal soldiers.

'Unzai!' Exclaimed Vidarfry, who had been by her side all along. Daemonica had no idea what these Unzai were, but the speed with which they approached left her in no doubt that they could very quickly threaten their hard-won positions. The war cries of the northerners in their ranks echoed in her ears. Her weary body felt relieved, and the clash of weapons in the tumult of war cried out for the blood of their enemies. She could feel the cooling metal of the amulet on her chest. With cold-blooded determination, Daemonica charged through the enemy toward the royal force, leaving both friends and enemies only a few steps behind. One of the opponents managed to hit her head with his chained forearm and knock her helmet off her head, succumbing to Morghat's axe just then.

Flashes of magic of various colors lit the hill in its lower half. The warriors who had remained on the hill had managed to break through their enemies and now came to their aid. Magic illuminated several of the huge beasts that had escaped the mages attack and were moving irreversibly toward the king's men on their great paws. Droplets of water flew from their thick long fur in a sparkling spray lit by battle spells. There was murderous madness in their gleaming eyes. Some of their massive bodies were still saddled, others were dragging the remains of harnesses behind them. There was sheer chaos in the ranks of the already demotivated enemies as some of them began to flee toward the forest.

At last only a small empty space separated them from their allies still unaware of the deadly danger coming for them. Daemonica's gaze met that of their captain in the red plumed helmet for a moment, when the first Unzai was only moments away. Her feet barely touched the muddy ground as she attempted the impossible with superhuman speed. Only now did the captain realize that death was breathing into his back. Running, sword in her right hand, Daemonica found the dagger at her waist. She caught a glimpse of the captain's two-handed sword making a wide arc before she plunged both sword and dagger into the side of the charging beast. Without releasing her grip on the hilts of the two weapons, the heels of her boots dug into the muddy ground in an attempt to restrain the animal. Its hind paws slid across the slippery ground before the captain's sword knocked its neck out.

'Damn, another hangover in sight,' Vidarfry leaned wearily on his sword as the last of the enemies vanished into the bowels of the forest, and the battlefield now flashed only the occasional spells of healers. Representatives of Roses, Morghat and the captain of the cavalry, whose part in the victory was crucial, went to confer.

'Reknak and Riihad pay,' said the ever-fresh-looking Axtios. 'Just because it took them so long to slide that hill on their asses!' Reknak in question, his armor all bent, removed his helmet and tapped the beads of sweat from the wet curls.

'Wanna bet?' He said, grinning.

'I'm glad I wasn't wrong about you,' Redviolet put her hand on Daemonica's shoulder as she joined them. 'I'd say you got more answers today than I could ever tell you, even if we emptied the entire wine cellar together,' she added with her characteristic carefree laugh.

Daemonica had to agree with her.