Coup d'etat

An attempt to overthrow the Queen begins in King's Reach

31.

Coup d'état

 

Aedric knew as soon as he glanced away from the dead Ogre what had happened.   Chaos reigned around him.   Ogres carrying wooden shields and the same type of club as his opponent were scattered all around the tourney field, battling knights, squires and royal guards.  

 

But the Ogres were not alone, for there were also pockets of plate armored men and a large number of hobgoblins assisting them.  

He rushed across the field, not certain what exactly to do, but he didn’t have long to be indecisive.   Suddenly arrows began plunking into the ground around him and one slammed into his breastplate, denting even the extra thick jousting armor before bouncing off.  

 

The volley was coming from a group of ten hobgoblin archers who were covering an Ogre and a handful of Hobgoblins advancing upon the Queen’s bodyguards, which were encircling Eioldth and several of her ladies in waiting and were attempting to get the women to safety.  

 

He broke into a very awkward run in the heavy armor, keeping his head as low as possible as the arrows whizzed around him and occasionally bounced off his armor.

 

The Ogre and Hobgoblins of course saw him approach and two of the ugly large goblins rushed him with their poleaxes lowered.

He knocked aside the first Hobgoblin’s poleaxe  with his sword, but the second Hobgoblin swung his weapon at his head.   He had no choice but to use his left arm to deflect the blow.  

 

Thankfully, the Dwarven Armorer’s Guild was the finest armorer around and the thick metal jousting pauldron absorbed most of the impact.  

 

He struck savagely at this Hobgoblin, aiming at his wrist, which was only covered by leather gauntlets.   His aim was true and the Hobgoblin yelped in pain, dropping the poleaxe as he jumped back, clutching his wrist.  

 

Aedric feigned a blow at the other Hobgoblin’s head, and as he expected, he pulled his poleaxe back to protect himself.  

The Elf didn’t waste a moment, but swooped down to grab the poleaxe dropped by the injured Hobgoblin.

He then quickly sheathed his sword as the remaining Hobgoblin now realized his intentions and swung the poleaxe down at his head.

 

But he was faster, and used his poleaxe to parry the blow.   The Hobgoblin tried a quick blow with the butt of the weapon, but Aedric ducked it and rammed the spike of the poleaxe into his unprotected underarm.   The spike went deep and he pushed him backwards.   The Hobgoblin stumbled and fell, and seconds later the Elf had pierced his brain with the spike end of the poleaxe.  

 

But now the Ogre broke away from pressing the Queen’s bodyguards and charged like an enraged bull, his spiked club raised to smash him like a fly. 

 

But Aedric didn’t do what the Ogre expected him to do, and instead counter-charged, his poleaxe held out like a lance.  

The Ogre swung the club with full force, but Aedric dropped and rolled at the last instant.   It wasn’t a graceful roll in the heavy armor, but he kept his head attached.   The brute nearly stepped on him as he bounced and tumbled forward like a metal tumbleweed, but his clumsy maneuver caused the Ogre to stumble over him.

 

Before the slow-moving Ogre could recover and turn to face him, Aedric had managed to get to his knees and drive the spike of the poleaxe head deep into the meaty back of the monster’s upper leg.  

 

With a bull-like bellow of pain, the Ogre crashed to the ground, pulling the poleaxe with him as he fell.  

 

But Aedric already had his sword drawn and two blows to the back of the Ogre’s neck ended his threat. 

 

Yet his heroics did not go unnoticed and the Hobgoblin archers resumed their volleys against him.   Three arrows bounced off his breastplate, and a fourth nicked his chin and neck before being turned by his gorget.

 

Ducking his head, he rushed forward against the group of Hobgoblins still surrounding the Queen and her bodyguards.  

 

The bold move ended the barrage of arrows, but now he faced several of the Hobgoblins, again with just his sword.

 

Two of them kept him back with the end of their poleaxes, and as he tried to knock them aside with his sword blade, a third Hobgoblin swung his poleaxe low, the axe blade chopping into his leg armor.   The plates kept him from harm, but that wasn’t the intention of his attacker.  

 

The sweeping action of the blow sent him tumbling to the ground in the heavy jousting armor.  

 

The Hobgoblins pounced as soon as he hit the ground.   The first tried to impale his heart with the spike of his weapon, but the jousting plate turned aside the point.   At the same moment, a second Hobgoblin more wisely aimed at the space between the breastplate and upper part of the left tasset.  

 

Sharp pain flooded over him as the Hobgoblin drove the spike as far as he could, but the chainmail of his arming doublet kept the tip of the spike from going very deep.   Still, the fiend twisted and pushed, hoping to poke through the chainmail as he had him pinned to the ground.

 

All at once a warhorse seemed to appear out of nowhere, charging at full gallop, and before his opponent could react, the warhorse plowed over him, trampling him into the soil, while the other two Hobgoblins jumped out of the way.

 

Aedric managed to pull himself to the side in time to see the two Hobgoblins had recovered and were lowering their poleaxes as the horse and rider turned around to face them.

 

There came the sound of more galloping from behind him and he instinctively rolled to one side, sending a tidal wave of pain from his wound as he did.   It was awesome to behold; a pair of knights riding full tilt, their lances lowered, charging side by side in perfect unity.  

 

Before the two Hobgoblins could turn from the first horse and rider and react to the new threat, they were upon them.

 

Both lances speared the large goblins like harpooned fish and they didn’t slow but simply flung the impaled Hobgoblins forward then let their mounts crush their bodies as they tore through.   

 

The other Hobgoblins surrounding the Queen and her bodyguard scattered in terror at their approach.  

 

It was Duke Dullerm and Sir Aeric, and both knights lept from their horses with their weapons drawn before their feet ever hit the ground.  

Aeric parried a thrust by one of the Hobgoblins and ran his longsword through the scale mail of his foe.  The goblin had time to look surprised before he fell dead.  

 

Duke Dullerm was wielding his legendary great sword ‘Valere’ and his blow went easily through the Hobgoblin’s attempted parry and then through his steel helmet, cutting deep into his head.   The half-Drow didn’t pause and just pushed the body off as another Hobgoblin swung his Poleaxe at him.   He deflected the blow easily with the great sword and a moment later the Hobgoblin’s head flew from his torso.  

A trio of Ogres were racing across the field to assist the Hobgoblins (most of whom had fled for their lives by now), and Duke Dullerm and Sir Aeric simply stood waiting for them calmly.

 

Yet before they reached them, another pair of knights charged forward, their lances lowered as they rode down the Ogres.   It was Gamel and Aaron, but unlike their fathers, their opponents were much larger.

 

Gamel’s lance sent one Ogre down, but Aaron’s lance was knocked aside by the Ogre he rode against, and the third Ogre swung his club fiercely, sending the half-elf flying off the back of his mount.  

 

“No!” Aedric forgot about his injury upon seeing his foster brother unhorsed and gritting his teeth, he used his sword as a cane to stand.   But two Ogres had already leaped upon the fallen knight, before Gamel could turn around and help, or Duke Dullerm and Aeric could reach him.

 

Both Ogres slammed their clubs down on Aaron’s still form, like smiths hammering a piece of metal.   Twice each of their metal shod clubs pounded him, sending his body slightly into the air from the force of their blows.

 

Already Aeric and the Duke were running to his aid, and Gamel was also turned and charging, while Aedric, nearly fainting from pain, was also trying desperately to stumble forward to somehow help him.

 

But there came a twinkle of light, and suddenly a huge ghostly hand manifested in front of the two Ogres.   Immediately it closed about them like a huge eagle’s talon and with the speed of lightning, it flung them like rocks, high into the air.   Their arms and legs flailed and pin-wheeled for several moments before they fell a great distance away across the tourney field like discarded ragdolls.   But the hand wasn’t done, and it came down upon their lifeless forms three times with a huge booming sound, until it had driven them several feet into the ground.

 

Throughout the field, all those engaged in combat paused for an instant at the sight, but only for a moment.

 

As he staggered forward to where Aaron lay, he saw in the middle of the Queen’s Orc bodyguards, a pair of feminine arms raised high.   It was Queen Eioldth who had used the magic hand to kill the Ogres, but he had no time to wonder about that.  

 

Even injured and bleeding, it only took him a few moments to reach his foster brother, but Gamel, Duke Dullerm and Aeric were already there.

 

Franticly, Aeric ripped his son’s battered helm off his head, while Duke Eleazar began chanting a healing spell.

“In the name of Yesh, be healed!”  Gamel said in scared voice as he laid hands upon his friend.  

 

Then Eleazar’s spell covered the unconscious half-elf with a blue light for a moment and then faded.   Still Aaron lay unmoving.   Aedric then remembered that he was now a Paladin and could also heal by the laying of hands.   Unable to bend over due to his serious wound, he simply fell forward, catching himself weakly with his hands, then, leaning against his foster brother, he placed his hands upon his badly dented breastplate.

“By Yesh the Merciful, be healed!” He gasped and he felt something flow through him into Aaron.  

 

For a horrible second, nothing happened, then, Aaron took a deep, ragged breath and began violently coughing and gasping, spitting blood.  

“Thank Yesh!”  Aeric said loudly, cradling his son in his arms as he comforted him, “You’ll be alright, son, don’t panic; it’s the spell making you expel blood in your lungs.   Don’t fight it!   I’m here, son, you’re alright.”

Aedric closed his eyes, fighting desperately to not faint due to the intense pain as he panted for breath, thanking Yesh for healing his brother.  

 

Suddenly there was a pair of hands upon his forehead and he looked up to find Duke Dullerm’s red eyes glowing as he spoke, “In the name of Yesh the Merciful, be healed!”

 

The same type of energy that had flowed through him to heal his brother now flowed into him and immediately the pain lessened greatly.

 

He sighed in relief, smiling gratefully at the man who had been his sworn enemy a few days before.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”  He said to the Duke, and Eleazar nodded.

“Can you stand?” The half-Drow asked him.

“Yes, I think so.”   The pain was still there, but it was much more bearable now, and he stiffly got to his feet, while Aaron continued to cough up blood.

“Will he be okay?”  He asked the two elder knights.

“He should be.”  Eleazar replied, “Don’t worry, this is actually a good thing.   But we’ve got to get Aaron somewhere safe, quickly.”

 

Aedric then realized that arrows had been whizzing all around them the whole time.  

“We need a horse.”   He said, glancing around, and to his amazement, he saw one.   It was his own warhorse, and upon him rode Snoe, leaning down flat against the back of Rwalaer to avoid the arrows.   It had been them who had ridden first to his rescue.

 

She rode quickly toward them and to Aedric’s horror, the girl had an arrow sticking out of her shoulder.   Duke Dullerm saw it at the same time and together they pulled her gently off Rwalaer.

“I’m okay.” She said to them, “It’s not deep.   Rwalaer had three sticking out of his back, though.”

“Never mind the horse.”  He said to her, glancing at the wound then to her father, “Can you heal her?”

The Duke nodded while taking hold of the shaft of the arrow.

“Snoe-“ He began to say, but she just nodded for him to go ahead and so with a gentle but quick movement, he pulled the arrow out.   She just gasped loudly in pain.

“Sorry, sweetheart.   I’ll cast another healing spell.”

 

“Snoe.”   Aaron called weakly from where he lay on the ground and motioned for her to come over to him.   Holding her bleeding shoulder, she went and he touched her on the ankle, “Be healed, by Yesh.”

Though he was very weak, the laying of hands worked and the girl smiled, moving her arm free of pain.

“Thank you, Sir Aaron.” She said sweetly.   She turned to her father, “Daddy, heal Rwalaer.”

“Sweetheart, Rwalaer will be okay; we’ve got to get somewhere safe.”

“He’s hurt, daddy… please, he saved Aedric’s life.”

“YOU saved my life.”  Aedric said to the albino girl, who stood with tears in her eyes, patting his Warhorse, who stood stoically with the arrows in his flank and rump.

“Well, he did as well.   Please, someone, at least get the arrows out of him!”

“It’s not safe here, Snoe!   We’re lucky we haven’t been attacked yet.” Her father tried to explain to her while Gamel and Aeric helped Aaron stand.

“Daddy…” She pleaded, weeping, and Eleazar looked over at Aedric with a helpless look in his eyes at his daughter’s distress.

“I’ll pull them out.” He said to the Duke and the girl then quickly found the nearest arrow.   It hadn’t gone in very deep and patting the stallion, he gently, but firmly pulled the shaft out.   Rwalaer whinnied slightly and shifted his weight, but did not respond other than this.

 

While they helped Aaron mount the horse, Aedric removed the other two arrows, relieved to find that none of the wounds were serious.       

 

“Aedric, take Snoe and Aaron and join the Queen’s bodyguard and get them to safety.  We’re going to try to stop this coup.”

“But I’m fit enough to help!”  He protested.

Duke Dullerm smiled, “I know you are, son; you killed two Ogres by yourself!   But you are the Queen’s Champion, and your duty lies in protecting her until she relieves you of that duty.”

“Yes, but did you see what she did to those Ogres with that magic hand?   I don’t think she needs anyone’s protection!”

 

“She’s more vulnerable then you think, Aedric.   I want Aaron and Snoe out of danger too.   I know you are capable of protecting them, Sir Aedric.”

Hearing his title, he was persuaded and he bowed respectably to the Duke.

 

Another volley of arrows had commenced dropping among them and this settled the matter.  

“Mount up, Snoe.”  He told the girl and she nodded, quickly sitting behind Aaron in the saddle.  

 

Glancing around, he found that the Queen’s bodyguard had led the Elven lady and her court toward the castle entrance onto the field, where a band of royal guards and knights kept the path clear.  

 

It seemed to him that the battle was turning in favor of Her Majesty’s loyal subjects, though there were still Ogres and Hobgoblins massed at the other end of the field, along with the men in plate armor that seemed almost to be waiting on something as they battled the Queen’s forces that came against them.   Several small pockets of Hobgoblin archers kept firing arrows at any of the Queen’s people from secure locations.

“Snoe, take Sir Aaron and ride after the Queen.   I’ll follow behind you on foot.”

The girl glanced behind her with a frown, “There is room; you can ride behind me.”

He shook his head, “Rwalaer is injured " I don’t want to hurt him further.   Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you.   Now hurry, girl!”

 

She continued to frown but obeyed and a moment later Rwalaer was trotting toward the Queen’s group, out of the range of the archers.  

With a glance at the three knights, he began to hurry after Snoe and Aaron.    Duke Dullerm, Gamel and Sir Aeric watched him go for a moment, then mounted their steeds and rode off to join the forces still battling their foes.

Reviews

[Elina]

"He knocked aside the first Hobgoblin’s poleaxe aside..." You have an extra "aside."
"...both knights leaped from their horses..." You have "leaped" instead of "lept."
"It hadn’t went in very deep and..." This seems a bit odd, to me. Perhaps if it were "...hadn't gone in..."

[Eddie Davis]

You are right as always, Elina. I thought I had exorcised the 'leaped' demon from my work, but I must have missed some. I am forever in your debt for your time and skill in proofreading.