To the Rescue

Aedric leads his group to aid Westmark

9.

To the Rescue

 

They arrived in a flash of blue light and immediately they were attacked.   Aedric had only a second to bring his sword up as heavily armored knights and infantry were all around them.   The Queen had teleported them to King Travin’s position, which for some insane reason, seemed to be outside of the wall of Westmark.

 

Now they were pinned against this wall as seemingly the main part of Redburr’s forces were surging against them.   Thankfully, the horsemen had dismounted due to the close pack of their own infantry around them, and it was a wild throng of armored men fighting at desperately close quarters in the early dawn light.

 

Through the mass of fighting men he could see that perhaps ten yards ahead, near a bend in the wall of the city, was an even tighter concentration of Redburr’s forces, massed around a circle of Elven soldiers who struggled to defend their king.

 

The armor of Redburr’s infantrymen shocked Aedric, for it seemed that now they wore chainmail from head to foot, with laminated steel breastplates and shoulder pieces, steel greaves and helm.   He had seen that type of armor before; it was the armor of the Southern Empire’s Imperial Legions.

 

But those wearing it were not legionnaires, for they did not fight with the disciplined formation of the Imperial units.    Though their weapons and armor were Imperial, they were most likely just some of the men from the southern part of Northmarch.   Yet it was clear that their armor was meant to inform them who it was that was backing them.

 

But he had no time to consider this, for immediately he was attacked by the men nearest to him.   He struck back fiercely, for his goal was to get to King Travin’s aid.   The Elven blade found its way through the faux legionnaire’s armor and he fell to the ground.   Aedric spun and slashed at another of his adversaries, but this man used the huge wooden shield that he carried to ward off his attack.

 

Aedric didn’t have time for sword play.   He rammed his shoulder into the blocking shield, knocking the soldier over.   The man slashed at his legs, but the Imperial blade wouldn’t penetrate the enchanted Elven armor.   With a single thrust of his sword, the man was dispatched.

Lacking a shield, Aedric swooped up the fallen man’s short sword just as three more heavy infantrymen advanced upon him.    He remembered the light armor of Snoe, Mattleos and the Elven archers that had teleported in with him.   They had to be somewhere behind him, and the Imperial weapons would find an easier time cutting through their leather and chainmail.

 

So hoping to draw many of the enemy away from them, he rushed the three infantrymen.   Aedric howled as if enraged (or perhaps insane) as he barreled into them.

 

His bold move caused them to pause and defend against his attack.   Aedric was amazed at how lightweight the Elven plate armor was - it felt as if he too wore leather armor.   He certainly moved as quickly as if he had been wearing leather, his quickness surprising the three infantrymen.

 

He had been trained by his foster father on the best offensive maneuvers against heavy infantry.   If they had been Imperial legionnaires, they would have stood closely together in a semi-circle, protecting the flanks of each other.   Yet these men were not that disciplined, and Aedric now could use their bulky armor and shields to his advantage.

 

He feigned as if he were going to charge right into them, knowing they would duck behind the nearly 4 foot long shields.   But at the last moment, he spun on his heels, dodged to the right and as he passed the startled soldier on the left flank, slashed at the man’s shield arm.   The man jumped to his left, stumbling into his comrade, but saving himself from serious injury.

 

Aedric had no desire to kill prone foot soldiers, so he just rushed past them and immediately engaged an unhorsed cavalier who was besting an Elven archer of King Travin.

 

The cavalier’s eyes went wide upon seeing Aedric’s fine armor, and he gave a call of warning to his fellows before Aedric engaged him.

 

The horseman was better trained then the infantrymen, but still not to the skill level of a knight.   He swung his sword at Aedric with both hands, but it was a desperation swipe and he ducked it easily, bringing his sword up and out, to cut through the iron chainmail gap between his breastplate and shoulder plates.

 

The sharp Adamantium blade went deep, seriously injuring the cavalier, who slumped to the ground with a groan.   But four of the infantrymen near him charged to his defense.   The first thrust at him with an Imperial javelin that he should have thrown long ago if he had followed Imperial protocol.   Aedric dodged gracefully, but instead of aiming a blow at the man’s torso, swiped quickly at the hand that held the javelin.

 

The blade went through the weaker iron chainmail like it was leather and the soldier fell to the ground holding a bleeding stump.

One of his companions did a powerful overhead chop with a longsword, but Aedric parried with the short sword he’d picked up and thrust his own longsword into the man’s neck, killing him.   Another infantryman tried to ram him with his huge shield as he hid behind it for protection.

 

Aedric spun to the side and tripped the soldier, who fell like a log in his bulky armor.   He didn’t kill him, but instead launched himself into the remaining Infantryman confronting him.   This man’s eyes betrayed his fear of Aedric’s swordsmanship and he tried to back away, but stumbled over one of the numerous bodies littering the ground.

 

Aedric kicked him hard in the face, hoping that would immobilize him enough to allow him to get past him.

 

He was slowly plowing his way through, toward King Travin and his brave guards, and again he roared out a battle cry, this time praying that his challenge would pull off a number of the enemy around the Sylvan King.

 

Aedric got his wish, for those surrounding the King glanced around at his howl and beheld a young Elven man wearing the same type of plate armor as Travin.   From somewhere in the throng of men, Aedric heard a familiar voice call out, “There!   Kill him!   He is a Sylvan Prince!”

 

It was Redburr’s son, the dandy Leos, whom he had bested in a joust to defend the Queen’s honor, only weeks ago.   Now the younger Redburr apparently led his father’s forces with a surprising display of courage.

 

Aedric knew the boy would not recognize him in the plate armor, but he now had more incentive to reach King Travin.   For Leos had began this whole conflict and though he was little more than a pawn of his power-hungry father, Aedric still blamed him for the death and destruction that had befallen Northmarch.

 

Battle fury rushed over him as the Infantrymen and cavaliers accompanying Leos turned toward him.   Aedric ran directly at them, both swords raised high.   From somewhere behind him, he heard a man shout and it was answered by others around him, though he could not hear what was being said.

 

They were upon him like a pack of wolves.    The first was a seasoned warrior who came in cautiously with his shield up.      Aedric let him advance and met his sword swipe easily.   The man swung his shield, attempting to smash him in the face with the shield’s iron bracings.   But he simply dodged backwards, which would normally not have been possible with such speed in regular plate armor.

 

The quick move surprised the man, who was now exposed for an instant as he tried to bring his shield in to his chest.   But Aedric was faster and his longsword found a gap between the metal plates and he ran him through.    The veteran slumped forward heavily, lodging his sword in his body.   He frantically pulled to free it, but two plate armored cavaliers saw his predicament and rushed in from two sides, with their swords.

 

Before he could react though, suddenly there was a white blur to his left and one of the men fell to the ground dead from twin sword strokes.   The other horseman turned on this new threat with a snarl.

 

He found a ghostly female figure, adorned in the chainmail and leather of the Sylvan people, but obviously not a Wood Elf with red glowing eyes.   He brought his sword down upon Snoe as Aedric desperately tried to quickly free his blade.

 

But there was nothing to worry about, for the albino girl blocked her attackers’ blade with twin swords crossed in an ‘X’ pattern over her head.   With lightning quickness, she pushed him backwards with her boot and before he could even begin a second swing, she had delivered a killing stroke that nearly decapitated him with one sword, while her other blade cut from the opposite direction, into a gap between his breastplate and hip armor.

 

It was terrifying and awesomely graceful at the same time, and her skill at arms now seemed to draw the focus of the other men surrounding Travin.

 

As he finally freed his blade, Aedric was relieved and surprised to find that Snoe was not alone.   Mattleos rushed forward and engaged one of the infantrymen charging at Snoe, and as Aedric ran to join them, he heard the sound of a handful of Elven voices chanting some sort of Sylvan battle cry as they charged forward to assist them.

 

By the time Aedric reached the Drow girl, three more men lay dead at her feet.

 

“What are you doing?!” He called to the girl, “You’re going to get killed up here!”

He realized as he said it how foolish it sounded, as the girl was easily the master of any swordsman he had ever seen.   She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a shy smile which was even more incredible after her fierce display.

“I’m helping you get to King Travin.”

“It’s too dangerous, Snoe!”

She just shook her head and an instant later four cavaliers rushed them from different sides.    Without any words between them, they went back to back, both of them wielding swords in both hands.  

Aedric killed one of the attackers, Snoe killed two.   Together they turned to the remaining one that was desperately trying to cut Aedric down.    But before either of them could strike the horseman, Mattleos came at him from the rear and struck him down.

 

“Thanks.”   Aedric and Snoe said to the Sylvan prince at the same time.

 

Aedric leapt over the bodies of the men and continued pressing forward, with Snoe and Mattleos on each side of him.   Their assault had thinned the mob pressing against the Sylvan King, but still ten heavily armored horsemen, led by Leos, had to be dealt with.   Through their forms, he could see that only two of Travin’s men still stood, and the King himself leaned against one of these men, blood covering the right side of his head.

 

“King Travin’s injured!”   Aedric yelled to Snoe and Mattleos, “We’ve got to get to him!”

He didn’t wait for a response but rushed to engage two large horsemen, both of whom were wielding two-handed axes that dripped with Elven blood.

 

The first man roared like an Ogre and brought the huge axe down with a power stroke aimed to chop Aedric in two.    Instead of trying to parry or dodge to either side, he simply ducked his head and rammed his attacker.

 

The axe went by, over his head, but the huge man had not expected such a seemingly stupid move and Aedric knocked him backwards onto the ground.   He thrust his sword directly through the center of the plate armor, hoping that the adamantium blade would penetrate through the weaker steel.

 

He was in luck, for the blade slipped easily through, but the other axe man was fast and Aedric was knocked on top of the first man from the second axe wielder’s weapon impacting with his gorget.

 

From the strength and ferocity of the man, he would have lost his head, had not the Elven armor been enchanted.   It turned the axe blade, but the blow still sent him tumbling over the dead man.

 

Mattleos came to his defense, but his blade could not find a gap in the man’s armor.   The huge horseman turned his rage against the Sylvan Prince, slashing across at him.   Mattleos dodged the swing, but the larger man kept swinging and swiping, pushing him backwards.

 

Aedric jumped to his feet to help his cousin, but was immediately assaulted by three of the other horsemen.   These three seemed to wear fancier armor and all wore matching amulets around their necks that each held an amber colored gem.

 

Aedric sensed that these three men - probably some of Redburr’s noblemen- would be much more challenging and dangerous.   They each held ornate longswords and he could tell by their stances that they knew how to use them very well.

 

He gauged them as they circled around him, planning to come at him from three separate sides.   They sprang quickly upon him and he responded with equal speed, but he knew at once something was wrong.   His Elven armor now seemed very heavy, as if it were normal armor rather than enchanted.   He was able to deflect two of their sword blows, but the third slammed into his shoulder plate.

 

The armor held, but it seemed no different than non-magical suits of armor.   Something had neutralized the Elven armor’s enchantment.   Perhaps it had something to do with the amber colored amulets each of them wore.

 

He thrust his Elven longsword at the man who had delivered the blow to him, but the man parried skillfully.   He slashed with the short sword in a feinting action, and again the man blocked.   Swiftly Aedric brought his longsword across the man’s abdomen, and it cut through the tasses as if they were made of tin.

 

The man yelped in agony and fell backwards with a serious wound, but his two companions defended their fellow and pressed him fiercely.

 

Aedric though had been well trained in combat and the new weight of the Elven armor was nothing he hadn’t experienced with more mundane suits of steel armor.   His two opponents moved in together upon him from opposite sides in a cooperative attack.

 

He knew he was in trouble, for no doubt Snoe was assisting Mattleos and the other Elven archers who had teleported in with them were likely hard pressed with their own foes.

 

He decided that rather then try to defend against the two at the same time - he would focus on the man on his right completely, hoping to take him down before the other man found a gap in his armor and injured or killed him.

Bracing himself for injury, he parried the right handed opponent’s sword slash with his short sword and slashed at the man’s knee to perhaps disable him.

 

His blade bounced off the man’s poleyn without injuring him, but instinctively the man stepped backwards, giving Aedric a quick chance to take a swipe at the other man facing him.

 

His second foe was aiming blow after blow at his neck, but due to the man’s heavy, view-obscuring helm, his blows connected with the thick pauldrons that protected his upper shoulders instead.

 

Still, the blows stung and he knew that without the enchantment working upon it, his armor would not be able to sustain continual damage.

 

He chopped at the man right down the center, more to break off his attack than to have hope of scoring any damage upon him.   But his opponent’s helmet greatly hindered his view and Aedric’s chop actually connected with the man’s sword and knocked it from his grasp.   It was a lucky break and he capitalized on it, savagely hacking at his neck when he was bending over to try to retrieve his dropped weapon.

 

The man’s gorget kept Aedric’s stroke from killing him, but his superior blade still cut deep into his shoulder, sending him falling to the ground.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other man moving in with his sword raised high for a mighty slash that he wouldn’t be able to defend against in time.

 

Out of nowhere Snoe suddenly appeared, surprising both Aedric and his opponent alike.   She moved directly in front of Aedric and with stunning speed slashed at the startled man from two sides simultaneously.   Her aim was incredible, for her left handed sword cut deep into his underarm while his arm was still raised to strike Aedric.

 

He jerked backwards in reaction, but the girl had apparently anticipated this, for her right blade pierced his vambrace and cut deep into the flesh of his forearm.   He sank to his knees in agony.

 

“Snoe!” He called to her, but he didn’t know whether to admonish her for putting herself in danger or thank her for coming to his aid.

 

Five of the ten surrounding King Travin still stood, along with Leos.   The King’s two defenders were engaged with them, but three of them broke off their attack and advanced upon Aedric and Snoe, just as Mattleos, having neutralized his opponent, rejoined them.

 

“Are you alright?”  Aedric asked his cousin and then with a glance, extended the question to Snoe.  Both nodded as the three of them engaged Redburr’s men.

“Beware of them - they have amulets that neutralize magic.” Aedric told them as battle resumed.   Now more evenly matched, it only took them a brief while to overwhelm their foes.

 

Leos and his two remaining soldiers had killed one of the two Elven guards.  King Travin now lay on the ground, breathing heavily while the other Sylvan Elf desperately tried to ward off the three.

 

Without a word to Snoe or Mattleos, he ran toward the King and the Elf guard.   He was relieved to find not only Mattleos and Snoe joining him, but three Sylvan archers who had fought their way forward to help.

 

“Leos!”  Aedric yelled to the young dandy nobleman as they advanced, “You are a worthless coward!   Come fight me if you dare!”

The boy and his men spun around when they heard Aedric’s taunt and upon seeing six Elves advancing upon them, glanced desperately around.   He found six of his troops somewhat nearby and whistled shrilly to them, gesturing for them to assist.

 

The soldiers raced over to them, and Aedric knew they would only have a few moments to overwhelm Leos and his two men before their reinforcements arrived.

 

Redburr’s son was his goal, so he sprinted forward, feeling the weight of the armor disappear for a few moments as he moved out of what he guessed was the area of effect of the amulets’ neutralization of magic.   But as he closed in on Redburr and his cronies, suddenly the magic faded again, for all three of them also wore the same type of amulet.

 

One of the noble youth’s men moved protectively in front of him, but Aedric was determined to get to Leos.   He brought his short sword forward in a low thrust that the man easily parried, as he knew he would.   With all his might, Aedric chopped downward with the adamantium longsword, aiming at the exposed part of the man’s face.   It wasn’t a noble strike, but effective.   The man had his own sword pointed low, blocking Aedric’s short sword and was not able to get it back up and spinning around quickly enough to match Aedric’s Elven speed.

 

He fell to the ground with a horrid wound to his face, and it sickened Aedric to think that he had delivered it.   But this was war and it had been thrust upon them.   The other two men moved toward him, but Mattleos and Snoe countered them, leaving the terrified young noble man facing the grim determination of Aedric for a few moments before reinforcements reached them.

 

Aedric knew he had to strike quickly while he had a chance.   Leos was backing away from him with his shield covering him and a longsword in his other hand, but as he quickly stepped backwards, he stumbled over the body of one of Travin’s Elven guards.   It was only a mild stumble, but Aedric pounced like a wolf at the moment of uncertainty.  

His longsword skimmed across the top edge of Leos’ slightly lowered shield.   The boy wore only a chainmail coff and not a proper helmet, and Aedric’s sword cut through the weaker mail, delivering a wicked, though not deadly cut across Leos’ forehead.

 

In pain and terror, the boy screamed and swung his sword in fright, at him.

Aedric parried with his short sword, pushing the longsword blade downward as again he chopped at Leos’ exposed head.   This blow came directly down the middle and again sliced through the iron coff.   The sword cut deep, slicing through Leos’ left ear before finally being deflected by his thick steel gorget.

 

The boy immediately dropped his sword and shield, sinking to his knees as he clutched where his ear had been.   Whether it was Aedric’s ferocity or the sight of their Lord’s son grievously wounded, something caused the six soldiers coming to Leos’ aid to stop in their tracks as Leos sank to his knees, blood pouring from the side of his head.

 

“Yield, you maggot, and I will let you live.”  Aedric yelled at the blood-covered boy.

“Never to an Elf!”  Leos screamed and suddenly his right hand had a long dagger in it.   He lunged at him, but Aedric easily blocked the dagger with his short sword while slicing across the top of the gorget.

 

Leos’ head rolled off onto grass that was strewn with bodies.   Before he could do anything else, a cry of victory came from behind him and suddenly half a dozen Elven archers rushed past him, charging toward the six stunned soldiers of the dead noble youth.

They had lost their bravery and all six turned and ran against the side of the wall, toward where a larger throng of their comrades fought Duke Eleazar and his forces.

Snoe and Mattleos ran up to him, but Aedric was already rushing over to King Travin.   His last Elven guard was terribly injured, but the three soldiers fighting him had seen Aedric’s advance and fled to join the others on down the wall.

 

“Are you seriously injured?”  Aedric asked the Elven guard, who, from his appearance was indeed badly hurt, but the Elf shook his head and nodded to his liege.

“Tend to this man!”  Aedric yelled to Snoe as she came up behind him, and he knelt down beside the Sylvan King.   His form was pale and cold, but he still breathed, though he had sustained several serious wounds.   His battered plate armor was almost identical to the suit Aedric wore, and he knew that it must have been the neutralizing effects of the amulets that allowed the King to be so seriously wounded.

Mattleos was now at Travin’s other side, a look of grim horror on his face as he saw the seriousness of his grandfather’s wounds.   He looked helplessly at Aedric.

 

The young Paladin immediately closed his eyes and touched King Travin’s forehead, “In the name of Yesh the Merciful, be healed!”

Power flowed from his fingertips and covered the King’s body.   The wounds seemed to close slightly and stopped bleeding, though he was far from completely healed.   When he opened his eyes, he saw the awed look of Mattleos.   But it was King Travin that was his concern.   He had the agelessness of all Elves, though it was obvious that he was elderly by Elven standards.   His color seemed better and his skin was somewhat warmer.

“You saved him!”   Mattleos said to him.

“Yesh saved him, I was only the vessel.  He is still seriously injured, Mattleos.   We need to take him some place safe.”   Aedric turned to see if there was anyone who could help and he jumped slightly at the sight behind him.

 

They stood in a semi-circle behind Snoe, who was binding the wounds of the Elven guard, but they barely noticed her, for they were staring with wide-eyes, at him.   It was the surviving Elven archers, perhaps 20 to 30 in number, all reverently assembled and watching him tend their King.

 

As his gaze fell over them, all the archers bowed to him.   He could hear the murmurs of ‘Prince’ among them, and that unnerved him.

“Your King is still seriously injured, though I think he may be out of mortal danger.   But he must be brought to some place safe.   We must get him through the gates so he can be tended.   I don’t know if we have a clear path to the gate, but we must try.   I will fight my way through to get him to safety, but I need some to carry him and others to guard those bearing him.”

Immediately a group of Wood Elves came forward to do his bidding.   One of the Elves, bloody and slightly injured, came and knelt at Aedric’s feet.

“You are him, aren’t you?   Prince Aedric, who His Majesty has long told us would one day come to us!”

“I’m Aedric, a knight of Yesh, but I am here to help King Travin.”

“But you are his grandson, are you not, sire?”

“Yes.”  He reluctantly admitted, for he knew this would confirm their faith in him and he was certainly not up to their claim.

“Then you are indeed our Prince!”  The Elven man turned and called to the others loudly, “He is Prince Aedric!   Glory to Yesh Silimherum!   He has brought our Prince to us!”

“Yesh Silimherum!   Glory to God, for he has fulfilled his vow!”  The Elves behind Snoe called, “Long live our Prince!”

Aedric felt his face redden with embarrassment at their words, and he just turned back to King Travin.

Perhaps it was the shouts of his people or maybe the healing from Yesh, but for whatever the reason, as the Elven men began to lift up their King, his eyes opened and locked on Aedric’s sweaty face.

“Yesh Silimherum be praised!” He said weakly, smiling as he glanced at Aedric, “I see the eyes of my oldest daughter staring from the face of this gallant knight!   Aedric, my grandson, long has Yesh Silimherum promised me that I would see your face.   I rejoice now, for behold, my heir has come to assist his people!”

Travin sighed deeply and closed his eyes, falling into a weary sleep, smiling in satisfaction as four of his archers bore his body on a make-shift litter.

 

Aedric felt sick at his stomach at how quickly everything was progressing in the very direction that he feared.   He avoided looking at any of the Sylvan Elves and hurried over to Snoe, who was now being assisted in treating the Elven guard by several of his comrades.   She stood up when he approached, giving him her shy smile and bowing slightly.

“Don’t you dare start doing that!”  He growled and she shrugged with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Are you alright, Prince Aedric?”  She asked with a slight smile.

“Never mind me; first, are you well?   Any wounds?”

“I’m fine.   None of them touched me.”

“I’m not surprised, seeing how skilled your swordsmanship is.   How is this man?   He defended his King very bravely and deserves honor for his valor.”

 

Snoe looked down at the guard, “He should be alright if he can get somewhere warm and safe.   What is the plan?   I can see my parents and their soldiers; they are being attacked up ahead.   If any of those other anti-magic amulets are out there, they may be in trouble.”

“I imagine they were trying to come to King Travin’s aid and now they are facing the main body of Redburr’s forces.   Leos was too young and stupid to have been their actual general.   I imagine he was just a figurehead and that the actual commanders are somewhere behind the army.   While we have this brief lull, we’ll regroup and fight our way through to reach your father, then hopefully we’ll be able to get our injured into safety.”

“There may be many more injured.”

Aedric nodded and yelled to some of the other Sylvan Elves nearby, “See if there are any of our people injured nearby and move them as best that you can.   I don’t want to leave any of them here.   By the grace of Yesh, we are going to join up with Duke Dullerm and save our King and our injured.”

 

His words seemed to inspire the Wood Elves and they bowed and then scattered around the immediate area looking for any injured Sylvan archers.

When Aedric glanced back at Snoe, she was looking at him with a smile.

“What?” He asked her.

“You are taking charge.”

“Someone has to do it.”

“I would say the one who was supposed to take charge, is doing that.”

“For now.   Until we connect with your father.   He is the one in charge.”

“The Sylvan archers are impressed with you, Aedric.   You’ve given them some hope that they needed desperately.”

“They should put their trust in God, not in me.   I’m new at this ‘good guy’ role, Snoe, and I’m sure to make some huge mistake sooner or later.   I am just trying to do the right thing, and pray to Yesh that I’m doing that.    If they want a Prince, they should look to Mattleos.   He certainly could fill the role and the Sylvan Elves could follow him.”

“They are looking to you, Aedric, not Mattleos.”

“That is foolish of them.   They don’t know me.   Nobody really knows me.   Not even you, Snoe.”

 

The albino girl smiled, “Oh, I know you, Aedric, though I really don’t know how that is possible since we haven’t known each other very long.   But I understand you.    That is why I’m not following Mattleos.   I’m following you.”

“Why?   You’re not a Sylvan Elf.   Your father is almost the King of Northmarch right now.   You have no reason to follow me.”

“I have other reasons.” She replied with a slight smile as she averted her eyes and turned her attention to an injured Sylvan Elf that had been found by his comrades.   As Aedric looked at her assisting the wounded Elf, he wondered what she meant.

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"So hoping to draw as many of the enemy around them to him as he could..." This is a little oddly worded, in particular, where it says "...around them to him..."
"...not to the level of skill of a knight." Perhaps "...not to the skill level of a knight." ?
"...but instead of aiming a blow at the man’s torso, instead swiped quickly..." You can take out a "quickly."
"...the man easily parried, as she knew he would." I believe you were wanting "he" rather than "she."
"As his gaze fell over them, they all -to a man- bowed to him." I was a bit confused by this sentence. ?