Chapter Twenty
The morning meal of sausages and bread was eaten in silence, partly because they were hungry and tired, but also because recent events continued to drive them apart. Sayana ate an entire day's worth of rations in one meal, which no longer came as a surprise to Aiden.
Concerned about Nellise’s continued absence, he left the camp to look around for her. After a few minutes of searching through the bushes and sparse trees that dotted the landscape he, eventually found her kneeling on the other side of the mausoleum.
She looked bedraggled as she gazed up at the stone structure before her with wide, red-rimmed eyes while clutching her tiny sword amulet in one hand. Moving closer, Aiden realised she was praying.
It was a peaceful scene, a moment of quiet reflection after the chaotic times they'd gone through in recent days. Aiden stood a few yards away, idly pondering Sayana's words and what she could have meant, until Nellise spoke up.
“Why us?” she asked quietly, still looking up at the mausoleum.
“Excuse me?” Aiden blurted, having taken a moment to realise she was talking to him.
“Of all the people who could have dealt with this problem, why did it have to be us?” Nellise clarified. Aiden thought for a minute before answering.
“There's a power vacuum in this country just now, as we've learned in our travels,” he explained. “I didn't realise the peace of the Kingdom was such a fragile thing, but there it is. Take away nearly all of the people keeping us safe, and we find out what it was they were keeping us safe from. Someone has to step into that gap I suppose, it's the way of things.”
“I read a saying among my research,” he continued after a moment’s pause, “from a wise man who lived so long ago his name has been forgotten - 'nature abhors a vacuum', he said. If we hadn't done it, maybe the akorans would have taken over. Maybe callous noblemen like Ronald Bartlett would have divided up the kingdom for themselves. We were in the right place at the right time to make a difference.”
“They could have sent more rangers in, or gathered up some real soldiers instead,” Nellise disagreed.
“If 'they' - meaning Olaf and Tara - could have done that, I'm sure they would have,” Aiden told her. “It's not like we were completely inexperienced in this sort of thing, a fact that I'm sure made us look like the answer to their manpower problems. Mind you, I'd be the first to admit that we were in way over our heads.”
“That is an understatement,” Nellise whispered, wiping a tear from her cheek and turning to look directly up at Aiden with knowing eyes. “The price was too high though, for all of us.”
“Oh, I don't know about that,” Aiden replied lightly, trying to cheer her up. “Pacian seemed to come through it pretty much unscathed as usual.”
“I fear his price is yet to be paid,” she predicted, her voice barely above a whisper. “I saw his face when you were fighting the men holding me captive. I have rarely seen such unbridled savagery, even in the barbarians we fought.”
“Of course he was angry, he cares about you,” Aiden protested. “I would have thought you'd appreciate a little righteous anger, given the situation. I was filled with it myself, as it happens.” Nellise put her healing crystal back into its pouch and retrieved a small selection of herbs, as well as a mortar and pestle.
“There is a difference between righteousness and enjoying the slaughter,” she admonished him, whilst grinding the herbs together. “I fear Pace has come to an important decision, and despite my best efforts to show him a better way, he has chosen a dark road to walk. He may have listened to me once, but I fear he has crossed a line.” Aiden remained silent, finding the bleak assessment of his closest friend a little too discomforting.
“You seemed to be praying when I arrived,” he eventually said, as a way of changing the subject. “Does this place hold some special significance to you?”
“The grounds have been sanctified and blessed,” Nellise breathed, “and I am attempting to cleanse my body and spirit of impurities.” Colt, Pacian and Sayana walked into the small clearing at that moment, packed and ready to go.
“I don’t mean to rush you or anything,” Colt grunted, “but we’re all pretty eager to get back to Bracksford.”
“I'm just about done here,” Nellise informed them, pouring her mixture into a small vial of water, and shaking it vigorously.
“What is that?” Pacian asked curiously.
“Bitter,” she muttered as she drank it down, screwing her face up as she swallowed. “Now, gather around, and I shall take care of those bruises you seem to enjoy complaining about.”
“You seem a little better than before,” Pacian observed hopefully, sitting close to her, but wary about sitting too close.
“I’m trying to deal with the issue, with God’s help,” she informed him tiredly. Her eyes seemed to stare at nothing for a long, still moment, and then she added, “I'll survive, but I think my days of adventuring are over. I shall be returning to the chapterhouse at Culdeny after I rest up in Bracksford, and fall back into a normal life of hard work and prayer.”
“I don't think any of us would dispute your decision,” Aiden said soberly, “just know that if there's anything we can do to help, you only have to ask.”
“For example, I have spare pants,” Sayana offered. Nellise nodded slowly, saying nothing but apparently taking her up on the offer. The two girls stepped out of view for a few minutes, and when they returned, Nellise was more appropriately attired in leather from the waist down. Despite her fatigued state, she took out her crystal and began whispering her healing prayers.
Sayana remained a source of troubling thoughts for Aiden. She was obviously keeping her distance from him, leaving him to ponder her earlier words as they travelled.
Was she correct in assuming the dragon had turned him into some kind of puppet? It had mentioned there was some kind of important task to be done, and that Aiden would have to do whatever mysterious undertaking it wanted alone.
Once they set out, it wasn’t long before the terrain around them gradually transformed from the snow-covered hills of the south, to the open plains of Bracksfordshire's farmlands. The sky remained clear for the rest of the day, and having the cool winter sun shining down on them made it the most enjoyable journey he’d taken in recent weeks.
Bracksfordshire was renowned for remaining clear of snow, even in the depths of winter, while the surrounding lands were covered in a thick, white blanket. A quirk of the weather patterns kept the farms producing food all year round, making it one of the most important regions in the kingdom and referred to as 'Aielund's breadbasket'.
It was just as the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon when, under the wary eyes of the local militia, they arrived at Bracksford's eastern gate. Clearly, Aiden and his companions had been recognised as they approached, for the gate swung wide before they reached it, and Tara, accompanied by several of her men, waited within.
“Glad to see you made it back in one piece,” she welcomed them. “Some of the lads thought you might be a pack of raiders looking for prey and were of half a mind to shoot you.”
“I’m glad they didn’t,” Aiden replied dryly, stifling a yawn. “You won't be having any further trouble with raiders. Erag Black-Tiger is dead, and Morik Far-Eagle is attempting to reclaim power. But even if he fails, they'll be so disorganised I doubt they'll be any further trouble. Also, I stole their battle plans, which might hamper them a bit.” He pulled out the rolled up sheet of parchment and handed it over to the sergeant.
“This is incredible, Aiden,” she breathed, not so much at the map, but the overall scale of their accomplishment. “Did you find Duncan and the other ranger well enough?” Aiden didn't answer, instead looking to Colt to tackle this one.
“The bastards got 'em before we reached them,” he grated, still angry at the loss of one of his few friends, or at least the closest thing to a friend he had. “Couldn't bring the bodies back, but I aim to return there in th
e near future to see they got a proper burial.”
“I'm sorry for your loss,” Tara replied soberly, diverting her attention to the map in her hands. “This seems fairly straight forward,” she mused after examining the plans for a moment. “Plunder, rape and pillage. It looks like they wanted to move in instead of destroying the town itself. Fair enough I suppose, must be hard living down there in the mountains all year 'round. It also says something here about another group supposed to come in from the north?”
“I noticed that too,” Colt added. “Damn generous of them to write it down in Aielish. I think they were going to try a flanking manoeuvre, but since they've lost their leadership, I doubt that's going to happen now.”
“I'll have my people keep an eagle eye out anyway,” she replied, turning her attention to each of his companions. “God, you all look like you've been through hell.”
“You have no idea,” Aiden muttered, finding the effort to keep standing more difficult with each passing second.
“How about we get you back to the inn. I'll go debrief the mayor after he's finished talking with Princess Criosa,” Tara continued, drawing a look of surprise from Aiden at this information.
“The princess is here?” he asked Tara incredulously.
“Yes, didn't he mention an important personage was coming through town from Fort Highmarch soon?”
“I vaguely remember something about that being mentioned,” Aiden recalled, “but I didn't realise that's who he meant.”
“Well it's a good thing we stopped the akorans then,” Pacian said. “Imagine if they'd come through here tomorrow morning, while we had bloody royalty staying in town.” Everyone was silent for a moment as this hastily blurted opinion was digested. A terrible feeling welled up within Aiden as his tired mind started putting things together.
“Why would the akorans write in Aielish?” he mumbled, glancing at Colt.
“They wouldn’t,” the ranger answered slowly, with both men slowly realising they were missing something very important.
Tara suddenly stiffened and gasped, prompting Aiden to wonder just what had occurred to the soldier. She staggered forward as a trickle of blood escaped her lips, before she toppled face first into the ground. The horror of the moment didn't instantly register for any of the militia, but Aiden noticed the crossbow bolt embedded in her back and quickly drew his sword.
At that moment, all hell broke loose in Bracksford as crossbow bolts started flying through the air, taking down the militia in rapid succession. A cry of alarm went up and the remaining militia moved to respond. Looking around frantically for the archers, Aiden spied half a dozen men crouched near one of the houses lining the road through town, their crossbows sending a steady stream of bolts into the surprised defenders.
The men were wearing chain mail armour, full-face helmets, and tabards emblazoned with the symbol of a great cat, possibly a tiger. Until that moment, Aiden had been paralysed with shock and fatigue but he now realised who was attacking –the mercenaries of the Steel Tigers, under the command of Robert Black.
The militia, devoid of leadership, began loosing bolts at random back at the attackers. The enemy’s shots were far more accurate and deadly, and fully half of the dozen men and women stationed at the gate had already fallen in the onslaught.
Sayana blasted a stream of fire at the mercenaries, torching one of them and forcing the others to pull back. Aiden and Colt, thinking alike, took advantage of the diversion to join the militia advancing on the enemy. With their combined assault, they finished off the remaining soldiers in a furious exchange of steel, then paused for a moment’s breath and took stock of the situation.
The sounds of screaming women and children echoed down the street, but the remaining militia nearby were engaging more soldiers. Colt swapped out his greatsword for the longbow and began to string it, while Sayana began to glow softly as she wreathed her body in a shimmering layer of spectral armour.
Looking back at the gate, Aiden saw that Pacian was comforting Nellise, who was crouched on the ground next to Tara, her hands over her face and clearly distraught. Aiden felt a pang of sympathy for her, knowing she was still trying to cope with recent events.
Aiden rushed back over to Tara's side as Pacian gently turned her on to one side. Her eyes gazed vaguely ahead as she was slipping away.
“Get... to the... inn,” Tara whispered with her last breath. Nellise closed her eyes and let her go while they took a brief moment to mourn her passing. Aiden's tired brain tried to formulate a plan of action while Colt was aiding the town defenders where he could, loosing arrows at opportune targets.
“What the hell is going on here?” Pacian asked loudly, as if expecting the world itself to answer.
“We have to get to the inn and secure it,” Aiden replied distantly. “Nel, I hate to ask this, but we need you to focus. Innocent people are dying here, do you understand?” The distraught girl looked up and nodded silently, her eyes rimmed with red.
“Don't worry Nel,” Pacian assured her, “if anyone so much as looks at you I'm going to shred them.” Nellise gave him an unreadable look, then put on her helmet and hefted Clavis' repeating crossbow.
“I could use some support over here!” Colt yelled, evidently running low on arrows.
“Keep together and support each other, don't let them divide us up. These are professional soldiers, not a bunch of morons.”
“Don't be so sure about that,” Pacian warned cynically. “They may surprise you.” Aiden ignored him and pressed forward, charging into a small group of mercenaries who were cutting down twice their number in overwhelmed militia fighters. Able to provide little more than a distraction, he swept his blade back and forth, striking armour more than flesh.
Two of them turned to engage him, and Aiden kept them busy enough to allow Pacian to get into position. With a flurry of daggers, Pacian made short work of the unsuspecting warriors then he grabbed Aiden by the shoulder and pulled him aside, just as a stream of crossbow bolts struck the remaining mercenaries.
The militia fighters were upon them in a flash, taking advantage of the diversion to overwhelm the soldiers who were being struck from two flanks.
“Keep moving towards the inn!” Aiden cried aloud, hoping the militia would recognise the order and assist him and his companions in reaching that goal. The main street ahead of them was a scene of chaos, with townsfolk trying to get to safety and wounded defenders struggling to aid them.
As much as Aiden wanted to intercede in every engagement, he knew the real prize was Princess Criosa Roebec, the King's only heir. Killing or even kidnapping a member of the royal family would have far-reaching ramifications.
They pressed on, moving down the mud-filled street as fast as they could manage with Aiden trying to ignore his screaming muscles. A townsman trying to defend his wife and child from a mercenary who had burst into their home cried out for help, and received it as Nellise and Colt sent a hail of arrows and bolts to cut down the enemy in short order.
“Barricade the door and do not come out until this is over!” Aiden shouted over the din of screams and bloodshed as he slammed the front door and kept running for the inn. The smell of smoke started to fill the air and the glow of fires could be seen against the twilight sky as they moved onward, until they finally spotted the Bracksfordshire Arms Inn just up the street.
Four mercenaries were holding the front of the inn as militia crossbowmen attempted to cut them down. The soldiers held their shields locked together, providing a wall of steel to protect them against attack. Sensing time was of the essence, Aiden raised his magical sceptre and spoke the command word.
A beam of brilliant light seared the mercenaries as he swept it across their armoured bodies. Screams and smoke drifted into the air as their defence crumbled, leaving them open to attack from the militia. With Colt and Nellise adding their own weaponry to the task, the four mercenaries were quickly eliminated.
The open door to the inn was sla
mmed shut just as Aiden and the others hurried forward. Colt crashed into the door shoulder-first but there were others inside holding it shut.
“Open the bloody door!” Colt roared as he futilely slammed into the door once again. Pacian signalled for him to stop, and took a look at the situation.
“You know, axes are good at chopping into wood,” he mused, gazing at Sayana's weapon.
“You're gonna need more muscle than she's got to get through that door, sharp axe or no,” Colt growled, taking the axe off her back and marching up to the door. “No offence Sy but you're a dainty little thing and this needs a big man's touch.” Sayana raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
They stood back as Colt heaved the axe at the door, sending great chunks of wood flying with each hit. The sound of screaming from inside could be heard even over the din, and Colt redoubled his efforts. With a great roar he brought the door down, revealing the dimly lit interior of the entryway beyond. Colt tossed the axe back over to Sayana, who caught it and held it ready while Aiden rushed through the doorway.
What was through the door however, was not a group of mercenaries waiting to strike down whoever entered. There were three of them on the ground, bleeding from numerous wounds and no longer a threat. Aiden cautiously moved into the common room, glancing around at the faces of the frightened townsfolk, men and women he had come to know over the time he had spent here, clutching each other in shocked silence.
To his left, he saw the innkeeper, Tom, leaning against the wall sporting some nasty bruises on his face. His daughter Aislin huddled underneath a table nearby, her eyes wide with fright as she looked at Aiden, having witnessed whatever had been done to her father and been powerless to do anything about it.
Before him, Aiden saw the mayor sitting at a bar stool, mopping his brow with a piece of cloth. Next to him, a large, bearded man wearing heavy armour and the colours of the Kingdom Guard sat, blood dripping from his helmet as he struggled to stay upright. Other armoured men lay around on the floor - some mercenaries, some King's men who had clearly fought hard to protect their charge and paid with their lives. Of the princess, there was no sign.
“Mister Wainwright, this is terrible... terrible,” Olaf gasped, overcome with fear from the unexpected assault on the town. “They attacked without warning and took her!”
“They took the princess?” Aiden asked intensely. “Where did they take her? Get a hold of yourself, man.”
“They went out the back door, just past Captain Marshald,” Olaf sputtered, pointing at the rear entrance while trying to regain his composure. Colt and the others had come in behind Aiden, dismayed at the sight before them. Nellise set aside her crossbow and went straight for the wounded officer sitting next to the mayor. She slowly started removing his helmet to examine his injuries.
“How is he?” Aiden asked Nellise.
“He has suffered a serious head wound,” she replied distractedly. “Give me a minute to see what I can do.”
“You have to get her back,” the officer said, his voice slurred. “This whole thing... must have been planned long in advance. Someone is making a move against the throne.” Aiden was momentarily taken aback at the magnitude of what the captain had just stated. He glanced at his companions and saw a similarly daunted look upon their faces.
“You need to lie down, Captain,” Nellise advised the soldier, “right away, if you please.”
“It is my duty to protect the Princess and I will do so while I still draw breath,” he replied stoically.
“If you don't lie down, you won't be breathing much longer,” Nellise insisted. Marshald gave her a bleary look and then relented. While she set about treating his injury, a young woman wearing the armour and cloak of the town militia stumbled in through the door and saluted nobody in particular.
“Forget the formalities,” Olaf muttered. “If you have something to say, out with it.”
“The enemy has been pushed out of the town,” she explained. “We’ve lost twenty of the twenty five guards, including Sergeant Redfurn.”
“What’s your name?” Colt asked gently after noticing that the woman was still trembling.
“Private Mathilda,” she replied in the strict cadence of one addressing a superior officer. Aiden guessed that was all she had to hold on to.
“Congratulations Private, you’re now a Sergeant,” Colt continued. “Take a deep breath, then get out there and make sure the injured are treated. Then post guards on all the gates and report any further movement back here.”
“Yessir,” Mathilda said with a quick salute. She took a breath as ordered, which restored a little colour to her face, then hurried back out the door.
“You don’t have the authority to promote someone in the town militia,” Olaf pointed out, though his expression suggested he regretted doing so almost immediately.
“Do you think I give a shit what you think?” Colt spat. “She got the orders she needed to keep going. You can demote her after I’m gone.” A moment of silence fell over the room as they all took a moment to grasp what had just happened to the once-peaceful town.
“Those were Robert Black’s mercenaries,” Colt said in case anyone hadn’t figured it out yet. “How the hell did they get into the town without going through the gates?” Though Aiden's mind was slowing down from exhaustion, he knew the answer to this question.
“They dug in under the wall,” he informed them, “just like they tried in Culdeny.”
“Of course,” Pacian sighed. “They must have been digging for weeks.”
“It seems coincidental they attacked just when the akorans were going to, also,” Sayana added. “Wait, show me that battle plan you took from Erag, Aiden.” He took the rolled up plans from inside his tunic and handed them over to her, wondering what she wanted with them. The wild girl unfurled the parchment and took a closer look at it.
“If one of my people wrote this, it would not have been in Aielish,” she said, pointing at the scrawled writing. “This plan wasn't made by akorans, it was given to them, to co-ordinate with the warriors who came here this day.” Aiden smacked his forehead for missing that little clue as the answers to the events of the past few days were starting to crystallise.
“You're all wasting time,” Marshald said from down on the floor, cutting off any further discussion of this new information. “Go and rescue Princess Criosa from her captors or their plans, whatever they are, will succeed. I'd go with you but I don't think it's a good idea for me to try and stand up right now.”
“It certainly isn't,” Nellise muttered. “You're lucky to be alive, Captain. I have healed the wound as best as I can, but you will require days of rest before you will fully recover.”
“He will be cared for, madam,” Olaf assured her. “You have to leave immediately.”
“We only just returned from a harrowing mission down into akoran territory,” Nellise protested with a trembling voice, her resolve starting to wither. “You have no idea just how bad things went for us down there...”
“I can see by the ragged nature of your attire that it must have been very difficult for you indeed,” Olaf admitted. “But this is an emergency. The town has been devastated by this attack and if you had not returned when you did, I doubt any of us would be alive to have this conversation. I implore you, do as the Captain says and pursue Criosa's captors, or the people behind all of this might succeed in whatever nefarious plans they have in play.”
Aiden looked around at his weary friends. They were wounded, tired, and traumatised, but no-one disagreed with the mayor's assessment. Reluctantly, he knew there was only one answer he could give.
“Very well,” he sighed, “we will go but we'll need supplies.”
“Take what you need from here,” Tom offered and, as if on cue, Aislin scrambled out from under the table to start collecting bread, cheese and sausages into a sack.
“I'm going to need more crossbow bolts,” Nellise murmured absently, resigned to her fate. She started looki
ng around at the fallen mercenaries for spare bolts, while Colt did the same, looking for arrows.
“The princess and her contingent rode here on horses, which are still in the stable,” Tom informed them. “I don’t think she’d mind if you borrowed them for a while.”
“Fantastic, ‘cause I don’t think I can walk another step,” Pacian said with relief.
“They went out this door here, yes?” Colt called from across the room. Olaf nodded, and the big ranger responded by kicking the door off its hinges. With his sword drawn, he stepped outside into the near-darkness of early evening, with Aiden and the others quickly gathering their gear before following him outside.
“Please save her,” Aislin begged, looking up to Aiden as she handed him a sack full of food. “She was nice to me and didn't deserve to be dragged off by those bad men.”
“Don't worry,” Aiden assured the little girl with a resigned sigh. “Apparently, this is what I do for a living.”