Against the Empire: The Dominion and Michian (56 page)

Alec looked at the opposing riders, who had slowed momentarily when they had recognized their archer nemesis taking a stand, apparently fearing another rain of deadly arrows. But then they had begun to come on regardless, with a courage that he admitted was admirable. Alec turned and saw that the Bondell riders had already moved on another hundred yards, and he turned Walnut towards the valley, resuming his retreat. Behind the horses he could see infantry soldiers moving in a loose formation, keeping up with the cavalry.

At the mouth of the valley Alec stopped, as he saw the Bondell horses beginning to falter badly; one horse went down from exhaustion, and Imelda slid off hers to lead it forward. The Michian riders also saw the approaching end of the ride for their quarry and they began to gallop forward towards Alec, feeling more confident in approaching him.

He only needed to hold them back for two more minutes, he judged, and then his friends from Bondell would be safe and he could let the invaders ride into the trap. Despite the pain in his hand, he drew his sword from his left hip and passed it to his right hand. A half dozen leading riders were within twenty yards now, and Alec engaged his own powers to the fullest degree, then slid off Walnut and slapped his hind quarters, spurring the horse to gallop back into the safety of the valley.

“Alec!” he faintly heard a voice wail, though whose it was he couldn’t tell, as he rushed forward and plunged his sword into the neck of a horse, while pulling out a dagger and throwing it at a rider on another horse. He rolled through a forest of horse legs and came up standing behind the first horses, then attacked them again before they could turn to face him. More horses were riding up, and score of men were running towards the battle scene.

Alec circled swiftly around the Michian riders and began backing towards the valley. A noise behind him distracted him, and he saw Imelda running towards him, her own sword drawn as she screamed a savage war cry. Alec swiftly ran back to her and reached out, grabbing her arm, as he fought with his right hand.

“Get back!” he snarled.

“I won’t let you fight alone,” she shouted as she shook free of him and killed a foot soldier. The enemy horsemen were dismounting now, and Alec and Imelda were backing up rapidly, standing side by side as they continued to fall deeper into the valley.

Alec heard a grunt, and turned to see Imelda suffer a stab to her thigh.

Angry at seeing her wounded, and angry to see her out in the midst of the battle, Alec slew three men around them rapidly, and caught her as she began to fall. He dropped his sword and placed his right hand under her knees to carry her away, when he felt a stab in his own back, and another blade slice the back of his thigh. He screamed in pain, but called on his warrior powers to propel him out of reach of the attackers, and he stumbled forward twenty yards, then fell forward, thrusting Imelda out in front of him, and they both lay on the ground as the Michian foot soldiers ran towards them.

Chapter 48 – Flight from the Demon

Alec groaned and rolled over onto his side, just in time to see a bolt of flame flare ten feet over his head and char the soldiers about to descend on him. A moment later he saw a steady stream of arrows fly farther above him on their way to the back ranks of the Michian forces. Another blast of fire flew through the air, and more of the soldiers immediately near him screamed momentarily before they died.

Alec dropped his warrior powers in exhaustion, then saw Bethany and Rief running towards him. “Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t be a hero’?” Bethany shouted at him as she placed a hand on his back. He felt her healing powers sooth and remove the pain as she rubbed her hand along his back, then her hand slid down to his thigh, and that wound too was healed. “They’re not pretty to look at, but the worst damage is repaired,” she said clinically. She scuttled forward to where Rief was tending to Imelda’s wound.

“Are you a healer, too?” the cavalry commander asked in astonishment.

Rief and Bethany both nodded their heads.

Alec turned abruptly as he heard Imelda say, “I am too!”

“You have powers?” he asked her.

“I do. I’ve been healing injuries after battles and keeping our folks in the saddle for weeks now, ever since you saved my life,” she replied. “Is that what happened for you too?” she asked Bethany.

“We need to get you people up and out of here,” Nathaniel shouted as he raced by them, headed towards hand-to-hand combat with the nearby Michian soldiers. Alec stood up and re-engaged his warrior powers. They were weak, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to sustain his energies for long. Moriah and Rubicon went by in a blur, and Alec picked up a sword near the body of a dead Michian soldier and joined the battle with the other warrior ingenairii.

The use of flames and arrows together had inflicted terrible casualties on the vanguard of the invasion force, and those further back had not come forward into the valley after seeing the gouts of flame. Bondell soldiers stationed up on the hillsides were shooting arrows towards the mouth of the valley, further cutting off new soldiers.

A score of Michian soldiers remained trapped in the valley, and the warrior ingenairii were engaged in fierce swordplay with them as Alec joined the fray. Together the four warriors mercilessly battled the soldiers who surrounded them, and cleared the valley of living opponents.

“Alec! What were you thinking?” Nathaniel shouted at Alec as soon as the last opponent went down. “You were not supposed to put yourself in any kind of danger!”

“Up until the end I was fine,” Alec said meekly.

“Up until the end? Up until the end?” Bethany growled as she came forward. “I about had a heart attack when you got off Walnut and charged into the Michian riders!” She hugged him fiercely, and he dropped his borrowed sword to wrap his arms around her.

Rubicon placed his fingers in his mouth and gave a shrill whistle to signal the others located throughout the valley. Alec watched as men and women started scrambling down the hillsides. “We need to fall back and figure out our next action,” he said as he started to walk back towards the rear of the valley, stepping among the dead soldiers.

Alec looked around for the spot where he had thrown down his own sword. Spying it, he walked forward, holding Bethany’s hand, and picked it up. A few scattered horses were nearby and unharmed, and Alec grabbed the reins of one. “Take her back to join our horses,” he told Bethany, handing her the lead. “I’ll get some of these others.” Nathaniel and Imelda saw what he was doing and came forward to join him. Together, then led a half dozen horses back around the bend in the road where the rest of the forces had gathered.

“What do we do now?” Alec asked as they walked up to the gathering.

“We put a big hurt on them,” Rubicon said.

“That’s the biggest bloody nose they’ve got since we killed their magic animals,” Rashrew agreed.

Alec’s left hand began to throb painfully.

“We could try to set up another ambush here, around the corner out of their sight,” Rubicon suggested. “Our goal is to slow them down as long as we can so our forces can get to the bridge to set up the defenses.”

“They’ll come around the corner with more caution, I’m sure,” Moriah said.

“Do they march at night?” Nathaniel asked.

“No, not so far,” Imelda replied.

“If we can hit them here in the backside of the valley, they won’t get any farther today,” Nathaniel said. “Let’s set up a small formation we can withdraw from easily. And Alec,” he said, turning to look at his friend. “You stay in the back this time!”

Several laughed appreciatively. “Alright,” Alec agreed, “but you all need to stay safe up front. Don’t take any risks!” More laughter at the irony of his comment followed.

“Let’s put the fire ingenairii just in front of their horses, then a line of archers, and put horses behind them as well,” Rubicon planned. “Nathaniel Moriah and I will be up front with the fire ingenairii to protect them. Everyone else should be on a horse in the rear, ready to ride when we say to go,” he looked at Alec as he said so.

“That’s a good plan,” Alec said out loud. “Let’s all get ready.”

Even as he spoke, his hand throbbed intensely, and a familiar keening sound echoed up the valley. “Oh Lord,” he said softly.

“What is it Alec?” Bethany asked.

“We need to go talk to Rief,” he said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her across the group.

“Rief,” he blurted out. “Did you hear that sound, that scream?” he asked. “Could they have brought a sorceress capable of conjuring a demon to the Dominion?”

“They could have sent a sorceress,” Rief agreed slowly. “But there isn’t always a scream. Sometimes they come in silently,” she shuddered. “The one you saved me from, it didn’t scream.”

Alec sighed with regret as he realized she was right. And at that moment a large demon came rambling around the bend in the road and started to approach them, with a second, smaller creature behind it. “We have to flee!” Alec yelled. “Nathaniel, Moriah, Rubicon! Get the fire ingenairii on their horses. We don’t want to fight this battle.

“Fall back!” he screamed again. He helped Bethany onto her horse, and mounted Walnut beside her.

“You fought something like that?” she asked, fear showing in her widened eyes. “My God Alec, how did you survive?”

“I just barely did. I’ve got scars that can’t be healed,” he told her. “Stay here. I’m going to go pull them back,” he gestured to where the front lines stood stupefied and unmoving at the sight of horrific entity that approached them. He directed Walnut to the front, standing between his troops and the dangerously close demon.

“We have to move! Get going,” he shouted and swung his sword in front of the faces of the fire ingenairii. They responded by scrambling out of his way and climbing up on their horses, as did his Warrior companions at last.

The rest of the Bondell forces had already withdrawn, and Alec’s last riders hurried to catch up with them. The group united, and turned to watch the demon which continued to walk towards them. “Let’s get away from here and set up camp for the night,” Alec suggested. “I want as much distance as possible between us and it.” The riders all started their horses in the direction of the setting sun, and left the monster far behind.

“Have you faced one of the demons before?” Alec asked Rashrew as they rode.

“Lord help us, no. We never saw anything like that. None of us would be here if we had,” he responded as Nathaniel and Moriah rode closer to hear what they said.

“Rief, come here please,” Alec called. “What is that small thing”” he gestured. “Have they called two of them together?”

“It’s like a demon, but it’s called an ‘imp’,” Rief told him. “They are not nearly so dangerous, but they can still do great harm and damage.”

Alec digested that, then asked his next question. “Can a demon remain called indefinitely, or does it have to return to its origin soon?”

“I never saw one in our world for more than a few minutes, but thankfully I haven’t seen many of them. The one you fought seemed to be here longer than any other I’d seen before?” she told him. “I’m sorry I don’t know more.”

“You fought one of those things?” Moriah asked in a frightened voice.

Alec dramatically removed his tunic, revealing the scars that vividly crossed his chest. “Even John Mark’s cave couldn’t completely heal the wounds it gave me. Rief and I are here by the slimmest of margins. And I beat it, but I don’t think I actually killed it.

“I don’t want to ever have to fight one again. I only did it the first time to save Rief, and because I didn’t know what I was doing,” he paused. “I’m scared to learn that they are conjuring them here.”