The New Guard (Crossroads Book 1) (15 page)

The
journey along Haven Road was uneventful. Rebekah slept the entire trip, and
Alawnwee finally found peace enough to relax. Just over an hour had passed when
the carriage pulled into Way’s Crossing, the crossroads where Haven’s Road and
North Road met. Situated off to the side of the merging roads was a sanctuary.
Alawnwee woke Rebekah as the carriage came to a halt. The two ladies got out of
the carriage at Alawnwee’s insistence. The coachmen were checking the horses
and the harnesses; the Coterie were checking their own mounts. One of the
warriors looked up as the two ladies passed by.

“Don’t
wander off too far, please,” he said quietly. “We will be moving out again
soon.”

“Yes,
thank you,” Rebekah replied. Then everything went wrong.

The first
sign of trouble came when one of the Coterie mounts reared, screaming in pain,
and knocking its attending rider to the ground. The first horse was quickly
joined by another, then another. Then a Coterie warrior cried out, and
everybody saw the black shaft buried deep in his left thigh.

“Remount
and secure the ladies; we ride hard!” bellowed the senior Coterie warrior.

As
quickly and gently as possible, Alawnwee and Rebekah were hauled into the
carriage. As she got into the carriage, she saw the drivers strapping on pieces
of armor and securing the reins. She turned just before the door closed and saw
the three wounded horses fall to the ground, frothing at the mouth. The pierced
warrior was on his knees, breathing hard as he broke the shaft in his leg in
half. Rebekah didn’t see him fall to the ground, his mouth, too, full of
foaming spittle. However, she did see the remaining Coterie warriors gallop off
in every direction.

The
second passed and the carriage door closed. The whip of the reins cracked
loudly and Rebekah was thrown back against the padded seat. Alawnwee was
quickly by her side, making sure she was okay. The Fox growled out the window;
the Owl was nowhere to be seen.

Outside,
the ambush turned into a running battle. The two minor demons had taken
possession of several animals. The smaller of the two was holding half a dozen
ravens in sway, while the tallish one was in possession of two large mountain
cats. A goblin rode upon each one. These goblins were followed by fourteen
more. Half of them were also mounted; their mounts were black, hairless rats
the size of ponies. The other goblins ran behind, alternating between running
on just their legs and scrambling on all four limbs (as goblins often do when
in a hurry). Ferreter kept himself and his mount concealed in the shadows.
Without the strength of the Void, it was not worth his joining the fray just
yet.

Three
Coterie warriors had stayed close to the carriage, and they now rode between
the vehicle and the oncoming attackers. Two of the goblins, daggers in their
teeth, scrambled and leapt ahead of their group. Their acrobatics brought them
upon the rumps of the rear most Coterie horses. One warrior acted quickly and
backhanded the goblin off his mount. However, the other goblin was faster and,
latching onto the horse’s side with its clawed feet, it rapidly stabbed the
warrior in the back. Before the warrior could recover, the second goblin was
also upon the horse, crawling down its side and cutting the warrior’s legs. The
poison in the two blades acted quickly, and the warrior’s legs became numb as
his spine seemed to catch fire. The warrior lost his grip, fell, and
disappeared under the mass of trailing goblins.

Goblins,
though loath to ride horses, know how to control animals with fear and pain.
Within moments the two goblins overpowered the struggling horse and brought it
into their service. Meanwhile, three more goblins were scrambling upon another
of the rear riders and disposing of him in a similar fashion to the first. The
five goblins quickly urged their panicked mounts forward and began harrying the
last of the rear guard.

However,
this battle was not to be over so quickly nor be so one sided. The warriors who
had shot off in other directions rejoined the carriage, just as the goblins
riders closed with the last rear sentry. Simultaneously, the rat riders were
advancing in a move to get to the front of the carriage. Two of those riders
fell before they noticed the new batch of warriors. Both goblins and mounts
were killed as massive spears impaled them and their mounts to the roadway. The
twin warriors responsible for this then worked in tandem to pin another rat
rider between them. The goblin drew two curved and serrated blades and fought
both warriors at once. The struggle quickly became a stalemate, as neither side
could gain an advantage.

As all
the mounted warriors became entangled with the goblins upon their grotesque
rats, the remaining two stead-less goblins had finally caught up to and joined
their comrades on the appropriated Coterie horses. Seeing an opening, these
goblins spurred their terrified mounts forward to press the advantage. The
horse unwillingly carrying four goblins was steered close to the twin on the
left. Two of the goblins leapt upon the twin and soon overpowered him. Within
moments, they had wounded him mortally several times over. The mounted goblin
pressed his advantage and turned his full attention to the twin on the right. In
an act to quickly remove the rider from combat, the goblin cut the front leg of
the warrior’s horse. It was a bold move, but not a clever one. The horse
instantaneously missed the next step. Rider and horse fell, colliding with the
goblin and his mount. All four fell in a broken heap.

Since the
battle was being fought at such a fast pace and in such close quarters, many of
the combatants had to break from their melees in order to avoid becoming
entangled with the fallen riders. Without thought, two of the mounted goblins
took the momentary respite and shot forward, away from the fray. They moved
rapidly toward the front, one on either side of the carriage. Their intentions
were clear; they were headed for the carriage horses. Four warriors broke
forward madly to intercept the goblins. The remaining two rat mounted goblins
tried to join their comrades; however, they were stopped by the four remaining
Coterie warriors, who guarded the back of the carriage.

The rest were
kept busy, as the two rat creature riders moved as agilely as possible, weaving
between the four warriors. The seven goblins now in control of three horses
added their numbers randomly against the Coterie fighters. Nevertheless,
neither side was overpowered. The battle became a deadly game of back and
forth, as each side searched for an opening in the enemy’s defenses.

In the
front, two Coterie warriors each harassed the mounted goblins, keeping them
away from the carriage team. The goblins proved to be skilled and fought hard
and fast, making the warriors defend as many times as they struck offensively.
All things being nearly equal, this running battle could have continued in this
fashion for hours, had not two more sets of combatants entered the fray.

At the
head of the carriage, the younger driver Jared rose to his feet. (He was the
driver whom Rebekah had rightly suspected of having mixed blood.) He passed the
reins to his partner and jumped down from the driver’s seat and onto the
harness shaft. He wore across his chest and hips two belts which were fully
loaded with thin throwing knives. These weapons he added to the skirmish. This
was Jared’s job, and he was very good at it.

Behind
the carriage, the demons saw their best opportunity to attack. Ravens dove upon
Coterie warriors and their horses alike. Meanwhile, the two wildcats skirted
the conflict and brought the goblins riding upon them within inches of the
carriage. The great cats began to prepare their muscles for a leap when a
silent missile shot toward the one on the left.

Owls are
unique creatures built for silent flight, which gives them the advantage to
take down prey without the prey even knowing they were being hunted. Angels, in
the form of animals, multiply the advantages of their mimicked animal’s
abilities nearly ten times. The demon within the wildcats did not see or hear
the angel owl, but it felt its razor sharp talons. By the time the demon which
possessed the mountain cats felt the claws, the angel owl was already ascending
again.

The cats
growled in unison, and the goblins riding them jumped off, grabbing onto the
carriage. At the same time, the ravens fell back and then scattered as the
angel owl careened into their midst. The wildcats likewise ran off. However,
the demons had not retreated; they merely released the animal vessels in order
to better confront the angel threat.

The two
demons stood in the road and scanned the sky. They spied the Owl descending for
another attack and jumped to intercept it. The demons attacked with claws,
curses, and wrath, teaming up to limit the angel from gaining altitude. Once
realizing their tactic, the Owl didn’t try to fly off; instead it pressed the
attack toward the larger demon, ripping, pecking, and flinging Soul Fire
sparingly, yet surgically. Occasionally, the smallest demon would try to
intrude on the melee, but would be rebuked with a small stinging blast of Soul
Fire.

Angels
have witnessed the Sacrifice and love that God gives to all good, believing
beings, and thus will in turn fight for the good and Godly. Soul Fire is a
powerful energy that all beings with a soul can generate, but at the cost to
the user’s soul essence. The Owl was wise and knew it could not maintain this
dual battle indefinitely. It was ripping out pieces of its soul to waylay the
demons, but in its Owl form it was limited.

The Owl
was thinking about the best way to disengage when the larger demon swiped at
it. The angel dodged, only to fall into the clutches of the smaller one. Claws
sunk into its wings and teeth into its feathered back. In pain and desperation,
the Owl blindly blasted Soul Fire behind it. The smaller demon howled in pure
agony and fell writhing on the ground. The Owl fell, too.

The
largest demon grinned and was just about to pounce when the Owl was enveloped
with a blinding light. Before its sight could recover, the larger demon was
pulled down to the ground by powerful hands. As it started to focus, it saw a
tattered angel holding it firmly. Demon and angel eyes locked, and when the
angel shouted something not audible by mortal ears, both the angel and the
demon went up in a pillar of blue flames.

Rebekah
witnessed the supernatural battle as the carriage sped away, for as the goblins
jumped aboard she turned and looked out the window slit at the back of the
carriage. The images of an angel owl and two demons battling were burned into
her mind. It was the last thing she saw, except the thin blade that stabbed
through the thin window slits and sliced her cheek. She fell to the floor and
clutched the wound as poison began burning under her skin.

Alawnwee
and the Fox acted instinctively. Alawnwee screamed a piercing scream and threw
one of the bags at the still protruding blade. Luckily the bag held Alawnwee’s
books, and the force of the throw was enough to unbalance the goblin. The
goblin lost his grip on the blade and nearly lost his grip on the carriage. The
Fox, meanwhile, rushed to Rebekah and began licking her wound. Bonded as it and
Rebekah were, the guardian angel instantly knew the danger of the poison and
tried desperately to clear it out of the cut.

Outside
the carriage thundered on. Jared had turned the tide at the front, but not
before the goblin on the right stabbed one of the carriage horses and the
goblin on the left retreated by slipping under a rider’s horse and gutting it.
The horse pitched forward; the warrior did not survive the fall. The other
warrior with him was so distracted trying to dodge the falling warrior that he
did not feel the goblin on his horse until it was too late.

On the
right the goblin tried to swiftly climb aboard the carriage, using the dagger
still lodged in the carriage horse’s side. However, the horse was succumbing to
the poison on the blade quickly and the goblin could not get a proper grip. In
the end, one of the Coterie warriors beheaded the foul beast.

Jared
then sprung to the faltering horse and hurriedly cut it from the harness pole.
With a prayer of
forgiveness
he shoved the horse free
of the team. The horse barely cleared the carriage before it fell dead on the
road. In spite of how quickly Jared moved, the remaining horses had to
overcompensate for the now dead horse and the whole carriage nearly slipped off
the road.

The
jarring correction on the other driver’s part saved Jared’s life. As Jared
reached down to grab the harness shaft to steady himself, the remaining goblin
jumped from the slain warrior’s horse right at Jared. Though he had not known
to duck, the result was beneficial nonetheless. The goblin sailed over Jared’s
descending body and landed in the grasp of a Coterie warrior on the other side.
The goblin didn’t have long to live after that mistake. Though the battle up
front seemed to be toward the side of good, there were still two large rats to
deal with.

To the
rear, at the same time as Alawnwee’s scream, the battle flowed back and forth,
costing both sides dearly. The scream alerted the warriors to the danger of the
goblins boarding the carriage. However, the warning came at a cost. One warrior
became distracted, providing enough of an opening for the mounted goblin he was
battling to slip a blade under his ribs, puncturing his heart.