Chapter 9: The Storm

I needed to pee.

It was just before dawn and I stirred to find Erica curled into my side. I sat up gently without waking her and quietly left the camp to find a tree. I nodded at Pheros and Dantz, who were still on watch and gave me a glare that I wasn’t sure I fully deserved, but thought nothing of it. They were unpleasant men, but I’d be leaving them behind when we got to Westfall and didn’t need to talk to them before then.

It was cold and the ground crunched beneath my feet, but the air was still and quiet. A few minutes later, I had finished my business against a tree and started back toward the camp.

As I found my bedroll again, I realised that Erica was not there... maybe she woke when I got up and needed to pee as well? But as I looked across, Asha was not in her bedroll either. Laura and Gregory were still sound asleep, but the Captain and the other men were gone.

“Where is everyone?” I asked the two on watch, nervously.

“The girls snuck off and the Captain took some of the men to go after them.” said Pheros, dismissively.

I frowned, confused.

“You don’t really care about the elf bitches, do you? It’s not like they’re good for anything,” taunted Dantz.

I felt myself getting angry, but curbed it and put on my teacher face.

“Where are they?”

“No idea.” Pheros chuckled.

Dantz just shrugged.

Then there came a scream from the south, outside camp and deeper into the woods. It was quickly muffled, but it was enough to give me a direction.

I raced through the trees in the direction of the scream in panic. I knew the men didn’t like mages, but I’d horrifically underestimated how much. I heard the two knights break into a run after me, but I moved quickly, far more quickly than was natural. I felt the power of Bambinae surge through me as I ran and within seconds I found the girls in a small clearing struggling with two of the Knights as the Captain drew his knife. Three more knights stood off to the side, chuckling.

“Hold them still!” he ordered angrily, then realised I’d burst into the situation and nodded to the others who drew their swords and stood between us.

“What the fuck, Captain?” I snarled at him. “Why are you doing this?” I circled around to try to get between him and the girls but the Knights moved and blocked my approach.

“Stand down, boy!” The older knight snarled. “This is the law! They tried to sneak off as soon as you left to take a leak. They were never going to come with us! The bitch has no intention of becoming a mage! This is what needs to be done to keep the Highlands safe!”

I crossed my arms and looked him in the eye. Images flooded my mind of deceit and trickery. I was always good at reading people, but this was obviously one of the gifts of Bambinae; she was showing me the truth so that I didn’t need to second guess myself. I could see his thoughts. Not only that, I could see his intent. He wanted to convince me that I’d been betrayed and maybe even get me to execute them in my anger, thus ensnaring me in his extremist little cult.

I glanced at the girls, the Knights held them tightly with a hand over each of their mouths to stop them from crying out. One must have slipped earlier, and I thanked God, and then the Goddess, that he had. The girls had wide eyes streaming with tears and were understandably panicked, but the lies had caused Erica to sob with despair at the thought I might believe the accusations against them.

As I predicted, Deriostos spoke again.

“They betrayed you, Son. Your little slave betrayed you! She tried to seduce you but I knew you had more sense than to bed her. You’re a smart lad! Now you see her true colours!” He was laying it on thick, and had I actually been an 18-year-old, impressionable young boy, I might have even fallen for it.

Erica was trying desperately to shake her head, but the Knight held her tightly.

Before I could answer, Pheros and Danzt finally caught up. Were they that far behind? And after them, Gregory and Laura came upon the scene, panting heavily and with swords drawn.

“What in the nine hells is going on here?” Laura demanded.

I glanced at Laura, but only for a split second, my eyes were locked on the man in front of me. “Deriostos has lost his mind…” I spat. “He wants to execute the girls.”

Laura frowned cautiously. “Captain, what is their crime?”

“They tried to escape! They were trying to get back to the village.” he growled, keeping with his lie.

“He’s lying,” I said, calming down. “I can tell. But if that isn’t enough, they left their packs back at the camp and are carrying no water, nor blankets. If they were breaking camp, where are their supplies?”

The Captain paused, and then dropped the act. “Worth a shot. I had hoped to convince you to join me, I guess you need to share their fate.”

“You rat bastard.”

“Gregory, Lauraphine, young Mathew is now an enemy of the Iron Shield. Lord Arnias has personally ordered me to ensure these women do not make it to Westfall. This boy has stood in the way of this command.”

“That is NOT the oath I swore!” Laura screamed at him. “We are to protect these people! Not MURDER THEM!”

“You will follow your ORDERS, Sergeant!” the Captain barked, but Laura took a step back.

“You’re ‘First Shield’, aren’t you? That’s what this is... you’re a zealot! You’re a disgrace to your iron!”

“We are the ONLY SHIELD! You mage-loving heretics have led us to ruin! Gregory! Arrest that soldier for insubordination!” the Captain ordered.

Gregory was stiff, the decision to go against his superior was harder for the man who had served with Deriostos for half a year. But to my dismay he angled his sword toward Laura and fell back into a fighting stance.

“Throw down your weapon, Lauraphine,” he ordered quietly, “Stand down and you can explain yourself at the Chapter House in Westfall.”

That was all I needed, I knew where he stood now. I was consumed with anger, righteous fury and a power I had never felt before. My arms began to pulse with a blinding, white light and I knew Bambinae was with me. These men were an affront to her and an affront to life. These men, no; these monsters, were going to die.

“WILD MAGE!” called one of the Knights as he saw the manifestation of divine light on my body.

“We tested him!” another shot back in disbelief.

“It doesn’t matter!” cried the Captain. “Stand strong, my brothers, for the enemy has revealed himself and your shield will protect you!”

Three knights in front of me. Three knights behind me, two knights holding Asha and Erica and then Captain Deriostos.

I charged forward in rage. I threw my fist at the knight in front of me. I didn’t care he was covered in magic-proof armour, I just wanted to stop him from hurting people. I just wanted to protect the people who were in my care! He planted his feet and raised his shield with a grin….

…a grin that I saw fade from his face through the hole that I punched in his shield. The anti-magic metal offered no resistance. Instead, it split like paper around my fist. I ripped the shield to the side, which dislocated his arm at the shoulder, and punched a hole in his chest.

Everyone froze: The knights, the Captain, Laura, the girls. No one moved except for the knight I’d hit. He dropped with a searching expression, still surprised that it was over for him. I think it was Zithinial, and he was trying to figure out why he couldn’t take a breath. The metal of his breastplate had been pushed into his chest where it had split and pierced his lungs, cutting deep into his chest cavity. Blood trickled from his mouth.

I took a breath and tried to make my voice calm.

“Last chance. Walk. Away.”

But Deriostos was seething. “Kill him.” He ordered with a burning rage.

The second knight swung his sword at my head, but I was still inhumanly fast, and I slipped to the outside. I grabbed his sword arm, extended it and threw my weight through his elbow. The strike hyperextended the joint and pushed his radius and ulna out the other side of his arm. He wasn’t dead, but his screams told me that he wished he was.

My hand holding his wrist slipped to take his sword as he released it in pain and, whirling, I impaled the blade in the chest of the third Knight who hadn’t had time to even take a step. It passed straight through his breastplate, chainmail, gambeson and out the other side, the cross-guard stopping it from going any further. He stumbled and looked justifiably surprised at the way the sword had impossibly penetrated the metal. He gripped the hilt and tried to give it a tug, looking at me in horror, then dropped to his knees. The sword was stuck beyond his strength to remove and he was going to die slowly.

The knights holding Asha and Erica had dropped the girls and rushed towards me, but I felt the radiant energy swirl within my body and their swords glanced off the power that now whirled in a furious wind around me.

Unfortunately, the power I wielded was not infinite, and the divine shield broke under a third strike. I had to throw myself to the side to avoid the second knight’s sword. Punching him in the face took more effort than before, and I suddenly saw stars as the effort to draw upon the divine power drained me. The result was an unconscious, maybe dead, knight as his visor had been crumpled into his face, but my world was spinning from drawing on more power than I could handle. I crashed into the other knight grappling him and, for a moment, simply using him to keep myself upright whilst the man seemed as surprised as I was that we were grappling.

Bambinae’s power was gone, at least, I couldn’t draw any more without passing out. But I was still in a ripped, 18-year-old’s body with belts in stand-up grappling against a man who’d never even heard of joint locks before. I rallied my consciousness and kept fighting. I had to keep fighting. For Erica, for Asha. For Laura.

My hand was on his pauldron and I felt his sword arm move; he was trying to pull his arm far enough away to run me through and, as he gained distance, I slid my hand down to his forearm and pressed it out just far enough to slip under his arm and take his back.

‘Mapping the body’ had been what my instructor had called it. It was where you stay in contact with your opponent and wherever he moves you can feel it as he moves those muscles. Currently, I had his sword arm extended and he was trying to regain the arm by pulling against me. Instead of resisting, I suddenly pushed with him and spun in the direction he wanted, but far faster and harder than he was prepared for.

My foot positioned behind his heel, my hand went to his visor and I used the momentum and my position to trip him and drive the back of his head into the dirt.

His helm would have cushioned the blow but he was at least momentarily stunned and I took the advantage. I ripped his visor up and drove my thumbs into his eyes.

I almost threw up. I’d never caused so much carnage before. I never WANTED to ever inflict this kind of violence before and the way I was killing now was horrific. I looked away as I felt his eyes burst under my fingers and he thrashed underneath me, but it was done. I rolled off him as he screamed and I picked up his sword, lifting it up in front of me.

Just in time to block a potentially decapitating strike from Deriostos. He’d taken the same advice that he’d given me back in the village; strike when they aren’t looking.

He took a step back and I glanced quickly at Laura and the other Knights. Through the whole thing they had been watching, speechless, as I tore through the five men.

“You’re spent, kid,” the captain taunted. “You burned bright and short and you’ve got nothing left in the barrel. I’ve seen a hundred mages do the same. Rookie mistake, kid. You’re done.”

He was right. I was breathing heavily as the exertion from defeating five soldiers, even with the aid of magic for the first four, was draining. However that I had managed to draw on Bambinae’s magic - that was lost to me for now. I’d also ended the life of at least two men, blinded another, broken another man’s arm and done goodness-knows what to another’s face. Hyperventilating, I looked around at the death and violence as I realised I had taken more lives. The literal blood on my hands was invading my nostrils with the metallic smell of copper. What had I become? The carnage and chaos were cycling through my mind as I panicked. And then I panicked because I was panicking.

But then I took a breath. And another. I wasn’t a child. I wasn’t a boy. This wasn’t the first time I had been in over my head. I was a man with a life of experiences. I wasn’t going to lose my mind over this now. I could decompress and analyse this properly later. Now was time for a clear head. The Captain stared at me in confusion as I suddenly regained my composure and calmed my mind, then he sneered and advanced upon me.

I held my sword ready and deflected the captain’s hits, but it was obvious he was toying with me. Deriostos was clearly the far better swordsman, and he knew without magic, my chances were slim.

“You’re nothing against me.” He spat. “You could have been a good knight, had a good future! But you threw in with them.”

We fenced again and the Captain started taking my defences apart. First, it was a fine cut to my hip, then a shallow nip on my ear. I tried to close distance to grapple him, but he bashed me away with his shield and I felt one of my ribs break. He feigned a strike left and used the distraction to backhand me in the face with his fist. Finally, a slap of the blade on my sword hand with the flat of his, and I was disarmed. It hurt to breathe through the broken rib, and I was nursing it with my arm tucked up against my side. I could feel the blood trickling from my cut ear, and my face was definitely beginning to swell. My mind raced.

As he thrust forward to run me through with his arming sword, I twisted my body in one final, desperate attempt to gain control. I grabbed his arm at the wrist and elbow, spun in a tight circle and threw him over my shoulder to land on his back in the cool earth.

Unsurprisingly, the Captain’s armour took the majority of the impact and he wasn’t even stunned for a second. But I wasn’t idle either.

As he rolled away from me to get to his feet, I chased him on the ground and leapt on his exposed back. One moment he had the advantage, and the next, he was on the ground and I was gripping his visor and trying to rip the helm from his head. His elbow lashed out and struck my broken rib but I swallowed the pain; I couldn’t give up now.

I eventually snapped the leather strap that held his helm in place and cast it aside. He tried to manoeuvre his sword to stab or cut me, but couldn’t get the leverage whilst I had my arms around his, pinning them to his torso. My legs wrapped around his sword arm, pinning it in place and removing it from the fight. His final mistake was fixating on trying to free his trapped sword.

“Don’t go for a choke hold at first.” My instructor had always said. “Lure them into thinking you’re fighting for a different submission. When they defend that, you can slip to the choke.”

My arms slipped up his own, over his shoulders and found the rear-naked choke that I had drilled a thousand times. I’d never used it in a real fight, or even a sparring match. I’d never blacked anyone out with it.

This time was different.

Deriostos tried to smash his head back, but my hand had cupped the back of his head, preventing it. He tried to pull on my arm to release the crushing pressure my forearm and bicep was inflicting on the sides of his neck, but I’d gripped my own arm to prevent it from moving. He abandoned his sword and tried to brace against the ground to shift his weight, but I shifted my hips into a dead weight and he couldn’t lift me.

Every drill, every nuance, every small correction that my instructor made me repeat over and over again… this was why; for every attempt the Captain made to escape, my instructor had already set up the counter in countless training sessions.

In the end, his flailing became erratic, then his movements became sporadic and, finally, he went limp. He was unconscious.

I rolled enough to get my legs to wrap around his hips, drew my arms even tighter and arched my back until I felt his neck stretch.

With a last swift motion, I snapped his neck.

It was with more of a grinding sound than I was expecting. But when I suddenly wrenched my arms to the side and up, I heard his cervical vertebrae separate from each other as they severed his spinal cord.

The scary thing about mixing martial arts with medical knowledge is that you knew EXACTLY how to kill someone.

I stood up to see Laura on her knees with Pheros’ sword pointed at her neck. She looked pissed, but also scared. He’d positioned himself very deliberately so that a single move from me and he’d be able to kill her long before I could get to him.

“Give up!” he snarled.

Danzt was semi-prone on the ground and nursing a vicious cut on the inside of his leg. He was clamping his hand to the wound with a piece of his tunic, but his skin was draining of colour. He looked feeble and panicked and was begging for help. At some time during their brief altercation, Laura had slashed his femoral artery, and he was quickly draining his life into the damp earth.

Gregory had already begun tearing strips of cloth to try to staunch the bleeding, but he couldn’t get the tourniquet tight enough.

“A litre of blood per minute,” I said to Danzt. “That’s how fast you lose blood through a femoral artery. I don’t suppose you know what any of that means,” I added coldly. “But if you have last requests, I’d let Gregory know.”

To my immediate surprise, the man actually took my advice, and he mumbled some instructions to Gregory. He must have felt the end coming because, seconds later, his eyes went vacant, and he gave in to the void.

Gregory stood, wiping the blood from his hands and sighed with the resignation of a man who had buried too many comrades. Behind us, Tamson, the knight whose arm I’d broken, crawled over to the one I’d blinded, who was still moaning in pain, and then stumbled away to be sick at the sight of him.

Gregory looked at Pheros and shook his head.

“Come on. It’s done. It’s over. Let her go.”

Pheros looked at him in disbelief. “Are you mad? She killed Danzt! He killed six good knights! HE KILLED THE CAPTAIN! Why would you let them go?”

Gregory looked at me, then Erica and Asha who were behind me and then at Laura.

“Not all of them, but I don’t fight my own people. I CERTAINLY don’t murder my own people. Danzt died when he tried to stick her, and that’s his fault. But Laura is unarmed and at your mercy and, most importantly, is a member of our Order. I can go along with lowering the population of mages, I'm happy to arrest an insubordinate knight for trial, but I draw the line at executing a member of the Iron Shield. She deserves more than that.”

He stared Pheros down, tapping his finger on his sword pommel suggestively and, realising that Gregory would truly fight him on this point, the knight relented with a hiss of disappointment.

Pheros looked at me, bleeding, exhausted and limping from the fight with the Captain. The man sneered.

“I’m still going to kill him though.”

Gregory nodded. “Yes, none of the peasants can live to report what has happened here.”

Great. Apparently, your morality only goes so far.

He hit Laura in the temple with the pommel of his sword. The impact sent her hard into the dirt, and I knew she’d only been knocked out. But people don’t realise what that kind of injury does to the skull and brain. It’s not like in the movies where the person wakes up with a headache, perfectly fine. Laura could have serious, life-long deficiencies when she woke up... If she woke up at all.

I scowled at the advancing men with righteous, justified anger. One of them was grinning cruelly, the other moving forward with no emotion at all. The girls behind me backed away in fear and I realised I only really had one thing left to do.

I pulled on Bambinae’s power, and prayed.