A War Dawning Ch. 05

"I am very sorry for the words I spoke, Aunt Neral. Please forgive my rudeness." She had hoped that the general would forgive the informality as well.

There was silence for a few long moments until she began to wonder if Neral might simply choose not to respond. "It's forgiven, dear one. I want your counsel and expect it, even if it's something I don't want to hear."

Nelina realized just then that she had been gripping the reins tightly when her grip loosened on the leather. "Maybe so, but my tone was unacceptable."

Kaled wondered as she looked to Nelina. "Can I ask what the problem was even if it's none of my business?"

She glanced to Neral, giving her an opportunity to kill the answer before it was given. When there were no looks or words to suggest it, Nelina answered, "I questioned the general's strategy," the next words were hard, "...and implied that... she didn't care about the people who had been hurt or would be."

She was almost sorry that she asked. "Oh."

"I know better and I'm sorry. It was just my own frustration and..."

"I understand, Nelina. I truly do. Your words just reminded me of the failings that brought us here, and they are all mine."

"You will stop them," Nelina said with proud certainty. "The successes are yours, too."

Neral shook her head with cynical grin. "Those are never mine. People rush to give me credit and I take it with humility because that's how it works, but I'm just one woman. The work of victory belongs to you and Kaled and everyone else that puts their blood on the field or makes it possible for us to do so. You all make it so and you will again."

She sighed a happy sigh. "I am proud of you, Nelina. I'm proud that you cleared every bar I set for you to earn your place with me here and now, even when I know that many of those bars were unfairly high." She smiled and Nelina shied from it a little at the memories and feeling as though a million eyes were upon her. "You are a Jaye and, for good or ill, more will be asked from you because of it, so you may as well get used to it for as long as you wear the uniform."

"There was also selfishness. I am happy that you earned your place beside me without question because I wanted you where you are if you could make it. I wanted to be the one to teach you and see first hand what you have to offer."

Nelina blushed, but before she could speak, the gallop of horses could be heard behind them. Glancing over her shoulder she saw eight men coming up behind at a full gallop. She didn't need years of experience to know who they were and what they were about. Her muscles tightened and so did her grip on the reins before Kaled cautioned her, her voice soft and calm. "Relax, Nelina. We haven't done anything wrong."

Neral reinforced those words, "We're just three innocent, defenseless women riding to town. Play that as long as you can." Seeming to put a point on that, Nelina watched the general swallow hard and her face suddenly change, eyes wide and lips pursed as she looked back to the men fast approaching. It was almost as if she became someone else just that quickly and Nelina tried to follow suit. Remembering the first time she was brought before the queen when she realized the gravity of it helped her find that place.

Eight horses and their riders surrounded the women in short order. All the men looked the women over like they were hanging in a butcher's shop and it took all Kaled had not to react with anger, though she managed not to react at all while Nelina kept her gaze downcast and Neral looked around nervously. Kaled knew her general was seeing how they were armed and gauging threats.

"Good afternoon, lovely ladies," Dirkal, said as half the group dismounted and sauntered up to each of the women on their mounts, "Where do you hail from?"

"The city of Yven," Neral answered softly after clearing her throat, making a point not to look any of them in the eye for long."

"Yven?" He looked to the southeast with mock concern, "That's quite a long ways from here. Headed to Osten?"

She nodded quickly and gestured towards the city "There's a glass blower in Osten. My niece and my friend thought we'd meet with him and see if he could do some custom work."

He saw the anticipation in the eyes of those around him and the lanky fellow to his left shifted in his saddle for either the money or the play; Dirlak didn't know which. He looked over at the wench and her conservative little dress and imagined what her family would pay to get her back...more or less unharmed. Hell, the uptight ones, when they broke, usually loved every bit of it.

"It's very dangerous for lovely ladies such as yourselves to travel the roads like this. There are bandits in these parts." The men laughed and snorted as Dirkal smoothly dismounted and sidled up to her putting forth his best version of charm which sounded like sneer and condescension to Neral's ear, "We'd be happy to escort you... for a reasonable fee."

Neral cleared her throat again, unsure of how to most tactfully respond, not that there was anything to say that would keep things from deteriorating. She tried a quick, disarming smile and a nervous laugh. "Thank you for your kindness, sir, but that really won't be necessary. It's not that far to the city now."

He smiled and Neral reflexively tensed, causing the men around her to pull them off her horse and the others to keep them from leaving. Stenna snorted in protest and stamped her hooves into the mud. The men were close behind them now, she could feel them even if she couldn't feel them physically. Neral shook her head in a quick twitch to the others. It wasn't time, even if the mood had suddenly turned darker.

"You sure?" Dirkal unsheathed a wide blade, turning it in his hand to show it off. "If it's money you're worried about...you can pay in other ways."

Neral's clenched her jaw so tightly it appeared to tremble. "Just leave us alone and let us go."

He chuckled as he tapped the tip of his blade to her chin."Oh, I don't think we'll be doing any of that. You can be our...guest. You're far from home. We'll take great care of you and keep you from harm while we make arrangements to get you back." Hands came to her arms, caressing more than holding at this point. "I bet you'll even like it. We can be very friendly men, he said, glancing at those in his orbit, "cant we, boys?"

They laughed, one of them eyeing Nelina as he took her wrist roughly, "I like 'em short and stocky. You can carry 'em good after you've split open their cunts, enough meat on 'em, to be soft, and strong enough to take it as rough as you wanna give it to 'em."

She wanted to glare at him and burn him to the ground just that way. She wanted to break his neck then and there, but she saw how things were at the moment. They were waiting for aggression. They were waiting for an excuse to slice them and leave them in the mud, pin them to the ground and do what they were going to do anyway, or pick one to leverage against the other two.

Right now things were reasonably calm and she saw a way to maintain that. She managed a put-upon look by thinking about how quickly she could kill him "Aunt Neral, what if we just, you know, give them what they want? What if we just...call letting them do the disgusting things they're going to do anyway a toll? Nelina looked to him. "We cooperate and you let us go?"

Dirkal smiled, teeth looking like a predator's fangs, "Now that's a smart girl," he said by way of praise, pointing his knife in her direction before turning back to Neral. "We can call it a toll. Take care of me and my men because life on the road is so very," he snorted the last word as he eyed her, imagining what was under the dress, "hard, and you three can go on about your business with the worst happening to you are your dresses getting muddied."

Neral fretfully looked to the other women before daring to meet Dirkal's gaze. "How do I know you'll let us go if we do?"

"You don't,' he conceded, "but doesn't it make more sense that I might just let you ride off once my balls are empty and I haven't had to beat you to the ground or cut you or something to deal with all that aggravation you caused me?"

She thought it over. "Fair point."

He noted his blade to her and snickered. "It is. But that's not something the stuck-ups like you are into, huh?"

She surprised him with a sour grin, "A deal could be struck. After all, it's not as if we'll be seeing one another again, is it? You will hardly be at my door in a month to tell my foppish husband what had to be done." Her head drifted towards him and she let her eyes roam him suggestively. "Mutually pleasant and we may be quite happy to meet you and...pay again on the way home."

"Mmmmm...you buttoned up ones are all the same. You need a bit of rough on the side."

"Not rough, just...different. My husband's apprentice, actually, though she can be quite rough when the mood suits."

"She?" He practically shivered as his mouth watered and his cock threatened to burst forth from the fabric. "Oh, I knew you had spark."

Kaled was aghast, "You promised you'd never tell." Raucous laughter and a few groans filled the air as they imagined Neral with the ebony tower of womanhood.

"He doesn't care, dear," she said without taking her eyes from him or missing a beat. "Besides, let them watch what we do anyway and it'll make the time pass better for everyone." Neral closed on Dirkal's lips, her hand at his wrist, gently bringing the knife down and away from her. "Let's just entertain the rowdy boys and be on our way."

Bringing herself to block the view of the men behind her, she brushed his lips, no longer fighting the anger and revulsion, instead using it to fuel her strength, twisting his wrist until his shout of pain came with Neral feeling the pop of the ligaments in his wrist. His fingers opened and she took the blade, driving it into his thigh and twisting as she stepped back. She tightened her grip on the blade as she spun him about. Putting her boot to his chest, Neral pulled the blade free as she sent his bulk into the other two.

Dirkal's first sound of pain was cue enough for the other two. Nelina happily drove her fist into the face of the pig that had sized her up, his eyes tearing and blood coming from his nose after the crunching sound. His hands went to stem the tide. The other crashed the back of his fist to the side of her face. She dug into the mud and, out of reflex reached for a weapon. Finding none as she tried to reorient herself, her eyes focused on one of the archers, still mounted, drawing back his bowstring. She blocked the fist coming at her and grabbed him with both hands to place him between herself and the arrow. It found the center of his back and Nelina took two strides to the archer and pulled him from his mount with the same ferocity that she displayed moments before.

The bandit with the now broken nose lunged at her as she pummeled the archer while most of the other horses scattered. His arm wrapped around her neck and her vision swam as he pulled her upward. Nelina slammed her elbow with full force to his ribs once and again and he stepped back enough so that his grip loosened. That was enough. She coughed and sucked in air as she turned around, took his head and introduced it to her knee. He screamed and cried out in frustration.

Kaled used her size and strength to her every advantage, and it didn't hurt her that the men had never expected that level of force to come from her. An elbow to the throat of one set him wheezing and gasping immediately as she slammed her knuckles hard just under the breastbone of the other and was rewarded as his lungs expelled all the air in them in a woosh. Her left hand connected with his jaw and consciousness fled.

There was one strike to her face that she barely noticed from the first before she took his arm, twisted her hip and his arm with it, doing her best to pull it from its socket. Shouts brought Kaled's attention to General Jaye, though the shouts came from Dirkal now spitting blood on his knees, "Bitch! I am going to fucking kill you. I am going to kill you and pass your corpse around before I hack it to bits!"

Neral cut the bowstring of the second archer even as he was fleeing at full gallop towards the swarm of bandits could now be seen coming to meet them, Shit. She looked to Nelina and Kaled, seeing that they had handled their own issues quite well. She felt a rush of pride before she took to Stenna "Catch me and we'll chat again."

***

Osten still had a bit of distance from the soldiers who were now kicking up mud, spraying themselves and each other bandits thundered behind them, led by Dirkal, his face a study in rage and a piece of his pants now wrapped around his thigh as they thundered towards the three."

"That was fun, I admit," Kaled said, voice raised to be heard over it all.

They were all hunched forward for that extra bit of speed, Neral focused on Stenna's breathing. It was harsh but smooth as her stride ate the road. She and Stenna had connected immediately and Neral could almost always feel what was on the other's mind. Kaled amused her, "I promised I'd never tell?"

"I was just adding to the moment, sir. No offense intended."

"None taken at all."

Nelina shook her head as the corner of her mouth turned up. "It did that. Did you see their faces? They wanted you to climb each other right there."

"Men are often creatures of simple tastes, Nelina." She judged the distance to town to be just about right and, knowing that there would be lookouts and that Dion would only need a few moment's notice, she waited for the inevitable, hunching down to avoid the first volley. It would be ironic after having dodged several arrows on the way here to be felled by friendly ones. She waited until tiny streaks of black by the dozens created broken lines in the gray sky.

The bandit horde tried to stop short of the onslaught, but the hundreds of fighters together was its own single massive living entity and couldn't stop quickly. Dozens raised their shields to protect their heads because they saw what was coming. Others raised theirs because they saw some of them around them do it. Others were so focused on closing the gap and the bloodletting that would ensue they saw nothing at all as the arrows rained.

Cries of pain, anger and surprise echoed as bandits fell and horses reared. What had once been a wall of fury now cracked as they struggled to regroup. "Hold the line tight!, Dirlak shouted. "Keep moving! Close the range!"

Most listened and attempted to obey, but there were enough not used to organized resistance let their fear take over and they responded by trying to peel from the main body. Those in the middle that wanted to flee slowed the body enough for another volley of arrows to thin the lines as more fell. Leaving the scared or wounded behind, Dirlak focused now on the armored wall filling the road. He watched as two of the women flanked the one called Neral was handed a sword by a cavalry officer just before she wheeled around to face them.

Neral? He shook his head. Should have known...should have slit her throat the minute I met her. Oh, well...still can.

He pushed forward, the men with backbone still behind him.

***

Neral took the sword Dion offered with a smile. "You timed that well."

She dipped her head with a grin. "I try."

Neral saw some of the men and women in Osten on their own horses and others on foot and looked to Dion who shrugged it off. "I urged them to stay home. I even ordered it."

"If they want to defend their homes knowing the risk who are we to keep them from it?"

Neral turned and Stenna snorted, cloud from her nostrils almost an expression of anger, "Archers wide right and circle through..targets of opportunity." As they charged with her she commanded, "Lieutenant Jaye, lead a detachment of cavalry to guard the archers."

"Yes, sir," she snapped, calling Kaled and others to her, encircling half a dozen others as they pulled away to orbit the battle.

"The rest of us?"

"Through the middle," the general determined. "We'll see if the serpent has more than one head."

"Goddess be with us."

She charged Dirlak, aiming Stenna's nose to the brown and white steed that carried him. She wanted not to telegraph her action until the last moment. His was the face of all the pain caused to civilians, and solders. His was the face of the despair of those displaced and defiled. He caused it and he would pay.

The distance closed with the mass of men, but she closed on him. In the last moments she gripped her sword tightly, lifted herself herself on the stirrups and vaulted her body towards him with a howl. He brought up his sword to deflect her strike, but her momentum was too much to overcome. He slammed into the hind-quarter of another horse as they rolled together into the grass as battle raged around them. One was more ready than the other after the tumble and Neral used the confusion to scramble up and drive her boot into his wounded thigh he tried to stand.

He snarled as the pain rushed through him and dropped to one knee. She was on top of him in a flash, her mother's dagger under his throat, ready to put an end to him.

And the sky burned.

A band of orange fire the color of the setting sun evaporated the clouds around it for miles. It was a wave that looked like the wrath of the Goddess herself. Miles away and yet it looked so close. At the base of it, Neral initially thought it was spreading, but she realized by the way they flickered that they were secondary fires. Then the sound; it was a screech that even from the distance drowned out almost everything else.

He pushed Neral off him and she allowed it. She widened the space between them just in case, but he was no more interested in her at the moment than she was in him. Everyone around her was in a similar state of disbelief like statues dotting the land. "Goddess," he said.

She heard it as a whisper, but it must have been called out as a plea. She turned to see fear in his eyes. "She has returned," he told her almost as if he were trying to help her. "She has returned and She will extinguish all those that do not follow her path. The world is over."

Neral saw him tremble. She saw a frightened boy in him and she could not bring herself to finish the battle or him. "Take the men you have left and go. If your men come near Erette again I will hunt you to the ends of the world and kill you."

He laughed. "You won't see me again, Neral Jaye. We won't be seeing anything. She comes. Get your soul right for Her return because She comes to judge us all."

Neral didn't know what was happening, though she had an idea. But she couldn't disagree with the notion that the world might not have much time left one way or another.

***

The wait to see Dennet felt interminable to the point where Deres was reaching the point that he was ready to go hunt for the man on his own. The accommodations were lovely and the people hospitable enough, but he had just about had it when Governor Waylan had finally sent word in the middle of the night that Dennet was in the city and willing to meet with them the following afternoon.

Waylan himself came to them shortly after lunch. He had been quite friendly with them of late and seemed much more relaxed than when they first met him. Rumor had it that he was in a blossoming relationship with the noblewoman Besche and it was going well. There was a spring in his step that Deres actually enjoyed. He hoped for similar positive outcomes all around for everyone. Dreams, after all, often gave birth to possibilities.

Bryana suggested that Elan stay behind so as not to potentially overwhelm the man as sometimes men like Dennet could be skittish, and since she wasn't really the one who had business with him she could stay behind and Elan acquiesced to the logic. Waylan led them down the halls to his private residence. His staff, more likely than not to know what was afoot carefully avoided eye contact with the three as he led them to his wine cellar. Deres didn't sense anything beyond some base tension when he searched their feelings, so he just attributed it to having to be willfully unaware.