The Tattooed Woman Pt. 06

Nyx grimaced, "Mayhap, just... just don't go telling everyone, it's embarrassing enough as is."

"Why do it then?"

"Not a fucking clue! It was an impulse, nothing more. I just... Oh, I don't know."

Passing the flask back Ashunara gave her friend a pat on the back as she moved to sit on her cot with a sigh and began tugging at her boots, "Maybe, we're just getting too old for this shit?"

"Speak for yourself, you're barely four hundred and ten. Wait till you've been swinging swords about for as long as I have."

"You sound like my sister, she's twice my age. Keeps saying I'm little more than a spoiled brat."

Nyx laughed, "Well, she's not wrong there!"

Ashunara pointed at the tent flap, "You, dear Sergeant, are dismissed. Go do something useful or play with yon handsome swordsman for a bit. I'm going to try and sleep."

The veteran grinned, "Sleep? I've heard of it. Isn't that something officers get to do while everyone else works?"

The Captain had finally managed to pull off one boot and decided not to throw it at her, but it was close. Instead, she favoured the woman with her sweetest smile, "Off you fuck my dear."

"Aye Captain."

It was two days later when disaster struck.

The little company were moving slowly towards the frontier, doing their best to avoid the more travelled paths and the watchful eyes of potential foes. They were making their way along the edge of the Great Forest, skirting just within the trees, with the fens and hills on one side and a great swathe of deep woods on the other.

Nyx was leading the column with Lashelle and four Orcs as vanguard, while Elsadore, Varoona and another four wary greenskins trailed at the rear. Ashunara, Tallis and the remaining four Orcs moved along with the slaves as escort and guard. Tallis was chatting to the Sunkissed girl and Ashunara couldn't help but smile as she took in their whispers and laughter. She shook her head in resignation. They were young for a certainty, but each was still more than a century old and yet here they were, giggling like lovestruck children. She would be annoyed if she wasn't quite so envious. Still, she had been about to rebuke the girl a little and remind her gently to keep her eyes on the job at hand when she herself had become distracted.

The Captain had found herself walking alongside Cassie and the tattooed wench for she thought she had heard a few words of Elvish being spoken. Sure enough, as she had drawn closer her pointed ears had twitched as she picked up what sounded like the woman teaching the small slave a few rudimentary phrases and she found herself listening intently.

It was a strange thing she thought, the woman's grasp of the language was excellent, but the dialect sounded peculiar, oddly similar in turn of phrase to how she remembered her great-grandmother speaking.

She was still pondering when she saw Azure loping back towards her and she dismissed the thought as the scout approached, for the look on the woman's face did not bode well.

Ashunara nodded a greeting as the scout drew close, "You look concerned Azure, what is it?"

The wary Dark Elf pursed her lips and glanced over her shoulder back the way she had come, and hesitated.

"It may be nothing..."

The Captain regarded her carefully for it was unlike the woman to prevaricate, "Something's bothering you, and your instincts are too good to ignore, so out with it."

The scout shifted from one foot to the other, and drew a breath, "I don't know for sure to be honest, but something just feels off and I'm damned if I can say why, but I'm not liking it Captain."

"Is there something up ahead?"

"Not that I can see, but the hairs on the back of my neck say there is danger nearby. I'm sorry, maybe I'm just getting spooked as we draw close to the border."

Ashunara laughed, "Not bloody likely! If you say there's danger then that's what there is. We'll turn off, head deeper into the woods, and make for the shrine at Morrigan's Stone. It's a longer way, and off our route, but there's shelter to be had at the shrine. Go tell Nyx if you would and then get us started."

"Aye Captain!"

The party had barely begun to swing from their path when the thunderbolt struck without warning.

It blazed down from atop a nearby hillock and passed through the little column to detonate by the Captain. As it crackled and hissed through the air it barely brushed a shield carried by one of the nearby Orcs and with a thunderous crack, it tore the thing to burning shards, sending the Orc flying ten feet through the air to land in a smouldering heap. The bolt continued along its path unabated to explode into the ground with a deafening impact! Ashunara barely had time to roughly shove the startled Cassie away from her as tendrils of fire lashed out. One brushed the little slave who screamed in agony as she crumpled, while another lashed across the front of the Captain's mail, searing the adamantine links and bringing the woman to her knees.

Arrows rained down among them, one thudding into the shoulder of an Orc who gave a bellow of pained irritation and hurriedly raised his shield, just as two more shafts buried themselves into the hide-covered wood. Another shaft clattered off Tallis' mail while yet others thudded into the earth as they landed among the slaves.

The archers were firing from a hill in front, just a little too far away for accuracy, but had the company continued for as little as another hundred yards or so they would have been deadly.

From behind the column came a clamour of cries as horsemen charged from around a mound, splashing through the fens as they bore down on the rearguard. A shout drew the Captains eye as a woman in heavy armour of crimson red simply materialised on the hillside to the left, with a crowd of spearmen at her side. She cackled like a demented madwoman gesturing harshly towards the slavers with her mace, and at her command, the spearmen gave a ragged warcry and charged.

Tallis lifted her arm as another arrow bounced off her mail and Lily gasped, "A glamour! They were hid behind a glamour! She's a sorcerer!"

Ashunara gritted her teeth against the burning pain, her armour still smoking as she desperately tried to get to her feet, and muttered, "No shit," as she looked about. She almost made it, but her left leg crumpled beneath her and she swore bitterly.

The woman was striding down the hill towards them, screaming invocations, and fresh tendrils of livid flame wreathed her mace as she conjured a second thunderbolt.

The Captain bellowed,

"AMBUSH! Tallis, move the slaves and young ones under those trees to our right and keep going!"

"The young dark Elf hesitated, "But, I..."

"Fucking move!"

"Aye Captain!"

Nyx had been up ahead when the blast of the thunderbolt caused her head to whip round, "What the fu..."

A dozen or so archers appeared not a hundred yards ahead and to the left of her, spread across a hilltop in a ragged line, and began loosing arrows over her head to fall among the column behind her. She took one look and didn't hesitate.

Pointing at the bowmen she bellowed to the Orcs with her, "Fucking kill them!"

The Orcs grinned, and charged.

An arrow bounced off her chain, striking hard enough to make the woman grunt in pain. She looked up at the archer who had loosed the shaft, "Lashelle! Take command of the Orcs and cut us a path out of here!"

"Right Sarge!"

"And Lashelle!"

"What?"

Nyx pointed, "Do me a favour and kill that one!"

Lashelle grinned.

The sergeant turned and sprinted back towards the main body of the caravan where the charging spearmen had crashed head-on with the four Orcs of the Captains guard. One Orc smashed a human aside with his shield and crushed another's chest with a sweeping blow of his axe. The greenskin roared in rage as it kicked a third man out of the way to break free of the melee. It gave a great bellowing warcry and charged full pelt at the woman in crimson armour. She cackled with glee as she watched it come.

The creature slammed into her and recoiled as if it had run into a boulder. It swung its battleaxe with a roar, bringing it down in a blow that should have clove in her skull, helmet and all, like a ripe melon, but the runes on the armour glowed and the axe shattered in the Orcs grip. She swatted the beast aside with a backhanded blow that sent the creature sprawling as she snarled, "You'll have to do better than that, filth!"

Captain Ashunara couldn't get her damned leg to work in time and she knew it! She saw the red-armoured creature effortlessly bat aside an Orc warrior and continue towards her, staring at her with livid hatred as it conjured a thunderbolt. She looked up as a tattooed figure appeared at her side, "I... I can't stand. Drag Cassie away before that mad cunt casts again and kills the three of us."

The tattooed woman looked down at the crumpled form of the little slave girl, lying whimpering in pain as she clutched her scorched arm, and then slowly turned her gaze towards the howling figure in the red armour, and in the depths of those golden eyes, a burning fury ignited.

The crimson-garbed figure screamed out its invocation and unleashed a great bolt of burning lightning that hurled towards the Dark Elf.

Ashunara was roughly kicked out of the way as the tattooed woman stepped into the path of the bolt. It struck her true with a great crackle of energy, and burning tendrils lashed out, tearing and searing across her body. The impact was so violent that it almost deafened and blinded the Captain as it drove the woman down to one knee.

The crimson sorceress in the blood-red armour howled in exultation as her power crashed into the pitiful creature before her, driving her down, but the cry caught in her throat as the figure pushed itself to its feet and stood, and the dreadful magic spilt from it like water flowing off a rock. The woman's cloak had been burned away, and her manacles melted by the heat, but she should have been all but vaporised by the blast. Instead, she stood there with a strange grin on her face, her tattoos lined with fire, fully revealing the glittering serpentine pattern for the first time.

"That's imposs..."

The tattooed figure glanced about and flicked a discarded spear into her hands with her foot. Taking took two long steps she hurled it with a grunt of effort.

The missile shrieked through the air as if launched from a ballista and took the woman in the chest. The warlock coughed in surprise as it punched through her breastplate as if the cuirass was made of paper and not rune-enchanted steel, and the sizzling spearhead exploded from her back in a welter of gore. She tried to speak, but only managed a mumbling mouthful of blood as she collapsed in a lifeless heap.

Ashunara stared at the impaled body as she finally struggled to her feet. She gave the woman standing at her side a smile filled with dark humour, "You know, I'm sooo glad you don't bear a grudge about being flogged."

She drew her sword and turned to limp towards the swirling melee and the tattooed figure spoke, "You can barely stand woman, if you go over there you'll probably die."

Ashunara nodded, and looked back at her with a grin, "Probably... But it's my duty, and... they're my friends. Drag Cassie away from this, please. She deserves better than to die in this shithole, and... it would make me feel better knowing the wee thing was safe."

The Captain flung herself into the melee with the spearmen, chopping a spear in half and impaling its wielder in the gut. Two more charged at her and she knocked one spearhead aside with her sword, but her limping dodge would have been too slow to avoid the other, had not Nyx leapt on the man's back with a cry as she pulled back his head and neatly cut his throat.

Nyx paused, "You look like shit."

Ashunara cut down another spearman, who looked on in dismay as her sword sliced through his armour, and ribcage, like butter. "Well, fuck you too."

There was a clatter behind her and the Captain turned as a mounted figure upon an armoured horse bore down upon her with lance in hand. She recoiled backwards but her leg gave out and she saw the man grin as he levelled the spear at her heart.

The blacksmith smashed into the horse with a meaty grunt, toppling the surprised beast, and its even more surprised rider to the dirt. The smith gave a roar of pure rage as he surged forward and brought his booted foot down upon the man's armoured head, driving his face into the earth with a sickening crunch.

The smith had torn off his tunic and stood there panting as the Captain moved forward, "I see you've gone back to being baresark."

The man gave her a feral snarl any Orc would have approved of. She swept her sword down and the adamantine blade sheared through his manacles like they were string, freeing him, "Now do your worst!"

The blacksmith snatched up an Orcish axe with a ferocious grin.

Lashelle and her Orcs had crashed into the line of lightly armoured archers and butchered them with brutal efficiency. After a dozen had been hacked down panic set in and most of the survivors turned to flee. Those that didn't were ruthlessly slaughtered.

The Dark Elf paused, panting for breath and took in the battlefield. The middle of the column was a swirling melee as spearmen and Orc battled, and she could barely make out the small lithe figures of Nyx and the Captain as they danced about, cutting down one foe after another.

A figure appeared off to one side as Azure emerged from the trees, bow in hand. The scout fired an arrow that punched a horseman from his mount, and she sent a second into the neck of a charging spearman. A crossbow bolt hissed towards her, and she skipped neatly to the side as she sent an arrow unerring back into the footman's face.

The back of the column was a mess. Armoured riders had crashed through the rearguard and roved about, hacking and slashing at anyone in reach. Making a decision she turned to the Orcs with her.

"We go for the riders!"

Turning back, she loped downhill towards the battle.

Nyx had also seen the riders running amok. She ran for a horseman and launched herself at him, neatly sweeping the rider from his mount. Rolling, she came up, blade in hand and deftly stabbed the man under his armpit as he tried to clamber to his feet. He grunted and collapsed.

Looking about she saw a confused melee of horses, men at arms and Orcs, while some slaves had been caught up in the fighting and ran about screaming in terror. A second wave of footmen was charging in and she spun with blade raised as a hand grabbed her shoulder, and came within an inch of stabbing the swordsman through the face.

"Get the fuck out of here before you get killed!" She screamed as she turned back towards the fighting.

The swordsman winced as a horseman callously rode down a slave that had bumbled into his path, crushing the poor fool underfoot, and Nyx looked back at him, "Well swordsman if you're lucky it might be me who's your slave by the end of this."

A bearded horseman bearing a dragon standard bellowed, "Kill the darkling fiends! Kill them all!"

Nyx shrugged and sighed, "Or maybe not. You best make off man. Mayhap I'll see you on the other side one day."

The swordsman looked at the swirling mess of horses, hearing the screams of the dying and the clash of blades and swore bitterly. He turned to the Dark Elf, "Give me my sword, I'll stand with you."

Nyx looked at him, "You're mad."

"Fucking hurry up before I come to my senses and change my bastard mind."

The Dark Elf drew the long blade and swung it, the dwarf-forged metal hacked through the manacles he wore with a ringing sound of steel on steel, and she pressed the blade into his hand with a grin, "I am NOT fucking freeing you. We have a date in three years so have a care with MY fucking sword. If you lose it I'll whip the skin off your arse!"

"Promises, promises!"

The swordsman tapped an Orc on the shoulder with the flat of the blade and pointed to its shield. The creature was holding its axe two-handed, and it cheerfully loosed the thing from its back and passed it over.

He buckled the shield onto his arm while muttering to himself in disgust, "I don't know how I keep getting into this kind of mess, I think I'm fucking cursed."

Nyx grinned, "Typical fucking human, always complaining. You ready yet?"

The man nodded and Human, Dark Elf and Orc charged off into the fight together.

The fighting was savage, with no quarter offered or given. Elsadore was down with a spear through her gut and three of the Orcs had fallen while the last bellowed defiance as it swung and hacked at any enemy daring to come within reach as the three smashed into the fight.

The Orc at Nyx's side ripped a rider from his horse with a vicious sweep of his axe while Nyx herself impaled another footman through the face. The swordsman deftly parried a blade, shoved one attacker aside with his shield and neatly ran a second one through the thigh, laying his leg open to the bone, and Nyx began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, he might just be better than her after all...

A man thrust his spear at him, and the swordsman neatly chopped it in twain and kicked the idiot between the legs as he moved past. Another ran at him sword upraised, taking wild slashes and the swordsman frowned in disgust as he ruthlessly severed the man's swordhand at the wrist before decapitating him with a backhanded sweep of his blade, "Terrible footwork."

An arrow killed a crossbowman aiming at Nyx's back and a second took a charging horseman in the throat.

Nyx gutted another spearman and then found herself facing off against four more, but they looked frightened, and she grinned wolfishly.

Steel rang against steel and the air was reft with the screams of the wounded and dying, then, with a roar, Lashelle charged in with the four howling Orc warriors with her and the humans began to break. Their leader bellowed curses until a battleaxe, hurled by the enraged blacksmith, thudded into his chest and his horse bolted. The baying Orcs brutally hacked down anything in front of them and moments later the humans were fleeing the field in panic.

A strange silence punctuated by the moans of the wounded filled the air. Ashunara looked at the crushed bodies of two of the dead slaves who had been mercilessly ridden down and gave a curt command. Orcish axes were raised, and moments later there was only silence.

Later, the Captain sat on a treestump as Orcs and Dark Elves moved about the battlefield and regrouped. She was desperately tired, and her scorched leg plagued her but she still almost laughed as she spied the swordsman helping a hobbling Nyx back to a hastily made encampment under the trees and she heard them bickering.

"Imagine getting stabbed by a crappy spearman, Gods, his footwork was awful. Truthfully, I'd be embarrassed."

Nyx grumbled, "There were fucking four of the bastards!"

"Typical Dark Elf, always complaining."

"I am definitely selling you to catamite whoremaster, you smug bastard!"

"Promises, promises."

The blacksmith came into view supporting a wounded Orc and she sighed, shaking her head as she called out, "Careful there Master Smith. If those bloody greenskins adopt you as a brother in arms I won't be able to sell you without starting a war!"

Both Orc and smith grinned as they shuffled by.

It took time to restore order from the chaos of battle but eventually a limping but now bandaged Nyx was able to make a report to the Captain.

"Three of the Orcs are dead, most of the rest are wounded to some degree. Lashelle took a minor cut, but she'll recover quick enough. Elsadore has taken a bad wound, probably mortal. I've given her the last of the healing draught but it's not going to be enough. The damned spear went right through her and she's losing too much blood. Varoona and Tallis are missing, they're not among the dead. Given the rearguard was overrun and reavers were roaming all over the damned place I have to assume they've been taken. Also, we lost five slaves, three dead and two run off, er... I think. The rest are terrified, except for those two nuns maybe, they're doing what they can with the wounded."