4 Princess Aleyria (2)

Princess Aleyria raised her wand and pointed at the advancing borgs. For any other mage, it was folly. The distance was too great. The only effective spell at such great distance was fireball. But it would kill borgs as effectively as human beings. It was out of the question.

Reaching deep within into her wellspring of power, Aleyria weaved unimaginably intricate forbidden magic in vast amounts. The fabric between worlds began to rip for an instant and two howling Elementals were dragged through the rift by the authority of the White Archmage.

Screaming and wailing in protest, maddened at being summoned into the world, these giant beings of unimaginable might thrashed about and sent great clouts of earth into the air. Then, overpowered by Aleyria's force of will, they turned their attention on the borgs.

Fire hated Ice, and Ice loathed Fire. Their hatred for each other and for this plane of existence sent them into a terrible battle frenzy. However, fully under control, their might were unleashed upon the Borgs. They tore borgs apart like they were little crackers and smashed them into the ground like ants.

Within minutes, there were no borgs left for them to destroy. And they began to turn on each other. The Fire Elemental, in the shape of a dragon, gave a deafening bellow of challenge and charged. Shaped like a massively giant wolf, the Ice Elemental snarled and leaped forward and they began to tear great chunks out of each other. So vast their destructive power that in less than a minute, they had both destroyed each other and disappeared in a great mist of steam.

All that remained of the two mighty elementals were deep, muddy gouges in the land and splattered borgs.

The borg attacks were repulsed.

Aleyria stared at the fading mist grimly, feeling her energy slowly return after her great outburst. She turned and found her three guards by her side, mouth agape.

Their bloody work done, they became as spectators like the travelers around them, to Aleyria's magical feat.

They knew of elementals, of course. All mages were required to learn of them from a very thick textbook covering the different types of elementals and their tendencies. The entire second half of the textbook had focused on the most effective methods of escaping them and helping non-magical people survive the encounter.

No mention had been made of fighting them, much less summoning them.

"Princess Aleyria!" a cry rang out from her left. Aleyria turned and saw Captain Trusa cantering toward her with two of his men. Behind them, spread out in a wide swath of land, were the rest of his men helping the wounded and dying travelers, separating them from the dead borgs.

"Are you alright, Princess?"

"You are late." Aleyria said flatly to Captain Trusa, ignoring his question. "Report."

"My apologies, Princess. The borgs attacked our border outpost in great numbers and overwhelmed it before the warning could be raised. We rode out in force as soon as we saw them charging down the hill beyond the Northern Main." Captain Trusa explained calmly.

"A total of five borg squads entered our borders. Three were engaged and destroyed in the Northern Main. These two squads went straight to the Western Main. I was sent to intercept as soon as we realized that."

Aleyria's eyes glinted dangerously. "Were there any trolls?"

Beside her, Liz'An shifted uncomfortably.

To his credit, Captain Trusa did not glance at her. "No, Princess. As usual, it was only the borgs."

"How many attacks had it been, Captain Trusa?" Liz'An asked quietly.

"This marks the fourth, and deadliest attack, Archmage." Captain Trusa replied formally.

"Go back to the city and call for the healers, Captain. Inform General Guntar that I wish to speak to him upon my return." Aleyria ordered.

"As you command, Princess. The healers are already on their way." Captain Trusa saluted smartly, turned and galloped off.

Aleyria turned to her three guards and said, "We need to find the lair of these borgs that are attacking us and wipe them out. The City will have to wait."

"Yes Princess." Liz'An replied quietly.

"Of course, Princess! Let us retaliate! I say we hunt down and kill every single borg from here to Zan!" Shiranui said angrily, slamming her fist to her palm.

Kan-Dari nodded vigorously and added, "Every. Last. Borg."

In spite of everything, Aleyria smiled.

These two hot-tempered girls can always be counted upon to give the most direct solution to all the problems they encounter. Blast all belligerents into smithereens. Blast the rocks the rest were cowering under and blast them into smithereens. And finally, blast their remains again for good measure.

And this time, Aleyria was in full agreement. "Let us do that." she said grimly. Pointing to the East, the little group galloped off and launched their counter-offensive.

They entered the City of Rin and quickly traversed its breath in half a day. The City of Rin was astoundingly beautiful, but the group had no mood to enjoy its beauty. They left Rin through the Eastern Gate and joined the main road leading out of Rin where they were instantly surrounded by travelers and traders.

It was an extremely busy day as The Coronation of Crown Prince Aloxandros had just ended and the Spring Festival was almost upon them.

The main road was extremely wide, easily ten horse-lanes wide. And at this time of the year, all the lanes were filled with people moving into the city. Merchants bringing goods and exotic products from all over the world gathered in the great City of Rin to participate in the greatest Festival of the year.

Laughter filled the air as travelers and traders alike anticipated the coming festivities. Some travelers sang, and some others played instruments. Children played on the grassy sides of the main road while wary mothers keep a sharp eye on them. Many brought donkeys and carts to carry their belongings and wares.

Every hour or so, City Guards would ride out of the East Gate to patrol the area and lend a helping hand to those who need help. Clad in their full ceremonial armor and looking extremely dashing, the crowd cheered loudly when they came riding by.

Not a few farm girls suddenly seemed to lose all the riding skills they had spent their lifetimes acquiring and fall off their donkeys, thus requiring the urgent aid of the gallant City Guards. And the City Guards always obliged. Courteous and full of chivalry, they helped the farm girls back on their donkeys with a smile. The farm girls, for their part, gushed out their very heartfelt thanks, promising to repay kindness with delicious home cooked food, should the guards ever find themselves in the area where they would be staying in the City.

It was like a ritual, and both parties had waited a whole year to take part in it.

It was impossible to remain gloomy in such a joyful atmosphere and soon, the group began to talk again. Shiranui and Kan-Dari resumed their squabble right where they left off. Even Liz'An made a few comments, much to Aleyria's delight.

Being Mages, and red-robes at that, the people who understood their significance usually made way for them to pass first. And the group always graciously accepted their token of respect, smiling at them in appreciation.

But more often than not, they were surrounded by travelers who had no idea what the red-robes signified and assumed that they were just some random uniformed group. One such group on horses trotted up towards them.

Arranged in standard Royalty Escort Formation and dressed completely in black armor complete with black hoods and capes, all the travellers in the Eastern Main gave them a wide berth. Five abreast, the first two rows were lancers. With their black lances pointing skyward and black horns attached to their black horses, they were a sight to behold. Ten steps behind and seven abreast, were another three rows of soldiers. Swordsmen. Their black swords were drawn and positioned at the ready.

Three steps behind them, three abreast and three rows deep, were the largest men Aleyria had ever seen in her life. They were even larger than Liz'An. Unlike the other soldiers who were in full armor, these soldiers did not wear capes and were garbed in simple leather armor. They looked ready to deal death at close range. And coming up behind them were more black swordsmen. Nine abreast and five rows deep, they took up the entire breadth of the Eastern Main.

Liz'An hissed in anger. Now, they will either have to split the incoming group or step aside into the grass to allow them to pass.

Aleyria raised her hand slightly to indicate that she remain calm. It looked like they would have to swallow their indignance rather than make a scene. Kan-Dari giggled. Shiranui turned and glared at her.

"What are you giggling about, you silly elf!" She whispered loudly.

"They're all dressed in black!" Kan-Dari replied with another giggle. "I have this really strong urge to tell them off and expect them to bow before me like all the other black robes back home. Mistress, should I try that?"

Aleyria laughed. "Though I very much would like to see how that will turn out, I believe I will stick with my good senses and let this one slither by."

The little group laughed at the snake reference. Royalty in this continent were often labelled as snakes due to their slippery and untrustworthy nature. Rin-Turah royalty was no exception. Though Aleyria was kind and gentle, she was not an accurate representation of how Rin-Turah royalty was like. Her insistence on only having three guards around her at all times bore witness to her humble nature.

"These soldiers are the delegation from Rosendur. I believe they are escorting Crown Prince Roa back to the City after an excursion. It will not do to cause a scene. Aleyria continued. "Plus, I heard Crown Prince Roa is a stuck up little brat stuck in an adult's body." Aleyria said dryly. "He'll probably cause a ruckus and Teacher will have my hide for it."

Kan-Dari giggled again as Shiranui snorted in derision. Aleyria signalled right and the group prepared to step off the Eastern Main to allow the incoming royalty to pass.

However, a curt command suddenly rang out from within the center of the Rosendurian Escort and as one, they smartly turned right and marched off the Eastern Main. Another command rang out, and the Escort turned left and continued onward toward Rin on the grass.

Aleyria raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Hmm? This Royal brat from Rosendur is pretty considerate afterall!" She chuckled.

"They are in awe of our beauty, Mistress, that's why they gave way!" Shiranui declared.

It was Kan-Dari's turn to snort. "Arrogance, arrogance I say!"

"What arrogance? There is no arrogance in calling the sky blue and the rose red. I am merely stating what is true! Don't you think that you're beautiful?" Shiranui asked rather smugly. Kan-Dari was extremely beautiful and she knew that she (Kan-Dari) knew it.

"Hahaha, enough bickering girls. As much as I enjoy listening to the both of you, duty calls. Now that the path is clear, let us make haste and hunt down those hateful borgs before they claim more victims!" Aleyria firmly interjected before Kan-Dari can retort back.

"Yes, Princess!" The three Red Archmages replied in unison.