CH. 14

The smell of blood, if it had a smell I assumed, and smoke hung in the air that was blown gently in my direction. The desperate defensive fighting of soldiers in plated armor gathered around a carriage was well under way.

With blue cloaks hanging from their shoulders and disciplined actions, it was obvious they were a military outfit of sorts. Standing tall, they refused to yield against a foe that outnumbered them at least two to one,

The elegant carriage they protected was peppered with arrows and scorch marks. Horses either lay dead or dying, more arrows and horrific slashes marred their bodies, as they lay in pools of their own blood.

I couldn't recognize the crest of a rising sun back dropped against a sword and shield adorning the carriage. It was however, obvious that whoever was within it was a very important person.

Most definitely someone of nobility.

Other fighters in mismatched armor, both light and heavy, bore no crests or other identifying features that nominated their origins. With their faces covered with scowling masks, they cut down the noble's soldiers relentlessly, thinning out their numbers progressively.

The noble's soldiers fought valiantly, cutting down their enemy with an unyielding determination.

Seeing spears skewer men clean through, blades paint a bloody canvass upon the ground with the sliced wounds they made, it was horrific. The crunching of a mace crushing the skull of the person it made contact with, was a peculiar sound I had never envisioned hearing.

Personally, I had always thought that to slaughter someone standing across from them, with a blade or other similar weapon, was an extremely personal and confronting way to kill them. At least with a gun, it wasn't so 'in your face' and dissociated the assailant from the violence of the act.

Yet, here I was, watching a battle of medieval proportions unfold.

It was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

One of the noble's soldiers, a knight with a blue plume on their helmet, and armor that denoted them as an officer, wrenched the carriage door open and disappeared inside.

Moments later they exited, pulling out a young girl with golden drill bit hair and an expensive, pretty blue dress. Tears streamed from her eyes as the knight and other soldiers closed around her and fought as a cohesive unit, attempting to break through the surrounding enemy.

Damn, she looked about my age. I couldn't quite make out her features from my position but her stature definitely was about someone of my own age.

"Lilly."

"Y-yes big brother?"

I could feel her trembling hand pulling on my shirt as I addressed her. Her strained voice belayed the fear she was feeling.

Strangely enough, although my heart was racing and I was scared, I felt my body was strangely tranquil. I guess I was getting used to being in these kinds of life-or-death situations these days.

Was that a good thing? Or not? I wasn't so sure either way.

"You remember how to get home right? Run and let… Father… know what's happening."

"I-I'm scared! C-come with me!" Her eyes began filling with tears.

"It's going to be ok. I'm not going to do anything. I'm just going to watch and see what happens until Stoldt and the others arrive."

"I don't wanna!"

"Don't argue with me just do it!"

'Wahh!"

Exploding at her, I struggled to keep my voice down so as not to get the enemies attention.

With a wail, Lilly ran as hard as she could. Tiny legs kicking up dirt and twigs from underneath her feet as she disappeared amongst the shrubbery and other foliage.

I turned back to the chaotic scene just in time to see one of the soldiers forming the protective ring around the noble girl be cut down.

Numbers on both sides were being thinned out. With only a few of the enemy fighters left, the remaining three noble soldiers hesitated in trying to push through.

The young girl clung to the officer, who fell to a knee as she took an arrow to the shoulder.

An enemy fighter approached them, lance slung over his shoulder and strutting with a cocky step. Whoever the guy was, he sure looked every part the confident victor of a battle that was nearing its closing moments.

"Rahhhh!"

With a loud yell, the officer shoved the young girl away from her and lunged to the enemy commander. He parried her sword thrust with ease, but her momentum caught him off guard and they clashed together, falling to the ground in a jumbled heap.

Writhing on the ground, both tried to gain the upper hand from the other.

""RAAAHHH!""

The other three soldiers also gave a battle roar and charged, forcing the closing enemy fighters to break apart momentarily and provide an opening for the noble girl.

Hesitating for a moment, she didn't wait long before making a break for the tree line, clutching the hem of her dress.

The enemy fighters attempted to break through to her and give chase, but were fended off.

RIGHT TOWARDS ME!

What the hell! Seriously?! Out of all the directions you could have chosen why then, in my direction?

"Damnit!"

Not good, not good, NOT GOOD!

I had to find somewhere to hide, and quick!

Where though? Could I possibly climb a tree? Nope, that was out of the question. None of the trees nearby weren't able to be climbed up. As smooth and tall as they were, without the benefit of low-lying branches.

What about a ditch? Nope, there wasn't anything deep enough for me to crawl into anywhere around me. Sure I was small, but not so miniature that I could climb into the remnants of an empty hollow left behind by a recently dried puddle.

In the end, the only viable option that was available to me was a bush that was thick enough for me to hide in. As cliché as that was, it was going to have to do the job.

"Damn!"

Fresh scratches from the branches stung my arms as I dove into its body.

Curling up inside it, I made myself as small as I possibly could, trying to minimize my profile and avoid being spotted. I wasn't exactly wearing camouflage clothing like a modern army soldier would be.

"Waahhhhh!"

The girl burst into the space I had been hiding in only moments ago and tripped on a tree root, collapsing to the earth in a sobbing heap.

Except that it wasn't a tree root that caused the spill.

An arrow stuck from her leg, waving in the air as she scrambled around trying to get back to her feet but falling back to the ground in the attempts.

Crawling, scraping, clutching, kicking, dragging, digging.

Whatever she could do to move forward she desperately did. Sullying the pretty dress she wore, tearing it, getting wrapped up within it.

Tears making their fresh tracks down her cheeks through the dirt now sticking to it after falling face first into the soil.

"Thought ya'd gotten away eh brat?"

"Waaahh!"

One of the masked assailants armed with a bow entered behind her. Slinging the bow over his back he approached her.

"Now now, be a good gal an' come wit' me awright?"

"Noo! No no no no no! Waahhh!"

"Not like ya hav' a choice ennyway."

With a strong grip he grabbed her arm and pulled her from the ground. Flailing her limbs, he held her out at arm's reach to avoid her desperate, swinging kicks.

"Jus' be a good gal an' come quietly."

"I don't want to! Please let me go! Somebody help me!"

This was definitely bad.

Human beings typically face three separate behaviors when faced with critical situations that are immensely stressful.

Incredibly traumatic experiences which overload our ability to make reasonable, coherent decisions when subject to a moment that is abnormal to us.

Those three choices that we revert back to and choose, not through actually breaking down and thinking about what to do, but just by pure instinctive reaction.

Freeze.

Flight.

Fight.

"Stop Squirmin' will ya!"

"Let me go! When father finds out about this-"

"Ya father ain't comin', neither's ennyone else for tha' matter sweet-eughh!"

Smack!

Scoring a direct hit, the girl managed to land a fierce kick to the masked mans face. He dropped her to the ground and staggered back.

I imagined his eyes would at least have been watering behind the mask.

The girl meanwhile, though having broken free from his clutches, still wasn't able to get away because of her leg injury.

If she was able to use magic, I would have assumed she would have healed herself long before now and would have managed to escape.

Or at least be able to fight back with some spell casting.

I didn't see her carrying a knife or any other small weapon either, but should I have been expecting that?

For all intents and purposes, even I could recognize she was a noble of some description, so I guess it should come as no surprise she wasn't armed. Especially since she was accompanied by a group of soldiers.

Yet, being out in the wilderness like this, under the protection of an armed escort, wouldn't common sense dictate to at least have some measure of protection for oneself?

Anyway, now wasn't the time to think about the finer details.

"You wanna play it th' hard way? Mebbe I'll hav' some fun wit' you first…"