Chapter 241

Shaba's youthful face was a mask of scratches, his body was covered in filth, his pants were shredded, and most of his armor was gone with the exception of his chestplate and gloves. His wrists at least, were loose. 'Did anyone else make it?' He wondered as he staggered out of the woods and looked behind him.

Everybody got their hands free as far as he knew, but most, 'Captured again, I think, or killed, but they didn't chase us into the forest where the Huntress used to rove… no wonder either…' The occasional roar or growl, a scream in the night, and a human voice going quickly silent… 'In there, we are the prey… I might just be the only survivor…' He gulped and staggered forward, hunching his body ahead a little, using the impulse to 'fall' to help carry him ahead. His arms swung limply, and his breastplate became a burden as the warmth of the day began. 'If I stop moving, I'm gonna die… I know I won't get back up again.' Shaba told himself, and using his fumbling, nearly dead fingers, he worked the leather straps that held the front and back together, and the armor fell apart, front and back landed on the ground with a quiet thud, and he stumbled further on.

How long he was moving, what day it was, what hour, none of it meant anything to Shaba, he only struggled on in the only direction he knew, until at last he came within sight of his goal. 'Kalinsha… I-I made it!' He realized, his eyes filled with tears and he wiped them away so that his view of the city would be clear and that clarity could give him the will to go on just a little bit further.

He heard the noise of distant guards after what felt like another hour, but which was truly more likely to have been minutes. The gate opened, horses began to charge out, light armored cavalry, Shaba's legs seemed to know the truth, 'I-I made it… I'm going to live…' He began to laugh as he fell into the dirt and then down onto his belly, his arms failed to prevent it, and he laughed on as the taste of dirt hit his tongue, he didn't care. It was the dirt of Kalinsha, which meant, 'I'm safe…'

He grunted a little as two soldiers got down from their horses, and together slung him over the front of one of them before remounting and riding back toward the city.

His purpose though, that was not lost on him. "Frost to Hoburns… Frost… Hoburns… stop her…" And then he fell into unconsciousness, swallowed up by the blackness he longed for, in safety.

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"Vijar says the mission was a success, so now… we have a job to do." Neia said with a sly grin spread over her predatory face. She hunched over the map and pressed her finger down on a position. "Kalinsha is here, if we take that, the whole of the Holy Kingdom is open to us, if we capture Remedios, or kill her, then we deprive the Holy Kingdom of one third of its real power relative to us. They still have mages and paladins of some note, but we have champions that can match them."

"And the Kingdom of Nazarick?" A wary voice came up.

"Questionable." Neia pointed out. "I've heard fantastical stories, but so far he hasn't brought soldiers, only weapons and armor, as best as we can tell, if he engages, it will be in person, but he seems content to remain in Hoburns to protect the Queen."

"Then why," Xee asked, "would Remedios come after us?"

"Because Remedios loves the Queen above all others, she wouldn't even trust her own sister to protect Calca. That means she must chase us down, we would have already had her, but she's dumber than even I believed." Neia reached for a cup of wine and took a long, steady drink.

"I see… and Kalinsha?" Xee pressed.

"I will leave that to Olasird'arc, Vijar, and a handful of you. Seize it, and I will join you afterward. If I capture Remedios, I've got what I want, I'll gut that bitch on the wall, slam her head on a pike, and who gives a damn after that? Astraka should have no problems finishing whatever is left of Calca's country then, and we'll get a new trading partner out of it. If anything, he will probably want us out of the war so we don't start claiming land beyond the wall itself." The Queen of Frost pointed out, her wings trembled with excitement and her eyes sparkled in the light of the glowstones.

"You all will receive written orders in the next few hours, just equip your armies for everything you need, and let's get ready to finish this. And if it doesn't finish it… then… it's all their fault now, isn't it?" Neia asked and glanced around at her comrades, a warm, happy, predatory smile filled her pale face with light, and they nodded with enthusiasm before they broke up their meeting.

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"How the hell could he be here?!" Astraka bellowed, "He shouldn't have figured out where we'd be for at least a few more days?!" He threw his bronze cup across the room where it crumpled against the stone and fell with a noisy ringing to the floor where it rolled until it stopped in a corner, droplets of red trickling out onto the stone in the slight slope of the room.

"You did say he was 'Gustav Montagnés', My Lord." An aide replied gingerly, and Astraka's temper began to cool at the reminder.

"I did say that… didn't I. He must have conducted one hell of a forced march, or figured out my intent some time ago… still, this is a siege battle and the South will send reinforcements right up Gustav's ass if he lingers here…"

"But can we hold out until they arrive?" One of the heavier armored lords asked the question from the far end of the long table, and at that Astraka did not make another sound for several minutes.

"I would prefer it if we had the help of Demalbion, but I am compelled to say," he folded his hands together, they tensed, turning the knuckles white inside his gloves, "I do not know. And Duke Astraka does not fight battles he is not sure he can win."

Murmurs of confusion and approval alike went up and down the long row.

"Then… What do we do?" Astraka wasn't sure who asked the question, but he didn't care.

"We escape, let him lay siege to a nearly empty city, and then we go on to take another. If I had to guess, I'd say Gustav undertook forced marches to get here, his soldiers are worn out, he can't possibly be ready to take the city, and even surrounding it at this point is too much. He can't risk scattering his forces when we can sally out and attack them piecemeal." Astraka said with a casual smile on his face.

"So we leave in the morning, My Lord?" the same person asked.

"No, tonight. We can undertake our own forced march. We leave a small core unit behind to just buy time, while we take the bulk of our army and supplies out of here and on to the next target. Remember, we need the Holy Queen to submit to our demands, we don't need to occupy every city, just Hoburns. I'm sure Demalbion will be along soon before too long, and even Gustav can't handle both armies alone." Astraka said and smacked his leg with satisfaction.

"Get them ready, select volunteers willing to buy time, assign some if you can't get enough, but we leave by midnight! Gustav will not entertain the idea that we have abandoned the city until we're halfway to Hoburns! By then it will be far too late! Now hurry!" Astraka barked the order and stood up, ending the gathering on a high note, his subjects and staff agog at the bold move.

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"Hoburns?! They're going after the Queen?! They can't get me so they go for her?!" Remedios' shriek was more than outraged, 'They lost… they lost but… 'all' is not lost… we know where they're going… of course. She 'hates' me, so she… my sister, the Queen… and of course, her traitorous parents… of 'course' Hoburns is what she wants…' Remedios cursed and swore and kicked various objects around while her staff remained still, heads bowed and standing without saying a word, their hands folded in front of their waists.

"We move out immediately, her little fires tell us where she's going… we'll catch up with her, kill her, and end this threat from beyond the wall!" Remedios pronounced with wild, wide fanatical eyes, spittle lingering on her lips.

"Can we beat demihumans in the field?" The question came up from one quiet, timid little voice, and Remedios snapped her face to the doubter.

"Of course! We've been killing that trash for centuries, they've got no real discipline, no unity, they think only of how strong they are personally. Put a knife in their backs and they die like everything else. Now hurry!" Remedios yelled at them, and kicked her chair against the wall where it shattered into kindling, the attending group of a dozen paladins nearly jumped out of their skin at her violent reaction… but bowing their heads, they obeyed her will and departed.

The march took the vast majority of her army out of Kalinsha, 'I know what I said… but even so… even so… a demi-human army is nothing to laugh at. My best bet is to duel the bitch myself, put her down, and the whole thing will fall apart.' Remedios told herself and, smugly reassured, she set her soldiers to a forced march, following the path of destruction. Ruined villages, burned out forts, the smell of ash and ruins, and not a little death, became an endemic family of odors, where there was one, so too were there others. Small forts meant to protect travelers held only naked corpses burned to nothing, and draped over wherever they died. Others bore the banner of the Frost Queen, her blue claw on a white cloth, a mockery of the blue and white of the Roble Holy Kingdom.

Remedios burned those to ashes whenever she found them.

The long line of her soldiers on the road were secure against the monsters of the deep woods, that much she could rely upon, 'Nobody goes in there lightly, not unescorted unless they have a death wish.' Remedios recalled, and recalled with annoyance that the one who should have died out there, survived.

The nights brought only silence, nobody came near her, nobody dared, Remedios glared into the flames, 'Next time, Frost Bitch… I'll 'burn' you at the stake, you'll miss the fucking swords… you'll beg to die 'again' and again. I won't spare you… you'll survive our fight, and wish you hadn't… then we'll wipe out your broken army, finish the traitor, and I'll get my Queen and my sister to muster the whole damn Kingdom to go into your 'new country' and burn it to 'ashes'. Then… everything will be as it was… my Queen will forgive me, my sister will forgive me… and we will restore the greatness of the Holy Kingdom.'

The fantasy played out in the flames like some charming vision of the future, the memory of Neia's screams as the swords pierced her body, her kidney, her liver… her stomach, a trifecta of the worst stabbing pains Remedios knew to inflict. The least a traitor deserved.

It was those thoughts that kept Remedios slumbering soundly, a smile on her face at night as she dreamed, cozy in her bedroll for the few hours that she needed before she awoke her army and they set out on the march again. The path of destruction set Remedios' teeth to grinding, a stark contrast to her restful nights and sweet dreams, but each step drew her army closer.

And closer.

Until the slow moving demihuman army came into view. 'The dragon is gone…' Remedios sighed with relief against her will, 'Those animals have no real loyalty, much like this bitch, so I can't say I'm surprised he's abandoned her… still I thought her army was a little larger.'

And that… that set Remedios' teeth grinding to redouble, her hold on the horse's reins to tighten, and her heart to pound for reasons that were obvious even to her. 'Where the hell are the 'rest' of them?!' She asked herself, and scanned the hills and plains where the demihumans were marching at some ten thousand strong.