"Miss, Miss!" someone called out as I was shook about.
"H-Huh?" I let out as I slowly woke up. Only to freeze up slightly as I found myself staring directly at a patrol of heretic soldiers.
"Your mamuler has gotten a little off track." the soldier commented as he gestured to the tree my transport was feasting on.
"Right, thank you." I told him as my eyes quickly looked over their arms and armour.
"Will you need help moving it? You are lodged in quite badly."
"No, no! I can handle it." I hastily answer as I hop down and quickly pull the carriage and the beast back. Shaking the last of my grogginess out of my head before I then rushed back to the driver's seat.
"Hold on a moment." he told me as he raised his hands. And nervousness struck through me in a way I couldn't understand. I was a Valkinvar. And he was just some soldier, so why was I scared?
"I need to be going..." I tell him as I look back at the carriage where my sword was.
"And you will, but, answer me this... What's someone as strong as you doing around here, exactly?"
"I just pulled the mamuler back onto the road..." I dismissively answer, chuckling nervously to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal.
"Exactly, so, what are you doing out here?" he asks as he gestures for the faceless soldiers he was with to approach the carriage.
"Stay back!" I snap at them as I lock onto their weapons. I barely remembered their weapons, but I recalled easily what they did. The start of my troubles all that time ago. A fearless force whose weapons saw my own men disappear without a trace...
"Call in a war-wi-" he began to order before I shot out of my seat. I gave none of his men a chance to react either and soon, they all soaked my hands with their blood. Heavy pants left me and I found myself staring back at the carriage. That undisciplined, panicked rush had destroyed the carriage and killed the animal.
"WELL DONE!" I roared in rage at myself as I brought my sword back to my hand. I would need to run once again on my own. The way I used my magic, the mess I had made. It was going to haunt me immediately.
"On our way! Hold tight!" the wind somehow spoke before I suddenly twitched to my right. My gaze snapped instantly to where that shot had just come from. And with one clean smash, I brought my sword through that soldier and dug it deep into the rock behind them. A look of despair on my face as I followed a small amount of wind magic head out into the sky.
And that small trace led me to an even larger force of magic. The help they were about to call for was on its way and I was lighting a great torch for them to follow. So, with a frustrated click of my tongue, I went into the sky. Smashing apart the ground behind me on the way up.
But in doing so, I only exposed myself to the witch that they had call upon. And I had to burst ahead to avoid a blast of magic that they had sent ahead of them. Yet, I soon found myself yelping in surprise when that same blast circumvented my awareness to strike me from behind. It was not enough to knock me out of the sky, however.
Though it was more than enough to give this witch the time to catch up to me. And I was met with another blast of magic which did move me. With a pained scream, I was smacked down into a nearby mountainside. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to keep me immobile enough for their next attack and I dashed down to the ground.
Digging my feet into the road to slow myself as I spun around. Ending right in a defensive posture as the debris went flying out further down the length of the road. A determined glare on my face as a greater spell began to form. A vast, dangerous orb that sprouted many arms as it built up.
Yet, as I could not tell how potent the spell really was, I hopped back further. Narrowly avoiding the shockingly fast orb as it crashed down into the road and vortexed back into the sky. But by focusing on this great orb and the arms that came out of it. I failed to notice the smaller orbs it had left about behind me.
So I at first tried to block one with my sword but it was no use. This witch was strong enough to hurt me, at least without my armour. So I had to use my sword as not only a shield, but as a sled as well. And it would find itself being a shield once more as the witch let out a mighty blast once all the magic came back to them.
"GAAAAH!" I screamed in shock as I went flying across the valley. Only my quick reactions and strong sword stopped my continued rolling. Yet hers were to my annoyance, not slow themselves. And I brought my right arm up to deflect her left one as it tried to implant another spell on me.
"VALKINVAR!" she roared in my face before she brought her other arm in to follow up on her last attack. And with one arm against hers, the other holding my sword. I could not resist the blow. And I flew backwards once again.
"Dammit..." I spat before I shot off into the sky. The intent was to retreat because I could do nothing. Without my armour and the tally of my current mistakes... I couldn't fight her.
Yet even now, as I put all my effort into falling back to a safer spot or to hide once again. I made another mistake that left me wide open. And that was to not know my enemy. For her arsenal was more than just those orbs. And I was quickly brought back to the ground by a whip-like spell.
And another one was coming right for me from above!
So I cut off the first construct and roared in fury as I swung my sword up to parry the other one. Knocking her briefly off of her footing as a result. But, by failing to exploit it, I gave her the opportunity to bombard me once again. And the mountain erupted into a storm of rubble and green winds as she let loose a full barrage.
Thankfully for me, however, the mountaintop was only a short distance above and behind. So, when the moment came, I pushed myself backwards. Scraping along the mountain before I flipped over its peak as if it were a normal edge. And once I was repositioned in the air I shot down into the next valley over.
Leaving the battle behind me as I shot through the valley as fast as I could. And whenever the moment came, I suddenly shot into another valley or changed directions altogether. Then, once I felt like I had lost them. I dropped into another valley once again.
Sticking close to an outcropping of rock as I suppressed my magic in its entirety. With all the places I had just been to. It was a gamble weighted in my favour. The chances of her coming upon this one, in particular, were slim.
Even then, though, I kept my back against the wall and I planted my blade right up there with me. Thankfully, I could sense for her without having to expose myself. And to my delight, she was not here in this valley or that close at all. It seemed as if she never chased after me at all.
But that only worried me because she had seen clearly what I could handle. She knew what I was from the postures I took and the weapon I held. If her power was anything to go by, then she was possibly an equal. Or a member of a group that would prove to be my equal should I be properly equipped.
Regardless, I was glad that I had managed to escape her and I made my way down the valley on foot. I would not bring out my magic again for the moment. Doing so would just reinvigorate the chase if one ever began. So I just walked and walked until I came across a bridged-over crater.
"Odd, normally, you would see these kinds of things just filled in." I remark as I walked over the metal bridge. An uncertain feeling filled my gut as I did so. I almost felt sick in a way. There was something off about this bridge.
And when I crossed over it, I came to a stop and stared off into the distance. A sense of confusion came about me and I kept on staring towards the opposing view. There was something odd about how the mountains outcropped at nearly the same distance. This patch of near grassless earth seemed off as well.
But it was only after moving further and turning around that I recognised where I was. And out of shock, I dropped my sword and looked down at the grass. It was all trampled. An army had passed through here...
"This is..." I began to utter before I went quiet as it all flashed before me. This was the place. This was where I had failed in my duties. Where my army was routed and cut down to the man.
Our line did not hold and the heretics passed on by straight towards Giant's Victory. The Zapahdren-Valkinvar's force did not come to smash upon their rear. Instead, they found the ruins of the force I should have led. And, as I struggled to breathe, I ran towards my old line.
Despair swelled up inside me and I soon fell to the earth as if I had tripped up. This was the place... The place where I failed my superiors, my nation and the people I was supposed to protect. We marched out of the city with a sizeable chunk of the garrison to make a line here. And when I failed, they vanished.
But to my horror, I did not find a line of graves dug for them or a pile of old cinders. They were all still here. The bodies of my men and the guns we brought with us. They had been denied their rightful rest by the heretics and had been left for the buzzards.
"Grand-Thoucomm..." I uttered as I looked up to my right. The ruins had not even been clear out in the slightest. When the heretics won, they just marched right through here after recovering their own dead. And, with my emotions at their limits, I tore apart the rubble to get inside the old command centre.
Then, I wept as I saw the bodies of not only those who died during the battle. But those who had been trapped here. Left to starve and wilt away in the darkness. Everywhere was a vivid scene of what my failure had inflicted. And I collapsed at the edge of the crater within the ruins.
Covering my face and letting my sword drop to the ground with a rattle as I tried to get myself together. Of all the places I could've ended up, how did I find myself coming right back here? Was this some kind of divine ploy? A joke set up by the Goddess of Illusion!?
"WHY AM I HERE!?" I screamed into the dark before I got back up to my feet. Not even bothering to call my sword to my side as I slowly trudged back out into the light. This way was still stained with dried blood even now... The bodies of those I was supposed to protect were trampled by the victorious enemy.
And I just stared out towards it all. I looked up at where I had fought the Red-Feathers. And I looked down at where those guns had struck. Like far back, they too had been bridged.
And despite all the effort they had clearly put into their advance, they still neglected the dead. They were content to spit on them for their beliefs. To leave them here in the open where Waionr would never find them. Where Undwote's pack would just sniff before they vanished elsewhere.
"At least let me atone for my failure..." I whisper to my fallen army as I call back my sword to my side. And with a sigh, I marched out into the open to begin gathering the dead. Although it was not fitting for such courageous men. These ruins would have to do.