Hope (23 page)

Kathryn remembered her conversation with Hal a short while ago before he joined Hook’s squad to investigate Southker village. She’d been furious that Sir Lanclor had excluded her from yet another battle.

"Hal, I think Sir Lanclor is being a sexist pig, not allowing me to participate in the battle. It’s probably just like the Middle Ages on Earth when men were stupid enough to think they were better than women." She said this last thing with a grin. A part of her envied Hal’s freedom to participate in the battles, while the other was glad to avoid the violence.

Lady Kathryn, prepare for battle and report to the main courtyard
. Sir Lanclor’s Communication brooked no argument as it interrupted her reverie.

Kathryn jumped from her desk chair and summoned her armor. Throwing open the door to the balcony, she jumped over the edge and spread her wings. Her heart pounded while she glided down to the courtyard and stood at attention until Derrek ordered her to the rear of his squad, among his graywing section. Hal was among the brownwings, but she didn’t have time to Communicate to him before Derrek gave the verbal order to take flight.

As they flew south, Derrek Communicated the current situation with the village. Their squad was to join with Hook’s in providing the village with safety until another squad moved the villagers. Hook would have full control over the graywings and would issue the orders for the patrols of the area.

Derrek’s squad was the size of two regular brownwing squads because it contained a significant number of graywings and healers. They would handle the patrols while Seri’s mounted squad would handle the evacuation of the villagers. Seri’s squad consisted of fifty mounted knights who could take flight if necessary. Her squad specialized in Daemon ground warfare.

They reached the village as the sun began to dip behind the mountains. It would be a full two hours before night fell. Hook’s squad was in the process of putting the Daemon’s in one pile and the slain villagers in another. If the bodies remained where they were, the orcs in the area would gather here and claim the village land as their own. Removing orcs from an area involved time and patience, neither of which anyone could afford right now.

The burning of bodies was common practice on Av’lor. Av'lorians believed a person’s soul returned to the Goddess and left the body an empty shell in death. They mourned the death of a loved one, but celebrated their deeds in hopes the Goddess would forgive any sins. Kathryn wasn’t sure she could stand to watch her Mom's body burn. Not that it was any easier watching them close the lid of the casket.

After they landed, Hook approached Derrek and clasped arms with him. Hook ordered Hal to return to his squad and he gave a small nod to Kathryn before he jogged over to Lesair. Derrek’s task involved taking the majority of his squad, including all of the graywings, to patrol the southern region around the village. The healers would remain with Hook to care for his wounded. Patrols rarely went beyond this village, so this would be new territory to cover. The knights would move the villagers within the hour, so their patrol would only cover a small area to ensure a Daemon patrol wasn’t waiting to strike at their backs.

They departed, wary of any movement below or ahead of them. They flew in the basic patrol pattern, a gradually extending half-circle, and didn’t encounter any Daemons. In their final round, they flew through a mountain pass and into a valley. The valley was familiar, yet Kathryn knew she had never flown over it before. As they completed their short flight of the valley and prepared to depart through the pass on its east side, she separated herself from the squad and hovered.

Derrek’s squad had continued for a few seconds before they noticed she was no longer with them. Derrek flew back to find out what had caught her attention. She held her position above a swirling red river.

"Lady Kathryn, what do you see?" Derrek said with concern.

She gave him a worried glance and hurried toward the squad with Derrek following
. Lak'oth ar'vat
.
We need to get out of here, now
. She Communicated to Derrek alone.

He asked no questions, but ordered them to return to the village without completing the sweep of the area. As they flew through the mountain pass, Daemons rose from the trees in the valley behind them and from the trees in front of them. Over 100 Daemons surrounded them. Derrek ordered them to hover as they prepared for battle.

The Daemons outnumbered them by more than two to one. When battling Daemons, the first lesson they learned was always to try to outnumber them. If you didn’t outnumber them, but had several graywings, then victory was possible. When it came to armored Daemons, if you didn't outnumber them you should flee, no matter your number of graywings. Armored Daemons were resistant to most spells. All of the Daemons surrounding them wore armor. Derrek noticed this at the same time. Their deaths were imminent.

Form up. Graywings, staggered formation around the inner ring. Protect the brownwings. May the Goddess preserve us.
Derrek Communicated
.

The Daemons closed in on them and began their attack. Kathryn knew she didn’t stand a chance using her sword, so she sorted through the high level spells in her head as the brownwings around her used their swords to fight for their lives.

The relentless Daemons felled several knights during the initial attack. The knights in the second row took the place of the fallen. With aerial battles, the foe could attack from above and below as well as from the side, but the constant diving or hit and run tactics required for that angle of battle quickly tired the armored Daemons. By attacking from the side, both the Daemons and the knights were able to hover and conserve their energy for swinging their weapons.

She had to inform Sir Lanclor about the valley. There was no time for him to send reinforcements, but the knowledge of the valley’s location couldn’t die with her. She had never tried Communicating at this distance, but she had to try.

Lak’oth Ar’vat
.
Lan, can you hear me?

She began to fear he couldn’t hear her when he responded.
Lady Kathryn? I thought you were at the village. What’s wrong?

There’s no time to explain. I found the valley with the red river. It’s south of the village. You’ll need to evacuate the villages in the area. I don’t know if we’re going to make it back. We’re surrounded.
As she spoke with Sir Lanclor, she created various shield spells to try to keep some of the Daemons from advancing.

Surrounded? How many? Tell me where you are and I’ll send reinforcements.
Sir Lanclor’s voice was urgent, yet calm.

There are about 100. I don’t think the reinforcements will get here in time. They’re armored.

He was silent for a moment.
Where are you?

We’re about a mile south of the village. I have to concentrate on the battle now.
Her shields failed to keep some of the Daemons at bay. She had to figure out how to keep the Daemons from swarming around them.
Be safe, Sir Lanclor
. There had to be a spell she could use to penetrate the Daemons’ defenses.

You must try using some of the Lost spells. We’ll not survive this battle unless we can find a way to wipe out half of these Daemons using magic
. Derrek Communicated to her with desperation as he swung his sword and defended himself against two armored Daemons. She knew in that instant that she had to cast a high-level spell, or they wouldn’t survive. She risked exhausting herself, but there was no choice.

After casting several physical shield spells at points in the battle to protect the brownwings from fatal Daemon blows, she racked her brain trying to figure out the correct high-level spells to cast. If she chose the wrong spells, she would burn herself out for nothing. She saw a graywing use a fire spell without the desired results. The spell simply didn’t affect the armored Daemon. Another tried wind while another tried ice. The only spell she could think of was lightning, a dangerous spell if used improperly.

She didn’t see that they had any choice as little by little, members of their squad fell to the jagged swords and spears of the Daemons. Perhaps the Daemons’ armor could withstand external elements, but what about an element that could circumvent it?

She prepared a level 20 lightning spell, searching for the highest concentration of Daemons around them, hoping to take out as many as possible with one blow in case she didn’t have the energy to cast another. Building up the spell in her mind, she pictured the awesome power of the violent electrical storms she had seen numerous times on television. She imagined the raw power ripping through the armor of the Daemons, their hearts exploding with electricity.

Lir’eth kanen’entilix enal’e’d’akarith falo’entili’ai vel’on.
Releasing her spell with desperation, she aimed for the center of the Daemon horde.

The lightning spell formed around the Daemons, its results unimaginable. As the lightning spell ripped through the Daemon ranks, they halted, screaming inhuman sounds of anguish, beating their wings to remain aloft, but failing as the electricity scorched holes in their wings while their armor cooked their flesh beneath. The smoke from their burning bodies created a stench that permeated the air, making it difficult to breathe as the southern wind blew it toward the knights.

The dying Daemons dropped, disappearing into the trees below. She eliminated thirty armored Daemons from the battle, but not without cost. The loss of their comrades enraged the remaining Daemons and they increased their attack. Kathryn flew toward the middle of the squad’s protective ring to recover. Derrek was also in the middle, having taken a sword wound to the chest. Their numbers dwindled, but the determination in his eyes wouldn’t let them give up.

With the dozens of shield spells she had cast, the lightning spell had taxed her more than she had expected. Kathryn knew she had to eliminate more of the Daemons if they were to have a chance at survival. Derrek cast a quick fire spell upon himself to seal his wound and attempted to stop the bleeding. Other wounded knights around them fought bravely after her lightning spell eliminated so many.

She moved toward the outer ring.
Lir’eth sel’anthia. Mel’ati sel’anthia
. After casting a lightning shield and a physical shield spell, she tied them off around the knights. Clearing her mind, she thought of nothing except the essence of lightning. She looked at the scene around her without really seeing it. The Daemons were furious about the demise of the others, attacking with a renewed frenzy. Kathryn built up her second level 20 lightning spell.

Lir’eth kanen’entilix enal’e’d’akarith falo’entili’ai vel’on.
She modified the spell in her mind’s image to spread out instead of concentrating in one area like the first spell.

The spell spread throughout the Daemon group and jumped to those lingering around them as well. While the results weren’t as severe as the first spell, the Daemons still convulsed and fell from the sky with inhuman cries of agony. Her spell eliminated over forty Daemons. They now only faced thirty, but with their losses, they were still outnumbered. They had started with over fifty knights, but the Daemons had brought their number down to twenty with all but a few of them wounded or exhausted. She didn't know if she had the energy for another high-level lightning spell.

Ferocious anger rapidly replaced the Daemons' wariness. They seemed to swing their weapons even harder than before. Kathryn's physical shields failed before their frenzied attacks. The knights' only chance would be to somehow push the Daemons back so they could retreat to the village. The knights should have evacuated the villagers by now, so they wouldn’t be in danger. It was possible Hook’s squad remained there while Seri escorted the villagers back to the castle.

Five more knights had perished before Kathryn's next level 20 lightning spell was ready. She needed to cast it in a circular pattern all around the squad. She knew, spread so thin, the spell would most likely only stun the Daemons instead of killing them, but it would give her squad the opportunity to flee.

Lir’eth sel’anthia
.
Lir’eth kanen’entilix enal’e’d’akarith falo’entili’ai vel’on.
She released her lightning shield spell around the squad before releasing the lightning spell. As expected, the Daemons were stunned and dipped in the air since they were unable to beat their wings.