Tales of Vyscher Book 2

Prologue

***

A/N - I hate having to do this, but since NovelHD has already started to pirate some of my books, here we go. These works are mine. My poor little brain came up with the plots and characters, and I'd really prefer you to not steal them. If you're reading this on a site that is NOT Wattpad then it is most certainly stolen.

Thanks!

Loiosh

***

Duchess Fuschilia stood next to Captain Golgah on a small hill overlooking the Golden River, the northern border of the Duchy of Southglade. Ages ago, gold pebbles and flakes flowed in this river down from the mountains, but those days were long past. Now it remained as the best defense that she and her people had against the forces of Marendia, who just so happened to be camped on the other side of the river.

"They outnumber us," she said flatly. "At least three to one."

"Yes, they do," agreed Golgah.

She turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "And?"

"And we will kill them as they cross the river. They have to use the bridge; the river is too deep and swift."

"True, but they have many more archers than we do," she pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we can't try," he said softly.

She sighed in response; she would hate to see their tiny rebellion crushed. When the Bishops had taken care of the goblin threat, there was renewed hope that they could win, but the forces on the other side of the river were much more than she had bargained for.

Movement in the sky caught her attention, a lone griffin came circling slowly in for a landing at the near end of the bridge. The small figure, a young girl, riding the beast hopped off and then griffin heaved itself back up into the sky.

"Who is that?" Fuschilia asked quietly.

"I don't know, but my bet is a Sky Knight. Perhaps Vyscher hasn't abandoned us," Golgah replied hopefully.

"It won't do much good if she is dead," she said as a flight of arrows arced towards the girl, who suddenly was enveloped in a solid pink sphere. Arrows sprayed away from the sphere to shatter on the ground.

Golgah grunted in response. "That seems handy."

More arrows came, over and over, the archers trying to wear her down.

"How long can she keep it up?" Fuschilia asked.

"I would think it depends on the mage. The more skilled the mage the longer the spell can last."

In this case it didn't matter. There were over a hundred archers on the far bank, and they were pouring all their concentration into hitting that sphere. Their commander, riding a horse behind them exhorted them to do better. They could hear his yells from the hill, though it was unintelligible from that distance. Behind the commander stood a row of foot soldiers, and then a small company of horsemen, no doubt to be used to ride down anyone trying to flee. All them stirred anxiously, waiting for their turn once the archers were done with the wizard.

"At a minimum, she is taking arrows for us, so we can defend better," Golgah commented.

"That is a waste of a valuable mage!" she spat back. "We could have used her much more effectively!"

At that moment things changed rapidly, as the enemy commander was crushed to the earth by the return of the griffin who landed on him, rending him in two with giant claws. The poorly armored archers around him were next, and they started falling in droves. Claws and the great griffin's beak felling them as they scattered in a panic. With the commander dead, the footmen and the horsemen had a moment of indecision, and it cost many of the archers their lives. The griffin whirled in their ranks, buffeting some into the river with wings, tossing others into the air screaming as claws tore into them, or biting the heads off the poor few that got too close.

Finally, one of the horsemen took charge and ordered the footmen forward, but it was too late. A few hops and a glide on feathered wings, and the griffin was back on Fuschilia's side of the river.

"Most impressive. Can we keep her?" Golgah asked.

"And to think DeKaupt wants to attack Vyscher when they have people like that. The man will ruin Marendia," Fuschilia said, watching the remains of the enemy forces mill about in confusion.

"But not us."

Finally, the footmen reached the far side of the bridge and started to march across at a trot.

"Get our forces moving!" Fuschilia ordered.

"Archers! Make ready! Pikemen stand by!" Golgah called out.

Before any of the archers could even draw an arrow, a wave of pink fire rolled out of the sphere and across the bridge. The footmen in the front saw it coming and tried to turn and run, only to run into their comrades who were in their formation behind them. The group was stuck in place, the rear guards pushing into the backs of those in front. They were still standing when the flames hit them, immolating them in place. A few lucky ones near the edge of the bridge were able to jump into the water, though most of them drowned in the deep river with the weight of their armor. The rest burned where they stood or ran in circles as the pink flames stuck to them.

The girl didn't even stay to watch. The enemy horsemen had already turned and fled, and she made her way up the hill as her griffin watched the bridge for stragglers. The pair on the hill couldn't help but think she resembled a child, so tiny was she.

"Duchess Fuschilia, my name is Alia. Prince Jondure sends his greetings and hopes that you are well."

Fuschilia looked at the carnage on and beyond the bridge and shivered. All of that from one tiny girl? "We are quite well now, thank you. Can we offer you any refreshments?"

"I'm afraid not right now, I'm on a tight schedule at this time. But I've been told to remind you that you're not alone in this fight, and that Vyscher stands with you."

"Thank you, Alia, please convey my regards to Prince Jondure as well, he has been most kind."

"Of course. Have a nice day, and you as well Captain Golgah!" Alia smiled as she turned and jogged back to her griffin. When she reached him, she vaulted aboard, and they were airborne, the mighty wings taking them out of sight a short time later.

"Captain Golgah, why don't you have your men clean up the survivors. I don't know that we'll find anything to salvage, but we could use the extra armor and weapons, and prisoners could be useful," Fuschilia said in a shaky voice. On her side or not, that such a tiny young woman could lay waste to a force triple the size of hers and not break a sweat was a terrifying prospect.

***

As you can tell, this is the sequel to Tales of Vyscher Book 1. I'm hoping to release a chapter at the beginning of each month, and we'll see how things go. These chapters were written a while ago, as I have been writing other books in the meantime. Hopefully, getting these kicked off will let me write a little more, and I'll get this finished!