In the heart of the Great Forest, nothing is as it should be. Sir Vladisal and her Knights of Boska are lost and far from home. The son of their Duchess has been kidnapped, spirited away to a nameless place within these dark and endless woodlands. V...
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In her heart, Vladisal had known the boy was dead before she reached him. But she stood astride him nonetheless, protecting his bloodied ruins with all the rage she could muster. Anger blinded her, deafened her to the sound of knights fighting.
Just as Abildan had warned, the enemy showed no remorse and were many in number. It was as if death had twisted them into a corrupted mockery of life that acted only on some basic, ravenous instinct.
Vladisal maintained a protective circle around the boy. She stopped distinguishing child from adult, man from woman; they were monsters, one and all, and as each fell under her blade, the dulling of their luminous eyes was the only true sign that their hunger was at an end.
A grisly face, its lips gnawed away, came forward with a tentacular grin. Feeble and emaciated, one of its eyes rotted to nothing, it reached for Vladisal with long, claw-like fingers. Its mouth-roots whipped for her face. Dark blood sprayed as its head fell from its neck. Another ventured towards the knight, falling in similar fashion, as they all did.
A scream filled the air.
Shouting a curse, Vladisal felled another beast, but as she raised her sword again, she felt pulling on her leg.
It was the boy. He was alive!
Clutching at Vladisal's armour with red-slicked hands, the boy's whole body shook and convulsed. Vladisal felt a momentary surge of hope within the maelstrom. It quickly vanished as the boy's eyes glowed with blue light, and he coughed slim, snake-like roots from his mouth. He clawed at Vladisal's leg, breaking fingers upon hard armour. Instinctively, Vladisal batted him away with a backhand. Another monster came at her. She skewered it through the gut, her blade slipping between the coils of roots wrapped around its body like armour. It was a mistake.
The coils tightened on the sword, and Vladisal couldn't wrench it free. The monster shambled forward, sliding further down the blade. Vladisal lost her grip, stumbling backwards, and the enemy was upon her.
Roots wrapped around her arms, too many to shrug off. More probed at her armour. In panic, Vladisal kicked out, catching the nearest tree-demon high on the chest. This action scattered the monsters, but also toppled Vladisal. She fell to her back on the clearing floor.
Someone shouted her name. A volley of arrows punctured the tree-demons closest to her. A small figure crawled up Vladisal's prone body. Eyes glowing, mouth open and roots lashing, the boy gurgled at her.
Vladisal closed her hands around his throat, holding him off. One mouth-root struck at her gauntlet while the other attempted to sting her face. Hands tugged at Vladisal's legs, banging upon her armour, as though the monsters were trying to break a crab's shell for the soft meat underneath.
Where is the mercy? Vladisal thought as she snapped the boy's neck.
The lights of his eyes did not fade. His roots continued to whip for Vladisal's face. She knew in that moment that she had failed, and the ungodly horde would have its meal. The boy stiffened and fell limp in her grasp. The light in his eyes finally died. He fell sideways, and Vladisal saw the crossbow bolt embedded into the back of his head. More bodies fell as a curved sabre whirled among them with arcs of moonlight.
Abildan.
In utter silence, the assassin moved with such speed and grace it was hard to tell if she was fighting or dancing. So confident in her abilities, so sure of her surroundings, she carved a murderous circle around Vladisal like a deadly wind, a subtle firestorm among crops, scattering heads wherever it burned. And then, as quickly as she had arrived, Abildan was gone, leaving carnage in her wake.
Vladisal scrambled to her feet and retrieved her sword just as Üban reached her. Dief and Luca were close behind. The entire company had cut a path through the enemy to reach their captain, but now the tree-demons surrounded them.
I should have listened to Abildan, Vladisal thought. They were vastly outnumbered. But the monsters attacked no more. A stiff wind picked up and blew across the clearing. It brought sweeter and earthier scents, chasing away the reek of decay. The tree-demons lost interest in their prey. They began creeping back into the forest, disappearing among the trees, as if following some silent instruction borne on the wind. Some of the knights hacked down a few stragglers, but others made to follow the monsters and continue the battle.
"Stand down!" Vladisal snapped.
Her command was obeyed.
In a few moments, the knights were alone in the clearing. Not a sound disturbed the forest. Astonished, the women of Boska surveyed the slaughter that lay at their feet, giving each other disbelieving looks.
Luca swore, her honest face troubled. "They out-matched us six to a woman at least. They had us beat! Why leave?"
"Who can understand the reason of monsters?" Üban said. The old knight's face was unreadable as she watched the tree line.
Vladisal followed her line of sight and saw Abildan slip into the shadows of the forest.
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