XLV. Engulfed

Balls of fire and bolts of lightning rained down sporadically as shards of ice propelled by hurricane strength gales battered the enemy front. Despite this, Aichlan and the main force had been outflanked. Maleah gored a goblin with her lance, knocking him clear from his mount as she urged her horse on. The centaurs had decimated the initial charge, cutting off their forces before they even made it halfway up the field. She had watched them take swords to the gut and keep going as if it were a mere flesh wound, and they moved with an unnatural speed. She had also noticed a familiar red mist of sweat hanging about one of them, almost imperceptible unless you knew what you were looking for. It was the mark of a mages influence, either by spell or potion, their speed and mobility had been magically enhanced.

Maleah thrust her lance into the mangy head of one of the centaurs, exploding it like a melon as she continued her charge. The only surefire way to kill the bastards was to either take out the head or the horse part. She swerved as a bolt of lightning struck in her path, taking out several goblin riders. The Aes Sidheans fought efficiently and smartly, rallying to her in a flying wedge formation without her needing to ask or issue orders. It was just as well for her, her only desire was to reach the tree and put an end to her brother’s madness once and for all, she could not be bothered with such a trivial matter as issuing orders.

They charged through the enemy stragglers, largely unopposed, the bulk of the enemy flank had swung wide to envelope Aichlan and the infantry. There was not much they could do, assuming they survived, by the time they fought their way through the enemy forces, Aichlan and his men could be routed already. She cursed under her breath and changed direction, unable to simply let the men die due to inaction. The thought that she might actually need their help once inside the tree was also a motivating factor.

The wyverns kept the archers occupied and unable to offer support, and the mages were cagily staying to the rear. Before her, aside from a spattering of centaurs and goblins on dog-back, was a veritable wall of large, heavily armed and armored cyclops’, ostensibly protecting their forces rear. They had thick, trunk-like limbs and rough, thick hides. Their ugly faces were defined by wicked underbite and two great tusks curling out from their mouths, and a large yellow eye where a nose should have been.

Unprompted and in unison, the Aes Sidhean cavalry hurled their cache of three javelins each at the giants. Their efforts managed to strike one of them in the eye and topple it, but only served to enrage the others. A cyclops lumbered forward and scooped up one of the Aes Sidhean riders that had passed too close. The knight fell to his death with a short, terrified shriek as the giant wrung his horse like a wet rag.

Maleah spurred her own mount on, darting between the beasts bowed legs, becoming drenched in the blood and entrails of the slain horse in the process. She quickly glanced over her shoulder to see one other rider make the daring maneuver, as the others were crushed underfoot. Before her lay the next challenge, breaking through the enemy horde to rescue Aichlan’s flank.

Her horse reared with a startled cry as several lizards pounced upon it. Maleah squeezed the poor beast between her thighs to keep from being tossed and gored one of the lizards in the face. A third dug its black claws into the horse’s flank as it tried to climb on, only to receive several swift kicks in the chest. Maleah clung to the horse’s neck with one hand as it bucked, wrapping the lanyard of her lance about the wrist several times. The horse took off in a panic, charging straight into the enemy formation, leaping and bucking wildly. Several times it screamed in terror as claws and rusty blades pierced its hide, and she was able to do nothing for it, barely hanging on as she was. The beast was mad with fright, and there was no calming it, it would be the death of them both.

Seeing no other option, Maleah mumbled an apology as she drew her sword, and drove it into the horse’s throat. The mount gurgled and bucked wildly, causing the lizards to keep their distance while it staggered forward in the throes of death. When it finally slowed and collapsed to its haunches, Maleah leapt from the saddle and landed with a pirouette, her lance extended. The lizards retreated another step as the blade nicked the exposed throats of two that got too close. They paused a beat as she steadied herself, jostling with one another as the bulk of their forces surged to the right, like the surf being drawn towards the shore that was Aichlan and the infantry.

Maleah lunged forward, her lance head piecing the crudely grafted brigandine of the reptile with ease. She pulled it free and plunged the short sword into the throat of another before the others could even react to the first death. All at once, the circle rapidly closed in on her, and Maleah used wide slashes with her lance and quick stabs of the short sword to keep the enemy at bay. Miraculously, three knights had made it through the mad charge with her, and came barreling through the enemy ranks, opening a brief hole in their lines. Breathless, she took it, shoving aside lizards and undead with her lance, swiping at those who got too close with her short sword.

A centaur caught sight of her and charged, its giant battle axe capable of cutting through her lance as if it were a twig. Dazed and exhausted, she feebly raised a defense, unsure of how she was going to counter the hulking man-beast bearing down upon her. As the thought of fleeing crossed her mind, her legs turned to rubber and refused her commands. The sounds of battle ebbed into a dull roar around her as the steady clop of hooves against the soil filled her senses. Just as death seemed inevitable, a great brown boulder struck her from the side, knocking her to the ground.

“Ye alright?”

She blinked and wiped the dirt and blood from her eyes as Donough popped up to his feet. He rolled his shoulder and stood over her; his sword was wreathed in flame and at the ready as the centaur turned around for another pass. Maleah tried to push herself back up, but Donough held her in place with a muddied bare foot.

“Stay down fool, ye’ll just get in me way.”

Before she could respond to his insult, he stepped forward and swung the flaming blade, severing the man from the horse in a single blow. With equal ease, he lifted her to her feet and set her down, kicking back a lizard that attempted a sneak attack. As the creature scrambled to its feet, he spat a ball of flame, immolating it in moments.

“Shit…” she breathed with awe and terror.

Donough brusquely grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward. “Stay with me, and pay attention!”

Maleah snatched back her arm as Donough drove his superheated blade through a six-armed monstrosity clad in black spiked armor that gleamed like the carapace of a beetle. She shook her head in an attempt to shed the fugue she was in and caught movement in the corner of her eye. Instinctively, she raised her lace to parry, locking blades with an orange, mottled skinned lizard that towered over her. Unlike the others of its ilk that wore scraps of iron shoddily stitched or welded together, this one wore what it had ostensibly scavenged from the recent dead. Maleah thrust her short sword into the gap on the side of its stolen Aes Sidhean breastplate, yet the blade failed to pierce the elven mail beneath.

The beast hissed and shoved a gauntleted fist into her abdomen, and it took all of her will to keep from doubling over. Maleah recklessly swung her lance wide, breaking the bind and causing the lizard to retreat a step, taking a long gash to her dominant arm in the process. She stumbled back several steps to catch her breath and try to keep her stomach in her gut.

With blinding deftness, the lizard swept her foot out from under her with its tail, knocking her flat on her face. She rolled over and raised her lance to defend, but the beast was already on top of her, gnashing its teeth as she barely kept it at bay with her spear pressed to its throat. It planted its sword into the dirt and began to tear at her clothes with its claws, continuing to snap at her face and throat. It shredded her coat and jabbed at the thin elven mail chemise underneath, its fury increasing as the thin, yet sturdy garment prevented him from claiming the sweet, fatty flesh of her chest and abdomen. The creature's breath was hot and rank on her face as she was drenched under a deluge of its drool. She frantically kicked at the demon’s groin, hoping it would have some effect, as she pushed back with all the strength she had left in a failing attempt to keep it from biting her face off.

As she felt the creatures nip her cheek, its slimy tongue molesting her throat, Maleah felt an upwelling of rage deep within her. She lifted her legs to her chest and pushed up with a strength surprising even herself. The gnashing teeth of her attacker drew steadily further, and with a strained grunt of pain and fury, she swung her legs and twisted her lance to the side, toppling it into the dirt. Still stunned, the demon lay motionless for several moments, time enough for Maleah to crawl onto her knees and repeatedly stab the reptile in the throat, tears of rage and anger poured from her eyes as she continued to stab the beast even after exhaustion; oblivious to the chaos around her.

Her breaths came in sharp, ragged gasps, her mouth filled with the taste of copper and mud. The viscera of slain foes and mud of the battlefield covered her from head to toe, her coatee was in tatters, yet her mail remained intact. Maleah’s limbs were like lead weights as her hands trembled uncontrollably. The sound of hooves thundering against the turf caused her to stir, but she could not will her body to move, tears spilled as spit flew with each failed effort to stand. The sound of hooves was upon her, and passed over her, the centaur lopping off the head of an Aes Sidhean halberdier with its scimitar in a single swift movement. The headless corpse collapsed into the mud, spurting blood from the neck as it voided its bowels. The centaur made it all of four steps before it was brought down by three successive arrows to the chest.

The shaggy maned centaur had yet to hit the ground when a Colby-Nau warrior pounced upon the back of a portly boar-faced demon and promptly exploded; showering her with more dirt and viscera. A rank of armored Sons of Epsilon dug in as their shield wall was hammered by flames, hammers, and war picks wielded by bloodthirsty elves. One of the steel plate wearing demons buckled upon catching a solid hammer strike to the helm, and like a broken dam, wave upon wave of elf warriors flooded behind their weak line, skewering and trampling those in their way as they charged headlong into another fray. The wave of elves crashed against the wall of reptiles that rallied to plug the breech, only to be thoroughly shredded by sword and fire.

The smoke and breaths of thousands of bodies writhing in violent motion caused a gently red mist of sweat and blood to form overhead. Maleah planted the butt of her spear in the mud and used it to drag up from the mire. She spat out a bit of blood and sick as she tried to gain her breath, her throat was raw from the screaming she was not aware she had done. Blood poured freely from her arm, a wound that had been bleeding for longer than she thought, leaving her vision blurred and head feeling light. Maleah’s lance slipped, and she nearly toppled over, barely catching herself by widening her stance. Her movement caught the eye of a muscular, naked headless creature with eyes in its shoulder and a gaping, fang lined mouth in its chest.

Terror and fatigue gripped her, her knees were knocking as she struggled to stay on her feet. A lizard brushed past her back in its haste to maul an unsuspecting elf. With ear splitting roar, the creature charged; its abnormally large phallus slapping between its thighs with each step, it had the form and build of a professional grappler, sans head. No more than a meter away, the creature abruptly lurched forward and collapsed at her feet, a crossbow bolt protruding from its shoulder. A deluge of frigid water fell upon her with the force of a waterfall, bringing Maleah to her knees in the quagmire.

Zuri jogged over and helped her back to her feet as Rassvette embraced the light and healed the wound upon her arm. The bleeding had stopped, though the wound was by no means healed by the time fatigue forced him to stop, but the fog upon her head had been lifted. As she opened her mouth to offer thanks, she noticed Keres hiding behind Zuri, clutching his pant leg. Maleah’s face transitioned from relief and confusion to anger in the span of a heartbeat, and she responded by swiftly kneeing Rassvette in the thigh, barely missing his groin.

“What the hell woman?”

“Why the hell did you bring her here?” Maleah demanded.

Zuri flinched and glanced around nervously as a limb flew past his head. “You’re welcome, now let’s fall back.”

“M’leah was dirty.” Keres drew a small water sign and let it evaporate in her hand. “And that blemmy was going to kill you.”

Zuri shoved Maleah back as a screaming elf wreathed in living flame charged passed, slamming her war-pick into the chest of a lizard demon and flinging the carcass into another group of the filthy reptiles. The front lines, which she had just moments before been in the center of, had moved; the enemy forces were being repelled. Maleah looked over her shoulder to get a bearing of where she was, and the heart that had just been swelled with hope sank once more. In shoring up their collapsed flank, they were in the process of losing the other.