by Billy Wong
Brandon was dead?! Rose's mouth became instantly parched, and tears cascaded from her eyes. "Shit, Finn, I should have killed that crazy bastard... I should have made sure, hacked him to pieces where he lay."
Finn looked wide-eyed at her. "What are talking about?"
"He came here already, and attacked us in the night. Broke Derrick's nose and cut me a few times. But we're okay."
He hugged her tighter, and she stifled a gasp of pain. "Thank you so much, Rose. Thank you for always being able to survive."
Alicia folded her arms haughtily over her chest. "You know, I saved her life."
"Well, thank you too then."
"So did you get the medicine to save her?" Rose asked.
His head drooped against his chest. "I didn't remember to bring it in my haste."
"Oh no, you've got to go back and get it!" She grasped the duchess' hand. "Please hang on, Crimson Boar. I can't lose another friend... dammit, Finn!"
She saw Derrick glance at Finn with a meaningful look, then her husband exhaled and turned away. "Alicia's not dying, Rose. I just told her to pretend to be so I could get away. Sorry."
Rose glared at the redhead, who smiled innocently. "A second time?"
Alicia shrugged. "I did a good job, right? Sorry about your friend. He seemed like a fine man."
"Wait a second... if you aren't dying, when Finn supposedly went to get medicine to save your life"—she turned to Finn—"why the hell did you really go, anyway?"
After a moment's hesitation, he explained about his idea to bring their twins, hoping their presence would inspire her to find the will to survive. "I know it was a stupid idea, but I was desperate. I couldn't bear to just watch you die without doing anything."
"Well, I didn't die. But Brandon... if he hadn't gone, maybe he would still be alive." Seeing Finn take on a guilty look, she wiped tears from her eyes and said, "I don't blame you for his death. The Dream Killer killed him, and there's no way you could have known what would happen. Even if he didn't go, the bastard might have found some other chance to pick us off. I just hate, hate how men like this keep coming after us..."
Finn held her as she laid down in his arms, sobbing miserably. Brandon had loved her even if she couldn't say the reverse, and supported her in dire times when no one was there for her. Now he'd been murdered by some lunatic whose primary target was herself. "It'll be alright, Rose," Finn whispered. "I'm so glad at least you're okay."
But she felt far from okay. Brandon was the latest in a long line of friends who shouldn't have had to die, and while grief had become a familiar emotion, it wasn't one softened by repeated experiences. Why did she have to have such a miserable life? To watch a friend die fighting alongside her was bad enough. But to hear of one dying in a useless attempt to help her was worse, and more than she thought even her iron self could take.
Chapter 11
Rose had languished in misery over Count Brandon's death for less than a week when more bad news came. Somehow, Lady Sierra and her men had been cornered in a small fort south of Dunwal by enemy troops led by Prince Victor himself. They must have snuck out of camp at night, she supposed. Baron Nicholas swiftly assembled a force to relieve the trapped regent, and Rose volunteered despite Finn's protests. He was going, as would the mostly healed Alicia. She couldn't let them risk themselves without her at their side, not so soon after Count Brandon had died. Sure, she was still in a lot of pain. But she was used to that.
They rode at the head of the Kayland force comprised mostly of archers and cavalry, and Rose hoped the enemy wouldn't surprise them with their numbers. Unwilling to spare too many troops in case of an attack on the main camp, Nicholas had only sent eight hundred to meet the five hundred estimated to be besieging Sierra. They might supposedly have an advantage in manpower, but Rose didn't much trust the numbers. She wouldn't put it past Victor to have hidden part of his force in preparation for an ambush on anyone who came to aid Sierra.
"Are you okay?" Alicia asked at Rose's side as she winced from a sudden pang. "Maybe you should have listened to your husband and stayed back."
Finn had advised her so, but by now given up and just rode silently beside her. "It's only pain," she insisted again. "As if I've ever let that stop me before."
Though they were legends among their allies, it was a youngish officer named Todd who commanded. As the enemy's fires came into sight, he ordered for the Kaylanders to split up so they could flank the hostiles. Finn and Alicia both stayed with Rose, unwilling to leave her as wounded as she still was. Their group circled around onto a short hill overlooking the enemy camp, and Finn observed, "Prince Victor's down there. He wanted to take our leader? Let's do the same to him instead."
Rose nodded, though she grew conflicted about what to do if they captured Clearsky. She did feel she owed something to Kayla for all her help, but it would be better for everyone else to destroy the trident. No good could come out of its continued existence. Waiting for the other half of the force to get into position, she noticed a tall young warrior mocking Sierra from his horse as he rode pointlessly around the fort. "Alicia, is that your cousin or something? Look at him go—he has your pompousness beat for sure."
"Shut up, Rose." The duchess eyed the man with contempt and spat. "Though, I do think I know who that is."
"Who?"
"Prince Max of Volston. He changed his name just to sound more powerful, and believes no fighter is his peer. No, it's not true by a long shot, I'm pretty sure. I'd guess he's rather crazy."
"I doubt he's as crazy as the Dream Killer," Finn said.
"True enough. I've got dibs on Prince Victor, by the way."
Rose looked at Alicia. "Whoever gets him gets him. But I hope we can."
Eventually the signal came, and archers on both sides of the Western Alliance army loosed. Unprepared for the attack, many soldiers fell right away. Then the cavalry charged, the trio among them. Only three. Rose missed Brandon. She wished she could feel his annoying touch, hear him call her Meatball as he never would again... She sat between her husband and friend looking like a leader at the center, but really there at their insistence for her own protection. But while she was hurt, her prowess still far surpassed that of most. They carved their way through the enemy like a hot knife through butter. Nearing the center of the mass, Rose saw a familiar face.
"Conrad?!" she asked in surprise.
The big man with the little gray beard at Max's side looked at her, his eyes growing wide. "Rose! Still alive after all this time."
Roaring, Conrad charged the women with his warhammer held high. But Finn intercepted him, mace meeting the maul in a deafening clash. While the two huge men with bludgeoning weapons filled the air with thunder, Prince Max rode into view. He smirked as he met Rose's eyes. "Shouldn't you take this one?" she asked Alicia jokingly, the duchess now busy fighting a pair of large armored soldiers.
"Rose!" Max called. "I always hear how you're the mightiest. Well, today's the day I prove you wrong—and you die."
He charged her on horseback with exuberant eyes, but before they could meet another mounted Kaylander blocked his way and they started to fight. She saw Prince Victor coming at her from the side and wheeled to face him. His lance shattered against her shield. Weakened as she was, she swayed in her saddle. Victor grinned while his just-drawn broadsword flashed towards her face. She deflected it and struck back, putting a deep dent in his shield.
"Where's Clearsky?" Rose asked in surprise.
"I don't need that stupid thing. I never needed it! But how the hell are you still alive?!"
"Some girls don't know when to die."
He pressed her hard with his great blade, skilled despite the lack of magical aid. They exchanged blows and parries, and Rose cursed her lack of strength. She would have the power advantage over him if not for her overwhelming pain. As it was, she could still hold her own, but had to wonder how long she could match him. Her agony grew steadily, and her lungs seemed too weak to catch a proper breath.
"You haven't healed," Victor said. "Surrender, and I'll spare your life. You've been too good to my country to die in vain."
She sensed his offer to be sincere, but dismissed it offhand. "What, and admit defeat at your hands? We're not going to lose. We outnumber you anyway."
"Yes, but only numerically," he replied sadly.
The eastern half of Rose's allies fell into screaming chaos while their rear exploded with flame, and she realized Victor had indeed prepared an ambush, though not the kind she'd pictured. The remaining Ulir among the enemy were here, blasting away, and though they were few each spell cast wreaked havoc. Over a hundred men died in the initial attack, and all order fled as the survivors panicked amid sudden disaster.
Victor did not smile or otherwise celebrate, but fought harder, hammering away at Rose with increased fury. Another magical salvo fell, and it seemed Victor would win the day. Already, his men outnumbered the breaking Kayland force. "I'm sorry to destroy you," he said.
She bared her teeth, sparing a glance for the giants advancing on their terrified foes. Then she said, "No, I'm the one who's sorry." She cast a rare spell against a magic-less opponent, throwing a ball of flame into Victor's face. He screamed and fell from his mount, clutching his eyes. With tears in her eyes she wheeled her steed around to charge the newly arrived, innocent enemy. She saw Finn rushing to her side and smiled despite herself. No matter what, they loved and would always fight for each other with all their hearts, and that alone was worth living for.
"Rose!" Alicia shouted as they passed. "Are you crazy?"
"I'm not going to let any more of our allies lose their lives. Stay by my side, we'll take them by surprise."
Together, the three burst out from among the back ranks of the fleeing cavalry, and were on the pursuing Ulir before they could react in time. They came into view of over a score of giants, but within seconds half a dozen had fallen dead or unable to fight. Spells showered down, and Finn tumbled from his dying horse. He rolled up quickly, putting a crossbow bolt through a huge blue eye. Alicia's axe cut halfway through a massive leg, then a lightning bolt struck her chest and threw her smoking to the ground. She stumbled up cursing, clove through an oversized groin.
Rose stood up on her horse and leapt at a giant's gut, driving her sword in to the hilt. Another launched an immense icicle at her from behind, but she pulled the blade out and fell backwards so that the projectile missed her and buried itself in her victim's body. As she hit the ground, her organs screaming in pain, she rolled backwards between the caster's legs and stabbed up. Arterial blood rained down to soak her hair, and he fell roaring. Meanwhile Finn shattered a knee with his mace, and Alicia threw a spear into a giant's throat to leave him choking in agony.
Despite the Ulir's great powers, they seemed unused to being on the receiving end of such savagery, and encouraged by the famed warriors' efforts other Kayland soldiers joined in. Rose killed one more giant personally, stabbing through a knee and then the kneeling owner's chest, then stood there and watched the rest fall to butchery.
A shout alerted her to an attack from behind, and she turned to see Victor bearing down on horseback. His face was peeling and raw, and he squinted as though half blind. She blocked a stroke at her head with difficulty, slumped from exhaustion to her knees. He jumped off his horse, nearly tearing the sword from her hands with a downward strike. But he too was wounded, and slow to follow up. She retaliated and they exchanged several blows, then Victor leapt back. "You're still the toughest, Iron Flower. It's too bad you had to lose your life."
For a moment Rose wondered what he meant. Then the shadow fell over her, and she looked up just in time to see a siege tower crash down into her face. The battlefield disappeared, replaced by darkness and a great suffocating weight. And pain—like she'd been punched by a giant over every inch of her body. Willing herself to stay awake, Rose began to dig up. Finn met her halfway, and the first thing she saw in the light was his worried face.
"Rose!" her bloodied husband cried happily. "I was scared you'd died."
He pulled her out of the tower's remains, her body shuddering weakly. She held onto him as he set her on her feet, trying to steady herself. "How did that fall on me?"
"That big guy you and Alicia were talking about pushed the tower over towards you. Probably trying to distract me so he could escape, which worked."
"What about Victor? Did he get away?"
"Yeah, unfortunately."
She prepared to ask if Alicia was all right when the duchess walked sluggishly to their side. Her armor was smoking, and her face swollen and red. A small axe hung embedded in her breast. But she smiled and said, "That was some fight."
Rose touched her friend's singed hair, then yanked the bloody axe out of her. Alicia hissed, hugging her bosom with a grimace. "Should we go chase Victor down now?" Finn asked.
"We're all pretty beat up," Rose reminded him. "We saved Sierra, anyway, which is what we came here for. Let's just go and report to her, and she'll decide what to do from there."
Seeing them so wounded, and that the men had more than their fill of combat for now, Sierra didn't order a pursuit. Invited within, the trio followed their allies into the fort to stay the night.
#
Alicia went to bed early , and Rose enviously watched her big snoring body. The Crimson Boar never seemed to have regrets about her bloody deeds. Rose on the other hand hated the memory of slaughtering the Ulir. Now the only ones left were the youngsters still in the Western Alliance camp, any adults who had stayed behind to care for them, and Thonng's tribe that would soon join the fight. She hoped at least some of the race would survive. Finn caught her mulling over the giants' fate and asked, "Why are you crying? We won a great victory."
"I know. But I wish it could be the final victory."
"You know that'll never happen. You say it yourself all the time. There'll always be war—just a sad fact of life."
She leaned against his chest, looking up at his face. "Yeah, but we've been in more than most people, eh?"
"That's because we always rush to join. You are always harping on about fighting for what's right."
Rose nodded. She still believed in acting for the greatest good, but it was getting harder and harder to bear. So many of her friends had died. "Maybe this could be the last time."
Finn chuckled. "Ha, right. The next time some big evil guy comes along, you'll be begging me to come with you to battle him. Let's not pretend otherwise."
His smile became a frown then, as if afraid she would get angry, but instead she took his head in her hands and kissed him passionately. "You're right. But we can hope nobody like that shows up again in our lifetime."
"And still be ready to face him if he does."
"Right. Finn... I love you so much. You really understand me, no matter how much we disagree."
"And you me. All that crap I did, and you barely complained."
"Well, what would there be to say. It's in the past, and I can't hold a grudge. You're too good to hate."
Finn grinned. "And I've got a great body."
"Umm... yes, actually." While his huge form did not fit the usual standard for male beauty, it was just what a big girl like her needed.
"And you've got a great body."
"Finn! Don't make fun of me."
"I'm not. Who cares if you're practically made of scars? I think you look great. Like Brandon would have said, you're an indestructible beauty." She looked down at the mention of the count, new tears springing to her eyes. Finn gently lifted her chin to look at him again. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine. Let me sleep some of my grief away, okay?" Turning away from him, she regretted the worry she'd brought to his eyes. He was the best man in the world, but even he couldn't take away her pain. Nothing would do that, except perhaps time. She closed her eyes, imagining better days.
When Rose awakened the next morning, she found herself among an army packing up to depart. "What's going on?
" she asked Finn. "We're leaving already?"
"Sierra commanded it. I think she means to end this war in one bloody swoop once we rejoin the main army."
Rose wiped at her sleepy eyes. It wasn't a terrible idea considering the morale the Western Alliance would surely lose with yesterday's defeat, but she wondered that the normally calculating Sierra had made a decision so quickly. "Why is she in such a hurry, do you know?"
"You remember how her father died fighting Volstonians? That Max we saw was the killer."
"Really? He looked kind of young to have done it."
He shrugged. "Who knows? Barbarians do learn to fight from an early age."
#
While the warriors were away, Derrick waited at camp for one of Mick's relatives to pick up his body. Before the bard died, he'd told him where to contact his family, and he promptly sent a message. Now a young woman entered his tent to gaze at him with red eyes. "I've come for my brother." He nodded, and they walked in silence to the tent that housed Mick's wrapped corpse. Derrick didn't have much to say, not knowing the dead man or how to give any consolation to his kin. But the girl asked as he helped her carry the body to her wagon, "What was he like, anyway?"
This took him off guard, having only met Mick once in health and again when he was about to die. His absent friends might have gotten to know him better, but not by much. "You didn't know him well?" Derrick asked, vaguely aware he might be stalling for time which wouldn't help.
"No, not really. He left our hometown when he was a teenager, full of dreams; said he wanted to be an adventurer, much to everyone's dismay. Our big brother always joked he would get himself killed young. But it really happened, didn't it?" She held back the tears that must seek to flow, though her face crinkled up with grief.
A lot like Rose or Derrick himself for that matter, he'd left early for the independent life, only things hadn't turned out so well for him. "I'm sorry."
"He's gone, that we can't change. But tell me something about him, I want us to have something to remember of his later life. We never wrote him after our father forbid us to, and now it's too late."