The caves of Maladan were left behind at the early hours of the day, the feel of the air on the surface felt strange after weeks of staying underground, but I quickly adjusted, the air had turned cold, hinting at the slow arrival of winter. The feel of being on a saddle was more than welcoming, and I missed the wind on my hair when I rode tyrant.
Unfortunately the people of Dun Eirann had no horses and had to carry their properties by hand, some anyway, a kind merchant gave us two of his carts willingly and Amenadiel and Acrisius pulled them with their horses, easing the burden of some of the women in our train. Alice and Kaida rode beside their partners, leaving me with Damon and Drazhan, two men who desperately vie for my attention, something I had no time for given the circumstances. A war needed to be planned, I had to unlock this talisman and a million other things to do than allow myself to be courted by men.
We rode for hours, and in those hours, I tried my hardest to avoid conversation with either Damon or Drazhan. They had their orders and that's all they needed, but being men meant they couldn't take a hint "If you didn't already notice, I don't want to talk right now" I said to Drazhan when he rode beside me, "How long are you going to stay mad at me? If you wish for me to apologize, I will" I rolled my eyes and nudged tyrant to ride faster, but that didn't deter him "I'm sorry for disobeying you, your majesty it won't happen again"
I smiled, not one of those smiles that ladies do when a man has won them over, but one that says you're stupid but that made him smile "so am I forgiven then?" he asked, but I gave no response and rode forward once more, but when I noticed that he didn't keep up, I turned back "are you coming or what?" his smile was bright as he nudged his horse to meet mine and we rode together until sunset, only stopping when Damon secured for us a campsite.
It was the third day of riding, and we were three hours away from the Blackstone woods, we had gone over the plan again, but this time, the soldiers were aware and in cooperation. I had also taken the time to be among the soldiers, if I was supposed to be their new leader, it would be nice for them to get to know me and hopefully set our minds alike, and as the triple goddess would have it, they did.
They hated my brother almost as much as I did, and they wanted to see him dethroned. Others followed me because Damon did and didn't fully trust me, I guess I'd have to gain their trust, or not as long as they did what I wanted and they got what they wanted from me in return, but I want an army of loyal men and not mercenaries.
Drazhan took charge of the men this time while Damon rode beside me "We're close to your detour your majesty" he said, I looked ahead and he was right, I'd have to veer left with Kaida and two dozen men handpicked by Damon himself, his best archers he called them and I knew all of them because we shared ale together by the campfire.
Multiple footsteps were heard behind me and I turned to see Kaida on her horse, and behind her Silas and his archers ran behind her, bows and arrows at the ready "We're ready when you are my lady" Silas said, the rest of the archers nodded in unison. "Thank you Silas, let's go" I said a quick goodbye to Damon, veered left and separated from the rest of the group and towards the hill overlooking the woods.
Hours later, I stood atop the hill, the wind whipping my hair into a frenzy as I gazed out at the sea of enemy forces before us. They knew we were coming as planned, and we waited for them. Kaida stood beside me, her eyes fixed intently on the battle about to unfold below. Robert's men, a staggering six thousand strong, twice the size of our own force, marched to clash with our warriors in a chaotic melee of steel and screams.
Amenadiel, Drazhan, Acrisius, and Damon led the charge, their battle cries echoing through the forest as they charged toward the enemy. The clash of steel on steel echoed through the woods, but despite their bravery, it was clear that Robert's men were going to gain the upper hand.
I signaled to Silas and the archers behind me, "Knock!" he bellowed, and I could hear the men load their bows "Aim!" they obeyed and when it looked like Robert's forces were getting closer.... "Loose!"
A volley of arrows dove through the air and hit their mark with outstanding precision. The screams of Robert's men were cut short as arrows found it's way to their throats. The plan was working.
Kaida's hand found mine, her fingers intertwining with my own as we began to accumulate our magic. "Lend me your power?" I asked, and she nodded curtly, she strengthened the hold on my hand and with a deep breath, we started the spell.
We muttered the spell silently, and the air around us seemed to vibrate with our magic as we poured our combined energy into the spell. I stared at Robert's men, taking in their armor, their faces and the way they matched, and our combined magic though strong, cannot take them all down, but it would be enough to take down half of them. The spell intensified as we repeated as one.
One by one, Robert's men began to scream, their bodies falling to the ground and wriggling in pain. The spell we had cast was turning their blood into acid rather slowly and painfully, taking down the enemy with ruthless efficiency. The screams of the men echoed through the forest and when the spell had its effect, their skin began to peel from their bones as they screamed and they dropped dead. But when we turned our attention to Robert, our spell failed. The man seemed impervious to our magic, I looked to Kaida and we shared the same sentiment. That was impossible.
With a snarl, he charged forward, cutting through our forces like a hot knife through butter. I was about to rush down to join the fray when a piercing scream echoed through the woods, it shattered the air, uprooting the trees from the ground. Our men fell to the ground and covered their ears, it didn't affect me and Kaida thanks to our protective magic, but I looked closer and Robert seemed impervious to the screams. How was that possible? I wondered, but didn't have time to ponder on it for long. My men were suffering and I needed to do something.
I stretched my hands towards our men below, raising a green barrier separating my men and whatever the hell just made that sound.
The pain from the men ceased, and a woman in white robes stood at the edge of the forest, her skin deathly pale. She screamed once more, this time directing her cry at Kaida and I, but it was blocked by Kaida's barrier spell. "A banshee," Kaida breathed, her eyes fixed on the woman with a mixture of fascination and fear.
The banshee's scream was like nothing I had ever heard before, a sound that could shatter steel and freeze blood in your veins. But with our barrier in place, we were safe, at least for the moment.