Intervention

Gamel, Amala and Sintore try to escape from Redburr's forces

5.

Intervention

 

The Fallow River Bridge on the King’s highway lay just ahead of them, but Gamel was very sure they weren’t going to make it.   Around them, a blizzard of arrows rained, coming from a sizable force that Redburr had left to guard his rear flank.   They had ridden into them suddenly, and his squire, Sintore, had lost his horse to a pair of well-aimed arrows.   Amala had scooped the scared boy up into her saddle with amazing dexterity, but the added weight had slowed them down.

 

Gamel looked over his shoulder to check on his sister and Sintore.   They were flat down on the neck of the horse, with several arrow shafts sticking out of the flank of the poor steed, as well as one lodged in Amala’s upper back.

 

Instinctively, he reined in his horse and spun about, galloping backwards, past his startled sister and squire.

“What are you doing?!”  Amala asked in alarm.

“Get across the bridge!”   He yelled back.

“But-“

“Trust me!   Get out of here!”  He didn’t wait for a reply but immediately stopped his horse.   He could hear the horseshoes of Amala's horse on the wood of the bridge.   He quickly leapt off his horse and swatted him on the rump, “Go!”

 

The horse obeyed immediately and galloped off, as Gamel lifted his arms over his head in the midst of the barrage of arrows.   Several metal points bounced off his plate armor and a few pricked his flesh.   He waved his arms and whistled, then called out loudly,  “COWARDS! SEE IF YOU CAN HIT ME WITH YOUR ARROWS!   I DEFY YOUR WORM OF A MASTER!   I DEFY YOUR FALSE GOD!   I DEFY YOU!  ANY OLD LADY IN MY VILLAGE COULD KILL ME BEFORE ANY OF YOU WORTHLESS, BLIND DOGS COULD!   COME ON MAGGOTS, HIT ME IF YOU CAN!”

 

He didn’t wait for their reply, but backed quickly toward the edge of the wide bridge while pulling a leather cord around his neck, with three red beads hanging from it.

“Gamel!”   He heard his sister call, and he was able to cast a quick glance, to see her horse had made it to the far side of the bridge, and that his own steed was about to join her.

“Gamel!” She screamed again as what seemed to be thousands of arrows rained down upon him.

“I’ll see you in Westmark!”  He yelled, back, and he hoped his meaning was clear to her.   They had talked about it several times - a catch-phrase to use if one of them was going to try something suicidal.   It meant that he was going to rely on his autocaster ring to get them out of the perilous situation, though it would mean that he would be teleported unconscious to Westmark.

Whether she understood or not, he had no time to consider, for arrows were all about him, as the archers targeted him due to his taunt of them.

 

They fell so fast and thick that he could do nothing but shuffle backwards with his head down until he saw the edge of the strong wood bridge.   An arrow pierced the joint between his chest plate and shoulder piece, driving fairly deep into his flesh.  Another shot went even deeper into his hip, where his leg armor left a small space.

They were very good shots indeed, he thought, as he fell to the ground.

“Yesh, guide Amala and Sintore!” He gasped through the pain as he looked at the necklace in his hand.   He had thought of it when they had learnt that the Gorge Bridge had been destroyed by fire.   Quite effective, he’d thought.

Now he was going to do the same thing with one of the last Necklaces of Missiles that his parents had salvaged after a deadly battle with the Necromancer’s Guild, over 80 years ago.

“Fire.” He said, as another arrow pierced his neck slightly between gaps between his helmet and gorget, “Always fire, it seems.   Sirya and Aranthi, I do this for you, my dear sisters.   Yesh, preserve me.”

 

Another arrow pierced his hip as he made one last glance across the bridge.   Amala was standing in the saddle, screaming something to him, but the archers were ignoring her as he’d hoped.   He held up his arm with the necklace dangling from his hand and yelled, “RIDE!  RIDE! FIREBALL!”

She seemed to understand and immediately turned her horse and put the spurs to him.

 

He could not wait any longer, for soon they would be advancing closer, and his armor could not protect him from close-ranged shots.

With a deep breath, he drew his arm back as far as he could from his prone position, and threw the magic necklace as far out onto the bridge as he could, then flattened himself on the ground.

 

There came a loud explosion and a blast of fiery air that was horribly hot.    The wooden slats of the deck of the bridge combusted immediately, as did the yellow grass on the edge of the entrance to the bridge.

He didn’t dare raise his head to see if his sister, squire, and the horses had escaped the blast, but he instinctively knew that they had.

 

What concerned him more though was that he had thought that the fire would consume him, and then the autocaster ring he wore would heal him and teleport him back to Westmark.   But aside from the heat, he was unaffected.   Then it came to him:  Magic Resistance!   He apparently had also inherited his mother’s Drow magic resistance, like Amala and Snoe.

But that hadn’t been in his plan, and though the arrows had stopped temporarily as the archers were probably stunned by the blast, he knew soon they’d resume.   They would be doubly furious too, for he had destroyed the only easy way to rejoin their army marching on to Westmark.    Now it was also his escape route.

 

Gamel tried to sit up, but the arrows in his hips prevented that.   His plan had not accounted for this.   The bridge was engulfed in flames and was already falling the ten feet or so into the Fallow River.   Thankfully, there was no huge gorge here, only a steep river bank, but even that wouldn’t be enough to escape capture.

 

He knew they’d either kill him (after striping him of his autocaster ring) or hold him hostage to force his parents to barter.   He couldn’t allow that.   If he was immune to magic, maybe he could activate the autocaster ring some other way.

But he’d have to act quickly, which was difficult when he wasn’t able to walk or even stand.   The arrows would take too long to weaken him enough to activate the ring; by then Redburr’s men would have either captured or killed him.

 

He only saw one chance - the river.   Arrows were beginning to drop around him again, and he knew the time had come to act.   With all of his strength, he pulled himself forward on the ground, up to the edge of the bank of the river.   He was only a few feet away from the burning bridge, but he had to try something to activate the autocaster ring.

He hated the thought of drowning, but it might work.   Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself off the bank of the river.   He bounced off a few rocks before plunging into the sharp, ice cold of the Fallow River.   The temperature jolted him immediately and numbed his limbs as he was carried downstream in the current.  

Though he had sought to drown to activate the ring, a fierce sense of self-preservation took over.   Instinctively he tried to stay afloat in the rapidly churning water, but his armor was pulling him down.   Panic set in and his hands grasped out of the water, grabbing at anything.

Blindly his hand found a large branch over the water and he clutched at it, pulling with all his might.   His injuries screamed in agony as he managed to pull himself above water and take a gasping breath.   He had already went a fair distance from the burning bridge and he was pondering what next to do when the branch suddenly cracked and broke off, sending him and it back into the Fallow River.

 

He hung on to it though and with great effort pulled his upper torso on top of the large branch.   Down the stream it rushed with him weakly clinging to it.    For a while it was all he could do to just hang on.   The water was horribly cold and he felt himself going numb from it.

 

Minutes passed and he knew he was growing weaker.   Out of nowhere a rock seemed to appear in the middle of the current and he slammed against it.   The fresh stab of pain from the impact revived him slightly and he clawed, wiggled and scratched his way onto the large flat rock.   It was large enough to lay flat upon and Gamel sprawled out on it, shivering and gasping, but at least out of the icy cold water.

 

He was far out of sight of the burning bridge and on both banks were   thick woods, which he knew couldn’t be too large, as he had never heard of any forest between the Faesidhe Forest and the wooded hills south of King’s Reach.   He would not be able to swim across the swift current in his armor, injured as he was, but he was too exhausted to pull the arrows out of his flesh.

He wondered if he was still bleeding and would die from loss of blood.   He felt first at his hip wounds.   One arrow had apparently loosed itself in the water and was gone.   He felt the wound and was relieved to find that it was not very deep.   His other hip still held part of the shaft of that arrow, but it was bleeding very slowly.   Grasping the shaft with his right hand, he took a deep breath and pulled on it.   It came free, but the pain made him reel and he passed out for a few minutes, waking to feel the warmth of blood pooling around his leg and hip.

 

He knew that wouldn’t be good, and he abruptly decided that he had been really foolish to try to use the autocaster ring to get back to Westmark.   He couldn’t let himself die like that.   Reaching across his breastplate, he groped for the arrow stuck in his left shoulder.   This shaft was not broken, but he knew he had to pull it out as well.

 

Gamel prepared himself for the pain and pulled.   Thankfully it came out easily, but began bleeding profusely when pulled free.   He was feeling light-headed from the loss of blood.   Closing his eyes as he laid back on the cold rock, he touched his shoulder with his right hand.

“Be healed, by Yesh’s name,” He said aloud, and the laying of hands sent some healing through him.   The three wounds stopped bleeding at once, though they ached terribly and were far from actually healed.   Lying back against the rock, he closed his eyes to rest for just a minute.   He fell into an exhausted sleep.

 

***

 

With a flash of blue light, they materialized into the ducal bedroom of Westmark.   They already knew that Aurei was asleep from their scrying before they left Flux.

 

The beautiful Drow lady lay curled up on her bed, cradling baby Aidan, who was not sleeping, but looked up at them with her pretty orange/red eyes and smiled sweetly.

 

Sophia had never noticed babies before, but now she found the sight of the little girl smiling very wonderful.   Unconsciously she turned to Khord and smiled and was happy to see that he thought Aidan was also adorable.

“Eioldth, you stay here and speak to her; we’re going to go find mother and announce our pregnancy.”   Sophia thrust her protruding belly out as she said this.

“Somehow I think she’ll know before you say anything.” Eioldth replied in a whisper.

“Don’t scare her to death.” Khord advised the former Queen, “Remember, you are dead, so it will be a shock to her to see you alive.”

“Right; thanks for reminding me.   I’ll wait here for you.”

“We won’t be long.” Sophia replied, “We’ll bring mother with us back here, but we’ll give you a little while to talk to Aurei.   The poor dear looks like she desperately needs some good news.   I’m just glad we are allowed to bring it.  We’ll be back soon!”   Sophia raised her hands in the air and softly chanted a teleportation spell then a moment later they vanished in a flash of blue, leaving Eioldth standing there in the late afternoon sunlight that was shining through the windows.

 

Aurei had been her closest friend for over 80 years, since Haroldris had introduced them at the funeral of her adopted father, Gamel Bugley.   They had stayed close, despite the distances between King’s Reach and Westmark.   But now she was limited to a life in Flux, except for times like this when Yesh allowed a visit.

So she paused for a few minutes to plan how to best use this brief time with her dear friend, before she woke her.

 

***

 

“Aurei!”

Aurei heard her name being called and woke slowly, opening her weary eyes which blurred slightly from her earlier crying session, only to find Queen Eioldth seated in the chair near the bed.

The Drow lady caught her scream, releasing just a frightened peep before she sat up in bed wide-eyed, still clutching her baby protectively.

Eioldth was dressed oddly - but it was somewhat like clothing she’d seen somewhere before, though in her surprised state, she had no idea where that had been.

“Relax, Aurei, it’s really me.   I’m not a ghost.”

“Eioldth?!   But you died!   We buried you!”

“Yes, and I am indeed dead… well, sort-of dead.”

Aurei’s eyes narrowed and the Elven lady then realized how that might have sounded to her.   She laughed, shaking her head, “Don’t worry, I’m not undead… actually I don’t really know what state I’m in, really.   I’m alive… just not here in Synomenia any more.”

“Not in Synomenia?   But… you mean Flux!”   Aurei sat up on the bed, still cradling Aidan.

“Yes, that is why I’m here - along with Sophia and Khord.   I’ve got a lot to tell you, and thankfully, Yesh has allowed me to do so.   Before I explain it all, though, I want you to know that Sirya and Aranthi are in Flux as well and share in my odd new life.   They miss you, Aurei, but they are well and are reunited with Leah.   Joila and even Haroldris are there too!   They are all young and perfectly happy Aurei!”

Aurei’s mouth was gaping as she took it all in, “Leah too?”

 

“Yes, she and Joila were the first to be allowed to come there.   You have your cousin to thank for that.   Let me explain.”  

She told her friend of the allowance that Yesh had made for the family of any of their group of immortals that wished to go there and await them.   “Yesh knew that what he had assigned us to do one day would be difficult when we were missing our family.   So He allows them the choice to come to Flux or go on into paradise.   Sadly, it is only our family members, though.   Thorm, Lute, Siris and our other friends are not there.”

“Are they all happy?   What does Leah look like?” Aurei asked excitedly.

 

Eioldth smiled and held up a square, flat object she had been holding, “This is a really wonderful device, Aurei.   Usually you wouldn’t be allowed to see stuff like this, but Yesh is allowing you to this one time to comfort you.   I’m going to show you an image - it is called a ‘photograph’ in Flux.   This is Leah and Joila - I took this before we left, under orders of Yesh, to show you.”

In front of Aurei’s face was an image of a beautiful redheaded girl and an equally beautiful Drow girl that she knew immediately was Leah.

“Yesh, preserve me!”  She exclaimed, her eyes filling with tears as she touched the screen of the device.

“She’s very lovely, Aurei and a wonderful, happy young lady.   She and Joila are roommates.   Both are doing very well, and so are Sirya and Aranthi.”

“I wish I could just tell them that I love them,” Aurei said, sniffling back her tears, “I miss them so much.”

“They know you love them, Aurei.   But they are not all that love you.   I’m here because Yesh was very concerned about your faith.”

 

Aurei hung her head, but nodded, “I was worried about that too.   I was so… angry.   I’m sorry… I know it sounds horrible.   But when my daughters, and Thorm… and you… died…”

“Aurei, Yesh understands this, and that is why he allowed us to come here.   He needs you to be strong right now.”

“I don’t even know where Snoe is, Eioldth.   She ran after Aedric and now Gamel and Amala are off trying to find them.”

“Don’t worry; they have not died, I can tell you this.”

“Do you know where they are?”   Aurei asked, hopeful.

“No, not exactly.   I do know that Snoe and Aedric were responsible for the Gorge Bridge’s destruction.   I also know that they did not die in the fall of that bridge.   Other than this, I do not know and I won’t be allowed to come back and tell you when I do learn of this.”

   “Aurei, it is essential for you to have faith in Yesh.   I can’t report back to you each time something bad happens.   This is a one time event, to encourage you of what you should have already known; that Yesh will preserve your friends and family.   Those in Flux, and those who are with Yesh in Paradise.”

“I know, Eioldth, I really do.   But I just miss people so deeply.   The older I get, the worse I get.   So after this visit, I won’t see you anymore?”

“Well, I don’t know, really.   Perhaps you will, at least about as much as you see Sophia and Khord.”

“Why?   I mean, is Sophia quitting?”

 

Eioldth smiled knowingly and was about to explain when there was a flash of blue light and suddenly Khord, Zeatt and Sophia materialized into the room.

 

Aurei saw Zeatt first, and she was crying as Sophia comforted her.

“Oh no!” She said instinctively, wondering what horrible news her cousin had told her to cause such emotion.   But Sophia was smiling and this confused Aurei until her cousin moved in front of her mother.

“Hello, Aurei!” Sophia said as she came over to the bed.

“You’re pregnant!”   The Duchess exclaimed, forgetting all her sorrows in the surprise of seeing her cousin’s greatly protruding belly.

“Yeah, I’m pregnant.” Sophia said as if annoyed, but her eyes sparkled proudly and she was smiling.

“Yesh, have mercy, but you are huge!”

“Believe me, I know.   Twins.”

“Oh Sophia, how wonderful!”   She sat Aidan down on the bed and jumped up to hug Sophia, and then touch her belly.

Sophia allowed this, actually enjoying the attention, which still perplexed her.

“Isn’t she beautiful?”  Khord asked as he stood behind his wife.

“She is indeed!   Congratulations, Khord!”  Aurei then turned to her Aunt, who was still crying, but with a big smile, “Congratulations to you too… Grandma!”

 

Zeatt was taken back by the title, but only for a moment, and then she smiled broadly, “Grandma… I like that title!”

 

Their conversation turned to maternal things, and Khord excused himself, to find Eleazar, Alvis, Allea to share in the family moment.

 

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"He could hear the horseshoes of Snoe’s horse..." I think you were meaning to pit "Amala" here. ?
"...on both banks were a thick woods..." You can take the "a" out, here.
"Thankfully it came out easy..." I think it would work a little better if you used "easily," instead of "easy."
"...before she waked her." It might sound better if you used "woke" rather than "waked."