The Return pt.12
Lucien and Arcia were riding south along the swelling Karshen River. The two of them had already rode north looking for the bridge unsuccessfully. Now the horses beneath them galloped south as the river surged beyond its banks and lapped at the horses’ hooves.
Unlike most rivers when they flood, the Karshen River flooded quite violently. High up in the Aser Mountains in the north, the lake feeding the river froze during the winter and created a natural dam that would grow larger as the winter went on. Then come the summer months when the ice would grow weak enough, the dam would burst sending a surge of water and ice down the mountains reshaping everything entirely, from the river itself to the land around it. Lucien and Arcia were in a race against time to escape the area before the dam gave way.
As the two of them continued riding south they came across the main road leading east and their horses slowed to a stop. Panicking Arcia tried urging her horse forward practically begging for him to move to no avail.
“What in the hells is going on?” She then looked over to Lucien and asked “What’s going on here? Explain Lucien.”
With a sigh he admits “I told them to rest if they felt tired.”
Anger flared in Arcia as she groaned before shouting “Why in the six bloody hells would you do that? You damn fool!”
Quick to snap back Lucien shouts at her in his own anger “It is better than riding them to their death.”
Now that the both of them were angered at the other, they stared at each other as the horses drank from the cool water lapping at their hooves. It would be some time before the two of them cooled off enough allowing Lucien to ask “Do you have anything you can eat Arcia? Or do you need to hunt and gather?”
Looking down at one of the saddlebags Arcia reached in and pulled out some of the rations the knights had “I have plenty for now. I took their rations as well.”
Nodding his head Lucien allowed his gaze to fall out over the river as Arcia to eat the preserved meat. Through her chewing she would ask “What are you thinking about?”
“Whether I should construct a bridge or not?”
Staring at her companion in disbelief Arcia quickly asks “How?”
For just a moment Lucien had to look at her before she curses “Your damn magic. If you could do that then why haven’t you?”
Returning his gaze back out over the swelling river, Lucien answers “The bridge would be swept away with everything else when the ice finally gives way. I will only use my magic if we have no other choice.”
Arcia understood this without need for further explanations but still she wanted to argue for him to do so anyways. But before she could, surprise took her when her gaze fell down the road and saw two mounted knights on horseback looking at them.
With silence having fallen over Arcia, Lucien looked to her and saw her eyes widen in her surprise. “What is it Arcia?” Slowly she raised her hand and pointed down the road leading his gaze from her to the knights spurring their horses forward with lances readied to be lowered.
“Damn,” was all Lucien could mutter as he slid off his horse and began walking towards the charging knights. Arcia watched in stunned, silent surprise as Lucien and the knights moved closer and closer to each other. And while she wanted to tell Lucien they should just flee, after all she had seen from him, Arcia knew he would come out unscathed and victorious.
As the charging knights lowered their lances towards him, Lucien smiled widely in confidence. No Dharan in history had ever suffered a cavalry assault and that was not change now. In his ancient Dharan tongue Lucien shouted out one solitary word to these two horses, “Halt.” With that one word the two horses did their best to stop as quickly as they possibly could, sliding some distance on their hooves. The knights, not understanding just what had happened, harshly spurred their horses urging them forward by drawing blood from them with sharpened rowels. But before they could further punish the horses for their disobedience, Lucien was on them, lances in his grasp and ripping the knights out of their saddles and from atop their horses.
With the two knights on the ground before him, Lucien spoke to the horses urging to journey eastwards to join the other he had previously sent that way. Then with the horses fleeing east Lucien’s attention returned to the knights as they stood up from the ground. These knights were scouting for people that killed their fellows and they had found them. Drawing their swords, one knight tapped the pommel against his visor knocking the dirt from it so he could see while the other threw his helm away entirely.
Deciding against drawing his own weapon Lucien watched the two knights carefully as they began to move around him, aiming for better positioning against the armored giant before them.
“Hurry up Lucien the water’s getting deeper.”
Hearing the cry for haste from a panicked Arcia, Lucien nodded his head and made the first move.
Following a sudden, quick burst of movement Lucien had caught the two knights off guard as nothing his size should move so quickly, allowing him to easily counter their panicked strikes. One knight had thrust towards Lucien’s head while falling backwards away from him but found his arm grasped by Lucien’s own as his elbow snapped inwards. The second knight found himself pinned to the ground underneath Lucien’s heavy boot after having lunged for his groin, the vambrace and poleyn giving way under the monstrous brute strength of Lucien. Both knights resisted as best they could, but both were screaming out in pain as Lucien allowed his armor to absorb their panicked unarmed strikes.
Controlling both injured knights, Lucien temporarily released the first from his grasp before grabbing him by the side of the head while shoving his armored thumb into the right eye of the knight. With the knight’s screams becoming more ear piercing, Lucien could feel his panicked strikes across the left side of his black armor. As the knight tried desperately to injure Lucien, the creature used his hold of the knight’s head to easily snap his neck.
The second knight still lying on the ground watched as his fellow’s dead body dropped to the ground with a thud, before finally drawing his dagger. Lucien used his long leg to push aside the knight’s good arm and pin it to the ground beneath his boot, but unlike the previous arm Lucien was not crushing this one. Instead, Lucien kept the knight’s armed pinned with one boot while the other was placed on the knight’s head and began to press down, killing the knight in a way that would haunt Arcia’s sleep.
Now that both scouts were killed Lucien rushed back over to the horses and Arcia. Before he even leapt into the saddle Lucien had urged the horses forward with words alone and by the time he was seated properly in the saddle the horses were in a full gallop. “We need to cross the river soon. Those knights will soon be upon us.” All Arcia could do was nod in agreement as she had been caught by surprise when the horse beneath her suddenly took off without warning. The pressing danger of the river need not be mentioned by either of them.
As they raced south Arcia’s mind could not help but feel it was a waste to not loot the two scouts. She knew they did not have time and understood the need to put distance between them in hopes of outrunning the rest of the knightly order, but those instincts of hers were still loud in her mind. But as they continued riding more thoughts began to filter into her mind. Just how was Lucien able to communicate so well with the horses and why did they listen to him? She had heard parts of his conversation with the party of knights earlier but did not understand and she resolved to ask him about it when they were safe.
Hours had passed and day had turned to night when they were forced to rest. Despite Lucien having used his magic to keep the horses and Arcia going at their maximum effort, the magic had begun to wear off leaving them feeling drained and exhausted to a rather extreme degree. Now forced to rest, Arcia sat with the horses next to a fire alongside the ever-swelling river, all the while Lucien wandered ahead looking for the bridge.
The rations seemed tougher than usual as Arcia sat there staring between her feet while sitting on the ground. Exhaustion was something she had known before but never experienced to this degree. Even the horses seemed to be struggling to stay upright as they stood there next to the fire. The only comfort Arcia had in this moment was the fire, but she knew it was not to last, they had to cross the river tonight.
As she continued to thoughtlessly chew the ration of preserved meat hanging from her mouth, Arcia’s attention was drawn to a sound approaching. And this sound pushed fear into her heart as she quickly forced herself to her feet before jumping back into the saddle, urging both horses forward. The knights had finally caught up to them.
Well ahead of them Lucien was walking through ankle deep water as he looked for the bridge. He was surprised when he heard the approaching sound of rushing horses and turned to find Arcia riding hard towards him. “Knights,” was all he needed to hear as Arcia approached. Without needing the horses to stop, Lucien reached up and caught hold of the saddle as he stepped into the stirrup and masterfully mounted his horse.
Once more in the saddle Lucien looked over his left shoulder and found a knight quickly closing in on him. The horses beneath Lucien and Arcia barely had the strength to push on and any more magic would be too much for the horses to handle which allowed the quick riding knight to easily close in on him.
Weapon lowered, the knight rode up on Lucien and tried to lance the horse, but Lucien had drawn his own weapon and kept that from happening. But now they were riding so close that an apple would not hit the ground if dropped between them. The knight drew his sword and tried to slash at Lucien’s head, but it was easily deflected. Lucien seized this opportunity to smash his armored elbow into the knight’s visor snapping his head back and rendering him unconscious.
As the knight slumped in his saddle Lucien tossed the lance into the river and grabbed the recurved bow with several arrows from the saddle before cutting it free from the horse. With knight and saddle falling hard to the ground Lucien urged the now riderless horse east to join the others and watched as the horse peeled off with great haste towards the east. The knights chasing Lucien and Arcia would not stop for their fellow and he would soon drown as he had come to rest on his stomach in the ever rising water.
“I see the bridge. It’s underwater Lucien.”
Arcia’s excited words rang in Lucien’s ears as he turned in the saddle and loosed the first arrow towards the knights. The arrow flew true and entered the eye of a knight through his lowered visor. But as his screams escaped the visor Lucien knew he was not dead and merely lost an eye. That knight and a second would quit the pursuit and move towards safety as the rest continued the chase.
Masterfully controlling the horse with just his legs, Lucien drew the bowstring for another attempt at killing a knight but in his haste used far too much of his monstrous strength drawing the bow further back that it was capable with his long arms causing the bow to snap into three parts. With wood fragments flying out into the night air, part of the bow slammed into the horse cutting deep into the horse’s hindquarters as another smashed into Lucien’s face cutting it just as severely. The rest was tossed away by Lucien as he turned forward and steered his horse onto the bridge that was threatening to wash away at any moment.
Crossing half the half the bridge Lucien slid off his horse and landed on the bridge facing the knights, who had stopped at the bridge itself.
“Lucien what in the six hells are you doing?”
Arcia had stopped at the other side of the bridge and turned in the saddle to scream at Lucien.
“We don’t have time for this let’s go!”
Lucien’s gaze stayed on the knights as they glared at him.
“They will follow us across Arcia. I have to make sure they cannot.”
Clicking her tongue Arcia pushed ahead just a bit further knowing the truth in his words but wondering why he did not just destroy the bridge. Then it came to her, he’s saving the horses from the knights.
Facing the knights Lucien drew his sword as the water continued rushing over his armored boots. Shouting out to the knights Lucien readied his sword before him “Turn away and live or face me and forever be swept away by the Liascon.”
The lead knight raised his visor and shouted back “Why would we turn away when we have nothing but corpses before us?”
Not wanting to waste more time Lucien began shouting in Dharan at the horses, who soon began attempting to throw their riders but the knights were quite skilled as expected and so it took great effort from the horses to dismount them. One unfortunate knight was thrown directly into the river never to be seen again, while a second landed hard on the ground momentarily losing his breath. The two, now riderless horses, then began to kick at the riders of the others killing one and unsaddling a further three.
Within a few minutes every knight was without horse. Three knights in total had landed in the river with one landing close enough that he was able to hang onto the land temporarily saving his life. One knight had landed directly on his head killing him, while another had drug his horse to the ground with him. Then despite Lucien’s threats and pleas the knights killed the struggling horse, freeing their fellow from beneath its corpse. All other horses escaped and fled with great haste east.
A greatly enraged Lucien stood there on the bridge screaming out at the knights “You dare butcher Panno’s creation like that. I’ll see to it that you suffer for this.”
One of the knights more familiar with the Dharan people mumbles “Damn crazed Dharans,” before the lead knight steps forth shouting back “You damned Dharan. You need to realize who you’re dealing with. I am Knight Captain John…”
But Lucien cut him off before he could further introduce himself “I am King Lucien Salvatal the Third, King of Arlorne and Chieftain of the Dharan People and I demand you duel me now wretch.”
Watching this unfold Arcia witnessed Lucien’s rage manifest itself around him, nearly parting the river and clearing the bridge of water. Night was bright as day with Lucien’s manifested magic swirling in blacks and reds around him. But before his magic could be unleashed Lucien felt the bridge give way beneath him and he leapt back with great might, landing safely on the other side of the river.
The knights began laughing at him as Knight Captain John shouted “Why would I duel you bastard? You are beneath me. You are nothing but fodder for the worms. But fret not we will cross the river soon enough and hunt you down for killing our fellow knights. That is if the rest of our order in Salver don’t get to you first.”
Countering the man, Lucien shouted back “You will not live to see this side of the river you wretch.”
Laughter continued from the knights as John shouted at Lucien “How are you going to do that? You don’t possess a bow and I’ve been blessed by priests to protect me from magic.”
Mumbling “We will see about that,” Lucien sheathed his sword before silently raising his left hand and pointing at John. Then he breathed in deeply as he stared at the knight captain. “Ti Lith Ku Cir.”
Suddenly a small bolt of purple fire shot from Lucien’s fingertip and crossed the river crashing directly into Knight Captain John, who was still laughing. But his boisterous laughter quickly morphed into agonizing screams as he was engulfed in purple flame. Whose screams were louder, John’s or his fellow knights’, neither Lucien nor Arcia could tell for sure as they watched the knight captain burn to death in mere moments.
As the knight captain’s body collapsed into the water Lucien shouted for all to hear “May the flames of Arden purify you.” These words shocked all before something else drew their attention. Off in the distance, high up in the Aser Mountains to the north, a thunderous cracking sound rang out into the land below as the ice dam finally gave way.
Quickly Lucien looked away from the mountains and towards the knight that had killed the horse. A bolt of purple flame slammed into the knight’s back as he turned to flee from the coming destruction. The knight was shocked by the sudden, intense agony but none of his fellows dared to try to help him as they fled on foot and he quickly burned to death.
One knight was left behind as he pushed himself up from the river after having climbed out of it. He fled as best he could given his exhaustion but knew he was to be swept away to his death. The only comfort he had was knowing that all his fellows fleeing before him would as well.
Lucien turned and shouted in Dharan to the two horses with Arcia, urging them forth once more as he ran after them on foot. Being far quicker than the horses, Lucien was able to easily hop into the saddle from over the horse’s rear even with the horse in a full, panicked gallop. He then began speaking to the horses in Dharan and used just a bit more magic to allow them to fully escape the coming destruction.
A frightened Arcia looked to her left and shouted, “I hope we make it Lucien.”
Looking straight ahead Lucien answered, “We’ll make it,” before turning to look her in the eyes and saying with calmness and confidence “We will make it Arcia.”
Not another word was said between the two of them as they focused on urging their horses forward. They rode hard as the sounds of destruction quickly approached them, blood flying from the magically healing wound Lucien’s horse. Lucien’s own wounds were healing on their own, but his blood had already stained his hair and scraggly beard. At their backs a surprisingly warm breeze went unnoticed as it pushed them onwards with haste.
After what felt like eternity both Lucien and Arcia looked over to the right and saw the destruction bearing down on them. The sound was deafening and through the darkness of night trees, ice and rocks could be seen carried by the large destructive surge of water.
Once more Lucien offered words in Dharan to the horses, which began stretching out to the point they resembled snakes and digging their hooves into the ground in a desperate attempt to move quicker. But soon as the water seemed to be crashing down on top of them, the four found that they were quite safe and well enough away from the destruction that they could ease up.
Turning to watch the water and its destruction Lucien sat atop his horse as the tension eased in all of them and Arcia collapsed, nearly falling from her saddle. Fortunately, Lucien was there next to her and kept her from falling to the ground. He would reach around her and lift her from saddle into his arms before sliding out of his own saddle to walk over to the side of the road.
After gently setting her on the ground Lucien gathered material and started a fire nearby. He then unsaddled the horses, checked them for further injuries, healed said injuries and allowed them to do as they wished for the time. Then noticing the water continuing to slowly rise and move closer, Lucien busied himself with making a small trench to prevent the water from reaching the camp. Only when everything was in order did Lucien sit down to rest and before he realized it, he was on his back gazing up at the peaceful stars soon to be asleep himself.
