A Fair Fight (26 page)

"What do we do, my lady?" Justin asked, dented shield raised to try to provide some protection for Megan.

"They said something about getting to the sorcerers. Your sword would be the best thing... so we go help," Megan said, before picking up on her song again, starting to run onto the battlefield.

"You heard her," Cassia said, looking to the leopards. She, the cats, and Justin took off after Megan, catching up, then passing her, leading onto the field.

As the two armies met amidst the treacherous field, full of traps and still-burning fires, Megan quickly noted a difference from the last full-scale battle. Against the undead the previous summer, the faeries had shown every sign of being far more powerful. The skeletons had simply outnumbered them and kept getting back up.

Here, even the ranks of Fomoire infantrymen showed signs of being at least the equal of most faeries, taking losses, but felling just as many of the alliance troops. The giants were temporarily halted, swatting at swarms of pixies and sprites moving around their eyes, but Megan had no doubt that they'd be even worse, as would the cavalry.

Not even the most powerful of the fae—her father, Inwar, Orlaith, the dragon, the Djinn, and other obvious leaders—could just cut through the enemy ranks. They were more than a match for the rank and file of the Fomoire, but as soon as they started fighting the Fomoire leaders, they were clearly outclassed.

Megan scanned the field for any sign of a weak point, but the Fomoire showed discipline and skill, forming unbroken lines to protect their own magic users. Finally, Megan shouted to get Cassia and Justin's attention and changed direction, rushing towards one end of the field.

"My lady?" Justin said, but followed, then took the lead to protect them from enemy sorcery, raising the shield to try to catch any stray missiles as well.

"We've been beneath notice before," Megan said. "If we can get to the edge of the field, maybe hide behind one of the barriers, let the front lines pass, maybe we can sneak attack some of their magic people."

"I like the way she thinks," Cassia called, gesturing for the cats to follow close.

Megan looked for suitable cover and ran harder when she saw it, hoping the chaos of the field would distract the Fomoire. Unfortunately, the movement of the group drew attention from one of the giants, who shifted from the Fomoire advance to investigate, swatting at some of the sprites trying to distract him.

When the ground shook under them as the massive footfalls came closer, Cassia and the cats kept their feet, but Megan and Justin both hit the ground. Justin grabbed for Megan's hand, pulling her out of the giant's path.

Cassia stopped running, turning to face her giant opponent instead, calling for the cats. She timed her own rush carefully, charging at the giant. Just as a foot came down, she leapt onto the giant's boot, followed by the cats, and the three started climbing up the boot and then the tree-trunk leg. Noticing that Cassia now had the giant's full attention, Justin darted forward, trying to get to the back of the giant's other boot.

Megan wanted to stay near Justin and hide. But she saw Cassia narrowly avoid an attempt at a swat at her. She saw the look of concentration on Justin's face as he tried to cut through the thick leather without drawing attention. The fear the Fomoire army generated was starting to creep back into her brain. And she realized, dangerous as it would be, she needed to help. Darting away from Justin, she started singing the song of inspiration again. The giant hesitated, trying to grab at Cassia and the cats, leaving them swinging and dodging around as best they could, before the giant lifted a foot high, trying to step down on Megan. She dove out of the way, rolling over the still-burning body of one of the fallen. She had to spend several seconds smacking fires out, but the boot had missed. Cassia kept climbing, leaping from the giant's rough belt to one arm, while the cats split, climbing up different parts of the giant's shirt, dividing his attention.

Cassia finally failed an attempt to move faster than the grabbing hand, and the giant lifted her up, starting to squeeze. She managed to keep an arm free, and drove her sword into one forefinger, trying to cut her way out. It appeared for a moment as if it might be successful, but the Fomoire held on.

Before he could crush her, Justin finally finished cutting away boot leather, and drove the Sword of Light into the giant's achilles tendon. Despite the thick flesh, the sword cut deep with each cut. Justin got three cuts in before the giant shifted attention again. He to step on Justin but nearly lost his balance instead.

That distraction proved enough for Cassia to cut to the bone, and the giant finally lost his grip on her. Cassia resumed scrambling up the giant's arm, meeting the cats near the neck, where the three set to attacking as well. There were a few more swats—and another attempt to crush Justin that resulted in stumbling. At this point, there was a change in music.

“
Thistle, Lavender, CASSIA, JUMP
!” Megan called up the best blast of wind she could manage. The weakening giant would almost certainly have weathered it with little trouble normally, but she caught him with one foot raised, about to try to smash Justin. Between being on one foot and the injury, he staggered, then fell on top of some of his own allies.

When he first fell, Megan hoped to use the chaos to try to get deeper behind enemy lines. Unfortunately, the Fomoire could react much more quickly than she'd thought. Cassia was still struggling to her feet, a hand at her side, and the others regrouping after the giant's fall, when Megan pointed out the Fomoire officer turning their way. "Guys, I think we have incoming."

Chapter 37: Confrontation

Counting the officer, three of the cavalry turned Megan’s, Justin’s, and Cassia’s way and started rushing towards them. The officer’s pointing them out also led to more of the Fomoire infantry’s moving to protect their sorcerers, ensuring no one else could skirt around the edges of the field to get to them.

As the figures on horseback charged, one of the officer's hands lit up with green fire, leaving the other holding his spear. He made a throwing motion, launching the flame towards Cassia, who was still struggling to move after being nearly crushed in the giant's hand. Justin moved to interpose himself, parrying the blast and the next two that followed with the sword. The other two horsed figures launched fireballs of their own, though these were not quite as bright, and they took longer to call up the fire. Each time, it was all Justin could do to deflect each blast. The sword flared with each one, negating the Fomoire magic as they met.

Unfortunately, his stalwart defense left him in poor position to avoid the incoming charge, as the trio closed in. Justin raised his shield to block the officer's spear, only to be slammed backwards hard when the weapon hit it.

“My turn for the save,” Cassia said as she grabbed him, having been bought time to recover. As she leapt clear, she dragged Justin out of the way before the horses ran him over. The cats also leapt clear, though Jude was smashed aside by one of the horses when he was too slow to get away entirely. He rolled to a stop in the dirt and struggled to get up.

Megan dove as well, landing on bodies in one of the pits, cushioning the fall and keeping her from reaching the sharp stones at the bottom. She'd seen bodies before, but this was something altogether different. They gave just a little whenever she tried to move, and they were still warm to the touch. Worst of all was when she found herself unable to keep from looking into the motionless, glassy eyes.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the sound of hoofbeats pulled her out of it, and she did her best to scramble out of the pit as the horses swept past. The Fomoire cavalry turned and readied themselves for another pass. Megan sang the first thing that came to mind, calling up a powerful wind. It picked up ash, dust, and shards of destroyed rune defenses on its way, pelting the horses and riders. They pressed on, running towards her despite the barrage.

The shifting wind swept past a couple of the bodies, still on fire. She was initially just hoping for some sparks, but the wind fanned the flames, and a burst of red arose as one of the horses was passing by. The beast reared up, throwing its surprised rider, before the horse tore away from the flames.

Justin saw that much, even as another of the giant horses was bearing down on him while he was in the process of trying to stand. He swung the Claiomh Solais and managed to take the head off of the spear coming at him. He couldn't, however, get entirely out of the way of the horse and was knocked back down, just getting his shield up as a front hoof slammed down on top of him. The shield was all but ruined, and Justin was struggling for breath as the horse passed over him. Nevertheless, he was still breathing.

Cassia avoided the officer's charge as he tried to spear her, but this time, there was no Justin to block the Fomoire's magic. She dodged out of the way of a direct hit but was still blown back when the green flames exploded against the ground at her feet. She was struggling to rise again, singed in numerous spots, with tiny black worm-things writhing under her skin at the edges of the worst burns. Maxwell ran to his mistress, taking up a guarding position. The two remaining riders wheeled around for another pass, with the third slowly trying to recover his feet after the hard fall.

A flash of black came streaking into the fight as Ashling and the Count rejoined them. Megan had seen Ashling's opening charm before, even if it was usually aimed at windows. This time, the rider flanking the officer was suddenly left struggling as his armor straps started to come undone and his horse's limited barding, including the buckle holding the saddle in place, came loose under the pixie enchantment. Struggling to adjust, he ended up guiding his horse to take a sharp right turn. Unfortunately for him, the sudden motion with a loose saddle sent the rider tumbling off the horse head-first.

Megan switched back to the invigoration march at full volume, even as she ran over to attend to Justin. She helped him sit, though he struggled with the effort. Undaunted by his allies being unhorsed, the officer shrugged off Ashling's attempts at magic, though, notably, he wasn't throwing more fireballs. Megan supposed it might be that the Fomoire's countermagic took some effort. The horse and rider were bad enough though, coming at Cassia and Maxwell as the satyress tensed. When the horse came within ten feet, Cassia picked Maxwell up and flung the leopard at the Fomoire officer. The fact that there was no sound of surprise from Maxwell, just readied claws, left Megan wondering how often she'd done that. Either way, the officer tumbled off his horse, with the leopard clinging to him. Cassia limped up to drive her sword through him.

The first Fomoire cavalryman who'd fallen rose, coming at Megan and Justin. Though he was still struggling for breath, Justin raised what was left of his shield. The Fomoire's swing cut through the metal, slowed just enough to only leave a deep gash in Justin's arm instead of slicing through it. With Justin struggling, Megan reached for the Sword of Light. He readily yielded it, and Megan thrust at the huge Fomoire warrior's chest. The sword flared bright, and cut right through the armor, burying itself deep in his chest. Megan twisted the blade, and he fell backwards.

They checked the other cavalryman, only to find that when he'd been thrown from his slipping saddle, he'd landed in a pit hard enough to compress the bodies further, and was impaled on one of the spears.

Justin rose slowly, discarding his shield, and clutching his bleeding arm. Cassia struggled over, with Jude lifted over her shoulder, thankfully still breathing, and Maxwell following. Ashling and the Count wheeled around, landing on Megan's shoulder.

"We're not getting through," the pixie reported. "And we're barely keeping them away from the support staff. Your Dad could use you. I'm going to check on the camp—I'll be back." With that, Ashling was off again, heading back for the table.

Ashling's comment pulled Megan's attention to the battles in the middle of the field. Two more giants had fallen, but others still fought knots of troops. The infantry kept advancing, slowly pushing the fae back, or forcing them into tighter groups, to make more convenient targets for the Fomoire sorcerers or the cavalry charges.

The pixies and sprites still countered much of the magic, but their numbers were slowly thinning as Fomoire magic, archers, or swats by the giants took out the fliers.

At the very center of it all, Inwar and Orlaith fought with the hideous shark-giant, whom Megan realized from the pictures must be the Fomoire King Indech. The quick moving ljosalfar had to move to avoid swings from the Fomoire commander's sword, which left deep gashes in the earth with every strike. Orlaith fought nearby, shielded by flames that burned down anyone who approached her, even as she tried to overcome the Fomoire's magical protections enough to strike a telling blow. Peadar and the rest of the 'fishing hole' guardians fought near them, trying to ensure that the battle of leaders was fought without interference. A number of other fae fought near them as well, being slowly pushed into retreat. As Megan watched, the Djinn who had had such an effect on the Fomoire's mad rush earlier fell, as greenish flames being cast by three of Indech's attendants overcame his own magics. Seeing them starting to turn their attention towards Orlaith and her remaining cabal of sorcerers, Megan looked around desperately for her father.

She finally found him, holding the safest path of retreat back to the fae lines. As wounded limped, or were dragged back past them, Riocard and Jack-in-Irons fought back to back, drawing a great deal of attention. The ogre's club and Riocard's sword found their targets time after time as they held the line, and kept the Fomoire from targeting the injured or the non-combatants. Few of Riocard's personal guards could keep up with the pair, but sought at least to emulate him, gathering groups of guardians that cut off attempts by the Fomoire cavalry to get to the ruins of Murias.