Soldier

Soldier

                "Shit," said Frennet. "Really?" Vanna nodded.

                The fallout from Vanna's admission was surprisingly minimal, much to Tadyel's surprise. She'd expected to find herself thrown in jail almost immediately for Ormgus's murder and various other crimes. That hadn't happened.

                What she mostly hadn't realised is that there was no reason for the exact activities she, Vanna and Dot had carried out to be explained to the Guard. Without those being known there was nothing to charge them with - except, possibly, being attacked by the Followers.

                Without evidence to properly link them to anything that had happened - and with no surety about who was responsible for what in the secret war that had caused dozens of deaths - the Guard had decided to allow them to remain free. They were also more useful with their freedom, remaining able and willing to fight against the Followers.

                The attack on Vanna's shop hadn't been the only one. Despite accurately attacking one group of Magi - courtesy of Mavnen's information - the other attacks had killed random refugees and townsfolk. Even a handful of the Followers' own had been found strung up in the woods; killed by the paranoid Followers.

                The attacks meant that the Followers had broken the ban on their presence in town to attack some of the townsfolk. This truly enraged the townspeople. Afterwards the Followers were no longer welcome anywhere near Green Creek - they had to leave. Some of the townsfolk said that wasn't enough; the organisation had to be destroyed entirely.

                Vanna, Dot and Tadyel still faced many questions. Following Vanna's lead they refused to reveal any information about the other, still undercover Magi agents, although Tadyel let slip that she actually knew nothing. Vanna was, however, very willing to share details on what she could acquire and provide to the townsfolk for their attack.

                Though angry, calmer heads ensured that a diplomatic solution was tried first. The 'envoy' returned with a grim message - they wanted free reign to kill 'all the Magi' in town. Worse, they'd captured some of the people who lived near Green Creek and were holding them hostage. In exchange for their safety the Followers demanded those captured during their attacks.

                The unreasonable demands were expected, but the hostages were not. The exchange was made immediately, and the area around the new Follower camp surrounded by scouts and armed groups of townspeople and guards. Preventing the capture of new hostages had jumped right to the top of the agenda.

                Tadyel was privy to all of this, as a member of 'the Magi'. She was dragged along to meetings between several important townspeople and the higher ranked guards despite just being a rank and file agent - she was no mastermind, unlike Vanna. Dot was similar, but she at least knew the whole picture.

                So Tadyel would sit there idly, paying attention (it was quite interesting) but with nothing to contribute. She was just a soldier; paid to fight and follow orders. Thinking of herself that way felt kind of poetic.

                There was a bit of a problem with the many meetings that were held over the next few days: Vanna's shop remained open. She even hired one of the townsfolk to watch the store while she and Tadyel were out, so that they could take orders. This meant that when not in meetings Tadyel had clothier work to do; and then there was the training. They could train openly now, yet the same amount of time was spent on training - until almost midnight - as ever.

                It was nearly too much for Tadyel. She'd settled into the tough routine of work and training, cramming more into each day than she'd thought possible for long periods. Now she was being pushed to her limit - the days were as intense as the harvest days on the Peninsula. Perhaps not quite, as the meetings did require a lot of sitting.

                A few pieces of worrying news did reach Tadyel as the attack was planned and prepared. Two Thrath had been identified amongst her own people - the traitor, Unthun, and another whose name she didn't recognise. She did recognise his description, however. He was the villager who had asked her so much about her work despite only knowing her vaguely. He'd been caught trying to poison the elders and been put to death. There would be no 'Tale of Tadyel'.

                The day of the 'counter-attack' was almost a surprise when it came. One day, in the meetings, everyone agreed that everything was ready and in place. The townspeople were armed, Vanna had acquired a few interesting things, and the guard had kept the camp isolated and under control successfully. It was decided that tomorrow would be the day.

                As ever, the sun rose. The townspeople participating in the attack and the guard assembled just outside of town. Vanna, Dot and Tadyel joined them there, representing 'the Magi'. Their contribution had been mostly in weapons and armour - Vanna had avoided Tadyel's question about why the Magi had such an armoury so close.

                "Well, they look like a tough bunch now," said Dot, waving at the armoured crowd of about three hundred townsfolk. They were mostly armoured, and all bore a weapon of some kind. The full might of the guard, one hundred and twenty-seven strong (meetings), stood in a neat formation beside them.

                The difference between the two was striking - neat and professional guards in chainmail, alongside a rough cluster of mostly leather-armoured townspeople. A third group, the 'supply-train' who carried lunch and an evening meal for all present, were clustered around a large number of horses on the other side of the townsfolk.

                "Thankfully it's far more than enough," said Vanna. "A lot of the Followers can't fight - if we're really lucky they'll just surrender."

                "I know, I know," said Dot. "I was in the meetings too. Take them all captive, sort through them for Thrath, escort those that aren't away and kill the rest. Hand over any who hold back information to us. Simple enough."

                "That's... A really good summary," said Tadyel. She'd have gotten too hung up on minor details if she tried to state it. The plan had a lot of corollaries and backups and just-in-cases.

                Dot grinned. "The real question is, who do we fight with?" she asked.

                Which group the three Magi agents would fight with was something that had been skipped over in the meetings; technically it had been left up to Vanna. They were in-between the guard and villagers in armament; Vanna had acquired a suit of chainmail for herself, but Tadyel and Dot still had leather armour. Each of them bore a sword, shield and crossbow. With the noise no longer a problem Tadyel had finally received some training with one - although she was still a terrible shot.

                "We'll keep the townspeople in order," said Vanna. "It's possible they'll get too enthusiastic - or aggravated - in the fight. If they get too unruly we try to calm people down."

                "Okay," said Tadyel.

                "That's like trying to calm a wild animal you've kicked in the face," said Dot. "It's not going to work unless you're incredibly lucky."

                "Then we stop them before the 'kick in the face'," said Vanna. Dot shrugged in acquiescence.

                A sharp cracking noise came from the front of the gathered groups. Frennet stood there, a whip in hand. She cracked it a few more times, quickly bringing everyone to silence. "Time to get moving!" she yelled. "Supply train behind the guard, everyone else bringing up the rear!"

                "Here we go," said Dot, grinning as the guard started matching neatly in the direction of the Follower camp.

                "Say that when we get there," said Vanna.

                "Here walk for a long time then get to see some real action," said Dot. The three of them chuckled, and then began the half-day walk.

                The small army took just over half a day to reach the edge of the 'ring' that encircled the Followers' camp. Made up of volunteers and until that day guardsmen, the ring had kept the Followers stuck inside, apart from a few who had surrendered already - mostly the elderly and families. They knew what was coming.

                After eating lunch the guards and townsfolk split left the supply train behind and headed for the camp. Half an hour of walking later they arrived. The Followers were ready for them; armed with a haphazard collection of weapons. Most were unarmoured, and all told they numbered perhaps two hundred and fifty. They stood before their camp, in amongst a group of hills with a handful of trees around.

                Outnumbered almost two to one, their angry demeanour and obvious intention to fight surprised Tadyel. Why were they going to fight when it was pointless? Making a stand against the 'Magi'... Someone must have really riled them up.

                Rebellions against the Thrath had been few and far between - Tadyel had only ever heard of them, and they'd never done well. Tales of the vengeance the Thrath had taken was almost all Tadyel had ever heard. Horrifying acts, beyond even what she'd seen leaving the peninsula.

                Frennet moved to the front of the army. Clad in plate mail - one of only two sets in all of Green Creek, and the only set that actually fit anyone - she was an imposing figure. She yelled out into the silence. "You know why we're here!" she yelled. "Surrender or fall on the field of battle!"

                "Fuck you, Magi puppets!" yelled someone amongst the Followers. They cheered.

                "Your hatred of the Magi is understandable," said Frennet, "But you should know by now that you've all been manipulated by the Thrath. The-"

                Whatever Frennet had been saying next was drowned out by loud booing from the Followers. As the boos began to fade, a loud clang interrupted and silenced them completely. Tadyel saw a rock hit the ground in front of Frennet; it had seemingly hit her armour. Frennet laughed; a hearty haw haw haw.

                "You'll have to do better than that!" she yelled, drawing her sword. She swung it down as the Followers threw a barrage of rocks and junk - plus the odd arrow - at the villagers.

                Those amongst the attackers with bows - about a third of the guard, a few dozen hunters and a scattering of others such as Vanna, Tadyel and Dot - loosed a volley in return. A couple of the things the refugees hurled found their marks, a couple of the townsfolk dropping when the barrage hit. One man screamed in pain.

                But many more screams came from the followers. At least a dozen of them went down from what Tadyel saw before she realised she should be reloading. Whether her bolt had found its mark she was unsure. She was also unsure about whether she wanted it to - would they surrender sooner, saving more lives, if it had? That would make the little extra blood on her hands okay, maybe.

                This is the end, though, she thought, for now. Hopefully it would be. With the Followers gone and the people of Green Creek accepting Vanna - and her - as agents of the Magi it was unlikely things would become so grey again. Hopefully. I just need to get through this.

                She stared down her crossbow as she aimed it at the mass of Followers. They - and those from Green Creek - had begun rushing at each other, but the two groups were still separate. One tiny pull on the trigger and the bowstring of the crossbow snapped taut, the bolt flying through the air and into the crowd. A Follower dropped roughly where she had aimed - although whether it was from her bolt or someone else she couldn't tell. The other archers were keeping up their fire, waiting for the two groups to meet.

                Halfway through reloading Tadyel heard Dot mutter "Whoa". Tadyel looked up, and caught sight of the two forces meeting.

                It was so different from the brawl that it shocked Tadyel. People - on both sides - died almost immediately, falling beneath their comrades or foes. Most were obviously fighting with little training, taking wild swings or simply rushing their opponents. The guard were the main exception, little knots of guards cutting into the Follower line with ease.

                Beyond what Tadyel could see, the noise was different as well. The angry shouting and swearing was there, but the screams were chilling whether in pain or rage. The clashes and clangs of weapons striking one another or armour added further to the cacophony. Compared to the short engagements Tadyel had fought, this fight was shockingly horrible. Perhaps it was in part because she could see most of it, standing back with the scattering of archers.

                Shaking her head, she finished reloading and sent a bolt towards the back of the Follower mob who had yet to engage. As soon as she loosed it she knew she'd missed - she'd shot so high that it would sail far over even the rearmost of the Followers.

                "Haha," said Dot, beside her. "That was a miss and a half." Dot fired her crossbow, sending a bolt straight into the rear ranks of the Followers. Vanna did the same.

                "Load another but don't fire," said Vanna. "It's too messy down there now, and us hitting friendlies would cause issues."

                "True that," said Dot. The three of them reloaded their crossbows, Tadyel taking quite a bit longer than the other two. After she'd finished reloading Dot added, "Time to get in there?"

                "No, this is won already. They'll probably surrender soon, and even if they don't they're not getting away so we don't need to cut them off," said Vanna.

                "Won't that look bad?" asked Tadyel. "If we stay out of the fight."

                "Maybe," said Vanna, "although none of us have finished healing yet. I'm not sure I can keep up in a melee properly with this cut." Vanna indicated her belly. The strike that caught Vanna there a few days ago had been worse than Tadyel thought, although nowhere near life threatening. Seeing the sheer amount of blood that had come from it had been enough to make Tadyel swear quite loudly, though.

                "Same," said Tadyel. She didn't want to take any blows to her shield arm until it had healed if she could.

                Dot snorted. "Well, we can always call cowardice rather than some kind of conspiracy," she said.

                "On our left!" yelled one of the nearby archers. Everyone looked to the left - and saw a small group of Followers clad in leather armour rushing down a hill towards them. Not quite, actually: they were headed straight towards Vanna, Tadyel and Dot.

                "They're coming right at us," said Dot. She sounded pleased.

                "That's more than we can take," said Vanna, counting the attackers. Tadyel did the same; she counted nine.

                "Should we run?" asked Tadyel. The other archers between them and the attackers were - or were at least getting out of the way. A few of those further out of the way had loosed arrows.

                "Crossbows," said Vanna. The three of them levelled their crossbows at the charging group. "Take one on your side." Vanna pointed her crossbow at the middle of the group.

                Tadyel aimed hers at the left and inwardly cheered as an arrow brought down one of the attackers. The rest didn't seem to care.

                "Fire!" yelled Vanna, loosing her bolt. Dot and Tadyel did the same. Two of the bolts found their marks; one Follower was hit in the leg and another through the chest. Both fell away from the group - one clutching her leg, the other tumbling to the ground.

                "Swords out," said Vanna, drawing her bastard shield.

                Tadyel hooked her shield up onto her left arm and drew her sword. She steeled herself for the incoming charge, glaring over her shield at the charging crowd.

                "For Ormgus!" yelled the charging group, another amongst their number toppling as an arrow found its mark. Only four remained alive - the woman who had taken a bolt to the knee had already been dispatched.

                A pair of guards joined the trio as the stood their ground, unsheathing short swords. "Let us handle this," one of them said, smiling at Vanna.

                "We won't leave you to fight our battles alone," said Vanna, making Tadyel smile.

                The attackers came directly at the three agents, two heading for Vanna and one towards Tadyel and Dot. Tadyel moved to intercept one of those after Vanna but failed; Dot succeeded, however, her attacked in turn cut off by one of the guards.

                Tadyel had failed to avoid her attacker due to the reach of his weapon, a halberd of seemingly good make. Tadyel managed to dodge the attack, but it split her and Vanna apart. Sparing only a moment to wonder where the Followers had acquired such a weapon Tadyel darted forward only for the guardswoman beside her to jerk her backwards.

                "Watch out!" the guard yelled. Unfortunately she'd managed to yank Tadyel back into the optimum range of the halberd, and the pair of them had to jump back from a thrust.

                "Do you know what reach is?" asked Tadyel, incredulously. What the hell was the guardswoman thinking?
                "Oh," said the guard, "right. Shit. Sorry!" She seemed very flustered. She made a splitting gesture with her hands; one Tadyel recognised from her training with Vanna.

                Tadyel did as she had probably just been asked to, circling around the halberdier to the right. The guardswoman went left, flashing a smile at Tadyel. I wonder if she realises that-

                Tadyel's thoughts were cut short by the halberdier coming after her with a series of quick slashes, forcing her further backwards. He'll probably come right at me, continued Tadyel, finishing her thoughts.

                The guardswoman was behind the halberdier now, and darted forwards towards his back. The man swung around with a slash that would easily have cut her in two, but she managed to get her sword up in time. Even holding it with both hands she'd barely managed to stop the attack.

                The halberdier turned his head to check his other side too late. Tadyel had already gotten close, and by the time he began swinging his halberd back around she was too close to strike. She stabbed her sword through his armour, carving deeply into his gullet.

                He groaned and released his halberd; Tadyel allowed it to slide over her shield to the ground. After falling to his knees he looked right at Tadyel and said, "Fucking, Magi." before collapsing.

                "You're amazing!" said the guardswoman, coming up to Tadyel with a broad smile. Tadyel ignored her, checking how Dot and Vanna were doing. The one remaining Follower - Tadyel recognised it as the woman who'd gone after Vanna - was facing off against the other guard, Dot, and Vanna. Their fights had seemingly gone better than Tadyel's had.

                "Thanks," muttered Tadyel. The remaining Follower turned to run and was tackled to the ground by the other guard.

                The overly smiley guardswoman kept pace with Tadyel as she headed over to Vanna and Dot. "I'm Ilwinne, by the way," she said.

                "Tadyel," muttered Tadyel as they reached the other two agents.

                "Oh, I know," said Ilwinne. "Everyone knows who you three are now!"

                "Ilwinne," said Dot, "I don't know how Gel swings, but now isn't the time."

                Ilwinne suddenly looked mortified. "I, um, you're right," she said. "I'll go help Red with the prisoner." She turned and briskly marched over to her comrade, who was holding the captured Follower down while binding them. A few others were heading over to help as well. Vanna chuckled softly once Ilwinne was out of earshot, although she was turned towards the battle below.

                "Thank you," said Tadyel. She felt kind of embarrassed, but what do you say in that sort of situation?

                "No worries," said Dot. "Huh, by the way, though, how do you swing? I know your whole life history from what Eden's said, but, well, it doesn't cover that."

                "I guess I don't know," said Tadyel. "On the peninsula I didn't want to - seeing a partner... It would have hurt so much. On the road, and here, I haven't had time. I did plan to have some kids, which would mean some kind of relationship with a guy, but..." She shrugged. "I don't know."

                "Well," said Dot. "After all this, you might have time." She grinned, making Tadyel smile.

                "Quite possibly," added Vanna. She turned her head back for a moment and added, "We've won the fight."

                The townsfolk and guards had done far better than the Followers in the fight. Numbers, combined with the better armament, had kept the death toll to only three dozen, with about twice that injured. Over a hundred of the Followers were dead and about the same injured - only fifty had surrendered unharmed. Even with so many dead, more were alive than Tadyel had expected. A hundred and fifty odd prisoners was a lot; and a few dozen non-combatants had been found in the camp.

                The guard - who had somehow lost only seven of their own - were busily disarming the captured Followers. Frennet, two other high-ranking guards and the 'important' villagers had found the three Magi agents. A meeting was already taking place, despite there still being dead and injured to take care of.

                Tadyel had zoned out and decided to sit down, staring down at the battlefield. The bodies had mostly been cleared away, leaving only a mess of discarded weapons, blood and trampled ground behind. Seeing blood from so far away disturbed her a bit. The large numerous idle townspeople probably felt the same; many others were sitting and staring as well. Some seemed sad, others victorious.

                After a while the meeting was suddenly disrupted, talk of where to keep the prisoners fading as a lone horse rider tore across the battlefield. She was attracting a lot of attention, although she was obviously a friendly guardswoman rather than a foe.

                As her horse came to a shuddering halt in front of the assembled leadership the guardswoman vaulted off it, landing in front of Frennet with only a tiny stumble. "They've escaped," she said.

                "Who've escaped?" asked Frennet. Everyone present had very quickly become tense. Tadyel rose to her feet.

                "Some of the Followers," said the rider. "About half a dozen people. We-"

                "How?" asked Frennet loudly.

                "We were attacked. They looked like a group of mercenaries - they weren't Followers. There were too many so we pulled back, and then the Followers arrived. We couldn't stop them," the rider said.

                "Fuck," said Frennet. "It'll be their leadership."

                "Or the Thrath," said Vanna. "We need to go after them. They can't be far."

                "Agreed," said Frennet. There was a chorus of agreement from the others present. "We won't catch them on foot. Grab the supply horses; two people on each. You three are coming." Frennet pointed towards Vanna, Tadyel and Dot.

                "We wouldn't miss it," said Dot, as Vanna nodded.

                "No time for talking," said Frennet. "Move!"