Clang! Clash! Schrik! Metal ripped through leather armor as Christopher ‘Ris’ Hancock pulled his sword from one enemy and pivoted to parry the blow of a second. His enemies were well defended, having stolen the equipment of the unsuspecting, ill-defended, and cocky for many years before the emperor had finally taken notice and dispatched a legion to clean up the border. However, beneath the tough leathers and chipped swords, most of these ruffians wore rags and bore scars all over their weather-withered skin. Christopher had to admit that there was a certain bravery in the men he faced today. The life they’d chosen was a hard one, for one thing. Further, even when the legion had sprung a surprise attack on them, the bandits had refused to outright flee. Instead, they’d banded together in a tight knot, their backs against the opening of the cave mouth where it was presumed they kept the majority of their plunder.
“Take cover!” Someone shouted over the turmoil, and Christopher smoothly felled another bandit and dropped with him. The shield strapped to Christopher’s back would do the rest.
“Boom!”
Fire erupted from nearby as a fireball hurtled from the cave and splashed into the melee. Christopher immediately rose and resumed his slicing, half an eye on his unit as they did the same. The mana-fed fire was already flickering out, though the heat remained, and only those directly struck by the center of the blasting fire had suffered injury. The bandits were slower to recover, and lost ground, slinking back towards the cave opening by small degrees. But still they held formation, and Christopher would have shook his head in ironic admiration had he had the time in between the arcing swords and stabbing spears. Perhaps it should have been hard to cut down these brave yet foolish men, but it was his duty, after all, and these men, for all their metal, made their living by preying on the helpless and harmless travelers that took the Moon’s road to the seaside kingdom of Karesh.
He sliced through the arm of yet another enemy, but left finishing him off to the companion on his left as he narrowly evaded a spear thrust to his stomach and slid his blade up the haft. His sword bit into the leather gloves on the spear wielder despite the man’s quick retreat, and the man sank back behind the line of enemies with a cry. Then the whole company of soldiers had to duck beneath their shields again as another fireball sprang from the cave and erupted. This one was better aimed, and landed mostly amongst the heavily armed troops of the crown.
“Ris!” snarled Christopher’s commanding officer, Ash. “Get through the line and nail that fire-user!”
“Ris” gritted his teeth. ‘Get through the line’, she says. How does she propose we do that? Of course she doesn’t. But no worries, just leave it to ol’ Ris, he’ll get it done. However tall the order, he had to acknowledge the sense in it. Mages were rare, and even rarer in combat, but they could be devastating if directed well. The fire user had to be stopped before it threw the melee troops into confusion. And Ash tended to give Christopher these kinds of jobs because he could handle it, which wasn’t a bad feeling. He lifted his voice above the clang of metal, the snapping of wood, and the screams of the injured.
“Ris Team, Number 5!”
The men on his left and right responded instantly, shifting their formation even as they beat back their foes with redoubled energy. They took up a tight, spear-like formation, with Ris at the point. Then Ris dropped low to the ground, using his shield to buy precious moments as he spoke to the earth.
“Hey, I know I’m so rude to be asking this, but could you help me out?”
Through his mana, which he poured into the ground, he felt the ground react to him, sad but willing. He channeled his will to the roots with his mana rather than his words, and swiftly rose to resume fighting, fiercely holding the front of the formation as his sword slipped in and out, over and around, making a dent in the line while the rest of his formation braced against the flow. The enemy had interpreted their withdrawal as retreat and tried to press their advantage.
Then the enemies in front of Ris began to weaken, their reactions slowed, their balance was thrown off and their attention wavered. Ris immediately pressed deep through the disruption, and his formation with him, cutting the enemy line like a sword stabbing through a hay bale, while the rest of the legion filled in the line behind him. Soon his team was charging, gaining speed as the disruption in their path continued to hamper the enemy and they gained momentum through the confused bandit mass. Their momentum slowed again as they encountered the ruffians lined up tight against the cave mouth. These fought fiercely despite the roots wrapping around their boots and tugging on their cloaks. Ris wondered, Perhaps they never had any intention of retreating anyway? But his team still broke through, Ris’s sharp swordsmanship and his teams’ fierce assault overwhelming the resistance. The tight formation and the speed of their advance also prevented the last line from recovering the gap before all of Ris’ team was through.
“Vanguard!” cried Ris urgently, and half of his force immediately left the spear formation to form a line just inside the cave mouth. The line of bandits that had stood outside were already trying to press in, but Ris’s men fought steadily, retreating very slowly with measured control, mitigating losses and completely controlling the number of men able to attack them. Soon the fierce bandits faced pressure from outside as well, as the rest of the legion began to attack their backs, having finally broken past the main line of defense. Already, ruffians were fleeing from the sides of the battle. They were not pursued. There would be time enough for clean up later.
“Ris!” his right hand man cried sharply, and Ris pivoted and ducked low, just in time for a fireball to blast just over his head. The force knocked him back, but the warning and his metal armor had saved him from getting hit directly or suffering significant damage. Jinn, the one who had warned him, braced him as he stumbled and pushed him back to his feet.
“When you’re done dreaming…!” Jinn managed to shout between slashes as he turned to face a bandit that had popped from a side tunnel to their left. That was nearly insubordination, but they were much more than soldier and commanding officer. And, Jinn was right to be tense. They had managed to put the enemy at a disadvantage, but Ris’ team was in just as tight a spot, if not worse. While half his team had faced the cave entrance to pressure the enemy from behind, the other half had spread out, ready to encircle and overwhelm the magic-user and any forces that might be protecting him. Only, they still couldn’t see him. Worse, it was dark in the cave, and there were side tunnels from which scattered reinforcement were now arriving. And as far as Ris knew, they’d just blocked off their only exit.
But he had orders, and he would see them done. First, he’d deal with the light problem.
“Cover me!” he cried, and dropped to the ground. Jinn on his right and Haris on his left stepped forward to take the point of the loose arrow formation the front half of the team now held, fighting like chainsaws set loose to stay in place while the side tunnels produced more bandits like fitful bursts of sneezing. Ris leaned close to the ground and spoke softly to it.
“You’ve been so helpful! Truly, the way you wrapped around their boots was brilliant. Now, I hate to be annoying, but could you give us some light? There’s a nasty fire-user I want to stop.”
The ground was harder now, and colder. She would not forget. Plants would not grow the same in places where blood had been spilt, being corrupted or sickly, and in some places it even became barren. All of creation waited for the day when God himself would make all things new, for only something that awesome and drastic could cleanse the corruptions, wipe away the tears, and restore the full beauty of life as it was meant to be. Further, they stood now on rock rather than loam, and the roots were far away.
But the ground’s attitude towards him was kind. Ris strained, pressing his palms against the ground to pour more and more mana in, and finally, the mycelium beneath the trees above responded. The mycelium was faster than the roots, and spread further. It seeped through the stone like water until it had invaded every part of the cave’s walls, then broke through, fruiting into brilliantly green, glowing half moons like shelves all around.
With the improved lighting, Ris was able to see that already his men had made tidy work of most of the bandits that had popped from the side tunnels. He was able to see that most of these bandits hadn’t worn leather armor, but fine clothes like merchants or a few random pieces of plate like mercenaries. He could see that beyond the side tunnels, the main tunnel sloped up just a little before ending in a wide but low cavern. And he saw that between them and the back of the cave stood the fire mage. Another fireball was already prepped between her outstretched palms, nearly ready to launch, even as her thin arms shook with effort and dripped sweat. And she was very small.
Instantly, Ris was transported to another place and time. Him, peacefully tilling the soil, preparing the ground for the spring planting, the birds and earth alike singing to him of the joyful release from winter and chattering of the anxious expectations of the summer’s work. The sun was bright and high in the sky, but not yet so strong that he felt the need to shield his skin and eyes, and the wind carried a sweet scent of a flower he had yet to study. His wife’s laughter echoed from the windows of their small home, and suddenly a small form darted from the front door and dashed towards him, shrieking in delight. Lily, his little girl, ran half naked through the freshly tilled field, instantly covering herself and the oversized shirt her mother had been resizing in mud. Ris sprang forward and scooped the girl up. Her shrieks dissolved into helpless giggles as he play growled at her.
“Where are you going, little mongoose,” he asked with mock severity.
“Mommy said I could make a bouquet for the table!”
“Don’t you want to look nice when you ask the earth for some of her flowers?”
The girl looked up at him with wide-eyed sincerity. “Sister-earth and I are twins! She likes it when I look like her.”
The sword in his hands suddenly felt heavy, dirty, other. It threatened to cut right through the vision in his mind. He couldn’t, he just couldn’t. Then the fireball launched.
“Down!” Ris cried. His men, trained to the bone, drop as one on both fronts, and the fire blasted past them, just over Ris’s head and deep into the cluster of bandits in the cave mouth still desperately fighting to get inside.
“Boom!”
The girl gasped in shock at her mistake, then cowered back as Ris and his men rose again, and Jinn and Haris stepped forward, faces dark and grim in a way that cutting through hordes of angry men just couldn’t make them. Then there was a shout as a large man sprang from one of the side tunnels.
“I told you to stay in the tunnel! Why did you–” Then the man noticed the enemies and froze, but just as quickly recovered and charged at an angle, putting himself between Ris’ team and the girl. Then he turned to attack, his long, curved blade flickering in the sickly green light. He was brave and strong, and Ris didn’t not have to wonder at the constant success this man had enjoyed with his companions, even against armed companies. Ris, Haris and Jinn were all three put on the defensive by his onslaught. But the bandit leader’s men were not with him now. He could not contend the power of Ris and his team for long, even as the girl’s shrieks sapped the strength and precision out of Ris’ strikes as effectively as any debuff spell could have. In the end, it was Haris who finished the bandit leader.
Immediately, the girl ran forward, screaming, heat beginning to seep up and off of her, her mana welling like a bud bursting into bloom. Ris dropped to the ground and willed the roots and the mycelium, anything at all, to reach up and grab her, stalling her, to stop her for him. But the ground, for all its goodwill, refused to budge. It was old, and knew with intimate accuracy what fire did to living things when it got too close. Ris rose and gripped the handle of his sword which still pointed at the ground. He could not bring himself to lift it. He just couldn’t. He saw Jinn take a step forward, Haris following, and Ris’ free hand shot forward of its own volition, gripping his aide’s shoulder.
Jinn shook him off, his eyes glaring and his jaw tight. “I know,” he growled. Then his eyes flicked towards Haris and the others, then meaningfully back at Ris. Ris curled his hand into a fist, mastering himself.
The girl’s skin erupted in a steady blue flame so hot that the metal of their plate instantly began to glow red where it touched. But Ris faced down the heat, pulled his shield off his back, and stepped forward. His men immediately followed his example, pressing about her on all sides with their shields out. She was momentarily pinned by the wall of metal, then Jinn swung the shaft of his spear and cracked it into the back of her skull. The wood burst alight, blackened, charred, and broke. But, it had done its work. The girl was unconscious, and her fire quickly winked out where it had not found sufficient food.
Ris’ men fell back and began beating themselves down to get rid of remaining sparks. The paint on Ris’ shield had alighted, but was consumed rapidly, while he caught the limp girl with his other hand. The fire died, a faint trace of smoke and some greasy byproduct the only evidence of its passing. At last the earth moved, as thick tree roots ground through the earth and wrapped around the girl, pulling her away from Ris, and small puffball-like mushrooms fruited along the roots to rupture and puff out a faint cloud of spores that made Ris woozy as a he caught a whiff from the furthest edges. He quickly backed away. The earth would keep her sedated, it seemed.
His will to fight felt like the blackened stump in Jinn’s hands, but he straightened as he lowered his smoking shield and looked around carefully for more threats. Seeing none, he turned to his men and jerked his head at the cave mouth, where the back half of his forces still held the opening and chewed up the remaining bandit forces while the main legion crushed them from the outside.
“Let’s go.”
Some bandits still fought bravely, but when Ris grimly planted the bandit leader’s distinctive sword in the roof of the cave mouth, their hearts left them, and all resistance melted away. Even so, they had been brave, he thought, even as he chased the scattering bands. Some he pursued to lives of crime even harder than the one they’d enjoyed before, some to their deaths, and some perhaps to less desperate means. But his men had been brave too, charging deep into enemy lines, confronting the famed bandit king and his fire-wielding daughter, supporting his decisions as leader with precision and stoic acceptance. And he himself had to be brave. Brave enough to protect his own wife and daughter who relied on the crown’s power and men to keep their lands safe; brave enough to direct and fight with his men, who counted on him to keep a cool head and lead them back to their own families; And brave enough to accept the adoring accolades of an ignorant populace back home, who loved the stories of heroes and villains, of winning the day, and had no ears for the tales of evil choices and evil circumstances.
As yet another pack of bandits fell beneath the winnowing blades of his men, Ris paused and pressed his palms against the earth. It felt as though he might sink right through the earth with the weight he carried.
“I’m so sorry. Sorry to taint you with this blood and evil.”
The ground would not forget. It still longed for its salvation and purification, and mourned all the time left before then.
Then, a single flower popped up between his fingers, a little orange pansy. Yes, the earth waited in mourning, but in the meantime, she had reached back out to Ris; mute, subdued, but understanding. The orange pansy was his daughter’s favorite. Ris smiled down at the flower.
“I’ll see you soon, little Mongoose.”
He rose, straightened his posture, and followed his men deeper into the woods.
This is the first of many stories I hope to add to this site. They will be posted expressly for your enjoyment, but also as a learning experience for me. For this reason, I am eager to hear how this story impacted you. Whether you loved it or hated it, just weren’t interested or just didn’t get it, please feel free to let me know, and thank you for accompanying me on this journey.
With grins,