Chapter 147: Whitefall IV
Maya? I shouted.
Here! A voice called back. A few yards away from me, Maya pushed herself to her feet. She looked similar to how I felt, with her expression dazed, her dress torn and smeared with dirt.
The aegis faded. After a brief look to make sure there was no immediate threat, I forced myself to disassociate from the chaos. Catalogue the damage.
A piece of metal shrapnel, about a fingers-width long, had found its way through a gap in the xescalt armor and embedded itself in my thigh. While the pain was manageable, the location was problematic. It was impossible to tell through the fabric whether it hit anything vital.
I checked to ensure it was firmly lodged, and upon confirming that it was, left it in.
Aside from a few scratches on my face, I was unscathed. My breastplate, on the other hand, was dented around my chest as a result from a massive shard of metal lying nearby in the grass. If it wasnt for the armor, it would have pierced my heart. And Id be dead already.
Only then did I allow myself to take it all in. The attackers had detonated the mobile armory, effectively turning it into an improvised bomb.
The resulting damage was catastrophic.
A multitude of bloodied bodies littered the grass, human, and horses alike. Many died from the initial impact. Others were alive and screaming, fountains of blood running freely from jagged wounds that did little to differentiate noble from soldier. There was smoke everywhere, making it impossible to get any sort of handle on the battlefield.
I tensed as a large man in plated armor walked through the smoke, seemingly unharmed, until he fell to his knees and toppled, blood running freely from the hole where his arm had been cut clean off.
Whos attacking us? Thaddeus?
I blinked. The man was gone. Id protected him with the aegis and now he was nowhere to be seen.
Something was wrong. In any other situation, the military should have closed ranks around the nobility. The few I did see were scattered on the ground, next to their late charges.
Where were all the soldiers?
Blade. Maya commanded.
I tossed her my knife, still looking for any trace of an enemy. Maya withdrew the dark blade from the sheath and slashed savagely through the leg of her restrictive dress. I walked backward, covering her with my body. There was too much smoke. It pressed in on us, thick and claustrophobic. Read latest chapters at nov(e)lbin.com Only
Somethings wrong.
You think?! Shit.
What?
Maya didnt answer. Instead, she broke from me and dashed across the clearing. I kept pace, scanning the smoke for shadows and silhouettes, finding none.
When I reached her, Maya was kneeling over a woman with dozens of pieces of metal that had shredded through her face, marring her almost beyond recognition. Mayas hands glowed green, cupping the womans face.
Lady Melody
Shes gone. We need to move.
The wounds are localized to one area. I can stop the bleeding and stabilize her. Mayas face was a mask of focus.
Maya!
Deny me of this and deny yourself an ally! Maya bellowed. She lowered her voice, but still stared defiantly up at me. Think. Do you hear the sounds of battle beneath their cries of pain?
I strained my ears. There was a great deal of movement and another explosion, but no clashing of steel. No.
Drephin? I asked.
Abominations. Maya shuddered. Celestial elves, transformed by the cruel machinations of the old gods.
They all look like her? Light reddish skin? Black veins?
No ones ever seen one. Theyre supposed to be extinct. Maya whispered. I held my hand out to her, and she took it, as we continued through the smoke. But that fits the description from the legends.
That wasnt the answer I wanted to hear. In my countless hours of research, delving into the history of the other races, the Drephin had never warranted so much as a mention.
But Id seen them before.
They were there that night. At the coronation. I whispered grimly.
Maya squeezed my arm. Are you certain?
Without a doubt.
Then we are in far greater peril than we realized. The ramifications alone
Lets, just, stay focused on the present.
Maya nodded, still deep in thought
Up ahead, the sounds of armored bodies and screams had intensified, accompanied by the clashing impacts of swords and battle cries. I cocked my head. The sounds seemed centered on two separate locations. Straight ahead, and far to the right.
The humans are split. I said grimly, knowing all too well what that meant in a situation like this. The fighting was not in our favor.
Finally, the smoke cleared.
The feeling of wrongness grew stronger as I took in the two distinct groups. One was almost entirely rank-and-file. The bulk of my fathers forces, locked in battle with the drephin. A bloody clash, but theyd kept their wits about them and maintained formation.
Nearly a hundred feet away, there was a much smaller group struggling to maintain a single defensive line against the onslaught of scarlet elves, let alone a full formation, their focus hopelessly split between protecting a multitude of nobles and defending themselves. My fathers bannerlords were among them, somehow missing the bulk of the men from their houses.
They were attempting to force their way towards the first group, but making little headway.
The first group made no such effort.
And while there were drephin dividing the two, there wasnt nearly enough to prevent merging from being the most tactically sound decision.
Its not a rout. Thats just how its supposed to look..
Even the mages on the backline of the first group were focusing their efforts entirely on the enemy in front of them, despite their considerable range. It was possible they were drained of mana, but this close to the beginning of the battle?
No. This was something else.
What do we do? Maya asked.
Vogrin, you awake? I called him.
No answer. My demonic servants increased downtime on the surface was going to take some serious getting used to.
Cairn? Maya asked again. Shed taken the moment of respite to summon Kastramoth, a macabre, moose-like demon with transparent skin who towered over us.
Youre going to have to trust me, I said.
