Green Eyes

“Looks like your girls got it right,” Mara whispered four hours later as they gathered behind a tree. “Two cohorts of Bloodies, one camped on either side of the road.”

Micaela had gotten them through the forest without incident, showing off her remarkable woods skills. Her guess to the Kalashonian camp location was spot on too, earning even Jared’s grudging acknowledgement.

“Sense anything Selene?” Jared asked the question that was forefront in all of their minds. If there was a sorcerer, then things were bound to get very, very exciting.

The Navi closed her eyes and concentrated. “No, nothing,” she reported a moment later.

All three sighed audibly in relief, though Mara and Jared exchanged confused looks.

“What?” Selene read the silent conversation.

“Nothing,” Jared replied quickly.

Selene knew it was a lie but decided not to press it. She knew the twins well enough that if they thought something was relevant, they would say so. Probably.

“What’s the plan boss?” she asked Mara with a sly smile.

The older woman looked out from behind the tree, eyebrows knitting into a pensive glare. “Emmanuelle is probably being held in middle of one of the camps. The question is which one.”

“The far one,” Jared declared quickly. “They know that the Amazons are north of the road and would expect them to attack the nearest camp first. So they put her in the farthest camp. Another reason beside space to divide the two cohorts.”

“That sounds to fucking simple,” Micaela coldly observed not wanting to admit that was exactly what she would’ve done.

“The best tactics usually are. The more complicated your tactics are, the more can go wrong and in battles things always go wrong,” Jared shrugged. He had long since cooled off and was not interested in getting into another fight, especially not here. “I’d think your Esthorian history lessons would’ve taught you that more often than not, battles are lost by overly-cute tactics,” he couldn’t resist the jab.

“We study things other than just people killing each other,” Micaela returned the jab, tensing.

“Children,” Mara warned. “That’s not helping. The point is that they are expecting the Amazons to attack the northern camp. Well fine, let’s give it to them. Jared, I want you and Micaela to—”

“WHAT!” both exclaimed loud enough that Mara worried they’d been heard.

“I’m not going to argue with either of you,” Mara informed sternly, sounding to Selene like a mother rebuking a couple of unruly kids. “I’m in charge here and I’m not going to put up with your personal issues. Either deal with them or put them out of your head, but we have a girl who is being imprisoned and possibly tortured. Keep your focus there, got it?” Both nodded mutely.

“Now we’ve got that out of the way,” Mara continued. “I want you guys to attack the northern camp to distract them. Selene and I will sneak around the back to the southern camp, grab Emmanuelle and get out.”

“How will we know when you do?” Micaela asked a fair question.

Mara looked back over the camps, considering the fair question. “Selene will light the tent on fire,” she decided.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you and me to get the girl?” Jared didn’t feel comfortable with Selene attempting to be stealthy and even less so working with Micaela.

“No,” Mara shook her head. “If Emmanuelle isn’t where we think she is, we could use Selene’s mind-reading talents. If she is there, then she’s probably injured and Selene will probably have to heal her. Plus, given the odds we’re facing we can’t leave them on their own.” Selene wanted to bristle at the observation except she knew it to be true.

“Fair enough,” Jared allowed with crossed arms. “You’d better get moving then.”

Mara nodded. “Come on Selene, let’s go,” she gestured to the Navi. Selene stood, stretched, and followed Mara west and a little south as quietly as possible, leaving Micaela and Jared alone. They faced each other with a tense and disdainful look.

“Listen,” Jared began, “I don’t like you and you don’t like me. But we both want to get Emmanuelle back and military operations are my area of specialty. So please, for Emmanuelle’s sake, just do what I say and don’t argue. After this I’m gone. Fair enough?”

Micaela’s amethyst eyes narrowed but she nodded tersely. “Fine,” she said coldly. “So we’re going to be a distraction?”

“Yep,” Jared confirmed getting out his bow and stringing it. “Get your sword ready,” he told her.

Micaela pulled her blade out, smaller than Jared’s by about eight inches or so, and held it close to her chest. Meanwhile Jared notched three arrows simultaneously on the string and drew it.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Micaela hissed. “You can’t kill anyone with that.”

“What did we say about questioning me?” Jared coldly answered, drawing the string to his cheek, holding it there for a second before releasing the projectiles.

They raced through the night towards the center of the northern Blood Guard camp. One stuck in the ground like a thumbtack, another tore through one of the red-dyed tents, and the third managed to pierce the thigh of one of the pacing sentries, eliciting a piercing scream. In the darkness, Jared smiled even as he nocked another pair of arrows and fired again.

“That’s what,” he told her after firing another volley. “We’re supposed to be an Amazon attack so we need to act like one. That means firing off multiple arrows per volley to make us look bigger than we are. Like a cat bristling its fur and arching its back when angered,” he analogized. “It’s working too,” he added gesturing down to the camps.

Micaela glanced down at the Blood Guard camps, both of which were buzzing like a hornet’s nest being kicked over and then back at Jared with incredulity. “You think you’re so goddamned smart, don’t you?” she growled.

“I am,” Jared returned. “Let’s get down there before they get organized.”

The pair scrambled down the slight rise to the northern camp. Already the Blood Guards were organizing their defense. Four Elephs were arraying themselves as a shield wall around the woodward edge of the camp while the rest of the cohort took up positions further back in the camp. The second cohort forming up in full battle positions in the road itself.

An intelligent tactic, Jared noted sourly as he and Micaela shifted their way down through the trees. They weren’t going to be baited into trying to fight the Amazons among the dark trees, instead forcing them out into the open. The Kalashonians could stay behind their shields, knowing that arrows couldn’t penetrate them.

The good news was that the Kalashonians thought this was a full-on attack and had cleared the way for Selene and Mara. That also meant that Jared and Micaela only needed to stick around as long as was absolutely necessary for Emmanuelle to be rescued. They didn’t actually have to defeat the Blood Guards, just distract them for a few minutes. To keep their attention, he fired off a couple more arrows for good measure, dropping one.

“Run,” he whispered hoarsely to Micaela. They had to make it to the Kalashonian lines before they fully formed up.

The pair broke into a dead sprint, Jared easily outpacing Micaela with his longer legs. Just as he broke the treeline a moment later, the mercenary leapt into flying kick aimed at an astonished Blood Guard’s head.

He struck home crushing the soldier’s head against the hard ground and rolled once before popping back up. Already Blood Guards from the center of the camp started charging towards him as Jared turned around to charge the Eleph he had just punched through.

They hesitated, unsure whether to face Jared or the other potential threats in the forest. That hesitation bought Jared all the time he needed and he charged right into them.

The Eleph hadn’t fully formed up yet and so Jared was able to pick them off one by one. He first targeted a Form III user, first striking off his sword arm before slashing his throat. Next Jared killed a woman wielding a spear by stepping inside her thrust and gutting her.

By now the remnants of the Eleph had turned to face him which made his life a little more difficult. They marched towards him in a semi-circle while another full Eleph came running up from behind.

As they closed the circle, a woman wielding twin blades broke out and charged him. She was very good, Jared noted, probably a master-level Form IV user. She struck with her right blade while using her left as a shield, defending her midsection. Jared was forced to retreat a step which pushed him closer to the tightening ranks of Bloodies.

The mercenary planted his back foot and thrust forward with his sword. She caught it easily with her left blade and stabbed back with her right. This was precisely what Jared had wanted as he pushed off with his sword and pivoted to his left, away from the incoming blade. Then with a flourishing sweep, he struck off her head.

By now the Elephs were in very tight and Jared was running out of ideas. A man stepped out from behind a comrade’s shield to give Jared a firm thrust with his spear. Jared deflected the strike easily and stepped in to finish off his opponent only to be met with the hard, steel wall of the shield.

He needed to go on the offensive. Quickly scanning the closing Bloodies, he ruefully noted they were very, very good.

A Form III practitioner charged in, feinting with his sword before ducking under his shield to block Jared’s retaliation. Just as Jared struck the shield, the man pushed back, driving Jared’s sword up and a small woman armed with just a sword appeared from behind and slashed at the mercenary’s exposed side.

Jared had anticipated this and rolled away, only to face a spear racing towards him. Only quick reflexes saved him as he cocked his head left, feeling the shaft grazing him. Reaching up with his left hand, Jared grabbed the spear and jerked the bearer forward, torqueing his own body 180 degrees in the process. Reversing the grip on his sword, Jared thrust back to where he knew the man’s exposed belly would be.

Now facing the Form III user again, Jared slashed high forcing the man to raise his shield. The mercenary then drove the newly acquired spear up underneath the buckler into his enemy’s ribcage. Dropping the spear in the dead man, Jared slammed his sword down on the woman’s blade and then with a ferocious back slash, tore open her neck.

Three down; at least fifteen more to go and that wasn’t counting the rest of the force deployed against them.

He’d pushed too far and now needed to get out and back to the woods to regroup and strike again. It was only a matter of time before they realized there was only two of them attacking and once that happened, Mara and Selene would find themselves with a lot of unwanted company. These people hadn’t become Blood Guards by being idiots.

Another pair were moving in to strike, a Form V and VI this time when suddenly the Form V man dropped, tripping his companion. Jared pounced on the fallen soldier, slaying her before she had a chance to even look up. Before the Bloodies could close ranks, another one was dropped leaving Jared a clear path back to the woods.

Not asking why, the mercenary took it and sprinted at top speed through the gap. Micaela, he saw, was already running towards the woods a couple of paces ahead of him.

“What took you so long?” he demanded with a snarl.

“What? The big, bad War Master can’t take care of himself?” she mocked in reply.

Jared just growled. “Stick closer next time,” he ordered.

“A simple ‘thank you’ would do,” she chided.

“You’re insufferable,” he snapped as they leaned behind a tree to catch their breath.

“And you’re impossible,” she retorted.

“Let’s just focus on saving your friend,” he replied, not wanting to admit that if she hadn’t saved his butt, she had at the least made his life significantly easier. “Take them on next,” he pointed to the Eleph in the middle. “And stick with me this time.”

“Don’t run so fast,” she returned.

“I thought you could do anything we could,” he prodded.

“Shut the hell up,” she snapped.

“Only about half of an Eleph have shields,” Jared ignored her. “The idea is to make them more mobile and versatile, unlike the slow and bulky Malchian phalanxes. But it also means there are chinks in their defense. Find them and attack there.”

Micaela nodded. “Charge?”

“Charge,” Jared confirmed and the pair dashed back through the trees towards the Eleph.

The dark shadows of the trees covered their approach so that the Kalashonians didn’t see them until it was too late. Jared struck at that center of their line, a Form III woman. She raised her shield to block the blow, which Jared had intentionally angled to her right. That exposed her left side and also the person standing to her left. Micaela darted in from behind, taking both the spear-wielder and the surprised woman before they had a chance to react.

Having divided the Eleph in half, they turned back to back and assaulted the Kalashonians. Jared dueled a Form IV woman for five moves before running her through and moving on to take down a pair of Form III men. Micaela struck down another Form VI before getting nicked by a Form II. She retaliated by feinting left and then whipping her weapon around like she had seen Jared do countless times, slicing open her opponents neck.

Suddenly Jared appeared beside her, taking on a shield. He let the man push him up and again Micaela slipped under, stabbing him in the gut. The final man retreated back to his approaching comrades.

“Let’s pull back.” Jared told Micaela, putting a hand on her shoulder, restraining her advance. “They’re not going to be baited into chasing us so we’d better not be baited into chasing them.”

Micaela nodded seeing both the sense of his point and the dozens of red-caped soldiers marching towards them. She may have been angry but she was an Esthorian and therefore wasn’t stupid. They melted back into the shadows moving a dozen paces from the treeline.

“You’re wounded,” Jared observed Micaela’s left shoulder that was already stained deep red.

“It’s just a scratch,” she shrugged a little painfully. Truth be told, now that some of her adrenaline was wearing off, it stung like crazy.

“Hold still,” Jared took the water skin from his belt and poured a little on the gash, cleaning it and causing Micaela to wince. A moment later, Jared ripped the lower half of her left sleeve and then wrapped it tightly around her wound, bandaging it.

“There,” he said. “That should hold you together. How does it feel?”

“Careful there, Kalashonian,” she flashed him an impish grin. “Someone might think you actually care about me.”

“Even I need someone to watch my back, occasionally,” Jared retorted, though his voice betrayed something else Micaela couldn’t quite place. Appreciation or admiration, maybe?

“Where to next?” she asked straightening up and looking around the tree to the Kalashonian camp. The Blood Guards had regrouped, already another Eleph in place, hard, firm eyes dancing in the torch light that illuminated the camp.

“We started left so let’s—”

CRACK!

“Well, fuck,” Micaela swore as both heads snapped towards the direction of the sound.

“Yeah, I’d say that about sums it up,” Jared concurred from behind her.

It wasn’t the sound of an explosion but more the sound of wood being shattered from forceful impact. Even from their limited vantage point they could see the fragments of a cart skittering across the road. Already Blood Guards were turning and rushing towards the southern camp.

“Come on,” Jared grabbed Micaela’s arm and pulled her left.

“Where are we going?” Micaela demanded, digging in her heels.

“We’re going to get your girl,” Jared answered.

“But—”

“Plan A is over,” Jared curtly replied.

*******