Episode: The Battle of Pridehall
Posted by Story on 02/13/17
Pietro, Vincere and Cara ride far out into enemy forces in search of Tolamar Brand. They ride out into the forest and through the trees, an escort of Igniseri troops beside them. It isn't until they're far deep into the enemy lines that they realize they've been cut off. The sounds of combat ring behind them, and ahead of them. Ring, furious, to either side. There is no forward, or backward, for them. No sideways. They're trapped.
They lead the Igniseri troops forward in formation toward an army of Shavs, toward a pair of Bringers, dark and terrible. There are too many. Too, too many. Seen through the trees, it seemed like there were only a hundred. Seen up close, there are far more: not a hundred, but thousands. So many thousands. Vincere looks back at Cara, beautiful and strong and fierce atop her horse. This will be their last fight. They all know it. But he sees her, and he knows this cannot be HER last fight.
As the Shavs surge forward, Vincere draws his knife. His lips form a prayer, unspoken. He drags the blade of his knife across each wrist, holds out his palms, and the world stands still. He bleeds out, and the first wave of Shavs is flattened. Crushed, in bone-breaking agony. Vincere falls from his horse; his blood pools in the grass.
Pietro cries out, as his brother tumbles down. With a shout that breaks upon the air like glass, he rides forward. In fury, he draws his weapon. In blind, incredible rage, he strikes the Shavs down. They fall by the dozen. By the hundred. But there are just so many.
Where Vincere's blood soaks the ground -- where the first wave of Shavs lies crumpled and broken -- the earth falls away, and the Shavs with it. Pietro is trapped on one side, Cara and the Igniseri troops on the other. There is no crossing this sudden chasm. No forward, anymore. And Cara knows it. Cara, who kneels beside Vincere's blood-drained body, who holds him in her arms, and weeps, knows it. Someone has to take those Igniseri troops home.
Cara rallies the Igniseri troops, and as they flee on horseback, the chasm follows them. It cuts off the Shavs behind them, and beside them. It clears their path home. It runs deeper still at the sound of Pietro's death cry. The earth trembles, pushing Cara forward. Ride! Ride! She can almost hear it in her ears: Vincere's voice. Ride! Live!
By the time Cara and the Igniseri troops reach the safety of their allies, she is bone-pale, sweat-bright. She jumps from her horse, shaking. "There are more," she says, gripping the reins of her horse tight. "There are SO MANY MORE. They are coming."
They lead the Igniseri troops forward in formation toward an army of Shavs, toward a pair of Bringers, dark and terrible. There are too many. Too, too many. Seen through the trees, it seemed like there were only a hundred. Seen up close, there are far more: not a hundred, but thousands. So many thousands. Vincere looks back at Cara, beautiful and strong and fierce atop her horse. This will be their last fight. They all know it. But he sees her, and he knows this cannot be HER last fight.
As the Shavs surge forward, Vincere draws his knife. His lips form a prayer, unspoken. He drags the blade of his knife across each wrist, holds out his palms, and the world stands still. He bleeds out, and the first wave of Shavs is flattened. Crushed, in bone-breaking agony. Vincere falls from his horse; his blood pools in the grass.
Pietro cries out, as his brother tumbles down. With a shout that breaks upon the air like glass, he rides forward. In fury, he draws his weapon. In blind, incredible rage, he strikes the Shavs down. They fall by the dozen. By the hundred. But there are just so many.
Where Vincere's blood soaks the ground -- where the first wave of Shavs lies crumpled and broken -- the earth falls away, and the Shavs with it. Pietro is trapped on one side, Cara and the Igniseri troops on the other. There is no crossing this sudden chasm. No forward, anymore. And Cara knows it. Cara, who kneels beside Vincere's blood-drained body, who holds him in her arms, and weeps, knows it. Someone has to take those Igniseri troops home.
Cara rallies the Igniseri troops, and as they flee on horseback, the chasm follows them. It cuts off the Shavs behind them, and beside them. It clears their path home. It runs deeper still at the sound of Pietro's death cry. The earth trembles, pushing Cara forward. Ride! Ride! She can almost hear it in her ears: Vincere's voice. Ride! Live!
By the time Cara and the Igniseri troops reach the safety of their allies, she is bone-pale, sweat-bright. She jumps from her horse, shaking. "There are more," she says, gripping the reins of her horse tight. "There are SO MANY MORE. They are coming."