Bastards and dreams

Aurelia
The band of bastards stood before us in lines similar to our own. I couldn’t believe how many of them had been gathered. When I looked at their force, barely visible from the tree coverage that blocked us from going forward. I was in shock. It now made sense how they were able to destroy those towns and get away so fast. They had enough men that they would be able to attack as well as defend from behind and stop any escaping the attack. Where did they all come from? They were armed with everything from bows to farm instruments and even a rock here or there.
I tried to get a better look at the individual faces of the crowd. Most of the faces I could see were young, I thought that they could have been in that same age range as Kairios’ brothers. I knew that there were many children that had been left without parents. Miranda had taken care of a group of runaways, were these similar? I looked harder at them and saw that some older men were placed here and there throughout. And they were the ones holding the better assortment of weapons.
Nothing about their group made sense to me. I rode out slightly ahead of the lines our own force. Kairios flanked me on the left and Mana on the right. “Who is your leader?” I shouted to the masses. No one moved or looked like they were ready to answer my question. This group was clearly here for fighting, not talking. That worked for us. This was what we wanted since the day that we found the town Wheton destroyed.
“Form up!” I yelled to the group of fighters that were behind me. A side look at them and I saw swords in hand and bows with arrows nocked and aimed on target. I drew my sword as well.
The lines in front of us scattered.
Some ran towards us, some ran to the bushes and the rest just ran out of range. A second of hesitation was a second to long. Kairios signaled for us to retaliate. I kicked my legs into Scorch and allowed my senses to shift into the darkest parts of me. The one that could be the fighter that everyone needed to see.
I was on the first person in seconds. They had no chance against my height and Scorch’s strength. The person swung out their club of rotted wood, but Scorch rode that one down and I was on to the next. This one had a sword and it clashed against mine. The vibrations ran up my arm as I pulled my sword back and swung it again. Scorch reared up, distracting the man. My sword sunk deep into his neck. When I pulled it back, blood sprayed and dripped from my blade. Then I was on to the next. We were unstoppable. Scorch was as much a creature of battle as I was.
We fought through the small group that remained after the rest scattered. I don’t know how much time passed for me to get through them. But when I looked back at the blood shed, there were more bodies piled up than I had thought there would be. Most of them looked nothing like the men that I sent out. Some were dead here and there amongst the bastards. My loses were still low all things considered.
Now we had to deal with those who had scattered. I had no doubt that they had a trap laid and wanted us to chase them into the woods. We would not fall prey to those ideals. “Shall we chase them?” Kairios said from behind me.
“I don’t think it would be wise. It has to be a trap, why else would they run off like that?”
“We have the upper hand right now, we have to push on!” A general that I could not remember the name of. He was the worst of them all, seeking glory not peace. The kind of person I didn’t want in the new world.
“Don’t be a fool. We stay on the road. They have the upper hand in the forest. Who knows how long they have been set up. Probably hiding in the trees waiting to ambush us.”
“That may be, but we have to keep going after these bastards!”
“The queen has spoken, who are you to dispute her orders?” Mana demanded from behind me.
“I am from these lands! You are no one to talk to me in such a way!” The fool yelled back.
“I have no time for this, I have said what will happen. That is the end of it. If you have nothing useful to add to this conversation then shut the fuck up.” I had enough of this. How dare he bring up such a thing to Mana in regards to fighting for these lands. I would have to deal with him later.
I didn’t wait to see what his reaction was or if he would even say anything back. I turned and mounted Scorch once more. “We patrol the road for now. They will have to surface at some point.” I rode off after that. I wanted blood payment. Not debate.
Hooves sounded behind me. The others had mounted and started to follow. I looked back and saw that those who were on foot were reforming the lines to ready for the next attack. We would wait them out. I went a few miles up the road, saw nothing of note and made my way back to the lines. My army were still holding firm with no reports.
What were their plans? Did they give up on us? Would they try to keep waiting us out? What if they attacked in the night? Thinking on it more, I realized that was what they would do, it was what I would do.
“Send word out that we all sleep in shifts. No more than a third of us can sleep at a time. When they attack us they will think that we are all in bed and unaware.”
“Set up the tents, set the fires.” Than in a lower voice Kairios said “tell everyone that they sleep in shifts. Two hours each. We must be able to detect and alarm on any attack.”
“I will go on patrol while camp is being set. Mana you come with me and Kairios, you see to the camp arrangements.”
Scorch went on with out me needing to direct her. She was as ready for the next fight as I was. We rode along the line of the trees, daring to go further in than we would have before. There was nothing. Some tracks here and there, none we were willing to follow as they led deep into the wood. I watched the tree tops too, thinking that would be the best place to hide.
I even used my better dragon sight, only to find nothing more than bunnies and insects lurking through the brush. They had to be near. We would have known, the scouts were still out they had been given fresh orders to keep an eye out. Still no reports came back. Frustration built and I thought there was nothing else to do now other than get some sleep and hope that I was rested for when they would attack.
I set Scorch up first with buckets of food and water. I wanted to keep her close to my tent and refused to let the stable hands take her to join the other horses. I could tell she wanted to stay with me as well. The city had kept up apart for to long. I had no need to tie her up. She wouldn’t wonder and no one in my camp was stupid enough to steal the queens war horse, for fear of the horse herself.
My tent was thankfully small like all the others now. After that first night I had made my complaints clear and it had taken a while for them to figure out that I wanted the same tent as every one else. This bed was hard and made for one. Kairios had his own tent next to mine. I doubted he would use it tonight. He wanted to stay on guard with the rest. I found I didn’t have the energy to try and convince him to come to my bed.
I took only my weapons off, leaving my sword and dagger close. My bow and arrows waited by the tents door. Laying down in full armor was incredibly uncomfortable but I found a way to lay on my back and have enough support under my head. I lifted my hand and looked at the ring that circled my little finger. The feather design had not worn and the colors had not changed. What ever magic this ring held, it was protected from wear.
We had not talked about Galorian in the last days. Mana never brought him up again. I still wondered what words would be the ones to summon him. And if I ever did, than how long would it take for him to get here? A growing part of me wished that Kairos didn’t hate him. Wished that like in Mana’s home, we all could love who we choose and how we choose. If he took another woman, would I be okay with that?
Soon I found myself lost in the thoughts of the four of us. The two men I desired and another beautiful woman. The thought of it alone had my core heating up. A blonde haired girl, skinny and as tall as I was. Soft supple breasts that filled my palms as I toyed with her hard pink nipples. Soft pink lips, both on her mouth and between her legs. She would be mine as much as theirs. We would be pressed together with each man behind us, taking their pleasure while they watched us.
“Aurelia, wake up!”
Ruff hands shook me and Saira’s voice yelled again in my ear. “They have come! Hurry!”
“Shit.”
I rolled out of my hard bed. My mind was still back in the dream and my eye was blurry. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. They were here, the attack had come. But when I looked out my door, the sun had started to rise.
“What the,”
“They didn’t come in the night like we thought. They waited till sunrise. Most of the men had given up waiting.”
Sure enough the sounds of battle reached my ears. Scorch was padding the ground and baying loudly for me to hurry. I grabbed my sword and shoved my dagger into its holder on my leg. I grabbed my bow and quiver than pushed the flaps out of my way and slung it on Scorch.
“Stay with me, heal those that you can, but be ready to fight. Where are you throwing knives?”
“Here.” She said pointing to the pack that she always carried at her side. she pulled out two for each hand.
Just in time I noticed it. A spear flying straight for us. I gripped the handle of my sword hard with both hands and swung out. I caught it just as it would have hit me. The redirect send it flipping into the flaps of my tent. I looked up and saw Saira’s arm extended as she threw a danger at the spear thrower. I ran when I heard the sound of it hit her target.
I drew my sword back and slammed the tip into the throat of the boy who had fallen on his back from the force of her throw. I looked down at the boy and thought that I had seen him some where before, back before all this killing and fighting started. I wondered at the face as I moved on to the next and the next, killing them all as I went.
Then I realized who it was. Fairor.