For the rest of the day, Caroline stayed in her room, not coming out unless called. She spoke to Belaria about many topics, delighting in what she learned. Belaria told her stories about her exploits with her three companions, lessons that she had been taught herself, told her of magics that hadn't been seen for centuries. Before she went to bed, Belaria told Caroline an idea she had to convince everyone that Caroline should go and find her. That night, Caroline dreamed the stories she was told.

---

The Following Day

Belaria woke up yawning, stretching Caroline's arms as far as they would go. She slid out of Caroline's bed and dressed in Caroline's clothes. In her head, she heard Caroline's voice talk to her. "How long is this going to last again?" Belaria smiled, remembering how the girl had jumped at the idea of switching places last night. "Only for the day, maximum. It's hard to keep the switch up right now, since I'm still connected to my vessel. It would be impossible if i wasn't in Elianst." She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, and once she was inside she inhaled her first breath of fresh air in 400 years. She quickly made her way towards the sounds of battle preparations, finding herself facing the northern wall. Someone saw her and started walking over, obviously trying to stop her, but she smiled and with a twist of her magic disappeared, riding a gust of wind to the top of the wall. She reappeared standing next to the Queen and future King, staring out over the wall. Before the queen could say anything, Belaria turned to her. "Queen of Elianst, blood of my blood, hold that thought for a moment. I believe you assume me to be Caroline, but in fact I am merely borrowing her body for a time, seeing as I lack my own. My name is Belaria, Grand Magus of the kingdom of Luthara, though I know these names are little more than legends now." She paused for a second, looking back over the wall. "I know you have many questions, but the magic I use to hold this body is difficult, and the longest I can hold it is six hours. Caroline can explain the situation when she returns. For now my purpose is to offer you a glimpse of my power, and maybe make your decision on the girl's upcoming request a little easier." She pointed out towards the forces gathered beyond the walls. "Eliminate half of the force. Relinquish them of their weapons. Bring you twice as many soldiers. Double the strength of your defense." Turning once more to the queen's look of confusion, she finished. "Name one of these tasks, and it shall be done. After that I will have no more strength to hold on to the link, and the body will return to Caroline."

The Queen maintained a calm composure as the possessed Caroline informed her of what would have normally been ludicrous but with the events whirling around her as they were she was in a mood to believe such a mad claim. She turned to Revaz and called to Henry before he had properly descended the steps.

"Lord Henry! Lady Revaz, I believe you have something else to consider in your strategies. Prince Jochi, Princess Elaeria and myself will go and speak to our respective peoples and build morale before the battle as is our charge and duty." She slid her hand through Jochi's proffered arm and they descended the steps from the wall together with Elaeria close behind. She stopped for a moment as she passed Henry and laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him. She was surprisingly strong for a woman of her size.

"These people have shown you no mercy, Lord Henry. This is not war as you know but it is war nevertheless; you must return to being a warrior and not a knight." Then she was gone leaving Henry to grit his teeth in frustration. She was right, of course. He hated to admit it but Revaz was also right; the year of peace had let him hope it might last and he had lost his edge for strategy. Rolling his great shoulders he found the deep-seated rage that had carried him through most of his life and re-joined Revaz looking out over the terrain around them.

"You're right. It appears you've still got a mind for war while I temporarily lost mine." He looked towards the forest, his brow furrowing in thought. "Bring us a map of the grounds." He called to one of the few guards on the wall who hurried off to do his bidding. In the meantime Henry dragged one of the benches on the wall over out into the light properly and sat on one end. When the man returned with a map he laid it out on the bench in front of him.

"There's no doubt they'll attack this gate; setting Unity on fire outside our walls will frustrated the aim of our archers from here and gives them the best cover possible to attack. If we assume that the gate will fall easily then they'll first march out possible four hundred yards along this road so that the bulk of their forces are beyond the wall and then they'll redeploy." He pointed to a road on the map. "Their vanguard will be here, probably skirmishers. If we assume the range of their weapons is similar to that of a normal bow then a recurve or longbow will out distance them. So the archers from Elianst, Anstarn and your people will all be able to safely cut down their numbers while remaining out of harms way for the most part." He drew his finger further along the map.

"They'll probably then advance along here as we fall back and they try and brush away our skirmishers. If I have my heavy cavalry from Elianst on the wings of the skirmishers then they'll be safe from any enemy cavalry rush." He paused for a moment, sliding his finger along to the wood. "If their commander has any intelligence at all, even with over confidence they won't commit their entire force to chasing us. If we have the Professors help us then setting fire to the wood will be no issue even with this dew; I don't think the students here have much experience of magic use at all or at least not enough for this to work." He looked up at Revaz and circled the wood with his finger.

"After that I'll leave whatever remains to you and yours; my people are good for coordinated charges and immovable defences but nothing as mobile as keeping a force from regrouping whereas yours are fast and, I fear, actually blooded unlike most of my men." He looked down at the nobles and it was clear who had seen battle and who hadn't. The veterans were busy checking their equipment time and time again, inspecting saddle buckles and swearing oaths to other veterans to pass on last messages in the event the worst happened. In direct contrast the unblooded stalked about arrogantly, swinging blades and tiring themselves uselessly while boasting about their future prowess. It worried Henry how few were at all experienced, especially from Elianst where older men still led the armies.

Shaking off his fears he traced his finger down the road.

"If we assume that their target is the Academy they'll prioritize at least some of their force in attacking there directly, especially if they believe we've already been routed. If we construct the barricade at this crossroads we have routes to fall back on and regroup if necessary but it's far enough away that their forces will be completely isolated from one another." He circled the place on the map with a piece of charcoal from a nearby burned out brazier and mapped out the proposed routes the enemy would take. He thought for a moment and dotted a smaller wood to the west of the road; opposite the woodland Revaz had proposed for their ambush.

"I'll have Granthar concealed here amongst the trees. If we need him to support either of our groups then he's there to attack them in the rear." He looked up at Revaz. "Once we've broken them then victory is ours; we're entirely mounted and we can hunt them down at our pleasure. If we're successful in your plan then Granthar can attack the second part of the force making their way to the Academy in the rear and that'll have them running before long." He stood up, looking down at the people below them.

"I'll have those from Elianst take the most dangerous positions and also have them acting as messengers; they're too unblooded to be relied upon in the heat of actual battle but they still need to do something." He turned to Caroline then, or the one possessing her, and thought.

"We could use the extra troops. Whether we use them as bait to split up their forces or to support the blockade by the Academy they'll be the most useful. Finally this isn't about our glory; this is about everyone here trying to survive. You can take the credit for it, after all it is your plan, but as long as most of us make it out alive I don't really care either way. I just want a chance to rip the guts out of whoever put my father's head on a pike."

Belaria regarded the young warrior with a cold stare, her thoughts unreadable. After a moment, she said "War is never about glory. War is about survival. My purpose here is to give my people the chance to survive." Then she turned toward the soldiers lined up inside the walls, raised her hands and closed her eyes. A low hum emanated from the ground and built into a rumble, churning the earth wherever there was empty space. Dirt and clay moved, gathering and building, and within a minute there was an unmoving clay soldier for every man there. Without opening her eyes, Belaria brought her hands together and pushed them forward, sending streams of red light at each of them. As they were touched one by one, they took a step forward and drew their weapons, a red glow in their eyes. Once every soldier was animated, Belaria gathered the red threads and tied the ends together. As the knot was completed the trailing threads faded away, leaving only the knot in her hands. Handing it to Henry, she said "The soldiers will obey anyone who holds that knot. when their purpose as warriors has been served, you may repurpose them, as they will last as long as the clay." As soon as her hands left the knot, she stumbled, almost falling over as Belaria's magic waned. Caroline quickly took control of her body again, standing up as soon as she could. Spark appeared beside her, unsure of how to help, and finally just settled down beside her as she sat against the wall.

She couldn’t quite remember when she got onto Fenrir’s back, but now she was riding the wolf back to the Academy. Fenrir easily carried her weight and still ran at his top speed. The smoke was heavy even from the ground and Gwen could only hope Fenrir knew where he was going. The wolf was not too pleased with the losing his sense of smell and his demeanor showed it. Anyone that was in his path quickly backed away when they saw the wolf with fresh blood on his jaws.

And finally she saw the castle walls. Men and women stood on guard and Gwen knew that they at least knew of the oncoming attack. From the distance she could hear a faint shout to open the gate. The door opened and Fenrir did not slow down.

‘Get me to the Queen now,’ was her command and Fenrir obeyed. The nobles too saw Fenrir and decided it was better not to confront the dangerous looking wolf. The two stopped in front of the Queen and… the Prince of Helgland standing arm in arm. Gwen decided now was not the time to comment on such things.

Gwen bowed to both before speaking, “My Queen, there is urgent news. I must speak with you.” And the Queen nodded. “The enemy is already inside the city walls. The leader of the group within the city is dead. But they are preparing some sort of ambush. I do not know how many men, but my familiar tells me there are at least twenty.”

The Queen’s face was grim. She dismissed Gwen and told her to tell this to Henry while she finished her business. Gwen bowed again to the royal couple and Fenrir lead the way to the city wall where Henry and another girl were discussing tactics. Gwen arrived just in time to see Caroline summoning clay soldiers.

“Henry!” Gwen threw her arms around the knight and hugged him. The contact was only brief but the relief Gwen felt in seeing him alright lifted her spirits. She quickly told him the news before letting him get back to strategizing. The girl standing close by seemed to sneer at Gwen, but she didn’t pay any attention, instead she went to Caroline.

“Caroline! Are you alright?” Gwen knelt down to the girl. The two were acquaintances as their families were the direct advisors to the ruler. Although they had never been friends, they did share an amicable relationship.

Caroline looked up at Gwen, blinking away her headache. "Don't worry about me, Gwen, I'm fine. You should get somewhere safe, I'm sure you're exhausted." She pushed herself up off the ground, drawing her rapier. Her personal weapon was made differently than normal rapiers, having a broader blade and a wider crossguard. As the strength returned to her limbs, she turned to look over the wall, her glare almost matching her mother's. "I'm going with you." she said suddenly, talking to Henry. "I'm going lead some of those men to the gates of hell personally." Without being called, Spark jumped toward her, ready to lend her his power.

---

Elizabeth returned to the north wall, having confirmed that the only group gathered outside the gates was to the north. She raised an eyebrow at the lines of clay soldiers now standing in front, but said nothing. Catching up with the queen, she spoke softly. "As far as I can tell, their force is gathered here. Either they're extremely confident that they can take us all at once, or there's something more going on. Considering recent events, I think this is supposed to be a distraction for something else. Until we know what that might be, I'm staying with you, and I'll listen to no arguments. I already lost you once, I won't lose you for good this time."

Deleted.

Henry looked up as Gwen arrived and he rose to his feet as she threw her arms around him. The young knight caught her easily, a rare and genuine smile spreading across his features.

"Gwen? When Princess Elaeria returned without you I..." He tailed off, unsure of how to express himself. He fell back on all he knew: formality. "I'm glad you're safe. You should get some rest after what you've been through." After she had given him the news of spies Henry nodded, thinking for a moment. "In that case can you join the Queen's party along with Fenrir? They might attempt a kidnapping or assassination and it will be much easier on Lady McArthur if she's able to identify any potential assailants."

Henry turned to Caroline and placed the ball Belaria had given him in her hand.

"Lady Caroline, if you would take command of the barricade group; I seem to remember that you're skilled with both the sword and the bow. Use the golems to support the group there; if my party is delayed at all you'll need them to hold the line." He turned to Revaz and motioned towards the stairs leading down to the ground.

"Normally I wouldn't mind about the presence of spies; it's a given in war for there to be some but we have none on their side and the spies so far have been... well established members of the court." He led them towards the armour and picked up his hand-and-a-half sword, a giant newly sharpened beast of a weapon usually wielded two handed while Henry had the rare strength to use it effectively in one hand, and a steel-plated kite shield. Normally it would be emblazoned with his insignia of a lion head, a reference to both his House and the nickname he had been given as the 'Young Lion' by Helgland troops but this was on loan from the Academy. As he turned, taking an experimental swing with his weapon he caught sight of a small cluster of men by the gates.

"What's going on there?" He mused out loud. When he caught sight of the barrels a few of the men were standing by his brow furrowed. The guardsmen were already armed and he had commanded that no alcohol be handed out; it dulled the senses and made many a man clumsy and useless in battle. As he watched one of those speaking to the Academy guardsmen stabbed his hand upwards, a knife appearing in his grasp and shearing through the man's chin and into the back of his skull; the guard died instantly. Before he could shout any commands one of the group by the gate struck flint and tinder above what looked like a bundle of ropes another held, one rope trailing into a barrel each. As sparks from the flint showered onto the 'ropes' they caught fire quickly and the flames shot up across the ropes; the men scattering the moment they saw this.

There was sinking feeling in Henry's stomach and he grabbed Revaz and unceremoniously yanked her towards him, dropping his weapon and instead wrapping one huge arm around the smaller woman, dragging his thick shield in front of them and crouching behind it. Barely had he done so than an earth-shattering explosion shook the ground and he could feel bits of mortar and splinters of wood striking his shield with still-flaming shards landing all around the pair of them. Once the shower had ended he stood up, letting go of Revaz and stared towards the remnants of the gatehouse; now a burnt out shell with its portcullis and reinforced wooden doors lying in pieces all around them. A few unlucky students nearer the gates had been caught in the blast and the first screams could be heard as recognition of injury dawned.

"Get your men together and I'll get mine. We need to move, now. They're coming. Let's go with your plan." Henry spoke to Revaz before yelling orders for the injured to be carried away immediately. He could hear the roaring of flames from the other side of the wall more clearly now that the gate was gone but below it there was a repetitive thump drawing closer; the marching of several thousand boots on the ground.

Men joined Henry, regrouping around him as he yelled orders and tried to bring order to the chaos that had erupted around them. Out of the smoky gatehouse Henry heard a new sound; metal striking stone and he swore as he looked for nearby mounts but saw few. He pointed towards a near group of picketed horses and the men who had joined him headed over and began to mount up while he made his way towards the stairs. Before he reached them, however, the first of the approaching enemies shot out of the black mist on horseback. Sighting Henry the man steered towards the lone knight with a sabre held above his head. Acting quickly Henry twisted away from the horse and brought his shield up to slam it in the side of the head causing it to veer sideways and the man tumbled from the horse's back. Before he could rise Henry had plunged his sword through the man's eye and out the back of his head. Standing on the corpse's chest he yanked his weapon free and continued towards the wall to find the two girls.

Caroline let out a startled shriek as the stones beneath her feet bucked, then began to fall. She lost her ballance and fell over the edge, clutching the knot in her hand as if it would keep her from falling. She closed her eyes as she knew the ground was about to meet her, but impact never came as a giant blue creature materialized where she was landing, softening the blow. Grall turned and lay down, letting Caroline slide off his back, then shambled over to Elizabeth. Quickly she began to remove the plates from her familiar's body, each one melting into a piece of armor as she took them. Soon she was fully covered in armor that looked like blue leather and sliding a pair of hardened leather gloves on her hands. "I hope they get this far." she sneered, her now awakened blood lust bringing out a whole new side of her, "I'll show them how the Demon of Unarmed Combat earned her name." She shook, using all of her willpower to hold herself back. She couldn't allow herself to get caught up in the battle and leave the queen behind.

---

Caroline recovered quickly, still holding the knot in her hand. "Rear row," she said, commanding the clay soldiers, "Take bows and ascend the wall, split into two groups and each take the wall to either side of the gate. Form three rows and rotate, the first row retreating to the rear after they fire to ready your arrows again, the second row stepping forward and doing the same, then the third. Repeat until you are out of arrows, or there are no more unfriendly targets to shoot at." As they hurried to carry out their duties, she continued. "Of those remaining, one third take up kite shields and position yourselves in front of the gate, using your shields to stop their advance. Overlap the shields three high. The rest of you, stand by for further instructions. If the enemy breaks through the shield column, your standing order is to engage them unless otherwise ordered by myself." As her orders were carried out, Caroline looked around for help. She wished Henry hadn't left her in charge of this, she was afraid she had given the wrong orders and wasted a valuable resource, or even worse messed up with whatever plan the others had devised. She had studied strategy in her lessons, but she wasn't nearly ready to actually command an army, even one made of clay. She reached for her weapon, only to realize she had lost it somewhere during her fall. glancing around, she spotted an extra bow on a rack, with a full quiver of arrows leaning beside it. Strapping the quiver around her shoulder, she picked up the bow and nocked the first arrow, ready to draw it and let fly at the first person she saw break through that shield wall. She slowed down her breathing, clearing her mind and preparing herself for what she planned. It's just like your archery classes. Just breath in, draw back, breath out and release.

Gwen didn’t have anytime to react. She didn’t scream or jump. She didn’t even feel the tremor of the stone wall. Fenrir had sensed it before anyone on the wall could react. He lowered his body knocked Gwen off her feet and she fell forward onto the wolf’s back. Fenrir was already making his way down the wall when the stones cracked. Gwen could only clutch at hist fur and trust Fenrir to not drop her.

They reached the ground safely and Gwen quickly got off. It took a moment for her to regain her senses but in that short time the enemy had breached the wall and they were on horseback. The man brandished his sword, readying to sweep the blonde’s head off her shoulders, but Fenrir got to him first. The wolf lunged at the horse and knocked it and the rider down, then tore the horse’s throat out. The man was trapped underneath the horse and struggled to get out. He still clutched at the sword, swinging wildly to keep the wolf away. Gwen took the time to kick the man in the face and knocked him out. She took his sword and although heavier than what she was use to, swung it around to test the weight. She wouldn’t be able to use it for long because of the extra strain of wielding it, but it would have to do. She could find a more suitable weapon later.

She could hear Caroline shouting orders and the clay soldiers moved as she directed. Whatever enemies that were able to slip in were defeated, now they waited for the siege. Her attention was caught by movement close by. It was Henry and again she hugged him or maybe it was him that hugged her this time. Gwen wasn’t sure, but she didn’t care. He was ok and that’s all that mattered.

The Queen touched Elizabeth McArthur's shoulder gently.

"Elizabeth, let us go. Lord Henry and the others have the matter in hand, I'm sure. Our part is to simply stay out of danger." She effortlessly mounted a waiting horse, held by a nervous stable hand, with other mounts ready for the rest of the royal party. "Come, let us away from here for the time being and trust in our fellows to drive the enemy away." She waited until the others were mounted before steering her stallion around and gently easing her heels into the horse's sides so that it trotted forwards; neither hasty nor too slow and the Queen didn't even look over her shoulder, feigning a nonchalance while worry ate at her insides.

---

Seeing Gwen and Fenrir, Henry made his way towards them. A few eager horsemen had made it through the gate before Caroline had successfully plugged the defences with the golems but the aggressors were being hunted down by those veteran nobles who had recovered quickly from the shock of the explosion. Two more fell to Henry's sword before he made it to Gwen and they embraced, the battle around them forgotten at the relief. Finding himself relax, even in the midst of battle, Henry found the dark cloud hanging in his mind fade even while a quite voice warned that he needed the battle rage to survive.

The moment was broken when a dull thump followed by the crashing of metal made them both turn towards the gate. They were just in time to see a spherical object smash through the ranks of golems, hurling them aside or ploughing directly through them, with no apparent difficulty before shooting into a pile of barrels and crates stacked next to the two. Henry covered them both with his shield as splinters showered them; a single piece less than a foot in length passing through his guard and embedding itself in his upper arm. Wincing, Henry yanked the wooden spike from his arm and tossed it aside. Another thump was followed by another sphere crashing through the ranks and flying off on the other side of the two.

"Take Fenrir and head for the barricade." Henry said, leading Gwen to her familiar and helping her climb up. "Don't stop no matter what you hear, it's too dangerous here." He ignored the obvious fact that he would remain behind, turning and bounding up the steps to the top of the wall. It was clear that their defence at the wall would not last long but at least Caroline's quick action with golems had bought them enough time to regroup and prepare to enact the plan. Seeing the young woman firing down into the flames blindly with a blow, the enemy still hidden in the burning town below, he pushed past the golems on the wall and shook her to free her of the battle reverie that had taken her over.

"We can't hold here, come on! We need to get to the horses!" He half dragged her from the wall to where the picketed horses were and helped her mount one before climbing onto another horse's back himself. Just as they were ready to pull back to regroup with the other students there was the sound of a shower of metal on metal and the defence by the gate collapsed completely followed by a pouring of enemy cavalry through the gap. The two rode after Gwen towards the others with the enemy cavalry hot on their heels.

Come on Revaz, get these bastards off of us and into the woods.

Caroline felt rather than saw the sphere break through her defenses. She took a quick look around the inside and immediately called out to the remaining soldiers under her command. "Forget your previous orders." she called, gripping the knot. "Bowmen keep firing. Everyone else is now tasked to quickly look for wounded survivors and fall in behind Gwen. Your priority is to protect anyone who is still alive." As the second ball crashed through the gate, she felt a sharp pain in her side. She looked down at where her hand had clutched the wound instinctively, and saw blood seeping between her fingers. A shard of stone had been driven through her side, she could see the tip of it coming out of her shirt.

Caroline drowned her pain in anger, firing arrow after arrow over the wall. The shafts burst into flame as they left the bow, and by the time they reached their targets only the white hot arrow heads were left intact. Every time she pulled the bowstring back, she could feel her wound getting worse, but she ignored it. When Henry came to take her away, she almost attacked him too, but realized who it was in time. As her eyes met his, her anger faded and her pain returned. She gritted her teeth, determined not to cry out against it, and followed him down the stairs.

Fleeing on a horse was agonizing for her, but she dared not stop or give in to the pain. She heard the thunderous sounds of horses giving chase, and lowered her head, praying that they would get through this.

Revaz

Watching from the cover of a small stand of trees she saw Henry and his companion ride as if hell was on their heels; as it was for over two score enemy cavalry wearing bright blue uniforms with golden tassles were barely fifteen foot behind them with sabres drawn and howling war cries and jeers at the pair. Tempted to just watch, Revaz waited until the last possible moment before ordering her cavalrymen forwards. They were all handpicked from experienced horsemen from Helgland; she did not trust the skills of foreigners for her plan to succeed.

They burst from the woodland at once, drawing bows and noching an arrows before loosing as one in between strides so that their shots flew straight and true. Cries of pain sounded from men and beast alike as the first rank of enemy horsemen fell in a tumble causing those behind them to trip and fall or else rein sharply in to avoid the tumult of jittering bodies. Signalling quickly Revaz ordered her small party back as the larger part of the enemy horsemen, not far behind the vangard who had been chasing Henry and Caroline, turned towards her group and kicked their heels back. They retreated, releasing a bombardment of arrows behind them at their pursuers to maintain the gap between them before they entered the woodland proper. Stacks of kindling were laid next to some of the trees and the few mages in her group set about lighting them while wind mages fanned the flames.

Their group scattered into preset groups, out of the wood while the enemy cavalry charged in to soon be surrounded by flames. Few paths were still safe and many were trapped in the inferno. Those who escaped were shot down by the waiting horse archers surrounding the woodland. With grim satisfaction Revaz cut the enemy down with ease; why did the Elianst cowards fear these enemies so? All men died so easily.

---

Henry

Arriving at the barricade safely, Henry helped Caroline down. It was only then he noticed her injury and yelled for a healer.

"Stay away from the fighting until you've recovered." He told her before joining the others at the barricade. Gwen was there and he patted her on the shoulder as he passed, giving reassurances to those who looked nervous standing with bows at the ready. Before long the sound of marching feet on the ground had all their attention riveted on the road as a dark blue line marched towards them. As it approached individual men could be made out, all wearing the same uniform of dark blue leggings and coat with black boots and a cream shirt. All of the men had their hair tied back tightly and held a strange weapon cupped in their right hand so that its other end was balanced against their shoulder.

"What the hell are those?" Someone muttered nearby. Before long the enemy were within bow range and a hail of arrows cut into their front ranks. The enemy died but then walked over their dead, dragging new men into formation without missing a beat; their discipline awe inspiring. Despite the constant barrage, however, they came closer and closer to the barricade until they were under fifty feet away and stopped. With a sinking feeling Henry grabbed the nearest person and pushed them down behind one of the barrels making up the barricade before ducking himself. The front line of enemies shifted their weapons down and then the end previously cupped in their hand came up their shoulders in one smooth motion. The other end pointed at the barricade. Unclear orders were yelled and a ripple of cracks followed by a hail of metal on the barricade and its defenders came.

Unfortunates too slow to take cover were struck and fell back clutching at wounds and the first screams of pain sounded. Henry risked a look over the barricade but ducked as he saw that the first rank of enemies had knelt down letting the second rank raise their weapons. A second barrage caught more of the young nobles unaware but the greatest effect was morale. Few carried on rising above the cover of the barricade to loose an arrow at the enemy. Seeing the shift in the battle Henry closed his eyes.

Looks like we need you, Granthar.

There was no answer except for the sound of something giant approaching at pace and then an earth-shattering roar. Finally the enemy's discipline wavered as the giant white tiger smashed into the enemy's rear ranks with all the force of a hurricane. At the same time the sound of hooves could be heard and Henry looked over the barricade and saw Revaz' cavalry crashing into the enemy's disrupted flank. Their column broke and the men scattered in all directions.

"Hold!" Henry yelled to those at the barricade; the last thing they needed was a stray arrow taking out someone on their side or one of the cavalry running down one of their own in the confusion. Climbing up to the top of the barricade so that he could see more of what was going on, Henry caught sight of a figure on horseback who had retreated beyond the melee to watch the chaos unfold. He saw Henry and lifted a sword unlike the sabres the other enemy cavalry had wielded; it was a longsword. A longsword Henry knew as well as the face of the one who held it.

"Sam?" He whispered, watching as the man wheeled his horse away and escaped from the chaos.

She did as Henry asked. Fenrir had no trouble keeping up with the horse riders and reached the barricade in no time. The moment she stepped down from the wolf she felt arms wrap around her. It was Dahlia.

“I looked everywhere for you! No one would tell me anything.” Dahlia spoke in a hurry. “You’re hurt. What happened?” She gingerly touched the wound on Gwen’s head.

“We’ll talk later. We need to survive this now.” Gwen stepped back with a faint smile. And she felt a tingle run along her spine. It was a strange feeling. The blonde didn’t know why but she dropped to the ground and pulled Dahlia down too as Fenrir positioned himself between the girls and the barricade.

There was a bang and screams erupted. Some fell down clutching at wounds while others tried to help them before another bang echoed across the yard. What happened next was fast. Those sounds stopped as war cries rang. Was it theirs or the enemies? Gwen took a peek and saw what she thought was their allies break up the enemies ranks. It seemed like they were retreating.

Gwen approached Henry when things were settling down and she saw a strange expression on his face. It didn’t suit him. Hesitantly she place a hang on his cheek, breaking Henry out of his daze.

“Are you ok?”

Caroline watched Gwen look at Henry, and something in that gaze made her angry. Whatever, she thought impatiently, why should I care what they do? I've only met the guy once. But we are in the middle of a war here. She stood up, ignoring the pain of her freshly bandaged wound and the protests of the healers. She looked around for a bow but found nothing next to her quiver. Frustrated, she held her hands out and clenched her fists, as if one of the enemy soldiers would step up to be throttled. Instead, she felt something she hadn't noticed was in her leave her body, and in her hands something started shimmering. As it started to solidify, she realized it was a bow, twice as large as average with a steel bar reinforcing the wood. Surprised, she reached back for an arrow and felt that they had changed. What she drew from her quiver was almost as long as the bow itself, Much thicker than a regular arrow, it looked more like a baby balista bolt. Undaunted, she nocked the over-sized projectile on the bowstring and pulled. Caroline was used to bows with a high draw, but she almost struggled with the sheer weight of the draw. Taking aim, she loosed the arrow and almost lost track of it as it flew, almost as fast as the weapons on the other side. The serrated head passed straight through one man, pierced the man behind him and kept going until it pinned him to a horse. The horse fell, taking it's rider down with it and crushing the soldier next to him. Staring at the bow, she completely forgot about her wound until it reminded her forcefully by whiting out her vision and bringing her to her knees.

Diana had only been at the academy for a short time when the fighting began. She had heard the rumours about the capital, but they seemed too wild to be true. Diana thought about everything that had happened since the day before she left the monastery.

It had been a quiet day, nice weather. A perfect day for her if not for the fact that she was being sent to the academy and that this, her last day, would be spent inside preparing and saying her farewells. The ceiling of the monastery was rather high, so at least it was cool inside, otherwise the endless traditions and conversations would have killed her. It had been decided that Diana was going to travel tomorrow but that there had to be a feast throughout the night. Well... It didn't turn into an entertaining event at all. Lots of old stories which had been repeated over the years were told again, as was a custom. The food was great though and Diana almost felt bad for what those who stayed behind had to eat the coming weeks.

On the actual journey itself there was only one problem, fatigue. A night with only a few hours of sleep had taken it's toll on Diana's energy reserves. Many a time she felt as if she was about to fall of her horse and not get up for at least another day. When they made it to the academy, Diana barely had time to adjust when her second prison turned into a battlefield.

Like many of the students, Diana made her way to the barricade when the order to do so came. She had learned a bit of first aid from the monks but not enough to make her an actual healer. When they gave her bandages in stead of a bow, Diana felt that they had chosen correctly but was worried that they may overestimate her abilities. Though, at the moment, those were the least of her concerns. It was a battle, supposedly against people who had already sacked the capital and killed some very important people, surely they'd like to finish the job with killing high-born? Yet, her biggest concern was the barricade. Barrels and crates and everything else that could easily be moved wouldn't stand much of a chance from her point of view. Worse still, it was all wood. A simple fire could mean the end of the entire barricade, and probably them as well.

Diana tried to apply first aid to as many people as possible before sending those with wounds beyond her ability to heal to actual experts. At the barricade a tall man called for healers. Diana was close-by and responded. She didn't notice any injuries though, then she saw the blonde girl who seemed to have a severe wound. As with any wounded person, Diana bandaged the wound. Some more healers arrived, which was a thing Diana was content with, the wound was rather bad and needed to be treated properly. Then, despite their protests, the girl stood up and found herself a bow. Not before long though she fell to her knees again. Diana caught her before she could hit her head on something. "You should really listen to a group of healers when all of them say you shouldn't do something, you know...", Diana mumbled to nobody in particular.

Gwen's touch broke Henry from his shocked reverie with a start.

"Oh, sorry Gwen. I didn't see you there, I'm glad you're uninjured though." He offered her a weak smile but he was aware that his own face was probably drawn and pale. Then the moment he feared came and he felt the muscle behind his right eye twinge; it seemed that Sam was still the best at inducing his infirmity.

"I should p-probably report to the Q-Q-Queen." Henry murmured, stuttering slightly before squaring his jaw. "I'll find you later." He said, taking care to hide the stammer before turning and walking stiffly away. Every muscle in his body wanted to rebel but he kept them taught and under his control as he headed for a nearby stable he remembered from their arrival. Thankfully no one was there, not even any horses, and the straw was fresh on the ground. Barely had he arrived did he fall to his knees as his legs gave way and a violent shudder spread through his body. Before losing control completely Henry reached into a pouch at his waist and drew out a semi-circular piece of leather and shoved it into his mouth and bit down hard on it before the spasms took over and a white flash crossed his vision.

He wasn't sure how long it took but he came to with every muscle roaring in pain, many of them torn from the event. Tenderly removing the piece of leather from his mouth, his jaw aching from the effort of biting into the material so hard, he washed it with his canteen before putting back in its pouch and heaving himself off the floor using a wooden fence partitioning the stall. Sounds of battle still sounded out side meaning the pursuit was still on and he hadn't been gone for long which was a comfort; Gwen would suspect something but that was unavoidable, as long as it wasn't common knowledge then he'd be okay.

Walking was an effort but he managed to make it look natural, easily passing as someone who was simple a little saddle sore, and before long he found the Queen's party and bowed before the Royals. There was a flash of recognition in the Queen's eyes at his wariness but she said nothing; outside of his own family the Queen was possibly the only one who knew of his infirmity.

"We've broken the enemy, your Majesty. Revaz will lead our cavalry and pick off any stragglers while herding the rest out of the Academy's grounds; if any survive at all that is." He reported, keeping it short; even his tongue felt heavy in his mouth from exhaustion. Queen Louise nodded, turning to Prince Jochi and Princess Elaeria.

"I'd say our alliance is already bearing fruit. Lord Henry, well fought. Now I suggest you look to the healers... for your arm." With his entire body earned with the effort of movement he had forgotten the cut in his arm from the splinter shower and was glad the Queen had chosen to be diplomatic in her concern. Thanking them and excusing himself, Henry made his way slowly towards the healers. His progress was slow as many young noblemen, particularly the veterans, saw him and approached with congratulations for the victory, tales of their own valor or simply giving thanks that they had both survived the ordeal.

Eventually Henry arrived at the healers and sat down heavily, letting them deal with far more serious injuries before he was seen. When a healer came over he simply requested a specific herbal mixture, one that he had always taken in the aftermath of his seizures, and had his small cut cleaned and bandaged. As he was about to leave Henry spotted Caroline holding a massive bow of strange construction and hurried over. Luckily a healer found her first as she began to collapse.

"You shouldn't be fighting in your condition! Let the healers see to you before you do anything rash, Caroline." As if I'm any one to talk. "The battle's won, thanks to you and those golems. Rest for now, this war is far from over." He looked up at the healer who was their age; possibly another of the students by her appearance. "Thank you for your hard work." He said, standing up stiffly and looking out over the battlefield. Part of him wanted to help bring in the wounded but there were other things only he could do.

"I'll send you some helpers." He promised the young woman before heading away. True to his word he found groups of men and women relaxing after the battle, their part supposedly over, but he organised them into groups and sent them out to bring in the wounded. He stopped one of men as a thought struck him.

"Bring me one of their weapons and anything that looks unfamiliar in terms of equipment."

Caroline came to a couple minutes later, vaguely aware that she was holding something, and that somebody was talking to her. Hazily, her mother's lessons returned to her and she closed her eyes, or at least tried to. Breathing softly she opened a door in her mind, instantly coming awake as the part of her brain she had partitioned away, a skill passed down exclusively within the McArthur family, helped her bring her out of her daze. Closing the door again, she turned her attention outward. "Oh good, you're awake." Said her mother, sitting next to her. "I'm sure you know this, but don't try to move. It took four healers just to keep you from bleeding out." Caroline looked down at herself, her leather armor covered in blood, and the bow she still held. "You've had a deathgrip on that thing the whole time." Elizabeth mentioned, shaking her head. "I'd love to know where it came from, but that can wait. I have to take care of a couple things." She stood up, picking up the one of the strange enemy weapons from it's resting place next to her. She had convinced the queen to let her hang onto it and try to figure out how it worked when she got the chance. "Gwen!" She called, searching for the girl. Finding her, she said "Would you mind keeping my daughter company? I have some things I need to do, and I don't want her getting up and hurting herself again." Disgruntled, Caroline tried to bury herself deeper into the mat she was lying on.

The weapon brought to Henry was a strange contraption; one he had never seen before that was certain. He had laid out everything brought to him out on a cloth so it was all easily visible at once. Standing halfway down the archery range he had hoped to recreate the volley the enemy had enacted but so far he had yet to work out the weapon and no one who was uninjured had seen the weapons in use.

"How does one use this weapon?" He muttered to himself, picking up the wooden stock of the weapon and turned it over in his hands. It was clear to him that the ammunition should go into the long metal tube mounted on the wooden stock for else it had no other apparent use but try as he might he had yet to work out how to release said ammunition. He looked down at the other items and scowled, nothing was clear. Hearing the clatter of horseshoes he looked up as one of the riders he had sent to retake the gatehouse arrived. After dismounting the man, more of a boy really, approached with a wrapped package in his hands.

"Part of the weapon used on the gates, Lord Henry." He reported, handing over the package. Henry unwrapped it carefully, away from the other items, and looked at the remnant in curiosity. It was a charred piece of wood, presumably part of one of the barrels, with a black stain on it different to the scorch marks on it. An idea occurred to him and he picked up the other weapon and looked down the metal tube carefully and saw the same strange marks.

"These weapons are connected somehow." He murmured to himself, picking up one of the multiple packets from a leather pouch found on a corpse in the field. He tore open the small packet and found a metal ball, a piece of wadding and some powder. He looked again at the weapon and poured down the powder and then the wadding and ball with the rider looking increasingly uncomfortable.

"My Lord, is this safe?" He asked nervously.

"Almost certainly not." Henry said as he hefted the weapon. The ball and wadding were barely inside the barrel but there was a metal rod hooked underneath the barrel so he use it to prod them down to the bottom. He lifted the weapon to his shoulder as he had seen the attackers do and pulled the metal lever. Nothing happened so he looked at the weapon again and saw a second lever which he pulled back. An audible click sounded so he brought it back up to his shoulder, aimed down the weapon using the small nub of metal on the top for aiming, as it presumably was meant for, and pulled the lever again. The recoil was so hard and unexpected he was nearly thrown onto his back, the crackle of the weapon deafening him momentarily. There was the smell of rotten eggs and a small cloud of smoke drifted away from the end of the barrel.

"What kind of magic is that?" The rider asked after both men recovered from their surprise. Henry laid the weapon down carefully before stepping back and rubbing his now bruised shoulder.

"I don't think it's magic. It's just very clever which makes it all the more dangerous." He looked at the rider who wore his confusion obviously. "Anyone can use this if they know how. It requires little skill and even less practice. Levy armies would be just as effective as trained ones so you can recruit anyone and everyone to fight and kill. I need to let the Queen know." Henry turned to go but saw a familiar figure walking across the courtyard to the range.

"Lady McArthur, it would appear you had the same idea as I did." Henry greeted her, gesturing to the weapon in her hand. "I've just managed to work out the contraption works, allow me to show you." He demonstrated again with his own borrowed weapon, clearly showing her what he was doing. This time he was prepared for the kick but the metal ball still missed the target by a wide berth.

"They appear to very inaccurate but with enough of them at once accuracy doesn't matter." Henry said. He was about to continue when he saw red smoke rising to the South. He pointed towards it. "I had guards stationed at the gates signal with red smoke if an enemy was approaching. They would only signal with red if they definitely knew it was an enemy."

A deep boom sounded, carrying across the plains of the Academy from the South. It was the same as that from the strange weapon but magnified several times over; a larger weapon of the same type. Henry had heard it at the gates when the enemy had first broken through.

"That's the army that attacked Anstarn." Henry turned to the rider. "Is the way through the North Gate clear now?" The man nodded.

"The fire has burned itself out and Lady Revaz is patrolling the route." Henry bit his lip. He hated to give the order but they had no other choice at that moment.

"Go to the Academy Tower and tell the Queen we have to go. The carriages and horses are waiting, get the wounded to the carriages and anyone who can ride mounted up immediately and then send them all to the North Gate. I'll take the reserve and hold the enemy up for a while."

Elizabeth barely flinched when the weapon went off, instead her eyes widened like a child at a toyshop. "That's AMAZING! Obviously the powder must be the key. I assume it's combustible, like lamp oil, but at a MUCH higher rate. When it's confined, the heat expands, forcing the ball out of the tube. But what does the wadding...? Of course, it's to stop the fire from the powder from simply escaping around the ball. Ingenious! I simply MUST get this into my lab." Just then she heard the boom, and sighed. "Although I suppose that will have to wait. I'll attend to the queen myself, don't worry." And with that she nabbed another strange pouch out of a nearby soldier's hand, saying "I'll be taking that, thanks." And hurried off to talk to the queen.

Henry’s face was very pale and some of Gwen’s anxiety returned. He saw something that really upset him, but Gwen didn’t comment on it. The warrior gave her a weak smile before his eye twitched. Gwen withdrew her hand like she was burned. It appeared to her that Henry flinched away from her and that hurt more than she thought. But when he spoke there was a slight stammer…. Henry did not stammer. Something was terribly wrong. But he made a weak excuse and all but ran from her.

He didn’t even notice as she trailed behind. She too had to speak with the Queen, but when she saw Henry slip into the stables. Gwen chose not to follow. It was difficult for men to show weakness let alone to women. Gwen bowed to her Queen and to the Heglend prince.

“As you know my speciality is not with combat or healing, so with your permission I would like to take stock of our supplies and redistribute necessary items. There is no one here besides the headmaster that knows what we have here and I would like to do my share to help.” Gwen spoke with the confidence that seemed to have been bred into the nobility.

“Yes, you may.” The Queen replied and had someone fetch the headmaster. Gwen bowed again before taking her leave.

In a few moments Gwen and Trystan, the headmaster’s name which she finally remembered, began ordering servants and other able bodied nobles to certain tasks. Those who were seriously wounded were quickly transported to the healing wing and those who have died were gathered. That was a trickier issue. Should they burn or bury the bodies? The Academy was built for peace and to forge stronger bonds between nations, no noble would send their children just to be slaughtered after only a few days. Taking stock of the situation, the number of casualties in this… skirmish was far less than expected. There were more wounded. A teacher volunteered to write down the names of the deceased. Identifying the dead and notifying their families was a higher priority at the moment.

Tents were set up behind the barriers for first aid. Anything beyond first aid or a few stitches were transported to the healing wing.

After this task, the two discussed other things that needed to be done immediately and decided to split up the work. Trystan being more experienced in the battle field would take handle any clean up of the grounds and securing the breach in the wall, while Gwen would organize the household staff.

Dahlia quickly rejoined Gwen when they bumped into each other again. Gwen was finally updated with all that had happened during her kidnapping. Although Dahlia was curious The two had the cooking staff preparing small light meals for the injured and something more substantial for everyone else. That was when Gwen’s stomach growled. Dahlia laughed and handed Gwen a bowl of stew and shooed her away. She hadn’t eaten for a day and even the simple fare of stew and bread was much appreciated. It was then that Lady McArthur called her over. "Would you mind keeping my daughter company? I have some things I need to do, and I don't want her getting up and hurting herself again."

“Of course, Lady McArthur.” Gwen took a seat beside Caroline and another girl.

“Hello, I’m Gwendolyn Ashburn of Elianst,” She greeted the girl. “I hope you are well.” She directed the statement to both of them.