The Terror of Thorn: Child of War: Book 2 (6 page)

              “HOLD!” was the sound Xander heard from outside the carriage. Xander peeked out the window and could see the Palace Guard putting on their helms and forming up. Xander glanced back at Aubrey and could see she was in no shape to see what was happening at the moment so Xander donned his dagger and stepped outside.

              “Why are we stopped?” Xander asked as he stepped off the carriage and hit the ground.

              “Something is not right about the outpost” Rolle said never taking his eyes off of Xander’s former home. “The gates opened up well enough and there is no sign of bloodshed but still.”

              “What the captain is trying to tell you Xander” Vincent began before finishing, “It seems like a disproportionate number of the soldiers of the wall are all Reds.”

              “And what exactly does that mean” Xander said suddenly defensive about hearing the word Reds, a slur normally used when talking about children of war.

              “Don’t take nothing by it Xander, you lived here before, did you ever recall seeing so much people who looked like you?” Rolle said trying to diffuse the situation.

              “Well I am taking something by it.” Xander said as he grabbed the handle to his dagger.

              “You be careful with that pig sticker” Vincent began. “You know I meant nothing by it but it still doesn’t change things. Just be on guard as we head into that place” Vincent said as he began to don his heavy armor and also pulled out armor for his horse.

              Xander went back inside the carriage where he could see Aubrey put on the lightweight armor he made for under her clothing. It wasn’t very bulky but was noticeable she had something on.

              “Your highness, the guard believes something is amiss at the outpost.” Xander began as he put up his dagger. “I am not sure if it has merit or not but we may have to leave on a moment’s notice.”

              Aubrey said nothing as Xander sat down beside her. What he really wanted to do was ride outside as they approached Riley, but with the feelings he was sure to experience once he actually foot in Riley was something he did not want everyone to witness. Xander stayed quiet as he heard sounds of the Guard outfitting their horses with armor, and finally the feel of the carriage slowly making its way inside of Riley.

CHAPTER 10

              Xander had been in Riley two days waiting for the rest of the forces to catch up to them. Xander had gained a great respect for General Anaya as she already had supply lines and everything worked out. None of the materials they needed would be kept in Riley; instead Riley would be used as the jump off point ensuring any attacks on the outpost would do minimal damage to supply lines.

              Xander and Aubrey had been given a suite in his old home, with Xander choosing to stay in old room, much to the chagrin of the current witch who headed this outpost. Xander discovered from the military guys stationed there that this outpost was in high demand from all children of war like himself. The witch in charge didn’t seem to mind all the redheads walking around and it was even rumored she bedded a few and wished to make one her husband. The other soldiers who came with Xander’s party seemed tense around the red haired Soldiers but Xander finally felt at ease in finding kindred spirits to bond with. All was going well until the day the rest of the witches were due to arrive with the rest of General Anaya’s troops in tow, it was then the Thornians attacked.

              The alarm was sounded long before any Thornians came into view, a testament to the skills of Rangel’s sentries. Xander had already knew the defense plan, as soon as General Anaya entered the outpost she had been drilling it into the soldiers. Archers would be posted on the walls with the witches spread out among them. The Palace Guard would ensure a way to retreat out of Riley and deeper into Rangel if that became necessary. General Anaya’s “Fire” division had all the troops outfitted with the stronger pieces of armor Xander had made; their job was to kill anything that attempted to breach the heavy gate facing Thorn. Finally all the weapons and shields Xander enchanted that would last no more than a week, were given to as many regulars as possible to go out and meet The Thornish army in open field.

An advance rider was sent minutes before the alarm sounding letting General Anaya know the rest of the army was mere hours behind, not much time in the scheme of things, but more time than it would take Thorn’s troops to reach Rangel.

              When the Thornian troops could be seen, all present in Riley could tell the Thornians were well armed with plenty of infantry backed by archers and heavy horses. If the horses took the field, Rangel’s witches could easily take them out long before they reached the outpost gates. First contact was a battle between archers.

              Riley was a fortified position and as such had plenty of stone throwing machines inside her gates. General Anaya used these to deadly efficiency, taking out a good number of troops until the Thornians either moved too close for the weapon to be effective or moved out of range, effectively splitting the army in two. The Thornian archers started filling the air with arrows as soon as they could, hoping to hit the frontline of Rangel’s troops. Unfortunately that brought their troops in range of the archers from Rangel. After no significant casualties on either side thanks to both troops use of shields, the flag bearer from Thorn took off at a sprint towards the Rangelian line.

CHAPTER 11

ANAYA

              “Do you need the help of the witches yet?” the High Witch spoke looking down at the battlefield as the troops met in their first clash.

              “It is unknown” Anaya answered, never taking her eyes off of the battle. “Their regular troops were superior to ours since our last encounter, but I have made it a point to teach counter tactics to their normal routine. Sheer numbers would ultimately win us the day, as our reserves are no more than 3 hours behind us. Right now they have a numbers advantage, one they will likely keep. I am going to send a runner to halt the remaining witches from joining this battle; we would be better served with troops instead.”

              “Seeking glory for you and your men?” the High Witch said letting the statement roll off her tongue like some sort of slur.

              “If all the witches were to pile in here, who knows how many would die thanks to a stray arrow?” Anaya started her reply, not letting the High Witch get to her. “The witches are our group clearing weapon to be used whenever there is a weakness that can be exploited. As is, I am not sure of any weakness they may have and I also wish to know if the enchanter’s weapons are worth it.”

              “Well the Thornians look like their front line is taking a beating, they don’t even seem interested in fighting, even though it is obvious they are dying by the tens, soon to be hundreds” the High Witch said as she prepared to leave.

              “It’s because they are not interested in fighting, they seem intent on rushing the gate without any regard for their welfare” Anaya began before her words were cut off by screams coming from within Riley. General Anaya looked around and saw as the children of war who were stationed at the outpost began targeting Witches inside the compound in an effort to take out as many as possible. Anaya knew her Fire troops would not be harmed by such attack and would soon start turning the tide against their betrayers. Right now though, she had one thing on her mind, the same thing that was probably on the High Witches mind as they raced down the stairs towards the quarters occupied by Aubrey, Princess of Rangel and Heir to the throne.

CHAPTER 12

AUBREY

              Aubrey had begun talking to Xander in an effort to calm him; she knew he longed for the battle that was raging outside. Aubrey had made sure his armor and other such war waging weapons were kept far away from him, he needed to know his job was at her side, nowhere else. Aubrey smiled inwardly at her show of emotion a couple of days ago received the outcome she was expecting. While he still did not have any use for her Palace Guard, he had smiled a couple of times and even lightly touched her hand when she was sitting down, something he never did. All was well until Vincent, one of the Palace Guardsmen came crashing through the door.

              “Your Highness the Reds have turned on us, you must get…” were the only words Vincent was able to get out before he was hit heavily over his head with what looked to be a crude club. As Vincent fell men began to run over him and focused on Aubrey. Although she was taller, and outweighed Xander by at least a stone, Xander snatched her up in his arms and reached for his dagger before crashing out of the window.

              Aubrey heard Xander moan as she landed on top of him, at first she thought he may have broken an ankle but he was up before she was and roughly pulled her to her feet and began running towards the stables where the carriage was kept. Aubrey was amazed that somehow Xander weaved them through the chaos towards the stables where she could see the traitorous soldiers hacking apart the carriage. As they ran towards them, she figured they must have heard the carriage could teleport but had no idea on how it worked or they would be busy defacing the floor of the carriage instead of the walls. Somehow the enemy did not notice Xander as he got up close and ran one of them through with his dagger to the back of the neck, an action that drew the attention of the other two men who were both armed with axes and swords instead of the dagger he had.

              Aubrey was stunned as suddenly Xander kicked open the door of the carriage and threw her in it just as one of the men climbed through the window after her. Aubrey kicked at the man in front of her, landing a surprisingly solid kick to his groin. Aubrey could see that although the man was armed he was not armored and she was generally bigger than most children of war, even bigger than Xander who was much more muscled than her attacker. Aubrey quickly surmised he had to be of Thornish decent since due to the combination of diet and exercise, all Rangelian men except the nobles were generally muscular. As the man bent over, Aubrey grabbed his sword hand and his neck and flung him to the ground of the carriage. She could see the man looking out the door as Xander stood between his back up and her. Aubrey briefly made eye contact with Xander and she could see he was scared, left to defend himself with a damn dagger against an enemy with an axe. Xander stuck his hand into the carriage and the next thing Aubrey knew she was back in the throne room.

“GUARDS!! GUARDS!!” Aubrey screamed as she separated herself from her attacker who no doubt was wondering where the hell he was. Aubrey was alone in the throne room and as she ran to the door she could see her attacker rise. Aubrey backed towards the door but instead of chasing her, the man began hacking away at Xander’s circle which brought them there. Aubrey had discovered that once a circle was changed significantly, its ability was nonexistent and could not be used. Aubrey grabbed a small chair and ran towards her attacker just as he looked up.

“Oh ya want ta play now girly” the man said as he raised his weapon towards Aubrey, stopping her in her tracks.

Aubrey circled the man nervously as the Throne Room door burst open, bringing with it Frowley the retired Captain of the palace guard in full armor. Aubrey ran away from the man as Frowley charged right at him, easily deflecting his weapon with the heavy gauntlet he wore before knocking the man out with an overhand right.

“Frowley what are you doing here?” Aubrey said, amazed to see the former Captain of guard after he retired years ago.

“Well if that isn’t a fine greeting your Highness” Frowley said as he kicked the man’s weapon away from him and began searching his unconscious body.

Aubrey was stunned into silence as Frowley broke the silence. “Our Queen let her Guard Captain accompany you on your trip. I also hear Red went with you to fight those Thornish bastards. I could not in good conscious leave the Queen with these whelps protecting her; they are only used to Red’s fancy enchanting and probably never been in a real tussle. I started here today and the Queen will keep me on until this war is finished. I just came from sparring when I passed by and heard your call.”

“Well you are a welcome sight, there are not many people here that I can speak openly with” Aubrey stated.

“Well you will all ways have me; I’ve known you since you were a little girl. It looks like you haven’t forgotten all I taught you but I am curious how you were going to take a bloke like that out with a chair.”

“We were betrayed by Children of war in the outpost, Xander is still there! Keep him alive and bring him to the throne room” Aubrey said pointing at her unconscious attacker. “And Frowley, send someone get my mother” Aubrey said as she stomped off.

              The man was brought to the throne room where Aubrey paced; livid she had almost been killed if not for her quick thinking husband. Aubrey just glared at the man, who was forced on his knees by the palace guard. Aubrey had a million things going through her mind at the time, how did they infiltrate her ranks? Did her husband survive? What of the battle, who had won it? Did Anaya make it out unharmed? Aubrey was soon interrupted by the Queen, who went into the room and took her seat.

              “The Thornians somehow knew I was going to be in Riley and sent a sizable team to intercept me. They had to have been in our army for a while, posing as children of war” Aubrey said pointing at the man. “I need answers.”