Chapter 296

296 Ambush(Part Three)

*** CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE AND GORE***

Fear clenched her throat as Skye thought about what to do. The RMC mages were just about halfway through the entrance into the valley, and the battle had already begun..

Hearing a faint whistling noise, Skye looked around, then up at her namesake.. Just in time to see a blanket of arrows hurling towards them. Letting her instincts take over; Skye jumped down from Thoth, and placed her hands on the ground.

A massive surge of magic flowed through her, then spread out. The ground shook violently beneath her feet before it began to break apart, then shoot up into the sky. Effectively blocking the arrows, and providing a temporary reprieve from the onslaught.

The RMC members kept riding as hundreds of Highlanders raced down the mountainsides. Once they reached their defensive positions, they jumped from their horses. Weapons and fists were thrust up into the air as their war cries carried over the battlefield.

Skye pushed her magic to it’s limit, extending her great rock wall along the fold of the ridge. Many of the Highlanders in the front rows slammed into the rocks, injuring both themselves, and their horses.

Skye felt bad for the horses, but grinned wickedly as she heard and felt the Highlanders crashing against her make-shift wall. The angle of the slope made it impossible for those already descending the mountainside to stop. On top of that; the remaining fifteen-hundred or so, were forced to ride around it to get to the Alconians.

As the taste of the small victory touched her tongue, it soured as she looked to the flow of RMC members behind her. The few men whose horses were at their limits in the back were swallowed up by the chaos that had been pursuing them.

As the rest of the RMC Company cleared the mountain pass, Highlanders began to pour into the valley. Using up most of the last of her magic, Skye sensed nearly an additional thousand Highlanders riding through the pass.. ‘Oh Shit!’

.....

Not thinking; Skye used up the last of her available magic to close up the entrance to the valley...

As Tidas watched his wife seal off their only means of escape, dread crept into his heart. He racked his brain for a solution, but already knew the answer. They would have to face the Highlanders, if any of them were to live. If Skye were to live..

After she’d remounted Thoth, Skye locked eyes with Tidas. He shouted to her that the bulk of the RMC would handle the Highlanders, and that she should continue on, and find Petrie.

She nodded, then kicked Thoth into a gallop, assuming that her husband was going to follow her. He slowed his horse’s pace, signaling to her platoon to keep going on with their Commander. Tidas then screamed that he and the others would hold back the Highlanders while they kept going to the Old Capital.

Knowing not to argue, they all kicked up their pace to catch up with Skye. They would do whatever their Prince ordered them to do...

As they approached Skye, she looked back. When she didn’t see the her husband, and the battle behind kicking up behind her, Skye’d immediately yanked on Thoth’s reins, to force him into a wide turn. When she tried to pass her platoon, Arthur Tanner darted out in front of her.

Thoth slammed down to stop, nearly throwing Skye from her seat. She started to scream at him, but Arthur was much, much louder..

“What Is The Mission?! Is it to save one life?! One man?! Or thousands?! Tidas is trusting you! We All Are! Have we placed our trust in a Spoiled little princess, or a Soldier?!”

Skye flinched at the kind man’s harsh words. He was completely right, and she knew it. Turning to look at the chaos of the battlefield, her heart lurched in her chest..

“Ima Soldier, AND a Wife! The second we find Petrie, we go back! Do I make me self Clear?!”

Arthur stiffened; “Tidas said to keep going to the-”

“Fuck that! I became a soldier to stay by his side! I will Not abandon him when he’s outnumbered three-to-one! Court-martial me! I don’t give a Shit! YOU can keep goin’, but Ima savin’ me husband’s arse!”

Without warning; Skye whipped Thoth around, not giving Arthur a chance to argue. They rode for about three miles before he caught up to her, and only because she’d voluntarily slowed her horse down..

A boisterous laugh rang out from Skye as she pointed ahead of them. A tall, reddish-brown headed man with a long braid was was frantically waving at them as he ran towards them. Based off of Skye’s ecstatic behavior; Arthur assumed it was Petrie..

As he ran out towards the sounds of battle, Petrie saw Skye’s signature golden hair bouncing as she rode toward him. He jumped for joy, even though the gash on his leg made it painful as hell to do. He barely felt the pain at that point because all he cared about was the ensuing battle behind them.

“SKYE! It’s a trap! They’re gonna Kill Murdoc! We need to get to ’em Now!” Petrie bellowed over the sound of their hoofbeats.

Skye’s face drained of all color as they came to a bracing stop. If Murdoc died, then it would be all-out war..

“Where is he?!” she asked as she dismounted Thoth to check over and heal Petrie.

“He’ll be mixed in, lookin’ for you and Tidas. They plan to attack him while Tidas has ’em distracted. Then,” Petrie paused to take a breath; “They’ll killed Tidas, and pin Murdoc’s death on him..”

Skye’s worry and rage mixed together as she struggled to find the magic to heal her friend. The mountain pass and the barrier wall had all but drained her completely. To the point that Skye felt a bit woozy.

Petrie noticed her state and commented; “Maybe ye should stay behind?”

Skye shot him a glare; “Like hell I am. Ima the bloody Catalyst! If I can’t even save me husband, how am I supposed to save everyone else?”

All Petrie could do was look at her with sympathy. He understood her point, but it was still an unrealistic expectation. Tidas was targeted by every Highlander that saw him. All seeking the glory that would come with killing the Commander of the entire RMC.

“I think the Highlander has a point, Skye. You don’t have any magic left. You’ll just he a hindrance on the battlefield,” Klaus stated, knowing he was going to get an earful for it.

Skye turned and glared at him; “I know how to fight, Klaus. I can take out whomever I have to, to get Petrie to Murdoc.. I won’t let Tidas die: I Can’t. I Won’t.”

The sheer determination in her eyes made Klaus back off instantly. He knew that when push came to shove; Skye always came through. She didn’t know how to give up..

“I really should object because Tidas made me promise to keep you safe, but,” Arthur smirked; “I wanna piece of the action, too.”

Skye smirked, then turned towards the other soldiers; “What say you?! Should we go back?! Or go save our Commander?!”

“AYE SIR!” every RMC mage cried out in unison.

“Then let’s ride! Petrie! Yer with me!” Skye barked as she mounted Thoth, then yanked him up to sit behind her.

He felt very awkward about wrapping his arms around her, and Klaus staring daggers at him didn’t help the matter, either. As they rode, Skye thankfully broke the tension by asking how he’d gotten away.

“I thought that they were gonna feed ye to Tidas’ Uncle?!”

“How did ye find out about that?!” Petrie asked with shock in his voice.

“I caught a Highlander named Angus! Said it ’twas Drexel’s plan! Tidas convinced him to tell Murdoc the truth, if we could get him in front of him safely!”

Petrie flashed an insulted expression; “Was he yer backup plan in case I died?!”

Skye chuckled; “More like reinforcin’ yer tale, but I suppose it could’ve worked out that way! How did ye escape?!”

“I ran while that Thing was munchin’ on Craig and Murphy! It saw me, though.. It looked at me. Freakiest moment of me life!”

Skye gave him a sarcastic laugh; “Well, yeah! Ye were starin’ at a genuine monster!”

Petrie didn’t speak right away, but when he did, his voice was utterly serious; “Monsters are Made, Skye. It freaked me out so bad because it...it seemed like it was in pain.”

Skye shook her head in disbelief; “Good! He deserves it for what he did to Magnus!”

“And the Crowned Prince, too, right?!” Petrie added with a smirk; he knew Skye hated the man.

Skye scoffed, but Petrie’s words gnawed at her as they came close to the battlefield. It was the same prodding she’d gotten whenever she had talked to Marie or Magnus about Richard.

All the stories about him did not match the outcome. Richard loved his wife and brother, and was expecting a child. His gambling, drinking, and womanizing didn’t make sense when his personality was factored in.

‘Monsters are made..’

That one thought echoed over and over within Skye’s mind as the reached the edge of the battlefield..

************

As a Highlander went to swing down on an unsuspecting Alconian, Tidas ran passed him. The man froze as he felt the warm wetness of his own blood spilling out of his side, then fell over from the pain..

As Tidas zipped through the battlefield, he grinned like the devil himself. Blood sprayed and men screamed as his swords slashed through their armor and flesh. As he came close to the end of Skye’d barrier wall, the one person he want to fight the most came into view..

“MURDOC!”

He swung his two swords with lightning speed, cutting down two to three men at a time as he did so. His bloodlust was building, and he felt it surge when the Commander of the RMC came into his view. This was a fight he’d been looking forward to...

“MacArthur! So good of ye to come to me! I’d like to grant ye a swift death, but I owe Petrie more than that..”

Murdoc clanked his swords together as a sign of challenge to Tidas; “Ye will Suffer for what ye did to me lad! And that traitorous whore of a wife of yers is next!”

Tidas had been doing his best to keep his darkness in check. He had made it a point to try and not actually kill any of the Highlanders, and wait until they had an opening to reveal Angus, but now..

Tidas clanked his swords together, signaling his acceptance of the challenge; “You’re a deadman walkin’, Murdoc..”