43

43

Bertrand pov

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Something wrong always happens. The sky was clear at dusk, where the fuck that sudden rain come from. Something is clearly wrong here. Then my right arm twitched again. Fuck! There’s obviously some magic fuckery going on.

“Faster!” I shouted. But the horse can’t go faster than this. They are already foaming at the mouth. Not to mention we are galloping in almost full darkness. Lighted only by the burning town far behind us and the torches that the other division placed that barely helps. All that is left is just to reach the second trap on the slope to Middenheim. Taurox roars pierce the night. Chilling my spine as just his own roar is magnitudes louder than the rest of his damned minotaurs. The sound of their stampeding hooves also getting closer.

“What the fuck?” I thought my eyes were fooling me but a deer just entered the road. Its mouth is moving. My right hand twitch again.

“Shoot that deer!” I commanded the hunter riding beside me. His attention snapped back at me from looking behind.

“FUCKIN SHOOT IT!” I Point at the deer. He pulls an arrow and shoots in one trained motion.

The arrows hit. Then the horses at the frontmost stopped, raising their legs and refusing to move. The horses at the back slammed straight into them, throwing their riders off, then falling to the ground. Those behind them slipped on and fell into the bodies of the fallen horses and men, one of the horses landed on its front neck, breaking it entirely. The sound of breaking bones, men's agonized cry, and the horses painful neighs are constant. The men who are lucky die first to a bad fall, the rest have their limbs broken by the fall or crushed under the weight of the fallen horses. Then Taurox and his minotaurs arrived.

—

Malagor cursed again. The skull of a priest of Taal turned into dust in his hands. If only that arrow didn’t kill that deer he used as a proxy there might be some of the human god’s divine energy left. That’s two he has sacrificed to indirectly help Taurox. But he calmed himself, once he got the skull from the golden daemon’s body he won’t need to worry about wasting skulls again.

“Taurox left!?” Markus said to himself in surprise. Even seeing with his own eyes, he still can’t believe it. The Brass bull and his minotaur tribe ignore the brightly lit bonfire that should have caught their attention. This is not the type of behavior it exhibits until now. What’s changed?

“Should we give chase, Huntmarshall?” His aide asked him from the side

Gripping his magical longbow, Markus thinks quickly on what to do. His plan failed. The trap he and his men had prepared was now wasted. Graf Boris also will not help them if they give chase to Drakwald with the tension between the Ulrics and everyone else in Middenheim. Giving chase to Drakwald in utter darkness is also nothing short of a suicide. His men sacrifices...

“No. Look for the survivors!” He finally decided.

“Light the signal. The plan failed”

In Middenheim, Boris Todbringer saw the signal. His face crunched in disappointment and also weariness. This battle should have bought some time for the inquisition and also boosted the morale in Middenheim. Now he must return to listening to politics. Belatedly he gave the order to disband the readied soldiers and knights. Groans of frustration, distinctly audible from the disbanding ranks.

There is also one more party that is frustrated. The Changeling, disguised as a Nordland merchant’s maid, is controlling herself to not show any sign of frustration. She senses the shadow magic used. Did the humans find out about his plan? And therefore cast a shadow veil to steer Taurox elsewhere? That can’t be, if so the Huntmarshall and the Graf will not assemble their army as he expected. Some rogue party? Another one of the Deceiver’s schemes?

What’s clear is that her plan is ruined. All that is left is for the Graf’s army to sally out and reinforce the Huntmarshall’s. Then when the army marches down the slopes, the pawns he has placed will stab the Ulrics’ with the ritual daggers he has prepared. Many will see high ranking Ulrics turned. The chaos will push many to the almost sheer fall beside the slopes, certain death for the heavily armored knights. The stupid humans will quickly point the blame to, then there will be a civil war between the Sigmarites and the Ulrics. A perfect plan, ruined seconds before its completion. Then she felt a hand on her ass.

"Aren't you cold outside at night pet? I know I'm cold." And of course the merchant she uses as a cover. The Changeling continue her act and moans when the merchant start using her many toys as usual.

Convincing her to stay in Middenheim longer is easy but her constant Slaaneshi behavior is grating her patience. The only thing that made her worth keeping alive is her connection to the high ranking individuals in Middenheim. The Changeling then decided to stay for a bit longer. There is still a chance for her plan to succeed. Just need a few adjustments.