Chapter 36: Enter War Queen (Flynn)

  "Pass me another plate of meat," Brail says with a quaint enthusiasm. The small band of Flynn's remaining force and the few Naudiz warriors found common ground over the days since the prior battle. Varus had not attacked as one would expect. He did send negotiators nearly every day which were met with the same hostile reply each time from Flynn and Brail. The army keeping the Bruin men out now only stood at 27 in total around the camp. Yes, these men were now the hardest and most seasoned around for they had survived two deadly battles, battles that saw the fall of a Kodiak, and so many Naudiz warriors.

  Now they sit in the camp, fortifying spots to protect from arrow fire and enjoy good meals. Flynn and the others are aware of this sad truth about a war that is rarely discussed; when an army that was supplied for hundreds becomes tens, there are no issues for food rations, assuming their stores were not plundered or lost in prior fights and were properly supplied for such a force. Flynn was so supplied. So now the small band was able to eat to a good fill without fear of depletion of food.

  The longer the two-natured stayed in their camp the more Peter found himself with his reckless manners and lust for blood attitude to be a better friend to them as they seemed to have much in common with the wild lord. He enjoyed seeing the strength of Brail the dire wolf and fancied drinking with all six of the Naudiz in the camp as they were far more feral than the men of Valtrex were on average. Flynn and the other men of Valtrex were amazed to actually get a true chance to learn up close and personal about the Naudiz now that they were no longer enemies.

  Varus after the main slaughter had only sent the negotiators. He had used so many arrows in the early attacks that his stores and quivers ran dry. So he knew that for any further conflict he would need to move hard and face down the remains of the Valtrex line. Something he had hoped to avoid altogether. However, he had other plans in the running.

  This was much the situation that South of Lake Ike had for several weeks after the second battle. Pauses, healing, setting up watches, and nothing else. A stalemate.

  This was the scene when one morning a familiar sound came streaming up from the South East. It was a small band but they played a drum as they marched. Catching attention from many directions. "Flynn, do you hear that?" Brail spoke as he arose from slumber.

  "Aye...I do. She is here." Brail had a look of confusion on his face but noticed that Peter also had a new confidence in his eyes that would make someone think the gods themselves were on the side of the Valtrex. Brail looked down at the enclosing unit. There were only a handful of people, maybe 10 at best. It puzzled him how such a meager force could in this situation give them such a morale boost. Flynn smiled as at the head of the men there she stood. A woman to rival all men. In her early 30s with the strength to surpass all others and yet feminine in her appearance. Meagan, the war queen of Valtrex had arrived.

  "Mother's here!" Peter cheered as he wrapped his arms around the shoulders of the cat Naudiz near him and began jumping into the air. As she got closer with her group, drum still playing as they marched, Brail caught a whiff of her scent, a subtle tone that only the two-natured would be able to detect. Brail nearly fell over at the power he smelled. The alpha wolf's eyes lit up as she approached with an axe on her shoulder big enough to cleave through two men if dropped from eye level. Her wild and untamed red hair flowed in the wind unchained and unconquered. She had everyone's attention.

  Flynn walked up and embraced his mother-in-law followed quickly by Peter. "Good to lay eyes mother." She did not smile or offer any emotion.

  "I could smell your dinner. Hand me some food." A soldier brought over a leg of mutton which she took and began scarfing into as though she were a ravenous animal who had nearly forgotten the taste of juicy meat. Meagan sat down as the meat took her focus. She then called for water which was brought over in haste by another soldier in awe. The others with her also took part in the eating, as they unlike Meagan who looked fit for battle just rolling into camp, were visibly famished and exhausted.

  The eating continued and mostly only the sounds from the camp were those of the biting and chewing and drinking that the small band who only just arrived were making. Noises that betrayed their lust for food in the moment as they failed to taste any of what they devoured.

  Meagan then stood up and offered a belch that felt as though it caused the very grounds beneath them to shake. Brail then fell over as she walked toward the side of the camp closest to the Bruin lines. Without hesitation or emotion she asks, "Is that where they are?"

  "Yes, Meagan. The enemy has us outnumbered and we have been here holding the line from invasion since we arrived." Flynn replied. He could tell what was coming next so he was already suiting up for combat.

  "Twenty minutes. Then we charge."

  "You cannot be serious you only just arrived," Brail spoke in question to the woman.

  "I have traveled here to finish this. My husband fears leaving this too long will only make things worse." She keeps her gaze on the enemy camp fully focused. The day was still moderately young, but many in the group did not believe after clearly a hard march that they would be ready in any way for a slog to battle.

  "Well that is great but to fight so quickly after you arrived. You do not even know the lay of the land." Brail again found himself confused, despite being next to a woman who was nearly as tall as he was and had a notable intensity in her eyes.

  "If I had not just eaten I would go at this very moment." Meagan licked the inside of her lips as if to examine for any lost food. "That is why the twenty minutes, for a chance to allow the food to settle." She then turned to the wolf and offered him a proper greeting, extending a hand of fellowship. The wolf smiled as he knew that this was a woman who had the ferocity that exceeded that of the bear, Rigel. She was strong in form and still somehow womanly in her appearance. Tall and sculpted but not engorged and disgusting like a science experiment gone haywire. She wore an iron breastplate with no spaulders to ensure free movement of her shoulders. Boots that covered her shins completely and still allowed moderate pivoting of her feet. Light hard cloth knee bracers to allow her to drop down without taking damage from the ground and a chainmail skirt to protect her upper legs and not destroy her ability to use her full body in combat. All in Valtrex feared her. Yet the news of her battle and route of Conner Bolden's army had not reached these people's ears. Nor would it as Meagan did not care about yesterday's affair and her men who survived that fight, knew better than to bring up old battles with the greatest warrior in all the lands under the red jackal.

  "I'm glad to see you, Meagan. I'm guessing you had a battle before coming to aid us, as you had about 100 people in your army when we last looked over the rolls of the military from the report Malachi provided when we left Riserstead." Peter asked this. Peter, unlike all others, held no caution when speaking to the war queen. He actually liked her, both as a warrior and as a woman. Meagan knew both of these thoughts the brash second son had toward her. She had a slight soft spot for him because she recognized his arrogant bravery which though foolish to her, did earn him favorable respect with her. So she was never upset with him when he spoke boldly at her in ways perhaps only lord Fulcrum, her husband, or Malachi the druid would.

  "We did. Fulcrum asked us to go and annex Winter's Edge, and Coastal Wharf. Both pledged fealty easily enough. We then sent Wiley from the capital to Coastal to occupy it. While we waited though that army that invaded the Central Plains, under the Bruin banner, Conner Bolden came to us. We decimated his force and made him flee in terror. Then we moved to come here as was the initial order when we left Valor."

  Peter was amazed at how busy Meagan had been in her campaign and accomplishing nearly all of this while the two brothers sat here south of the lake holding battle lines against a superior enemy force. It was no wonder why she was ready to charge to a certain doom.

  "Meagan, Mother, we are still vastly outnumbered. How do you plan for us to win this battle?"

  She points her axe head at the main part of the camp, where the thickest tents sit. "We kill the leaders, most flee after their champions and masters fall." Flynn understood that notion, especially for an invading force in foreign lands. Fall the lord or their best soldier and the rest tend to scatter to the wind like chaff from a grain pull.

  Twenty minutes never seemed so long….As somber feelings mixed with adrenaline filled the battered and weakened camp. In total their camp held 36 souls that could move and fight. Varus still had over 500 soldiers and 200 archers in his command according to Brail and the other Naudiz. Bracers were tightened, lances inspected, and straps pulled firm. Then the drum.

  "DUM DUM DUM DUM." Meagan closed her eyes and opened her arms to let a prayer out. She did not pray to Kaya, or Iagus, the known gods of Wiera. Almost all of the realm prayed to Kaya, with a few zealots still calling out for the return of the eternal Prince Iagus. Meagan was a strange one who prayed to something different.

  "Bardaga, beast of war. Allow these eyes to fill with blood. Do not let this axe fall clean."

  "Never seen a Gebo praying to something other than the Twins." Brail stands beside the woman as she offers her final thoughts.

  "Kaya has never fought for my family, Iagus neither. Bardaga may be true or false in this world. But all of life I have offered thanks to his power, and here I stand."

  "And here you stand." Brail smiled as he looked forward. The ranks filled in behind them. The boys were all ready as well. Meagan gave all a quick study as she then with the drum still played alerting the people on the other side of the field at the Bruin camp that death was coming for them, she started her walk.

  "TO THOSE WHO HAVE NOT GONE TO BATTLE BESIDE ME. KEEP PACE OR I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF." The war queen spoke calmly and yet loudly. None would disobey or allow a question of their mettle by her in this fight.

  "TO ARMS!" The Bruin men called out as they saw the small band approaching long after the sound of the drum reached them. The men arise to purpose and though the bowyers are depleted of arrows those who have spent the days between combat fletching new stock grab what they can even though the tips were nothing more than wood or weak stone. They rally and cry out for courage as the small mob coming into the giant's mouth of the Bruin with each step becomes more a certainty than a mere bluff.

  Suddenly, Meagan's pace increases. She carries no shield at the head of the column. "Thum!" A rudimentary arrow sails just overhead as the men are not accustomed to firing improper arrows. Brail lets out a howl as the pace increases again by the giant of a woman. HE is emboldened by her spirit and desire to fight and the beating of the drummer who stands almost directly behind her. No weapon in his hands. And only a small knife tucked along his belt. The wolf admires them both.

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  "RAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" He howls long as he shifts into his beast form. The others shift as well. The pace quickens once more as the soldiers of the Bruin take to the field and form what line they can around the campground. Soldiers, some half-armored, some with helmets missing from the rush to action cluster together as though they have the power to halt the war queen.

  Brail darts forward and jumps into the thick of it all. The first to draw blood as he tackles a soldier and claws and bites at his neck that is unguarded as the man flails in terror beneath him. Meagan is not far behind as her first swing of the massive axe rips through two men, not just slicing through but culling out a large portion from both of their chests and sending several ribs flying to the right as a form of shrapnel. Flynn and Peter cross in next. Peter hurls his axe into the skull of a soldier who falls to his ruin. The wild one then proceeds to use the gauntlets he wears over his fingers to punch those surrounding the field. Flynn in spite of his heavy armor still moves swiftly as he holds his great shield high and pushes forward to position himself in a fashion to block out arrows coming in from aiming at Meagan and the others in the group as best he can. He jabs his lance forward when able but focuses his prowess toward defense at this moment.

  "THUM!" an arrow crosses the field and evades any barrier, landing into the neck of a man of Valtrex. He drops to a knee as the arrow is deep but not so much to floor him instantly. He holds his form as he kneels, refusing to fall from this world and surrender life premature of victory.

  "OLEC! COUSIN!" Flynn calls as he braces his shield with several other soldiers that line up alongside him as they guard the north position, while the brutes push to the main tent. "Olec, take the cats and a few others and clear out those archers."

  "FUCK!" Olec slams his axe to the ground knowing the mission is a dangerous one. He then rallies himself knowing the need. He raises the axe high and calls for a small cluster to move with him back around to the northern flank of the grounds where the majority of the archers attempting to shoot what arrows they have are gathering.

  Meagan is not fazed by anything. A knight of Bruin comes forward with a sword and shield at the ready. Meagan thrusts the head of the axe forward, pushing the man to the dirt. She then raises the axe overhead and slams it true into the dirt through his helmet. A clean death without trouble for the queen. Another comes forward seeking to end the prowess of this demoness of war. She pulls the axe from the ground and slams it hard to the right knocking the man skyward while still piercing his armor enough for a deep and severe wound.

  Brail is no slouch in the effort as he is emboldened by the power of the war queen. He bites down and tackles without fear as they move deeper and deeper into the ranks. Meagan soon reaches the main tent where Varus would no doubt find himself preparing for whatever stand he would muster. Brail holds off the others guarding the entryway and moving in quickly to reinforce, yet they are without medal to stand against the ferocity of the dire wolf. Blades clash as men scream and moan and groan in agony as wounds forfeit the blood of their owners.

  "Damn, you guys came through too fast." The man at the lead says as he readies his blade. His armor was only half on as he was still in the process of trying to ready himself. He rushes to the great woman covered in red, both from clothing and paint of the iron variety freshly adorned. His swing is strong and yet weak. Meagan grabs the blade with her off-hand mid-downward slice. Tension arises as the man grunts and grits his teeth trying to force the blade forward. He tightens and twists his muscles desperately trying to wiggle the blade free or even rip the blade back, which would injure her hand. Meagan holds firm and keeps her grip firm on the sword. Her hand begins to drip red from the palm touching the blade. She is not impervious or invulnerable to damage, she is just merely superior in the confines of combat to those around her. He sees the blood dripping and smiles. The man leans in to push the woman and knock her back. He slams in with the weight he has on his frame. Nothing. No budge from the woman as she stands true to her purpose. She drops her axe as she knows what needs to be done, and the axe is too violent and might diminish the needed effect. She reaches out to the man with her right hand while still holding the sword with her left, keeping the desperate leader of the Bruin at a close quarter. Her hand wraps around his throat as a python demanding the death of its squirming prey. She then flexes her forearm and grasping down applies a deep pressure to the neck of the man.

  "UHHHH GULLL." He loosens his grip on the sword as his arms on instinct move to defend his neck from the choking. Meagan now has seized his sword. She then flips it around in the air for her to catch it by the handle. The man is desperate and turning blue quickly as he demands and flails for his very life. The war queen knows her task all too well. She moves the blade over and slices through, cutting the neck just above the placement of her hand around the throat. The man is crying both water and blood as the panic and terror take over and soon the movement and resistance ends from the dying one. She slices over and over until the body drops to the ground and the head rests upon her right hand. She then drops the sword, grabs her axe, and while holding the head of the Bruin leader she exits the tent.

  "IS THIS YOUR MASTER, YOUR GENERAL?" She holds the head as high as her arm can reach as the severed head is used to alarm all around. The fighting is still fierce, though as the Bruin and Valtrex men alike add their bodies to the ground, and their blood to fertilize the soil.

  A man of Bruin near the tent is the first to see the head. He stands still. Soon others take notice, such as Brail the wolf, and then the notice moves throughout the area of combat. Soon the whole of the field, save the archers who were fighting wild against Olec and his small group on the outskirts of the camp are the only ones not captured to the sight of the severed head of the Bruin leader. Those in the golden clothes and armor drop their weapons, while those at a distance flee back as if to run all the way to Dol. Meagan smiles as the cowards have taken the bait to surrender.

  "NO PRISONERS!" she calls out. All of the remaining men of Valtrex and the Naudiz smile as those who just dropped their weapons try to regain form while being struck and impaled in a defenseless posture. The next series of minutes is a pure slaughter. And control of the field is secured quickly.

  "I thought they had a larger force than this." Flynn hollers out as he looks around trying to take account of the action that has taken place, seeing the final men of the Bruin that stayed on the field or were unable to flee falling to their end. Olec still had a few that were persisting up top of the field and Peter moved with a few others to aid him.

  "They did Brail spoke as he reverted back to his human form." The dire wolf then looked closely at the head of the man Meagan had recently tossed to the ground when the extermination of the remnants began. "This isn't Varus. This is not the general."

  "Are you certain?" Flynn replies quickly and puzzled.

  "Yes, I was in camp with him for quite a time prior to the battles we fought, and being a Naudiz leader I was allowed into the officer's meetings. This is not Varus, but Gaius, his Major." Eyes are all alarmed at this revelation. Meagan began to search out among the camp to see if the real leader was hiding or had fled during the scuffle. Brail quickly reverted back into his wolf form and then moved about in haste, running as the wind hoping to find a trail or a scent. He called the other wolf and the two cats to move with him. By this point, Olec and Peter had finished off the remaining archers.

  "You got skills cousin."

  "The main family isn't the only branch blessed with might Peter." They bumped fists in celebratory fashion as they saw the Naudiz running off north and south and all about. The two quickly went to the side of Flynn who was taking account of the scene.

  "Brother, what are the Naudiz about? Where is Meagan?"

  "Apparently the leader, Varus isn't here. And this is concerning because look around. This was a tough battle to charge into in which we did not have favorable numbers, but this is nothing compared to the number of men Brail and our own eyes previously had told us were here in this fight. Something is wrong Peter." The fighter and the warrior both surveyed the field of dead and dying as Flynn had been. The armored general and eldest son was speaking the truth in this regard. The battle had been intense, but the enemy numbers were weak in comparison to all the previous accounting.

  "Where are they?" Peter spoke. Flynn gave no answer as he sat down atop a dead man of Bruin. He rested his shield on the ground and tried to stretch a bit and get somewhat comfortable as his armor was heavy and made him stiff and sore. He explained to the men to relax as he was sure soon enough they would find out. Though a restless spirit hung in the air, especially on two brutes.

  Meagan soon emerged from the tents with a little more fresh blood upon her from stragglers and cowards who she found hiding. She then did as Flynn had, and plopped herself down on a corpse as if it was a log at a campfire. "Found a few more, but nothing that seemed like a general, especially a hero general like this Varus had been described." She then pulled some clean cloth and ripped it from the corpse wearing it. The woman of might then wrapped and sealed the wound on her hand from when she gripped Gaius' sword earlier.

  "I thought no one could wound you, Meagan," Peter said with a joking tilt in his voice as he hoped the silly conversation would distract him as they seemed to wait for the wolf to return.

  "I am just a person, same as you," Meagan said as she found a wineskin on another corpse lying nearby. She went over and grabbed it and ripped the cork out with her teeth and guzzled the whole skin in a few moments of aggressive drinking. After a fine blech and wiping the dripping wine that missed her throat from her face she sat down and continued. "I can fall in battle just as anyone. I simply just haven't been bested yet."

  "Is there any in the world who can best you Mother?" Flynn asks as he removes his gloves to try and catch some fresh air on his hands.

  "I have not met a man yet who in single fair combat could. Though I know they exist."

  "Who exists aunt?" Olec inquired.

  "Reto, Scythe, perhaps the dragons, maybe the bears if there are still more out there, and the gods. I know of at least those." The younger men around her began to chuckle as they thought most of those people and beings were myths.

  "Come on aunt, you can't really think they all exist, maybe once they did but dragons? Reto? Scythe? You're talking fairy tales." Meagan didn't change her facial expressions as she let them have their thoughts, but she believed all of those mentioned were out there, they must be. Otherwise, what rivals her prowess?

  Brail howled as he and the other Naudiz remaining came back upon the camp. "Guys, it's as I feared. They went around the lake to the north and their trail heads inward."

  "Damn!" Flynn said slamming his feet into the dirt. "So this remnant here was a suicide squad left to keep our focus and not allow us the chance to alert Valor."

  "Looks like it." Peter huffed as the others knew what this meant. There would be no rest going forward. Flynn gathers up the force that still stands. In the conflict, their number dropped from 36 total in the camp to now just 13. Meagan, Peter, Flynn, and Olec, all four are members of House Valtrex. Meagan's drummer, Portnoy. Brail the wolf with a she-wolf and two female cats and one tiger. And three soldiers of Valtrex, all from Meagan's unit.

  A light trickled up from the Valtrex camp where they had been earlier. Followed by a rushing figure from the camp hustling toward the battered and worn unit. It was Malachi, the chief druid and wise man serving the Lord Fulcrum. He had teleported into the camp. Though from his pace and frazzled state as he approached it became clear he was not visiting for social reasons or mere evaluation.

  "MY LORDS!" He calls as he hustles over in haste. "We need your army to double back to the capital at once!" He then scans the area. Seeing only a handful of people and a few friendly Naudiz. "Is this all we have remaining?"

  "Malachi it has been a bloody campaign. Meagan took down a large force securing Coastal Wharf, and then we here were decimated by first the Naudiz army and then the volley betrayal by Varus." Flynn explained. Malachi asked a few more questions before he calmed down and requested that the unit move out at once.

  "Brail this isn't your fight, but would you care to stand with us once again?" Flynn asked of the dire wolf.

  "That sack of shit is why the birds, the rabbits, and so many other brothers and sisters of our surviving peoples are no more. I will ride with you to death and ruin if need be to repay his evil upon our race." The other hardened Naudiz nodded as they understood the purpose. Flynn thanked the wolf.

  "Malachi, can you teleport us back?" Peter asked as Flynn and the other arose from their relaxed states and grabbed what they needed for the trek back to Valor. Hustling the journey would take at best a week's running, it would be no easy quick march.

  "I cannot. I only have power enough to warp just myself back, but it takes so much energy just to warp once, especially over such a great distance that I fear it might kill me to warp again so quickly." Meagan let everyone know that they would make double time and the march began quickly with all falling line and moving at the war queen's pace. "I just pray that the city guards hold out. They are severely outnumbered. If only perhaps I were still there I could aid the wall guard."

  "You did the right thing to come and find us Druid. Don't berate yourself too much." Flynn said as he hustled alongside the crew. All 14 in the party marched with purpose. Were they an army of 500, no, but they were mighty enough to make quite the difference in combat.

  "Father, show them you're mighty," Peter whispered as he kept in step with the hustling party, running as if their life depended on it.