"The real brilliance of Bothwin was not the fact that he called for a change on the orcs' right flank, but that he knew that the Spineripper tribe, which composed the mass of the right flank, were demoralized and would break under an assault even if they outnumbered the enemy. As Wing's countryman, Chao Tzu says 'A commander who knows his soldiers' hearts will win a battle, but a commander who knows his opponents' hearts will win a kingdom.'"
With that reference Madeleine turned from her discussion with Farad to briefly wave at Wing, walking a hanful of steps behind them. Wing gave a smile and a thumbs up.
I bet Nary can hear Maddy from whereever she is, he thought, imagining Naruel's sigh of exasperation at Madeleine's constant habit of talking as loud as if she were haggling at the village market. Wing could not see the half-elf but knew she was somewhere in front of or behind them, walking quietly and observing. After the first two peaceful days the others had concluded that whatever bandits inhabited the road had no appetite to take on armed and armored prey, but Naruel remained committed to her silent scouting. Only after they had broken camp for the evening would she appear, usually carrying a brace of rabbits or other freshly caught game for them to eat.
Madeleine was clearly enjoying herself -- she had immediately accepted the invitation from Torin much to her mother's dismay -- and the normally voluble young woman had been shocked into impressed silence upon first meeting the imposing Farad. Her initial quiet awe of the large Dragonborn had turned into what seemed to be a desire to ingratiate herself with and prove herself to the paladin. She had spent the last several days discussing battlefield tactics and history with Farad, dropping in not too subtle accounts of her own martial feats. Farad in turn seemed quietly amused but also pleasantly flattered by the assertive young woman who wore her chain armor and two handed sword with a confidence and familiarity.
They were all in fairly good spirits. The autumn rains had been light and the walk to Winterhaven had been peaceful. The air was crisp but not yet with the bite of winter, and the leaves on the trees shone in their fall colors. Thought the well maintained cobblestones of their hometown had quickly turned to a dirt road marked by isolated cobblestones peeking out, a clear indication of the relative disuse of the King's Road in the past several decades, the road was level and mostly unbroken.
There was a cacophonous shrieking as small reptilian humanoids appeared from the rocks to the left and right of them, moving rapidly towards them. Seeing the shield and spears in their rust-colored claws, Wing's heart started to pound with excitement and fear.
Madeleine had but moments to prepare herself before one of the little reptilians was upon her. Before she could draw a blade the creature viciously lunged at her. She twisted to avoid the wicked looking spear, but too late. The glancing wound made a grating sound as it rang against the chainmail links of her armor. Before it could recover, however, an arrow plunged deep into its chest and it collapsed. A second creature leapt into its place -- its spear swinging wide of Madeleine.
"Bahamut grant me strength!" roared Farad and the Dragonborn was at Maddy's side. Almost twice the size of these reptilian bipeds, Farad's warhammer crashed effortlessly through the little beast's shield arm and it was tossed aside like a broken doll.
Seeing another beast fall, Wing sprinted off the road towards the boulders from where the attack had been launched, his mind racing over the spells Alastair had taught him. Suddenly a creature was charging at him. A silver bolt erupted from his fingers. Wing shouted in dismay as the creature altered its course mid-charge and avoided the magical bolt with inhuman speed. Wing dodged the distracted creature's spear thrust.
"Wing, do not get ahead of Farad and I!" Maddy shouted behind him, calmly drawing her crossbow. The bolt found its target but even as it writhed on the ground more creatures beset Madeleine and Wing. A sling stone from a hidden enemy flew perilously close to Wing.
Madeleine realized that these creatures were far more perilous than her previous battles, and she felt a twinge of fear. But it was still a battle. And she knew how to fight battles. The deadliest enemy is not the one in front of you but the one behind. She scanned the surroundings. "Farad, protect my flank. New attackers on the road!" Madeleine warned.
Farad wheeled and saw more creatures running towards them from the other side of the road, claws gripping dark metal shortswords and substantial shields. One of Naruel's arrows struck one of them, but did not stop its advance. Taking the offensive, Farad charged and swung, but unlike the last creature, this one blocked the blow with its shield. Suddenly one creature was ahead of him and one behind. Farad winced as blades tore into him from in front and behind.
There was a roar and the whole area in front of Wing burst into a sheet of flame roaring like a fan from his outstretched fingers. One creature screamed and fell as it blackened from the magical fire. Madeleine struck down the creature confronting her with one mighty swing of her greatsword and pushed Wing behind her. "I'm better armored. Use me as cover!" she commanded as a strange looking sling stone flew by them. Sheltered from Wing's magical fire by the boulders that had hidden them, the reptilian sling-bearer hissed in frustration at his miss and grabbed another ceramic globe from its bandolier.
Naruel drew upon her ranger training and with one swift motion fired two arrows at the dangerous fighters surrounding Farad. The creature batted one away with a hiss but the other sank deep into its leg. Farad took advantage of its distraction and the creature collapsed as the paladin crushed its skull with one blow of his warhammer. Farad's other attacker hissed in anger and redoubled its attack, but its blade was parried.
"You are doomed" Farad shouted, in the language of dragons that he suspected these little reptilian knew.
"We shall see," rasped the creature in Common in return.
"Have at you!" Madeleine cried and charged the creature amidst the stones; she stumbled and her greatsword dug up only dirt and stone. Wing's magic bolt burned into the creature, but did not fell it. With superhuman agility the creature leapt back and hurled the globe from its sling in a single smooth motion. Wing shouted in alarm as the bullet hit Madeleine square in the chest. As the ceramic globe burst liquid flame covered her chest and ran down her legs. Madeleine stumbled back, stunned and clothes alight.
Dark metal sword scraped harmlessly off of Farad's shield. An arrow struck deep and Farad's warhammer crashed down, ripping and tearing through metal, scale and flesh. "Perish!" roared Farad.
Protect Wing, finish the fight, then drop and roll, thought Madeleine, though pain was lancing all throughout her body from the blows she had received and the heat from the flames. Keeping herself between Wing and the creature, she attacked again, her clothes still smoldering; the nimble creature avoided her blow. As it again slipped by her and turned to use its sling, she wondered whether she could survive another blow.
To Madeleine's relief, the creature slammed into the ground and lay still as another one of Wing's magic missiles found its target. At the same time she felt a surge of cooling relief through her body and her pain lessened as Farad's talon gripped her shoulder in a comforting touch. She glanced behind her and saw the bloodied but standing paladin. On the road behind him lay both of his attackers, pierced and smashed. There were no other attackers.
Madeleine closed her eyes and fell to her knees. She felt the warm covering of a blanket as Wing tried to pat out the flames that licked at her.
The shrieking of the beasts and the sound steel crashing against steel and flesh were replaced by the quiet of the wilderness and the heavy breathing of the four of them. Wing sat next to the resting Madeleine, now no longer alight. Farad sat down and tended to his own wounds while Naruel scanned for more enemies. Pausing by one corpse, she knelt down and looked closely at it. "Kobolds," she concluded, though the others were lost in their own thoughts.
Madeleine sat up, tired and wounded, and hugged the wizard tight. "Wing, I screwed up. I couldn't hit that thing. I was totally ..."
Wing gently put his hand over her mouth, "No need, Maddy. Only got it done because you were distracting it. You shielded me. Otherwise I would have been toast. Burnt toast. Sorry I got in front of you earlier." Though her mouth was obscured by his glove, he could see her eyes brighten with a smile. "Another victorious battle, commander," he added in a tone so low only she could hear.
"Indeed," Farad assented. "If not for your warning I would have exposed my back to the two sword bearing ones that were lying in wait on the other side of the road. Even with the warning, they were fearsome. If I had been surprised, I may not have been so lucky."
Though it made her sides sore, Madeleine laughed as she pushed Wing's hand away. "Enough! I get it. No need to console my wounded pride. I appreciate it, though. Nary, do you have a compliment for my battlefield presence that you want to add."
Naruel paused from her inspection of one of her bodies to look up. She thought for a moment. "No," she finally answered, with a straight face but a gleam in her eye. "You sucked today."
"True," Madeleine said, tossing a stone at one of the corpses burned by Wing's spell, "but something tells me that I'll have more opportunities to prove myself."
"I fear you are right," Naruel said. "Lets hurry. From what I remember being taught, these creatures see well in the darkness and we are close to Winterhaven. I would not camp exposed if we can avoid it."
The sky darkening, the travelers rose and moved on, quieter than before.
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