Everlight Family/Isana/Dustiria

Saving the Countess

Everlight

(it’s a flashback now, but a tempting one so I’m going for it)

Isana caught sight of the other two Ladies on the second day out of Kalmar. Alyssa’s warhorse Starlight was unmistakable, and the leaping form of Shadow made it certain. The other figure was less familiar: Delphine de Montigny she had seen few times and rarely if ever exchanged words with. They were united in purpose, to find Countess Dustiria who had been reportedly captured by rogues.

She urged Blizzard to greater speed. The small matter that had delayed her in Kalmar city would not keep Isana from this mission!

Everlight

Dawn lit the mist that pooled in the valleys of the borderlands of Meuse. The three lady knights were still up and moving, unwilling to rest from their search though they’d been at it all night. The heavily wooded foothills held signs of undead everywhere, but the knights and their small teams of soldiers had yet to see a single moving being, much less their sought comrade, Dustiria. “We must be nearly at Sir Daubeny’s encampment by now. Why did they have to capture her in one of our largest regions…” Isana posed quietly to herself.

The sound of rowdy voices became audible somewhere ahead. Isana’s blue-green eyes flicked up to Alyssa and Delphine a few dozen steps ahead to either side. Both were motionless; they had heard it too. Alyssa’s gaze was fixed, focused keenly on an area ahead and to the left. Apparently this was not their allies’ encampment, but another. Delphine turned slightly to signal a hold, and mouthed to Isana, “Bandits.” The dark-haired knight nodded and strung her longbow, awaiting direction.

de Montigny

Delphines heart was racing, her eyes darting from tree to tree in hopes of catching a glimpse of someone. The morning rays shining through the mist made it difficult to make out any coherent shapes. They needed to be cautious, there would be no hope in finding the countess if they were captured or worse dead.

She motioned to Alyssa to fall back a bit and cover the rear, that way if they were ambushed by either side, Isana would have time to take a shot.

As they slowly move forward, they could hear the steps following around them. Why were they not jumping them, they clearly had the numbers.

As the cleared path was narrowing, Delphine could feel the unease settling in. That's when she saw soneone on an overhanging branch. A hooded figure crouched about 20 feet in front of them, barely visible through the leaves. Then another on the opposite side. She motioned to Isana, indicating what she saw.

Befor she had time to turn back around, a bolt pingned off her the shoulder of her armor, ricocheting into a nearby trunk. She raised her shield in time to deflect another.

Things were moving fast, the bandits knew what they were doing, this qas jotntheir first ambush. Isana returned fire, she could already see two, maybe three more being fended off by Alyssa. More bolts flew by them, fortunately not hitting any marks.

Two bandits emerged at her right, a rapier barely missing her as she spun to parry and strike a third that came from the opposite side. A bandit wielding a dagger lunged at Delphine but was stopped short as an arrow ripped through his chest.

They kept pouring out, it wouldn't be much longer before the women would be overwhelmed.

(OOC. Sorry we are jumping all over the timeline with this, but we are trying to accommodate everyones availability. We aren't trying to be all artsy with this I swears.)

Kingsley

The assault came without warning, but Alyssa's instincts kicked in immediately. The faintest rustle snapped her attention to the foliage nearby, her sword found its way into her hand as the bolt came loose from the trees and Alyssa stepped and lunged to one side as the missile stuck into the ground just past where she had been standing. The Warrior rushed into her as she gritted her teeth and began her dash forward towards the direction of the bolt. A cry came out around them and from behind a man with a short sword in his hand charged as well, but Alyssa had the momentum grunting as she swung forward with a heavy strike, and a longer sword and she heard the crunch of bone as her blade drew hard across the man's shattering his jaw as blood poured from his mouth and the gaping wound across his face. He must have yelled but it did not register in her mind as she took her next move.

One. Two. Spin.

She stepped rhythmically forward with practiced ease as she rounded the tree, spinning in a pirouette to gather momentum as her blade swung around the tree to the bowman who had fired upon her. She did not see him until the pinnacle of her spin as her blade came around the tree and landed squarely into his side through his shoddy armour. The Imperatrix sliced into him and across as he fell to the ground and her eyes rushed around the scene for the next threat.

She spotted it quickly. A cocky looking swordsman with black hair stepped forward with a determined grin towards the others. He reminded her of a roguish captain she had commanded once, but the thought was fleeting replaced by instinct as she rushed forward to intercept him before he reached the Knightess. He spotted her coming and parried her strong blow, but her ferocity must have caught him off guard as he did not push her strength back upon her. Instead he tried to grab her hand and hold her sword at bay. He said something to her, but Alyssa was in battle and did not hear it. She shoved him forward and lifted her knee into his stomach staggering the black-haired bandit as she recovered herself. Then she charged him again hoping to catch him while he was still stunned, but he ducked under her blade and past her drawing his own across her back. Her heavy mail protected her but she stumbled her way forward and spun around gritting her teeth as he gave her a grin.

Another arrow flew past her and her opponent took his chance rushing back towards her, but fleshy thud rang out and he staggered off to the side, collapsing to the ground and clutching his lower back. She glanced over to see Isana press two fingers to her lips and hold them out in her direction. Their eyes caught for only a moment before Isana nocked another arrow and turned to find a new target.

Alyssa's target came to her as more foes rushed into the assualt. Strike. Dodge. One. Two. Spin. Strike. One. Two. Dodge.

The rest came without much thought. Years of daily training and instinct flowed through her. Each step the logical extension of the last. Each strike precise and exact, each spin, dodge and parry correct. She stepped into an easy rhythm, glancing over at Delphine who was falling back slightly to find a semblence of formation with the other two women. Alyssa kept close to Isana, to ensure she was not threatened as her knight returned fire back into the archers.

Alyssa didn't know if they were winning or how many would come or die. The thought didn't even occur to her. There was only the battle. From the trees came what sounded like the caw of a black crow.

Everlight

A bolt ricocheted off the Marshal’s shoulder and thunked into a tree beside her; Isana’s trained eyes caught the branches’ rustle whence the bolt had come and she sent two missiles of her own plunging into the misty shadows. She heard one clack off a branch, and the other hit home with a faint thud that could only be a chest. Delphine gestured a command of formation and pointed out two more figures waiting above.

The quiet forest exploded into motion.

Isana crouched to lean her back against the broad trunk of a tree, loosing arrows from her thigh quiver every few seconds. The Imperatrix and Marshal spun and struck to their own rhythms: Alyssa’s graceful dance brutally deadly, Delphine’s quick and defensive with effective use of her shield, and both slicing through enemies as fast as they emerged. A leering figure leaped at Isana from behind Delphine. Her arrow caught his shoulder and sent him spinning to the ground, a second found his neck and he lay unmoving, staining the trampled grass deep crimson.

The attackers were bandits and renegades, of that she was certain: as they burst from hiding places on all sides she saw not a single banner or device among them, no allegiance to any but themselves. Sounds from their soldiers clashing sounded off to both sides and the three women held the center of the line against the surprisingly fierce onslaught of wild-eyed rogues. A growling voice was taunting Alyssa as he grabbed for her.

“Pretty girlies with fancy weapons, you’re our treasure for the nigh--urk!”

His words were cut off by the Imperatrix’s knee firmly in his gut. Isana turned to loose a shot defending Delphine, nocked another arrow and turned back to see the taunting man dragging his knife across Alyssa’s mailed back with a hungry grin. Isana’s lip pulled back in a silent snarl and she loosed her next arrow at the staggering man’s middle, catching him in the lower back. He fell awkwardly to one side. Alyssa turned to meet her eyes and Isana blew a quick kiss to her love, thankful to see she had her mind, before falling back into rhythm.

Twang. Exhale. Twang. Breath. Twang!

Thigh quiver empty, she stepped forward away from the tree to reach into the one on her shoulder. Only a handful of arrows remained. Delphine had begun to press forward into the thicket where Isana now noted the corner of a covered cart.

Hairs on the back of her neck prickled and Isana spun to see a lanky older man almost upon her with a wide loop of thin wire poised to drop over her head.

“Agh!”

The tall knight dropped to one knee and lifted her bow to snag the noose, then brought the solid Beluaterran longbow down on the man’s face with a hard crack! His eyes crossed and he toppled backward, revealing other figures in his sneaking party. Her last handful of arrows found marks in these bandits as they rushed forward, and her thoughts echoed Delphine’s: this was a seasoned crew. They weren't much for marksmen, though. All but one were downed and she was out of arrows.

Isana looked quickly across the ground for easy shafts to reuse. The one in the dead man’s neck was an easy grab, and she grit her teeth and ignored the gore as she jerked it free to send the arrow on its second flight at the last of the sneaking party.

She froze. No new motion met her eyes. Her ears strained for the sounds of combat.

"À Perdana!"

The battle cry sounded behind her. She turned her head sharply to look where Alyssa and Delphine had gone. No motion was visible but she heard strikes and fighting close by. Quietly Isana stood and dashed carefully into the thicket, avoiding mangled bodies and retrieving one arrow that had missed its mark as she went.

On the other side of the brambly shrubs she found Alyssa and Delphine together fighting three figures in the middle of a sprawling campsite. The largest of them wielded an impressive, and familiar, shining jet-black pike.

"That's Dustiria's pike!"

Isana exclaimed without thinking, then snapped her bow up wide-eyed as the closest of the remaining bandits noticed her and charged.

de Montigny

The three women were tiring, fighting what seemed to be an endless flow of assailants. Strike after strike, they fought for their lives, their training giving them the edge on any even fight, their experience on the battle field showing as they instinctively adopted complimentary formations, controlling the flow and pace of combat.

Finally, they seemed to be controlling the flow, giving them time to survey the surroundings. Through the thicket, they could see close by what seemed to be a clearing from where most of the new attackers were coming from. The Imperatrix and Marshal charged forward in an attempt to cut them off at their source.

"À Perdana!" They cried, sweat dripping off their faces as they ran forward, smashing and cutting any they crossed their paths. Alone they were strong, but together, the two seemed unstoppable. The scene was reminiscent of when they had taken back Bescanon, how they were the first to scale the walls carving a gap in the Eponllyn defences, allowing the rest of the army to break in behind them.

Finally they broke out of the forest into a sprawling campsite, the scent of the morning meal still lingering in the damp morning air. Suddenly the attackers stopped charging at them, leaving but three large men in front of them. One of the men, a middel aged man with a large black beard spoke up.

"You've come to the wrong place sweethearts. You will pay with your lives for what you have done." He turned to the other two other. "Don't just stand there, KILL THEM!"

The man charged at them with a short sword, trusting and slashing with much more finesse than all those they had faced prior. He was obviously professionally trained. From just behind them, another swiped at them with a pike, making avoiding being hit all that much harder. The third had a battle axe, and was circling the pair , waiting for a good moment to strike.

From behind her, Delphine heard Isana shout. "That's Dustiria's pike!" Of course, that was where she had seen the weapon before. Were these the ones that captured Dustiria? Anger built up, reinvigorating the Marshal. These men needed to pay.

From the corner of her eye she could see the one that had stayed clear, charge at Isana then collapse almost as fast, the sound of his axe resonating as it bounced off the ground.

Delphine needed to get that pike back. She managed to lure him away, leaving Alyssa with the one that seemed to be the leader. He kept a good distance, making it hard to get into close combat and even harder to land any kind of strike. Swing after swing, she would deflect the hits with her shield. Finally she times herself just right, as the the pike came down she deflected it to the ground with her sword then lunged at the large bald man, bringing her shield up into his face, knocking him back. She could feel the crunch and the impact resonated back into her arm.

"Where is the Countess? You will not leave here alive if you do not tell me where Dusty is. You have her pike!"

The man backed up, trying to avoid another hit, frantically looking for anything to use as a weapon. Delphine did not back off, she charged swigging her longsword, hoping to catch any part of him that she could. After a few stumbling steps backwards she finally caught his leg. As he dropped to one knee she once again smashed her shield into his face, this time knocking him to the ground o his back. She brought the tip of her blade to his neck.

"Where is she?"

"I... I... I... I don't know who Dusty is. I.. I found the pike in the forest next to a bunch of dead hor... horses. They were already dead when we got there."

She paused for a moment, were these the wrong bandits? No matter, they tried to kill them. She pushed the blade forward quickly, then looked around to find her companions. Alyssa too had just finished off her man.

"It wasn't them Imperatrix. They simply found the countesses pike with her dead horses... We need to keep looking..."

Delphine picked up the pike, holding it tight, she wispered to it. "We will find you my friend, I swear."