Utena cut another bandit down with a single smooth swing of
her blade, and for just a moment she wished that she was still
carrying the Sword of Dios with her into battle. It had protected her
from any magics and healed whatever injuries that she might have
acquired. 'Well, it's not here,' she thought to herself grimly, 'so
deal.'
She scanned the battlefield around her as best she could, and
Utena felt a bit more hopeful as she took in the situation. She and
the others were making steady progress, the odds growing more and more
even as they fought on. She blocked a clumsy strike, forcing the
enemy's blade up and creating an opening. One that she took ruthless
advantage of.
A whinny of pain drew Utena's eyes to the side. Juri's horse
stumbled, then horse and rider both went down in a clowd of dust.
"Juri!" she cried out to her in alarm.
There was a sudden movement, and then a bandit was literally
thrown away from where Juri had fallen. "You sons of a bitches," Juri
roared as she staggered up to her feet, her eyes glazed with anger,
"that was my favorite horse!"
"Well, at least she's all right," Utena blinked as Juri ran at
the nearest bandits and began to tear into the enemy force.
Shiori stood up on a rise just above the battlefield, chanting
softly as she tried to find out what magic lay over the battlefield.
But again and again it seemed to elude her. There was a flicker of
movement, and she turned to see a man gazing at her calmly.
Short pink hair fell into his eyes, and on the surface he
seemed to bear a strong resemblance to Utena herself. But it was only
on the surface, as his gaze was unlike Utena's warm look, instead it
was cold and calculating. The military uniform he wore was archaic,
but suited him well. He smiled at Shiori, just slightly, but then he
slowly and silently faded away.
'Who was that?' Shiori thought.
The carriage moverd forward slowly, keeping well back from the
battle. "Isn't there anything we can do?" Anthy asked worriedly.
Miki shook his head grimly, "If we tried to move forward and
help in the battle, we'd only get in the way." He met Anthy's gaze
steadily before he added, "And then Utena will be worried about you,
rather than guarding herself."
Wakaba made a face as she grumbled, "I hate it when you use
logic." She smiled slightly, "You can join the fighting if you wish."
She drew a wicked looking knife from her skirt, "I'm certain that I
can protect Anthy myself."
Miki actually smiled at her slightly, "I've learned not to
underestimate you, Lady Wakaba." As the brown haired girl blushed most
charmingly he gently added, "But I gave my word to Utena. I will not
break it."
"And we do appreciate it," Anthy said to him sweetly, even as
she lay her fearsome mace beside her on the seat.
Miki sweatdropped.
The battle continued, and Utena had to grit her teeth as a
well executed parry jarred her arm. 'It's strange,' she thought to
herself grimly, 'but it's almost like they're getting better as the
fight continues.' Her eyes suddenly widened, and she swore loudly.
"Juri," Utena yelled out, trying to get her second in
command's attention.
"What?" Juri growled back as she forced her way nearer to
Utena's side. A bit of blood streaked her pale cheek, and her long
orange hair was in disarray. She looked fiercely beautiful, a tough
and capable amazonian warrior.
"The first wave was just cannon fodder," Utena answered her
grimly, "the real fighters are moving up just behind them!"
"So we wasted our flight of arrows on the cannon fodder," Juri
actually laughed before her voice dropped down to a growl, "I love a
challenge."
Utena returned her smile with a feral grin, "Maybe so."
Up above the battle field Shiori blew out a frustrated breath.
'Fine, if I can't identify the spell, I'll do the next best thing,'
she thought seriously. The words were softly spoken, rising in volume
as she continued on, a pattern woven of sound.
Around the battle field little sparks of light began to rise
up, shining brighter and brighter. They hovered there, forming a
lattice work of pure light and magic, glowing unnervingly right above
the fighter's heads.
Shiori chanted the final words, and the light simply exploded.
Not only did it disappear, but it took away each and every magic that
was being worked on the battle field.
"Take that, pink-boy," Shiori muttered. She didn't know if
that man she had seen was responsible for the spell she broke, but she
figured it was a good bet. She swayed a bit, feeling the stress of the
enchantment catching up to her, then she crumpled to the ground.
The bandits slowed their forward progress, and Utena frowned
slightly. 'What did Shiori do?' she wondered, even as she looked into
the eyes of the man nearest to her. It was odd, but his eyes seemed to
be... clearer than before.
The fighters Utena had thought of as cannon fodder looked at
the bloody, angry guards standing there in front of them. Then, almost
as one, they turned and fled, trying to break through their own line
of men to get away!
"What the... ?" Juri blinked.
"Mind control," Utena whispered softly. 'Whatever Shiori did
must have broken the spell,' she thought dazedly. With a sudden grin
she yelled, "Hit them hard!"
Juri caught on quickly, "Charge! While they're off balance!"
The guards surged forward, meeting the badly disorganized
enemy line with brutal, near bone crushing force. There was a moment
when they ground up against each other mercilously, fighters gazing
eye to eye. Then, so gradually that it was barely noticable, the
bandits faltered. Then their line began to break. And finally, they
just gave up and ran.
"Should we chase them?" a young man cried, blood running down
into his face from a bad cut on his brow. His eyes glowed with
eagerness, and his sword was bloody.
"No," Utena barked, looking around for Juri. She spotted the
orange haired woman and yelled, "Get the trumpeters going, sound
recall!"
"But," Juri started to say, looking clearly eager for more
battle.
"We're in no condition for a running fight," Utena barked,
"and we have no idea if there's traps out there waiting for us."
Juri nodded, giving her a rueful smile as she said softly,
"Sorry, I got a bit carried away." She gestured to the trumpeters as
she loudly said, "Sound recall! Get the troops back together." She
turned back to Utena, "I can handle things here."
"Thanks," Utena smiled, and was off. Thankfully the carriage
had nearly caught up with the guards, meaning it only took a minute or
so for Utena to find her Princess.
Anthy all but fell out the window as Utena approached her and
shouted, "Utena!"
Utena smiled, hesitating to take Anthy's clean hand in hers as
she was only then noticing that she was splattered with blood and
gore. "I'm back," she said softly, "as promised."
"You're a mess, Utena," Anthy smiled, but she still pulled
Utena close for a fierce kiss. "I'm so glad you're all right," she
murmured to her softly while she held Utena.
"Me, too," Utena said softly. They seperated reluctantly, then
Utena looked over at Miki and said quietly, "Thank you. If you hadn't
been here watching over them, I would have been unable to fight as
well as I did."
Miki gave a half bow from the saddle as he said, "I was
honored to help." He smiled slightly, "I take it we won, then?"
"We won," Utena agreed, but she sounded a little sad. She slid
free of Anthy's grip and smiled at her sadly, "There's still work to
do."
Anthy watched Utena ride away and asked Miki softly, "What
does she mean?"
Miki smiled sadly, "She must tend to the injured, the dead and
the dying." A little pause, "The most difficult part of being a
war-leader."
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