Once More with Feeling

On foot it would have taken hours to reach the thick of the old growth forest where the group had reset to try again, thankfully the guild mages had worked overtime to transport them once more. Taking the speed of the horse into account, they chose a spot deeper inside to give them an hour or two to set perimeters and traps. The trail was less defined, with plenty of space amongst the ginormous trees to take any number of paths, but Yew was hoping the knight would take the most straightforward one. Under the canopy as they were, the rain was far reduced, the branches and leaves serving as giant umbrellas. The abundant detritus of the forest made stealth trickier than the rocky grassland, but the trees offered plenty of blind spots in exchange.

And while they should have been too dark to traverse at night, the water in the air was helpful for once. It activated a local species of bioluminescent mushroom, causing the fruiting bodies along the base of the trees to swell and light up just enough to see. If not for being drenched and focused on the mission, Yew would have admired the romantic quality of the scene. Here, the rain was less endless torrent and more hushed song; it pattered against the leaves above in a steady muted rhythm. Few droplets made it to the ground whole, mostly running down the trunks around them and flowing off towards wherever the lowest point was. The scent of petrichor wafted into the air, potent and familiar.

Thunder roared in the distance, blowing further away with the winds every minute that passed.

Yew kept herself well out of sight, tucked into the shadows, as the death knight approached once more. The party had agreed on a more specific plan of attack this time; instead of the prior semi-free-for-all they decided would only become public knowledge under duress. No need to shake the public’s trust in the competency of the adventurer’s guild, besides, everyone is entitled to an honest mistake here and there. Yew would never let her colleagues find out; they teased her enough for her choice of income without giving them extra material to work with.

This time she helped the mage team first, triggering overlapping spells to corral the knight and horse into a pre-designated barrier and trapping them inside. The telltale sheen was practically invisible in the dark, but if the undead dame had been paying attention to the magic around her she may have noticed it. Slapdash as it was, and tuned to the lower skill-level of those present, it was hardly subtle. Still, it did the job.

Once inside, it was the attack team’s turn. Horse and knight stopped just before crashing into the perimeter, circling around to finally spot their pursuers emerging from the trees. The horse screamed, incensed by their reappearance, and the knight spared a moment to pat the side of its neck. Seeing that there was no option but to fight, she pulled her blade a second time and swung down from her steed. Her armor rattled more than typical in the absence of flesh to soften the noise. She stepped forward, sword raised in silent invitation.

Eager for a rematch, the big guy stomped closer first. They stared each other down, assessing, until he abruptly lunged to the side with his weapon angled to slash. Their swords met over and over, casting off sparks, as the man levied heavy blows onto the knight. His strikes were relentless, so much so that Yew was vaguely impressed with his stamina; she had thought he was more bark than bite. Even so, it wasn’t enough against an opponent that can no longer physically tire. She dodged or redirected every blow, but curiously made few moves to attack herself.

With previously hidden speed, she struck his sword from his hand and sent it flying up into the trunk of a tree. In the pause between realization and action she could have killed him, but she only shifted to face another of the party. One by one, defeating and disarming them. Of course, this was no joust or tourney; the adventurers were quick to reclaim their weapons and try again. Eventually they developed a kind of cohesion, chaining their various attacks together in a brutal succession of sharp edges and force. It was enough to get a few solid hits in, but they glanced off the armor and only left scratches behind.

In the end, the mages fell first; the one to her right collapsing from exhaustion. Maintaining a solid barrier like this took a lot of energy that the poor girl didn’t have the reserves for; she had already warned them earlier that she wouldn’t hold out long. To Yew, it was admirable that she made it as long as she had, through nearly an hour of combat. Unfortunately, the barrier was exponentially weaker without her added power amplifying it. Yew could tell the other two were flagging too, and she wasn’t feeling the greatest herself. Yew wasn’t anywhere near collapse, but the strain was burning uncomfortably inside her from magical runoff and leaving her skin flushed with excess heat.

Fifteen minutes later, the next mage, an older man, fainted too. At that point they had to release the barrier, it was too large for just the two of them to maintain. They called out a warning before fully dropping it, letting the remaining magic burn itself out and take the barrier down. The death knight wasted no time knocking the group back and leaping onto her horse once more, but Yew had no intention of letting this drag to a third location.

She ran after the pair, throwing weak fire spells out to direct their path subtly from behind. Well, as subtle as a fireball to the face can be, anyway. Yew felt remarkably like a hunting hound in that moment, chasing after them over tree roots and felled logs alike. Bells ringing with every step and leap. The pounding of the horse’s hooves could almost be mistaken for the beat of her heart slamming into her ribcage; blood whirred through her ears and deafened her slightly. Using her staff, she could vault every few steps and propel herself further than a single stride could carry her. Coupled with the horse’s inability to run at top speed, or run at all, really, Yew was able to catch up.

The chain of her pendent unwrapped from her arm, revealing itself to be much longer than one would initially expect. Yew forwent vaulting to run on foot, swinging her pendent around faster and faster as she dashed after the horse. Fortunately, she didn’t have to stop the massive animal to stop the knight. Yew might be stronger than she appears, but halting the momentum of a nine-hundred-fifty pound horse while on foot wasn’t quite within her physical means. She loosed her hold on the chain, letting it fly forward to snag the knight and looping the chain over her hook before suddenly stopping. It was enough to yank the death knight from atop the horse as it continued on into the forest. It would probably come back, but for the time being they were effectively alone.

Yew didn’t waste her opportunity to pull the knight further off balance and slam her face first into a tree. Visually, it tore off a portion of the skin left on her face; Yew winced although she knew that wouldn’t be able to cause the knight physical pain anymore. It sure looked painful. The knight brought a cracked and equally flakey hand to her face, attempting to feel the loss. She wasn’t distracted to the point where she would forget to dodge as Yew pulled her close to hit her with her staff, however. The knight ran around one tree and then another, negating Yew’s leverage and freeing herself. Now Yew had to drop her chain or she would be the one restrained by it.

Yew abandoning the chain was all the opportunity the knight needed to retrieve her sword, which had been flung aside during her tumble off the horse. She darted toward Yew, weaving around trees to obscure her trajectory. Each step dug furrows into the softened earth, creating a zig zag of dashes on the ground and crunching old sticks. All a passive observer could track was the smearing light of her eyes and the traces left behind, but Yew followed her motions like a fox after a rabbit. Yew ran opposite to the knight, circling trees to shorten the distance.

They collided in a small clearing where a mature tree had downed but was yet to be replaced in the canopy.

The knight leapt up and off of the broad stump left behind, bringing her full might down in a single swing aimed to cut Yew in half. Yew braced wide, legs bent, and brought her staff to guard. The hit rattled her arms, transferring the full force into Yew as she turned her whole body into a spring, coiling lower and bringing the knight to a standstill in midair. For barely a microsecond they were frozen, kinetic potential begging for release from the system it had been trapped in between them. Lightning flickered the sky above them, crawling across the tiny gap in the branches. Yew pushed back, returning the energy to the knight with the clap of the thunder and launching her to the stump. The weight of her heavy boots cracked into the decaying wood, breaking large slivers free.

There was an instant of confusion, the death knight paused to consider if Yew’s shepherd’s hook was more than it appeared. It sat unscathed in Yew’s hands, when it should have been cut in two, but that didn’t stop her from attacking again. She was too inexperienced in magic to recognize the reinforcement runes for what they were, even though she could feel the magic radiating from them. However, she didn’t need to know to fight; she never had. A knight is a protector; she must bravely face any enemy that poses a threat no matter its relative strength or any unknown variables.

Despite the corruption of her body and the rage that thrashed wildly inside her, demanding bloodshed, her training remained. She would finish this.

Yew did not have the training of a knight, but she overflowed with matching sentiment.

Their eyes locked before their weapons clashed again, rivaling the storm above.

Blow for blow, swing for swing, they danced viciously; every strike was meant to kill. 

The knight moved fast, but not so fast that Yew couldn’t draw runes. She engraved the lines into the ground beneath them, only really attacking to keep the knight’s attention away from the extra movements of her feet. It was a spell that required fifty-two strokes, but it was worth the effort when the last curved line activated it and sent roots ripping from the earth. They tangled up the death knight, immobilizing her completely. No matter how she struggled she could not twist her body or sword to free herself; even if she were willing to sever limbs to escape, the leverage didn’t exist.

Yew took a hard won minute to breathe, leaning on her staff.

“Any last words, Dame Magnol?” Yew didn’t expect a response, moving to begin the exorcism. But the death knight’s mouth creaked open, her voice working despite the missing skin, as she begged.

“Please, listen-” rasped from her throat.

Yew did.