AND NOBODY CHARGED

[sarahbarah 5021]

AND NOBODY CHARGED

 

Spoiler

 

 

All at once, time seemed to last forever yet pass in a blink.

 

Queen Amaya - the White Flame of Haense, known as the Queen of the People to others - raised her blade just in time to parry a Veletzian spearpoint from her throat. She was only dimly aware of the vibrations that jolted her arm, just as the pain in her thigh from when she had fallen from her steed - Ember; she merely grit her teeth as adrenaline drove her sword up to swat aside the spear’s second pass. All around her, the battle raged in that timeless purgatory as dying screams and triumphant yells rang out. She could distinguish between the yells little more than she could make out her allies in the melee since she had been dismounted. 

 

No, she told herself as she raised her dented shield. No distractions. 

 

Her jaw tightened as she stared down the Veletzian spearman advance towards her, burgundy cloak whipping around his dirt-splattered daemonsteel mail. Under the faceguard of his helm, Amaya could see the gleam of intent in his eyes. He knows who I am. He … The spear shone in the southern sun as the Veletzian closed the distance. He’s coming to kill me - isn't he?

 

In those fleeting moments. Amaya waited for the knot of fear in her stomach to form, but it never came, and it was not a cold sweat that beaded her forehead, but the sweat of exertion. The spearman blinked in surprise when Amaya pressed off her heels, and swiped her blade at his throat. Her foe fended off her strikes with ease, but the surprise in his eyes did not subside. He’s not the first to try, she reminded herself as she pressed her attack, and, with a bash of her shield, sent the Veletzian stumbling back. 

 

As the Veletzian brushed mud off his breastplate, she readied her shield once more. Even were she not out of breath and injured from when she fell from Ember, she knew she would have been no match for one of the elite reavers of Veletz, but she did not care. She would not yield to them. 

 

Nobody came. 

 

Where is your King?

 

You are left to die.

 

Those words - the words of her tormentors - rang in her head as she clutched her shield, and watched the Veletzian brandish his spear once more. Despite her best efforts, her breath quickened and her mind began to race. It took her a moment to realise the metallic chattering she heard as her own sword quivering in her grip, and her wide eyes flashed back to the opposing Veletzian spearman. He said nothing as the battle raged on all around them, but she still heard those heckles in her head.

 

Nobody came.

 

Nobody will come.

 

She watched the spearman advance at a slow pace, confident in his supremacy, and with his spear ready to strike. 

 

Nobody came to save you.

 

Nobody will come now.

 

Nobody.

 

She released a heavy breath as the spearman grew closer, bringing with him her certain death. If this is the end … she thought to herself as time seemed to ebb even slower. ... I tried my hardest. The sound of battle seemed to fade, replaced only by the clank of the Veletzian’s mail as he stepped forward. I fought with all I had. She had given her soul to this fight, from when she had fought in the streets of Valdev, when she had been captured, and when she had almost been executed.

 

She had been afraid, then.

 

But she was not afraid now. No - she would yield to their fear no longer.

 

And so, from every fibre of her being, she drew every last vestige of strength - every last ounce her body had left to give - and she roared as she charged out to meet her foe.

 

. . .

 

But she never reached him.

 

It was only when she felt warm, fresh blood on her face that she became aware of her surroundings once more. She had not seen the horse charging through the sprawling melee, nor had she noticed the pink-cloaked rider hurtling towards the Veletzian spearman. She only saw the moment where the rider plunged her lance into the spearman like a bolt of steel lighting, pinning him to the ground in a spray of blood and shattered daemonsteel. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

“Majesty!” Came the hoarse yell of Dame Rosalind atop her steed as she jerked her lance free from the Veletzian’s corpse. “Are you-”

 

Amaya, however, never heard what followed. For while Dame Rosalind’s lips moved under her faceplate, her words were drowned out by a sudden all-encompassing rumble that rose up from behind her. As she turned to gauge the source of that deafening noise, she saw it.

 

She saw ‘nobody’.

 

The ‘nobody’ that her enemy had decried. 

 

Fifteen-thousand of them, their lances levelled, let out a primal bellow as their horses thundered against the bloodsoaked earth. They parted around Amaya like a flood, and their clamour even muted the panicked cries of the Veletzians as they were trampled under the hooves and lances of fifteen-thousand nobodies.

 

Amaya sagged to her knees, and she felt warm tears of relief mingle with the blood on her face. Above the ceaseless tide of horsemen, she saw the blue-black banners of Hyspia, the maiden of Petra, the gleaming flags of Hohkmat, the burning Ashtree of Norland, the regal purple of Balian, the hammers of Urguan, the dragons of Aaun, the four-pointed star of Numendil, and the golden crow of Haense, streaming in defiant unison against the clear skies over Hippo’s Gorge. 

 

Her shoulders shook as she laughed and wept simultaneously as fifteen-thousand ‘nobodies’ charged, and slaughtered their foe to a man.

 

Spoiler

Thank you to Conor for this beautiful post and for helping me bring Amaya's character arc to light. GG to both sides, much love. x

 

[argonian 12840]

Spoiler

who drew the picture?

 

maybe you said and im blind, but anyway it's v cool

 

[Xarkly 12618]

 

Friar Villorik held little love for the Haeseni royals and their schemes, from the sinful adultery of Marius Audemar, to King Georg, who had put diplomats to the sword.

 

The White Flame, however, was an exception.

 

He would forever be glad to raise his blade for her.

[tilly 3672]

"None of them had any follow-through." Renilde cackled.

[Frostdrop1 875]

Ser Audo Weiss, the Knight Paramount, was proud and glad to be a nobody with many other nobodies. And, too, was he glad to leave many a Veletz soul with no body inhabit.

[MissToni 3487]

Katerina smiled from the seven skies as she saw the Queen prevail and the forces come to her rescue

 

"This time she was kept safe" she spoke to herself

[Bonito 2264]

4 hours ago, Xarkly said:

Friar Villorik held little love for the Haeseni royals and their schemes, from the sinful adultery of Marius Audemar, to King Georg, who had put diplomats to the sword.

 

Old man Osric, powerful metamancer, senses this and goes to tell Friar Villorik the days of Sigismund III, when honorable man and king were last synonymous.

[erictafoya 2309]

In a far away distance was a man who was not so much bothered by war, but by the daily catch. Upon hearing the details of a seemingly brutal battle, The King Fisher could not help but see if she was safe. Alas, he would breath easily and smiled knowing that the Haeseni people kept their promise. . .

 

They kept her safe.

[CyyanTea 353]

A smile graced the expression of Dame Rosalind as she recalled the events, still wiping the blood that had been ingrained into her knightly armour.

"Vy have given vyr whole life." She reiterated, as if speaking to the Queen herself when she was in fact, quite alone. "Ich am glad vy have been shown the love of vyr people, vyr majesty..."