War Of The Wildlands(72)

Reylana had agreed to lead the sword maidens while Essa went north. She waited a few moments to ensure the archers had reached their posts before giving the order to charge. Just as the streets began to fill, she lifted her sword, signaling the maidens to attack. They charged toward the city just as arrows began to fly through the air.

Screams erupted from the citizens followed by panic and chaos. The runed arrow tips hit their marks, causing homes and shops to burst into flames. Terrified citizens ran from the burning buildings, not realizing they were under attack. They ran straight into the charging sword maidens and were quickly cut down.

Reylana turned away as a woman dashed from her home cradling a small child in her arms. She could see no way of killing the mother without harming the child, so she did not pursue. The maidens broke formation, chasing fleeing citizens in every direction. The archers focused their fire on the town, destroying as much as possible.

As she pursued a man through the streets, Reylana caught sight of a stable full of horses that had caught fire. Seeing no reason to harm the animals, she ran inside and quickly opened their stalls, allowing them to run freely. Pausing for only a moment, she hoped the beasts would someday run free in the forests, should the forests manage to survive the war.

A large man with an iron bar approached her from behind. He grunted as he lifted the weapon, catching her attention just in time to step out of the way. Swinging the heavy bar again, he aimed for her head. Rolling to one side, she narrowly avoided the weapon, which struck the ground with a heavy thud.

The man was no fighter and was beginning to tire already. With difficulty, he tried to raise the bar once more over his head, but Reylana was too fast. From her lowered position, she swung her blade forcefully, striking the man in his thigh. Blood gushed from the wound, and he fell to one knee, clutching at his injured leg. From the amount of blood spraying from the wound, Reylana could tell it was fatal. Instead of wasting her time watching him die, she turned and ran back out into the streets.

The archers began to close in as the city burned. Catching sight of Sal and a few other silver-haired archers, Reylana ran to his position. “Where has everyone gone?” She had not seen a single citizen since coming back out of the stables.

“Most of them are running east,” Sal replied. “It’s been chaos since the moment we attacked. If we’d attacked them in their beds, I think we would have killed more of them.”

“You’re probably right about that, but destroying the town was more important than casualties.” She left Sal and pursued the townspeople who had fled. Several sword maidens ran ahead of her in the distance. Unsure how far it was to the next town, Reylana hoped the women would not pursue too far. They were already dispersed and vulnerable should there be an army ready to retaliate.

Corpses lay strewn in her path as she continued to run. Apparently the elves were faster than Enald’s average citizen and had managed to catch quite a few of them. The sun rose high in the sky, and Reylana decided it was best to regroup. She raised her sword, reflecting the sun’s rays in her runed blade. A white light projected hundreds of feet ahead of her, and the sword maidens stopped running as they caught sight of it.

“Regroup!” Reylana shouted as loudly as she could. She hoped the maidens who were farthest away had gotten her message. She continued to shout until she could see the women returning to her position. “We need to get everyone back together,” she said as the women approached. “We’ve spread out too far, and we should get back to the archers.”

One by one, the women returned to Reylana. Once they had all gathered, they ran back to Enald to rejoin Reylin’s troops. Reylin strode through the center of the town, a large smile on his face. The entire city was smoking, and there were no signs of any of its citizens.

“How’s that for forcing people from their homes?” Reylin asked as he approached his sister.

“I just wish we had more of those arrow tips,” Reylana replied. “We should gather any metal we find for our smiths.”

“Good idea,” Reylin said. “I saw a smithy just at the edge of town.” Reylin pointed to his left.

Nodding, Reylana took two of her sword maidens and headed for the smithy. The rest of the elven army regrouped at the center of the town. They cheered their victory and dared the king to send an army for them to fight. Their blood was running hot, and they were eager to continue the battle.





Chapter 43




Smoke filled the sky over the city of Duana as Essa rallied her troops to the edge of town near the forest. Their dawn attack had taken the city completely by surprise, sending its panicked citizens running in all directions. Their marketplace was completely destroyed, and the elves had grabbed anything they deemed of value. They had found a few new weapons as well as a small store of arrows.