The Kingdom of Atlas

The carriage rolled to a halt and the guards accompanying it immediately moved in closer to it, easily surrounding it and brandishing their spears outwards in a protective circle. The light of the moon was pale and lazy clouds lolling across the night sky only further dimmed their vision that night, but they'd been on the road for several hours now and their eyes had adjusted to the darkness well enough. Eyes and ears primed for threats, they kept a wary lookout on the road before and after them in addition to the vast expanse of forest on either side of the road.

Their scouts hadn't returned and it was strangely quiet. It was always a worry when the creatures of the night ceased their calls. Common men and women might welcome the silence it brought, but as trained knights of the mighty kingdom of Atlas they knew better. If the animals were on edge, they needed to be on guard. Something had disturbed them and whatever it was wasn't something natural. The only noise that night was the soft clinking of their mail and a weak wind blowing through the empty forest. The grips on the shafts of their spears tightened in anxiety and the mounted knights had their hands on their swords, ready to draw them at any moment's notice--some had already drawn them and the naked blades gleamed faintly in the light.

The silence was broken as a shrill voice from within the carriage that was distinctly feminine demanded to know what was happening outside. A small panel on the door of the carriage slid out and crystal blue eyes peeked out into the night. "Commander, I want to know why we've stopped." One of the mounted knights pressed his steed forward slightly and dismounted. "Commander."

"Princess," he acknowledged, bowing his head lightly in respect. "I'm our scouts haven't returned yet."

"Should we head back then?" There was no hint of worry or fear in her voice as she easily interpreted his words. "It will cost us time, but I believe my father would find it understandable."

The man nodded but shook his head. "We have reason to believe we've been surrounded." The slat immediately closed. "We're currently lighting torches at this moment and keeping a sharp eye out. You have no need to worry."

"Thank you, commander. I trust that you and your men will be able to deliver me safely back home." Her voice was muffled, but still reached his ears readily enough. After another slight bow of the head, he remounted the armored steed one of the spear-men had been holding for him and inspected the guards' positions once more.

Torches lit, they waited a few more minutes, but the road remained uncomfortably silent. Unable to sit there like sitting ducks for much longer, the commander finally gave the command to move out. Their pace was slower than before and a tight circle was kept around the carriage, especially by the more heavily armored guards. Each and every single one of the knights were tense and wary of an ambush, but such a surprise attack never came.

They reached the crest of the hill before taking pause once more. The height gave them a vantage point to scout ahead, but as far as any of them could tell there weren't any traps below. Nevertheless, two knights were selected to scout the road ahead of them and another two pairs to venture into the forest on either side. They were ordered to sound the alarm at the slightest provocation and immediately return to the column.

The scouts eventually came back empty handed, but the daunting silence continued to serve as a warning that something was amiss to them. "This is strange..." muttered the commander to himself.

"Sir, do you think they're involved?" asked one of the knights nervously.

In the dimness of the night, the knight didn't notice his commander's glare, but he could easily make out the distaste in his voice. "It makes no difference if they're involved or not. We will handle them like any other threat. It is our job to protect the princess and we will."

"Yes, but--"

"It makes no difference," repeated the commander, words thick with contempt.

"Y-Yes sir," bowed the cowed knight.

They began to move out once more, pace slow as ever. The wind picked up and became more of a nuisance. Atlas was known for its frigid, year-round weather, and its inhabitants were used to the cold; however, this wind was one of those rare bone-chilling ones. It was certainly strange for Vale, considering their weather was never really to the extremes, even during the winter season. The knights who were chain and mail were lucky enough to not immediately feel the wind's chill, but for those who had opted for speed instead of heavy defenses shivered and pulled up their collars and cloaks in their best efforts to ward off the cold.

That was when the first handful of knights began to fall. Arrows rained down on them and the knights were hard pressed to protect their youthful charge. "The next town should be an hour away. Get the princess to safety immediately!" roared out the commander, shield raised high above his uncovered face against the hailstorm of iron. "Footmen, on me!"

The carriage immediately began to quicken it's pace and the mounted knights in the column moved with the carriage, ever careful to keep it surrounded and in the middle. The footmen came to the commander's call and gathered in untidy clumps around him. "They're coming from behind us. They're in the forest. Flush them out!" Shields raised before them, they climbed back up the hill only to pause and look back with horror as hungry flames roared into life behind them.

The lead knights had suffered the worse of the damage, having set off the traps. The more heavily armored ones had truly suffered, being cooked alive in their heavy, plated armor shells. The mines continued to go off, linked to the ones the lead had set off. Horses neighed and whined, instincts taking over their training as they bucked and heaved their riders off in their struggled to escape the flames. Indeed, even some knights had lost all sense of themselves and ran off in terror only to be picked off by unseen snipers.

The carriage the princess was in had not yet caught fire and was earnestly trying to go back, but it was far too slow and the congestion of knights surrounding it made it virtually impossible to escape. Without a second thought, the commander roared out another order to the footmen: to rescue the princess and provide cover for her, as he charged towards the flames, eyes locked onto the carriage.

"Princess!" he called out, as the carriage toppled over and crashed onto it's side, flames eagerly reaching forth for the splintering wood. Maneuvering his shy mount, he made it to the carriage after dodging crazed, burning knights and jumping over charring dead bodies of horse and men. "Princess!"

"I-I'm here!" came out a weak voice, almost muffled by the heavy wood panels, crackling fire, and agonized screams.

Hurriedly, he tried to open the door, but found it jammed and was forced to use his sword to crack the door open, chipping it in the process. "Can you get up?" he shouted. A pale hand slowly floated into view and he leaned over as far as he could to grab hold of it, pulling the princess up out of the wreckage and into his arms, leaving his sword jammed into the wood.

She was bleeding and coughing, but otherwise alive. He let go of his tight hold on the reins and gave his mount full bearing, the beast immediately trying to find the quickest way out of the death trap closing in on them. He had abandoned his sword and had no weapon to his name other than the hunting knife at his side and the armored gauntlets he wore. He hoped it would be enough. Slowly, the princess sat up, leaning forward with the horse and the commander quickly following suit. They picked up some speed and was soon free of the flames.

"You know your way to the next town?" asked the commander hurriedly. The princess voiced the strongest affirmation she could with her damaged lungs and moved to take the reins. He passed them on to her without a second thought and pulled a spear from a fallen knight as they sped by. It was near broken, but better than nothing. Working the hunting knife off, he slipped it around the princess' waist. "Just in case." A grim nod from her was all he got.

Slowly, other knights who had managed to survive joined them. In no time they reached the town they had planned to pass through by morning. "Why are the gates closed?!"

Unfortunately, the commander had no idea why. Desperately, he scanned the wood walls, but all the gates he knew off were closed off. They pulled up to the main gates and he called out to the guards on duty. "By order of the king of Atlas, let us through!" But the words had no effect and the gates remained stubbornly closed. Wood walls they may be, but they were crafted from sure, strong trees and would not easily yield. They didn't have enough time to ram the gates open. He glanced down at his charge and grimaced. "We'll press on."

The princess' shoulders shook for a moment, but she soon nodded and their small band continued forward. The men at their rear were slowly being picked off one by one and the sound of hoof beats steadily gaining on them could easily be heard by all of the knights and the princess. They and their horses were exhausted, not to mention suffering from smoke inhalation of varying degrees. The mounted pursuers had likely been one of many fail safes in the event they got away from the ambush and mines. Their planning was impeccable. They had downed over a hundred knights in less than an hour.

He glanced around him at the survivors. They were mostly lucky greenhorns, a few veterans scattered among them. A lot of talent and potential had been lost that night. "Princess, your cloak, please," he murmured quietly. "Keep as low as you can." The princess unclasped the pin that held her cloak in place without question and hunkered down over the tiring horse. "Men, on me!" he roared. Exchanging gazes with the veterans, he didn't have to give out his orders.

Making sure to hand the cloak off to one of the vets as if it was a person, he pointed at the three closest knights to him. "You three, with me!" The other vets called out for various knights to follow them as well and the twenty or so knights that had managed to survive broke off into two groups of three and four and one group of six.

"Take the princess to safety!" shouted each of the leaders of the groups before splitting up and going off in varying directions. The hoof beats behind them slowed, but quickly split off as well. It was the only tactic left to them other than making a stand and fighting them of, but that was hardly an option--not when they had managed to rain down hundreds of arrows on them at once. It wouldn't be long before they were all caught, but at least this way they had managed to split up the numbers they'd be facing if it came down to a fight.

He estimated they were outnumbered three to one, not counting the princess as a fighter, but those odds were better than before. It seemed their pursuers had not divided their numbers equally and he hoped that meant they had assumed one of the other groups had the princess. It would be bad news if they had deemed they were the right group and sent a small, but highly elite force to handle them. Two of the men he had chosen were greener than he'd like them to be, but being picky about who accompanied him would've only made them suspect him more. He prayed that the two greenhorns would be smart enough to understand what the plan was. "We're taking the princess to next city."

"But you handed the princess off to Sir Schwarz," started one of the greenhorns. "Wouldn't it better for us to take refuge somewhere and catch our breaths, send word for help, and then meet up with him and the princess in Alby?" Well at least this greenhorn seemed to get the message.

"That's not Sir Schwarz," sighed the other greenhorn, apparently more green than his peer. "You're mistaking him with his brother, Sir Braun. He took the princess and they're headed for the port town Camel. Use your head. They can get a boat a Camel and reach Altea faster and safer than securing another stupid carriage." Perhaps this young man wasn't as stupid as he had given him credit for.

"Both of you shut your mouths," grumbled the vet. "That kind of attack could only have been launched by the White Fang. They're probably listening to our every word as we speak. You know how good their hearing is."

"Yes, sir!"

"My apolo--" But the greenhorn's words died in his throat as an arrow lodged itself into the exposed chink of his mail and he fell from his mount like a stone, reins still wrapped tightly in his stiff hands and dragging his steed down with him. Whether it was a lucky shot or had been a carefully placed one was up for debate.

Faint lights played peek-a-boo with them up ahead. A small village! They spurred their tired steeds on, well aware they were breaking them and that if the horses lived they'd likely only be useful as meat for the dogs. The vet's horse actually gave out on him as they reached the dusty, well trodden dirt road coursing through the main part of the village. He abandoned the mount and the possessions it had been carrying immediately. "Go on."

"But--"

"Go and live, you damn brat."

The young knight spared him a second glance and then hurried on after the commander. His words, although harsh were true. He was a knight of Atlas and he knew his duty. He still wasn't sure if the commander actually had the princess or not, but if he did, he was better off alive and helping the commander than staying behind to help Sir Rot. He would be of little to use them on foot anyway. The man had made the proper choice. He could only hope to be as noble as him one day. Their horses were dying on them, but if they could carry them just a little further, then it was worth abandoning the man, if only to put a few more miles between them.

But it seemed their abandonment of Sir Vernon was for naught as they reached the center of the village and their horses began to move at little more than a crawl. Distantly, they could hear Sir Rot engaging in battle with their pursuers. His harsh war cries were defining and his insults and taunts even more so. They had little time left to them. Their only option was to fight or hide.

"Psst!" Both the commander and the young knight tensed. "Over here!" They shared a glance before the commander set down the princess, much to the knight's shock, but neither he nor the princess made a sound. "Hurry!"

The princess stared up at the commander and knight in turn, mouth open to say something, but she quickly closed her mouth and hurried over towards the voice that had called out to them, hunting knife in hand. She would not forget their sacrifice. She met a cloaked figure, not much taller than herself who pulled her inside one of the homes. The sound of hoof beats didn't give so much as a pause as they turned the corner and continued their chase after the commander and young knight. "Wh--"

"Shh." She failed to see how her faint thank you would have been a problem considering how loud the girl's 'shh' at her had been, but clamped her mouth shut nevertheless. This person had risked their life to save her's without knowing why her life was at stake or who she was, the least she could do was try not to get themselves both killed in the meantime. She waited for what felt like hours, but eventually the hooded figure relaxed and turned around to face her. "Are you hungry?"

Her crossed arms relaxed a little. This was not the question she had been expecting to hear come out of her savior's mouth. She was about to give the stranger a modest 'no' but her stomach growled in defiance. "A little," she amended instead.

"It's not much, but it's pretty good." The hooded figure, who was probably a woman too, judging by her voice, pulled down the thick wooden covering of the small fireplace and quickly pulled out a loaf of bread, dropping the apparently too hot loaf onto a clean, white cloth on the small table next to her quickly. "Here you are!"

Picking up the cloth and wrapping it around the warm loaf delicately, she gently blew on it before taking a small bite. She didn't realize just how hungry she was until she swallowed. The bread was a little stale, made better by reheating it, but otherwise edible. It warmed her up and filled her stomach enough so that the harsh hunger she had been ignoring due to the fear of being caught had subsided to a more manageable level.

"We can leave tomorrow morning," smiled the young woman, throwing back her hood and revealing a short bob of dark red, almost black hair framing her face. Her silver eyes gazed at her intensely and she found it unbearable to continue looking her in the eye. "You can sleep here, if you want," she offered, moving aside and showing her the bed she'd been sitting on.

She merely nodded in response and sank into the lumpy mattress thankfully. It was uncomfortable and far too hard, but it was a bed and she hadn't slept in one since her leave from the kingdom of Mistral.

"Oh, my name's Ruby by the way! What's yours?"

"Mmm... Weiss..." she mumbled, already succumbing to the sweet embrace of sleep.

"Weiss...?" Ruby repeated her name quietly, mostly in an effort to remember it before smiling and stripping off her cloak to lay it on top of Weiss and scooting in closer towards the fire. Tonight was going to be a chilly one. Back against the warm stone hearth, she curled up her knees and wrapped her arms about them, laying her head against her knees. For a moment she watched as the pale young woman in her bed slept. The slow rise and fall of her chest with every breath she took eventually lulled Ruby to sleep herself. "Weiss..."