The New Guard (Crossroads Book 1)

by Matthew M. Johns

  Goblins, though loath to ride horses, know how to control animals with fear and pain. Within moments the two goblins overpowered the struggling horse and brought it into their service. Meanwhile, three more goblins were scrambling upon another of the rear riders and disposing of him in a similar fashion to the first. The five goblins quickly urged their panicked mounts forward and began harrying the last of the rear guard.

  However, this battle was not to be over so quickly nor be so one sided. The warriors who had shot off in other directions rejoined the carriage, just as the goblins riders closed with the last rear sentry. Simultaneously, the rat riders were advancing in a move to get to the front of the carriage. Two of those riders fell before they noticed the new batch of warriors. Both goblins and mounts were killed as massive spears impaled them and their mounts to the roadway. The twin warriors responsible for this then worked in tandem to pin another rat rider between them. The goblin drew two curved and serrated blades and fought both warriors at once. The struggle quickly became a stalemate, as neither side could gain an advantage.

  As all the mounted warriors became entangled with the goblins upon their grotesque rats, the remaining two stead-less goblins had finally caught up to and joined their comrades on the appropriated Coterie horses. Seeing an opening, these goblins spurred their terrified mounts forward to press the advantage. The horse unwillingly carrying four goblins was steered close to the twin on the left. Two of the goblins leapt upon the twin and soon overpowered him. Within moments, they had wounded him mortally several times over. The mounted goblin pressed his advantage and turned his full attention to the twin on the right. In an act to quickly remove the rider from combat, the goblin cut the front leg of the warrior’s horse. It was a bold move, but not a clever one. The horse instantaneously missed the next step. Rider and horse fell, colliding with the goblin and his mount. All four fell in a broken heap.

  Since the battle was being fought at such a fast pace and in such close quarters, many of the combatants had to break from their melees in order to avoid becoming entangled with the fallen riders. Without thought, two of the mounted goblins took the momentary respite and shot forward, away from the fray. They moved rapidly toward the front, one on either side of the carriage. Their intentions were clear; they were headed for the carriage horses. Four warriors broke forward madly to intercept the goblins. The remaining two rat mounted goblins tried to join their comrades; however, they were stopped by the four remaining Coterie warriors, who guarded the back of the carriage.

  The rest were kept busy, as the two rat creature riders moved as agilely as possible, weaving between the four warriors. The seven goblins now in control of three horses added their numbers randomly against the Coterie fighters. Nevertheless, neither side was overpowered. The battle became a deadly game of back and forth, as each side searched for an opening in the enemy’s defenses.

  In the front, two Coterie warriors each harassed the mounted goblins, keeping them away from the carriage team. The goblins proved to be skilled and fought hard and fast, making the warriors defend as many times as they struck offensively. All things being nearly equal, this running battle could have continued in this fashion for hours, had not two more sets of combatants entered the fray.

  At the head of the carriage, the younger driver Jared rose to his feet. (He was the driver whom Rebekah had rightly suspected of having mixed blood.) He passed the reins to his partner and jumped down from the driver’s seat and onto the harness shaft. He wore across his chest and hips two belts which were fully loaded with thin throwing knives. These weapons he added to the skirmish. This was Jared’s job, and he was very good at it.

  Behind the carriage, the demons saw their best opportunity to attack. Ravens dove upon Coterie warriors and their horses alike. Meanwhile, the two wildcats skirted the conflict and brought the goblins riding upon them within inches of the carriage. The great cats began to prepare their muscles for a leap when a silent missile shot toward the one on the left.

  Owls are unique creatures built for silent flight, which gives them the advantage to take down prey without the prey even knowing they were being hunted. Angels, in the form of animals, multiply the advantages of their mimicked animal’s abilities nearly ten times. The demon within the wildcats did not see or hear the angel owl, but it felt its razor sharp talons. By the time the demon which possessed the mountain cats felt the claws, the angel owl was already ascending again.

  The cats growled in unison, and the goblins riding them jumped off, grabbing onto the carriage. At the same time, the ravens fell back and then scattered as the angel owl careened into their midst. The wildcats likewise ran off. However, the demons had not retreated; they merely released the animal vessels in order to better confront the angel threat.

  The two demons stood in the road and scanned the sky. They spied the Owl descending for another attack and jumped to intercept it. The demons attacked with claws, curses, and wrath, teaming up to limit the angel from gaining altitude. Once realizing their tactic, the Owl didn’t try to fly off; instead it pressed the attack toward the larger demon, ripping, pecking, and flinging Soul Fire sparingly, yet surgically. Occasionally, the smallest demon would try to intrude on the melee, but would be rebuked with a small stinging blast of Soul Fire.

  Angels have witnessed the Sacrifice and love that God gives to all good, believing beings, and thus will in turn fight for the good and Godly. Soul Fire is a powerful energy that all beings with a soul can generate, but at the cost to the user’s soul essence. The Owl was wise and knew it could not maintain this dual battle indefinitely. It was ripping out pieces of its soul to waylay the demons, but in its Owl form it was limited.

  The Owl was thinking about the best way to disengage when the larger demon swiped at it. The angel dodged, only to fall into the clutches of the smaller one. Claws sunk into its wings and teeth into its feathered back. In pain and desperation, the Owl blindly blasted Soul Fire behind it. The smaller demon howled in pure agony and fell writhing on the ground. The Owl fell, too.

  The largest demon grinned and was just about to pounce when the Owl was enveloped with a blinding light. Before its sight could recover, the larger demon was pulled down to the ground by powerful hands. As it started to focus, it saw a tattered angel holding it firmly. Demon and angel eyes locked, and when the angel shouted something not audible by mortal ears, both the angel and the demon went up in a pillar of blue flames.

  Rebekah witnessed the supernatural battle as the carriage sped away, for as the goblins jumped aboard she turned and looked out the window slit at the back of the carriage. The images of an angel owl and two demons battling were burned into her mind. It was the last thing she saw, except the thin blade that stabbed through the thin window slits and sliced her cheek. She fell to the floor and clutched the wound as poison began burning under her skin.

  Alawnwee and the Fox acted instinctively. Alawnwee screamed a piercing scream and threw one of the bags at the still protruding blade. Luckily the bag held Alawnwee’s books, and the force of the throw was enough to unbalance the goblin. The goblin lost his grip on the blade and nearly lost his grip on the carriage. The Fox, meanwhile, rushed to Rebekah and began licking her wound. Bonded as it and Rebekah were, the guardian angel instantly knew the danger of the poison and tried desperately to clear it out of the cut.

  Outside the carriage thundered on. Jared had turned the tide at the front, but not before the goblin on the right stabbed one of the carriage horses and the goblin on the left retreated by slipping under a rider’s horse and gutting it. The horse pitched forward; the warrior did not survive the fall. The other warrior with him was so distracted trying to dodge the falling warrior that he did not feel the goblin on his horse until it was too late.

  On the right the goblin tried to swiftly climb aboard the carriage, using the dagger still lodged in the carriage horse’s side. However, the horse was succumbing to the poison on the blade quickly and the goblin could not get a proper grip. In the
end, one of the Coterie warriors beheaded the foul beast.

  Jared then sprung to the faltering horse and hurriedly cut it from the harness pole. With a prayer of forgiveness he shoved the horse free of the team. The horse barely cleared the carriage before it fell dead on the road. In spite of how quickly Jared moved, the remaining horses had to overcompensate for the now dead horse and the whole carriage nearly slipped off the road.

  The jarring correction on the other driver’s part saved Jared’s life. As Jared reached down to grab the harness shaft to steady himself, the remaining goblin jumped from the slain warrior’s horse right at Jared. Though he had not known to duck, the result was beneficial nonetheless. The goblin sailed over Jared’s descending body and landed in the grasp of a Coterie warrior on the other side. The goblin didn’t have long to live after that mistake. Though the battle up front seemed to be toward the side of good, there were still two large rats to deal with.

  To the rear, at the same time as Alawnwee’s scream, the battle flowed back and forth, costing both sides dearly. The scream alerted the warriors to the danger of the goblins boarding the carriage. However, the warning came at a cost. One warrior became distracted, providing enough of an opening for the mounted goblin he was battling to slip a blade under his ribs, puncturing his heart.

  Nearby a group of goblins upon a horse tried to swarm upon the dying adversary, but they only succeeded in spooking the horse which reared, knocking the mounted goblin next to it to the ground. An arrow quickly pinned the goblin to the road leaving him there to bleed to death. Three arrows flew, each hitting targets all over the field of battle: the rider-less rat, the unbalanced goblin on the carriage, and one of the four goblins sharing a horse. This particular group of goblins rapidly changed direction to intercept the bowman, and once in range they all jumped at his horse. The bowman would not easily go down, though. He fired one more arrow, taking out one of the leaping goblins. The other two landed but awkwardly, and the Coterie man pressed his advantage. He hit one goblin off his horse, with his bow breaking the wood in half. He speedily recovered and, taking the broken bow halves in hand, wrapped the string around the remaining goblin’s throat and yanked it backwards with a satisfying snap. The bowman let the goblin and bow drop and pulled out a large hatchet from his belt. He headed deeper into the fray.

  Up front, Jared recovered just in time to see the rat mount on the left going for another horse. Within seconds, the large rat had three throwing knives imbedded into its skull, but it still leapt upon a horse. Jared threw himself at the rat, pulling out two more knives. In the meantime, the two remaining warriors quickly dispatched the rat on their side and moved to help Jared. However, neither Jared nor the warriors could act quickly enough. By the time they dislodged and slew the rat, the horse it had attacked was mortally wounded. The warriors helped Jared cut it free. Once the job was done, they all turned at the sound of a desperate shout from the other driver.

  To the rear, the surviving Coterie warriors tried to push the remaining goblins back. However, the rat rider and his companions fought desperately. They knew they were outnumbered, and they also knew they had to stop the carriage. The remaining three goblins, upon their purloined mounts, maneuvered deeper into the fray and began acrobatically jumping from horse to horse with flashing blades, trying to land a poisonous blow. The black rat rider took full advantage of this and brought his bow to bear. With one loosed arrow the fortunes of war changed hands. The goblin aimed for and hit one of the warriors. The arrow shot straight through the warrior’s stomach and into his horse's head. The three goblins stopped their jumping and hacked away with their blades, sealing the warrior’s fate. The three goblins then steered their horse toward the carriage. The two remaining warriors saw this, yet they were busy trying to defend themselves from the goblins’ missiles.

  The warrior who had recently unleashed a similar offensive knew the advantage the goblin behind him held. He decided to act desperately in order to counter this advantage. In a flash, the warrior pulled back on his horse’s mane, causing the steed to rear. While he and his mount were at a standstill, the entire battle started to fly past them and brought the warrior into close proximity of the goblin archer. The goblin noted the movement, but he was busy loosing another arrow and could not properly address the situation. The arrow flew, missed the warrior he’d aimed for, but hit the horse he rode. In a wondrous show of skill and valor, both warriors jumped from their horses. The one nearest the carriage launched himself at the horse the goblins had just leapt from in order to gain the carriage. The other warrior tackled the goblin archer. Both the goblin and rat fell to the deadly and ferocious blade work of the warrior.

  During the struggle, the three goblins scrambled farther up the carriage and joined their comrade, who was sneaking up on the carriage driver.

  Inside, Alawnwee cried while cradling Rebekah, trying desperately to stabilize her from the constant jarring the carriage was undergoing. The Fox in turn was trying equally hard to counteract the poison working into Rebekah’s system. However, the guardian angel was only successful in slowing the poison’s progress and lessening the strength of the hideous liquid.

  The sound of the three goblins thumping onto the carriage brought the senior drover’s attention to the rear just in time to miss getting cut by a swiping blade. He cried out, drawing the attention of Jared and the warriors, all of whom instantly took in the dangerous situation and sprang into action. The warriors turned their mounts and got themselves level with the carriage. With lithe movements that spoke of years of training, the two Coterie men leapt from their horses and grabbed onto either side of the driver’s seat. The senior driver had by this time lashed the reins to the rail in front of the seat and was trying to fend off four goblins. However, as good a fighter as he had been in his youth, in his autumn years he could not stand up to the gruesome goblins. Though he fought valiantly, he lost his life to multiple sword strokes. Still, he bought the Coterie guards enough time to ascend the carriage.

  Once upon the carriage the two warriors fought swiftly and savagely. They watched carefully for the poisoned blades and timed simultaneous strokes of their own blades for maximum effect. Two minutes the final melee lasted. In the end, however, only the two warriors remained upon the top of the carriage.

  When the sound of fighting ceased, Jared, who had taken back control of the horses, risked a look back and asked, “Is it all clear?”

  Both the warriors replied, “Aye.”

  Jared slowed the carriage down, “Check on the ladies,” he said hurriedly. “I heard at least one of them screaming earlier.”

  One of the Coterie fighters laid flat on the roof and knocked on the carriage door. “All is clear for now; how fare you two?”

  Alawnwee replied, fear lacing her words, “The lady Rebekah has been hurt. She was cut by a blade. She has a fever.”

  The warrior felt his companion’s hand on his back and looked up, then to the rear where the other fellow was pointing. Coming up from behind the last two warriors had secured the horses the other two had jumped from.

  “Stop the cart so we can check on her and the remaining horses,” said the warrior still lying down.

  Jared looked around, his eyes trying to take everything in; then wordlessly, he reined in the horses. Both Coterie men jumped down from the roof. One went forward to check the carriage team, while the other opened the carriage door to check on the ladies. Jared stood, reins in one hand and a throwing knife in the other, his eyes sweeping the area.

  *

  Ferreter could not follow the battle as quickly as he would have liked to. He was forced to move along at a slow trot, taking in the signs of destruction left by the pursuit. After thirty minutes, he came upon the small demon that had pulled itself into the shadows of the nearby trees. Ferreter stopped as it called out, “Who is there?”

  Ferreter replied, “The Rider, what happened?”

  The demon spoke of the battle and the angel attack. Though he was loath
to hear of the loss of the second demon, he was happy to hear of the angel’s demise. The demon ended piteously, “. . . and now I am blind.”

  Ferreter spit down at the demon. “Easily fixed, but for now find some animals to possess and use their eyes. Make one a bird so as to better follow the progress of the carriage. It should be something uninteresting, such as a common songbird. Take any other swift animal you can find and get me reinforcements. We’ll have a little window of time to strike the carriage one more time at nightfall before they reach the capital gates.”

  At that, Ferreter rode off without another word and continued to track the carnage of the moving battle.

  Chapter 17

  Rebekah would have marveled at the sight of Dauntalus, the capital, the city-state, the Central Kingdom. From miles and miles away it could be seen. The city started as a grand castle carved out of a mountain by the dwarves. As each race joined the construction it expanded, and soon the mountain was completely consumed and shaped into grand buildings. The city grew and grew. Soon, the surrounding area within twelve miles of the mountain fortress was covered with awe inspiring buildings to suit any need. This all was surrounded by a massive wall twenty-four feet thick and thirty-six feet tall. However, it was the center of the city that drew every traveler’s attention. Rooted deep in the mountain’s foundation, a tower three miles round and one-mile-high was easily seen when travelers were miles and miles away from the city. It was a structure unlike any seen on any of the habitable worlds outside the Crossroads.