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Into the Icy Darkness II: The Next Generation
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<blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1707312" data-attributes="member: 15043"><p>“Here they come!” echoed up and down the line, and Vintressa watched Raven’s horse fairly leap past a few of the City Guardsmen, sweat covering its flanks as she reined the beast up hard.</p><p></p><p>“I think I did well,” Raven said breathlessly, nodding to the chaotic horde building up speed before them. Vintressa had been right... her horse was back at their own lines before the chargers trying to run her down had come to a full gallop.</p><p></p><p>“You did do well,” Vintressa put a hand on her friends arm, before her gaze went back to the oncoming host. She hoped her plans weren’t madness... they had worked before, for a certain lord some two hundred years later. The history books she had found before leaving with barely a hundred men to try and stop the people threatening her parents had described the first victory of King Ananias Caladron over the Imperial army as ‘the Battle of the Stakes.’</p><p></p><p>“Archers!” she heard Avaril call, and watched as the thin ranks of the city guard drew their bows, sounds of leather and hide being pulled taut whispering in the air. The horses hooves thundering towards them sounded like a merely distant rumble, drowned out momentarily when Ari gave a growl.</p><p></p><p>“Remember, do <em>not</em> shoot at the knights!” she heard her Aunt Tess calling out. “Shoot at the horses! You will <em>not</em> hurt the knights! Put enough arrows in their mount, and the steed <em>and</em> the knight will go down!”</p><p></p><p>For her part, Vintressa concentrated on breathing, the air inside the greathelm already was hot and stale. She felt her horse shy back slightly, the rumbling growing louder as the streams of banners, shining plate, and vicious lances thundered closer and closer.</p><p></p><p><em>If they break through, you will die. So will Raven. And Val, and Royukgan, Aunt Tess... and most of the city behind you, Vintressa! You cannot fail! You MUST win this time!</em> She bit her lip again, this time in worry, her hand reaching down to rub the ruby in her cloak. He could feel its power running up her arm… a warm, fuzzy feeling. </p><p></p><p><em>I should use the stone…</em> her mind thought, seeing the hordes to her front. <em>Only it will save me…</em> She felt her hand starting to draw it out of its pouch, but then an image flashed into her mind of the city ablaze, red soldiers cutting down its people. Her hand dropped the stone, and it fell back into its pouch.</p><p></p><p> The call for archers to fire echoed in her ears, and she watched a hail of black arrows course into the sky. A few knights pitched down, arrows coming from their armor in numerous places. The knights struggled to get up. Their horses didn’t.</p><p></p><p>“Reload!” The command echoed in her ears, as she saw them coming closer, the city watchmen drawing again on command, and loosing another volley. A few more went down, but not nearly enough to stop the momentum of the charge. Another volley went out, and then another. By now, even through her slits, she swore she could see the eyes of the steeds charging towards them, wide and white in battle terror, the cloth and silk covers on the animals displaying their master’s arms flowing gracefully back as they broke into their final gallop.</p><p></p><p>“Hold!” she heard Avaril calling to the men and boys of the city watch. Some were already shying, and a few mounted Household guard were quickly positioned behind them to keep shying from becoming a premature rout. The knights came closer, her ears now able to hear the individual battlecries. “Erelion!” “Beardstone!” “Comnitas!” </p><p></p><p>Closer, and still closer they came, their lances lowered like fingers of death, desperately reaching out ahead of their masters for the men on the ground. It was an immensely powerful, completely unstoppable wall of men, horses, and lances.</p><p></p><p>“Now!” she heard Avaril call, and the city watchmen dashed backwards, just seconds before the knights would have been able to thrust into their ranks. They ran as quickly as possible, their masked ranks now unveiling Vintressa’s first surprise; thousands and thousands of stakes driven into the ground.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Manse cursed silently as he watched the knights plow forward, banners streaming behind as if in a massive tourney of some kind.</p><p></p><p><em>But those are no tourney weapons they face... and there will be no laughing and congratulations after one is struck off a horse.</em> Despite the heat, Manse shivered. Behind him he could count only fifty of his knights, not counting their squires and auxiliaries... perhaps a hundred and fifty altogether.</p><p></p><p>He was thus greatly surprised when footmen began running past, coming from the east. By their tunics, white hawks on blue background, he knew they were Haldarman’s men. </p><p></p><p><em>So there was a trap,</em> Manse thought simply, turning his horse to the left, so they he now faced east. “Prepare to recieve enemy,” he said simply. <em>Maybe I can delay them until Erelion has his way... if she hasn’t planned anything. If it is only foot, we should be able to charge them down…</em></p><p></p><p>It was then his ears clearly caught what the soldiers were screaming, and his blood ran cold, despite the heat of the summer’s evening.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Horses are intelligent animals, and chargers even moreso than others. And no intelligent animal would willingly impale itself. The knight’s steeds skidded to a halt, some in time to avoid death, many others not. Knights cartwheeled off of their dead animals, others plummeted as their horses stopped short suddenly. The great crush of knights behind the lead ones drove many of the survivors forward, into the midst of the stakes, unable to turn, unable to move. Then, the second surprise of Ananias’ old battleplan revealed itself.</p><p></p><p>The court mages, as Aeron had said, knew few offensive spells, but when a hundred of them focused what they knew, be it weak <em>magic missiles</em> or powerful blasts of energy into a standing, teeming mass, the chaos that resulted was terrifying. Ari let out a roar, and simply <em>breathed</em> into the mass, crackling fire, electricty, cold and sheer magical power bowling over entire columns. Explosions of heat and cold, acid and electricity thundered into the massive, huddled ranks of stranded knights, their rear ranks still trying to rein up to avoid the crush.</p><p></p><p>As the survivors of the charred, burnt and now terrified mass desperately tried to rein their frightened steeds under control, fighting to get away to reform, the final surprise came rushing down into their midst.</p><p></p><p>The city watch, on orders, turned and drew their short swords, wading into the confused and terrified mass of chivalry. Many of the survivors now found themselves mobbed by men who dragged them from their mounts in the confusion. Many of the knights were no longer mounted, and found themselves hopelessly slow when three or four watchmen surrounded them like a caged animal. </p><p></p><p>Despite all of this… despite their surprise, despite coming under a withering magical assault, Erelion’s knights fought bravely, fiercely. She watched as her city watchmen were pushed back, their lines bending. </p><p></p><p><em>Use the Stone!</em> something in her mind said, and she reached down into her pocket, and the red ruby shone like fire in the sunlight. The warm, calming feeling rushed over her again, and she closed her eyes. She felt her lips start to form words, until a something suddenly thudded into her arm.</p><p></p><p>She opened her eyes suddenly, as the ruby tumbled down to the ground, landing with a <em>thud</em> in the grass below. She looked up, and saw Raven sitting before her in the chaos, the butt of her nagiaka still in striking position. All around her, thousands upon thousands of reddish blobs began to melt back into the ground, as the Household Guard thundered into the melee.</p><p></p><p>“If Iskeldrun must burn, let it be by mortal means,” Raven said slowly, before putting away her weapon. </p><p></p><p>The fighting was desperate and deadly, and those in the rear, fortunate enough to avoid the initial carnage, now spun their mounts around, spurring them on away from the destruction. Their eyes and reactions screamed the same... not the fear Vintressa had hoped, but rage. They would charge again if given the chance.</p><p></p><p>Thirty thousand knights had made the charge, and Vin watched as perhaps twenty thousand or so galloped away. To her chagrin, many banners were still in good order, especially those that had been in the rear. But to her front, she could see numerous charred piles of knights, as her city watchmen, dragged others back, stripping them of armor and weapons before tying them up. </p><p></p><p><em>There’s still some two hours left in the day... they’re going to come at us again. And I have no more tricks...</em> Ananias had decimated an Imperial army with these tricks. The army of knights to her front was already forming a second charge line, and now would not rush into the mass of stakes that had slowed their momentum at the right moment. <em>They’ll either wait for their foot… or call up their mages to charge with them now.</em> Either result would be devastating; the bodies of many of the city watch also laid alongside the dead forms of knights.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Manse watched dejectedly as banners streamed back, turning around in their old position, reforming lines while squires fetched new war lances. He recieved a few looks of derision when the other lords saw him facing at a different angle, looks he met with explanations.</p><p></p><p>“The Dragon is marching on our flank! She comes from there!” he pointed to the hill and light woods Haldarman’s men had been posted beyond, “in strength! Forty thousand or more!” His shouts were greeted with guffaws, and calls that perhaps Manse had seen an old nanny. </p><p></p><p>“Everyone can plain see the Empress Siabrey is there!” they shouted back, pointing to the woman in dragonscale behind the piles of dead knights. “Reform with us! Regain your honor, Albrecht!” they called. “Your Dragons are there! She is using tricks against us, but we came close! We shall break through this time, now that we can avoid her traps!”</p><p></p><p>“Where is the Emperor?” Manse called out to the knights that went by. “Lord Bearsans, Lord Yoren?” All he received were looks of confusion, until a man trotted up beside him.</p><p></p><p>Erelion’s fine cloak had been shorn from his body, his gilt greaves ripped from his left leg. Blood streamed down the limb from stab wound in his thigh. Burn marks had scoured the armor on his shoulders and his other thigh. Dents ruined his perfect breastplate, and his blade held numerous nicks along its formerly fine edge.</p><p></p><p>“Manse,” Erelion said tersely. “Why are you facing this direction? We almost-“</p><p></p><p>“Haldarman’s broken!” Manse replied, desperately hoping against hoping that <em>someone</em> would listen to him. “Someone is marching, in force, against our left! The soldiers from Haldarman that streamed by said it was-“</p><p></p><p>A deep, powerful rumble seemed to shake the ground underfoot. The rumble grew in volume, until an ear-splitting noise, the depths of a powerful thunder coupled with the scream of a thousand wights rose in the air. Manse heard the <em>whumph</em> of immense wings even before a form out of his nightmares rose above the hill.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“What in the...” Vin heard some of the city watchmen say, in shock. She turned, desperately trying to see what they were pointed at through the slit in her visor. She had heard the ear-splitting roar, and at first she thought it was Ari, roaring in triumph. She had been headed over to give him a scratch for not fleeing when the soldiers began motioning.</p><p></p><p>All she could see was an immense shadow, covering half of a hillside up ahead. She assumed it was a cloud, until her mind remembered that the there were no clouds in the sky this day. She looked up... and gave a whoop of joy.</p><p></p><p>Some two hundred feet off the ground was a form that would have made Ari seem like a tiny babe. Its immense jaws had opened, and even from a quarter mile away, Vin could see the beasts’ teeth. From the top of its head an immense frill, taller than the tallest stallion, ran the length of its back, its great wings moving at a steady beat. <em>Whumph, whumph.</em></p><p></p><p>Xanadu let forth another earsplitting roar, and Vin could see the knights below wheeling about, their very actions showing them unable to decide what to do. They had met the small 80 foot Ari head on, and taken a beating. But now, the shadow of a dragon three times Ari’s size loomed over them, the great creature enraged.</p><p></p><p><em>If Xanadu is here...</em> Vintressa’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she yanked the greathelm off of her head.</p><p></p><p>“Advance! Move! Advance!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, pointing at the mass huddle of knights twice their number. “Quickly! Run!” She fumbled at her waist, and found her little rapier, and hefted it upward with some effort. Her eyes caught those of her Aunt Tess, and by the twinkle in the bard’s eyes, Vin knew she had seen as well. In answer, Tess pulled her harp out, and held it aloft in reply.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“What trickery is this?” Erelion said, eyes looking up at the monster that hung in the sky above them, like an immense agent of divine doom. </p><p></p><p><em>He looks as fierce as the one on the Caladron banner,</em> Manse thought in awe, his ears ringing from the beast’s last blast. He could <em>feel</em> the fear in the air around him, especially from himself. <em>We should have waited for the foot to come up. We should have waited for the mages!</em></p><p></p><p>Underneath the hanging vision of doom, a thin dark line rose over the crest of the hill, growing thicker and more powerful by the second. Within a minute, three massive, powerful battlelines were visible, the clank of armored boots echoing up the field, the screams of thousands of steeds and the knights they bore rising above the hills.</p><p></p><p>“Good gods!” Manse heard Erelion cry as the dragon flashed low over the battlefield, all instinctively ducking as the beast thundered overhead, a veritable windstorm of dust blowing in their face as it passed. Some saw the beast gracefully bank in the sky, turning around before setting gently on the ground, on the other side of the army. Some saw the small army that they had charged not long before dashing towards them, at a run.</p><p></p><p>Manse himself was still looking to the left, his eyes locked on a woman on a black horse. A curved blade, licked with flames was in her hand, held aloft. Even from this distance Manse could see her red eyes flashing with fury, her copper skin seething. Her armor was plain steel, yet shone with more brilliance than all of the false Emperor's jewels and gitlwork.</p><p></p><p>Manse’s hand let loose of his blade, and it slid back into its scabbard.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emperor Valerian, post: 1707312, member: 15043"] “Here they come!” echoed up and down the line, and Vintressa watched Raven’s horse fairly leap past a few of the City Guardsmen, sweat covering its flanks as she reined the beast up hard. “I think I did well,” Raven said breathlessly, nodding to the chaotic horde building up speed before them. Vintressa had been right... her horse was back at their own lines before the chargers trying to run her down had come to a full gallop. “You did do well,” Vintressa put a hand on her friends arm, before her gaze went back to the oncoming host. She hoped her plans weren’t madness... they had worked before, for a certain lord some two hundred years later. The history books she had found before leaving with barely a hundred men to try and stop the people threatening her parents had described the first victory of King Ananias Caladron over the Imperial army as ‘the Battle of the Stakes.’ “Archers!” she heard Avaril call, and watched as the thin ranks of the city guard drew their bows, sounds of leather and hide being pulled taut whispering in the air. The horses hooves thundering towards them sounded like a merely distant rumble, drowned out momentarily when Ari gave a growl. “Remember, do [i]not[/i] shoot at the knights!” she heard her Aunt Tess calling out. “Shoot at the horses! You will [i]not[/i] hurt the knights! Put enough arrows in their mount, and the steed [i]and[/i] the knight will go down!” For her part, Vintressa concentrated on breathing, the air inside the greathelm already was hot and stale. She felt her horse shy back slightly, the rumbling growing louder as the streams of banners, shining plate, and vicious lances thundered closer and closer. [i]If they break through, you will die. So will Raven. And Val, and Royukgan, Aunt Tess... and most of the city behind you, Vintressa! You cannot fail! You MUST win this time![/i] She bit her lip again, this time in worry, her hand reaching down to rub the ruby in her cloak. He could feel its power running up her arm… a warm, fuzzy feeling. [i]I should use the stone…[/i] her mind thought, seeing the hordes to her front. [i]Only it will save me…[/i] She felt her hand starting to draw it out of its pouch, but then an image flashed into her mind of the city ablaze, red soldiers cutting down its people. Her hand dropped the stone, and it fell back into its pouch. The call for archers to fire echoed in her ears, and she watched a hail of black arrows course into the sky. A few knights pitched down, arrows coming from their armor in numerous places. The knights struggled to get up. Their horses didn’t. “Reload!” The command echoed in her ears, as she saw them coming closer, the city watchmen drawing again on command, and loosing another volley. A few more went down, but not nearly enough to stop the momentum of the charge. Another volley went out, and then another. By now, even through her slits, she swore she could see the eyes of the steeds charging towards them, wide and white in battle terror, the cloth and silk covers on the animals displaying their master’s arms flowing gracefully back as they broke into their final gallop. “Hold!” she heard Avaril calling to the men and boys of the city watch. Some were already shying, and a few mounted Household guard were quickly positioned behind them to keep shying from becoming a premature rout. The knights came closer, her ears now able to hear the individual battlecries. “Erelion!” “Beardstone!” “Comnitas!” Closer, and still closer they came, their lances lowered like fingers of death, desperately reaching out ahead of their masters for the men on the ground. It was an immensely powerful, completely unstoppable wall of men, horses, and lances. “Now!” she heard Avaril call, and the city watchmen dashed backwards, just seconds before the knights would have been able to thrust into their ranks. They ran as quickly as possible, their masked ranks now unveiling Vintressa’s first surprise; thousands and thousands of stakes driven into the ground. Manse cursed silently as he watched the knights plow forward, banners streaming behind as if in a massive tourney of some kind. [i]But those are no tourney weapons they face... and there will be no laughing and congratulations after one is struck off a horse.[/i] Despite the heat, Manse shivered. Behind him he could count only fifty of his knights, not counting their squires and auxiliaries... perhaps a hundred and fifty altogether. He was thus greatly surprised when footmen began running past, coming from the east. By their tunics, white hawks on blue background, he knew they were Haldarman’s men. [i]So there was a trap,[/i] Manse thought simply, turning his horse to the left, so they he now faced east. “Prepare to recieve enemy,” he said simply. [i]Maybe I can delay them until Erelion has his way... if she hasn’t planned anything. If it is only foot, we should be able to charge them down…[/i] It was then his ears clearly caught what the soldiers were screaming, and his blood ran cold, despite the heat of the summer’s evening. Horses are intelligent animals, and chargers even moreso than others. And no intelligent animal would willingly impale itself. The knight’s steeds skidded to a halt, some in time to avoid death, many others not. Knights cartwheeled off of their dead animals, others plummeted as their horses stopped short suddenly. The great crush of knights behind the lead ones drove many of the survivors forward, into the midst of the stakes, unable to turn, unable to move. Then, the second surprise of Ananias’ old battleplan revealed itself. The court mages, as Aeron had said, knew few offensive spells, but when a hundred of them focused what they knew, be it weak [i]magic missiles[/i] or powerful blasts of energy into a standing, teeming mass, the chaos that resulted was terrifying. Ari let out a roar, and simply [i]breathed[/i] into the mass, crackling fire, electricty, cold and sheer magical power bowling over entire columns. Explosions of heat and cold, acid and electricity thundered into the massive, huddled ranks of stranded knights, their rear ranks still trying to rein up to avoid the crush. As the survivors of the charred, burnt and now terrified mass desperately tried to rein their frightened steeds under control, fighting to get away to reform, the final surprise came rushing down into their midst. The city watch, on orders, turned and drew their short swords, wading into the confused and terrified mass of chivalry. Many of the survivors now found themselves mobbed by men who dragged them from their mounts in the confusion. Many of the knights were no longer mounted, and found themselves hopelessly slow when three or four watchmen surrounded them like a caged animal. Despite all of this… despite their surprise, despite coming under a withering magical assault, Erelion’s knights fought bravely, fiercely. She watched as her city watchmen were pushed back, their lines bending. [i]Use the Stone![/i] something in her mind said, and she reached down into her pocket, and the red ruby shone like fire in the sunlight. The warm, calming feeling rushed over her again, and she closed her eyes. She felt her lips start to form words, until a something suddenly thudded into her arm. She opened her eyes suddenly, as the ruby tumbled down to the ground, landing with a [i]thud[/i] in the grass below. She looked up, and saw Raven sitting before her in the chaos, the butt of her nagiaka still in striking position. All around her, thousands upon thousands of reddish blobs began to melt back into the ground, as the Household Guard thundered into the melee. “If Iskeldrun must burn, let it be by mortal means,” Raven said slowly, before putting away her weapon. The fighting was desperate and deadly, and those in the rear, fortunate enough to avoid the initial carnage, now spun their mounts around, spurring them on away from the destruction. Their eyes and reactions screamed the same... not the fear Vintressa had hoped, but rage. They would charge again if given the chance. Thirty thousand knights had made the charge, and Vin watched as perhaps twenty thousand or so galloped away. To her chagrin, many banners were still in good order, especially those that had been in the rear. But to her front, she could see numerous charred piles of knights, as her city watchmen, dragged others back, stripping them of armor and weapons before tying them up. [i]There’s still some two hours left in the day... they’re going to come at us again. And I have no more tricks...[/i] Ananias had decimated an Imperial army with these tricks. The army of knights to her front was already forming a second charge line, and now would not rush into the mass of stakes that had slowed their momentum at the right moment. [i]They’ll either wait for their foot… or call up their mages to charge with them now.[/i] Either result would be devastating; the bodies of many of the city watch also laid alongside the dead forms of knights. Manse watched dejectedly as banners streamed back, turning around in their old position, reforming lines while squires fetched new war lances. He recieved a few looks of derision when the other lords saw him facing at a different angle, looks he met with explanations. “The Dragon is marching on our flank! She comes from there!” he pointed to the hill and light woods Haldarman’s men had been posted beyond, “in strength! Forty thousand or more!” His shouts were greeted with guffaws, and calls that perhaps Manse had seen an old nanny. “Everyone can plain see the Empress Siabrey is there!” they shouted back, pointing to the woman in dragonscale behind the piles of dead knights. “Reform with us! Regain your honor, Albrecht!” they called. “Your Dragons are there! She is using tricks against us, but we came close! We shall break through this time, now that we can avoid her traps!” “Where is the Emperor?” Manse called out to the knights that went by. “Lord Bearsans, Lord Yoren?” All he received were looks of confusion, until a man trotted up beside him. Erelion’s fine cloak had been shorn from his body, his gilt greaves ripped from his left leg. Blood streamed down the limb from stab wound in his thigh. Burn marks had scoured the armor on his shoulders and his other thigh. Dents ruined his perfect breastplate, and his blade held numerous nicks along its formerly fine edge. “Manse,” Erelion said tersely. “Why are you facing this direction? We almost-“ “Haldarman’s broken!” Manse replied, desperately hoping against hoping that [i]someone[/i] would listen to him. “Someone is marching, in force, against our left! The soldiers from Haldarman that streamed by said it was-“ A deep, powerful rumble seemed to shake the ground underfoot. The rumble grew in volume, until an ear-splitting noise, the depths of a powerful thunder coupled with the scream of a thousand wights rose in the air. Manse heard the [i]whumph[/i] of immense wings even before a form out of his nightmares rose above the hill. “What in the...” Vin heard some of the city watchmen say, in shock. She turned, desperately trying to see what they were pointed at through the slit in her visor. She had heard the ear-splitting roar, and at first she thought it was Ari, roaring in triumph. She had been headed over to give him a scratch for not fleeing when the soldiers began motioning. All she could see was an immense shadow, covering half of a hillside up ahead. She assumed it was a cloud, until her mind remembered that the there were no clouds in the sky this day. She looked up... and gave a whoop of joy. Some two hundred feet off the ground was a form that would have made Ari seem like a tiny babe. Its immense jaws had opened, and even from a quarter mile away, Vin could see the beasts’ teeth. From the top of its head an immense frill, taller than the tallest stallion, ran the length of its back, its great wings moving at a steady beat. [i]Whumph, whumph.[/i] Xanadu let forth another earsplitting roar, and Vin could see the knights below wheeling about, their very actions showing them unable to decide what to do. They had met the small 80 foot Ari head on, and taken a beating. But now, the shadow of a dragon three times Ari’s size loomed over them, the great creature enraged. [i]If Xanadu is here...[/i] Vintressa’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she yanked the greathelm off of her head. “Advance! Move! Advance!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, pointing at the mass huddle of knights twice their number. “Quickly! Run!” She fumbled at her waist, and found her little rapier, and hefted it upward with some effort. Her eyes caught those of her Aunt Tess, and by the twinkle in the bard’s eyes, Vin knew she had seen as well. In answer, Tess pulled her harp out, and held it aloft in reply. “What trickery is this?” Erelion said, eyes looking up at the monster that hung in the sky above them, like an immense agent of divine doom. [i]He looks as fierce as the one on the Caladron banner,[/i] Manse thought in awe, his ears ringing from the beast’s last blast. He could [i]feel[/i] the fear in the air around him, especially from himself. [i]We should have waited for the foot to come up. We should have waited for the mages![/i] Underneath the hanging vision of doom, a thin dark line rose over the crest of the hill, growing thicker and more powerful by the second. Within a minute, three massive, powerful battlelines were visible, the clank of armored boots echoing up the field, the screams of thousands of steeds and the knights they bore rising above the hills. “Good gods!” Manse heard Erelion cry as the dragon flashed low over the battlefield, all instinctively ducking as the beast thundered overhead, a veritable windstorm of dust blowing in their face as it passed. Some saw the beast gracefully bank in the sky, turning around before setting gently on the ground, on the other side of the army. Some saw the small army that they had charged not long before dashing towards them, at a run. Manse himself was still looking to the left, his eyes locked on a woman on a black horse. A curved blade, licked with flames was in her hand, held aloft. Even from this distance Manse could see her red eyes flashing with fury, her copper skin seething. Her armor was plain steel, yet shone with more brilliance than all of the false Emperor's jewels and gitlwork. Manse’s hand let loose of his blade, and it slid back into its scabbard. [/QUOTE]
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