The Merchant Who Would be King

To Belleville

A stone-headed arrow punched through the canvas side of the wagon, narrowly missing Marian's head. She ducked and another poked through right where her head had been. She pulled the front cover up to see what was going on only to have the wagon lurch under her feet as it sped up, throwing her backwards. Marian tumbled over the pile of leather and had to catch and right herself. She grabbed the cord again and raised the cover.

Rain drenched the gray landscape. An arrow stuck out of Hadiin's shoulder. Two more sailed in from the right side of the road and thunked into the seat and side of the wagon.

"Churls!" Hadiin grunted, in obvious pain. He flicked the reins but the horse was already going as fast as it could.

Several skinny figures wildly danced and fired their bows from just off the road in the knee-high grasses. They had mottled skin that looked dried and mummified and they wore distinctive tribal masks decorated with fur or feathers and painted with bright yellow or red magical runes. They seemed entirely unbothered by the storm.

A greater minochurl appeared, a minotaur-like churl standing twice as tall as its fellows and possessing huge muscles and a bull-like head and long horns. Instead of a typical mask, the creature wore a giant skull of some kind painted with yellow runes. Shaggy, dark-brown fur and loincloth were matted from the rain. It charged shoulder first at the wagon with a massive wooden shield raised before it. A spray of water churned up in the massive beast's wake.

Marian fired magic at the minochurl, setting the shield ablaze, but the flames were blocked and did nothing to the monster behind. She tsked.

The assault was slightly off target thanks to the wagon's speed and the shield attack only clipped the back end of the wagon. Given the size and power of the minochurl, however, it was a powerful blow.

Hadiin shouted in dismay. The wagon skidded sideways and tipped up onto two wheels. Marian fell sideways with it, crashing into the bed and smacking her head on the sidewall. She winced and cried out. Damn that hurt! Stupid churls!

The wagon hung in the air for a few seconds, seemingly unable to decide whether it wanted to crash or right itself, before dropping back down onto all four wheels.

More arrows buried themselves in the wagon and its cover.

Marian groaned in pain and pushed herself up. Touching her head, was glad that no blood came away on her fingertips. She threw open the side and back covers so that she could fight. Only to see them leaving the churls behind as the wagon drove onwards.

The monsters lowered their bows and gave chase, the smaller ones hooting and hollering.

"Mage!" Hadiin snapped.

Marian whirled.

A dark being in violet robes had popped into view. It looked like some kind of evil thing, born of magic. It brought to mind some kind of dark fae, hailing from some mysterious and magical realm and wielding nasty powers. This particular mage floated in a clear bubble of crackling, purple energy; a barrier of some kind. It was the height of a human toddler, otherwise fairy in shape, that is to say humanoid, but with black, moth-like wings and solid-black eyes and a mouth full of needle-like teeth. It grinned and pointed a taloned finger.

Lightning erupted and blasted Hadiin in the chest. He slumped in his seat.

The horse, frightened by the lightning and the mage directly in front of it, sharply veered off the road and into the grass, screaming. Their pace slowed as the wheels slogged through the prairie, sinking into the drenched soil.

Marian grinned back at the dark fae. Lightning mage with an electro barrier, huh? Perfect. Lightning plus fire go boom. Well, if fiction and video games were anything to go by. She wasn't entirely sure what would happen in this world. She pointed her hands. Fire erupted, bathing the electrical sphere as she passed. She saw the mage's eyes widen, then fire and electricity combined, swirling together, and...then both winked out of existence.