Victubia: An Origin

Chapter Twelve

By the time they could see the tiny figures marching towards them in the distance, Victubia was a fair way behind them, just a smudge on the horizon. The conditions were not ideal; the call from Entoan was too early in the morning for anyone’s comfort, but the sighting of Fielda’s army woke any drowsy soldiers, snapping them into awareness. The setting was decent, however- they were about to meet in the middle of a large patch of land, a few too many trees but flat and wide, giving an equal opportunity at least. The day was bright, warm, the sun mocking them with its happy rays. Minx had Pewds on one side of her, Ken on the other, with Krism and Andy behind them. Lords and Ladies, Sirs and Knights each with battle ability were lined up with Krism, keeping up with her steady march, leading the rows of determined if nervous soldiers behind them.

When they a little under a mile across from the white and blue clad army, their leader held up a hand, stopping the vicious army in their march, and Minx gave the signal to do the same. Krism shouted a command and every man and woman behind them came to a stop in unison. At this distance, Minx could see that it was not Stephan leading his army- the King was a round, bearded man shorter than she, whereas the man standing opposite her a little way away was tall and clean shaven, with a dark mop of hair. There was no wind to carry her voice, so she felt confident in shouting,

“I see someone couldn’t make it to the party!” Her reply consisted of the chuckles from the group behind her, and an introduction from the man.

“My name is James Follett, and I will be standing in for our majesty King Stephan.”

Minx was a little put out by this. She realised now that a small part of all this was to get back at Stephan- to make him pay for threatening her friend’s life, and her Kingdoms safety. Protecting her city was the necessity, getting revenge was her pleasure.

“Too coward to show his face?” She shouted, and the opponent army shouted curses back at her, while the group supporting her laughed and cheered. She knew riling the opposition up against her wasn’t the best idea; it would likely come back to bite her on the butt later, but right now days of waiting and training had all built up into a rage inside of her.

“Enough of this mockery! Are we at war or at a shouting match? MEN, AT THE READY!” The soldiers draw their weapons, mainly consisting of swords, and cheered an indistinguishable battle cry. Minx turned around and beckoned Lizzie forward, her small frame weighed down with too-big armour, but nonetheless looking defiant. The pink-haired lady quirked her head in question, and when Minx nodded, the younger woman exhaled a long breath and stepped forward, in front of the group.

“CHARGE!” Came the scream from the man known as James, and Minx knew they didn’t have long.

Lizzie turned to face the skies and began yelling words that were not English nor any other language Minx recognised. As she shouted to the heavens, Minx was aware of the screaming men running closer towards her every second, and she was anxious for Lizzie to finish. Lizzie turned to the trees and stomped her feet on the grass as she spoke, finishing off by swinging her arms over her head and pointing towards the danger zone ahead of her, where soldiers of all size were kicking up dirt and brandishing their weapons, ready to obliterate the enemy.

When Lizzie finished talking, there was a buzzing in Minx’s ears. There was the sound of the wind overhead, all of a sudden gushing in strange bursts, and the noise of various animals squeaking and rustling from nearby trees and bushes. And all of this amounted to the animals- crows and ravens and eagles and a scaly birds Minx did not recognise all flew from the trees and in the direction Lizzie was still pointing- bees and butterflies and some sort of spider-moth hybrid and mice and rabbits all came rushing out of nowhere. A handul of larger animals followed the swarms- deers, peacocks, moles, one or two grass snakes appeared, which was a pleasant surprise, as Lizzie claimed to have a firmer hold over the smaller animals rather than the large. The dragon perched on Lady Red’s shoulder took off in flight, joining one or two other slightly larger dragons. All number of woodland animals appeared and headed towards the impending mass of metal and bodies. Minx was a little confused- she had only briefly gone over this with Lizzie and Silvia, and was not entirely sure what the animals were supposed to be doing, until they answered that for her.