Blood Rider [Alonia's Queenslayer #1]

22

An army marched through the fields of Linos, hugging the mountains on the south as they neared the flatlands, the entrance to Revera.

The sun was just about to set on the horizon, darkness slowly enveloping the troops as the talk of setting up camp arose again.

Eli's legs were stiffly encasing her horse, which was in as poor of a shape as the rest of the soldiers. They had been walking for a long time, passing through all of Linos without any major incidents. And with every day that passed, more monsters joined their march.

It was an odd feeling to Eli. Whenever she saw a troll or a harpy nearby, she got an urge to dismount and fight them off, but the monsters were... friendly. They were also dead, with skin peeling off and several bones broken and smashed. The creatures that were made to be even more horrid than usual seemed to keep the soldiers in check, marching alongside them on the northern side of the army. Protecting them from the open area, or more likely keeping them from fleeing. There were thousands of monsters stretching out behind Eli as far as the eye could see, and they were encasing an even larger mass of soldiers, human and elf alike.

"We should set up camp soon, we're nearing Revera," general Thorn said from Eli's left. The two of them were the only ones apart from the cavalry who were important enough to get to ride horses, while the others were forced to go by foot. Everyone was tired, progress was slow and Eli felt like she was losing her mind. Luckily, General Thorn was a man of many stories and a keen mind. He made for good company, although he lacked humour. And Eli missed humour. She missed messing around with Ril, cracking jokes with Teoh, Helios and Elan, laughing alongside Tanya... She hoped Tanya was alright. She hoped Hatari could take care of her.

Eli nodded. "We will, just behind at the bend, so nothing can come up and surprise us."

"Right. First thing tomorrow, we march for Hallsbrook?" Thorn asked. Little did he know that he'd be dead by morning.

"That's right. We make our way directly to the capital by the shore. We haven't seen any enemy scouts yet, so it's safe to say they aren't expecting us."

Eli hoped that she was lying. She hoped that the king took her advice, and she hoped that the army was waiting just behind the last mountain, ready to strike as soon as Eli led the unsuspecting soldiers to their doom. She hoped to see the flag of Revera fly high, she hoped to see dragons strike the army of men and monster from above. She hoped Revera would wreak havoc, even if they killed her in the process.

If Eli's plan presented to the Queen was followed, the army would retreat towards Notrhl, towards the middle if Linos, in an attempt to join the other army and merge their attack so that they could take over at least one territory. If the armies attacking Notrhl found resistance, they'd begin retreating towards the middle, as well, and they'd be surrounded. Eli had proposed that fail-safe measure and she was met with unanimous approval, so she had faith they would play right into her hands.

The army began settling down, the sea of soldiers merging together as the monsters kept a distance away. The monsters never slept. They didn't need to sleep; they were dead. Eli wasn't sure how good they'd be at recognising ally from enemy, but she assumed they'd kill a few of their own in the midst of battle. The mere thought of battle sent Eli's mind on fire, and made her breath catch in her throat every time she breathed in. She had fought in small battles, better described as brawls, and killing... it was horrible. And the soldiers behind ally weren't bad, they weren't rotten to the core. They were just outcast, misunderstood, misled and heavily manipulated.

Eli could already imagine the beautiful nature around her fill with corpses, the stench of rotting flesh replacing the mild scent of pines and flowers.