Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 6, Chapter 10

Winter's Crown: Act 6, Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Standing out to the side of the ongoing battle, Ludmila rolled the banner of the Sorcerous Kingdom up around the spear it was attached to before putting it away. As with nearly everyone, she had heard the tales of brave bannermen and inspiring female knights charging into battle with flags attached to their spears and lances, but, after trying to practice fighting in such a fashion, she decided that it was too unwieldy in practice. Doing so would also result in the nation’s banner being shredded to tatters, so, even symbolically, it seemed like a bad idea in general.

Instead, she retrieved her longbow and nocked it with an envenomed steel bodkin arrow, just in case her intervention was required for something. She would otherwise refrain from participating directly in combat; instead observing and learning as much as she could of both her enemies and the Undead servitors at her disposal. Several concepts and ideas were being proven or disproven as things progressed, and there were a few that went beyond her expectations or ability to comprehend from simple descriptions.

After securing Nob’s cooperation, Ludmila led him to the other side of the pass and the nearest spring so he could report his discovery of a new campsite in suitable detail upon his return. She then found a rabbit and a duck for him to devour, hoping his messy eating habits would conceal any traces of their interaction. After he set off, she sent one of the two Shadow Demons guarding her to retrieve the three Elder Liches back in the Vale, along with the remaining Bone Vultures on standby. She sent the other to bring additional two Death Knights from the two nearest passes to where she would craft her ambush.

The Bone Vultures set to watch over the camp reported a flurry of activity shortly after Nob entered. As she had hoped, the Hobgoblins enacted the usual routines that had been observed throughout their spread into the basin, sending a small contingent of soldiers to secure the location for the next encampment after receiving a favourable report. Ludmila and Nonna, cloaked in invisibility, followed them from high above, returning to the top of the pass to make their final preparations once she believed she had sufficient information on the approaching intruders.

The ambush was about as simple as she thought would suit her purposes. A pair of Death Knights and Elder Liches would quietly wait on each side using Invisibility to conceal themselves, and Ludmila would stand at the top of the pass. She figured the Hobgoblins wouldn’t take too long to make up their minds and attack her, but she still ended up having enough time to ask them what they were up to. She cringed internally even as she played her part in the scheme, and thinking about how silly she must have looked up there progressively made it worse in retrospect. They didn’t even answer her properly in the end, and her verbal response to that felt even more lacking.

‘I see’, she thought derisively. I should be thankful some Bard wasn’t out there to relate how utterly uninspiring I was to all and sundry.

The two Shadow Demons accompanied her when she stood before the columns, just in case they all tried charging her at once. Nonna’s Protection from Arrows enchantment was the only thing she required, however, as the largest Hobgoblin in the group casually brought up his crossbow and loosed a bolt at her. Gaining full justification to retaliate, she set the awaiting Undead to work.

The first set of Fireball spells cut off the rear quarter of the columns, setting the dry grass and shrubs nearby aflame. The four Death Knights advanced while cloaked in their Invisibility. The spell did not block sound, but, with the chaos suddenly erupting before them, the Goblins – who looked to be carrying supplies – were probably taken by surprise when the Undead warriors attacked out of their concealment.

When a suitable line of Squire Zombies was raised, Nonna signalled her by laying down another line of Fireball spells with the other Elder Liches. Ludmila ordered two of the Death Knights forward, having them leave their Squire Zombies behind to catch anyone trying to flee back down the pass. It was then she finally had her first real look at how the stalwart sentries that tirelessly watched over E-Rantel and its duchy carried themselves in battle.

Most notably – at least to her – was not a Death Knight’s durability or limitless endurance, but its Skill that drew the attention of those around it. According to Nonna, any individual affected by its unsettling presence could be subjected to an effect similar to the Martial Arts commonly used by warriors to force the attention of an adversary upon themselves. She wondered if the Hobgoblins even realized what was happening to them.

All attention in the Goblinoid column turned to one of the two Death Knights that charged through the veil of smoke, and Ludmila was able to blithely stroll over from the top of the pass to where she currently stood without anyone paying any attention to her whatsoever. She noted that the Skill did not provoke those affected into attacking it single-mindedly, and the commands barked out by the Hobgoblin officers that involved fighting against the Death Knight were still effective in directing their subordinates.

She wasn’t sure if anyone so affected could willfully shake free from the Death Knight’s Skill, but the Goblins that succumbed to their fear appeared to be able to at least flee. They were either slain by the two Death Knights waiting for them on the other side of the screen of smoke, incapacitated by Sleep and spells of holding, or otherwise collected by the Squire Zombies and Bone Vultures that worked together to keep any enemies from returning down into the basin.

From her position, she watched the two separate battles play out on either side of the burning line of vegetation. On the south end, the fighting was dying down, with Bone Vultures occasionally swooping down to knock over loose Goblins still trying to flee. Squire Zombies would then drag them back to the awaiting Death Knights to be sorted out. On the north end, the fighting had settled into an odd sort of stalemate, with formations of Hobgoblins working together to pin down and restrain the two Death Knights there.

The Death Knights’ tremendous durability was made plain to see, but, at the same time, Ludmila worried that they might be closer to expiring than their unflinching behaviour let on. Undead fought tirelessly until they perished, with no in-betweens unless they started losing pieces of themselves.

Nonna separated herself from the other Elder Liches, flying over to settle down beside her.

“Tell me nothing got away,” Ludmila said.

“Nothing got away,” Nonna replied.

“Did nothing get away?” Ludmila frowned.

“Based on your assessment of the enemy force before the battle,” Nonna said, “none present are high enough in levels to escape notice by the Bone Vultures in this terrain. You requested that I report to you when ‘things died down’.”

Ludmila nodded silently, then gestured to the Hobgoblins still fighting their battle. Their formations remained intact as they continued to chip away at the Death Knight.

“Do you understand what’s going on there?” She asked the Elder Lich.

Nonna peered down at the blob of Hobgoblins surrounding the Death Knight.

“There is no precedent for this,” Nonna said after several moments. “The Goblinoids native to this region have not displayed the same degree of resilience as these.”

“These ones are not from around here, as you well know. Not only are they incredibly well-trained, but these Hobgoblins’ disciplined reaction to the Death Knights suggests that they are blooded and experienced combatants. I do not know if they have raided someplace or are being supplied somehow, but their equipment is exquisitely crafted.”

Hobgoblins were about as tall as Humans, but their proportions were different. Judging by the uniform quality and look of the Hobgoblins’ arms and armour, it was more likely that they were being supplied. That was, of course, unless their raiding had come up with an impressive amount of conveniently Hobgoblin and Bugbear-sized equipment somehow…

Shouts echoed up the sides of the pass, and a surge of activity rose from the Hobgoblin formations. They pressed in ever more tightly, and the Death Knight was caught with its shield arm trapped against its side. It still worked its flamberge in a continued attempt to batter its enemies, but its range of motion was severely restricted. Seeing that the enemy commander had fully committed to the effort to destroy the Death Knights, Ludmila ordered the rest of her ground forces through the smoke, focusing their strength on the nearest group.

Due to the beleaguered Death Knight’s continued use of its Skill, the Hobgoblins couldn’t even turn to face the incoming threat. The two fresh Death Knights charged – well ahead of the much slower Squire Zombies – and upended the first few Hobgoblins that they smashed into from the rear. After a dozen seconds of the Death Knights working their way through the ranks to their trapped comrade, the Squire Zombies caught up and washed over the formation. Attention still caught by the first Death Knight, the Hobgoblins didn’t even react to defend themselves when the Squire Zombies set upon them.

The encirclement of Hobgoblins buckled on one side, then broke. Not a hundred metres away, the second encirclement didn’t even spare them a glance.

“That Skill is ridiculous,” Ludmila frowned. “There must be limits.”

“The conditions are quite clear,” Nonna told her. “Those that are mentally shaken by the Death Knight are affected by the Skill.”

“I understand that,” Ludmila said, “but what about the range? You couldn’t just send one of these across the wilderness and have it attract a long line of all the Demihumans that it runs by between here and Roble, could you?”

Nonna turned her head and stared at her for a moment.

“Was that an attempt at humour?” The Elder Lich asked.

“No, I was perfectly serious,” Ludmila answered, “the conditions you have described are so broad that too many things can potentially work.”

The way that the Death Knights forced the Hobgoblin formations to focus their attention on it had implications that threw much of the knowledge Ludmila had gained about manoeuvring formations and employing various tactics straight out the window. Even this ambush had been calculated and timed based on the weaknesses and traits she could exploit, yet all of that was effectively for nought since the Death Knight could make an army vulnerable to flanking attacks by turning the army’s attention to itself.

These Hobgoblins were clearly well trained and disciplined soldiers, yet all their experience and effort had been cast to the wind by the Death Knight using a single Skill. If this happened to anyone, all they could do was hope they could defeat it before some other force was brought to bear against them.

“The Skill has a radius of roughly thirty metres,” Nonna told her. “It works only on shaken individuals, so it is not as ridiculous as you suggest.”

“If other members of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s armies were to work together with Death Knights,” Ludmila said, “how would I prevent them from being affected?”

“Our allies have nothing to fear from them, so they should not have the Shaken status.”

“Status?” She furrowed her brow at the unfamiliar term.

“Indeed. Much like being diseased, poisoned, feared or charmed, Shaken is a specific status.”

“What if they are ‘shaken’ by events that they have witnessed on the battlefield?”

“The status must originate from the Death Knight or come from the results of its actions.”

“Then it can still happen,” Ludmila said, “even if unintended. Is there some way to prevent it entirely?”

“Spells that provide emotional stability or harden one against fear-type effects would work,” Nonna told her. “Certain beings lack emotions entirely, such as the Golems currently in your employ, so they are similarly immune. Undead are also immune, as they are generally immune to mind-affecting effects and abilities. Also, the Feared status overrides Shaken: those so affected will enjoy a sort of immunity as well.”

In short, the Skill was still something that could turn the tide of battle in a small area if one’s opponents did not prepare countermeasures. A thought occurred to her, and Ludmila pulled off a gauntlet, holding up her Ring of Mental Fortitude.

“My ring is not glowing,” she said.

“You do not fear Death Knights in the first place.”

“I suppose…but that means that anyone that can overcome their trepidation over the Death Knight is immune to this Skill.”

“Correct.”

While it was not impossible, it was probably easier said than done. Most people directly subjected to the aggression of a Death Knight wouldn’t be able to shrug off their initial reaction so easily. Exploiting the mental state of her opponents in combat was something Ludmila was well versed in, so she believed she could put the Death Knights and their powerful Skill to good use in the future.

The noise from the first set of Hobgoblin formations gradually faded. After sending her Undead forces to the other encirclement, where the other Death Knight appeared to be no worse for wear than before, Ludmila came forward to examine the aftermath more closely. Most of the Hobgoblins had been transformed into the Undead, though many corpses lay on the ground for some reason. There were many charred Goblins near to where the Fireballs fell, so those had been most likely slain by the Elder Liches, but all of the Bugbears had not been reanimated. She could not recall anything special about them that might result in being immune to being raised as a Squire Zombie.

Looking down more closely at the bodies, her speculation over the origin of the invaders’ equipment appeared to be validated. They fit too well to not have been crafted for at least Bugbears and Hobgoblins in general, and they did not follow the style of any Human equipment that she knew of. The armour was thick, angular and almost blocky in appearance. It had not been polished to a bright finish like Humans tended to do: instead dull, unreflective and probably treated to give it a dark grey colour.

Was it possible that these Hobgoblins had crafted their own equipment? The Demihumans that dwelled in the Abelion Wilderness were reportedly composed of primitive tribal groups, with nothing resembling the civilizations of other Demihuman nations out in the wider world.

She looked over at the next corpse and realized it was the large Hobgoblin who had attacked her with its crossbow at the beginning of the battle. Her head snapped up, and she ran over to the other group of Hobgoblins who were in the process of being overwhelmed. Scanning the milling mass of bodies, she tried to sort through the Demihumans that remained.

?Leave those three alive. Subdue them and drag them out of that mess.?

The orders would have been woefully insufficient if she was issuing them to Humans, but the Undead servitors appeared to understand her perfectly. The three Hobgoblins she had in mind were dragged out and forced to the ground. Since the opening attack of the battle, a mere fifteen minutes had passed: resulting in 237 dead Goblinoids – most repurposed into Undead servitors – and three prisoners. Ludmila fervently hoped that one of them possessed some useful information.