Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Captain of the Guard! ❯ Road to the Capital: Six ( Chapter 20 )

The Road to the Capital: Part Six

Hearing the warning cries outside Wakaba looked across the carriage at Anthy, and both of them nodded thoughtfully. She swiftly drew a long, wicked looking blade from beneath her skirk, "I will protect you, m'lady."

Anthy surprised her with a gentle laugh. From beneath her seat the smiling young woman pulled a large, dangerous looking mace. "I'll protect myself, thanks," she chuckled.

"I forgot about that," Wakaba blushed faintly.

Anthy stuck her head out the window, looking about before flagging down Juri. "What's the situation?" she asked her quietly.

"There's an unknown armed force a ways ahead of us," Juri shrugged, "Utena's sent the hawk back to the scouts, hopefully they can tell us more."

"And until then?" Wakaba asked.

"We're assuming the worst," Juri answered her simply, stopping for a moment to shout to a few lagging soldiers. "Get ready for a running fight," she advised them, "and be prepared to abandon the carriage if needed."

Utena returned to their side, "Juri, let's keep moving forward."

"Understood," Juri nodded before moving off to get the troops going.

Anthy noticed as they started to move out that the soldiers had been organized in a wedge shape, with her carriage protected in the middle. She looked over at Utena and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Utena gave her a gentle smile, "Keep yourself safe, please."

"You, too," Anthy reached out to take Utena's hand gently in her hand.

"Can't promise that," Utena admitted, a darkness showing in her eyes. She looked around her, finally calling out, "Miki!"

The blue haired young man quickly made his way to their side, already buckling on his slim rapier. "How can I help?" Miki asked intensely.

"You don't have any real armor," Utena noted seriously, "so I can't let you ride with guards." Miki opened his mouth to protest that, and Utena held up a hand. "So I have a more important job for you," she said seriously.

"Yes?" Miki asked, frowning slightly.

"I want you to ride along with Anthy and the carriage," Utena said quietly, "and make sure nothing happens to them."

"They will be well," Miki's eyes glittered, "I swear it!"

"I'll hold you to that," Utena answered. She brought her steed over to Anthy's window, bending down to press her lips to Anthy's. It was a sweet kiss, but clearly one of leave taking. "I'll be back," Utena murmured to her softly.

"And I'll hold you to that," Anthy said, a few tears glittering in her eyes. They stood there frozen for a few moments gazing into each others eyes. Finally, Utena put her heels to her steed's sides and was off.

Tsuwabuki and Keiko emerged from the forest to meet Utena and Juri at the front of the battle line, their expressions grim. "What's the situation?" Juri asked them quietly.

"Rabble," Keiko said simply, "more false bandits, it appears."

"But they're a well armed rabble," Tsuwabuki added, "and they're a lot of them."

"How organized are they?" Utena asked.

"They're not," Keiko sighed, "they're a mob at best."

"Distance?" Juri said as she looked into the distance thoughtfully.

"A quarter of an hour to travel there, maybe less," Tsuwabuki reported.

"We could try to go around them," Keiko suggested quietly.

Utena shook her head, "Even if we could get around them, we'd be leaving a opposing force riding at our backs."

"We go for them," Juri said quietly.

"Yes," Utena nodded grimly. "Get the bows ready first, we'll hit them with a wave of arrows first. Then we'll charge, hopefully the enemy line will break." She looked over at Juri, Keiko and Tsuwabuki, "Pass the word up the line."

"Miki?" Wakaba stuck her head out the window.

"Yes?" Miki smiled at the brown haired girl.

"Do you think we'll be all right?" Wakaba asked, a bit of shake in her voice.

Miki smiled gently, "Yes, we will. Utena is a good commander, and I'm certain that she knows what she's doing."

"Thank you for pledging to protect us," Wakaba smiled up at him sweetly.

Miki sweatdropped slightly, "Uhm, I'll fall back a bit."

Wakaba watched him fall behind their carriage a bit and fell back into her seat with a cute little pout. "Drat," she murmured softly.

"Nice try," Anthy smiled at her cheerfully.

Juri passed the word up the line, them made her way to where another figure rode. "Shiori," she smiled, hugging her as best she could with both of them on horeback.

Shiori smiled, kissing Juri on the cheek. "We'll be fighting soon, I take it," Shiori said.

"It looks like it, yes," Juri nodded. Quietly, she added, "Be careful, please."

"I think I should be telling you that," Shiori smiled up at her gently, "you being up in the front and all. Don't do anything foolish, please."

"Never," Juri smirked. "I'll see you after all this is over," she said, and returned to the front.

They came up over the rise, tightly organized and ready to move. The enemy force waited for them down below the hill, over a hundered men moving in a ragged column towards them. They were badly armored in leather and a bit of chain, but the weapons they carried shone brightly.

"Tsuwabuki, Keiko, take the scouts out," Utena ordered softly, "just in case their's any surprises waiting for us."

"Understood," Keiko murmured, her and the small band of scouts disapearing into the greenery like shadows.

"Archers," Juri cried, "fire when they're in range!"

Utena met the eyes of the riders around her, "Charge after the bowmen fire, let's take advantage of any surprise we get."

They rode on slowly, both groups growing nearer and nearer. Short bows were readied, arrows resting on strings. They were drawn back in a smooth motion, the bows went up, and the first rain of arrows fell down on the enemy line!

Even as the bows sang Juri yelled out, "Charge!"

Utena and her line of riders hit the enemy's line like a hammer, throwing the already disorganized troops into complete disarray. A hand grabbed at her saddle and Utena swund down forcefully. Blood splattered her arm, and as Utena jerked forward she thought, 'Won't be the only time that happens today.'

Looking to one side Utena saw Juri leading her side fiercely, driving the enemy backwards. Each fighter faced more than one opponent, but for now, they were holding their own. The bows were stowed away and the archers joined the fight against the enemy band.

'But we're still outnumbered more than three to one,' Utena thought bleakly. Her head jerked up, an odd tingle at the base of her neck and she realized, 'There's magic at work here!'

Behind the fighting Shiori gazed across the enemy force, her expression grim as she began to feel the same thing. Charms in her hand glowed softly, and she murmured, "There's some kind of enchantment on them..." She raised her hand and began to chant, even as the battle raged on.

To be continued...