Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Captain of the Guard! ❯ Road to the Capital: Seven ( Chapter 21 )

The Road to the Capital: Part Seven

Utena cut another bandit down with a single smooth swing of her blade, and for just a moment she wished that she was still carrying the Sword of Dios with her into battle. It had protected her from any magics and healed whatever injuries that she might have acquired. 'Well, it's not here,' she thought to herself grimly, 'so deal.'

She scanned the battlefield around her as best she could, and Utena felt a bit more hopeful as she took in the situation. She and the others were making steady progress, the odds growing more and more even as they fought on. She blocked a clumsy strike, forcing the enemy's blade up and creating an opening. One that she took ruthless advantage of.

A whinny of pain drew Utena's eyes to the side. Juri's horse stumbled, then horse and rider both went down in a clowd of dust. "Juri!" she cried out to her in alarm.

There was a sudden movement, and then a bandit was literally thrown away from where Juri had fallen. "You sons of a bitches," Juri roared as she staggered up to her feet, her eyes glazed with anger, "that was my favorite horse!"

"Well, at least she's all right," Utena blinked as Juri ran at the nearest bandits and began to tear into the enemy force.

Shiori stood up on a rise just above the battlefield, chanting softly as she tried to find out what magic lay over the battlefield. But again and again it seemed to elude her. There was a flicker of movement, and she turned to see a man gazing at her calmly.

Short pink hair fell into his eyes, and on the surface he seemed to bear a strong resemblance to Utena herself. But it was only on the surface, as his gaze was unlike Utena's warm look, instead it was cold and calculating. The military uniform he wore was archaic, but suited him well. He smiled at Shiori, just slightly, but then he slowly and silently faded away.

'Who was that?' Shiori thought.

The carriage moverd forward slowly, keeping well back from the battle. "Isn't there anything we can do?" Anthy asked worriedly.

Miki shook his head grimly, "If we tried to move forward and help in the battle, we'd only get in the way." He met Anthy's gaze steadily before he added, "And then Utena will be worried about you, rather than guarding herself."

Wakaba made a face as she grumbled, "I hate it when you use logic." She smiled slightly, "You can join the fighting if you wish." She drew a wicked looking knife from her skirt, "I'm certain that I can protect Anthy myself."

Miki actually smiled at her slightly, "I've learned not to underestimate you, Lady Wakaba." As the brown haired girl blushed most charmingly he gently added, "But I gave my word to Utena. I will not break it."

"And we do appreciate it," Anthy said to him sweetly, even as she lay her fearsome mace beside her on the seat.

Miki sweatdropped.

The battle continued, and Utena had to grit her teeth as a well executed parry jarred her arm. 'It's strange,' she thought to herself grimly, 'but it's almost like they're getting better as the fight continues.' Her eyes suddenly widened, and she swore loudly.

"Juri," Utena yelled out, trying to get her second in command's attention.

"What?" Juri growled back as she forced her way nearer to Utena's side. A bit of blood streaked her pale cheek, and her long orange hair was in disarray. She looked fiercely beautiful, a tough and capable amazonian warrior.

"The first wave was just cannon fodder," Utena answered her grimly, "the real fighters are moving up just behind them!"

"So we wasted our flight of arrows on the cannon fodder," Juri actually laughed before her voice dropped down to a growl, "I love a challenge."

Utena returned her smile with a feral grin, "Maybe so."

Up above the battle field Shiori blew out a frustrated breath. 'Fine, if I can't identify the spell, I'll do the next best thing,' she thought seriously. The words were softly spoken, rising in volume as she continued on, a pattern woven of sound.

Around the battle field little sparks of light began to rise up, shining brighter and brighter. They hovered there, forming a lattice work of pure light and magic, glowing unnervingly right above the fighter's heads.

Shiori chanted the final words, and the light simply exploded. Not only did it disappear, but it took away each and every magic that was being worked on the battle field.

"Take that, pink-boy," Shiori muttered. She didn't know if that man she had seen was responsible for the spell she broke, but she figured it was a good bet. She swayed a bit, feeling the stress of the enchantment catching up to her, then she crumpled to the ground.

The bandits slowed their forward progress, and Utena frowned slightly. 'What did Shiori do?' she wondered, even as she looked into the eyes of the man nearest to her. It was odd, but his eyes seemed to be... clearer than before.

The fighters Utena had thought of as cannon fodder looked at the bloody, angry guards standing there in front of them. Then, almost as one, they turned and fled, trying to break through their own line of men to get away!

"What the... ?" Juri blinked.

"Mind control," Utena whispered softly. 'Whatever Shiori did must have broken the spell,' she thought dazedly. With a sudden grin she yelled, "Hit them hard!"

Juri caught on quickly, "Charge! While they're off balance!"

The guards surged forward, meeting the badly disorganized enemy line with brutal, near bone crushing force. There was a moment when they ground up against each other mercilously, fighters gazing eye to eye. Then, so gradually that it was barely noticable, the bandits faltered. Then their line began to break. And finally, they just gave up and ran.

"Should we chase them?" a young man cried, blood running down into his face from a bad cut on his brow. His eyes glowed with eagerness, and his sword was bloody.

"No," Utena barked, looking around for Juri. She spotted the orange haired woman and yelled, "Get the trumpeters going, sound recall!"

"But," Juri started to say, looking clearly eager for more battle.

"We're in no condition for a running fight," Utena barked, "and we have no idea if there's traps out there waiting for us."

Juri nodded, giving her a rueful smile as she said softly, "Sorry, I got a bit carried away." She gestured to the trumpeters as she loudly said, "Sound recall! Get the troops back together." She turned back to Utena, "I can handle things here."

"Thanks," Utena smiled, and was off. Thankfully the carriage had nearly caught up with the guards, meaning it only took a minute or so for Utena to find her Princess.

Anthy all but fell out the window as Utena approached her and shouted, "Utena!"

Utena smiled, hesitating to take Anthy's clean hand in hers as she was only then noticing that she was splattered with blood and gore. "I'm back," she said softly, "as promised."

"You're a mess, Utena," Anthy smiled, but she still pulled Utena close for a fierce kiss. "I'm so glad you're all right," she murmured to her softly while she held Utena.

"Me, too," Utena said softly. They seperated reluctantly, then Utena looked over at Miki and said quietly, "Thank you. If you hadn't been here watching over them, I would have been unable to fight as well as I did."

Miki gave a half bow from the saddle as he said, "I was honored to help." He smiled slightly, "I take it we won, then?"

"We won," Utena agreed, but she sounded a little sad. She slid free of Anthy's grip and smiled at her sadly, "There's still work to do."

Anthy watched Utena ride away and asked Miki softly, "What does she mean?"

Miki smiled sadly, "She must tend to the injured, the dead and the dying." A little pause, "The most difficult part of being a war-leader."

To be continued...