The Foolhardies 96 Ride Like the Wind

"Yeah... it was pretty reckless," I admitted as I took the reins from him. "Thanks for watching my friend here."

I spared a few seconds to inspect Myth Chaser to ensure no harm had come to him during our cavalry battle. Luckily, even with my slightly blurred vision, I found no visible wounds, and my friend seemed cheery enough when I patted his neck.

Placing one foot on the stirrup, I boosted myself up to my seat atop Myth Chaser's back with all the skill of a wannabe cowboy. From this higher vantage point, I glanced down at Azuma, who, along with his men, had consented to remain under guard by some of my Foolhardies and the Darah soldiers who'd just arrived to reinforce us. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"My guys will escort you and your viseres to the back-line for processing." I pointed toward Thom who I'd tasked with leading Azuma and crew to Berrian to begin the process of emancipating them from the Magesong clan. "He'll take care of you."

Although Azuma nodded, his eyes warily eyed Thom and his fellow drow like he expected some kind of double-cross.

Thom was no help either. That antagonizing grin of his, the one that made people want to punch him, was plastered on his face while he gazed mockingly back at Azuma.

I sighed.

Aura arrived at my right side on Starlight. Luca and his swifthart, Jade Shadow, took the empty spot on my left. Ashley atop her Dazzler with Varda riding shotgun took position behind me. Xanthor's remaining centaurs and the few riders we had left gathered behind them.

"Edo?" I glanced around until I could find Aura's half-ogre bodyguard standing in front of a group of elves I'd recently dubbed the Inglorious Bastards. Beside him stood their elven leader, Theren Everleaf. Both fairies eyed me with something I'd never seen before, almost like respect. I wasn't sure as my vision still wasn't a hundred percent.

"Why're you looking at me weird?" I directed the question at Edo.

Edo coughed and cleared his throat at the same time as he averted his eyes.

"Don't know what you're talking about," he insisted. "It's not like I was impressed with your victory or something…"

His voice trailed off and I couldn't hear that last bit.

"Sure-sure… no need to get so defensive," I shrugged while giving him a knowing smile I knew would slightly rile him up.

Edo growled.

I wisely chose to ignore him and set my sights on Theren instead. "Will you guys be able to follow us fine on your feet?"

"We elves have light steps and our strides are swift," Theren answered. "You needn't worry. We will keep pace, Commander."

"Well, that was reassuring," I whistled. 

Finally, a team leader who sounded reliable. I was beginning to think I'd never come across one in the Fayne.

I glanced back at Azuma for one final word, my eyes gazing into his. "You made the right choice. You'll see."

Azuma began another coughing fit while he waved me away.

I pulled lightly on the reins to turn Myth Chaser's nose westward toward the other half of the center army's battlefield. But before we galloped toward danger, I looked over to all the Foolhardies who were intent on following me into the breach despite our lesser numbers. And seeing the determined looks on each of their faces made my chest swell with pride.

"Ride… Ride like the wind. Ride as if the devil himself were chasing us," I said.

And then, without any more preamble, I urged Myth Chaser onward just as I heard Varda ask Ashley, "Who's the devil?"

We rode fast and hard, and on a swifthart's back, our ride may have been a little too fast. Fast enough for the cold night air to repeatedly slap my face and give me windburn. However, irritated skin and chappy lips were the least of my worries.

In front of us was a wave of blue and gray soldiers swaying forward and backward, tearing at each other with shadowblade weapons that turned the verdant grass underneath them dark with blood. And what little room there was for us to maneuver required a delicate balance of zigging and zagging through narrow spaces filled with walls of sharp-edged blades.

Obviously, this was no place for me and my impaired vision to lead my cavalry so I relied on Luca to bring us all to Darah before it was too late.

Don't get me wrong. I had no illusions about riding in like some white knight to save the day. I knew better than that. I may have contributed my share to our recent victories but a battle among great generals was no place for a young hundred-man commander to interfere in. Instead of helping, I was almost certain we would only be spectators in this final act of this particular war, but that alone had great merit. To witness a fight among such powerful beings—I knew it would help me and my crew become stronger, whatever the outcome.

Of course, I didn't tell Aura this. She still thought we were riding to rescue her aunt—sure, as if Darah needed rescuing. But, stealing a glance at her face and seeing the worry hidden in her eyes, I didn't need our mental connection to know just how frightened she must have been at the possibility of Darah actually losing, however unlikely.

I took my left hand of my reins despite how dangerous that was at our current speed and placed it over the golden bracelet wrapped around my right wrist. I hoped our connection was strong enough for her to sense the happy thoughts I hoped I was sending her way through the bracelet. Well, I might even have hummed a Coldplay track too. Something Just Like You always made me feel good, after all.

I stole another glance at Aura and found her smirking at me. I quickly turned away while feeling like I'd rubbed chili all over my cheeks.

Seriously! Stupid teenage hormones making me lose focus like that. Almost made me miss the spear lancing toward me. It had been thrown by a rather ugly looking, beady-eyed, bald-faced elven warrior—the first one I'd ever seen—who'd aimed to skewer me through my ribcage.

I ducked to the side on instinct. The spear zipped by me only to collide with something metallic close behind me.

"Dammit, Dean!" Ashley yelled.

I took a quick peek behind me.

Ashley had her shield raised as if she'd just used it to defend against incoming projectile.

"Sorry!" I yelled back at her.

She responded with the finger, and not the Fayne kind, but the Mudgardian middle finger that we all knew meant, well, something derogatory. Yeah, I didn't like to swear. Sue me.

I faced forward and saw another spear lancing toward me.

"Shit!" I hissed. I know, I know. I just swore.

I unsheathed my falchion and despite my weakened sight parried the spear before it killed me or Myth Chaser.

"Watch out for projectiles!" Luca yelled from in front of me.

It seemed he'd been blocking most of them with the help of Shaqs' battle-ax.

"Could have said that half a minute ago!" I yelled at him.

Luca didn't respond as a hobgoblin rider had just crossed his path. He raised his ax and swung it sideward in one quick motion, catching the hobgoblin by surprise and, if you could believe it, sending its severed head bouncing toward me.

I smacked it out of the way with the flat of my falchion. Right afterward, I glared daggers at Luca.

"You did that on purpose!" I accused.

Luca spared me a backward glance.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dean!" he yelled back.

"Then why are you grinning?" I replied.

Luca quickly turned around and yelled, "Hard right, everyone," effectively ending the interrogation.

A few more zigs and zags and we finally cleared the center half of the battlefield. In the near distance, perhaps a good sixty yards away, stood a mass of bodies gathered in a circle around something I couldn't quite see.

I spared another glance behind me, and with a quick count, I estimated that we'd lost a fourth of our riders during our mad dash across the field. Even worse, Edo's group along with the rest of Ashley's Shield squad were nowhere in sight.

"Muddammit," I whispered.

That was all the pity party I could manage however, as Luca and Aura had both called out to me at the same time.

"Dean, look!" they both yelled.

"Wh-what?" I asked as I turned my head back to the front.

Luca had a hand pointed toward the blue and gray crowd ahead. Their constantly shifting positions allowed a partition to open up and reveal what was happening in the middle of all that chaos.

We were around twenty-five yards away, but I could clearly see the worrisome scene beyond.

Darah, her golden armor gleaming under the light of the golden moon, picked herself off the ground using her golden sword as a crutch like she was injured or something. Above her, maybe ten feet off the ground flapped a black pegasus. Its masked rider looking down at Darah like some supervillain relishing his victory.

"Muddamit!" I whispered. "We might be too late after all."

Chapter end