The Fireseed Wars

A few breaths later, a dozen Harphaxi scouts, wearing buckskins and Harphaxi yellow and red color bandannas wrapped around their upper arms, rode into the clearing on the other side of the stream. A few of the oath-brothers, dressed in buckskin shirts and breechcloths with long leggings, stayed behind with the horses, while the others peeled off their shirts and jumped into the partially dammed stream. Soon they were grappling with the Pioneers, who were wrestling with their supposed rescuers, and attempting to push them away.

This is where it gets tricky, thought Hestophes. We have to wait until the main body arrives before we "announce" ourselves. If any of the women get hurt or raped, that's going to be a huge problem. We're over-stocked with heroes who want to emulate their late Prince or former Captain-General Harmakros!

The women were screaming now, making Hadron's own racket. Hestophes could hear the men rustling and gave orders that the first man to fire would be shot dead in his boots by his own petty-captain. "This is an ambush-these women are Pioneers, not a bunch of picnickers out for a stroll."

Suddenly the scene turned ugly; two of the Pioneers were dragged out of the creek and thrown down to the bank. One of the scouts got a crotch full of moccasin when he tried to wrestle one woman to the ground. The other Pioneer slipped out a knife and a bright red flower blossomed on the belly of her would-be assailant. One of the oath-brothers took out a long horse pistol and was aiming it at the Pioneer with the knife, when a shot rang out from the wagon. He fell down in a heap, and the other scouts started to get suspicious, looking around in all directions while pulling out knives and pistols.

Hestophes saw two coonskin-capped scouts and one with a badger's head over his conical helmet start toward the woman with the knife. Without conscious thought, he kicked his horse in the flanks and suddenly found himself halfway across the stream. One of the scouts aimed a pistol in his direction and he heard a wheeeet as a bullet spanged off his steel breastplate. His right ribs felt numb beneath the cotton gambeson he wore under his armor, but he'd survived worse in the past.

Hestophes crouched down when Sharp Hooves pulled himself up the grassy bank, reaching the Pioneer. Her knife was already in its scabbard and she used his hand and arm like a lever to pull herself up and wriggle onto the saddle behind him.

As they turned he saw one of the oath-brothers, with a crest of braided and multi-colored hair that Kalvan called a Mohawk, running towards him with a tomahawk. He yanked out his already-loaded saddle pistol and shot him point-blank in the chest. The red-skinned oath-brother's mouth made a large "O" of surprise as a geyser of blood fountained out of his mouth. He fell face first into the stream with his feet trailing back on the green bank.

"Thank you, sir," the woman mouthed in his ear as he spurred Sharp Hooves back across the stream to a stand of trees.

He hadn't gotten a good look at the Pioneer's face as she swung onto his horse, but he couldn't help but notice the cotton dress clung to her well-proportioned frame like a snake skin. "I owe you my life, sir," she said when they reached the other side of the bank.

Hestophes turned and saw a nice face-not lovely like Rylla's or her evil cousin's, but a face a man could look at for a long time and never fail to notice something new-such as the flecks of gold in her cornflower eyes. "Just doing my duty, my Lady."

She gave a smile and her face lit up like the sun rising over Mt. Kythros; suddenly she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever rested eyes upon. "May I ask your name, sir?"

"Of course. Captain-General Hestophes, at your command, My Lady." For the first time in his life, when speaking to a woman who set his heart to pounding like one of the Order's battle drums, he wasn't the least bit tongue-tied or nervous.

"Oh! The Hero of Narza Gap!" she cried out.

Hestophes felt the blush start at his toenails and work its way up to his scalp. "I prefer to be known by my given name."

"You shouldn't be embarrassed, Captain General-I mean Hestophes. You are renowned throughout Hos-Hostigos as one of the Great King's paladins."

His name in her mouth arrived at his ears like music from a beautiful but unknown instrument.

"What is your name, My Lady?"

She giggled. "I'm no Lady, just one of the Queen's Pioneers Captain Lysia."

"Lysia," he repeated, it was a wonderful name, the most lyrical name he'd ever heard. She must be the commander of this operation; he was even more impressed. "You will always be Lady Lysia to me."

She was smiling, when General Baldour rode up splashing mud all over Lysia and Sharp Hooves. Without conscious thought, Hestophes cross-drew the pistol inside his sash, cocked it and was about to fire, when Baldour's white face and upraised hands stopped him cold.