The Return Of A Spoiled Villainess

He heard his helpless roar from the side. The soldiers instantly recoiled from his way. Paris raced down past them without stopping. The only thing that flashed in his head now was Cali"s gentle face.

He had to save her even if he had to tear open the gate from the inside and break through hundreds of enemies. But fortunately, there was no need for him to play a hero.

At the gates, seven detachments of his hundred were already waiting for him. Nearly seven dozen out of a hundred exiled and a few tens of the permanent garrison under the leadership of the earl were standing at the ready near them. Ahead light cavalry, behind the infantry. Everyone was prepared for the raid and seemed to be waiting only for Paris.

"Captain Marsters, hurry up. It seems our defenders are tired. It"s time to change them. They worked well." - Impatiently threw the earl. The warriors behind him yelled in approval.

Even if not all of them were personally on the wall, the rumors about the courage and bravery of a dozen Stone Warriors that joined the defense of the fort at the last moment and met the enemy head-on was spreading around like wildfire. Many were ready to rush into battle, encouraged by words about the spirit of these legendary warriors.

Kirk was already hurrying to the captain with a pair of horses.

The General gave the order, and boiling oil spilled from the gatehouse, driving away the attackers near the wall. Then the gates were hastily opened, and the defenders gushed from the hold to the Arians who did not expect such a turn. Paris caught up with the earl.

"We must separate. My guys and I will go to the north wall. There must be four of them." - threw young captain turning his horse.

"Well, then we"ll search the east wall. There must be three more. It seems the girl, that guy with the hammer and a shifter. Berg reported that they went out of sight about five minutes ago. Let us pray to G.o.ds that they are as strong as they were praised." - answered the Earl, giving the order to his men.

Paris nodded and, without looking back, turned his horse in the chosen direction, at the same time shouting out commands. His people hurried to comply.

Their progress was slow, the mercenaries attacked their squad from all sides. Paris was swinging his sword in all directions without stopping. He didn"t imagine the real battle will be like this. It was just a mess of bodies, alive and dead. The smell of burning and blood, the screams of the wounded and dying, everything around was more like a bad dream, and not like a heroic battle about which bards liked to sing so much. At least reaching the start of the north wall, Paris stopped his horse.

"Kirk, I can"t understand where to look for them," - Captain turned to his deputy feeling the approaching panic. It was impossible to see anything through the crowd of mercenaries. The earth was covered with corpses. How will they find four grey warriors among the grey crowd?

Kirk also looked around in confusion, not seeing any sign of what they were looking for.

"We must leave the horses and continue to break on our own two feet. Otherwise, we will simply crush them without even noticing," -Paris has finally decided.

Once they left the saddle and the unit began to break through further, as the battle became a real h.e.l.l.

They were making their way forward stepping over the dead bodies, Paris had already stopped noticing with whom he was fighting, just repeating a learned routine. A blow, a block, another blow, a swing, a lunge, return to the ranks. The body felt like a puppet that repeated movements, and his eyes continued to fumble over a solid carpet of bloodied remains.

Finally, on the right, came a joyful call. Paris, having exchanged places with another warrior in the ranks, rushed towards the one who called. The soldiers surrounded something and watched in silence, hesitant to come closer.

Paris pushed his subordinates and glanced at what his soldiers were looking at. On the ground in the middle of a pile of bodies lay a woman, although now she was almost entirely unrecognizable because her body was so severely damaged that it was impossible to find clear s.p.a.ce on the back, cut up and stuck with arrows. And yet she managed to cover the boy.

He lay motionless in the circle of her hands. The face was not visible behind an endless b.l.o.o.d.y mess, and the right arm was turned unnaturally and broken in several places.

"G.o.ds!" - Kirk exhaled, expressing the general opinion.

"We have to get them back to the fortress, but we need to find the rest." - Firmly declared Paris, - "Kirk, take over 4 dozens. Guard the girl with the boy. I will come back with the rest, and we will head back."

Kirk only nodded in response, unable to look away from the mutilated woman with the child. Paris noticed how his lieutenant squeezed his fists with force, trying to hold back the anger that was bubbling inside, but the tick in his jaw belied how tightly his teeth were clamped.

Unable to look at it anymore, Paris turned and prepared to break through. Cali, they found nearby, just ten steps away. Paris sent another two dozen ahead in search of Konrad, and he came closer to the little figure of his sister.

She looked no better. Paris didn"t even know how to touch her. Fragile broken, all covered with blood, hers and enemies.

Captain pushed the heavy thoughts away. Now the main thing is to return her to the keep. Carefully, like a crystal figurine, he lifted her in his arms. The soldiers, without saying a word, formed a living wall around their leader.

When the others returned, they slowly moved back. Ralph, a tall young guy who joined their squad just a couple of years ago, silently carried Konrad on his back. The Stone guy"s sword, which no one could ever detach from the stump of Konrad"s hand, dragged along the ground.

The way back was even more difficult. The mercenaries quickly recovered from the surprise attack and now a.s.saulted the fortress with redoubled force.

But the defenders were on edge too. They went into the attack, burnt with ardor and a desire to show themselves in battle with the legendary Stone Warriors. However after everyone saw how Cali"s squid paid for their heroism, the soldiers were full of pure hatred.

Paris could barely restrain his subordinates, who threw themselves at the mercenaries with rage and curses.

Reaching the gate, Paris saw three more squads out of a hundred exiled. Their faces reflected the same contempt. In the center of their detachments were also guarded the mutilated bodies of three Stone Warriors.

Earl joined them a bit later. He managed to break through to the very center and find the bodies of three more daredevils that set fire to the warehouse of the red-faced. They returned to the castle in complete silence.

The courtyard met them with joyful hubbub. But as soon as everyone noticed the gray faces of the people who had returned, the crowd began to hush.

Paris headed for the keep. He no longer had the strength to give orders or follow the course of the battle. Judging by how cheers changed to the cries of horror and curses from all sides, those present finally saw their trophies taken from the battle on their hands.

Captain Berg met him at the entrance to the tower. At first, he wanted to say something, but his eyes fell on the burden in the hands of the young guy and the words evaporated by themselves.

Berg has seen a lot in his lifetime, and nothing seemed to be able to unbalance him. Only here the sight of a fragile, wounded girl in the hands of a young comrade forced to step aside silently.

Not less than an hour pa.s.sed before all the wounded were laid in the common hall to allow the doctor and a.s.sistants to observe everyone at once. The captains and the earl were driven out into the street.

Three commanders decided to retreat to the wall to talk.

"I do not understand why it was necessary to do this?" - Berg began, - "What did they achieve with this?"

Paris just looked silently into the darkness. There were no answers.

"I think they just wanted to die with dignity." - said the earl in a tired voice. - "You heard their healer say that she can"t help Calisto. I think your sister knew she was dying. I heard that they are all linked. Maybe that"s why the rest followed."

"The doctor said that they are still alive," - snapped Paris with irritation in his voice. He did not want to admit that the chances melted away with every second.

Healer barely managed to probe a very weak and slow pulse. The injuries were so severe that an ordinary person would die three times over. Furthermore, the doctor never dealt with Stone Beasts before and did not know how to treat them. All he could do was bandage wounds, set bones and just wait.

But Paris did not want to wait. He could not just sit and watch his sister fade away.

"How is the situation behind the walls?" - the Earl decided to shift the conversation to another topic.

"The attack choked. The Arians returned to the camp. But it seems to me, they will soon try again. It is quite evident that they planned to take the fortress quickly. But their plan failed. They have no tools or resources for a long siege. Yes, and help from the capital will arrive from day to day."

The earl nodded, agreeing with every word. Indeed, all that was left to the invaders was to try again until the end of the night.

"Most likely, they will let shifters go first this time." - suggested Paris, trying to distract himself. - "We need to figure out how to distract them. Otherwise, there will be too many victims on the walls."

All three fell into deep thoughts.

Suddenly an utterly inappropriate laugh broke from Berg"s lips. The earl raised his brow in surprise.

"Excuse me, just a thought came to mind."

"Which one?"

"Well, the other day I heard Werst boasted that he managed to get a whole keg of perfume for his wife from somewhere and got essential oils on top of that, three boxes. It is known, that Shifters have noses sharp like animals. No animal can stand a stinging smell. Plus, though their eyesight is good at night, with proper concentration, we will make them cry like babies."

Paris and the earl looked at each other. The plan was excellent. All that remains was to find the Werst or the governor. Fortunately, Paris remembered how one of the Stone Beasts mentions that he had locked the brave captain, who was running through a secret door in one of the aisles.

As they found the fatso, it was hard to get any information out of him at first. His voice went completely hoa.r.s.e from crying in the closed tunnel. When they appeared, Werst was shaking like a leaf, moaning and smearing snot over crimson cheeks.

They did not even have to threaten him much. Having spent a few hours in the dark Werst was so terrified that he was ready to do anything just to be out of here.

Smelly goods were found in the room of the governor"s wife, along with a considerable pile of rolls of expensive silk and a pair of jewelry boxes. The earl noted to himself to deal with it later. In the meantime, it was worth to prepare a plan.

As Berg predicted, the attack began just a couple of hours later. And indeed the shifters with the help of mercenaries climbed the wall first. However, as soon as they approached the edge of the wall, flasks with a foul brew flew down on top of them.

The first row immediately fell from the stairs, especially if the mercenaries were lucky to get the flask directly into the fanged face. But some turned out to be much tougher and still got to the top.

Although, their strength and dexterity significantly suffered from constant sneezing and watery eyes. So the second attack failed, with fewer victims on the side of the defenders.

By the end of the night, the Arians decided on another attack. But the mercenaries were so exhausted and humiliated by the previous two defeats, that not many could even climb the walls.

The sun came out, seeing the losers back home. Failed mercenaries dispersed in different directions, dragging away the wounded, and leaving the dead at the walls of the fortress. Paris did not wait until the attackers disperse entirely.

There was no time for it. With the permission of the earl, the young captain took only the five closest warriors, three carts and the best horses.

There was only one hope. You could always find all kind of healers in the capital. So if you look for someone who can help Stone Beasts, then Arilla was the right place.

Luckily, Paris knew personally one such person.