“Order 3 ready” clang a voice out of the kitchen, “Little Seedling take it to the customer at table 7”.
“Okay Ma'am”, said a pony who was taking orders from a table as he finished his notes. “Alright, the food will be ready shortly, please wait.” With a smile and bow he left the ponies behind and began to walk to the counter. Even with the pony's/ponies' small size he still needed to watch his step to not bump into anything or anyone. The tavern was booming today with customers, and space was not a strongpoint of this local. Nevertheless, he managed to reach his destination in a timely fashion. Grabbing the plate of food that was ordered he halted taking a look at what was ordered, It was a red-pinkish fish with citrus and a single dandelion. Not something that they sell usually and a fish could only mean one thing. “Huh, we must have a griffon guest for once”, thought Seedling before grabbing the plate. Griffons were not common in his village, but he shrugged the thought. There were many more uncommon things out there than this. The fish was probably brought by the very customer, and mom must have just grilled it. Still, he got an ill feeling now that he knew the dish he was transporting. But before he could dwell deeper into his own thoughts he had reached the table of the customer. At the table sat however not a griffon like he thought, instead a Demigryph was waiting for the food to be brought to her. The being sat very uncomfortably and was most surely unpleasantly on the woodbank too small for her, staring into the crowd of ponies. Little Seedling halted as he was astounded by the demigryphs size. He heard that they were supposed to be big, but he always thought they were like griffons in that department, not bigger. After a few seconds he came out of his trance, no time to be analysing the size of the customers here. He took a deep breath and stepped forward with a smile.
“So, here is your ordered meal”, he said joyfully while setting the plate on the table. The Demigryph turned its head to the small pony.
“Ah, Finally!”, the Demigryph spoke, grabbing the plate, “Thanks Seedy”.
“Don't mention it Franziska!”, Little Seedling spoke joyfully, “See you later.” With these words the pony started his journey back to the counter. His tempo, however, went slower and slower, his smile turned into worrisome visage until he completely stopped. His gaze twitched back to the table. The red demigryph had sliced the fish open and was picking out its bones. But that was not the reason that his head began to raise. Her name, why did he know her name? No, why did she know the nickname his friends gave him back when they were foals, the only other ponies who know of it are his family. The blue pony was stuck in his thoughts, unable to move or speak. His surroundings began to waver, the pony’s face began to blur. What was going on?
The demigryph slurped the last bit of fish before licking her talons before noticing Seedling standing in shock. “Seedy, what's wrong?” said the demigryph as she began to stand up. “You are shaking quite a bit, do not tell me you got sick. You know we can’t have that luxury right now!”.
Little Seedling’s sweat began to roll over his eyes as he gasped for air. Something was off, but what? The tavern faded more and more, the voices no longer discernible or audible. His hooves started to give up their strength, his breath became faster and faster. “This can’t be real, this must be a dream!”, he thought, ready to fall over and accept it as a fact. But as he was ready to meet the ground the demigryph caught him. He stared at her, but her face had changed, or rather her headgear.
“Nah Seddy, bad dream?”, Franziska asked. Little Seedling looked around, the tavern was gone. It was dawn, deep into the Egysic Forest. Right, now it makes sense. “Not really Franziska.” Seedling said tired “My dream was great, I just wished that it was real.”
“Don’t we all?” Franziska said smiling. “Again dreaming about your mother's tavern?”
Little Seedling nodded. “After this is all over, I will invite you-”
“Yes Yes invite us all to your mother’s famous tavern.” She interrupted Seedling. “Now get in armour, the Captain awaits us.”
Seedling sighed. He looked to his left where his equipment was. The Finest Deponyan rider armour, made by the best blacksmiths in the kingdom. He hated it, even though he would have died many times without it. His lance, on the other hoof, was more underwhelming. Originally used against larger monsters as a stationary weapon, it found new life in the žurba-Squad. As he was starting to get armoured up he was yet again surprised how light the armour truly was. You would never guess that. Amazing, what different races can achieve when working together. To bad the world does not understand that. He took one last deep breath before putting the helmet on. With that, he went after Franziska to the briefing.
Little Seedling arrived at a pound in the middle of the forest. The trees were not as dense here as before, the sunlight radiated the flowers nearby. It was there that the other members of his squad were already located. As he went closer he could hear what his captain was discussing, something with a member of the hunters, very likely giving her the information of today's objective.
“Hey, Slowpoke”. Little Seedling turned to his right to see Franziska with two other members of his squad. The red Demigryph was in full armour minus the helmet, which she carried on her back. Her yellow eyes were as usually fired up.
“Here Seedy” spoke the pony, next to her, “I and Berthold made Breakfast, hope you enjoy it.”
“Thanks, Frozen Soil”, said the stallion as he walked to them. Berthold, one of the demigryphs of his Squad, was in the middle of eating his food, only giving him a small wave with his claw, which he returned. He kept his helmet on but put off his beak protector. Frozen Soil was in armour too, but her yellow mane running over her blue eyes could still be noticed. Little Seedling grabbed the bag that she offered. It was the usual mix of nuts and fruits, however, there were bits of zabling apples in there.
“Oh wow, where did you find those?” He asked happily. Zabling Apples are rare to find, especially after the griffons managed to breach their defences. “The Messenger brought it”, Frozen said, “a gift from the Queen for our hard work.”
“Yeah that's right Seedy”, Franziska happily yelled “You are an elite now. We all are elites!”. She took a swig on her water bottle after that, acting like it was the finest brew in Deponya. Seedling laughed nervously with her, the thought of him being an Elite of the Deponyan Army in such high regards to even warrant the attention of her majesty herself worried him a little.
“Yep”, Berthold spoke with a half full beak, “We are really getting attention from the homefront.” He swallowed the rest down as he was getting up. “We truly are the heroes of this kingdom.”
Now it was Frozen’s turn to laugh nervously. She started to lock down. “I just wished,” she began slowly, “that we were all still-”
“Quit it!” Franziska interrupted Frozen. Her joyous attitude wavered. “We are all ready to die, so don’t insult their sacrifice by living in the past.”
Frozen buckled. The four of them stood silently, only the sound of the wind and the soft voice of the captain echoed through the pond. Berthold mustered the courage first to speak up.
“They would wish for us to continue,” he began, “When this is over we can mourn the fallen.”
“Yeah, sorry guys,” Frozen said quietly. She straightens herself up. “For King and Queen!”
“For King and Queen” all 3 repeated. Little Seedling started to eat his breakfast. He understands the pain Frozen was feeling. They were once Forty members of this squad, but now only eight were left. And despite the effort, and the many successful raids they did, the enemy just brings more and more troops. And every loss on his squad is irreplaceable. But they must make sure not to lose hope. They can’t now.
The rest of the lunch was mostly quiet. Berthold and Frozen talked with each other, while Franziska was on the lookout. The Captain was still talking to the courier, the other two members were still missing. How the war was going outside Deponya, he could not even imagine.
After a few more minutes which seemed like hours the Captain was done with the messenger. She saluted and gave a signal to the demigryph she was riding. He nudged and stood up, stretching his limbs with a yawn. The Demigryph walked to the others with the Captain on his back.
“Alright soldiers,” The captain announced with a tired voice “sorry for taking so long. Apparently it is VERY important for us to know every single detail of this war, as well as what is happening in Lake City.”
“Yes, because that will help us in our raids.” sad the Demigryph under her.
“I know Iron Chain, I know.” The mare answered.
“So”, Frozen began to speak, “what is the Situation in Lake City, Dancing Lance?”
Dancing Lance sighed. “Not good, that bastard is still kicking their asses.” The white mare formed her red mane together. “They are close to the River Republic now.”
Frozen Soil looked like she wanted to say something else, but decided to keep it to herself. Berthold sighed, the frustration of everyone was very noticeable.
“Well”, he began, “at least they are fighting. I would have guessed that those hacks would have surrendered by now.” Dancing Lance and Iron Chain glanced at the cocky demigryph, while Frozen Soil hit him in his front leg.
“They are on the same boat as we are Berthold, show some more faith in-” started the mare to speak. , but she was suddenly interrupted by Berthold who stooped under and pecked her on his back, with to which Frozen only could reply with a startled “Ehp!?” the little visible part of her face becoming red.
The Demigryphs had a big laugh about this situation, with Franziska laughing the hardest. Dancing Lance just shook her head at this lack of professionalism of her troops but could not help but grin, with Little Seedling just smiling uncomfortably by the sideline. He watches as Frozen protested to be put back down, to which Berthold answered with but an even faster pace. The group watched as the two made circles around the pond, with Franziska on the ground laughing even harder than before. Frozen, on the other hoof, was holding onto Berthold’s neck while screaming to be let down. But before the demigryph could run his fourth lap the captain ordered her demigryph partner to intervene, blocking the path of the rough pair. Berthold sat down to allow his rider to get off easily. As she touches the ground again Frozen Soil took a big breath, before shouting insults at the Demigryph almost twice her size.
“So, how is the situation here?” asked Little Seedling Dancing Lance. She turned her body back to the fighting pair and locked at his face. “Like usually,” she said calmly “they still have a stronghold n the Capital, but that's really all they can claim. They lost control of some villages and recaptured others it has been a constant stalemate”.
“But they seem to be losing patience,” said Iron Chain. He pulled some chewing tobacco out of a bag of his side. “Apparently the Villagers who stay in their homes are being harassed.” He took a bite of his tobacco. “Seems like they can’t handle true chivalry as they pillage the countryside, those honourable knights.” he said with visible disdain in his voice.
“The only things honourable about them are their words they like to preach”, spouted said the crimson demyghryphess as she took the rest of the tobacco out of his claw and bit a big chunk of it. “Everything else is disgusting. No self-respecting Deponyan would ally with that scum, so of course they get mad”, she said chewing. She offered the rest of the tobacco to Little Seedling, who denied. With a shrug she gave it back to Iron Chain.
“Either way,” Dancing Lance added, “our troops are busy helping the villagers to evacuate. And that's where our mission for today begins.” Both Demigryphs spat the intoxicants out as Dancing Lance yelled at Frozen Soil and Berthold to come over.
“The royal troops”, she began explaining to the group,” want to liberate Kamepolo in the coming days. Our scouts have observed low amounts of soldiers left guarding the city as well as low levels of supplies and rations. So it should be a relatively an easy task that gives us an important village back under our control and send the enemy packing way back, all things considered it should be a simple fight and for massive gains.”
“However”, Iron Chain continued, “Our scouts also have confirmed that reinforcements are on the way to Kamepolo. Not only will there be more hostile once they arrive, these knights also have multiple wagons with them. Surely food and weapons, maybe even materials to fortify and barricade the village.”
“And we must stop these reinforcements I assume?” Little Seedling spoke with an air of certainty in his voice.
“Yes,” Dancing Lance answered, they were foolish enough to cross from the hellquil region instead of Lake city, so we are in a good position to surprise them. After that we take the supplies and leave for the army to do the rest.”
“How many are ‘there’?” Berthold asked.
Iron Chain’s discomfort with the question was noticeable. He looked at Dancing Lance, who was too slow to answer. “Around thirty”.
Little Seedling shivered a little. They were always outnumbered, yet it always troubles him when he hears how much the enemies exceed him and his friends in numbers, it just never got any easier to hear it. But before any feeling of dread could come to the group Iron Chain and Dancing Lance were already calmed down with the news of their foes’ massive advantage.
“It seems that most likely many of them are fresh recruits, and thugs who never saw the battlefield, if the Order of Hellquill has proven to us thus far is that their standards when it comes to knights are as low as juveniles ”, Dancing Lance added, “so if we can manage to surprise them and kill the few veterans who are most likely scattered amongst them, they will be easy targets then.”
"Well no wonder", continued Iron Chain,"we have been doing a number on that knightly order ever since its formation, they are just scraping by with whatever griffons they can throw at us by this point," he pondered, "but at least we can capitalize on it. The king would not just toss his elite away so foolishly. Let us do our best as always, and we will do this with no problems”.
“We will march as soon as Flowing Leaf and Stefano are here. So I would advise to not make yourselves comfortable. With that, you are dismissed for now”. With a salute the Captain released her troops from the briefing, and with a small movement in her hind leg she steered Iron Chain away.
Little Seedling left out a big groan. He noticed that Franziska was sneaking up to him, probably for-
“Nah Seedy, ready for this?” With her strong head she catapulted the stallion on her back with a big grin on her face.
“Do I have a choice?” Little Seedling stumbled as he made himself comfortable.
“Nope!”. The Demigryphs was adding her peak protections on her mouth. “And now get ready too, Flowing Leaf and Stefano can be here at any minute.”
“Yes, Yes I know”. He tightened his helmet a little as he stared at Franziska. She was always so eager to fight, but he wondered if there was more to it. Anger, fear, anything else. As he was looking at her getting the metal plates around her he could see her eyes, and he could swear there that they were not focused. Was she thinking about the day, or something else? Lost in his thoughts Little Seedling did not notice that the Demigryphess noticed his admiring gaze. After a few seconds of staring at the absent pony on her back, she giggled. With a little hop the trance was broken. Shockingly he looked confused at his surroundings, only to brought back into reality.
“You can dream about me once we are done with this war Seedy.” Franziska said teasingly.
With a blush Little Seedling turned his back to her and tinkered on his helmet. He heard more laughter from behind, the others had probably seen it too. “Well”, he thought “at least I was able to make them happier.” He smiled a little, but as fast as it came it vanished. Franziska was right, he had to focus, or else he would never have a chance to think about anything again. He grabbed the lance on his side and started to clean it, awaiting the command to march on.
It did not take long for the missing pair to show up. After almost a quarter of an hour Flowing Leaf and Stefano, looking well and thankfully not tired, entered the clearing. The rest of the squad greeting them as they came, with Dancing Lance giving the order to move out. Seedling gave Franziska a little poke to her side to signal that he was ready. Franziska gave no comment and started to follow the others. They left the shimmery pond, and entered the dark forest, until it fully surrounded them.
Franziska and Little Seedling were walking on a poorly maintained dirt path. In front of them were the Captain and the newcomers, he overheard them talking about today's mission. Right to them were Berthold and Frozen Soil, both silent. It did however not take long for the plan to be relayed, and with an okay from Flowing Leaf the group was wrapped in silence, only the steps of the mighty demigryphs to be heard.
While monster attacks on Deponya have calmed down since Grover II’s army invaded the forest Little Seedling and the others kept their guard up. Nothing good ever comes out here if you are complacent. Time flies, the road under them now fully gone, as they entered the deep part of the woods. Despite it being the middle of the day the sun barely reached the ground yet not dark enough to not see. Their tempo went steady despite it, as well as the awkward silence.
Little Seedling sighed quietly, he glanced at Berthold and Frozen Soil, but not much was going there either. With a little disappointment he looked at the other two pairs of his companies, neither of which looked like they wanted to talk. He thought of a way to break the monotonous situation, but nothing came to his mind. They were too focused right now, something he maybe should also be. He leaned back a little, looking up at the treetops and their varied shapes of leafs.
After a few more minutes passed Dancing Lance lifted her halberd. The squad stopped, all eyes and ears were directed at her. Iron Chan turned around, with his claw out, offering his rider to hold her weapon. She accepted and coughed before addressing her team.
“The enemy troops will be in front of us shortly.”, she said quietly, “All of you stay here, while I and Iron Chain will charge an at them from the other side. Split up so you don’t charge them from the same spot, but stay on this side and not to far away from each other. When I make the signal, you begin to move, first quietly and then with full force. It is vital that we get the first blow on this. We have one scout here on the other side, who will inform me when to give the signal. Me and Iron Chain will engage shortly after you all would, as usually. Did I make myself clear?”
The six chevaliers nodded in agreement with their hoof or claw at their foreheads. With a smile, the mare and her partner returned the gesture. “For King and Queen” she said triumphantly.
“For King and Queen!”, the others repeated. The Captain and her steed gave their last salute as they dashed away before them. For a few moments, the riders stood still before Stefano cleared his throat. “We will go further right”, he said with a calm voice, “, Berthold and Frozen Soil, you attack from the middle. Franziska and Little Seedling you go further left from here. Everyone okay with that?”
“From my side it is fine”, Frozen Soil said, with Berthold nodding along.
“No objections from us too, right Seedy?” Franziska said with the stallion on her agreeing.
“Good, then let's get into positions. And do not forget to keep it quiet, or else they might notice us. See you all then.” With that said the demigryph left the other four remaining members of his squad with his rider.
“So,”, the stallion initiated, “we better get into our position as well. Berthold and Frozen, you two stay safe.”
“Remember, dying is not allowed,” Franziska added with a tone of sarcasm.
“Ha, you better worry about your fragile partner instead, Franziska.” The demigryph replied.
“Stay safe too, let's show these blockheads a true deponian welcome!” the mare said with a surprising fiery voice. She held her lance and wave with it as Franziska and Little Seedling left them there alone.
After a minute of walking the two decided the spot in front of them was far enough from the others. A few bushes would camouflage them, for the chance that there would be a lookout. Franziska sat down, grabbing the lance of her partner so that he can sit more comfortably. Now the calm before the storm began, as both stared into the darkness in front of them.
The heartbeat of the young pony started to get faster and faster which each passing minute. He wanted to sum a tune but decided on something less obnoxious.
“Hey,“, he whispered to the back of the helmet, “do you think sometimes that we can’t do this?.”
The demigryph did not turn her head, nor answer. He looked away, shame coming over him as he punched the air. “Now what not the time to worry others” he thought, “get it together!.”
“Seedy,” began the demigryph to say slowly. Seedling shrunk down, expecting the worst.
“Without you, I would have probably died a long time ago. I have no idea what the future holds for us, but if you say something like that, it will not help. And the fact that, despite our best efforts, they still have more soldiers than us, does not mean that their numbers are endless. So stay focused, and get these thoughts out of your head, or I will eat your dinner today”. The red demigryph turned her head to him and lifting her peak protection to show him her face. “Understand, Seedy?” she asked with a smile.
The stallion needed some time before he returned the smile. “I would have died too, if it was not for your amazing reflexes you know.”
“And that's why,”, she said while bumping his side with her fisted claw, “we are not only a team, but some of the best Deponya has to offer. So let's show these birdbrains what we can do!”
The fear, the heat, they faded slowly. The pony hugged her, saying a quick thanks to her ear in the process. He wished he could embrace her longer, but sadly it had to wait for a bit longer. He let go and waited for the inevitable skirmish to come.
An eternity passed since they took their current position, or at least that was what Little Seedling felt like happened. No signal, or enemy movements could be heard, maybe something went wrong? Or the knights were getting lazier the more the war lengthened. Before he could think of more ways to with reason Franziska head suddenly turned.
“Franziska, what’s-” He started, but was immediately stopped by her.
“Shhh!” she told him in a very quiet voice. “Listen.”
The pony listened, but he could not hear anything unusual. But then, he could hear it, in the distance. A faint, but clear and rather sombre chant:
“-rt wie Stein- kyrie eleison.”
His heart, that he just moments ago managed to calm down, was working overtime again. They were here, and apparently cocky as always. Franziska stood up, giving back the lance to her partner. The atmosphere worsened, as the chanting came closer and close. They needed to pay attention, the signal would come anytime now. The noise became clear and clearer, as Little Seedling noticed that they were coming in front of them as well. The faint sound of wagons could be heard under the noises. Right now, only a few bushes stood between them. And only one thing left to wait for.
Through the chanting and wagons entered a new noise, the faint but clear shriek of a
Flying Amplectobelua. Almost instantly after hearing it Franziska began to slowly move forward. Little Seedling held his shield and lance in position, taking in one last big breath.
Slowly the tempo of them increased, as the chanting was coming closer and closer, until Franziska exasperated quickly at her top speed. The final bush no longer blocked their view, as the caravan became clear in front of them. Not stopping, the demigryph rushed straight at one knight who had not fully realized what was happening, while the lance of the stallion was aimed at his neighbour. The startled knight was not wearing his helmet, panic in his eyes quickly could be noticed as he tried to lift his claws for protection. But the lance was quicker, as it pierced its way through the upper body of the griffon, while Franziska jumped on the unsuspecting knight, biting at his exposed neck. No one was chanting anymore, the griffons yelled in response to the surprise attack. The first blood was spilled.
"ACHTUNG,", one of the knights in black armour yelled, "DIE BRUT DES MAARS".
Franziska quickly turned her head back away from the griffons neck, and prepared to jump backwards to free the Lance of her partner. Another of the knights rushed at her and swung his sword, which the stallion blocked with his shield. A quick glance showed him that the other two riders had arrived too, hopefully also tackling at least the same number as them in the initial charge.
“To our left!” he yelled to his partner, who in turn faced their left side. A different knight was in the middle of a swing with a warhammer. With fast reaction, she caught the hilt of the hammer, with her little companion trusting his lance at an opening in another knight’s neck.
“Roundabout!” Seedling yelled. The crimson demigryph started to throttled at full speed in front of them, dodging some of the knights, with Seedling making sure no blunt objects could hit them. As they moved through them he counted the knights on his side. There were around seven more, but all of them were well armoured with black plates and by the quick look no mere pushovers. A big sound of metal hitting metal was heard, as his body shivered. One of the knight hit him with, luckily only, a sword, on his back, bringing shiver to his spine and nothing more. With a great leap, Franziska and her riders vanished into a nearby bush on the side of the road. He could hear a single knight following them, but that was of no concern for now. Franziska accelerated fast, manoeuvring between trees in a skilled fashion. Little Seedling glanced back a little, the knight was nowhere to be seen any more.
Long was the absent however not. The rider saw the street again, a battlefield, bodies and knights shouting in a language which he did not understand. A few knights noticed them, this time prepared for what was coming. The demigryph with full force crashed onto them, claws in front, blocked by the swords they held. Little Seedling’s lance had more luck, sliding through one of the arms. The griffon pulled back quicker than anticipated, holding the lance down in his arm. The wound was not fatal, but it was enough to allow Franziska to break apart the sword in her claw form the griffon. With pure shock at this strength, the griffon lost his balance, which in turn left the one with the lance in is arm alone there. The pony was forced to let go of his trusty weapons and pulled a dagger out instead. With a small leap, he rammed it in the exposed upper body, which seemed to have taken all the left strength the griffon still had, as he slowly tumbled down to the ground. Seeing the death of his friend, the other knight whose sword was broken fled towards the trail the convoy was using, knowing more than likely the odds were not in his favour in this engagement. Franziska grabbed the weapon oh her partner and offered it to him, but Little Seedling did not grab it. He looked at the distance, and a saw a familiar group in the midst of battle themselves. The figures fighting were probably Flowing Leaf and Stefano alone by the looks of it. As he glanced over them he noticed something else though.
Where were the rest?
“SEEDY!” The voice braking the young stallion out of his thoughts yet again. He lost his balance suddenly, as he saw a maul, just centimetre in front of his face before it went over his head as his partner lowered her pose to allow for the dodge. He grabbed his lance and shoved the well-build knight out of his way, only to noticed two more knights in black rushing at him at full speed as well as the bigger knight beside them who seemed like their leader. Franziska took a defensive stance, they were encircled.
“NATCHJÄGER, ANGRIFF, FÜR DEN KAISER” shouted the bigger griffon, her voice followed with a thundering confirmation of the order being heard as the other knights proclaimed in unison “JAWOHL, GROßINQUISITOR”
Had the demyghyphess not preemptively avoided the strike of the now known Großinquisitor and had struck true at either her or her partner it would have been over, so the stallion started to make the leader of these knights his priority in the skirmish, with Franziska’s claws swiftly going up to catch the opposing swords that were coming her way. She managed to do so but had not the strength left to do much more grunting in pain, while both knights tried their hardest to overpower her. While Little Seedling wanted to help his sister in arms, the Großinquisitor made her move, as he swung her weapon with full force at the pony. As the maul came he held his shield up, hoping it would withstand the brute force of his assailant. As the weapon hit the shield, Little Seedling was almost blown away, yet he managed to hold on although being slightly swept away by the strength of the blow. His shield, however, did not have that luxury, as it shattered, along with some bones in his hoof. But with what strength he had left in his other hoof he rammed the lance into his opponent's right shoulder who was too slow to react given how big his own hammer was, forcing him to drop the weapon while he cursed in pain. The stallion pulled back his lance, wanting to help his friend, but the big griffon had not had enough. He pulled a small sword out, as he charged at him. He could tell that Franziska was losing strength but ignoring the brute was impossible. He could feel his heartbeat rising, his skin under his fur itch painfully, whit his broken hoof in a whole different league of pain. Death was close, to close.
Then he saw the inquisitor stopping with a look of shock on her face recognizable even through his helmet. As Little Seedy wondered why the enemy stopped he looked to his side, where he saw the head of one of the knights slowly flying away, while the other one was pushed down on the ground while getting his wings ripped out. With a bloody halberd in hoof, Dancing Lance and Iron Chain made their entrance.
“CAPTAIN!” “Both Soldiers yelled in unison at their life safer.
“We take this side, go and help the others!” She yelled with fiery in her voice.
Without saying a word Franziska stood back up and sprinted in the direction of her comrade Stefano. Little Seedling saw the inquisitor cursing at them, but the halberd of the captain quickly shut her up, as she pushed her shoulder armour to block the attack prompting the inquisitor to flee hastily despite her injuries. He sighed, as he looked in front of him. He saw that Flowing Leaf and Stefano were currently in a confrontation with a knight, visibly tired in their movements. While Franziska was not in the best shape either, she hasted once more, jumping on the back of griffon knight, which yelled in surprise before Flowing Leaf rammed her lance into the opposing knight’s head.
“Thank you”, the mare said with fatigue in her voice.
“Don’t mention it” Franziska replied. She looked at the surrounding situation, three more knights were there, with one of them having a chipped wing. They were not moving though, because of fear or something else was unknown.
“Did you two see Berthold and Frozen?” Little Seedling asked, his voice almost cracking.
The other demigryph shook his head. “No, we were a little too preoccupied here. Maybe they made a temporary retreat?”
“For now”, Flowing Leaf said, “we have no other option but to believe, there are still some left with fighting spirit inside them.”
The two pairs looked at each other and nodded. Franziska and Stefano first slowly walking toward the three knights, before accelerating quickly. The knights in black plated armour narrowed themselves as close at it allowed them to, with their shields in claw. As the demigryphs were closing the lanes of the riders they pushed forward unrelenting, penetrating the shield and through the griffons bodies. Their bodie’s life gave out quick, while the last griffon knight who was lucky to not be on the receiving end of the lance throwing his shield aways, as he vanished through the bushes and soon seen taking flight in a hasty retreat.
Both ponies sighed, with Little Seedling letting go of his lance. He surveyed the aftermath of the skirmish, most of the knights that could stand were running in the opposite direction of them away. But in the distance there was something strange, it looked like two griffons fighting each other. But why would they…
“Quick Franziska, over there!” he burst out holding his broken hoof in the direction of the fight.
The Demigryph looked at the direction, trying to figure out what her rider had seen. But as she looked closer she rushed to its direction. Flowing Leaf and Stefano looked at the two, wondering why they were in such in a hurry.
When Little Seedling saw the fight from closer, his body began to shiver. It was Berthold, with visible wounds on his back, fighting with total fury against a knight, who laid on the ground, not moving. Frozen Soil was nowhere to be seen.
Franziska walked to her fellow demigryph, who seems to not notice them. She was reaching out for him, then stopped before reaching to close.
“Berthold!” she yelled suddenly “He is dead, can’t you see it dummy?”
The attacks of Berthold slowed down, little by little, until he came to a stop. His breath was slow, but at least consistent, as he turned his face to his pals.
“Sorry, th- that you had, to see me, like this.” He said, putting of his helmet. A few scars could be seen, not only on his head but his whole body. He was bleeding, form a few parts., as he mustered a smile up. “We, had bad luck... there were a few too many, a big griffon and a few knights suddenly stumbled onto us and then took flight.”
Franziska gestured the demigryph to sit down, yet he refused. He limped off, with the two on close follow up.
“Berthold,”, Little Seedling asked, ”where is Frozen Soil.”
The demigryph did not answer, as he maintained his tempo. After a short walk the stallion was giving his answer, but not by him. He saw in front of him the body of a mare with yellow mane and with fur, covered in blood. Franziska stopped in her tracks, as Berthold moved close to his rider.
“A spear got her in her sides.” He began to speak well, as he sat down next to her. “Must have hit a weak point in the armour. He wished sweat of his back, with his face in between a smile and frown. “If I had just moved a little faster it would have bounced off., he stuttered.
“You know this is not your fault. It was just bad luck.” Franziska said, placing her claw in his shoulder.
“No, I am at fault for it. I did not manage to do my job well. If I did she would not lay here.”
“Berthold, enough. You did your best, that is all that we can do here. Don’t disagree with her with your sulking”.
“The knight you beat up there,”, Little Seedling asked, “was he the one?”.
Berthold nudged a little and slightly shook his head” No it was the bigger griffon” he said not looking up with his eyes glued to the ground. The stallion locked behind him, waving his good hoof.
“Captain! Over here!”, he shouted. Dancing Lance took her halberd out of a freshly slaughtered knight and looked over. No knight was seen standing any more at the area, as the quietness of the forest returned to its rightful place.
Stefano and Flowing Leaf were regrouping at the spot in which Berthold stood when Dancing Lance and Iron Chain came. The wounded demigryph looked up as this Captain and saluted. He started to say something, which Iron Chain quickly interrupted with a gesture.
“No need for that Berthold, you stay still and relax now.” Dancing Lance said as she was looking down to see what the others were looking at. After figuring out which body was lying there a small curse came out of her mouth. For a moment the group was silence, with all locking at their Captain now.
“Listen up!” she yelled suddenly with a fierce voice. “Stefano, you and Flowing Leaf stay on lookout. Make roundabout and make sure no one is there any more.”
“YES Ma’am” said both in unison, as they departed.
“Franziska, you and Little Seedling inspect the wagons, I want a quick report in five minutes!”
“Understand” Franziska spoke, while she nudged her rider to signal it. The stallion stood silence, only nodding.
“Okay”, said Dancing Lance while hopping of her steed. “Iron Chain, keep Berthold alive while I make sure all the knights lying around here are actually dead.” He demigryph salutes before handing the wounded needs.
In total three wagons were there. They went together to inspect the first wagon, as splitting was not necessary. When they open the sheet it revealed a lot of weapons, armour and tools. Nothing special, and in line what they were expecting to find. As they moved on to the second wagon they found it to be fully loaded with food. Again, nothing unusual as they moved to the third and final wagon. When they open it both halted in silence.
It was filled with ponies and griffons, tied up with sacks over their heads, some of them looking not older than ten. Franziska and Little Seedling stood for a while there, looking at that display, before they began freeing one of them. The Stallion gasped for clean air, as he looked at his savior, confused.
“Hello, I am Little Seedling, and you?”, Little Seedling asked.
The prisoner took a while, still looking confused at the stallion as if he could not comprehend his words.
“We are from the Deponyan Royal Army, you are in Deponya” Little Seedling said calmly, “You’re not from here, right?”
From the back of the wagon, an older griffon still with a sack on his head said in a heavily accented voice ”That much you are correct about deponyan, pardon my intrusion. I am called Konrad and I was the village’s librarian before we got into this situation, none of my companions in here can understand your language, but I could act as your translator should you choose to let us be spared” he said almost as if he had accepted a doom-filled fate to come, all the while the prisoners were let go off their bindings and sacks.
“Are all those then from there?”.
He looked at the other prisoners. “Yes we very much are,” said the griffon as his own bidings and sack were put away.
“Very good then. We are not here to hurt any of you. I would advise though that for now at least you do what we say. Do you agree?.” Little Seedling asked the stallion.
“Yes, Yes, of course, anything but the knights of Hellquill”, he replied.
“Okay, then help us free the others and tell them to not leave the wagon okay? We will bring you to our place for now, it is not safe here.”
With a nod the pony stated had just freed the others still remaining, and Konrad to translate the news in their language that Little Seedling did not understand. A few broke out in tears, others tried to hug the pony. After all were free Franziska and he moved a little away, giving them a little space for themselves.
“Why would they need so many prisoners?” he asked Franziska which in response just shook her head.
“I think that is something that I don't want to know.” she said blandly.
“Why slaves of course” replied the librarian griffon disregarding the demigryphess’ request to not be told the reasoning to their captivity “and anyone that would not be onboard with their little crusade makes for the best stock and worse the knights killed all the demigryphs in our village for the knights consider them to be abominations”, he paused for a second as if recollecting his thoughts reminding him of something truly despicable, ”Brut Des Maar as they call them or in your language, spawns of Maar”
The revelation having the pony and the demigryph feel a slight hint of unease, but Seedy just perished the thought and proceeded to talk to his partner despite how horrid the implication was.
“I feel bad for Berthold, hopefully the guilt will not eat him up after this.” the stallion continued. Franziska, however, gave no reply still thinking of what Konrad had just shared as she looked away from the prisoners and ending up with an even more shocked complexion on her face. Little Seedling poked at her head, wondering what was going on. Finally, she pointed behind them, at the place where Berthold and Iron Chain was. Confused he turned around, only to see Iron Chain checking for Berthold’s pulse. The demigryph was no longer moving, nor breathing. Despite that Little Seedling wanted to get up, only to be topped by Franziska, who just looked in his eye. He wanted to yell, to let it all out. Franziska noticed the inner trouble of her partner as she held his hoof.
“For King and Queen”, she said in a monotone voice.
“For King and Queen”, he replied. A few tears started to form, as he breathes for air through the mouth. At this moment the Captain came to his location, looking at her deceased compatriot. She let a different curse out, as she yelled for Iron Chain and Stefano to return to her location.
Franziska gave a quick recap on what they found in the now assembled group. The prisoners came up as a surprise, but they decided quickly on taking them with the rest.
“Anything else interesting?” Dancing Lance asked.
“No, that would be all,” Franziska replied.
“These were not rookies or thugs that we were expecting,“ Stefano began to say, “these were definitely mostly experience knights. How could our scouts make such a mistake?”
“We can discuss that with them later”, Iron Chain answers. “For now we get things moving.”
Dancing Lance nodded. “Each one of us will carry a wagon to the spot I agreed with the scouts. The prisoner will help us with that. After that we will be under friendly faces again, then we can look at our wound. Until then stay focused, did I make myself clear!”
The four soldiers nodded. Before Franziska could move, Dancing Lance called for her attention again.
“Could you and Little Seedling bring their bodies to the empty wagon?”
“We could help with them”, pronounced the heavily accented voice of Konrad as he talked to some of his fellow ponies and griffons to help with displacing the corpses of the fallen, ”it is only fair that we assist our saviours”.
They nodded, and slowly marched to the death spot of their friends along with Konrad and his group. Little Seedling body felt empty as he saw the now lifeless body of the demigryph and mare, who just today were happily eating with them, talking, trading jokes. All over, for this cursed war over nothing. As Franziska went closer the stallion locked at the claw of the demigryph. In it, he held the hoof of frozen Solid. He went on a massacre for her. A massacre that ended his life. They are reunited now at least.
The bodies of the two were loaded onto the emptied prisoner wagon. Since Franziska was in the worst condition of the three demigryphs she was given aid for to pull the wagon, with some ponies and griffons helping them as Konrad spoke to the prisoners in their foreign tongue. Iron Chain got the food wagon, with Stefano and Flowing Leaf pulling the middle wagon.
As they all strapped the wagons on they gave their okay, and the Captain ordered to move out.
The freed prisoners looked around as they trailed into unrecognized lands beyond the trees as they were engulfed by the surrounding forest it would be an unknown place but it is not likely they could go back to their homes which were most likely just levelled by the knightly order, Little Seedling looked at them with a little smile knowing that they managed to save a few people from the Order’s despicable claws. This vanished quickly nonetheless, as the image of Berthold came into his head again. He looked at Franziska's back head. Would she fight as crazy as him when he was to fall himself? Would she play it safe, like it was instructed. He did not want to think about it, but the scenario was not going off his head. An image of a tavern popped up suddenly in his mind, with all of them eating, celebrating the victory. He remembered, when he had just started as a part of the squad, he invited all his fellow riders into his mother's famous tavern. And now, only six are left to invite. But those six were all that he had left.
“After this is all over,“, he said sorrowful to Franziska, “I will invite you all to the tavern. And we will have the best meal ever!”
“Seedy, you told me this -” the red demigryph said, wanting to give her usual answer, before stopping to turn her face to him. She looked into his face, and with a smile she said: “It’s a date!”
Little Seedling tried his hardest to muster a smile back, while a little “Thank you” leaving his lips. He looked to the sky, hoping for rain to come and an end to this war.
