140: A Second Diversion

It looked like the Sons of Ulric had distracted us with a second distraction, and they had a third attack. Was this the way the wolf behaves in the wild, I wondered. No wonder the reindeer never stand a chance. And now we were the reindeer, or some other herd-oriented ruminant ungulate.

Greta spotted Blume’s stylish footwear poking out from one of the camp tents and went towards her, and was about to heal her, but loaded her pistol first.

Fred could see how we had been outflanked, and he called the soldiers near him to rally to the shrine to protect Ar-Ulric. Some of the men at arms were unsure whether to desert their political leader to support their spiritual one, but Fred managed to convince them that Ar-Ulric was the most in danger. And he advanced to intercept the Sons of Ulric before they could reach the shrine.

I continued to fight my opponent with Erina and I hit him again, but this just made him froth at the mouth and go into one of those frenzied states. But it gave Erina time to step away and channel her magic, and with a burning tent nearby it seemed to give her more magical power. And I could see that she was controlling a lot of magic as she advanced towards the new wave of Ulricans that had just arrived. But my opponent struck back at me twice and it was all I could do to stay on my feet.

Greta was just about to heal Blume but spotted some Sons of Ulric nearby and instead couldn’t resist taking a pot shot at one of them, and she got an excellent hit through the head killing her target instantly. But two more Knights of the White Wolf were cut down by their supposed brothers in Ulric.

Fred and his band reached the wave of Sons of Ulric and charged in. And the white haired woman singled him out and called him a daemon worshipper.

And I attacked my opponent again but only managed to drop my axe again. May the ancestors grant me a tighter hold upon my weapons and perhaps a flexible leather handle grip that is grippier in a variety of conditions, and stays non-slip even in the wet, or when slick with the blood of my enemies.

But then suddenly from Erina’s direction there erupted a great wall of fire cutting off the advanced Sons of Ulric from their reinforcements, and engulfing several of them in flames.

Greta was about to heal Blume again, but seeing me hard pressed and without a weapon, she ran towards me to help me out. I think that Blume had decided that Greta was never going to heal her as they were rivals for the baron’s hand. And in his frenzy it was all Greta could do to fend off the Son of Ulric’s attacks, and he nearly cut her down but fatefully, just missed. And as I retrieved my axe, one more Son of Ulric charged in against us, but missed his attack.

Fred saw two of his band of men at arms fall, but he managed to put some damage into his opponent while dodging his blows in return. And after casting her wall of fire, Erina was channelling more magic but failed. Perhaps a single spell is her limit. And Greta and her opponents were locked in combat, and the Son of Ulric got a good hit on her and she fell to the ground, but she managed to hit him in return and he fell on top of her, bleeding to death. And all Greta could do was call to the baron for help.

The baron was busy enough, surrounded by enemies, but he slew two in a single move and then he strode towards Greta and grabbed her from the fray and threw her over his shoulder and marched towards the shrine. And he called for his men to protect Ar Ulric. And Greta whispered in to the barons ear to get her to the battle, but she was in no state to continue the fight.

And then Elvyra, who I had not noticed before, came out of hiding and managed to reach Blume and she healed her wounds very competently, despite Blume’s previous judgement of Elvyra that she was a charlatan. Blume did thank her however, even though Blume said she was just doing her job, and then she gave her a penny for her trouble. And then loaded one of her pistols.

And then I was hit in the head and I do not remember anything else so the rest of the account is based on what the others told me, so if it sounds spectacular and heroic that may be because some of them embellished their roles.

Fred was still in a tough combat with his opponent and he managed to land another blow on him, but he failed to dodge the retaliation and got hit hard. But then Erina had managed to cast another spell, and suddenly Fred’s sword erupted into flame. And so did the baron’s. And Erina’s staff was wreathed inflames, too. Blume loaded her second gun carefully, wary of everything bursting into flame around her.

And Fred swung his sword and with its magical fire it cut through the Son of Ulric’s body killing him instantly and leaving a burning, charred mess. And unnerved by these flaming swords and by the wall of fire, the battle began to turn.

And despite wielding her fiery weapon Erina chose to throw more magical bolts into the fray, hitting one of the Ulricans. The baron shrugged Greta off and charged into battle again wielding his flaming weapon killing another enemy.

And the white haired woman saw Fred with his burning sword slaying her fellows and turned her attention on him. She moved towards him cursing him for worshipping daemons. Two sons of Ulric charged in on Blume. And Elvyra got to Greta and began to work on her wunds. Blume managed to disengage from her attackers and shot one of them.

Then Fred squared up to the leader of the Sons of Ulric and took a mighty swipe with his flaming sword and hit her forcing her backwards, nearly dead, and setting her on fire. And then Erina fired a magical bolt at her, finishing her off, perhaps mercifully, as she would have burned to death anyway. And Erina looked at Fred like this was the best fun ever. And Fred looked back at her proud that he was able to defend the graf and Ar-Ulric in such a manner.

And with the magical fire everywhere and their leader dead many of the Sons of Ulric began to run and those that could not escape were soon cut down by the knights and men at arms. And as they ran, Erina, Greta, and Blume had no compunction about bolting and shooting them in the back as they went. We had successfully defended the top Sigmarites and Ulricans and helped keep the Empire united. But, I think Erina was a bit too fond of the magical mayhem.

Although the High Capitular had been wounded, the other important participants had all been largely unscathed, though the men at arms and the knights had all taken a heavy toll.

But as the fires began to die, the Altdorfers became incensed that they had been attacked by Ulricans, and with an even lower opinion of the northern savages than before, they declared that they must return to Altdorf.

Greta pleaded with them saying that this would be a great opportunity to build bridges and show that there could be unity in the Empire. And she said that the Ulricans coming to the aid of the Altdorfers showed what was possible. But they insisted.

Later we were called to an audience with Princess Katarina. And she told us she had another mission for us. And Erina, still exhilarated by all the magical fire she had conjured wondered aloud why we couldn’t have a day off. But the princess ignored the comment and explained that we all had to make sacrifices. And she told us that she had decided that the best thing for the Empire was for her to marry crown prince Wolfgang, and that we were to travel to Castle Reikguard and inform the crown prince of her intentions.