Fantasy ~ An Icy Encounter ~

[Aron the Aron]

Lady Aria d'al Brakava of Lancaster
Cornet of His Tierran Majesty's Royal Dragoons
​

---

"...And bringing me directly to the scene of the battle doesn't invite any trouble at all..." Evelyn muttered back, sarcastically emphasizing her words as she lightly stretched her back in attempts to not make it feel so stiff. She was not pleased at all with having been dragged out onto the site of the battle, almost to the point of anger. However, this was not the time to be angry and argue, she knew that much at least. Whether Evelyn could actually stick to that thought was a completely different question altogether.

"What if it isn't sturdy enough? What if they get inside? What if they start shooting at me? What then?" Evelyn questioned as she placed a hand against the outside wall of the toll-house, as if that would somehow reveal to her how sturdy the building was in an instant. It seemed like her questions were more motivated by trying to poke holes through Aria's ideas, rather than trying to work out solutions.

"They won't." There was a certain sense of finality in Aria's tone the brokered no argument, like as though her word was rule of law because she willed it to be so. Her face had settled into a stern frown when she turned to face Evelyn, one that was clearly at ill ease with everything going on, but determined all the same. "I won't let them get anywhere near you, even if I have to fight the Calligians myself, even if I have to fight with my bare hands."

She always looked so resolute, so certain of herself that it beggared belief. Either she was insanely naive and arrogant about her own competencies, or she was capable of backing her words up. And considering she had rode into a bandit ambush and walked away with nary a scratch on her armor, she was certainly not left wanting for martial skill...

"The River and Bridge are to our advantage; the Imperials would have to cross the bridge to come to us, and the river's too deep and wide to safely cross. They'll have to either turn around, or fight on our terms. Failing that, we have contingencies." Aria patted the satchel that she had been carrying with her, conspicuously rattling the sounds of what vaguely sounded like hollow clay or porcelain. What did she have in there?

Evelyn wouldn't get her answer though; the sound of galloping hooves on dirt stopped her from being able to ask any questions, and prompted Aria to look over to the entrance of the tollhouse's broken door. It certainly couldn't have been Calligian raiders so disconnected from their main force, so that only meant one thing: "Looks like my Dragoons are back from searching the other side of the river."

 

[Kiss and Cry]

Lady Aria d'al Brakava of Lancaster
Cornet of His Tierran Majesty's Royal Dragoons
​

---

"They won't." There was a certain sense of finality in Aria's tone the brokered no argument, like as though her word was rule of law because she willed it to be so. Her face had settled into a stern frown when she turned to face Evelyn, one that was clearly at ill ease with everything going on, but determined all the same. "I won't let them get anywhere near you, even if I have to fight the Calligians myself, even if I have to fight with my bare hands."

She always looked so resolute, so certain of herself that it beggared belief. Either she was insanely naive and arrogant about her own competencies, or she was capable of backing her words up. And considering she had rode into a bandit ambush and walked away with nary a scratch on her armor, she was certainly not left wanting for martial skill...

"The River and Bridge are to our advantage; the Imperials would have to cross the bridge to come to us, and the river's too deep and wide to safely cross. They'll have to either turn around, or fight on our terms. Failing that, we have contingencies." Aria patted the satchel that she had been carrying with her, conspicuously rattling the sounds of what vaguely sounded like hollow clay or porcelain. What did she have in there?

Evelyn wouldn't get her answer though; the sound of galloping hooves on dirt stopped her from being able to ask any questions, and prompted Aria to look over to the entrance of the tollhouse's broken door. It certainly couldn't have been Calligian raiders so disconnected from their main force, so that only meant one thing: "Looks like my Dragoons are back from searching the other side of the river."

Evelyn turned to glance at Aria, seeing the certainty in her eyes burning brightly. It was hard not to believe the cornet's words, as they were spoken with such conviction, and Evelyn certainly didn't want any reason to do so. Still, it was a tough sell to someone inexperienced in warfare to tell them that they would be safe from harm, no matter how much planning and strategic advantage their party had. Some things were only learned through first-hand experience.

The farmgirl tried to take in Aria's brief explanation of how they had the advantage in the upcoming skirmish, but it was all a bit of a blur to the girl, with her focus completely out of it, frazzled by suddenly being so close to a war front. "Contingencies...?" She questioned, catching the swinging satchel with her eyes, all before any curiosity of the trinket was squashed by the loud sound of approaching gallops. Evelyn's entire body tensed in the moment of silence shared between the two women. She only relaxed after Aria cleared that it was in fact the rest of the Dragoons that were approaching, instead of a sudden enemy force on their way to crush the two, and everything else in their wake.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Lady Aria d'al Brakava of Lancaster
Cornet of His Tierran Majesty's Royal Dragoons
​

---

The farmgirl tried to take in Aria's brief explanation of how they had the advantage in the upcoming skirmish, but it was all a bit of a blur to the girl, with her focus completely out of it, frazzled by suddenly being so close to a war front. "Contingencies...?" She questioned, catching the swinging satchel with her eyes, all before any curiosity of the trinket was squashed by the loud sound of approaching gallops. Evelyn's entire body tensed in the moment of silence shared between the two women. She only relaxed after Aria cleared that it was in fact the rest of the Dragoons that were approaching, instead of a sudden enemy force on their way to crush the two, and everything else in their wake.

"Sergeant." The diminutive Cornet greeted her mounted troops as they stopped and saluted from atop their horses.

"Ma'am. Nothing but songbirds and carrion on the other side of the river; looks like the Calligians haven't anyone besides the warcamp behind the hill." The massive Dragoon scratched his sideburns as he looked back across the river. "If I may Ma'am: how in the bloody hells are we supposed to get ready for that?"

"I have that covered, Sergeant. Lord Hunter gave us our equalizer." Finally, Aria dug her gloved hand into the bulky satchel she had been carrying, withdrawing an ugly spherical object the size of her fist. The sheen of its blackened shape suggested some sort of polished clay or metal, alluding to something that looked more at home being launched from a small catapult. Everyone save Evelyn looked on with familiarity, if Lanzrel's widening eyes was shared among the rest of the Dragoons. "Is that-?"

"Gunpowder Bombs, Sergeant, lots of them." The way Aria stuffed the cast-iron sphere back inside the lumpy bag elicited a heavy "*thunk*" that reinforced the amount of heft she was carrying. "Lord Hunter bade me plant all of these among the trees at the river's far side and link them together to a single common fuse. Once the Calligian warband sets themselves on that side and along the bridge; we'll blow them all sky-high."

 

[Kiss and Cry]

Lady Aria d'al Brakava of Lancaster
Cornet of His Tierran Majesty's Royal Dragoons
​

---

"Sergeant." The diminutive Cornet greeted her mounted troops as they stopped and saluted from atop their horses.

"Ma'am. Nothing but songbirds and carrion on the other side of the river; looks like the Calligians haven't anyone besides the warcamp behind the hill." The massive Dragoon scratched his sideburns as he looked back across the river. "If I may Ma'am: how in the bloody hells are we supposed to get ready for that?"

"I have that covered, Sergeant. Lord Hunter gave us our equalizer." Finally, Aria dug her gloved hand into the bulky satchel she had been carrying, withdrawing an ugly spherical object the size of her fist. The sheen of its blackened shape suggested some sort of polished clay or metal, alluding to something that looked more at home being launched from a small catapult. Everyone save Evelyn looked on with familiarity, if Lanzrel's widening eyes was shared among the rest of the Dragoons. "Is that-?"

"Gunpowder Bombs, Sergeant, lots of them." The way Aria stuffed the cast-iron sphere back inside the lumpy bag elicited a heavy "*thunk*" that reinforced the amount of heft she was carrying. "Lord Hunter bade me plant all of these among the trees at the river's far side and link them together to a single common fuse. Once the Calligian warband sets themselves on that side and along the bridge; we'll blow them all sky-high."

As the Dragoons that were somewhat familiar to Evelyn at this point gathered around, Evelyn gave the collective group a brief nod of her head as a substitute for a greeting.

"B-Bombs?" Evelyn's eyes widened at the sight. She had never actually seen explosives nor heard explosives at work, but she had heard of them. It was hard to grasp that something so small possessed so much power. Although, she could have possibly said the same about Aria as well, so in a way, it was fitting.

"Are you sure those are enough to protect us?" Evelyn cut her way into the conversation, as she lightly tugged on the Cornet's sleeve. Her question was phrased much differently to Aria's statement about the effectiveness of the gunpowder bombs, as the emphasis was on protecting themselves, rather than their ability to "blow them all sky-high".

Even though there was a morbid curiosity in the back of the girl's mind about seeing just how powerful these bombs were, she didn't want the blood of their testing targets on her hands, both figuratively, and literally.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Lady Aria d'al Brakava of Lancaster
Cornet of His Tierran Majesty's Royal Dragoons
​

---

"B-Bombs?" Evelyn's eyes widened at the sight. She had never actually seen explosives nor heard explosives at work, but she had heard of them. It was hard to grasp that something so small possessed so much power. Although, she could have possibly said the same about Aria as well, so in a way, it was fitting.

"Are you sure those are enough to protect us?" Evelyn cut her way into the conversation, as she lightly tugged on the Cornet's sleeve. Her question was phrased much differently to Aria's statement about the effectiveness of the gunpowder bombs, as the emphasis was on protecting themselves, rather than their ability to "blow them all sky-high".

"Absolutely." The Cornet replied as if she were saying something obvious like "the sky is blue". "We may be vastly outnumbered by the Imperials, but Tierran steel and powder is second to none on the continent. We have the river and the bridge working to our advantage here too; Calligian numbers would be stifled by the fact that they'd have to cross the bridge."

The brunette turned to her assembled Dragoons awaiting her orders. "There's a stable behind the tollhouse; hitch your horses there and set yourselves about inside; I'll be spending a few on the other side of the river." She quickly held up a hand to stop the inevitable concern in going alone. "I will be fine on my own over there; in, out, and back before anyone can notice. Dismissed, Dragoons; let's get to work."

As the assembly dispersed to set about their own tasks and preparations, Aria turned to Evelyn to speak privately. "Obviously Im not bringing you along to the other side of the river, even if it was just checked. Can't ask you to deal with my Dragoons either given how you've interacted with them before.."

"I was minding my own business in camp, and then..." Evelyn paused for a moment, considering how she wanted to explain the situation. She wanted to tell the full truth, of course, but she also did not want to reveal how some of Aria's men truly felt about the cornet to her, to possibly hurt her. With a troubled expression, Evelyn lingered on the paused silence for a moment longer. "There were some... words exchanged there by the other dragoons." Evelyn started off her roundabout way of explaining.

"And, err... some were a bit... unpleasant, and directed towards, well... you?" Evelyn slowly came to reveal the nature of the conversation, trying to gauge the cornet's reaction with every word leaving the Espean's lips.

​

"And you got upset on my behalf?"

"I won't lie and say that I'm not flattered in some way, Evelyn. I'm already used to the chattering going on when my back's turned, and while I'm about as pleased as you are about it, getting mad here and now won't do anything about it."

"Just... ignore them for now, okay? I'll deal with them in due time when I get their respect."

"... Do you mind keeping Serry company while I'm gone? He must be exhausted from the hour-long gallop, and you two already look like you get along famously."