After a frenzy of activity, the Vanguard set out for Ponyville. The wagons had been left behind since they would only serve to slow them down in the hilly country. Instead, everypony carried their own equipment, including weapons, armor and rations. Several ponies were assigned extra packs containing medical supplies, camping gear and the like. Both Jason and Zacon agreed to carry additional materials for making Cor’s arrows, since he hadn’t had a chance yet to replace those that had been lost, though even those materials were running short. The pace started out fast, spurred by urgency. But as noon approached, the officers held them up, insisting they needed to maintain a more reserved pace so that they wouldn’t be spent when they actually arrived.
Cor assembled arrows as he walked, counting and recounting them anxiously. Eighty arrows; only eighty arrows split between five archers. That wouldn’t be much use if they were marching to face a number comparable to their previous encounters. Two empty quivers bounced against his flank as he walked, a constant reminder of how many he wished he had. When noon arrived, a flight of Pegasi lifted away on Long Watch’s orders, heading west and south to scout out the enemy. Three miles farther south, they returned to report nothing moving. A five minute breather was taken and they took a bite to eat before getting underway again.
Even though the enemy was nowhere to be seen, they kept to the lowlands between the hills to avoid detection. Cor heard hushed snippets of conversation around him as worried friends speculated on what they would find and what they could do about it. He noticed Twilight practicing with mana on a leaf and she saw him looking. He nodded grimly and looked away, hoping she was making progress. He tuned out everything else then, concentrating on his own work. He managed to top off one quiver and, after a little extra effort, he had ten more arrows in the second.
He glanced up from his work occasionally to keep his bearings. The ponies were winding their way between two steeply sloped hills, accompanied by no other sound but the rustle of grasses under their hooves and absolute silence from the lands about. The tall grasses that grew here reached up to brush against his barrel where they weren’t tramped down by the ponies in front of him. If he had been paying more attention to the trampled grasses outside of their marching order, he might have sensed the ambush in time. All at once, twenty Trolls burst from their cover on either side, falling on the nearest ponies with their axes. In the second that it took for Cor to realize what was happening, all hell broke loose.
Private Slipper went down almost instantly, drawing a cry of alarm and rage from Private Norse as he drew his bow and fired on the Troll that loomed over the stricken pony. Privates Coco Crusoe and Baritone disappeared beneath a cluster of attackers on the opposite side of the column. Private Bulk Biceps launched himself into that melee with a thunderous bellow and the entire knot of combatants went down in a tangle of limbs. Jason and Zacon wheeled to face the nearest Trolls, but Zacon’s movements were stiff as he struggled with the aftereffects of his injuries. Jason didn’t look much better off, clearly drained and unable to utilize every opening. The Pegasi took to the air and dove again to engage Trolls in pairs. Private Heartstrings bounded into the fray with a shout of defiance and a flurry of stinging daggers. Twilight became an island of invulnerability as a purple shield formed around her that several Trolls attempted to breach in vain. Most of the others reeled away from the front and formed small pockets of resistance against the sudden surge of Trolls.
All of this was witnessed and processed by Cor as his bow lifted from its sling and a cluster of arrows drew from a quiver. When the first shaft flew, he was issuing orders.
“Second Squad, take the west hill!” he shouted above the clamor. His arrows sought out a pair of Trolls that blocked the path. “Rainbow Squadron, cover them from the top!”
The Pegasi disengaged from their targets and rose above the battle to hover near the hill’s crest. From there, they hurled javelins at the Trolls that pursued the ponies up the steep slope. Though it was a sharp climb, the hill was stable enough that the footing was firm. With gritted teeth and some scrabbling, Sergeant Clear Waters led Second Squad to the top. Once they had reached their destination, the archers in their ranks began firing down on the Trolls from the heights.
“First Squad, disengage and rally on me!” Cor took shots at the Trolls that were keeping them from escaping, some arrows hissing past the ears and under the muzzles of startled ponies. “Form up here!”
The remaining ponies in the gully pulled back until they formed a half circle to ward off the encroaching Trolls. Bulk Biceps emerged from the pile of bodies and weapons with a pony under each foreleg and carried them on struggling wings to rejoin the others. Lyra reappeared, weaving between combatants and shanking any Troll she passed. She skidded to a halt, breathless, beside Cor. Jason and Zacon were now alone, fighting back to back amid the remaining Trolls. They would have been in trouble if it hadn’t been for the four-way crossfire that rained down from the Pegasi above, the archers on the west hill, Cor’s bow from the north and out of Twilight’s protective bubble. In short order, all of the Trolls lay dead.
With them, Private Slipper did not rise. Norse slid back down the hill and threw himself at the other, lifting him and cradling him in his hooves.
“My brother,” he wailed. “Please, no!”
Baritone hissed and writhed as bandages were wrapped around several deep lacerations from the axes and claws of the Trolls that had pulled him down. Coco Crusoe lay unconscious from a blow that had left a large dent in his helmet. Corporal Prism Glider landed at the top of the hill and let the other members of Third Flight tend to a gash on his foreleg from a thrown axe. Bulk winced as Twilight tended to the array of cuts that had found their way past his armor and left shallow crosshatching across the plates. Other ponies that had been wounded broke out bandages from their packs, while the rest slumped where they stood to catch their breath and recovered from the shock of the ambush.
Cor’s brow furrowed as he surveyed the aftermath. The Trolls had gotten the drop on them in textbook fashion. He saw the shallow dugouts where they’d hidden and the mats of grass that had covered them. The woven camouflage even had protruding stalks to mimic undisturbed grasses. Forty Trolls had expertly waited for them here and sprung a trap that might have cost them much more if they hadn’t been able to organize so quickly to meet it. A chill ran up Cor’s spine. There was no reason for them to set this ambush unless they knew Equestrian troops would be coming this way. And if they knew about the Vanguard’s destination, far enough ahead of time to set this trap…
Cor spun about, scanning the crests and vales of the hills around them frantically.
We could have come by any path. How did we wander into the specific gully they were hiding in? His eyes continued to widen as the realization set in. They weren’t alone. This isn’t over.
He was about to call out in warning when somepony else beat him to it.
“Trolls!” Star Hunter shouted from the top of the hill.
The Trolls reacted instantly to being spotted. A flurry of spears and axes fell amongst the ponies on the hill and Private Far Horizons of First Flight was knocked to the ground. As Private Blue Moon aimed his bow to retaliate, he was struck as well. Both ponies were grabbed by their comrades and pulled away. As many as fifty Trolls surged to the top of the hill behind Second Squad, having crept up toward them stealthily until they were nearly on top of them.
“Make for that stand of trees,” Jason shouted, pointing to the south. “Take cover there!”
As everypony bolted, Norse began to fall behind. Cor held back for him and saw that he was being slowed down by his brother’s body.
“Leave him, Private. Get yourself out!”
Norse gritted his teeth and said nothing as he ran, still struggling with the extra weight.
“I need every bow I’ve got!” Cor growled, lifting the body off of the other soldier with telekinesis and dropping him. “Move your flank, Private!”
Cor sent a few arrows back at the Trolls that were thundering down the hill at them and gave Norse a slap above the stifle that spurred him ahead even as tears fell behind him. Cor fired one last shot before putting all his effort into catching up with the others. The stand of grizzled oaks spread out in a relatively flat lowland between the surrounding hills. Their thick canopy and low hanging branches created a dark interior into which the ponies raced. The grasses were shorter and patchy in the shade and the ground was soft. The heat of the afternoon sun did not reach them as they panted for breath and the cooler air left a chill on their sweaty coats.
The pursuing Trolls gathered at the edge of the trees and peered in after them but did not attempt to enter. Cor shot one of them that inched closer and the Troll toppled over backwards with a shaft protruding from its eye. The remaining Trolls retreated a few hundred meters to the top of one hill and continued to wait. As the ponies watched, another group of Trolls shuffled into view and, after a short exchange with the first group, took up positions on an adjacent hill. In all, more than a hundred Trolls watched their place of concealment.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” one pony commented softly, giving voice to what they were all thinking.
“Easier said than done,” Jason muttered, contemplating the Trolls’ position with concern.
“Seems easy enough to me,” Sergeant Blitz said. “We just head out the back way while they’re all out there on the front side.”
Cor glanced behind him to measure the possibility. The trees extended back for more than a hundred meters before thinning out again. The hills in that direction were lower and broader than those they had been traversing, but that only meant they’d have less cover and fewer chances to use high ground against their opponents. More immediately, a tall screen of cattails blocked the way, alluding to a pond just out of sight. The hills that rose to either side made the tree cover dangerously thin if they wanted to escape unseen.
“No good,” he reported. “We’d either make too much noise in that pond back there or be spotted moving around the edge. We’ll need to deal with these Trolls here or we’ll just be giving them the opportunity to cause us grief later on.”
“I’d take a chance they don’t, over facing them down like this,” Blitz snorted. “At least if they do try to stop us, we’ll have a head start.”
Cor shuffled his arrows, berating himself for not picking up the ones he’d fired back at the gully as soon as the fighting stopped. He’d already spent every arrow he’d made that day. He glanced at Jason while recalculating. Jason wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was looking back at the cattails, his ears perked and twitching.
“If we don’t find a way to even these odds, retreat might be our only option,” Lieutenant Long Watch muttered as another group of Trolls arrived and spread out between the occupied hills.
Cor sighed, knowing they were right. “Alright, get the wounded moving first. Those of us in front will stay here to disguise our movement. As soon as they’re past the pond, we’ll pull back as well.”
As the ponies began to draw back from the watching Trolls, Jason started in alarm. Cor heard it too; a slosh of water in the concealed pond, though nopony had stepped into it yet.
“Get back!” Jason shouted, dashing through the other ponies to reach the cattails, his blade arcing ahead of him.
Private Felix jumped back as a Troll reached out of its cover and took a swipe that passed just under his nose. Jason’s sword flashed into the reeds and the Troll went down with a splash. Cor went pale as the entire pond erupted in a surge of disturbed water and shouting voices. Trolls barreled out of the cattails, swinging wildly as they rushed into the ponies.
“Stick to the right and run!” Jason shouted, holding his ground and battling Trolls on all sides.
The ponies swung and parried as they ran past the charging Trolls, ducking and weaving to avoid the less nimble enemies. As Cor fired from his rapidly thinning supply of arrows, he heard the Trolls behind them take up the call and rush down to join the fight. Cor attempted to pick off Trolls that were still blocking the way, but he could only do so much as he too attempted to flee. Private Crinkle was tripped by an axe that nearly took his foreleg off and he went down in a heap. Before anypony could react, the Troll finished him off with a downward stroke to his neck. Private Bounds’ shoulder was pierced by a spear that managed to find the gap in his armor’s plates, but he stayed upright and kept running.
Private Vector was hacked out of the air as he swooped in to strike a Troll and he rolled to a stop, one wing hanging limp. Big Mac scooped him up as he ran past, not even slowing down as another axe glanced off his plated flank. As the last ponies burst from the trees and took to the hills again, Cor turned back to see two hundred Trolls streaming toward him through the shadowy grove. He had five arrows left. With a contemptuous huff, he drew one of them and began weaving a powerful spell. He bowed his head in concentration and whispered to the trees, connecting himself to their essence. He called out to them with the power of his birthright, the command of Nature that his Elven blood granted him, and the mighty oaks answered.
Their roots rose up and their branches twisted down so that a barrier was erected to stop the Trolls’ advance. Cor then lit up the tip of his arrow and cast a web of mana over the knotted obstruction. With a resonant twang, he sent the arrow into the web and ignited an inferno that spread around the whole stand of oak trees, trapping the Trolls inside. Cor felt his legs buckling from the strain of such massive mana expenditure. With a stagger, he attempted to catch up with the others, only to find Jason at his side.
“Your turn to carry me out of one of these messes,” Cor muttered, his sour tone failing to carry any of the intended humor.
Jason hoisted the exhausted archer onto his back and took off to rejoin the rest of the Vanguard as they disappeared into the hills beyond.
~*~*~
Hours later, in the shadow of a towering stone outcropping that jutted from the earth to twice the height of the nearby hills, the Vanguard took shelter from their pursuers. Night was beginning to fall and they’d managed to lose the Trolls for the time being. A watch was set, though no fires were lit, since patrols of Troll troops could still be seen all around them, combing through the hills in search of their quarry. Meanwhile, the wounded were given more thorough care. In total, eight ponies had been seriously injured, though hardly any had escaped untouched. The two fatalities weighed heavily on everypony’s minds, especially since their bodies had been left behind. Private Norse was inconsolable and he wept quietly in the back of the camp.
Long Watch and Jason sat in the shadow of their monolithic shelter, low on the slope of the nearest rise. Cor had not yet regained consciousness, so Jason busied himself making arrows. Without the archer to replenish their dangerously low stocks of ammunition, he figured a few done by him would be better than none at all. The other Lieutenant stared off to the southwest, glaring at the red-tinted hills in the fading light. Since they’d come farther south, the haze that had hung over them had dissipated somewhat. Farther south, they could see stars; the first they’d seen since leaving Canterlot.
“We’re better than this!” Long Watch said suddenly.
“Are we?” Jason replied, not bothering to ask what the other meant.
“They shouldn’t have been able to hound us like they did. They were waiting for us, at every turn. You saw how they came from every direction once we’d been engaged. They were ready for us!”
“They were,” Jason conceded.
“And we’ve handled worse odds! We held our own before. What went so wrong this time?”
Jason paused in his crafting to look more carefully at Long Watch. The other Lieutenant was gritting his teeth in frustration, though the seething anger quickly bled away until he only looked defeated. Jason finished the arrow he was working on before he replied.
“We encountered a new challenge. We knew how to handle what we’d faced before, but this isn’t the same. We’ll have to figure this one out before we can beat it.”
“And how many more lives will that cost us?” Long Watch asked with a snap.
“More than zero,” Jason replied bluntly. He turned to Long Watch, a bit of impatience creeping into his voice. “We can’t know for sure, but I’ll be damned if I let thoughts like that stop me from getting as close to zero as possible. So don’t talk like that, got it?”
Long Watch was taken aback for a second and looked away ashamedly.
“I’m sorry,” he said sullenly. “Shouldn’t be taking it out on you, or anyone else for that matter. I’m not holding myself together very well.”
“As long as you remember that we’re all on the same side, you deal with it however you have to,” Jason said, more gently this time. “But this situation still demands a plan.”
“To hunt these monsters down and bury them in the holes they’ve dug for themselves?” Long Watch asked with a faint growl. “I wouldn’t mind taking on these smaller groups as long as it’s on our terms. After all, they’ve gone and split themselves up for us nicely.”
“That’s one way to put it. It’s true they’ll be easier to defeat if we can keep it to a single group at a time. But it’ll take some finesse to keep out of a bigger fight when they seem so well…organized…”
Jason stopped talking as he came to a startling realization. He looked out at the Trolls that were marching over a distant hill crest to the west and then to another in the east. He waited for a moment and another group appeared to the southwest, going in the opposite direction. They looked like they were just as far away as they’d been when the ponies had taken cover here. In fact, they seemed to be following the same routes, all around them.
“They’re circling us,” he breathed.
“What’s that?” Long Watch asked, following Jason’s gaze but not seeing the same warning signs.
“They’re not searching for us,” he said urgently. He scooped up the arrows he’d made and started down into the camp. “They’re waiting us out. We’re right in the middle of them. And that’s right where they want to keep us.”
Long Watch cast one last glance at the surrounding hills before following.
“Listen up,” Jason said, drawing all eyes. “We’re in a bad position and I don’t see a pleasant way out of it. I suspect the enemy knows where we are and could attack at any moment. I also suspect they are choosing not to attack because their goal is specifically to stop us from reaching Ponyville instead of simply wiping us out. So here’s what we’re going to do…”
~*~*~
Ragnalau peered northward through a screen of grasses at the ponies’ hiding place. Shadows fell over the land as the sun disappeared behind the hills. Shadows fell even more thickly beneath the imposing stone pillar. His quarry had taken less than two hours of rest when he saw the first signs of activity. Within a minute, the Pegasi lifted away and turned north at high speeds. He could see his troops turning to pursue them as they passed overhead. Another few minutes crept by and a group of ponies on hoof detached themselves from their shadowy cover and headed west. Ragnalau held out an arm to prevent the Trolls behind him from moving to intercept, though he knew that positions farther from him would be quick to engage.
“Don’t be so hasty,” he admonished as the others settled back again. “We’ll see what the whole play is before we join in.”
The sounds of fighting reached them from the west, where the second group had obviously encountered resistance. Ragnalau smiled as he imagined the struggle. His smile widened as it moved farther away, implying the ponies were making progress. It amused him when the other clans bathed in their own blood. For all their pride, they were dumb enough to march willingly to certain death.
Almost twenty minutes passed and the other Trolls began to shift restlessly, but Ragnalau remained motionless. His patience paid off when another group of ponies broke cover and ran to the southeast. Few of the patrols remained in that direction and they made their way unobstructed.
“Looks like we’ve got them all to ourselves,” he said, signaling his group to move out.
~*~*~
Jason and Long Watch ran hard, hoping to put as much distance as they could between them and the ring of Trolls that had surrounded them. First Squad ran dutifully behind them, though Baritone and Coco Crusoe had to be carried by Bulk and Big Mac respectively. Second Squad had gone west with Cor and Zacon, the former having been roused in time to move under his own power, even if he could not fight. Rainbow Dash was leading her squadron on a long northern loop that would hopefully draw a sizable portion of the Trolls out of range before turning south again to meet them at Ponyville. Jason knew that splitting up their unit would be risky, but he also knew that it was their best bet of getting some of them to Ponyville in time to make a difference.
What difference they would be able to make was not a question he concerned himself with just yet. Neither had Twilight allowed herself to focus on that detail, insisting she would rather be there for her home and her friends in any way she could. Twilight was only a few steps behind him, laboring hard to keep up the pace. They were all still tired and the night was only beginning. The morning promised only a looming battle with uncertain odds. They would have to conserve their strength now or risk facing the enemy exhausted. Once they could no longer see the towering stone that had been their place of refuge, Jason called for a breather.
The sounds of battle to the west had long since faded away, whether to distance or some conclusion, it was impossible to tell. In the wake of the hectic day, the silence was oppressive. Every jingle of shifting armor and each ragged breath made ears twitch and heads turn. They were on edge and rightfully so, but as seconds ticked by, nothing disturbed the night. As the last blush of the sunset faded from the west horizon, the squad got moving again. The pace was easier this time and they attempted to make their way with a greater level of stealth.
They wound their way between the hills for an hour, finding broader hills and wider stands of trees as they went. They were drawing close to the northern edge of Whitetail Wood, which meant they were now within several hours of Ponyville. None of them dared to voice their hopes that they had arrived ahead of the Trolls, both for fear of being heard and of having that hope dashed. As they marched on, the hills and isolated stands of oak and sycamore gave way to uninterrupted stretches of elms and maples. The night was clear, though the canopy overhead cast deep shadows between pools of moonlight. They pushed on, determined to make the far side of the Woods by dawn.
In a patch of woods, seemingly no different than the rest they’d already passed through that night, their enemy found them again. One moment the undergrowth was still and benign, and in the next, dark shapes were rising out of bushes and from behind trees and rocks all around them. Weapons were raised and the ponies drew closer together defensively while the Trolls made cautious advances, savoring the advantage of having them completely encircled. Jason saw movement farther out, recognizing the shapes of additional Trolls moving to form a second parameter to contain any attempt at escape. Something about the situation set off a burning in his blood, a fierce anger at these circumstances in general. When he glanced to his left and saw Twilight advancing with a scowl toward the nearest Trolls. He guessed a similar reaction was occurring in her.
The bolt of lightning was so sudden in its appearance that all of them were caught off guard. The Trolls who became its victims were caught in mid-stride and sent reeling backward into twitching heaps in the dirt. The Trolls who witnessed the demonstration of power recoiled in fear. Most of the others took steps back guardedly, clearly unsure of how to approach that sort of opponent. The ponies, meanwhile, were totally unprepared for the burst of light and sound that arced over their heads. Many of them had been tense already and a few on the verge of panic. With this last straw, they were pushed over the edge and most of the squad bolted in random directions.
The Trolls failed to give chase right away and Jason took full advantage of that, darting forward and cutting down several that were blocking their best chance of avoiding the encirclement of the second group of Trolls. The fighting spilled outward into the surrounding trees, with crashing brush and snapping branches mixing with the grunts and clashes of metal. Jason made headway, intercepting any Trolls that tried to close off the gap in their lines, but when he turned to look for those who had followed him, he saw he was alone.
Twilight stood where she’d been, a halo of electricity spiraling above her. Fingers of light lanced out at Trolls foolish enough to charge toward her. She spun about, her gaze sweeping through the dim light beyond her aura of scorching magic to seek out her next target. Everypony else had already disappeared into the night and Jason was torn between searching for them and staying to assist Twilight. Though, as he watched, it quickly became apparent that she needed no help. As Troll after Troll succumbed to her retribution, they lost interest in remaining here any longer. The Trolls turned away and either fled from the pony mage or else attempted to pursue the others. The fire faded from Twilight’s eyes when the last of them disappeared, replaced with a hard set frown and furiously knitting brows. Jason made a small noise to get her attention and she trotted over to him. They ran after their companions in silence, though Jason knew her thoughts were anything but quiet.
~*~*~
Lyra Heartstrings ran. She never intended to leave the fighting. In fact, she wasn’t even conscious of her decision to run. Instead, she was gripped by a primal urge to flee from the lightning that had so violently torn open the air in front of her. The sharp crack of thunder that had exploded in her ears and the split second of blindness from the disorienting flash had been enough to release the coiled energy building in her since they’d started running that night. Now, she was racing through the underbrush without a direction in mind and no idea what had become of the others.
It took a supreme effort, and many minutes, but she managed to rein herself back in and stop her reckless flight. She crouched behind a bush, trying to get her panting breath to settle. But what she heard next stole her breath away completely.
“What luck!” the rough voice said with an audible sneer. “A new plaything has found herself lost in my woods.”
The faint blue glow of the Troll’s fur played tricks on her eyes as he slid smoothly between the curtains of moonlight and shadow. He was looking directly at her, his wickedly curved spear held loosely in one clawed hand.
“All alone, little pony?” he taunted, his sinister smile widening to reveal the rest of his teeth. Then his eyes widened with cruel mirth. “Oh, I remember you! You and I have unfinished business, don’t we?”
He dropped into a more cautious stance and continued to advance on her. Lyra drew her knives and raised her shield, but the confidence had gone out of her. She knew this Troll and what he was capable of. She remembered his agile strikes and the way he’d been almost dismissive in deflecting her attacks back in Canterlot. Goldengrape’s final moments flashed before her and she gulped in undisguised fear.
She began to back away, but her movement triggered an instant reaction from her opponent. He sprang forward, vaulted over a rock on her right and landed behind her. She spun around with a panicked yelp and held her shield up to block him, but no blow fell. Instead, he shook his finger at her in reprimand.
“Now, now. No leaving before we’ve finished.” He leaned in closer, his grin nearly glowing out of the dark at her.
She lashed out at him with two of her blades and he jumped back, swatting them away with the shaft of his spear. She aimed for his feet next, but he moved at the last moment and the blade buried itself in the ground. He stamped his foot on it, embedding it deeper and preventing her from retrieving it. Lyra drew another dagger nervously, seeing his eyes trace over her array of weapons appraisingly. She gave ground again, but circled to one side defensively at the same time. The Troll matched her steps patiently.
She took deep breaths to calm herself, thinking that she might be able to win this fight if she could keep her head clear and focused. She glanced about for something she could use to her advantage and found an idea in the way the Troll had gotten past her. She picked up her pace, circling faster and drawing an intrigued tilt of the head from the Troll, whose stride quickened to follow. With a flick of her horn, one of her daggers was sent off into the darkness to the right. The Troll glanced after it in genuine confusion and decided to attack before she could set up whatever trick she planned any further.
His spear swept down at her as he leapt forward and she dodged to the side. He rolled in the opposite direction and lashed out with a sweeping blow that she was forced to block. The shield rang with the impact and Lyra quickly moved to distance herself from the Troll again. She wove between two trees and doubled back again. The Troll had given chase to stop her escape, but was caught off guard when he found her racing past him again. She slid under his spear as he sought to catch her with his long reach and stabbed at his exposed arm. He recoiled from the stinging blades but managed to keep hold of his weapon.
While he recovered himself and turned to pursue her again, she sent another of her blades into the dark, this time to hide at the base of a large rock. She galloped toward that rock, knowing that the Troll would be close behind her. To her dismay, he was faster than she expected. He grabbed hold of her tail and hauled her backward. He tossed her on her back and brought his spear down hard. Only by twisting where she was did Lyra avoid being skewered. Instead, the spear cut along her side, sending searing pain through her as she felt the blade scrape against her ribs. She cried out as she swung one of her daggers and the fine point traced a bleeding gash across the Troll’s cheek and caused him to rear back with a howl. No longer pinned beneath him and gritting her teeth against the pain, she scrambled up and made for the rock again.
The Troll was after her instantly, but as he reached her again, she jumped, planted her hooves against the rock and launched herself to the side. As the Troll twisted to face her, the dagger that had been hiding at the rock’s base sprang up at her command and buried itself in the Troll’s thigh. At the same time, the first dagger she’d hidden flashed out of the darkness and found its mark in his back. But Lyra’s plan to catch him off balance with attacks from all sides didn’t completely work. As she turned to attack with her remaining blades, she found her opponent bearing down on her with single-minded determination, despite his injuries. Gone were the taunting sneer and the gleeful glint in his eye, replaced with a burning anger stretching his features into a hideous mask of hate.
With only a second to react, Lyra used her shield to deflect the spear as it attempted to find her heart and intercepted his claw as it swept in at her face by stabbing it with two daggers at once. But she couldn’t stop him from throwing his weight into her and knocking her to the ground with a hip check that sent her head over hooves. Bleeding from multiple daggers that remained embedded in him, the Troll was visibly fighting the effects of his injuries, but his rage prevented him from being slowed. He leapt at her again, his spear thrusting to finish her. Before the blow could connect, a hammer the size of the Troll’s own head sailed out of the night and slammed into him.
With a grunt, the Troll went down and rolled back to his feet again, his gaze sweeping the shadows for his assailant. His eyes were still pinpricks of fury, but pain was beginning to show through, along with what might have been fear. Big Mac and Bulk Biceps stalked into the light, both wielding swords. Behind them, Baritone and Coco Crusoe waited with spears. The Troll saw these new opponents and turned to flee in the same breath. A barking shout of anger was his parting word as he disappeared. Big Mac rushed to Lyra’s side.
“You alright?”
She nodded as she attempted to stand. But as she put weight on her forelegs again, they shook under her. Big Mac held her up, his eyes lingering on the bloody gash at her ribs. Bulk was lifting Baritone onto his back once more, since his show of standing ready had been a façade to hide the severity of his injuries. Coco Crusoe didn’t look to be in much better shape, but he was managing to stay on his hooves unassisted. When Big Mac asked, Crusoe insisted that Lyra needed the assistance more, so Big Mac carried her. Lyra protested weakly before surrendering. They started moving again, pushing the pace as fast as Crusoe could keep up with. They remained alert, but the Trolls had vanished and all sounds of fighting had faded away. They continued on to the east, hoping they would find the others waiting for them.
~*~*~
Time Turner didn’t know who he was following until Caramel called out from behind him.
“Slow down Night Watch. We’re not all as fast as you!”
The Corporal glanced back and slowed up his pace, allowing Time Turner, Caramel and Jack Hammer to catch up. Trees blurred past as they ran and the howls of pursuing Trolls echoed from what seemed like every direction.
“Are we even going the right way?” Jack Hammer asked as he panted from the back of the group.
Night Watch didn’t answer, but looked up to find the angle of the moon and changed course accordingly. Their hooves pounded against the forest’s grassy floor for another few minutes when a sheer rock wall stopped them in their tracks. Night Watch looked left and then led them right. Before they had gone more than a dozen paces, a cluster of Trolls stumbled into their path and turned to attack. Night Watch, not breaking stride, leveled his lance at the leader and drove it through his chest. The next Troll grabbed hold of the Corporal before he could dislodge the weapon. He lifted the hapless pony off his hooves, snapping the lance in two. He turned with a grunt and hurled him into the rock face, where Night Watch crumpled to the ground and lay still.
Jack Hammer plowed into the nearest Troll with a scream of rage and the two went toppling into the bushes. Caramel jumped on the back of the Troll that had thrown Night Watch and began hacking at him from behind with his sword. Turner ran toward that same Troll’s legs and threw his weight into them, preventing the Troll from reaching up to defend himself as they all went down in a heap. More bodies came tearing out of the darkness and joined the fray, though Turner couldn’t identify them from where he lay pinned by the Troll he’d tripped. The Troll went limp and he managed to wriggle to freedom, grabbing his sword and looking for a foe. He found three more ponies than before helping to subdue the last of the Trolls.
Private Cobalt was helping Caramel drag Jack Hammer out of the bushes, careful to support his obviously broken leg. Private Karat gave Turner a quick look to make sure he was unhurt and Turner nodded his appreciation. Lieutenant Long Watch pulled his sword from the body of his opponent and moved quickly to Night Watch’s side. Caramel suddenly fell over with a hiss of pain and Karat rushed to him.
“You’re hurt,” he said, as the other tried to get up again.
“I’ll be alright,” Caramel insisted with a grimace. “Just a scratch.”
Karat held him still and checked the wound, which turned out to be a gash that ran along the underside of his breastplate where two plates overlapped. The Troll’s claw had slipped in during the scuffle and left a bleeding trail in its wake. Karat pulled a wad of cloth from his pack and stuffed it into the gap in the plates and pressed it in hard.
“We don’t have time to do more than that,” Karat said with a frown. “We’ve got to keep moving.”
“He’s right. Let’s move.” Long Watch said as he hoisted the unconscious Night Watch onto his back.
“But Jack Hammer is in no shape to be moved either,” Turner pointed out.
“There’s no helping it,” Long Watch said with a shake of his head. “Cobalt will carry Private Hammer. Karat will assist Caramel. You take point, Doctor.”
Turner hesitated only a fraction of a second at the nickname and then took the lead, steering them in as eastward a direction as he could determine. Their pace was considerably slower now that three of them were carrying wounded ponies.
“Where’d you hear my other name from?” he asked, keeping his voice as low as he could.
Long Watch didn’t look at him, but grunted neutrally. “Night Watch is my nephew. He mentioned you a few times.”
“Mentioned me?” Turner pressed.
Long Watch gave him a sidelong glance at his persistence.
“He worked in Ponyville as a security guard for the hospital. I’m told the nurses there had nice things to say about you and what you do for that mare of yours.”
“Ditsy isn’t my…I mean, we’re not…not yet.” He trailed off sheepishly.
“I’m not prying,” Long Watch said. “But they think highly of you, whatever your situation is.”
They went on in silence for some time, Turner lost in thought and the others concentrating on putting one hoof in front of the other. When the howls of Trolls began to close in on them again, they picked up the pace as much as they could. But the sounds of pursuit crept closer with each passing minute. It was when they could hear the snapping of branches as the Troll pushed through the undergrowth to reach them that Long Watch got Turner’s attention.
“Take the Corporal,” he said, heaving the unconscious pony onto Turner’s back. “Get everyone out of here. I’m leaving you in charge of these ponies until you can meet up with the others again.”
“Wait, what?!” Turner said with a start. “What about you?”
“I’m going to buy you the time you need to make it out of here. They’re going to catch us all otherwise.”
“But Lieutenant, we can’t leave you behind,” Karat protested. “You’re an officer.”
“And it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re all taken care of,” Long Watch shot back impatiently. “Besides, I can’t order one of you to stay behind. I’ve got to be willing to do that myself.”
The others retreated uncertainly, still not convinced they were doing the right thing, but Turner hadn’t moved. Before he could argue, Long Watch put a hoof on his shoulder.
“I understand, but we don’t have time. Just get my nephew out of here.”
Turner shook his head. “Not without his uncle.”
“I’m a soldier, Doc. This is what I have to do.” The sounds of Trolls were closing in and they could see figures moving in the deep shadows. Long Watch glanced at them and then fixed Turner with such a stern gaze that it sent a chill down his spine. “What you need to do is get home in one piece and make that mare your wife. Now get out of here!”
Long Watch gave Turner a shove to get him moving and spun around as the first Trolls broke through and spotted them. His sword hissed out of its sheath and he dug in to face them down. Turner ran hard, not looking back, but unable to outrun the sounds of fighting or the knowledge that he’d seen far too many Trolls to hope the Lieutenant could escape. The weight of the pony on his back was only marginally heavier than the weight of the guilt in his heart.
Is my life worth more than his? Turner asked himself. Should I have stayed behind?
A shiver ran through him at the thought.
He couldn’t order one of us to stay, but I could have volunteered. When Night Watch wakes up, how will I tell him I allowed his uncle to die?
He pushed those thoughts away roughly, angry with himself for living and angry for being angry at himself. He would deal with it later, he told himself. He had other obligations here and now. For starters, he needed to catch up with the others and make it to Ponyville.
Ditzy and little Dinky.
Their names flashed through his mind and their faces rose before him again. His resolve hardened as he reminded himself that he had at least two reasons to keep moving and he wouldn’t let anything hold him back from them. His hooves pounded the dirt relentlessly until he saw the others. They fell in behind him and matched his speed. In minutes, they encountered more of their comrades. Jason and Twilight appeared to their right and they found Big Mac and some of the others farther along. Four more ponies remained missing. Those who had made it through the Troll lines fled through the night, half of them injured and the other half determined to make up for it.