Fwoosh. The sword cut through the air. But all it cut was a few strands of Seligman’s hair as the young knight’s legs gave out from under him. It almost looked like he’d dodged at the last second. Either way, he was completely defenseless now...but Gaius only spared him a glance and went by him. He didn’t finish the knight off or take him hostage. The beast stalked off, leaving his sitting prey alone.
After him came the soft jingle, jingle of the weapons tied to his golem horse as it followed its master.
All the adventurers and Seligman could do was watch them disappear beyond the trees, all of them silent as if they had forgotten even how to breathe.
＊
I let him get away. That was Seligman’s first thought once he recovered from his stupefaction. Why didn’t he kill me? It wouldn’t have been hard for him. He could have just lifted his giant sword up and splattered his brains on the ground. And if he didn’t want to take the time to swing at him, he could have just reached out and stuck him with his sword as he walked past. These adventurers would have no one to command them if he took me out. Common sense says I should have been his objective. I mean, back at the river, they went straight for Dawson and Humphreys, didn’t they? He saw no reason for his enemy to extend mercy to him. There was nothing between Seligman and Gaius, and unlike his colleague Ashcroft, Seligman didn’t have a face that could get him confused for a teenager. He hadn’t even had time to plead for his life earlier. So why...?
“Sir Seligman! Are you all right?!” A young fighter ran over to Seligman, interrupting his thoughts. The other adventurers all looked towards him too, awaiting orders.
“Y-Yeah. Sorry. That was a close one.” Seligman feigned calm. That’s right. We need to go after him now instead of trying to figure out what he’s thinking. He made to grasp the hand held out to him, intending to pull himself to his feet so that he could order them to pursue their foe, but—Huh?—he couldn’t move his fingers. His hands were shaking. He was rooted to the ground, sweating like a pig. Why can’t I stand?
“Sir Seligman, are you hurt?! Let me see!” The young fighter knelt down worriedly.
That’s it! Damn it! He got me somewhere! Seligman brushed aside the young man’s hand and ran his own hands over himself. His arms, his neck, his legs, his stomach... but there was nothing. He stuck his hands inside his armor as well, just to be safe, but nothing hurt. He was completely unscathed.
Seligman gave a great sigh of relief. “I’m okay...” That’s when he realized Gaius Beldarus’s true aim. I was frozen from fear, not from a wound. The Black Rose of Igris had realized that the young knight was beside himself with terror. And that wasn’t all. Gaius had left Seligman alive specifically in order to rob his enemy of whatever confidence they had left. There was a saying in the southern countries: “Wolves lose their fangs when commanded by a rabbit.” There were no heavier shackles for a force than a cowardly commander.
＊
“Oh, can’t you run any faster, you big lug?! You really took your sweet time back there! We need to hurry!”
“Sorry! Sorry!” Gaius bowed his head in apology as he dashed through the trees.
“The little lady’s demanding that we hurry as w...nwhoa?!” The elder yelped as a magic bolt grazed Gaius’s side.
“You okay, old-timer?!”
“Just run, would you, you half-wit?!” the elder yelled, grabbing on to Gaius’s hair like it was reins.
“Not the hair, please! I’m starting to go thin there...”
“You idiot! Look out, they’re aiming again!”
“Ow, ow, ow!” Gaius’s pace didn’t slow, worried though he was for his scalp. The elder yelped again when Gaius suddenly changed direction, jostling the old kobold within his knapsack. A moment later, a bolt of magical energy exploded into a nearby tree trunk.
Aiming at them were twenty or so adventurers who were not part of any of the currently organized groups. This bunch had lain in wait, foreseeing the chance that Homer’s group would fail to subdue their foe and aiming to take the glory now that the opportunity had arisen. Many of them were quite experienced; their pursuit was cautious, precise, and thorough. The archers Gaius had failed to finish off earlier had joined this bunch as well. They relied entirely on their own judgment, ignoring Seligman’s orders, but such was the risk when using adventurers. And since visibility was so bad in this forest, Seligman might not have even known they were acting on their own like this.
Gaius had stalled the main force of adventurers for long enough and was heading back to the riverbed in time to carry out Sashalia’s plan when he’d been discovered by this group. They must have caught on to his immediate goal, because the archers and swordsmen were working together to prevent him from making it back to the riverbed.
“Look at the river!” The elder pointed through the trees at the riverbed, which was rapidly filling with muddy water to become a river once again. “It’s filling up fast! We’re not going to make it!”
“I see it! Just try not to fall off, old man! Come on, Claudette, keep up!” Gaius stopped zig-zagging and began to run straight for the river. Two adventurers blocked his way: one bearing a curved sword and the other wielding a shortsword. Without slowing, he brought down the first with a single running punch from a gauntleted fist, then followed through and grabbed the hands of the second. He pulled her close and headbutted her, and the woman dropped to the ground. A moment later, Claudette’s stone-and-clay body trampled over her. She didn’t get up after that.
Gaius reached the river, hearing arrows and magic flying close to him, and waded through the shin-high water without lowering his speed. Claudette followed, protecting his rear, but just as she tried to enter the river, a crossbow bolt and a bolt of magic struck her simultaneously in the left hind leg, dislodging a chunk of her body and sending her toppling into the water.
“Hey! They got Claudette!”
The golem horse neighed and sank beneath the torrent.
“Claudette?!” Gaius spun back around, but he was forced to beat a hasty retreat across the river as the archers on the other side of the river continued to fire at him. The adventurers were forced to give up their pursuit as well, as the river was only getting deeper and flowing faster.
＊
The reason the river had dried up was because a large amount of soil had formed a natural dam at the mouth of the river in the lake at some point. The kobolds had done some work on their own to create a channel the water could escape down, and had dammed it off so they could release the water whenever they chose. Then they’d waited for the perfect opportunity to unleash it.
There were too many examples to count throughout history of rivers and lakes being used in warfare. Most of them consisted of damming rivers and using the water to wash away enemies, or flooding a lake to submerge a castle, or filling a field with water to halt the advance of cavalry. Sashalia, who had always been diligent in her study of military history, had thought to use the riverbed in this way as soon as she gained an understanding of the terrain around the Kingdom. That and the spirit-speak tactics she’d come up with had allowed for the coordination required to put her plan into action. The water level of the lake was high enough due to the sediment that had dammed the river, and the rain a few days ago had allowed the level to rise as well. The water rushing down the riverbed now would easily sweep away anyone who tried to set foot inside it. In addition, there was a construction team upriver throwing logs and other detritus into the flow at regular intervals to discourage anyone from trying to cross the river. That would likely keep anyone from trying for a good while. Thus, this torrent of water and mud succeeded in separating the majority of the adventurers’ forces, still over three hundred strong, from the battlefield.