Queencraft

` Liberator
For Adani, the time had come.
. "There will be an awareness of your presence at all times, Little One, so you will have support from your troops for the most part. Our soldiers have two basic orders, kill the enemy and protect your Queen. Keep your head in motion, all sides. Be aware of your surroundings. Do not hesitate, strike quickly. It will be loud, it will be fast, and it will stink, so prepare yourself. Use your weapons, particularly this one.", as he pointed to his head.
"I will, Father, you just come home to us."
"Aye, my Queen, "Jon said. " You make sure you do the same. Well, here we are. You get in between Lin and your Uncle Dom. I'll be directly in front of you. Everyone is ready so watch for the signal. Now, show your soldiers their Warrior Queen!" Then he saluted her.
She returned the salute and took her place.
The Lord Commander signaled, holding up five fingers. Adani counted down five.
Then she drew her sword and raised it.
Then she forced the trembling from her voice.
Then she shouted, "FOR QUINTERBURY!" And they all took off at full gallop.
Except for The Queen.
Horse unspurred, sword slowly dropping to her side, soldiers having to ride around her.
Immobilized by a combination of humiliation and sheer terror.
Erik Wolf, who always had Adani somewhere in his line of vision, quickly became aware of her absence. He scanned the area to his six o' clock, spotted her and rode back.
"Your Grace are you hurt?", he asked as he rode up beside her.
" Erik, I do not wish to die!", Adani said through tears.
Erik replied, "My Queen, we shall ride out together! I will be by your side, and we will not die, we will kill our enemies! This I swear!" Coming around behind her horse, he asked, "Shall we, My Queen?"
Somehow, Erik spoke in a way that gave her courage.
Adani nodded at which time Erik slapped her horse on the rump, it took off, momentarily joined by Erik and his steed.
"Pikes then archers, Your Grace, and do not forget to blood that brand-new sword in your hand!" Adani looked at her sword, then at Erik, and actually smiled.

Now Da Bo could hear it. The thunder of many, many hooves. The shouting of many, many soldiers.
Perhaps next time he will trust his instincts. Should there be a next time?
Da Bo's second in command rode up and said, "We are still in range of the ship's weapons! They have us in a vise!"
"Then we will break their vise!" Da Bo yelled. Charge them! Tear them to pieces! "
Da Bo 's lieutenant left to give the order, and when they began to advance, The Warlord himself established a position near the rear.

The Crown Forces could at this point see the barbarians rumbling toward them.
"Looks like they made their choice,'' Adani thought. "And here comes my first battle command."
"Pikes!", The Queen yelled, pointing to the formation of mounted pikemen to her left,
"Collapse that line! Archers, nock! Steady, now…await my command. Pikes, charge!”

The pikemen burst through the Woyun front line where the barbarians were either impaled or trampled, leaving a gaping hole where warriors once stood.
"Archers, LOOSE!", Adani again. This time sending arrows through the air like a deadly rain.
At that point, the main force, mounted and on foot, closed with The Woyun.
Within seconds, she had cut down her first adversary with a slash to his side. She then clashed swords with another who somehow ended up fighting another soldier.
Adani looked around her. It seemed that every direction she turned, someone was dying, or someone was killing. Or like right now, someone was bearing down on her. She would then somehow instantly recall one of the killing maneuvers her father filled her brain with and apply it.
Adani had just ended a life for the first time, and this bothered her greatly, but things were happening so fast and so intensely, she was literally unable to think about it for any length of time.
And yes, it most certainly did stink.
She had just engaged another adversary, herself not sure how many she had killed or simply maimed. She glimpsed her father, sword in each hand, moving too quickly for her to follow. She had never seen her father in a battle situation such as this. "By the gods! The man is inhumanly fast! One of his swords was a relatively short sword he used for close fighting. He did away with two warriors at once with that one, one Woyun attempted to take him from the back, but Father ran him through with his longsword without even turning around, then brought that same blade around to behead yet another barbarian. Lord Death, indeed!”, She thought. She spotted a soldier about to be caught unaware by a warrior behind her, and Adani dismounted and side-slashed his collarbone. The girl nodded gratefully. She was a tall girl, but Adani could see that she was quite young. Adani remembered her daggers and let two fly, both on target, her father's lessons rushing randomly into her brain, even as fatigue began to invade her body.
As she side-stepped a potentially fatal battle-axe blow, responding with a killing back- slash to the barbarian’s midsection, she experienced a short break in the non-stop action.
Erik! Finally, she saw him, alive, thank the gods, a blood - stained mess, he was. Riding towards her, sword in one hand, the reins to her horse in the other.
She at that moment made her first and very nearly last battle mistake.
Her eyes being locked onto Erik for too long ("keep your head moving, all directions") gave someone an opportunity to sneak up on her.
That someone was none other than Da Bo.
"So, this is their Queen!" Da Bo thought. "So tiny she is in her silver armor. And so distracted, foolish heifer! Making it so easy to…!" He came in closer, sword raised...

The Striker, still in range, let loose another volley, which included a fireball, that crashed down nearby. No one was hit directly, but a glob of flaming tar flew through the air and landed right on Da Bo stuck there,
literally setting a good portion of his face aflame! The Warlord’s scream of pain was terrible to hear, yet he still tried to get to Adani, but before he could, another soldier came up from Da Bo 's blind side and lunged, putting the tip of her sword through the barbarian's eye.
It was none other than the girl Adani saved from the earlier sneak attack, returning the favor.
Adani saluted her and climbed on her horse hoping to get the soldier's name after all this.
"My Queen!", Erik said. "We have all but prevailed, you must join the senior officers while we secure prisoners and end this. No need to further expose yourself! I'll take you to your father!"
On the way, Erik informed Adani that "many eyes were on her" and that "they all were impressed!"
All Adani could still think of was, yes, it certainly did stink to the high heavens!
As the Lord Commander was handing his horse’s reins over to his squire, his old friend and Infantry Master Dominic Pietro rode up with his Cavalry Master General Tam Lin close behind, as both of their squires appeared, Pietro dismounted and while taking his blood-stained helmet from his head said to Lord Stone, “Bedira’s tits, Jonny! Did you teach that girl a’ yours all your bloody moves? Good thing she wears silver so I can tell you two apart.” The big man handed off his horse at the same time as General Lin and added, “As soon as she convinces herself that she belongs on that throne and in front of her army, really feels confident, your Little One will be inspirational!” The very word Jon used.
Jon turned to General Lin, said, “I would be unable to argue with a single word the General has said, Milord. She is a very instinctive fighter and obviously a quick study.’”
Jon heard all he needed to hear at that point. He trusts his Generals and knows they would speak as they truly believe. “Adani will be just fine.” he told himself. Now, we work on her strategic thinking.”






































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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