The Eternal War: The Dragon's Valkyrie

The Return

All Saidy heard was the whizzing. A blur of silver passed inches from her face. She reared Ash's reins, causing him to skid to a halt. Her heart seemed to cease beating for a moment. She turned her head. A party of six or seven oni were riding on wolf back straight toward her.

Her eyes shot open wide. "Shit!"

She kicked her heels into Ash's sides and tore through the highland with all the wolf's speed. Saidy drew one of her swords. The first spear was a surprise. She wouldn't be caught off guard a second time.

She took care to keep her back to the mountain. Yrden's tower resided on the northern edge of the Garden. Using the hills for cover, her and Ash dipped and wove between the low points. Spells slammed into the ground around them, and Saidy kept an eye on the scouting party that was keeping pace alongside her. They would try to overtake her—surround her. She could feel their intent in her bones. With every mound of earth that passed between them, they drew closer to her.

A fireball seared towards her. Saidy raised her blade to meet the spell and whipped it back at the party. It hindered them not.

One of the demon's disappeared behind a hill in front of her. Her gut focused its attention there. She could feel the oni's next move. He'd come from behind it as she passed and ambush her.

Saidy pulled at Ash's reins and steered him up the hill. She pushed into the stirrups and hovered just above the saddle.

"Kill the wolf, Ash," she seethed as she leapt from his back when they crested the hill.

Just as she'd assumed, the oni laid in wait at the bottom. Ash dove for the enemy wolf's neck. Saidy felt her body catch on the wind, and she took her sword in both hands. The look of horror froze upon the oni's head as she took it with her. Ash tore into the wolf's neck, tossing the lifeless corpse aside.

Saidy tumbled as her feet hit the ground. She stood facing the rest of the oni as Ash sprinted back around for her. Saidy drew her other sword, and the oni began slinging magic at her. Whatever she couldn't dodge, she slung back at them. Some magical bolts took one of the wolf's legs off, causing the wolf and its rider to bury themselves in the earth.

"She's one fucking human! Stop embarrassing yourselves!" one of the oni screamed at the others.

His armor was more elegant than the traditional black leather coats they wore. He must've been the leader of the scouting party.

"You two, that way! You, over there!" he barked at the others.

The remaining oni fanned out. Saidy sheathed her swords as Ash made it back to her. She ran beside him for a moment, grabbing onto whatever she could and jumping onto his back.

Once Ash felt her on top of him, he took off again, tearing through the Garden with every burst of speed he could summon.

Saidy felt his chest heaving in great gulps of air as each breath propelled them faster through the highland. Saidy gripped his fur tight as she tried to sling her leg over Ash's back and seat herself in the saddle, but Ash was moving too fast and jogging to much that she could barely maintain the hold she had.

Her heart raced faster. She felt exposed hanging off the side of her wolf. There was no way she could draw her sword to defend against a spell at this pace.

Fire and ice tore through her veins, and she kept flailing trying to finish mounting the wolf.

Come on, damnit! I won't die like this! I'm too close!

She pulled herself up one more time, but her arms wobbled, and gave way as a spear of ice plunged into the ground before Ash. Ash gigged and threw Saidy from his back avoiding the spell. Saidy felt herself flying through the air once more, then a sharp chill on her back as she crashed through the spear.