The Pass

The beat of drums accompanied the thudding of footfalls as a regiment of warriors marched along an ancient road. At the head of the regiment, riding a sleek horse gifted to her by the Sapphire Queen, was its commander, a talented and ambitious noblewoman named Diana. She guided her mount from the path of her troops when her military advisor moved to walk at her side.
"Speak Pandora."
"We'll be coming up on the Venator's Forest soon. Perhaps we should pause here for the night?"
Diana touched the hilt of the baton at her waist, a more ornate version of the weapons in her warriors' possession, when Pandora mentioned the Venator. It was said that the Venator was a wild man, that he demanded a steep price in return for safe passage, and that travelling through the forest at night awoke his wrath faster than cutting down a tree would. Finally Diana nodded and Pandora turned to yell orders at the regiment's senior officers, calling for a camp to be made.

Diana watched a small party of scouts dart off as she began to dismount from her horse. Doubtless they'd been sent to either find game to supplement the rations or else to check the distance to the Venator's Forest. Turning the noblewoman looked out over the growing sea of tents, arranged into roughly straight rows, and blinked when a small hand took hers.
"Let me help you down m'lady."
Diana focused her attention on the woman who'd spoken, smiling as she used her childhood friend for support.
"Thank you Callista. Have you started to set up the tent?"
Callista nodded, the servant girl glancing towards the back of the camp.
"The Dawnchild helped. I mostly got in the way."
Laughing Diana let Callista lead her through the tents until only one was before them. It was multi-sectional, with the final wing going up as Diana watched, and a half-squad of warriors sat around a fire in front of the cloth structure.

Each warrior's armour bore the oak tree sigil of Diana's House and they hastily stood when they noticed her, bowing respectfully. The sixth member of her bodyguard, her hair as golden as the sun during the dawn she'd been born in, rounded the tent and dropped to a knee almost instantly.
"Lady Diana."
"Stand cousin. You're as much a noble as I am and when we return from this campaign I'll petition Mother to grant you release. House Dawnchild might one day become as great as House Oakborn."
Valeria, who preferred the nickname conferred by the circumstances of her birth, rose from her kneeling position and followed her sibling into the tent.
"You don't have to Diana."
"I know I don't have to but I want to." Diana turned away from Dawnchild and waved Callista over from where she'd been waiting nearby. "Go and find Pandora and tell her I request her presence."

When Callista returned with Pandora in tow Diana and Dawnchild were standing around a table, a map spread out over the wooden surface. The area depicted centered on a mountain pass, the only way into the Alhaja Peninsula by land, and that was where Diana and her regiment had been dispatched. Several markers had been placed on the map, indicating where each company of soldiers would be positioned, but Pandora  shook her head as she picked up a marker.
"We have three companies of melee and two of ranged. Splitting them up like this is the wrong choice."
Both women looked up from the table when Pandora spoke and Diana took a step back.
"This is why you were contracted. Please share your wisdom." Pandora scanned the map again before moving the markers to be on the western side of the pass. "Organize into two rows, melee in front and ranged behind. We hold the high ground or we've lost."

---

When dawn broke the camp was already being taken down. As Diana blearily emerged from her tent, still doing the final buckles on her leather cuirass, Pandora strode up to the noblewoman.
"Apologies but I deemed it best to start early. The forest can take a while to get through."
"Don't be sorry Pandora. As I said last night this is why you're here."
Pandora half-bowed, frowning as something caught her attention, and Diana watched as the other woman began shouting at a group of servants gathered around a supply wagon. The noblewoman smiled when Callista turned up, accepting the rabbit skewer on offer, before returning to the relative peace of her tent, making sure everything was being put away securely.

The regiment set out an hour later, making good time along the road, and it wasn't long until the trees grew thick and close together. When the tree cover finally blotted out the sun Diana called for a temporary halt and had one of the wagons, loaded with fine wines and rare furs, bought to the fore before giving the order to move out. The regiment continued on until they could no longer see a way out, a cold fog starting to swirl around their legs, and Diana called for a second halt when she heard the snapping of wood in the distance. Turning in the saddle the noblewoman nodded to herself when she caught sight of Pandora shepherding the companies into the middle of the road before returning her attention to listening out for movement among the trees.

A great male stepped out of the forest, blocking the regiment's path, and Diana cautiously slid from her horse, approaching what could only be the Venator. He strode forward, looking down upon the warriors with an unreadable expression on his face, until he and Diana were mere feet apart and she tried to look him in the eye, intimidated by his larger height and overly masculine appearance.
"Great Venator. We wish to pass through your forest."
"Price is needed."
The Venator's gravelly voice rolled out over the regiment, causing many of the already-edgy warriors to step back in alarm, but Diana steeled herself and gestured at the wagon she'd had bought up.
"Wines from the gardens of House Bloodstone, and furs from the beasts of the plains of Barristan."
The Venator sidestepped Diana, surprisingly graceful despite his size and bulk, and took hold of the wagon, removing the assorted items and assessing them.
"No women?"
The servant who'd been operating the wagon glanced at Diana in confusion before shrieking as the Venator reached out, his hands encircling her waist and lifting her so that he could look at her.  Without a word the Venator slung the terrified woman over a shoulder, ignoring the wide-eyed warriors standing near him with batons drawn, and made to walk back into the forest, only to stop when Diana jabbed him in the stomach with her baton.
"You are strong mighty Venator but not strong enough to defeat all of us. Wines and furs now. A woman on our return journey."
The Venator took a step forward, forcing Diana to hurriedly back up, and the wild man grinned.
"Maybe you now. And pretty girls later." He yelped when a baton came down hard on the hand stretching towards Diana, withdrawing the hand with a sharp glance at Dawnchild, and hefted the servant girl over his shoulder. "Her now. Girl later."
Diana glanced at the road ahead, weighing up all her choices, before coming to a decision.
"The servant for now. Two girls on the way back for safe passage and the servant."
The Venator paused for a moment before slowly nodding, turning away from the women.
"Deal."

---

The regiment left the Venator's Forest during late afternoon, already beginning to climb towards the settlement of Cavetown and the mountain pass beyond. The peoples of the Alhaja Peninsula had guarded the pass since before the fall of the Great Imperium centuries ago and the two towers Diana could see were the embodiment of that commitment. They were now ruins though and staffed by an ever-dwindling garrison despite Cavetown, hence Diana's appointment to the pass. The commander of the garrison, an ageing woman with a few grey strands among her black mane, approached as Diana's regiment marched towards the towers, the two leaders greeting each other with a long hug.

After the hug was broken, and Pandora tasked with organizing the companies, Diana was led into the commander's office.
"Michelle, how much do you know?"
The garrison commander glanced at the map, displaying the entirety of the Alhaja Peninsula, that was hanging on one wall before answering.
"Nothing. The old imperial road might run through these mountains but, what with the legends of the Venator, it's the sea routes that've become the more used trails."
Diana frowned when Michelle finished speaking, wondering why the pass was being reinforced when invasions along the coasts would be easier, before explaining the situation.
"The short story is that war will soon be coming to the Alhaja Peninsula. Sailors have returned talking of gathering armies, of dark forces in the west, and the Sapphire Queen has ordered the assembly of the army. My force is here to reinforce you."

After dropping her bombshells Diana strode from the commander's office, one of her bodyguards falling into step behind her, and they made their way over to where the servants and supply wagons had been parked. Callista was easy to spot, seated high atop the wagon bearing House Oakborn's sigil, and she jumped down when she noticed Diana.
"M'lady?"
"Go and find Dawnchild. She is to take some warriors to Cavetown and start gathering food, water, anything she thinks we'll need. She's also to bring back every woman of fighting age." Callista nodded in understanding before darting off and Diana glanced at her bodyguard. "Right, let's go find Pandora."

The military advisor was overseeing the construction of crude barricades and she snorted in derision when Diana began speaking before finally cutting the noblewoman off mid-sentence.
"The scouts are already off exploring. And the regiment's officers know where they're stationed. We should be ready if it comes to it."
"You should expect some additional recruits."
"Send them to Michelle then. They would be her responsibility anyway."
"But the garrison has been included in the battleplans?"
Pandora momentarily stiffened at the hardness in Diana's voice and the advisor eventually shrugged.
"They have but no more than their duty already requires. Michelle looks enough of a competent commander to know how to handle her troops."
The discussion paused when an officer approached, glancing between Diana and Pandora as she tried to work out who to report to. It was the bodyguard who broke the deadlock, removing her helmet and stepping to one side before speaking.
"What is it Captain?"
"My company has built what barricades we can. Do we have permission to withdraw?"
The bodyguard nodded and the officer backed away from the three other women, reappearing a few minutes later with her warriors following behind.

The departure of one company drew attention to how late in the day it had become. Michelle's warriors had started to light fires atop the towers and as they began their night patrols Pandora issued orders for the regiment to head back to the camp that had been established near Cavetown. After a final assessment of the defences by torch-fire Diana and Pandora made their way to the camp, encountering the leader of the scouts at the entrance to Diana's tent.

---

As with the previous day the camp was buzzing with activity as the dawn began to shine through the pass. After speaking with the scout leader, who'd delivered reports of an approaching vanguard she believed had marched through the night, Pandora issued orders and as Diana stepped out of her tent she could see a company of warriors already climbing towards the pass. Callista moved to be at her side, a shield and banner bearing the sigil of House Oakborn in her hands, and Diana took possession of the shield.
"Give the banner to Octavia."
The servant girl handed the banner to Octavia when the chosen bodyguard exited Diana's tent, a wide and proud grin appearing on the young warrior's face.

Diana and her bodyguard travelled with the second company marching up to the pass, the noblewoman splitting off to join Michelle atop the left tower. The garrison was fully assembled, bolstered by the hundred conscripts Dawnchild had got from Cavetown, and Diana watched her regiment take their places amid the barricades they'd built the day before. Walls of shields blocked the open spaces, each rank of warriors supporting the one in front, and the two companies of ranged troops were loosely spread out behind, with enough distance to let them use their slings and bolas safely.

The assembled force held position as the sun rose, the companies rotating to give the warriors rest, and the servants were all kept busy supplying the company with food and water. As the sun reached its zenith Diana considered withdrawing her troops but movement in the distance made her pause. She could see running figures, an organized mass of people following, and the noblewoman moved to the edge of the tower, scanning the warriors below until she found Pandora.
"Movement ahead! Send the servants to the camp and make ready!"

The running figures turned out to be the scouts, the shield walls smoothly parting to let them past, while their pursuers was the vanguard the scouts had already reported. The vanguard stopped at the bottom of the western side of the pass, its formation shifting into a thinner one more suited to moving through the mountains. Eventually a pair of figures, one holding an unfurled banner, broke from the vanguard and began walking. Diana descended from the tower and made her way through her warriors, leaving all but Octavia behind at the front line, and matched her opposite number step for step, for it could only be the vanguard's commander approaching.

Up close Diana could see that the other banner bore a sigil of a burning torch, a symbol that ticked something in the back of Diana's memory. The two pairs stopped, all four women watching each other, before Diana's opposite number stopped forward.
"In the name of His Majesty Justinian of the Imperium Reborn you will stand your force down and escort us to the city of Lynn Garro."
"The Alhaja Peninsula will not yield to any male! And we do not recognize your Imperium."
"When we sweep your rabble aside you shall be kept, to watch your people join you in chains and your cities cast down. I, Ashlienne of the House Lightbringer, promise you this."

---

The battle came an hour after Ashlienne had made her promise, the vanguard marching steadily towards Diana's regiment. From her position at the center of the front line Pandora watched pebbles and lead sling-shot whiz overhead, the projectiles either dropping enemy warriors with precise headshots or causing them to stagger with broken limbs. As the vanguard continued, fresh troops replacing the dead or injured, some of the slingers switched to using bolas, more than a few entangling enemies and creating disruption.

The two bodies of troops came together with a great crash of metal, the Alhajans being forced back a step before digging their heels in. Projectiles still flew overhead but for Pandora the world had shrunk down to just the Imperial in front of her. Holding her shield before her, gripping her baton with a palm that had suddenly grown sweaty, the advisor swung the baton at the woman facing her, aiming for the exposed skin between her helmet and cuirass. With a crunch the baton shattered the Imperial's right collarbone and then she fell backwards when Pandora shoved her baton into her throat. The choking Imperial was brushed aside by the warrior behind her, Pandora grimacing as she deflected the new arrival's baton-strike with her shield. To her left an Alhajan crumpled after being struck in the head, getting sucked down into the tangle around the feet of those on the front lines, and Pandora risked a glance back towards the towers.

Diana watched the Alhajans and Imperials come together, the front line almost instantly devolving into a confused melee. The overall shape of the engaged companies held though and any Imperials who attempted to climb the barricades were forced back by sling- and staff-wielding warriors. A small trickle of injured Alhajans were emerging from the rear of the regiment, making their way to where the garrison had set up an infirmary, but it seemed that they were giving as good as they took, injured Imperials appearing from the back of their larger formation.

In the end though it would all come down to cruel arithmetic, and in that case the Imperials would win the day. Diana had worked it out from her vantage point, even as her warriors were slowly but surely pushed back. The noblewoman descended from the tower, her bodyguard clattering after her, and she went through some simple motions to limber up before drawing her baton.
"Lady Diana. What are you doing?"
Diana jerked her arm from Dawnchild's grip and gestured at the warriors around them.
"I have led them here. I will fight with them here!"
Dawnchild sighed and turned to the other bodyguards.
"We go in using speartip formation. I'll take point." Returning her attention to Diana she guided the noblewoman into the heart of the group. "You might be my cousin but sometimes you make it difficult to love you."

---

The bodyguard crashed into the melee, staves and shields effortlessly batting Imperials aside. Alhajan warriors moved to fill the open space, ensuring that Diana wouldn't be cut off and surrounded. Dawnchild was like a storm on the battlefield, her years spent as a mercenary overseas being put to good use, and the other bodyguards were hard pressed to keep up. This was a side of her cousin that Diana hadn't seen before and she briefly regretted her decision before reminding herself that it was the greater good.

With a roar the speartip pierced the bodyguard of Ashlienne Lightbringer. For a split second Diana saw fear on the Imperial commander's face and felt emboldened, slipping through her bodyguards to personally engage the other woman. And it was soon clear that Ashlienne had next to no experience with personal combat, the Imperial more a diplomat or strategist attached to an army than its actual commander. The mostly one-sided duel led both nobles, and their bodyguards, out of the Imperial force, emerging onto the western slopes of the mountains, but the other Alhajans had been stretched thin and were eventually forced into retreating back to their original formations with heavy hearts. With the banners of Houses Oakborn and Lightbringer flying above them Diana and Ashlienne fought, both knowing that even Diana's victory still meant her defeat, and Diana's bodyguards desperately sought to protect themselves and their charge from a now constant assault from all directions.

Minerva, the guard who only the day before had stepped up to command whilst Diana and Pandora were occupied, was the first to fall, her left leg shattered by baton-strikes to the thigh, knee and shin. Even as she began tipping to one side she was grabbed by Imperials and dragged back into the vanguard, her last scream abruptly cut off by the sharp crack of breaking bone. Two bodyguards fighting back-to-back were the next to fall, the circle of bodies surrounding them a testament to their skill, but it was sheer misfortune that claimed them, sling-shot punching neat craters into their foreheads. The surviving trio: Dawnchild, Octavia with the banner, and Hypatia were surrounded even as their unfortunate comrades slumped against each other and were roughly divested of weapons and then armour, the bodyguards forced to kneel and accept being bound with thick rope.

As the banner of House Oakborn came to rest on the ground of the western slopes the fight seemed to leave Diana for a moment. She could see her remaining bodyguards being bound, could see those that were now dead, and glanced towards the sounds of battle could still be heard, the noise lifting her spirit.
"You might defeat me but you will not break through the pass. Go back to your emperor and tell him he will have no victory on the Alhaja Peninsula!"
Diana charged at Ashlienne, her baton held high for a downward strike, but missed the other woman's glance at a pair of Imperials who'd come up behind the Alhajan. Her yell of defiance turned into a shriek of frustration when she felt rope close around her neck, stomach and knees, pulling her away from the now-smirking Ashlienne.
"You remember what was promised Alhajan. You shall be my slave and be at the forefront of my every conquest on your forsaken scrap of land." The Imperial half-turned, starting to issue orders to the warriors around her, before looking again at her new captive. "Your people should know whose failure led to their downfall. What is your name?"