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Chaos ensued all around Marianne, no matter where she looked.
On one end of the battlefield stood the rest of the Leicester Alliance army, bathed in their golden uniforms; on another was the Empire, blood red banners flying high; on the other, the remnants of the Old Kingdom stood cloaked in blue. All three hues had quickly mixed together in her peripheral vision once the fight properly ensued.
In all directions, she could hear steel clashing against steel and cleaving through flesh; arrows flew past her ears, and spells blasted people and earth alike. She had grown to understand how fighting made her heart pound with adrenaline, but still hadn’t managed to get used to it.
Marianne was mostly uninjured; her position as a dancer required her to stay behind most of her allies as she encouraged and healed them instead of swinging her sword for herself. But the Imperial forces pushed back against their strength, growing dangerously close to overwhelming them.
Marianne kept dancing. Her eyes flicked from side to side, carefully watching the way her enemies moved, trying to break through the Alliance’s ranks. She scanned the skies, noticing an approaching wyvern troupe, and signaled to the small group of archers behind her.
A loud crash sent her and several others flying onto the ground, and the terrain itself seemed to rumble underneath her. Marianne slowly propped herself up, spotting a large boulder had appeared out of nowhere; the Imperials must have set up a catapult that Claude had either failed to account for, or failed to notice. She tried to stand back up, but one of her legs screamed in pain and she fell back to the ground. She hissed under her breath, twisting enough to see it and realizing her ankle was easily sprained, if not worse.
“Here!” One of the archers in her troupe ran to her side, wrapping her arms around Marianne’s torso and quickly helping her back up.
“Thank you,” Marianne said, readying a healing spell, hoping she could hold herself over until she had the time for Manuela to take a proper look.
The archer nodded and backed up, pulling an arrow and notching it on her bow, continuing to fight like nothing had even happened.
Marianne drew her sword, holding it defensively, analyzing the horizon again as she cast the spell. The Kingdom was now mostly in front of their army, and the Empire towards the right; it was difficult to tell, but it looked like someone was climbing on top of the boulder from the other side—
Marianne yelped and sprang out of the way as an assassin leapt at her, bringing their blade down with every intention of cutting her cleanly in half. She tripped on her bad ankle and fell, scrambling to turn over, holding her blade defensively and hoping she could delay the inevitable—
But instead she saw a bolt of pink, a flash of steel, and a spray of blood as the assassin was felled.
Hilda sheathed her axe and spun around, bending down to scoop Marianne up and pull her back to her feet. “Are you hurt? What happened?”
“Not really, I—” Marianne winced as she tried to step on her bad ankle again. “I just fell, and I think I twisted something.”
“Stay behind me until it’s over. I think we’re almost—” Hilda looked over her shoulder and cut herself off, lifting Marianne up like a princess and running.
Marianne yelped, realizing Hilda had narrowly gotten them both out of the way of a dark magic spell that engulfed the ground below in purplish-black flames. The other soldiers around them scattered, trying to avoid being burned alive.
“Alright, small change of plans,” Hilda said. “I’m going to get you to the other healers, and you’re going to stay with them until the battle’s over.”
“That—That’s fine,” Marianne stuttered. She never had any idea that Hilda was strong enough to pick her up, much less barrel through a warzone while carrying her.
Hilda signaled to the archer battalion, then she sprinted, carefully weaving through the trees, until she’d finally reached Manuela and the rest of the medics. Hilda gently set Marianne down on the ground and took a moment to catch her breath. “Here. I don’t know what I would do without you, so make sure you take care of yourself, okay? I have to get back up there with Claude and everyone.”
Marianne nodded. “Thank you, Hilda. I love you.”
“Love you too.” Hilda kissed her nose, then stood back up, heading right back into the fray.