Energy - Awakening

by MJ Schutte

  ‘Let me be the judge of that,’ Lilian replied.

  ‘Ok, I asked him to lead the Dark Ones to us once we’ve got our defences set up,’ Brighton replied honestly.

  ‘You’re right, I don’t like it,’ Lilian complained. ‘But I trust your judgment,’ she quickly added.

  Brighton had a worried look on his face.

  ‘I’m not convinced it’s the right tactic. It might be best if I go with Joshua and kill as many of them as we can before they reach our defensive position,’ he said mostly to himself.

  Lilian didn’t like that idea either but also knew they had to have a plan if they were going to survive.

  Brighton continuously scanned the area with his sense to make sure they were alone. There were no Dark Ones nearby and nobody had used their sense to track them. They reached the spot Brighton and Joshua spoke about. Lilian looked up at the mountain. It went straight up for hundreds of paces; there was no chance of an attack from that side. She looked around at where Brighton was standing next to the river. It was less than a hundred paces from the mountain to the river. Joshua was right. It looked like an island between the river and the mountain. The river curved back towards the mountain leaving a narrow gap as the only approach to the spot.

  Brighton called everyone together.

  ‘Lilian, you and the girls cut some thick branches, about eight will do. They need to be slightly longer than what I am tall and stripped of all twigs and leaves. Also, gather enough firewood for at least four fires. Joshua, you and I are going to set some traps.’

  Brighton got some bowstring out of his bag and the two men walked back the way they came.

  The men returned long after the firewood was gathered and the branches were cut.

  In a serious tone Brighton said to the women, ‘If you need to leave this area, be very careful. A safe passage has been marked on the trees like this.’

  He went to one tree and cut an X into the bark as high as he could reach.

  ‘Look out for the marked trees and always pass to the right of them,’ he instructed.

  The girls all nodded their understanding.

  Lilian held up the branches.

  ‘What are these for?’ she asked.

  Brighton explained his plan to everybody. For the rest of the afternoon they all worked furiously to get all the preparations done. Just before sunset everything was ready.

  Brighton took Lilian in his arms.

  ‘If everything goes well we should be back shortly. Be ready,’ he said as he hugged her.

  She nodded and gave him a long kiss.

  ‘Please be careful,’ she whispered in his ear.

  The men gathered their weapons and set off towards Avarya.

  Joshua’s throwing-knife took the Dark One in the throat at the same time as Brighton’s arrow pierced another’s heart. The third Dark One, a woman, barely had time to look up before Brighton’s white energy link slammed into her head. The woman dropped to the ground without a sound.

  Brighton whispered, ‘Good, it went better than expected. Let’s hide the bodies and find more Dark Ones.’

  They dragged the three bodies into a small side street and covered them with hay.

  The two men continued sneaking through the almost deserted streets of Avarya. Brighton guessed that Richard’s rule of three people together at all times was still in effect. So far he sensed only Dark Ones in the streets; everybody else seemed to be indoors. He was thankful that it was dark moon; it made hiding in the shadows easier.

  Brighton sensed three more Dark Ones not far from where they were. He peaked around the corner of a building. The three people were slowly walking down the road in their direction. He gestured for Joshua to stay still, he wanted to wait for the Dark Ones to pass them and then surprise them from behind. The two silent attackers crept deep into the shadows and waited.

  Brighton whispered to Joshua, ‘Remember to go for the throat. If they can’t breathe, they can’t scream.’

  Joshua nodded, knife ready.

  The three unsuspecting Dark Ones slowly passed by. Brighton was glad he touched Joshua with his healing energy earlier. The Dark Ones use their talent often to scan the city, but the two assassins have remained invisible to the eye and the talent.

  Carefully Brighton and Joshua approached them from behind, knives ready.

  Joshua’s knife flashed once, Brighton’s twice and the three Dark Ones’ lives ended without a sound. Quickly they hid the bodies in the same alley as the other three.

  ‘I hope this continues,’ Joshua whispered.

  ‘The more we can kill now the better,’ Brighton answered. ‘Sooner or later someone will start noticing the Dark Ones disappearing. It looks like they are patrolling specific routes.’

  Brighton was glad he didn’t have to use his power too much now, the less energy flowing through his body the better. When the time came to start using the full force of his talent, he wanted to be fresh and ready.

  The two men continued creeping through the city killing Dark Ones whenever they could. Close to sunrise they snuck out of the city and jogged back to camp. As they got closer Brighton used his sense to scan the area for life. He knew Lilian would feel it, that’s how they agreed he would let her know they were returning.

  She would signal the other girls not to start shooting.

  The two men jogged into camp. There was a huge pile of wood in the middle and six figures made from the branches the women cut earlier. All of the stick figures were dressed in woman’s clothing stuffed with grass. Mischief was lying under a big tree looking at them with those white eyes.

  ‘You can come down now,’ Brighton called looking up into the tree.

  He spotted the three girls easily between the branches.

  Joshua also looked up and spotted Michaela climbing down.

  ‘If you stare too long you will go blind,’ Brighton joked with him.

  Joshua almost didn’t hear. He was spellbound by the young woman dressed only in her underwear. The camisole was a bit small for her so it stretched very tightly over her body.

  Brighton’s eyes were fixed on Lilian as she dropped to the ground followed by the two younger girls. They were all dressed only in their underwear as they had to use their dresses to make the stick figures look real.

  Joshua still couldn’t take his eyes off Michaela.

  Lilian made a face at Brighton and said, ‘You’re also staring, why aren’t you blind yet?’

  Brighton just grinned and picked up three blankets.

  He gave Adri and Michaela each one to cover themselves and put the third over Lilian’s shoulders. She wrapped it tightly around her body.

  ‘It’s cold sitting in a tree all night with almost no clothes on! Next time we’re using yours,’ she complained.

  Brighton put his one arm around her to share some of his warmth. Joshua did the same with Michaela leaving Adri standing alone. Brighton stretched out his other arm and beckoned her over. She gratefully shuffled closer until she was right next to him. He put his arm around her and hugged her close.

  ‘Let’s make a small fire to cook some food and get warm,’ Brighton suggested. ‘And get dressed otherwise young Joshua won’t be able to concentrate on anything for the rest of the day.’

  Joshua’s face went red as he let go of Michaela.

  The two men quickly built a small fire and then went into the woods to hunt. They returned very quickly, Brighton holding a rabbit and Joshua some wild spinach and tomatoes. Michaela, Adri and Joshua had an appetizing looking breakfast ready in no time.

  As they sat down to eat, Lilian asked Brighton, ‘What happened in Avarya?’

  Brighton almost spoke with his mouth full of food but images of Carmen’s stern looks flashed through his mind.

  He swallowed and said, ‘We got twenty seven Dark Ones without being detected. That leaves Richard and about fifty others. This tactic won’t work again, we hid the bodies but they probably already found them.’

  ‘
That’s a lot! I thought you might kill six or seven!’ Lilian exclaimed.

  ‘They’re still relying on their talent to detect us. It’s working in our favour for now but I don’t know how long it will be before they realize their mistake,’ Brighton commented.

  Once they finished breakfast Brighton had a look at the brown blanket around Lilian’s shoulders.

  ‘Yes, it will do,’ he muttered.

  ‘May I have the blanket please?’ he asked Lilian.

  He took his knife and cut two holes in one of the blankets. Lilian watched him but did not say a word. She knew he had a plan and would share it in his own time.

  He came to stand behind her and holding up the blanket said, ‘Put your arms through the holes please.’

  She did as he asked.

  ‘Now wrap it around you,’ he instructed.

  The blanket was long enough to go almost all the way down to her ankles and also cover her head.

  ‘I see,’ Lilian said. ‘We can keep warm and use our arms at the same time.’

  ‘And you’re harder to spot in the trees,’ Brighton said. ‘When we came back I saw you easily in that white underwear.’

  ‘We could always take it off,’ Lilian teased.

  Adri and Michaela’s eyes went wide.

  ‘That won’t work. Joshua will faint and I still need him,’ Brighton teased back.

  The girls giggled when they realized Lilian was just joking.

  Brighton quickly cut the other two blankets and handed them back to the girls.

  ‘Tonight you must climb three different trees. Those ones look good,’ he said as he pointed.

  ‘It will be even harder to see you then,’ he explained.

  He turned to Joshua and the girls.

  ‘You three sleep now, we will stand watch,’ he said to them.

  The three gratefully accepted the offer and were quickly asleep on the grass beds they made.

  Brighton and Lilian chose a rock to sit on.

  ‘You can also sleep, I will stay awake,’ Brighton said to Lilian.

  ‘I’ll stay awake with you,’ she smiled as she shifted closer to him.

  He softly stroked her legs.

  Dreamily she said, ‘I wish this was over. You could build us a little house near Four Mountains and we will raise our children there.’

  ‘That sounds good,’ Brighton agreed. ‘We will have goats and a vegetable garden. I can hunt and you bake bread and biscuits.’

  He was still telling her what the house would look like when he noticed her breathing had gone slow. She was fast asleep with her head against his chest.

  Brighton didn’t move. He liked it when Lilian slept against him like this.

  From time to time he used his sense to scan the area. Only once did he pick up a single person heading in their direction. Well before the unknown person reached the camp he turned around and headed back to Avarya. It wasn’t a Dark One so Brighton decided it was probably just a hunter.

  He wasn’t concerned.

  ‘Did you track them?’ a deep voice asked the old hunter.

  ‘Yes, Supreme Richard, I know where they are hiding,’ the hunter answered.

  ‘Good,’ Richard said mostly to himself.

  They were in a dimly lit bedroom inside the hunter’s house. The hunter, Elric, shifted his weight from one leg to the other and back again. He was not comfortable in the presence of a Supreme but his curious mind wanted to know what was going on.

  Curiosity won.

  ‘If I may ask, Supreme Richard, what are you planning?’ he asked respectfully.

  Richard seemed to look through Elric.

  ‘Last night that boy killed a lot of my people. He thinks I will only use Dark Ones to defend this city. We are going to do what he doesn’t expect. Did you gather four more hunters?’ Richard replied.

  ‘Yes, I did as you commanded. I can get another twenty if that is what you require,’ Elric answered.

  ‘No, Brighton expects us to attack with force. Instead, we will do to them what they did to us last night. We will sneak into their camp and kill them before they know what’s happening,’ Richard snarled.

  ‘But what if they return to Avarya tonight?’ Elric asked.

  ‘The Dark Ones that escaped Brasten reported three women in the group. We know there were two men in the city last night so we can assume there are only five of them. If the men come into the city again, that will work well for us. If they return to their campsite to find their women’s corpses it will anger them greatly,’ Richard said with a wicked smile.

  Looking straight at Elric he answered the question in the man’s eyes, ‘Angry men make mistakes and men who make mistakes are easier to kill.’

  Elric nodded and quickly left the room to gather his men.

  Chapter 18

  WELL PAST LUNCHTIME life returned to the camp. Joshua woke up first and then the girls. Brighton tried to signal to them to be quiet but Lilian woke up from the sound of their voices.

  ‘Time for you to have a nap,’ she said sleepily.

  ‘I’ll sleep later. We need to get close to Avarya before nightfall. I want to see if Richard has changed the patrolling routines or perhaps made other defensive plans,’ he replied.

  Joshua gathered his spear and knives and said a quick good bye to Michaela. Brighton got his bow and arrows and gave Lilian a long kiss before the two men disappeared into the bushes. The two men jogged along the safe route away from the camp.

  Brighton sensed five people nearby so he changed course to intercept them. They were probably hunters but he wanted to make sure. Brighton slowed to a walk when they were close to the five people.

  ‘Don’t make threatening moves but be ready,’ he told Joshua.

  He spotted a man through the trees.

  ‘Hello there!’ he called, waving at the man.

  The man looked startled for a moment before he raised his hand in a greeting.

  ‘Hello,’ he called.

  Brighton and Joshua walked closer to the man.

  ‘I’m Brighton and this is Joshua,’ he introduced themselves.

  ‘Elric,’ the man replied, looking uncomfortable.

  Four more men approached them.

  ‘Are you hunting?’ Brighton asked.

  ‘Yes, we’re tracking a deer,’ Elric replied.

  ‘We just came from that direction,’ Brighton said pointing back to their camp. ‘We didn’t see any deer.’

  Elric nodded, ‘Thank you, we must have lost it then. We’ll go back and pick up the tracks again. What are you doing in the forest?’

  ‘Also hunting, but we’re looking for rabbits since it’s only the two of us,’ Brighton lied.

  ‘Well, good luck. If you will excuse us we need to get that deer before dark,’ Elric said.

  Brighton and Joshua said good-bye and headed for Avarya.

  They jogged for a while until Brighton suddenly stopped so quickly Joshua bumped into him.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Joshua whispered.

  Brighton spoke in a normal voice, ‘Elric didn’t introduce us to his men. It was as if they already knew who we were. All of them looked very hostile towards us. Did you notice?’

  Joshua thought for a moment and said, ‘Maybe they thought we scared their prey away or took it for ourselves.’

  ‘No, hunters don’t think of prey as theirs until the kill has been made. Even then they are always willing to share. Besides, there are no deer around,’ Brighton answered as he used his sense to find out where Elric and his men were.

  He broke into a dead run back to camp.

  ‘Come, they’re heading straight for the camp!’ he shouted.

  The two men ran as hard as they could back to the camp. They went past the first set of traps. One of the hunters was lying dead on the ground. The traps they set were very basic but effective. They picked trees with branches growing at about chest height. Another branch with a knife fitted to the end was tied to it. The branch was then pulled back and a t
rip wire set. They used trees with lots of leaves to conceal all of this. When someone, like the dead hunter, set off the trip wire, they got a knife to the chest in a flash.

  Brighton didn’t stop to look, he ran as hard as he could along the safe route. They burst through the trees into the camp. One of the hunters was holding Michaela from behind around her waist, his other hand groping her breasts. She tried to fight him off but was no match for his strength.

  Joshua stormed forward without thinking, knife raised. He screamed at the man to leave Michaela alone.

  Brighton stopped and took the situation in.

  Lilian and Adri were nowhere to be seen. Apart from the man holding Michaela there was only one more hunter. Joshua raced across the small clearing but before he got halfway the other hunter let his spear fly. They were used to taking down running prey, the throw was perfect. At the same time the man holding Michaela pulled his knife across her throat.

  Joshua crashed to the ground with the spear sticking out of his chest. Michaela also dropped to the ground, blood pouring from her throat. Brighton knew instantly they were both dead.

  Both hunters produced throwing-knives and faced Brighton.

  He didn’t hesitate again. Two bolts of pure white light shot from his body. Two lifeless bodies fell to the ground, their heads missing.

  Elric stepped into the clearing, hands held high. Lilian, Adri and Mischief were a few steps behind him. All of them saw the dead bodies immediately. Adri’s hand shot to her mouth trying to stifle a cry.

  Brighton spoke to Lilian, ‘What happened?’

  ‘Adri and I went to the river for water when two men tried to attack us. Mischief killed the first one. I stopped him from killing this one; we might get some answers out of him.’

  Brighton stepped closer to Elric. The old hunter opened his mouth to speak but Brighton’s fist connected hard with his nose.

  Elric fell hard on his back. Mischief leapt onto him, his big jaws closing around the man’s throat.

  ‘NO MISCHIEF!’ Brighton shouted.

  The cat released his grip on Elric immediately but remained standing over him growling menacingly.

  Brighton squatted next to Elric and put his hand on Mischief’s back.