As his tone grew angry and his shoulders tensed, Jerron suddenly cut off. He slowly began to pull away. Maehril could sense there was something wrong and traced his frightened gaze to Cano’s dagger, lying on the ground by his hands. It was white. The metal blade glowed softly with a lambent white light.
Maehril knew what the light meant. Cano had gone on at length one day about what a strange knife he’d found at the bottom of the ocean.
There were dark creatures nearby. Something menacing and evil lurked out there in the blackness, amongst the trees.
Maehril closed her eyes and reached out to the darkness. She opened her mind to the energies of the forest, feeling for her enemies. They were everywhere. The entire clearing was surrounded. Maehril had never sensed this creature before, so she knew at once that it wasn’t Rovers. She wondered, fearfully, if that was a good thing. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than Rovers.
“Mueller!” Jerron shouted. He stood and freed his axe.
“What?” Mueller’s voice answered from the darkness.
“Cano’s dagger. Something’s out there,” Jerron’s words held a hard edge. He wasn’t afraid. He was excited, wild even.
“Peters! Hartsohn! Cressler! Fall into the circle! Darkness lurks!” Mueller commanded. The wariness in his voice was a sharp contrast to Jerron’s.
Like apparitions, her guardians emerged from the darkness, revealed by the soft light of the fire. Each man had a sword in his hands. They quickly made a barrier around Maehril.
Maehril suddenly realized that she had forgotten about Cano. After mending his leg, she had induced his sleep to allow him the rest he needed to properly recover. Whether he was ready or not, she had to wake him.
She bent down and touched his face.
Cano blinked slowly at first, as anyone would after a deep rest. Then he propped up on one elbow and looked around in confusion.
“What in heaven’s name?” he said, suddenly sensing the danger. Surrounded by armed men, Cano quickly figured out that he was needed. He grabbed his dagger, taking a moment to consider the illuminated blade and pushed himself in between Jerron and Peters. Staring down the darkness, he called to Maehril over his shoulder. “Are ya alright, girl?”
Maehril fondly rubbed his back to let him know she was fine.
“How’s the leg?” Jerron asked.
“Feels fine,” Cano answered.
“Anyone seen anything yet?” Peters whispered harshly.
“Nothing,” Cressler answered.
“There has to be something out there. Cano’s dagger glows when there’s evil nearby,” Jerron said. He rhythmically patted his axe in his free hand.
“How long til morning?” Cano asked.
“The night has just begun,” Peters replied.
Everyone peered out into the blackness. From where they stood, even the trees were hidden by the lightless night. Without the light of day, they were as good as blind.
Two red dots appeared in the distance, flickering several times, hovering unevenly.
“Do you see that?” Cressler’s voice was unsteady.
Two more red dots appeared several feet away from the other pair... then two more.
“What is that?” Peters whispered hoarsely, as though the words were catching in his throat.
Suddenly, red dots began materializing in pairs all around them. They seemed to hover in the air, flickering occasionally.
“I think they’re eyes,” Cressler said, with unmistakable terror.
The deathly silence that had filled the black void gave way to low grunts, growls, and hissing. A violent screech chilled the marrow of Maehril’s bones. There were simply too many pairs of eyes to count.
“Stand ready,” Mueller warned.
The wall of red eyes seemed to get closer as the creatures advanced. None moved quickly. The beginning of their attack seemed almost casual as though the creatures felt no fear of failure. They moved on the party like hungry wolves stalking a wounded deer.
Maehril spun around in her citadel of armed guards, watching the advance unsurely. She knew what she had to do, but the night was still young. Her power was not everlasting. She could easily expend all of her energy fighting this first group of attackers, but what if there were more? What if this was just the darkness testing her strength and resolve. She had to fight smart and conserve her ability.
The red eyes were only several yards away now. The sudden quiet of their footsteps, heralded by the snapping of twigs, and the crackle of dried decaying leaves, told her that they had moved into the clearing.
It was time to act.
Maehril pushed her focus inward, reaching out to the source of her strength. It felt like a pool of water, a lake even, full of light and purpose, awaiting her will. She drew from that source, filling her body with its puissance, drinking in the light. Though it felt endless and infinite, she was careful not to draw in too much energy.
Then she pushed her power out, forming a dome of light around the company. She let it harden and settle protectively. In this form, she could release her power, and rest. The dome would wear down, but it would buy them some time.
One by one the weapons of her guardians slumped toward the ground as they gawked at the protective dome that surrounded them. For a moment it seemed they forgot the danger, as each pair of eyes fell on Maehril.
Then reality came crashing back when one of the creatures launched itself against the barrier. The beast let out a guttural scream of pain, its body burned by the purity of Maehril’s light.
Despite the failure of the first creature, several more also tested the barriers integrity. In the light of the dome, they could see wafts of smoke hanging in the air at each point of impact. Savage cries of pain sounded off in the darkness.
In the light of the dome, the party could see their foe. One stepped up close to the wall of light, inspecting the barrier carefully. It was the size of an older child, bent at the waist, walking with its hands in the dirt. Like the trees around it, the creature seemed to be covered in black bark, cracked and fissured like a pine. Red eyes stared directly at Maehril, rancorous and evil. It showed no interest in the men. Even as Jerron waved his axe threateningly, it just stared darkly at Maehril, saliva dripping from between the sharp, pointed teeth of its open jaw.
Others stepped up to the barrier as well, joining the first. Some stood on two legs, some with their hands in the dirt. Their fingers were short, strong, and equipped with long black claws. One dug at the ground, then flipped some loose soil at the wall of light. The dirt and grass passed right through the barrier.
“What are they?” Cressler wondered aloud. Cressler’s question was answered with silence. “Does this evil even have a name?”
“How long can you keep that wall up, Maehril?” Mueller asked.
“It depends on them,” Cano answered. He was staring at Maehril, reading her. “It will weaken every time they attack.”
Maehril didn’t understand how Cano knew, but he was right. In fact he had put her own thoughts into words perfectly. She smiled at him and nodded.
“So we just stand here and wait?” Cressler asked.
“For now,” Mueller replied.
“What about us?” Jerron turned to Maehril. “Can we attack them through the wall? Or will that weaken it faster?”
“The wall spurns dark beings. Ya can pass through safely as often as ya wish,” Cano told him.
Again, he had spoken Maehril’s own thoughts.
Jerron toke a step forward, but Mueller grabbed his arm. The look in Jerron’s eyes as he glared at Mueller was a virulent warning.
“We wait,” Mueller told him.
“You can wait,” Jerron hissed, “I need to swing my axe.”
Mueller sighed and released Jerron’s arm. Perhaps he knew, just as Maehril did, that Jerron needed to release his anger. And he was Massoniel. Trying to stop a Massoniel who had made up his mind was an act of futility.
Jerron stepped up to the wall and sta
red through at one of the creatures. He held his axe in his right hand, hanging by his side. The creature’s gaze didn’t avert. It looked right past Jerron, its big red eyes, fixed on Maehril. Every pair of red eyes remained fixed on Maehril.
Jerron looked over his shoulder. “They don’t look so tough,” he said with a boasting, toothless grin. “Not as tough as rovers, anyway.”
He turned and faced the creature standing across from him. Its dark face, noseless and flat, still gave no evidence of acknowledgement. Using the pointed end of his axe, Jerron reached through the barrier and poked it. The creature flinched and tried to grab the axe, but Jerron quickly pulled it back. For a long moment, it watched Jerron through the barrier, then resumed its study of Maehril.
Jerron turned again and looked at the group. Maehril knew what he was about to do, and hoped that he would find it cathartic. Witnessing the death, or even being in a close enough proximity to feel the death, of an innocent life was like a caustic pain that emanated from her core. It tore at the fragile tethers that held her sanity together.
Watching the destruction of dark creatures, however, produced an opposite reaction. Each death felt like scratching a pestering itch; a fleeting relief, but nothing more. The destruction of black souls was necessary, but giving death was joyless. She hoped Jerron would feel the same way. If he began to enjoy taking life, then his own soul was doomed to turn black.
Jerron lifted his axe and took a violent swing at the creature on the other side of the wall. His blade cleaved through its skull, taking its head off at the jaw. The removed piece dropped to the ground with all the pageantry of a dropped rock, landing heavily in the soft grass with a dull thud. The remains of the body didn’t move. No blood poured from the wound. It looked like a tree stump, solid all the way through. The arms hung stiffly like branches.
Jerron waited several seconds for some kind of reaction. When it showed no visible signs of life, he poked it with his axe. The body tipped backward, no different than a falling tree. It landed on the ground and lay like an oversized chunk of kindling.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Jerron said with mild relief.
Cressler stepped up beside Jerron and observed the body up close. He knelt down, peering through the barrier in wonder. He poked it a few times with the point of his sword, then turned with a wide grin and looked at the rest of the group.
“These things die easily,” he almost laughed. “If this is the worst this place has to offer, then maybe we’ll be alright tonight.”
Then he resumed his examination of the dead creature. Brazenly, he reached his hand through the barrier and touched what had once been the beast's foot.
“It feels like tree bark,” he announced.
“Just leave the thing alone,” Peters barked.
In the blink of an eye, tendrils of vines lashed out from the nearest creature and wrapped around Cressler’s arm. It pulled, and Cressler tumbled headlong through the barrier, screaming in terror. Like frenzied vultures, the surrounding creatures pounced on Cressler, ripping his limbs and flesh and devouring the pieces.
Maehril watched in horror, unable to react quickly enough to save the young guardsman. His fulminating cries of horror as he was viciously dismembered and eaten alive were terrifying, until the forest fell silent, save for the ravenous grunts of the feasting creatures.
When Cressler’s remains were completely consumed, the creatures returned to their vigil. Just as before, they encircled the dome as silent and still as the trees in the forest. Every pair of red eyes focused solely on Maehril once again.
Jerron backed away from the wall. No-one spoke. There was nothing to say. Cressler had stood among them only moments earlier. Now there was nothing left of the man. The creatures had even eaten his clothes.
“Are you satisfied?” Mueller asked Jerron.
Jerron looked at Mueller incredulously. “You think this is my fault?”
“If you’d just stayed here with the rest of us, Cressler would still be alive.” Mueller’s anger was evident, but he didn’t raise his voice. He was simply pointing out something he felt was obvious to a young hothead.
“He didn’t have to reach through and poke it with his hand.” Jerron looked around for support from someone. No-one said a word in his defense. “Forget it. I’m not going to sit around here and blame myself for that. That was awful, and I pray that his soul finds the Creator’s embrace, but it wasn’t my fault.”
Maehril would have spoken for him if she could. It was easy during difficult circumstances, when something tragic occurred, to point blame, but no-one forced Cressler’s hand. If they survived this ordeal she would talk to Jerron. With all that had happened to him, he needed someone to talk to.
“So what do we do now?” Jerron asked.
“We wait,” Mueller answered grimly.
“They aren’t hard to kill. You all saw how easily my axe cut that thing down. They’re like trees. Like soft wood. The night is still young. What if Maehril can’t keep us shielded all night? I say we start cutting their numbers down,” Jerron appealed to them with his customary passion.
Mueller, Peters, and Hartsohn all regarded him with silent unreadable faces. Peters and Hartsohn would defer to Mueller. Cano would only care about guarding Maehril. In the end, if they took action, it would be Mueller’s decision. Mueller considered Jerron impetuous and undisciplined. He wouldn’t be swayed easily.
Maehril could already feel the power of the shield diminishing. Once it flickered out, she would build a new barrier, and another when that one failed. She would try her best to keep it up all night, but she doubted herself. The only other times she had used her power, she had ended up unconscious from the exertion. Jerron was right. If they were going to survive until the morning, they had to use every advantage they could find.
“I’m with Jerron,” Cano suddenly announced. The attention of the group swung to the old sailor. “Maehril can’t keep this up all night. We have to use this shield to our advantage. Quick attacks. Cut down as many as we can.”
“Why doesn’t she just shoot her light at them like she did with the rovers?” Peters asked.
“She’s still new at this,” Cano answered. His light blue eyes studied her, as if he were reading the answers in the nuances of her face. “Facing the rovers knocked her out. She doesn’t know how much she’s capable of handling yet. If she loses consciousness, then we’ll really be in trouble.”
“How do you know that?” Jerron wondered.
Cano broke off his study of her face as though a trance had been lifted. He stumbled, and groggily shook his head.
“What’s that ya said?” he asked, crossly.
“How do you know what Maehril’s thinking?” Jerron asked again.
“How in heaven's name should I know what she’s thinking?” Cano asked, confused by Jerron’s question.
Jerron shook his head in frustration. “You just told us what she’s thinking!”
Cano looked around uncertainly. He scratched his head, trying to work out a memory that seemed just beyond his grasp. Then he shrugged, defeated, and looked around uncomfortably.
“I don’t know what I jest said. Can’t remember saying anything,” Cano said.
Jerron threw up his hands in disbelief. “You said that Maehril’s shield is getting weaker…”
“Leave him be, Jerron,” Mueller cut him off. The veteran soldier was studying Cano with interest. “We have witnessed many unexplainable things since Maehril came into our lives. Perhaps this is another. We’ll worry about what it means later. For now, I think we need to attack.”
As he finished speaking, the radiance of the barrier visibly diminished. Several of the creatures charged the wall, hissing in pain as they were repelled. The barrier still held. The creatures who had challenged its integrity resumed their vigil, though fresh smoke plumed off of their wooden bodies from the contact with the shield.
Everyone looked at each other uncertainly. There had been a moment as they watched
the creature's charge that each man had expected the beasts to break through. It had been a shared instance of fear, fleeting but necessary. Resolve and anger took hold in each man’s face. The petty bickering that had divided the group dissolved. Weapons were suddenly gripped tighter. No-one needed an order to act.
Like a single thinking unit Mueller, Peters, Hartsohn and Jerron strode toward the boundary. Cano, armed only with his terrallium dagger, stayed back with Maehril and watched.
They were careful. Mueller called out the commands to attack in unison. Each strike was aimed at the closest creatures, focusing primarily on the heads. Once their weapons were swung, the men pulled back to the safety of the barrier. Several fell quickly as the group worked their way around the perimeter.
At first the creatures didn’t respond. Every burning red eye remained intently fixed on Maehril. As the heads of their brethren fell to the ground, not a one moved or seemed to notice. They stood like stumps, rooted to the ground. The rhythmic hum of their low steady growling breath was the only sign that they lived at all. Then, with the coordinated grace of a military unit, they moved forward, a new row of creatures to replace the headless ones at the barrier.
“It can’t be this easy,” Hartsohn muttered under his breath.
“Why not?” Jerron answered with a laugh. He swung his axe at the nearest creature, but this time it dodged, taking a quick step back. When the axe was clear, it moved right back into place. “Well that was different.”
Hartsohn grunted a reply. He watched the dark creature standing in front of him, timing his strike. The blade moved quickly when he struck, but the beast moved as if Hartsohn had given it a warning. Hartsohn took a step back and looked at Mueller.
“I don’t like this,” he said, grimly.
The barrier began to flicker. The creatures didn’t hesitate this time. The front row jumped at the boundary, seeking a weakness. Though many were repelled, two slid through into the dome, but their bodies caught fire. Undeterred by the flames and screaming a high pitched wail of agony, the two wooden creatures raced toward Maehril.
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