by Nichelle Rae
We walked over to our horses and mounted. “Lead the way,” Yarin said from behind as he mounted his horse.
I looked over my shoulder at him. “What kind of riding conditions are you and your men accustomed to?”
“What do you mean?”
“When we left Rocksheloc our party had a day lead on us. By now they have two days’ lead. We’re going to have to ride through the night with no sleep and little rest. I’ve had to ride like that three times in the mere weeks since I left the west. Can your riders manage that kind of abuse?”
Yarin smiled. “Azrel, there are times we must go days without even rest. We could be on one side of Casdanarus one day, then find out we’re needed on the other side in a short period of time.” He winked. “We can manage.”
I smiled and even felt myself turn a little red, then faced forward. “Ya!” I called and kicked Forfirith into a full gallop. We were off, and I was very happy for the company of the Gleo’gwyns.
“Stay quiet,” Reese whispered a little harshly to me as he focused through the bushes we crouched behind. We had abandoned the road about fifteen minutes earlier. Yarin said he felt something wrong, so he ordered everyone, save for two scouts, into the woods that lined each side of the road.
I smiled at Reese, finding his harshness a little humorous. “Who are you to order me around?”
He looked at me with a firm, determined expression. “I failed to protect you once. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
I smiled despite his tone and rubbed his back comfortingly. “Don’t worry so much.”
He managed to look at me with a smile, though his eyes were red and glassy from exhaustion. I seemed to be the only one in good spirits after a nonstop night and half a day’s ride. I was only vaguely weary. Reese and the Gleo’gwyns, on the other hand, looked about ready to fall over on their feet. Yarin was an exception. He looked about as alert as I was. I wondered though, as I looked at the state his men were in, if he’d told me the truth about riding with no rest for days and days. His riders seemed far too exhausted after only twenty hours to convince me that they were used to such hard driving. Now that a battle could be on the brink, I wondered if they’d be able to fight properly.
Finally I heard galloping hooves as the scouts returned to report on the disturbance up ahead. “It’s a host of Gorkors, Yarin,” one said frantically, “only a mile away!”
“How many?”
“At least three hundred.”
My eyes went wide. A host of three hundred Gorkors? Reese and I exchanged worried glances. Beldorn wasn’t joking that things had gotten bad out here. Shadow creatures gathering in such a large host was not a good thing.
I looked over my shoulder at Yarin. He stood away from the bushes looking at his scouts. “Hide your horses down the road with the others and take cover. Quickly!” The two men rode out of sight and then returned, taking cover in the bushes with the rest of us. Yarin crouched down to hide once more.
“Did you know these Gorkors were coming at us?” I asked.
He shook his head. “We’re only told of danger that threatens other people, never ourselves.”
Only a few moments passed before I heard heavy footsteps coming up the dirt road. I drew my bowstring towards my cheek and took aim at the sound.
I felt Reese and Yarin’s eyes on me. “They aren’t even close enough to hear. Why are you taking aim?” Yarin whispered.
“I hear them,” I said in a low voice, keeping my eyes on the road.
From the corner of my eye I saw Reese’s eyebrows drop curiously at me, and then from behind I heard Yarin make a whistling, chirping sound like a bird. There was a faint rustle in the bushes as his Gleo’gwyns pulled back their bowstrings and we waited. The tips of the pointy, bat-like ears finally appeared over the hill as the Gorkors marched up the road towards us. Soon a dozen brown and grey, pressed-in faces crested the hill of the road.
As I waited for the right moment to fire, a disturbing thought occurred to me; they were heading in the wrong direction. The necklace was with Ortheldo who was farther south. Why were these creatures of Evil heading north and not going for the necklace?
Thwip! My arrow was launched and a Gorkor went down with a roar of agony.
Before the others realized what was happening, a chorus of singing bowstrings and flying arrows erupted all around me as the Gleo’gwyns fired. Gorkor roars filled the sky and dull thumps were heard as many of them fell dead to the ground. It took another volley of arrows to kill all that had shown themselves. A distant grumble that came to my ears, however, made me shiver.
While the Gleo’gwyns began cheering and congratulating each other, I darted from the bushes and went out onto the road to the edge of the steep hill. I nearly swallowed my tongue! An army of Gorkors, numbering about 500, was marching up the hill straight towards us!
I stared in disbelief. Why didn’t the scouts see them? A disturbing realization crossed my mind; this could be a hunting party for me. They were heading in the opposite direction of the necklace, and someone powerful hid these Gorkors from the scout’s eyes.
“Light Gods save us,” I breathed. It wasn’t loud, but it was enough to have the entire first line of Gorkors look up at me. I choked for a moment, wondering what to do. The Gorkors’ hideous expressions turned lethal as they started running up the hill in a full charge.
Should I tell the Gleo’gwyns to arm?
No. That’s Yarin’s job.
But I can’t just stand here!
What was I supposed to do?
I was paralyzed in shock, but luckily Reese and Yarin appeared by my side and saw what I was looking at. Both of them turned and ran back to the others, shouting out orders. “Form ranks! Arrows in front, swords behind! Move!”
I still stood frozen in shock at the edge of that hill. The monsters stood over eight feet tall, with brute strength that could tear a man in two without exerting any effort. I’d never fought a Gorkor before!
“Azrel!” Yarin was yelling my name. “What are you doing?”
I supposed there was a first time for everything. I pulled out my sword and slashed at the first one as it got in front of me, completely separating its torso into two pieces.
“Azrel!” Yarin screamed as another Gorkor came at me. “Get out of the way of my archers!”
Oops! I hadn’t realized I was in their way. I spun myself out of the way, cutting a Gorkor in half while doing so, and moved myself to the edge of the road to allow the Gleo’gwyns a clear path to launch arrows.
More and more Gorkors came up the hill and a battle erupted. We were all under complete siege by these monsters. For every one I managed to kill, two more would take its place.
I was backhanded by a massive claw, which sent me reeling. I put my hands out in front of me just before my forehead could smack into a tree trunk. I turned around and saw a long, boney hand coming at me. I brought my sword up and sliced it off before those razor sharp claws got too close. Undaunted, the creature reached for me with its other claw. I sliced that one off too, then thrust my sword forward, stabbing it in the heart. Four more claws were at me even as that one fell dead. Apparently my sword skills weren’t going to be enough for this fight. I glanced towards the road where the battle was thickest to see if anyone was looking in my direction. No one was.
After slicing a Gorkor across the ribs, I spun around behind a tree. It was time to use other fighting means. I put my sword away and looked at my fists, which were spotted with black blood, and summoned my magic. White fire erupted and took the shape of the white fingerless gloves, with three claw-like knives jutting out from the knuckles. I touched my toes, sending white fire out the tips of my boots to take the shape of a blade. I lifted each foot in turn and touched my heel, making three more knives jut out the back of my boots.
Three Gorkors came around to each side of the tree. I took a deep breath in order to focus my energy into what my body was about to do. Slowly, a Gorkor arm reached for me, and I re
leased my breath.
I spun around and jammed my fist into the creature’s arm, my knuckle claws pinning it to the tree. My other fist came down at its elbow, completely severing the limb. The Gorkor screamed in pain and backed off.
I ducked under the swinging arm of another monster. I spun, my leg coming in at it from the side, and the knife at my toe stabbed it in the side of its waist. I dislodged the knife, then leapt in the air and spun completely around with one leg out, the blades on my heel ripping open a chest. I had just enough time to duck under another claw. I spun and punched that one up into its ribs, my clawed gloves slicing its chest open as well. My foot then shot out behind me and I kicked another hard in the stomach. As it doubled over, I faced it, then thrust my foot straight up into its chin; I could actually see the blade attached to my toe through its gaped mouth.
I pulled my foot out of that one’s face, then turned around and had to use my claw knives to cut off yet another hand reaching for me. I quickly spun again with my leg up and used my heel blades to cut off the arm of a second Gorkor’s who’d thought it could sneak up behind me. I kicked backwards, smashing the first Gorkor in the face and sending it sprawling into its back. With another leap and a midair spin, my heel blades ripped open the throat of the Gorker that had tried to sneak up behind me. Turning again, I drove my clawed fist down into the chest of the first Gorkor while it was still down.
I battled like that for I didn’t know how long, screaming and grunting with every effort. My hair was flipping in my face, sweat was dripping down the back of my neck and into my shirt, and I was covered in black blood. I felt random cuts all over my arms and legs from the slip of claws, but the pain was minimal. I was out of breath, but I knew if I stopped for a second I was dead.
I was unexpectedly thrown facedown into the ground all of the sudden. When I rolled onto my back, I saw was a massive foot coming down. It slammed into my chest. The Gorkor’s clawed toes cut four shallow gashes in my throat. Then, it pushed!
A few seconds of panic raced through my mind but my focus quickly returned as I realized what to do. I brought both my arms out to my sides, then brought them up fast, slicing the Gorkor’s legs from the outside of its thighs to the inside. Blood sprayed everywhere as its upper body fell backwards and it’s severed legs fell forward. I did a backwards summersault out of the way before I could have black blood for lunch. Getting to my feet, I took a fight stance.
My area was quiet now. I looked at the battle on the road and I wanted to throw up! The entirety of the dirt road was covered in red and black blood. Pieces of Gleo’gwyn bodies were littered everywhere among full Gorkor corpses. One Gleo’gwyn, in an odd shade of blue armor, was impaled in a tree, the sharp end of a broken branch protruding out of his stomach.
I felt the seams of my sanity stretching again, but I was not going to have another breakdown! I’d given the White Warrior my word that I wouldn’t. I trembled with the effort of trying not to scream. In the meantime three more Gorkors were coming towards me. I tried to take my eyes off the horror of the road, but found it hard to do.
I heard something strange then. I tilted my head in the direction of the sound. It was running feet, coming towards us. Who in Casdanarus was running towards a battle like this? They must be able to see it from the clearing, at least the butt-end of it. Was this person crazy?
Another Gorkor was on the attack. I spun around to have my heel claws slice his gut, but apparently Gorkors were more intelligent than I’d thought. The monster grabbed my ankle in mid-swing and started to lift my leg. My upper body became unbalanced, but as I fell backwards, I brought my free foot straight up under its chin, my toe blade impaling it. I landed on the ground on my back as the now dead creature dropped me.
I got to my feet quickly. I still had two more to deal with and four more were on the way. I was about to fight the first one, my lungs laboring for air, my face covering in sweat, dirt and blood, when I suddenly heard the unmistakable snap of a bow. After that came the thunk sound of an arrow impaling a body. I flinched when it seemed that out of nowhere an arrow appeared, going through the Gorkor’s throat, both the head and tail sticking out each side.
I turned to see the source of the arrow, and apparently the running footsteps, and thought for a moment that Acalith had shown up in the nick of time again. It didn’t take long for me to realize it wasn’t her. Another disturbing thought: where was Acalith? Wasn’t she supposed to know when I was in danger at all times? Why wasn’t she here protecting me?
The being I looked at now was cloaked and hooded in tan like Acalith always was, but the mask over the nose and mouth was black. The eyes were green, but they were a pleasant dark green rather than the intimidating bright green of Acalith’s. This person wasn’t as tightly bundled as Acalith either. For instance, I could see the top of this person’s hair through the loose hood and saw that it was a fair blonde color.
The being pulled out two more arrows. Both were loaded and launched. I followed their flight and staggered backwards when I saw how close two Gorkors had gotten to me. One Gorkor fell to its side with an arrow lodged into its head, while the other arrow had passed through its skull and plunged into the side of the second Gorkor’s throat.
I turned to look at the tan clad bow master, only to find him or her standing right at my side. I jumped and staggered back, startled at seeing a body so close to me when a moment ago there had been no one.
I sighed. “Thanks,” I said, only half grateful, thinking about the mess on the road.
“Are you alright?” My eyes went wide. He spoke with an accent. There was a graceful laxness in the way he said the ‘a’ and the ‘i.’ He clearly wasn’t from around here.
“Yes, I’m fine.” I felt like such a fool for the way my words sounded now. His way of speaking seemed so…proper and authoritative, yet graceful and fluid. I examined him a moment. The skin around his eyes was smooth and youthful, but the eyes themselves were deep with age and wisdom, despite how young they looked.
I shook my head slightly in wonder, then looked away towards the road. To my pleasant surprise the battle was over. I flinched, however, when I realized a lot of the Gorkors now lay in a smoking, black-charred heap. My eyes went wide. How in the name of the Gods had they been burned to death in a second?
The remaining Gleo’gwyns were walking stiffly among the road, plucking arrows out of bodies, or helping wounded men. They were all exhausted and they had lost so much. This body count was going to be high.
Yarin approached with a nasty cut across his entire cheek. Reese followed with his head hanging low but his eyes on me. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. How are you holding up?” He just nodded.
I looked at Yarin’s cut as he stood breathing heavily in front of me. I felt guilty and responsible for his loss. Then, without thinking, I started to raise my hand to heal him with my magic.
Before my hand even came up six inches from my side, the masked man took a gentle and firm hold of my wrist, stopping me. I looked over at him as he shifted his eyes to me and gently shook his head.
I wondered why he was stopping me, then I realized that some Gleo’gwyns were in plain sight. If I had healed Yarin, they would have seen my white fire magic. Wow. How could I forget, even for a moment, that it needed to stay hidden? Well, the leader of the Gleo’gwyns did have the potential to make me forget my own name. I looked at Yarin and cringed at the idea of his perfect beauty being forever marred by the hateful claw of a Gorkor.
“Here,” Reese said and lifted a hand to Yarin’s cheek. A blue and purple glittering magic filled his palm and the gash was gone. I think I sighed in relief. Then something passed through Yarin’s eyes so instantaneously before he smiled at Reese that I wondered if I’d truly seen it—severe disappointment.
“Thank you,” Yarin said, clapping Reese on the shoulder.
I looked from Yarin to his exhausted riders. They were dragging their feet as they began to pile up the Gorkors for burning an
d bury their dead. “Reese, can you go heal the injured Gleo’gwyns and help them pick up the road?” Reese nodded and headed for the road.
“Something you need to say, Azrel?” Yarin said a little cheekily and smiled. I however, was not smiling.
“Yarin, I might be mistaken, but before the Gorkors even came, your men looked severely exhausted. They, needless to say, look even worse now.” My eyes narrowed. “We’ve only ridden for a day and a night, yet you told me you and your men were accustomed to extended days of nonstop travel.”
He looked down. “We are, my lady. I was just discussing this oddity with Ruburst.” He shook his head. “Mark my words, Azrel, some evil was at work to exhaust my men, knowing it would add to our casualties when we went up against the Gorkors. It’s not like them to be so weary.”
I nodded and looked away, thinking of the odd black night last night when the Gibirs attacked. “You’re probably right.” These men had saved Ortheldo twice and never asked for anything in return. The least I could give them was my trust. I looked back at Yarin. “I have faith in your men that this is probably evil at work, or something else out of your control.”
Yarin nodded and bowed. “Thank you for your belief in us, my lady.”
I nodded towards the road, “Let’s go clean up this mess.” Yarin and I headed out of the woods to clean up the road.
“Be very careful.”
I jumped at the sound of a voice and spun to my right, letting Yarin go ahead of me. The masked man was still there. He’d been so quiet and so still that I’d forgotten about him for a moment. “Gods, I’m sorry. I forgot about you there.”
The corners of his youthful eyes wrinkled and I guessed it was because he was smiling behind that black mask. “So Azrel is your name?”
“It is. Might I have the pleasure of knowing yours?”
He took the side of his cloak and brought it to his chest as he bowed at the waist to me. “I am Lisswilla, at your service White Warrior.” My eyes went wide and I stopped breathing for a minute. “Ah yes,” he said and straightened, “I know who you are.”