by Owen Crane
Ariella breathed deeply. It feels amazing to be out of the city, it’s been too long.
Karlov led them at a brisk pace. The fields of wheat and barley gave way to
all manner of fruit orchards, a hundred different varieties of apples, pears and
plums.
After a few hours riding Karlov held up his hand and the column of riders
halted.
Jaron moved his horse up next to Ariella"s. “What"s he doing?” he asked
looking at Karlov.
“I"m not sure,” replied Ariella
Felix was riding the horse in front them and turned in the saddle. “He"s
listening.”
“For what?” Jaron and Ariella asked in unison.
Before Felix could answer, Karlov kicked his horse into a canter and the
column was moving again. They only rode for a few minutes before Karlov
halted again.
“Felix,” called Jaron “What"s he listening for?”
Felix turned to Jaron; his face had gone white again. “Thunder.”
“Thunder?” said Ariella looking up at the clear blue sky “Why"s he listening
for thunder?”
Then they heard it. There was a dull, low rumble of thunder.
“Felix,” asked Ariella, growing nervous. “Why can I hear thunder when
there"s not a cloud in the sky?”
“They"re not called Thunderheads without good reason. Their heads are
covered with thick, heavy armour and they attack by charging that head in o
things.”
“Things?” asked Jaron
Felix shrugged “Tree, barns, walls, animals, wagons, people. You know,
things.”
Ahead of them Karlov stood high in his stirrups and motioned for the Knot
to gather around him.
“Listen up everyone, this may keep you from getting hurt today.” The Knot
looked startled as more peels of thunder rolled around them. “The
Thunderheads here have reached infestation stage. That means there is no
controlling them and no capturing them; they are essentially insane. That means
we take them out and we do it fast. The Thunderheads are weak in the sides and
the rear, do not try to take them on head first, you will lose and losing to a
Thunderhead means broken bones. Is that clear?”
The Knot nodded.
“Excellent. Stay together, fight as a team, just like I"ve been teaching you.
Any questions? No? Good. Secure the horses here, they"ll not help us in there.”
Karlov motioned to a large apple orchard off to the side of the road.”
The Knot fanned out and approached the first line of trees as more thunder
echoed around them. They drew their weapons, Jaron and Theia notching
arrows to their bows. Eleazar nervously spun his long knives in his hands; Indio
practiced a few swings with his axe and grinned. Ariella drew her rapier; the
cold metal felt reassuring in her hand.
The thunder grew louder and more frequent as they advanced through the
trees. Up ahead they saw a tall apple tree shake violently and heard the thuds as
piles of apples fell to the earth. The tree shook again and again, each time
accompanied by a peal of thunder. Then there was a massive crack and the
trunk exploded at its base sending splinters flying in every direction. The tall
tree tumbled to the ground and lay still.
The advancing Knot hesitated and exchanged unsure glances.
“Keep moving.” Commanded Karlov, positioned in the middle of the line.
Ariella was near one end of the line on Karlov"s left, with Phoebe on her
outside and Indio, Jaron and Eleazar on the inside. The other five were on the far
side of Karlov. Ariella was scanning the trees in front of her trying to catch a
glimpse of whatever had shattered the apple tree.
Suddenly there was a blur of movement just in front them, a mighty crash of
thunder and a nearby tree shook violently. Then Ariella saw it. A small
creature, no higher than her knee, with four stumpy legs, wide feet and a short
stocky tail. The body was thick and round, a blurred mixture of browns and
greens with a few flashes of yellow. She could just make out its head, with a
jagged mouth and small black eyes. All over the front of its body were thick,
armoured scales, notched and ridged. It shook itself, backed away a few meters
from the tree and then leapt forward with frightening speed.
CRASH
The tree shuddered but remained upright. The Thunderhead shook itself,
backed away and charged.
CRASH
“What are you waiting for?” yelled Karlov at the five on his left. “Take it
out!”
Jaron let fly with his arrow, it struck the Thunderhead as it was backing
away from the tree. The arrow slammed into the thick armour on its head and
was deflected off high and away by the armoured plates. The Thunderhead
didn"t even flinch.
Eleazar glanced at Jaron “This is going to be harder than it looks.”
The Thunderhead charged again and slammed into the tree sending splinters
of wood flying in every direction.
“Oww!” cried Indio as a splinter dug into his thigh. “That it"s, I"m having
it!”
He leapt towards the creature as it shook itself at the base of the tree,
recovering from the impact. He swung his great axe down on the creature"s
head.
SMACK
The axe rebounded off the great armoured plates and was thrown from
Indio"s hands, landing just a few meters from Ariella.
“Hey!” she cried, “are trying to kill me?”
The Thunderhead studied Indio with its tiny black eyes and began backing
away.
“Indio, get out of the way!” Jaron yelled, dumping his bow and drawing his
sword.
Indio realized what was happening. He turned and started running for his
axe but the Thunderhead and already begun its charge. Indio was sprinting
across the floor of the orchard towards his axe, too slowly. The Thunderhead
was accelerating and gaining him on him fast. There was no way he"d get to his
axe in time.
Jaron and Ariella dived into the creature"s path, trying to distract it from
Indio. Eleazar threw one of his long knives. It struck the side of the creature"s
head and there it stayed, embedded in the armoured scale, the creature didn"t
even break its stride.
“Oh heck,” muttered Eleazar.
The Thunderhead was at full speed, moments away from impact with Indio,
Jaron and Ariella. Ariella closed her eyes ready for the crunch, but it never came.
Swiftly, without a sound, Phoebe had intercepted the onrushing Thunderhead.
She slammed her great sword down on its unprotected back, killing it instantly.
“And that, my young Sojourners, is how you deal with a Thunderhead,” said
a smiling Karlov. “Excellent work Phoebe. One down, probably a few hundred
left. Indio pick up your axe and try not to drop again, okay?”
Indio, breathing heavily, retrieved his axe. “Thanks Phoebe, I owe you.”
Phoebe nodded but remained silent, her face a picture of calm determination.
Eleazar recovered his knife from the Thunderhead and the Knot continued
through the orchard towards the ever increasing sound of thunder. The further
into the trees they moved, the greater the devastation. Smashed and shattered
apple
trees lay strewn across the soft green grass that covered the orchard floor.
Everywhere they looked there were charging Thunderheads. They seemed to be
in some sort of rage, crashing into each other and ricocheting off trees, it was
carnage.
“Stay together, pick them off one at a time. Remember, aim for the sides and
rear. Let"s go,” commanded Karlov.
Ariella and the four others with her edged towards the scene of destruction.
It was mayhem. The Thunderheads were continuously charging through the
orchard attacking anything in front of them. Thankfully they were too
distracted to notice Ariella and the others arrive. The noise of their thunderous
impact was deafening. The Sojourners had to shout just to be heard.
“Hit them when they"re dazed after an impact.” Yelled Ariella. “Use the
trees as cover.”
The others nodded and split off in pairs with Jaron hanging back with his
longbow he"d retrieved from the ground. Indio and Eleazar took up position a
few paces behind a large apple tree that a Thunderhead was charging at.
CRASH
Before the creature could recover from the impact they were upon it,
Eleazar"s knives finding the gaps in its armour.
Phoebe and Ariella continued using their tactics, taking out the
Thunderheads before they could recover from a charge. Jaron used his bow to
good effect, standing in between the two pairs and hitting the Thunderheads in
their weak rear.
“Keep going!” called Karlov, “with luck we may actually save some of this
orchard.”
They continued to move ahead, taking down the Thunderheads as they
went.
“Look!” shouted Jaron, pointing up head.
A hundred yards or so ahead of them was an old stone farmhouse with a
thatched roof. There were two small gable windows with pretty flower boxes
and a painted red front door. Under normal circumstances it would"ve been
idyllic, but not today. Today it was surrounded by a seething mass of
Thunderheads launching themselves relentlessly at the stone walls.
A girl"s scream pierced the air
“It must be the farmer!” shouted Ariella above the incessant sound of
thunder. “Quickly!”
The five of them broke into a run dodging the charging Thunderheads.
Jaron"s arrows whistled over them removing any from their path that he could.
The walls were shaking under the mass of attacks. The girl screamed again.
Indio and Phoebe were in the lead and smashed into the rear of the mass of
creatures around the farmhouse, sword and battle axe carving through the
Thunderheads. Ariella and Eleazar followed behind darting in and out, cutting
through the lightly armoured rear of the creatures.
Masses of dust and small pieces of stone were falling from the wall.
“We"ve got to get her out,” said Ariella, “the whole place is coming down.
Phoebe, Indio, carve us a path to the door.”
The four of them started to push through the mass of Thunderheads. Jaron
was still outside the ring raining down arrow after arrow.
A huge piece of stone tumbled out of the wall just behind the small group,
crushing several thunderheads underneath it.
“There"s too many,” said Eleazar, breathing heavily from the exertion.
“We"re not going to get to the door in time.
The gable window above them flew open and they heard the girl scream
again. She was being held by an older girl that looked like her sister. They had a
look of terror in their eyes.
“They"re going to have to jump,” called Jaron. “If the house comes down
while they"re still inside it"ll be all over.”
“They can"t jump from there, the fall will kill them,” replied Ariella.
Indio spoke up, “Not if Phoebe catches them.”
Ariella looked at her giant companion. She was still swinging her great
sword, fighting desperately to get to the front door.
It might work or she might drop them. They’re dead either way Ari. Lets give them a fighting chance.
“What do you think Phoebe?” she asked
Phoebe didn"t say anything. She paused, looked at the two girls in the
window, looked back at Ariella and nodded.
“Alright guys, let"s clear her some space.”
Jaron concentrated his fire on the Thunderheads around Phoebe as the others
cleared out as many as they could giving her as much space as possible.
Ariella called up to the two girls. “You"re going to have to jump!”
The girls look even more terrified.
“We can"t get to the door, you"ll have to jump!”
They’re scared out of their wits Ari, reassure them, comfort them!
She pointed to Phoebe “This is my friend Phoebe, she"s the strongest girl I"ve
ever met, she"s amazing, she"ll catch you, trust me!”
There was a massive groan as a corner of the house collapsed under the
Thunderhead head barrage.
“Now!” yelled Ariella, “the house is coming down, you"ve got to jump!”
The house gave another groan and lurched forward towards the four
Sojourners.
“We"ve got to move,” said Eleazar, “the whole place is coming down.”
“Not yet,” said Ariella, “we can do this.”
The smaller girl had stopped screaming and was now sobbing, her head
buried in her sister"s neck.
“Please!” called Ariella, “Jump!”
The older sister took a terrified look back into the house, shut her eyes, held
her sister tight in her arms and jumped out of the window.
She screamed as she fell and continued to scream for a few more seconds
before she realized that Phoebe was holding her in her powerful arms.
“Phoebe, you keep impressing me,” smiled Eleazar as he slapped her
shoulder. “Now, run!”
The four of them, and the two girls Phoebe was still carrying ran towards
Jaron. Behind them the old farmhouse gave a final groan before collapsing
forwards in a massive cloud of dust.
Chapter 13
The collapsing farmhouse had taken out most of the Thunderheads and sent
the rest scurrying away. As the dust settled there was a moment of calm.
Phoebe was still holding the two girls, the fear easing away from their faces. The
youngest must have been around five, years old, the eldest a little older. They
looked tiny as Phoebe held them.
Ariella smiled at the eldest. “Hello, my name"s Ariella, what"s yours?”
“Amy,” she replied, “this is my sister Sophie.”
“Pleased to meet you Amy. Were you the only two in the house?”
Amy nodded. “Mummy and Daddy went out to check on the trees when
they heard the thunder. I don"t know where they are now.” Her eyes welled up
with tears.
A sudden screamed filled the air startling the Sojourners. On the far side of
the ruined farmhouse were Karlov, Theia, Eugenie, Felix and Esther. With them
were a man and woman dressed in farm clothes. It was the woman who was
screaming, great tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Mummy!” cried Amy and dropped from Phoebe"s arms with her sister.
They ran around the ruins of their home and flung themselves at their parents.
Amy quickly retold the story of their escape. When she spoke of Phoebe
catching them her eyes w
ent wide with delight. Ariella smiled at Phoebe who
actually smiled back.
She smiled! There’s some emotion there after all.
Karlov brought them back to matters at hand. “Great work you lot, well
done. We"ve cleared the Thunderheads out from this side of the orchard and
from looking around here we seem to have broken the back of them. We just
need to do a final sweep to make sure we"ve cleaned them all out.”
Esther spoke up. “Where"s Joachim? Is he not with you?”
Jaron shook his head “Last time we saw him he was with you.”
“I lost sight of him when it all kicked off,” said Eugenie. “Maybe he got
scared and ran up a tree.”
“I don"t think that sounds like Joachim,” said Ariella
“Really?” sneered Theia “and you know so much don"t you?”
“Knock it off Theia,” snapped Jaron
Karlov took charge. “Theia, Eugenie, Felix, Esther, you come with me and
we"ll sweep right of the farm house away from the road. The rest of you go left
and shout when you find him.”
Ariella took off again with the other four searching for their lost companion.
Occasionally they bumped into a deranged Thunderhead that needed dealing
with but otherwise the orchards were empty. After ten minutes of searching
they heard the distinct clap of thunder from up ahead. Then another and
another.
“Come on,” said Ariella breaking into a sprint.
The five came charging through the trees and burst into a large clearing to a
scene of chaos. On the far side, in the centre of a pile of dead Thunderheads was
Joachim, swinging a sabre with one hand and an old tree branch in the other. He
was desperately trying to keep at bay a growing number of Thunderheads who
had taken an intense dislike to him.
“I might"ve known,” said Ariella “Jaron would you go and shout for Karlov?
We"ll go help him.”
Jaron nodded and took off through the trees shouting for Karlov. The
remaining four ran into the clearing, weapons drawn. The fighting around
Joachim was growing in intensity. Wave after wave of Thunderheads was
charging at him. It was all he could do to jump, dodge or deflect his way out of
trouble. But his luck would not hold. Just out of Joachim"s field of vision, a
nasty looking Thunderhead with a huge scar down it"s side had backed away
and taken aim.