Eternal Forest: Savage Rising (13 page)

             
Viyana grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him back to his feet. “We’re retreating for the Wilds,” she said. “Come with us.”

             
“We’re not going to help the dwarves?!” Cherin asked frantically.

             
“Help them do what?!” Viyana shouted back. “Stonemouth is in a war they didn’t know was coming. They had no army out to meet this force and no time to prepare. They would have been slaughtered even if the balisekts didn’t have that…thing.”

             
“What is that creature?” one of her guards asked.

             
Viyana shook her head. “I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s no natural creature of the forest.”

             
“It seems to follow the will of the balisekts,” another soldier chimed in. “Could they be controlling it?”

             
“We have more important things to think about right now,” Viyana insisted.

             
“Like what?” Cherin asked. He could still hear the sounds of terror and death coming from behind him as the balisekt army laid siege upon the city. He knew Viyana was right, that they could do nothing for them. Only the Lady herself could save the dwarves now.

             
Viyana sighed. “All we can do now is return to Meadowgold.”

             
“”We feel pity for the dwarves, truly,” one of the soldiers said. “However, our duty is to our own kind.”

             
“Now that the army is occupied, we can hurry back home,” another soldier added.

             
“Considering how fast the balisekts caught up to us, they couldn’t have lingered in our territory long. Stonemouth was clearly their target, but I don’t know why. Either way, we need to hurry to Meadowgold and assess the state of the village.”

             
“Um, your ladyship,” Cherin said as he pointed back towards the city. A small band of balisekt soldiers had broken away from the rest of the army and were charging towards them at full speed. They moved wildly, making it difficult to count them, but Viyana estimated at least a dozen. “To the Wilds!” she shouted.

Chapter 13

              Sunrise had finally settled himself on top of the small storehouse when the chaos began. The crowd of dwarves below him, packed shoulder to shoulder, turned quickly, and fled to their stone city like stampeding cattle. The screams and cries from the west were hard to hear over the pandemonium around them. From this distance, no one knew what was going on at the other end of the marketplace, but it sounded terrifying enough to know they should run away.

             
“What’s happening?” Sunrise asked Firefly. He hopped up onto the balls of his feet, ready to jump off the roof at a moment’s notice.

             
“I don’t know!” Firefly shouted back. She was hovering high enough above him to barely see the western end of the marketplace, but still close enough for him to hear her tiny voice. She squinted her eyes while shielding them from the sun with her hands. “Something is coming from the Safe Road.”

             
“Can you see what it is?”

             
“I can’t, but whatever it is, there’s a lot of them.” With the distance so great and her field of vision not nearly comparable to what a larger creature could see, Firefly could only make out a series of tiny, indistinguishable specks on the horizon. All she could tell was that they were taller than the dwarves that were fleeing from it.

             
A motion above the coming hoard stole her attention away. From her vantage point, it looked as though hundreds of tiny birds had suddenly taken off at once. The unidentifiable objects were getting closer by the second. It wasn’t until they finished their arch in the sky and began their descent that Firefly recognized them as a hail of arrows. “Watch out!” she screamed.

             
Sunrise looked up just in time to see the barrage of projectiles bearing down on him. “Get below me!” he shouted. Firefly tucked in her wings and fell like a stone as Sunrise extended his hands out to either side of his body. He flicked his wrists, and two large fireballs sprang to life just above his palms. As soon as Firefly was below him, Sunrise tossed his hands up in the air. The fireballs arched across the sky, catching the arrows in their inferno and burning them to harmless ashes by the time they reached the roof.

             
Below them, the fleeing dwarves were not so lucky. Wave upon wave of helpless dwarves fell as the arrows rained down on them. Those that did survive kept moving, thinking only of their stone walls and the safety they could provide. The unfortunate ones lay motionless in the dust, with trails of blood streaming from their wounds across the dry earth.

             
Sunrise hopped down onto the ground as the hoard finally came into view. His eyes finally beheld their assailants, but he couldn’t believe it. “Balisekts?” he questioned. Like bloodthirsty animals, the lizard-men cut through the fleeing dwarves without mercy or pause. Sunrise watched the panicked eyes of a running dwarf suddenly go wide in alarm as a rusty blade exploded from its stomach. As the dwarf fell, the attacking balisekt trampled over it. Its eyes and bloodied weapon were set hungrily upon the elven acolyte.

             
Sunrise threw his hands forward, sending twin bolts of lightning from his fingertips into the creature’s sternum. The blast knocked it back twenty feet, impaling it on the extended spear of the balisekt charging behind it. Another attacker moved in close, swinging its crudely made sword at Sunrise’s throat. The elf ducked below the blade and placed his open palm on the balisekt’s chest. Another bolt of lightning from his palm caused the creature to explode in a shower of blood and bone.

             
Firefly zipped out of the way as the creature’s severed head went sailing by her. Her small size and wings were able to keep her out of harm’s way quite easily. In fact, she could see many of the visiting faeries already taking off into the trees towards the south. Unfortunately, her lack of magical ability made her powerless to help anyone. Determined to participate, she held her hands out in front of her as a balisekt went charging beneath her. The creature waved a rusty axe over its head with no discernible skill. “Come on, Firefly. You can do this,” she said to herself.

             
Concentrating as hard as she could, she began to see very tiny sparks forming between her fingers. Full of excitement, she threw her hands forward. Unfortunately, her lightning bolt manifested in little more than a static spark. The shock harmlessly struck the balisekt’s axe, and it charged on none the wiser.

             
“Firefly, we have to get out of here!” Sunrise called out. Three more balisekts came charging towards him. Before they could get too close, Sunrise thrust his hands forward, sending a strong wind through the air, and toppling them like empty ale bottles.

             
Firefly lowered. “We should make for the city.”

             
“No,” Sunrise protested. “If we enter the city, we’ll become trapped there. We need to make for the northern Wilds.” The elf flicked his left wrist, sending a small fireball into the chest of an oncoming balisekt.

             
“Let’s hurry then,” Firefly said. The faerie acolyte looked down at her fingers and sighed. Another failure, and when she needed success the most.

~~\*/~~

              At the sight of the balisekts, Boulder’s guards quickly rushed him and Azalea back off the stage. As the army descended upon them, it crashed onto the stage and toppled it to the ground. The guards shouted a battle cry as they charged in with weapons held high. They were well trained and had fine armor. Against the crude coverings and novice skills of the balisekts, they had little trouble finding one small victory after another early on.

             
Where the balisekts held the advantage was size, both in stature and in number. One balisekt was nearly as tall as three dwarves standing upon each other’s shoulders. The guards formed ranks around their Lord and Sorceress, but soon found themselves overrun. As they fell one by one, the balisekts rushed in towards Azalea.

Azalea quickly drew the small dagger from her sleeve. As the first attacker reached out to grab her, she spun quickly and jabbed the blade into its throat. As the creature fell to her side, she retracted the knife and swung her fist in an arch in front of her, cutting another balisekt across the face. To her side, Lord Boulder was easily toppled to the ground.
The doomed dwarf managed to look into his Sorceress’s eyes and yell ‘run’ before the long claws of a balisekt buried in his chest. The words turned to gargled nonsense as blood poured from his mouth and saturated his white beard.

Dropping her knife, Azalea turned and dashed towards the trees. The way was mostly clear and it was a straight shot to the tree where her weapons were waiting. She was only a few feet from the tree line when she suddenly felt the scaly hand of a balisekt snatch her by the wrist. She fell backwards and the creature climbed on top of her. Its jaws snapped wildly above her head, but never came down upon her.

Though terrified, Azalea was also puzzled. The balisekt wasn’t trying to kill her. All of its efforts were spent keeping her pinned to the ground, as if its intent was to capture her. It was behavior she didn’t understand, but she didn’t plan to stick around and figure it out. Lowering her brow, she concentrated on the trees behind them. As though gaining consciousness, a young maple behind them suddenly lowered its long branches to the ground. In one swift motion, the branches struck her attacker and flung it off into the Wilds.

Azalea jumped back to her feet and dashed into the woods as the tree returned to its original form. It wasn’t long before she reached her weapons, exactly where Heeska left them. She
grabbed the bow and quiver as she ran, letting the sword stay where it was. She could hear another balisekt charging into the trees behind her. Still on the run, Azalea knocked an arrow into her bow and turned around. She let loose the projectile, letting it sail through the trees and into the balisekt’s forehead. The creature fell into the dust just as three more appeared behind it.

“Azalea!” Zehlyr cried out from deep within the trees. He and Heeska were busy with their own small cluster of attackers. “This way!”

Azalea hung the bow across her back and took off between two small pines. As she crossed between them, the branches began to grow with unnatural speed. They intertwined together, forming a large net and blocking the path of the pursuing soldiers.

~~\*/~~

              “Make for the trees!” Viyana commanded with a wave of her arm.

At her command, Cherin and the soldiers dashed into the trees north of the marketplace. The brush rustling under their feet as they fled; limbs flew by Cherin’s face. His breaths were fast and deep, from both exhaustion and fear. Already he could hear the balisekt soldiers rushing into the Wilds after them. He didn’t turn back to look, but he
could hear them getting closer with each step. Their strides were wider so it was only a matter of time before they would catch up.

             
Up ahead, Cherin saw Viyana duck behind a wide tree. He took a few steps past her and followed her example. Crouching low behind a thick bush, he peered through the leaves to where his Lady stood. She had her head turned to the side and her sword up against her chest.

             
“No sense in trying to outrun them,” she whispered. “We make our stand here. If we kill these balisekts, we should be able to keep going without any more knowing we’re here.”

             
Cherin readied his sword, but it was already shaking nervously in his hands. He’d killed one balisekt today, but it was mainly out of luck. This was his first real battle.

             
The first balisekt raced past the tree and Viyana leapt into action. She swung out with her sword swiftly, lobbing off the soldier’s head before it knew it had been fooled. As the creature’s lizard-like head rolled away through the shrubbery, Viyana stepped out, impaling another approaching creature before it was able to slow down. The other soldiers acted as well, stepping out from their hiding places and attacking while surprise was still on their side. Five balisekts in all fell in the first few moments, but there were still several more, and now they were aware of the trap.

             
One of the lizard soldiers leapt into the air and clung to the side of the wide tree with its claws. Hissing angrily, it released its grip and fell towards Viyana with its claws extended out wide. Viyana lifted her sword to block, but one of her soldiers stepped in the way of the blow. He struck the creature’s side with an elbow, knocking it off course and sending it toppling to the ground.

             
The soldier drew his sword to deliver the death blow, but dropped it as the long claws of a balisekt behind him fell upon his head and became lodged in his skull. His eyes rolled back in his head as his lifeless body fell to the forest floor.

             
Viyana had no time to react to the loss of her man. Another balisekt was soon upon her, swiping furiously with its long claws. She took several steps back, letting the lethal blows fly harmlessly in front of her chest. On her next step, her foot found a small rock, knocking her onto her back next to the bush where Cherin cowered.

             
The balisekt fell forward on top of her. Reaching up with both hands, she caught the savage by the wrists. The terrified young man watched as the balisekt snapped its jaws eagerly at her face. He could see her biceps bulging, straining to keep the creature from tearing her apart.

             
With a loud yell, Viyana pushed the balisekt to the side. As it landed on the ground, she drew a dagger from her boot and thrust it into its chest.  Viyana pulled the blade free and looked up at Cherin. “Jump in anytime, peasant,” she said sarcastically.

             
Cherin rose to his feet just as a haunting scream made him and Viyana turn their heads. Another of her soldiers was yelling out in terror. The long, sharp teeth of a balisekt dug deep in his neck and shoulder. He struggled to get free, but more blood was pouring down his chest than he could afford to lose. Soon, his body went limp and his head fell forward. The creature released him and screeched loudly. The last remaining soldier jumped into the fray, cutting off its head and quickly turning to the next attacker.

             
Cherin continued to watch from his place by the bush. Viyana rushed into the fight, but the soldier was surrounded by three balisekts. He managed to slice one of them open before the other two tore him to shreds.

             
“No!” Viyana shouted. She brought her blade down hard, the blow landing directly atop the head of her nearest target and sending a spray of blood against the nearby trees. Her best soldiers had been taken from her in a single, chilling moment. It was just her and the useless peasant now, and she didn’t like her odds.

The last three balisekts split up, one staying with Viyana as the other two charged towards Cherin. Cherin extended his sword out towards
them. His heart beat hard in his chest. There was so much sweat on his palms that he could barely grip the blade. He’d already seen three of his Lady’s finest slaughtered by these monsters, and he couldn’t see any way he would fare better. However, before the first savage could reach him, a mysterious arrow sailed through the trees and struck it in the eye socket. The balisekt tumbled forward and crashed into the bush.