Eternal Forest: Savage Rising (14 page)

             
Clearly puzzled, the other balisekt halted its charge. Its eyes darted wildly around the forest, looking for the source of the projectile. As it searched, another arrow sailed in from the opposite direction. It struck the lizard-man in the back of the head. With the bloodied arrow tip protruding from its forehead, the balisekt collapsed in an instant.

             
Viyana pulled her blade from the chest of the last assailant. “Who’s out there?!” she shouted into the trees. “Show yourselves!” The only member of her entourage still standing was Cherin, and she’d seen enough of the mysterious arrow to know it wasn’t of dwarven make. There was a rustling to either side of them as two figures emerged from the foliage. Each held a longbow with a quiver of arrows tied to their backs. They were human.

             
Cherin recognized the man instantly. He was a bit taller now, with longer hair and a small tuft of facial hair on his chin, but it was clearly the same face that haunted his memories for three long years. “Zehlyr,” he said softly to himself through gritted teeth. He quickly spun around, letting his eyes behold the pale skin, green eyes, and long, pink hair of another familiar face.

Chapter 14

             
Cherin couldn’t believe how different his little brother looked. Zehlyr had always been somewhat puny. It was what made him so easy to tease over the years. The young man standing before him now had clearly proven himself in the Wilds. His muscles were thick and defined, his shoulders broad. His skin was covered in scars and his hands were calloused. Everything that adorned his body, from the clothing to the bow and arrows, was clearly self-made. The shock of seeing little Zehlyr alive again after all these years was an unexpected blow to his pride. He couldn’t help but wonder if he would have fared so well after so much time in the Wilds.

Likewise, Cherin looked very different than Zehlyr remembered. Coming upon him and his band from Meadowgold in the Wilds, Zehlyr was surprised he even recognized him. He was older looking, sure, but it was much more than that. The bronzed, leathery look of his skin was a testament to just how hard the years had been. He looked thin, with sunken cheeks and sharp joints. This was
a man never sure where his next meal would come from. He looked nothing like the big brother he’d left standing in the rain three years ago, and yet he was.

             
Zehlyr took a few cautious steps forward. His bow was still at the ready, with an arrow trained on the head of a woman he recognized clearly. His relationship with Cherin was rough, but Viyana had tried to kill him once before; she had tried to kill Azalea. Even now, she stood before him with a bloody sword grasped tightly in her hands. Her eyes focused on his every step. Cherin looked like a different person, but she was exactly as he remembered.

             
The last time he’d seen her, she was face-down in the mud, unconscious from a lightning strike. He’d taken her sword to slay Lord Sansehr. Looking back on that day, he couldn’t help wondering if he should have just put an end to her there when it would have been so easy. Of course, he knew his younger self wouldn’t have been able to do such a deed.

             
“Viyana, right?” Zehlyr asked.

             
Viyana took a step back, widening her stance as if preparing to do battle. “It’s
Lady
Viyana now,” she said sternly. This was not how she had envisioned this meeting going, but running into these two out of the blue and in the heat of battle threw all previously made plans out the window.

             
“A title now? Someone’s moving up in the world,” Zehlyr followed up.

             
Viyana took a few steps to the side, causing Zehlyr to move in the opposite direction. “I see you’ve acquired some skill with a bow.”

             
“Three years in exile,” Zehlyr responded. “I’ve developed quite a few skills in that time.”

             
“As have I,” Azalea said from across the forest. She also had her bow at the ready, though her arrow was trained on Cherin. The only way she and Zehlyr had survived this long was by working together. They were perfectly coordinated. The battle had left her finely made dress ripped and stained. The sleeves were torn at the seams on her shoulders and there was a large split down the back. Such an elegant garment was never meant for war.

             
“What brought you here?” Zehlyr asked. “Trying to find us?”

             
“Indeed,” she replied.

             
Azalea pulled back the string on her bow a little farther. “We’re not going down without a fight.”

             
Cherin was still clutching the sword in his hands, but had no real intention of using it. Moving slowly, he lowered his body to the ground and placed the blade against a small shrub. “We’re not looking for a fight,” he said.

             
“Then why did you come for us?” Zehlyr asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Azalea said as she lowered her bow a little. “They’ve heard about the Grove and came to take us back to Meadowgold.”

Viyana sheathed her blade. “So, it’s true,” she said. “You
are
the Sorceress from the Wilds that’s been keeping the dwarves from the effects of the drought.”

Azalea rolled her eyes as she finally relaxed her arm, letting the tension slack. The arrow remained knocked against the line. Her target had let go of his weapon, and she could redraw much faster than he could retrieve it. “I am, but my power isn’t just for the dwarves. It’s free for all.”

“So what’s
he
doing here?” Zehlyr asked as his eyes turned to Cherin.

Viyana’s shoulders dropped in a subtle sign of defeat and frustration. “It was my hope he could convince you to return.”

Zehlyr laughed a little. “Yes, he looks like he’s just dying to bring me home.” Zehlyr still hadn’t dropped his bow. His arm was growing weary, but he had no faith in Viyana. The last time he saw her, he was in a fight for his life, and this felt no different. “So, if it’s Lady, then you must be in charge now, I take it?” he said.

Viyana nodded to him. “Yes. I assumed Ladyship of Meadowgold after you murdered Lord Sansehr.”

“You mean killed in self-defense,” Azalea insisted.

Viyana whipped her head around to face her, but did not reach for her weapon. “No! Murdered to defend a savage!” she shouted. “To save a balisekt prisoner you sprang from jail!”

“Whatever happened to that balisekt anyway?” Cherin asked.

“He’s still around,” a hissing voice said from the trees. As everyone’s eyes went skyward, Heeska dropped from the tall branches and landed on the ground just a few feet from Cherin. Viyana drew her sword again, but Zehlyr quickly answered by leaning forward with his bow still pulled back, sending a clear reminder that he would strike first.

Heeska stood to his full height and stretched out his neck. The gash on his face from the battle with Sansehr had hardened into a long, dark scar. His body was dressed in a dark, leather robe that swung freely from his midsection to the forest floor. A necklace of shining gems hung down at his chest. “Hello again,” Heeska said to Viyana with as much of a smile as his long, curved mouth could produce.

“Lady’s grace!” Viyana shouted. “The creature is still here?!”

“He has a name!” Azalea shouted.

“It’s a savage beast!” Viyana retorted loudly. Zehlyr could see her ladyship’s knuckles turning white as she tightened her grip on her sword.

“He’s a friend who saved our lives!” Zehlyr insisted. “We would both be dead if it weren’t for Heeska.”

Viyana turned her gaze to the balisekt. “Heeska? Is that what you call it?”

“You may address me directly, your Ladyship,” Heeska said more politely than Zehlyr thought Viyana deserved.

“I do not converse with animals,” she retorted.

With a quick turn of his body, Zehlyr let fly the arrow in his bow. The bolt sailed quickly through the air, passing Viyana’s startled face, and sailed off into the trees. Before Viyana could demand an explanation, the sound of the arrow making impact on flesh filled the forest. As everyone turned to face the south, a balisekt soldier stumbled out of the shrubs. With the arrow lodged in its throat, it fell to the ground.

More balisekt soldiers emerged from the low brush before their slain comrade was completely still. Three came out at first, which quickly turned to eight, and then fifteen with more coming. The lizard-men drew their swords as they hissed angrily. A couple of the soldiers pointed
clawed fingers towards Azalea, talking amongst themselves in their native tongue.

“I suggest we leave now,” Heeska said. Three arrows sailed from behind the emerging balisekts. Two landed harmlessly in the ground as the last slammed into a small tree near Zehlyr. He quickly tossed his bow onto his back and drew a sword strapped to his hip.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Zehlyr said. “Let’s move!” Turning towards the east, Zehlyr, Heeska, and Azalea raced off through the trees. Viyana and Cherin paused only for a moment. For all Zehlyr could tell they were debating whether it was better to stay and fight an unwinnable battle or flee with their intended prisoners. Either way, he didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, they could both stay and die. He wasn’t surprised when he heard two more sets of human footsteps following them towards the mountains, but he wasn’t relieved either.

Things weren’t exactly going the way Viyana had wanted. From the moment she’d conceived of this plan to bring Azalea and Zehlyr back to Meadowgold, she’d been mentally preparing herself face and forgive a traitor. She’d resigned herself to put on a smile, show kindness, and offer forgiveness. However, the stressful circumstances of their meeting threw that all out the window. She’d mentioned Zehlyr’s crime in a matter of
moments. She’d yelled, demanded respect, and tossed around accusations. Had the balisekt army not stumbled across them once again, they’d probably have started killing each other by now.

Of course, the balisekt’s continued checks of the Wilds were also proving problematic. Without the ability to escape undetected, Viyana was unable to head northwest towards her home and see to her people. Now she was running east into the mountains, and with Sansehr’s murderer no less.

The small band of humans and their balisekt companion moved swiftly through the trees, but no human could outpace a balisekt on foot. Heeska was running alongside them, but Zehlyr could easily tell that he was holding back. From the sounds behind him, he could also determine that their pursuers were catching up. He knew they couldn’t keep this up forever, but he only had to outpace them just a little further.

“Where are we going?!” Cherin asked as he sprinted through the trees. His left foot found and exposed root before his eyes did, tripping him up but not enough to make him fall.

“Somewhere we will have the advantage,” Zehlyr replied. “Just a bit farther.” The balisekts were close now, too close to make it to his destination before being overrun. Ducking under a low branch, Zehlyr pulled his bow and a pair of arrows from the quiver on his back. Readying the arrows quickly, he spun in place. He released the bolts and let them sail through the trees. The two lead balisekts were only a hundred feet away, but the arrows found their exposed midsections before they could gain another inch. The balisekts fell, causing the three directly behind them to trip over their carcasses. Zehlyr continued his rotation and broke out into a full sprint.

“There!” Zehlyr said, pointing to an empty space between two large maple trees. “Go that way!” Following his instructions, the others changed course and headed for the maples. The balisekts behind them had quickly made up from their setback and were once again closing the distance. “Hurry!” Zehlyr called out.

Heeska crossed the barrier between the trees first. The balisekt ally quickly skidded to a stop and turned back. Azalea crossed between the trees next, but did not stop moving. Viyana and Cherin raced past the trees together and kept on running. Having paused to take his shot, Zehlyr was a few paces behind everyone else.

Zehlyr moved as fast as his legs could carry him. His calf muscles burned like hot coals from the strain. Twigs and leaves crunched loudly underfoot, but not just from him. The remaining balisekts hissed with sadistic anticipation, ready to catch their prey and tear him apart. He looked up to Heeska, watching for him just past the maples. His
balisekt friend had a hand up in the air, grasping at a length of rope extending down from the branches above. He smiled.

The balisekts were right on his heels. He expected to feel their claws on his back any second now, but he was at his destination. “Now!” he shouted as he dove forward between the trees.

Heeska yanked down on the rope, from under the foliage between the maples, a row of sharpened branches rose up. The cleverly hidden spears were woven together with rope and vines, making them rise in union. With his hands over his head, Zehlyr dove over the rising spears and rolled onto the ground beyond them.

Unable to react to this sudden development, the first five balisekts raced head-on into the trap, impaling themselves with a loud splattering sound. The lifeless balisekts were suspended in the air like scarecrows in a garden. Zehlyr rolled to his feet again and drew his sword. There were seven balisekts still breathing. With their fallen brethren held up in a bloody display, the remaining savages seemed reluctant to continue onward. They stared over the trap at Zehlyr’s confident smirk, hissing in anger but not daring to continue onward.

With the trap sprung and their pursuers no longer confident, Cherin and Viyana turned back. Azalea put her hand lovingly on Zehlyr’s back, rubbing it as it rose and fell with his heavy breaths. As the two opposing forces stood there, staring back and forth with mutual uncertainty, Heeska reached back into the tree and wrapped his hand around a low-hanging vine. Like startled mice, the balisekt soldiers raced back towards the southwest.

“What does that one do?” Cherin asked of the balisekt that had helped to save their lives.

Heeska gave the vine a hard tug, pulling it free from above and letting it fall onto the forest floor. “Nothing,” he said with a smirk. “I was bluffing.”

“I suppose we owe you our thanks,” Viyana said with an uncharacteristic hint of humility. Zehlyr, Azalea, and their balisekt companion’s knowledge of the area clearly gave them the upper hand, and that advantage had saved her and Cherin’s lives as well.