Mortals & Deities (30 page)

The lead men turned and handed their machetes to two others who stepped forward to take their turn hacking a path through the jungle’s undergrowth. The tree canopy grew too thick to see the sun, yet Klain figured the day was almost spent by the deepening shadows. They moved at a snail’s pace. Each time they found an area of jungle they could walk through without having to chop an access, it seemed as if they ran into double that amount of underbrush with no way around.

The land headed steadily downward the further they distanced themselves from the camp. Small streams—Rohann said these were fed from the underground rivers of the Asgarthian Plains—laced the area by the hundreds.

Insects had swarmed the group when they entered the jungle. Human or Kithian, the little biting nuisances spared no one. These, combined with the constant feeling that something followed them, put Klain in a foul mood. Using his claws to dig for another bug burrowing beneath his fur, he growled before looking down at Charver. “Stay close, little cub. Something is not right here.”

Rohann turned and glared at him. “I told you, we are on the right path. There is nothing to fear.” He flinched when something bit his neck, then slapped at it. “Other than the bugs!”

“Mayhaps.” The oppressiveness of the trees made Klain feel trapped in a cage again, and he did not like that at all. Still, there was more to his concern than that. “Yet, I hear things. See them from the corner of my eye. I tell you we are being stalked!”

“I thought you could feel vibrations through the pads of your paws. Do you feel anything now?”

Scowling, Klain let his head sag. “Nix. This ground is too soft and wet.”

“Nonsense!” Rohann whipped around and poked Klain in the chest. “There is nothing out there. You are only making the rest of my men nervous. If you are so afraid, Master Klain…” He pointed over Klain’s shoulder. “…I am certain you can find your way back to camp.”

How dare this Human doubt me? Call me coward!

Klain fought to remain in control. The oppressiveness of the trees, the bugs, the knowledge that something was wrong—they all weighed against his affection for Charver. “If you allow me to take the boy back, I will go. This is no place for—”

“Nix!” As it always did, mention of taking the boy away sent Rohann into a fit of anger. “My son is going to witness history! I will not have anyone deny him that!”

Rage started to get the better of Klain, so he diverted his attention to the foliage surrounding them. Another shadowed streak darted from the cover of a thick tree and disappeared into the fan-like leaves of a cluster of plants. It was the first time he had seen it as it moved. It looked larger than a dog, with a skin that helped it blend into the background. He was not certain if the thing was alone, or if he had caught glimpses of several different creatures moving around their group. He would not waste his time investigating, however. Each time he had walked into the brush for a look around, it yielded nothing. Whatever hid out there, it was adept at using this terrain to stay hidden.

Still, standing here and doing nothing felt worse by far. Clenching his jaws, he let his scowl deepen. “There is something out there!”

As if in answer to his roar, the jungle exploded with the sounds of screeches and hisses. All around them, tree limbs and bushes violently thrashed back and forth. The entire jungle had come alive and now threatened to attack.

Drawing his Mi’nathe blade, Klain spun in a circle. Everywhere he looked, the plants shook, both close to the clearing where they stood, as well as deeper into the jungle. All the men looked about now. Each held a naked blade in their hand while twisting around with wide, panic-filled eyes.

Not a small group. There must be hundreds!

The thrashing went on for several moments before it suddenly stopped and silence fell. A loud clack, like leather slapping stone, echoed from Klain’s left. Another, just as loud, answered from behind him. Two or three more, each from a different direction, joined in. His heart pounded loud in his ears as more clacks joined in. Hundreds in a wide circle around the party, driving the humans closer together into the center of the area. Reaching out a paw, Klain pulled Charver to his side.

Once the clacking reached a deafening crescendo, it halted with such an abrupt suddenness that one man screamed out. The only motions Klain saw were those of the men around him. Swords in hand, men twisted and turned, attempting to look in every direction at once. A loud, ear biting shriek split the air as a dark shape catapulted from a nearby tree. Although slightly smaller than a man, it was humanoid in form, with thin arms and powerful looking legs. Humanoid, if its thick tail and massive, reptilian shaped head were not taken into account. It landed on the back of one of the sell-swords Klain did not know, driving the man to his knees. When it struck, the creature opened its mouth and bit into the back of the man’s head, ripping away flesh and hair. The crunch of bone was the only sound, for the man died before he even had time to scream.

The Human standing next to the creature—a sell-sword Klain did not know by name either—slashed at the monster. His blade cleaved into the thing’s shoulder before it sliced through its neck. A hiss bellowed from the beast. It fell off the dead man and lay writhing on the ground. Thick, dark red blood spilled from its wounds. Following through with his swing, the sell-sword stepped forward and drove the point of his weapon into the creature repeatedly until it stopped moving.

No one else stirred, and once again silence filled the area.

That is when the rest of the attack came.

Lizard-like creatures poured out of the surrounding jungle. More than Klain could count rushed at them. They jumped down from trees and ran in from the underbrush in a tidal wave of green flesh. Many ran on all fours, their thick tails slashing out like a club. Claws and teeth, however, were their main weapon. Blood flowed freely once they took hold of a victim. They did not have a strategy other than attack. If one of the creatures became impaled on a man’s sword, its death just freed another to close in for the kill.

Grabbing the back of Charver’s shirt in one paw, his Mi’nathe blade in the other, Klain slashed one lizard creature in half as it charged. Spinning, he chopped off the top half of another’s head, splattering blood and gore across him and the boy—yet, this did not begin to account for the monsters. All around him screams and shouts mixed with bone-chilling hisses as Humans and creatures fought and died.

Klain could not spare anyone else aid. With the added burden of dragging Charver, all he could do was cut down anything that came within his reach. Hacking and slashing, his Mi’nathe blade a black blur, he added his growls to the hissing of the attacking monsters. Arms, claws, heads, and tails—anything that came near him felt his weapon’s bite. Soon, a large pile of dead or dying lizard-men littered the area around him and creatures began avoiding his killing zone. Looking around at the nightmarish scene, he saw that most of the Humans lay dead as well. Large gashes lined one man’s chest. Another’s face, gone.

A group of the lizard beasts surrounded several men who had managed to come together for protection. Klain spotted Rohann in the mix, blood dripping from his finely crafted sword. Letting out a loud roar, Klain drew several of the monsters to face him. Taking the advantage, the men behind these struck out, downing four of the beasts before their kin pressed them back into their defensive circle.

“Father!” Charver moved forward, stopping only when Klain held onto his shirt. “Let me go! We must help him.”

Klain pulled the boy-cub back and spun him around. “I cannot leave you, and you cannot go near those things. You will die!”

Tears streamed down Charver’s face. He glanced back at his father. At least two-score of the lizard things surrounded him and his shrinking group. “Father will die without your help! You must—”

A loud screech—like a roar combined with a hiss—ripped through the jungle. All the lizard creatures in the clearing jumped back and froze, tilting their heads to one side, listening. In the silence that ensued, Klain heard branches breaking. Something massive made its way through the jungle toward them. The lizard-men hissed at one another. Then, as one they turned and fled into the underbrush in the opposite direction of the new noise.

The group of men who still lived—four sell-swords and Rohann—stepped toward Klain. Charver shook off Klain’s hold and ran to his father. The man embraced him, yet whatever he said to the boy, Klain did not hear. His attention remained rooted in the direction of the approaching danger. Whatever came, it sounded massive as it moved through the jungle like an avalanche.

One of the sell-swords, a yellow haired man named Traid, stepped forward. “I do not think it wise to wait on whatever that is.” Fear gripped his eyes and he kept adjusting the hold on his sword’s hilt.

“Aye.” Rohann placed a hand over a small gash in his shoulder. “Mayhaps we should move on.” Turning, he headed deeper into the jungle.

“Move on!” Traid looked from Klain to Rohann as if seeking support. “Are you mad? Most of our men are dead!” A loud crack forced him to spin around and face whatever drew near. “And anything that can scare off scores of those lizard creatures is not something the few of us can handle!”

With an explosion of branches and leaves, a gigantic creature burst through the trees. In appearance, it resembled the creatures they had just fought—only larger. It stood on its hind legs and towered almost twice as tall as Klain. Bending forward, it let out another of its roar-hisses while flexing its front claws, each the size of daggers. Rows of razor-sharp teeth lined its jaws, and twin black eyes shifted from man to man. A forked tongue snaked from its mouth as it tasted the air.

Shoving Charver behind him, Klain backpedaled, moving Rohann and the boy closer to the edge of the jungle. The four sell-swords stepped forward, weapons held high. With a loud thump, the creature took a step forward and roared again.

Then it charged.

Traid, being on the far left, jumped to the side and slashed at the beast’s hip when it passed. A small red line appeared, more of a scratch than a cut. If the monster felt it, it gave no sign. The Human on the right, a black-haired fellow, did the same. His blade, however, did not find a mark since the man dove wide, landing several paces away. Of the two men in the middle, one fell backward. Hitting the ground, he rolled into a protective ball. The other lunged forward, screaming at the top of his lungs. With a vicious swipe, the creature’s claw slammed into the top of the man’s head and raked down, shredding his face and driving him to the ground with one blow. The giant lizard’s clawed foot impaled the man who lay on the ground, ripping open his gut. The monster did not notice, as it continued to run toward Klain and Rohann.

Shoving Charver to his father, Klain ran at the charging monster. With a roar, he leapt at its head. The creature swiped, yet the beast had not expected Klain to jump so high. Driving the point of his Mi’nathe blade into the side of the creature’s neck, Klain wrapped his free arm around its head and dug his claws into its face, ripping four large gashes across its cheek and ruining one eye as he spun around to its back.

With a mighty shake of its head, the monster wrenched Klain’s grip from the hilt of his sword and sent him flying into the roots of a nearby tree. Landing hard, Klain felt several ribs crack. Pushing himself up on all fours, he was just in time to see the creature bite down on Traid, who had attacked the lizard from its rear. The man’s upper half disappeared in a spray of blood. The rest of his body from the waist down, as well as the severed arm that still held his sword, fell to the ground. Flipping its head up, the beast gulped down everything it held in its mouth.

The last sell-sword, the black-haired fellow who dove out of the way of the initial charge, flung his blade at the beast, turned and ran screaming into the jungle. Klain’s hope that the beast would give chase was crushed when it turned back toward Rohann and his son.

With a grunt, Klain forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain that lanced his side. He rushed the monster’s back and leaped once more onto the beast. He latched on with his claws, digging his hindpaws into the back of its thighs. Kicking down, his hindclaws cut deep into the creature’s thighs while launching him up to its shoulders in one motion. Wrapping his arms around the beast, he sank his fangs into the side of its neck. The salty taste of blood filled his mouth. Jerking his head back, he ripped out a fist-sized chunk of flesh.

The monster reached back and grabbed him, digging its own claws into Klain. Pain burned deep in his shoulder and he roared out in agony. As if he were little more than a playdoll, the creature pulled Klain from its back. Pain ripped into him as the creatures claws sunk deep into his flesh. In the monster’s grip, he dangled limp in the air. The creature looked at him with his remaining good eye and roared. Then it slammed him down, the air in his lungs whooshing from his body. Klain’s head struck hard as it hit the ground. Stars shot across his vision. Trying to roll over, he found his right arm broken at an odd angle—useless. Blood flowed freely from the three deep holes in his shoulder.