Kinsey payed the price.
Her foot caught a hidden rock and she crashed to the forest floor tearing a jagged brown gash in the emerald carpet. I yanked my sister to her feet and wrapped an arm around her waist. Her feet beat the ground next to mine as we pounded through the trees in the hope of finding some sign of the sanctuary Melina hinted at.
I don’t know how long we ran. It couldn’t have been more than another five minutes. But suddenly, there was Melina flanked by seven men and three women in camouflaged lamellar wood armor. Each carried a sword, bow, and dagger . Like Melina they were all short, with delicate features and pointed ears. None of them looked happy to see me or Kinsey.
“Quickly,” Melina said motioning one of the elves to help support my sister. “We’re almost to the outpost.”
True to her word, in a few minutes a wooden fortress suddenly sprang into view. I say sprang because the outpost, as Melina called it, was so well camouflaged that we couldn’t see it until we were right in front of it.
Its thirty foot high wall were a twisted mass of growing vines and trees so tightly interwoven that light couldn’t find its way through. I could see giant tulip trees serving as watch towers at its ends, a woven mix of branches and vines that functioned as both platform and defensive cover, one hundred feet up the trunk. Flashes of movement on the walls caught my eye, the armor of the elves blending so perfectly with the thick foliage that they were essentially invisible when still.
One of the elves waved a hand at the wall and the vines parted wide enough for three people to enter side by side. Inside a vibrant grass covered the open yard. At the center of the compound was a two story fortress of tightly woven vines. Tall cedars at the corners lent their support and cast a comfortable shade on both fortress and yard below.
More lamellar armored elves awaited in the grassy yard, along with a much older elf in a simple chocolate colored robe. All but a handful were watching Kinsey and me with undisguised contempt. The rest watched the forest carefully.
The elder approached wearing a diplomatic although unconvincing smile but, when he looked to Melina, his smile became genuine. I noticed he was the only elf other than Melina who didn’t look at us with disgust.
“Hello, Melina,” the old elf said. “I’m surprised to see you in the Deepwood. I’d thought you were a Forerunner. Shouldn’t you be out exploring other worlds?”
“Greetings, Master wizard,” she said in reverence. Then she added, “Grandfather.” She gave him a small smile, then motioned at us. “Something went wrong with my return from exploring their realm. The fairie folk brought us to the Ebon Swamp, not the Weald as expected.”
“So, they are not of this realm’s humanity,” the old elf mused. “I was not aware the Forerunners were in the practice of bringing back passengers from their excursions.”
Melina opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by a chorus of unmistakable high-pitched wails in the distance.
“Perhaps we could save the explanations until after the current crisis,” she said, her voice tinged with fear.
The old man raised an eyebrow of consideration for a moment. Then he knelt down and placed a single hand upon the grass in the yard. His eyes closed and he concentrated for long seconds. His eyes suddenly snapped open. “There’s more than five hundred of the beasts and they’re almost here.” He turned to one of the elf warriors. “Take them to the armory. Armor and sword for each, but leave the overcome one inside.”
The warrior’s eyes widened in surprise. “Arm the humans?”
“We face an enemy whose numbers haven’t been seen here in centuries,” grunted the old man. “And with only forty defenders, we will need every hand.”
The elf’s face darkened but he nodded his obedience. He shot a dark glance at us and gave a curt wave to follow. Like before, he waved a hand at the wall of the two story vine fortress and a doorway grew into existence. The elf pointed us toward the far right wall.
Inside, the vines formed a reed or bamboo like flooring. Dead center of the room stood a supportive three foot wide trunk that most of the vines sprouted from. Along the back wall a narrow stairway climbed to the second floor. Several sconces around the room had a glowing orb that generated both light and a very comfortable warmth. The wall we’d been directed to had racks of bows, swords, daggers, and lamellar armor.
Most lamellar armor is made from plates or scales of leather or metal that are tightly woven into horizontal rows. The set I picked up was exactly that, except these plates were made of ultra-dense wood. I took out a pocket knife and jabbed its point at one of the plates. It didn’t even make a dent. The elves had a wood that was as hard as iron.
Glancing over at Kinsey, I saw Melina helping her into the largest of the armor available. I checked every set, but my 6’2 frame was far too large for any of them. I simply slipped my shoes back on, found myself a saber and dagger, and found one of each weapon for Kinsey as well. Five minutes later Melina and I were marching toward the elf warrior at the door while Kinsey curled into a ball near the base of one of the heating orbs. She squeezed her eyes shut as though doing so would drive the oncoming evil away.
“Stay here,” the elf warrior said as he led us just outside the fortress. “Take care of the wounded and kill any liskoja that make it to the courtyard.” He turned and dashed away without another word. Like a mountain goat, he scampered up the narrow stairway on the left wall to join the majority of the elves.
An unnatural deathly silence suddenly fell upon the forest around us. The once musical songs of birds and calming chirp of insects vanished from the majestic forest at the incoming flood of annihilation. Even the howls from the monstrous lizards had gone silent. It was quiet enough to hear my own heart thundering in my chest.
Then a shout of alarm, followed by the twang of bowstrings, shouts from defenders, and the dying screams of the lizard creatures exploded the unnatural silence.
The initial onslaught was focused on the right wall, but the defenders were soon spaced on each wall to hold back the hoard of ravenous monsters. Over and over, elvin bows sang followed by the howl of dying lizards. Melina and I moved to stand near the elder in chocolate robes as he reached his hand toward the walls. Large thorns erupted from the plants and agonized lizard screams echoed from every wall. For a moment, it looked as though the rampaging hoard was held and our confidence began to swell.
But all too soon the sheer number of lizards began overwhelming the meager amount of defenders. The elvin line broke on one of the walls and a pair of the creatures managed the yard. Their charge toward us was cut short when the ground rocked. The lizards shrieked as they plummeted into a chasm that the wizard’s magic opened below them. Before they could crawl back out, the chasm closed again with a wet crunch.
Another gap in defenders opened at the top of the wall nearest us, and one of the liskoja creatures gained a footing. It raised a clawed hand toward the back of an elf but my pistol was already in hand. It barked and the liskoja fell dead in the yard before us.
The elvin wizard and Melina were standing back to back, using their nature magic to attack the lizards. Thorned vines erupted from the ground to attack random creatures on the walls. They whipped forward grabbing an unfortunate lizard by whatever appendage was most convenient and tossed it back into their throng. Many were thrown back at a velocity that crushed all lizards’ bodies involved in the impact.
The pitched battle on the walls held the liskoja back for several minutes. Screams of the helpless and dying elves tore through my brain like searing fire. My hands started shaking and my heart was beating so fast I almost couldn’t breathe. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, slowing it and my heart. I don’t know how long I concentrated. It felt like an eternity, standing in a battle with my eyes closed. Finally, I was in control again and partitioned the human part of my mind away to deal with at another time.
As I opened my eyes, I saw one of the defenders fall from the wall into the compound interi
or. I dashed to the fallen man, watching warily for any lizards. His chest was torn open and bleeding heavily. I applied pressure and used my jacket in an attempt to staunch the blood.
“Get him inside,” shouted the elvin wizard. He was already backing toward the vine fortress, using his magic on the multitudes of lizards breaking through the defenses.
I swept my arms under his and drug the man back toward safety. Inside, I laid him next to Kinsey and shook her, leaving a bloody handprint on her arm.
“Kinsey,” I said gruffly. No response. “Kinsey!” The shout drew her attention. She was starting to come out of her daze, but she was still in a delicate state of mind. “This man needs your help.”
Kinsey stared hard at me. She desperately didn’t want to look at the man bleeding to death on the floor next to her. But her conscience soon forced her eyes to the helpless elf.
“He needs your help, Kin,” I said. I hadn’t used that name since we were kids and it had the effect I’d hoped for. Without a word, she started using what medical skills she had to help the man.
As I reached the doorway, shouts for a coordinated retreat to the fortress sounded from the walls. The elves fell back as efficiently as possible, but the sheer number of liskoja swarming over the walls was slowing them down. A handful of defenders chose to sacrifice themselves to buy the needed few seconds for the rest to make the safety of the fortress.
Their blades flashed heroically in the sun as they fought for those precious seconds. The retreating elves charged for the safety of the fortress as dozens of the creatures fell upon the remaining defenders, snarling and biting. Men and women screamed for only moments before they went silent, the liskoja crawling over them like bees on a honeycomb.
The ancient wizard and Melina stood near the doorway, their magic only barely keeping the other lizards at bay as the last of the defenders made it inside. Walls of spiked vines slapped at any approaching lizard and bent out of the path of every elf. My pistol barked three more times, catching the creatures who were lucky enough to get past the vines as the last of the defenders made it inside. The doorway wove shut and a frustrated howl rose from outside the fortress.
We moved the critically injured to the back of the fortress near Kinsey. Every elf defender was wounded, though only a few severely. Kinsey did her best to tend to her wounded charges as the elves replenished their arrows. The ancient elvin wizard closed his eyes, focusing his magic to create multiple two foot high and six inch wide gaps in each vine wall. Liskoja pressed against the walls, their claws tearing and mouths chewing on the woody vines in spite of the massive thorns. Blood trickled through the provided gaps from the shredded. The elf defenders fired their bows through the slim openings into the screaming swarm, increasing the flow of blood down the walls. Lizards were so thick outside that I put my pistol away and picked up a bow. At that range there was no way to miss and I needed to save my ammunition.
Minutes passed like hours. Arrows flew through the wall’s holes and swords stabbed through its gaps. Lizards screamed in agony, dying in droves, but more took their place. They were so thick on the walls that sunlight barely fought its way through the gaps.
Both Melina and the elder elf mage concentrated heavily on regenerating any vines the liskoja damaged, but they were so many and the damage to the fortress was becoming extensive. The faces of the elvin spellcasters were drawn and they were sweating like they were running a marathon.
I knew something had to give way and, all too soon, it did. Teeth and claws tore open a gap in the left wall large enough for a beast to slither through. A handful of elves moved to block the entry, but three more holes tore open in the front wall a split second later. Lizards poured through and several elves hit the floor screaming. I dropped my bow and yanked my sword from its sheath so hard it almost flew from of my hand. Five other elves joined me to stop the newest deluge of lizards.
We knew we were fighting a losing battle. Liskoja kept breaking through both walls and defenders, and elves were dying all around me. In only minutes I was covered in blood, and my arm felt like a lead weight. The sword seemed so light when I first lifted it, now felt like I was swinging a Volvo. Every cut was an effort, every stab an agony. But I couldn’t quit. Too many of the creatures continued to pour through the openings and too few defenders remained for anyone to slack off.
“The first floor is lost!” the old elf gasped behind me. “And I don’t have much strength left.” His face was white, chest heaving in exhaustion. “We must make the second floor while I still have the strength to create a barrier!”
I nodded at him and looked for Kinsey. I couldn’t see her anymore; she was lost in the confusion. I screamed her name as I started for the last place I saw her, but she couldn’t hear me over the screams of dying and terrified elves. There was a flash of movement from my right, a scaly gray-green blur. I ducked and swung my sword out feeling my blade make a strong impact. Stupidly, I was so focused on Kinsey that I never bothered to check the creature was finished off, but I was lucky. If it survived, it didn’t come after me again.
The floor was soaked with blood. There was so much that the V-shaped channels from the tightly pressed vines acted as canals, running it out of the fortress. I fought to keep my feet from slipping out from under me as I all but skated to where I left Kinsey. I found her doing her best to keep almost a dozen defenders alive. Her face was pale and drawn, she moved like a robot at work. The only tenuous grasp her mind had to the world was her task.
Something grabbed my right shoulder and my sword flashed toward it. I stopped myself just before running the old elf through. Melina stood next to him with her back to me using her magic to slow the ever closing the lizards.
Blind luck was one of the few advantages in our favor. The battle had pushed Kinsey and the injured almost up against the stairs, although she was completely unaware of the chaos raging an arm’s length away. Her only grasp on reality, the only thing that kept her from going catatonic, was her focus on the wounded she cared for.
“Kin! Get to the second floor! Now!” She stared at me a moment and a sinking feeling filled the pits of my stomach. I realized she may be too far gone to comprehend my words. “If we don’t get them to the second floor, they won’t survive!” I screamed.
She stared for another few seconds, then recognition flickered on her face. Within seconds, she grabbed up one of the injured and hauled him up the stairs with her. I grabbed two of the fallen elves and followed after, the old man doing his best to keep up. A host of defenders including Melina stumbled up the stairs behind us, only the first nine carrying wounded. The rest desperately fought to keep the flood of lizards at bay.
There was no way to clear the liskoja out of the stairway so Melina and the wizard grew the vines of the floor around six of the beasts. Each became lodged in place by whatever part of their body was unfortunate enough to be at floor level and their howls of fury and frustration tortured our ears. They were quickly dispatched giving us a badly needed rest.
Screams of the dying elf defenders who didn’t make the safety of the second floor lasted only a few seconds. The crunch of bones in razor sharp teeth lasted much longer. Outside, we heard the telltale sound of the beasts using their claws to scurry along the outside of the fortress like bees on a hive. The unmistakable sound of teeth and claws tearing at the vines wore on frayed nerves as the lizards fought like demons to get in. They’d make it to us soon enough, through the floor, walls, and even ceiling.
Kinsey made her way between the defenders doing what she could to take care of their injuries. Everyone else was laying on the floor gasping for air and grasping at injuries. Every face was haggard and resigned; we were all soaked with dark, sticky blood. No one spoke. No one needed to. We were going to die.
Except for the elder elf. He sat against a wall looking at the wounded with an exhausted but fatherly expression. “Many have fallen,” he said, his voice rasping and raw. “But they will be avenged. With luck, we will live to be
those avengers.”
Almost every head turned to him, although none had the audacity to speak except one irreverent human.
“If we’re going to survive, we’ll need a better trick than a bunch of vines,” I growled from my seated position at one wall. Most of the elves shifted their eyes to me, their dark look at my disrespect obvious. But none had the strength to say anything about it.
The old elf smiled at my tone, more amused than insulted. “When I used my magic to determine how many liskoja were coming, I sent a warning to the rest of our people. They will have sent reinforcements by now.”
“How many can we expect?” I ask.
“At least one hundred… eventually.”
“Eventually?” I grumbled.
“The Weald is quite large and our outpost is quite remote, human,” The old elf said. His tone was resigned and yet somewhat unworried as he stared at the ceiling and spoke. “The closest help will come in the form of other Rangers, such as the men and women here. But they will need time to gather their numbers.” The old elf turned his head toward me and smiled as though he had no doubts. “Don’t worry. They will be here soon. The question is, will they make it here before the liskoja find a way in?” He began eyeing the ceiling again, a spot where one of the vines had been almost completely ripped free. Liskoja continued to tear at it and countless other sections on the fortress with their keen claws and teeth.
Silence descended over us, broken by the sound of lizards chewing on walls and screaming out their frustration at the buffet just beyond their reach. The vines were much thicker on the second floor, but that would only buy us so much more time. Kinsey laid down next to me, her head in my lap and staring silently at a distant point on the near ceiling. For a while, nobody said anything. Nobody did anything. We all just lay there, staring at the surrounding vines or each other. Then a slim elvin hand suddenly shot out and swatted my stomach.
“Which empire are you from, human?” Her voice was light, almost sweet. But her tone was heavy, almost hostile. It was impossible to miss the giant scar that ran from her right temple to her chin. “I’ve never seen a weapon like yours.”
A New World Page 5
