by Bill Albert
She kept moving with several steps to the right and left. She also moved the flame sword in various arcs to remind the bully of the threat. It kept at her with its sword but backed away even further and soon it entered the stone temple. Despite everything it was dark and damp inside and Gallif hoped the orcs primitive mind would think the glowing sword was bigger than it was. It did and its attacks on her completely missed. She let the blade go past her and then put all her strength into a hard drive at the orcs arm. The arm was completely severed and the orc’s cry of pain echoing in the enclosed space making Gallif flinch. She cut down at it again before it stumbled and withdrew from the temple.
Before she could get her bearings, the orc was replaced by an aquilus. The creature came in screaming and wildly slashing her. She parried twice then jabbed at it with her flame sword. The blade missed but the searing heat cause it to move back. She advanced on it and ducked one of its attempts to strike her.
It suddenly lunged at her and they were face to face. She was caught off guard by the move and the elf collided with her. It held its short sword with one hand and used the other to wrestle her flame sword from her. She was on its left side and was lucky that the thing could not effectively strike her with the sword in its right hand. It was quite strong, but she was bigger and pushed hard. Together they hit the stone wall.
Before she could move out of reach the aquilus quickly whipped its face in the direction of her arm and bit down. Searing pain shook her system and she screamed in shock. As she shivered the aquilus quickly pulled her sword from her hand. She shoved her body back at it and smacked her shoulder into its face. She could tell she had broken its nose and they were both instantly splattered with sick oily blood.
Gallif pushed its head back with her shoulder and they wrestled for the swords. The creature lost its grip on both swords and in a swift and powerful move she used its own sword to puncture its chest and defeat it.
As it died, she heard fighting coming from outside the temple and it took her a few seconds to determine from which direction it came. Once sure she dropped the sword she had taken from the elf, retrieved her own, and ran.
Outside she saw Tome surrounded by three orcs. She dropped the elven sword and, working only with her own, cleanly downed one of the orcs. As the other two looked in her direction Tome ended one and together, they quickly defeated the third.
“Have you seen Kavelle?” Tome asked quickly when he saw there were no other attackers.
“A little bit ago,” Gallif said. She was sweating and breathing heavy trying to fight with the pain in her side. “She was on the other side of the temple.”
Without another word they both ran. Once on the other side they looked and listened for her. She was about two hundred feet away from them in the direction of the out buildings. They could see that she was also badly outnumbered. Without thinking they both burst into a full sprint in her direction.
As they ran, they watched closely as Kavelle’s mace swung with precision. She managed to demolish two aquilus with a single blow, but an attempt to use the same tactic on two orcs failed. They were halfway there when Kavelle pulled off one of the totems on her belt. Not far on the opposite side of her three aquilus were standing amongst some bushes using slings to launch stones at her. The stones themselves were too small to do any damage, but as a distraction were working. As she ducked a stone an orc made a hard-enough cut into her side to do some damage. Kavelle said something Gallif couldn’t pick up and tossed the totem into the air towards the aquilus. The totem missed them completely but smashed when it hit the hard ground. There was a sudden burst of green and gray colors that rippled through the bushes like a heat wave. When the ripples faded the branches were replaced by dozens of small, but very deadly, snakes. The three aquilus in what was now a snake den were engulfed immediately and vanished. She took a few forceful steps at two more aquilus that had been standing with their backs to the bushes. They took an instinctive step and they were also pulled in by the slithering mass. In shock and fear several of the attackers turned to flee but came face to face with Gallif and Tome. The three of them quickly finished the encounter.
“Which way to those buildings?” Kavelle asked. She was panting heavily, and it was difficult for her to speak.
“This way,” Gallif indicated and started running again. Tome and Kavelle were directly behind her.
Not long after they were out of sight the casting vanished and the snakes were replaced by broken and torn branches.
As they came around one of the dividing walls they came face to face with five orcs who were ready for battle. In the brief confusion Gallif looked over their shoulders and saw the wall that led to the buildings they wanted to investigate.
A huge orc swung a solid oak mace at Tome. He ducked and the mace sliced past him, but struck Kavelle in the side. She wasn’t injured but the surprise caused her to lose her balance. Tome reached out a hand to stop her from falling and Gallif got rid of an orc who was trying to take advantage of the distraction.
Back on her feet Kavelle took a vengeful attack at the orcs and two of them were quickly put out of action.
Gallif dodged back to avoid another swing from an orc’s axe. She felt the very edge cut into her leather and open an inch of skin on the front of her left leg, but it wasn’t enough to slow her down. She retaliated by embedding her flame sword into the orc’s chest.
Tome took a few light slashes at his opponent to get a sense of its abilities then reversed the direction and ended its life.
“How far?” Tome asked Gallif.
“Other side,” she said and pointed to long row of hedges less than a hundred feet away.
Tome started running with Gallif and Kavelle a few steps behind.
Immediately behind the hedges was a stone wall that separated the outbuildings from the rest of the estate. They could see the wooden gate only a few strides away and ran at top speed. Tome reached it first and yanked open the solid oak gate. Gallif and Kavelle entered the compound without looking back and Tome entered slamming the latch shut behind him.
He turned to Gallif and saw her looking at the buildings inside the compound. He followed her gaze and saw the mass of orcs and aquilus looking at them. There were almost twenty of them and they were armed and ready for combat. They tasted the sweat and blood of their human targets. They didn’t sense fear.
The trio stood in a semi-circle keeping their backs to the wall. One of the orcs, the largest any of them had ever seen, barked and growled at them as it swung a mighty axe in circles over its head. Two aquilus made a few steps forward and placed themselves between the humans and the only escape. The animals all took a step forward and the three crusaders tightened their group by just a step. For several seconds each group studied and stared at each other carefully.
“What are they waiting for?” Gallif asked with her heart pounding in her ears.
“Trying to scare us,” Kavelle said as she caught her breath. “It makes the kill tastier.”
They were preparing for combat when suddenly, with a speed so fast it appeared they burst from inside its body, three arrows punctured the largest orc. The targeting was so accurate one of the arrows penetrated at the gap between the armor chest plates. Before anyone could react another two arrows did the same to one of the aquilus.
It happened so fast and was such a shock even the aquilus froze for a moment. The stunned silence was broken as Gallif let out a cheer and for a brief second Tome and Kavelle wondered if she might be buckling under the strain. Then they followed her eyes and saw just why she was so happy. On top of the right hand wall, armed and ready to let fly more arrows, was a young blonde woman. Gallif smiled and started acting against their almost destroyers. Tome and Kavelle followed.
Tome’s long sword quickly took one of the aquilus out of action with a few quick maneuvers. Kavelle’s mace ended an attempt to kill Tome from behind. Gallif parried a few attacks from the sword of a blood thirsty orc and punctured its chest twice
before an arrow took it out of combat. The addition had tipped the scales in their favor and the orc and aquilus pack were finally defeated. It was not an easy or short battle, but it was decided in their favor. When the final elf was killed by a strike from a mace silence fell among the area. No one moved. Everyone listened and watched for new threats. After a long pause Tome relaxed his stance and looked up at the blonde woman still on the wall.
“Thank you,” Tome said. “Whoever you are.”
“You’re welcome,” she called to them. She jumped from the wall and landed safely on the ground a few yards from them.
“Maura,” Gallif smiled and walked toward her. Without thinking she threw her arms around her friend and lightly kissed her cheek. “You saved our lives,” Gallif said and held her close. She could feel Maura’s nerves shaking her body as they held each other, but knew the excitement of combat had that effect sometimes and ignored it.
“This is Maura,” Gallif said as Tome and Kavelle introduced themselves.
“I was supposed to meet Gallif at the temple and started asking around. They told me you had left an hour before I got there so I thought I’d try and catch up with you. I had just come around the corner of the mansion when I heard some shouts and combat in this direction. The gate was closed so I just decided to go over the wall.”
“A very good advantage point,” Kavelle complimented her. “That is the best shooting I’ve ever seen.”
“Thanks,” Maura said almost embarrassed. “But before anything else happens there is something I must do. My quiver isn’t cast so I only have a limited supply of arrows. I’d better try and salvage as many as I can.”
“I’ll help,” Gallif said quickly.
There were six buildings in the enclosed compound and Tome took Kavelle to explore the largest while Gallif and Maura collected arrows. The area was not very large, and a shout could be easily heard if something went wrong.
“I’m glad you found us,” Gallif said as she pulled two arrows from the orc that had been downed first. The third arrow was lodged in the body so tight it snapped when she pulled it away. She went to an elf; put a foot on it to hold its shoulder in place, then popped the arrow from the corpse.
“I didn’t expect it to be like this,” Maura said as she kneeled over and gently pulled an arrow from an elf. She looked closely at the arrow as the dark blood drained onto her hands.
“It isn’t always this way,” Gallif said as she pulled another arrow from an orc. “This is the first time I’ve ever had a combat this big. We were running constantly and fighting before we got to this area. Which is really odd now that I come to think about it. I know the aquilus hunt in packs of, usually, eight or nine, but they’ve always stayed as a pack. Breaking up into groups like this is really unusual.” Gallif pulled hard to remove an arrow from an orcs skull but it snapped in half. “Damn,” she said over her shoulder to Maura. “You really have excellent timing.”
When there was no answer, she turned to see Maura still kneeling over the first elf she had gone to. Gallif walked steadily to her and kneeled down on the other side of the body to face her. “Are you okay?” Gallif asked gently.
“I didn’t expect it to be like this,” Maura said after a long breath.
“First time you’ve killed?” Gallif asked, puzzled.
“I’ve taken down deer, coyote, birds, all sorts of things in the forest. This is different,” Maura said as she tried to catch her breath.
“Why?”
Maura looked the body up and down carefully before answering. “This is a person.”
“No,” Gallif insisted.
“Yes,” Maura spoke quickly. “It looks different but it’s like us. It walks on two legs and wears clothes and has families.”
“NO!” Gallif said and grabbed Maura’s shoulders with both her hands. “It isn’t like us. It breathes, it eats, it kills but that’s it. It’s worse than the wild animals cause they only kill for food. This monster kills for pleasure. It doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong like we do.”
“But look at him!”
“I have,” Gallif said strongly. “I’ve seen it a thousand times in day light and in my dreams.” She spoke with such emotion that Maura was almost shaken by it.
“I’m sorry,” Maura said and wiped tears from her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” Gallif said as well and forced her rising emotions to calm themselves. “Do you want to head back to the restaurant?”
“No,” she said honestly. She brushed her blonde hair back and finally asked, “Does it get better?”
“Yes.”
“Does it ever stop?”
“No.” Gallif said looking away. They stood and Gallif pulled her close. “I’ll be here. I’ll keep an eye on you.”
Maura leaned into her for a moment and then turned away. She turned and quickly pulled another arrow away from an orc.
By the time Tome and Kavelle returned they had recovered almost all of the arrows. They cleaned and returned them to Maura’s quiver so she would be ready for combat again. Gallif had also been telling her what had happened since she’d left Maura and the restaurant.
“How are you at a short sword?” Tome asked of Maura.
“I’m okay,” she answered. “I may be a bit off at some of the faster or more complicated tactics, but I can handle one.”
“Good,” Tome nodded. “Here,” he said and handed her a short sword. “This building was a brewery and loaded with vats of ale and ingredients. There was an office on one side and we found this in it. If we are in close quarters you may not be able to use your bow.”
“Fair enough,” Maura said and slung the bow over her shoulder.
Gallif told them her concerns about why the orc and aquilus fighters had attacked them. “There’s somebody in charge of them who’s directly controlling them,” she said.
Tome looked at Kavelle and asked “You are more experienced than we are at casting. Is there anything you can think of that could do it?”
“Sure,” she nodded. “Lots of casts, but it would take someone very experienced to control a group that large. The mental concentration would be extremely difficult.”
“Could a giant do it?” Gallif asked.
“Sure,” she nodded. “But on the whole giants will shy away from that type of casting. They are so benevolent they favor healing and positive casts.”
“But could they do it?” Gallif asked again.
“Yes,” Kavelle said and stared Gallif down. “I said that they could.”
“Let’s get these other buildings checked,” Tome said quickly to avoid a confrontation. “If someone was controlling them they know what happened and may be sending others.”
They moved to the second building and found it to be another storage area for grains and other food stuffs. The third building was the quarters for the gardeners and, from the items they found, the people who took care of the livestock. The fourth building was set up for construction and other types of maintenance which also included a furnace to heat and work iron.
The last two buildings were barns and in one they found three horses. Gallif insisted on getting fresh water from a pump just outside the barn before they moved on.
At the second barn they didn’t need Gallif’s senses to pick up the smell. They knew what blood smelled like and shook at just how strong it was.
Hanging from the rafters inside the barn was what was left of four bodies. Their arms had been tied behind their backs and they had been suspended, not killed, by ropes. The faces were a blue gray tone and bloated. They were horribly mauled and torn and strips of skin hung from their bodies. Without getting closer it was obvious by the marks on the lower halves of the victims that they had been clawed to death. The remains of all of their clothes lay in blood-soaked piles beneath them.
Even with all the experience Tome had, he could not help but feel sickened. Kavelle sat on her knees and started a prayer in some language none of them could understand. Maura s
lowly turned away and leaned against the barn door for support. Gallif started to go to her but Maura waved her to stand back.
When Kavelle was finished with her prayers she stood and took several cloth sacks from a rack just inside the doors. She handed one each to Gallif and Tome and didn’t push when Maura refused. All three of them took the sacks and wrapped them around their nose and mouth before entering. They also used sacks to cover their hands and arms.
The first body they cut down was a human male. He had been a very strong and healthy man and they believed he must have been the blacksmith. They gently laid him on a straw pile and covered him.
The second was a small human female. She still wore the white hat that maids wore, and her face was forever frozen in her last horrific look. Her eyes were open and Kavelle closed them as she prayed.
When the third body, a dwarven female, came down and Gallif got a clear look at the tortured face she let out a scream of pain that even the sack could not muffle. With tears streaming from her eyes she gently laid the body to rest on a soft bed of straw. Despite the smell Maura covered her face with a cloth sack and stayed next to her.
The final body was a kobold and they also lay it gently on the straw. Kobolds had never been known for their looks, or considered attractive, but they were beautiful in life compared to the horrible death this one had suffered.
After all the bodies were down and covered they left the barn and gently closed the doors behind them. Once they were Gallif collapsed to the ground in grief and Maura quickly came to her side.
“That was Linea,” Gallif said choking for breath. She pounded her fists on the ground in rage several times and then tore the sack from her face. “There has to be something here that we missed,” she finally said as she panted for breath. “There has to be a clue or something.”
