by John Grover
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With a lump in his throat, Edon stood, watching their approach. The dark Ebon warriors rode onto the plains upon their giant spiders. Armor clattered, axes and swords clanked, spiders hissed. The lizard men came with them, advancing on foot, carrying tridents and spikes maces. Large-fanged, smaller spiders, as black as shadows, flooded the fields, eager for warm flesh.
“They must not reach Loden Forest,” Edon called, ripping his sword from its sheath. He now led a combined army of amazons and elfin tribes. He thought of Nix and the others. He thought of his beloved White Fern on the other side of the forest. The darkness was dangerously close. This was their time to stand against it. Edon lifted his sword and hundreds of archers took aim.
The gallop of the spiders rumbled like thunder across the plains. A flock of black birds soared in the air, drawing closer to Edon’s defenses. Smoke and dust billowed into the skies, already saturating the battlefield with debris.
Edon waited, watching until the first line of spider riders swept into his line of sight. “Now!” He swung his sword.
The sky filled with a hail of arrows. Spiders squealed in agony, tossing their masters. Warriors crashed hard, armor shattered, arrows found their mark.
Lizard men roared, flinging tridents into the air. amazons and elves fell, their blood soaking the ground. The battle was on.
The shadow spiders swarmed their prey. But Juni, the Amazon Shamaness, stepped into their path. She chanted and blew in their direction. A gust of wind raged across the field and carried the spiders miles away. She turned her attention to the next wave of riders and lizard men, but her spell was interrupted by a soaring trident.
Edon moved his shield in front Juni and deflected the oncoming weapon.
“I owe you my life,” she said to him.
“Keep yourself alive,” he said. “Attack from behind the scenes. I’ll have no martyrs here today.” He turned and charged, leading the elves and amazons to meet the scourge head on.
Swords and axes clashed. amazon lances met tridents, as the plains ran red with blood. Elves leapt through the air, tackling warriors off their hellish steeds.
Giant spiders crushed rib cages, ripped out throats, and filled bodies with poisonous venom. Helpless elves and amazons fell paralyzed as smaller spiders ate them alive.
Lizard men used teeth and claws as weapons, gnashing at anything that moved--women, elves, even each other. Their savagery grew uncontrollable.
Edon thrust his sword through an Ebon warrior, stopping him seconds before he swung his battleaxe down. The elf managed to skip out of the way and attack from behind, slicing through his shoulder, separating the warrior’s arm. The axe fell to the ground.
The elf slashed his sword again across the back of the enemy's kneecap. The warrior fell to one knee, and Edon plunged the sword into the back of his neck. He twitched once before toppling over.
Edon turned to see the amazons kick and gouge, impale and maim. They gave the brutality of their foes right back to them. It almost made Edon smile. He had never seen the likes of it.
He rejoined the battle, helping a woman take down a stubborn lizard man. She smiled at him and nodded her approval.
“You are fierce warriors,” he said to her. “I’ll bet the lizard women would cower at your hands.”
“There are no lizard women,” she said. “They’re a single-sexed race. They automatically lay eggs when it’s time. The color of their stripes tells their age.” She pointed at the fallen lizard’s tail. “That copper color means he hasn’t reached adulthood yet, when he’ll be fertile.”
Her knowledge stunned him. “How do you…”
“We dedicate ourselves to learning every detail about our enemies. It teaches us their weakness.”
“What do you know of these dark warriors?”
“Nothing. No one has ever caught one nor lived to question one. We do not even know if they can speak.”
Wails of anguish filled the air. Body parts littered the ground. The carnage dimmed the light of day. Edon and the amazon turned to watch dark warriors hacking elves and amazons alike.
“At least they scream from the bite of our swords, and they surely die.”
“Aye,” she said. “The Gods watch over us.”
The two of them rushed back into the heat of battle, slashing their way into a sea of armor and flesh.
The fight raged for hours. The number of warriors and lizards seemed endless. Another wave of riders appeared over the horizon. Behind the flanks of armed guards, Juni uttered the words of another spell. Soon after, hailstones tore through the sky. Huge rocks battered the riders, bashing their armor, toppling them from their spiders and cracking bones.
Still, the dark warriors carried on.
