by C. F. Cooper
"We will approach Meadowrise and follow that round to Season Pass. That will give them the least visibility of our approach."
"Good thinking."
Gary looked in the direction of travel. He understood what Raleigh meant. The alpine meadows that had brought them to the village of Warrensgate stretched across the horizon but was interrupted by a narrow fissure. That was presumably Season Pass, a narrow break that led through to the next of the four lands, Springrise. By traveling along the edge what Raleigh had called Meadowrise, they would not be visible from the entrance to the ravine.
Just in front of Season Pass Gary could make out a solitary figure tied to a stake. It had to be Daisy.
They galloped on at a furious pace, travelling along the edge of the hill. As they got closer Gary could see what looked, at first glance, like a black cloud in the entrance to the ravine. It was a swarm of doomwalkers. The ones that Gary had encountered so far were obviously advance scouts. After riding for an hour, they were within striking distance. Smallgrass raised his hand and they came to a stop. They circled close to each other and spoke quietly.
"What's the plan from here?" one of the deer asked.
"Fawn, you drop me next to Daisy, and then Raleigh, Gary and Devin get between the doomwalkers and us. Hold them off while I untie her. Fawn you stay with me, ready to take Daisy when she is free. I will whistle to signal when I'm finished, and you all retreat. Raleigh, you pick me up on the way back. It's a simple plan but might work if we surprise them."
"Why should I stay behind?" said Fawn the deer, insulted. "I can hold off the doomwalkers as well as Raleigh or Devin."
"There will be plenty of time for you to fight the doomwalkers later. This is not a battle. Devin and Raleigh have the antlers to hold the doomwalkers at bay. And Gary, well you know..."
"Smallgrass is right," said Raleigh. Our antlers are more formed than yours and better for defence."
Gary looked at Fawn. She dropped her head in disappointment, but she knew they were right. Her antlers were still small and underdeveloped. "Very well."
Smallgrass got to his feet on Raleigh and with one leap landed on Fawn. "Okay," he said, "Let's go."
They began to gallop again, but this time faster than Gary thought possible. His hair flew in the wind and he held on tight. Daisy was no more than fifty feet from them. He could see her properly for the first time. She was tied to a stake directly in front of the doomwalkers camp. The dress she was wearing looked as if it was the one from the painting, but it had seen better days. Daisy's arms were pulled back and tied together. This had the effect of thrusting her chest out in an exaggerated manner. The material was stretched thin and ripped, creating a cleavage that Gary struggled to peel his eyes away from. The dress was tattered and disheveled below the waistline, revealing her long beautiful legs bound at the ankles. Daisy's rabbit ears were on display which meant she was in a state of heightened emotion. That was no surprise, but what Gary noticed was that rather than standing erect, her ears drooped forward, telling all the world that she was sad or frightened.
Raleigh began to veer off to the side and Devin followed.
Daisy saw them approaching and her ears popped up straight and true. A rescue party was on its way.
Raleigh and Devin positioned themselves mid-way between Daisy and the doomwalkers. Gary slid off Devin and pulled his sword out of its sheath. He looked straight ahead and noticed that the doomwalkers were still going about their business. Walking to and fro between tents, carrying weapons back and forth and talking.
"They haven't noticed us," he said with astonishment.
"Their hearing isn't too good," said Devin. "They feel movement more than they hear it, but there are so many of them and they are so busy moving around, our approach hasn't registered with them."
"This might be easier than I thought," said Gary, looking around and seeing Smallgrass sawing away with his knife at the bonds holding Daisy in her damsel in distress pose. His mind wandered to the beautiful rabbit woman. Gary shook his head, no time for those kinds of thoughts.
"Don't be so sure," said Raleigh.
One of the doomwalkers had turned towards them and appeared to be looking a little puzzled. He then began walking towards them scrunching his face up to see better.
"Their vision doesn't seem to be too good either," said Gary.
"It isn't. But once they do see and hear you, they are a match for anyone at close quarters."
The doomwalker stopped in his tracks and shouted in a voice so loud that it hurt Gary's ears. "Muster. We are under attack."
"Small ears, big voices," said Raleigh. "Prepare to fight."
Gary stepped forward in front of the two deer. "I've got this."
Raleigh and Devin looked at each other. "Should we let him?" asked Devin.
Just then the doomwalker who had raised the alarm reached them. Gary raised his sword and shouted. "Prepare to die at the hands of Gary the invincible."
The doomwalker swatted Gary's sword to the side, clenched his fist and punched him straight in the gut. Gary felt himself flying backwards towards the deer. The pain was searing, and he could hardly breath.
Devin bent down and placed his antlers on Gary. For the first time he realised that the deer could control the movement of his antlers, using them like twenty pairs of hands, gripping Gary and helping him back to his feet. He then reached over and picked the discarded sword from the ground and handed it back to Gary.
"You're a virgin Gary. That means you can't be killed at the hand of another, but it doesn't mean that nothing hurts or that you will win every fight. Stand behind me and regain your strength." Devin and Raleigh stepped forward and bowed their heads to point their antlers towards the creature. The doomwalker ran at them and crashed into Devin. The two of them pushed at each other like a pair of sumo wrestlers trying to force the other backwards.
Another doomwalker reached them and got into the same tussle with Raleigh. Gary stood bent over in pain staring at the scene. At least three other doomwalkers were approaching. Gary felt like a fool. He was no superman after all. They didn't have long before they would be overwhelmed. He looked back and could see that Daisy was free and mounting Fawn. Smallgrass whistled to signal the retreat and Gary turned ready to run away from the doomwalkers camp.
"Go Devin," shouted Raleigh. "We'll never all make it. I will hold them off while you retreat."
Gary turned back towards the deer. Raleigh was right, and he was willing to die. The pain still seared through Gary’s stomach, but he knew he was the only one that could both hold them off and survive.
Gary ran back towards the creatures, remembering how Smallgrass had fought. He passed Raleigh and slid to the ground, positioning himself under the doomwalker. He then thrust his sword upwards with what strength he had left. The doomwalker let out a bloodcurdling scream and Gary was enveloped in green and brown mucus-like slime as the body above him split and fell backwards. Gary sprang to his feet and shouted at the other doomwalker, "Prepare to die at the hands of Gary the virgin."
This time he did get a reaction. The doomwalker stepped back from its tussle with Devin and stared at Gary. Devin took the opportunity to rear up and came crashing back down, antlers first into the doomwalkers neck. The creature screamed and collapsed. Gary faced the approaching group of doomwalkers and shouted at the top of his lungs. "You may take my dignity, you may take my freedom, but you will never take my virginity."
The doomwalkers stopped in their tracks, momentarily confused. They were talking to each other, clarifying what they had heard. "Virgin?" one of them shouted.
"And proud of it, "Gary shouted back.
Devin leaned down and shouted. "Get on."
Gary mounted Devin and they turned towards the others. Daisy and Smallgrass were riding Fawn. As they came level, Smallgrass leapt from Fawn to Raleigh and let out a victory yelp. They rode hard for the village, this time in a straight path.
"The doomwalkers are no match for our speed," said Devin.
>
"Thank you for protecting me," said Gary.
"You're still finding your feet," he replied, "but you did fine in the end."
"It will be an honour to go into battle with Gary the virgin," said the rabbit woman, eyes wide open and ears erect.
Gary rode alongside Daisy and blushed with pride and a more than a little bit of guilty embarrassment. Was it wrong to look at Daisy this way as she galloped in her ripped top, her voluptuous figure swaying as they travelled at speed over the undulating countryside.
"But you will need to bathe when we get back to Warrensgate," Daisy added. "You smell of shit."
"Doomwalker shit," laughed Smallgrass. "That is what happens when you stab your enemy to death through his rear end and don't step out of the way quickly enough."
With the rush of adrenalin subsiding, Gary was aware for the first time of how bad the smell was. Sometimes it sucks to be a superhero, he thought. Then he looked back at Daisy. This crazy alternative world he found himself in was starting to make sense to him, or at least even if it didn't make sense, it was beginning to feel like it was worth it.
Chapter 5
Gary emerged from the bath and dried himself off. He sniffed at his underarms and then ran his hands through his hair. He brought his hands up to his face and breathed in deeply. There didn't appear to be any lingering smell from the earlier fight. He wrapped the towel round his waist and stepped out in the main room of the house. Smallgrass and Smallgrass were huddled with Daisy and Joe around a table with a map of Summervale laid across it.
Smallgrass was drawing on the map as he looked up. "Well, that smells better," he said.
Daisy looked up from the map. "And looks better. No-one suits a slime green and shit brown combination."
Gary smiled to cover his discomfort. Daisy had still not changed out of her ripped clothing and she was bent over the table studying the map. He tried, without too much success, to focus on her face. "Your ears have gone," was all he could think to say.
"I suppose it must seem strange to humans," she replied. "Join us, Gary the virgin. We are planning the battle of Season Pass."
Although Gary had proudly declared his virginity in the heat of battle, he wasn't sure he liked it being pointed out by the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He looked at the map and saw various groupings of fighters matched together. Deer with badger and foxes and dogs. Lycanthropes with mice and rats and birds. The pattern was large with small.
"We will attack in waves," said Smallgrass. "The deer can hold the doomwalkers at bay while we run in under them and stab their undercarriages. We will be faster at stepping out of the way than you though." He looked at Gary and winked.
"Good idea," Gary said.
"The smaller animals will distract them, while we Lycanthropes and larger animals rush them and attack their throats," said Joe.
"Those are their two weak points," added Daisy. “Top and bottom.”
"What about me," asked Gary. "Who do I fight with?"
"You will be with us," said Daisy. "You will need to be disguised as a rabbit man though. If they realise you are the virgin they will avoid you. We need you in the heat of the battle without any of them afraid of you. That will allow you to get close and kill as many of them as possible."
Gary nodded. "So, am I going to put on a pair of rabbit ears and a bushy tail?" he joked.
"Funny you should say that," said Daisy. She disappeared into another room and after a few seconds emerged with ears and a tail. "These should do the job."
"And I suppose they come from one of your parents?"
Daisy shook her head in disgust. "I would never chop my parent's ears off, and I certainly wouldn't cut off their tails. What kind of monsters do you think we are? These were my cousin's. He was killed by the doomwalkers last week. They tried to take these as a trophy, but Joe and I managed to retrieve them."
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that ..."
"You've spent too much time with badgers," she said.
"Not possible," said Smallgrass. "You can never spend too much time with a badger."
"Come now. We must dress for battle," said Daisy. "I have something special for you to wear Gary."
***
Gary stood before the mirror and looked at himself. He was hardly recognisable from the person that had stepped through the wardrobe one day earlier. He was bare legged with leather sandals on his feet. God knows which animal the leather came from and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The roman style leather tunic he wore was easier to identify. It was thick black leather, smooth on the inside but made up of small rough scales on the outside. It was the skin of a dead doomwalker. He had a black leather scabbard suspended from a strap over his shoulder. The scabbard held a short sword, really more of a large knife. Hanging from a hook on the strap was a small round shield. It was some kind of lightweight metal. The centrepiece of the whole outfit, however was the helmet.
"Go on," said Daisy. "Put it on. Let's see if it fits."
Gary stared at the helmet. It was, like the leather tunic, made of doomwalker skin. The helmet had a rounded cap and swept down to create a spectacle guard around the eyes and nose which created the impression of a mask. The part that made Gary pause was the two rabbit ears stuck on top. Gary couldn't decide if it looked like a comedy version of a Viking helmet or some creepy disguise from a horror movie. Reluctantly he put it on.
"Perfect. They will never know you are a human,"
Gary looked at Daisy. Her outfit wasn't too different from his in its basic form, but had an additional layer of leather strips, spiralling outward from the centre of each breast. Daisy's helmet was the same basic design as Gary's but had two ear sized holes ready for the moment when they would pop out. She also had a gap in the back of the tunic which showed a patch of bare skin on her lower back and a hint of buttock cleavage. That was where her tail would appear when the time came.
"Turn around," said Daisy, taking Gary by the arms and spinning him round before he had a chance to do so himself. She knelt down behind him and began work on attaching her cousin's tail to the back of his tunic.
Gary looked sideways and watched Daisy in the mirror. Looking at this beautiful woman on her knees, this beautiful rabbit woman on her knees, Gary struggled against becoming too obviously aroused. He knew she was out of his league, but he decided there and then that he must protect her in the battle ahead. Seeing her tied to the stake and helpless earlier that day had both excited him and melted his heart. Gary had never been good at talking to woman. He had and always idolised those that he was interested in. That was what made it so hard for him to talk to them. He knew it was happening all over again with Daisy, but he didn't care. At least they were sharing time together, going into battle together. Gary was a virgin, so there was no chance of him being killed but Daisy had no such protection. As he thought about that, he wondered who her partner was. She lived with her brother and no-one special had rushed to her side once she was rescued from Season Pass.
"There that should do it," she said. Daisy looked round and saw Gary staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes widened. Was it a flash of recognition that passed over her, he wondered. She stood up, spun Gary round and leaning forward kissed him on the cheek. "I've never thanked you for rescuing me. It was very brave of you."
Gary blushed. "I knew I couldn't be killed."
"It was still very brave. You do realise that you can't stay a virgin forever, though don't you?"
Gary felt his blushing deepen and the heat in his face intensify. It was just as well the helmet covered most of his embarrassment. "I don't intend to."
"I think you will need to do something about it after the battle. I don't think you will be able to last too much longer after that, do you?"
Gary's mind raced. Was this an invitation from Daisy? Could it be true? Was she saying there was something between them, or that there could be something between them? He had no idea, but he knew that she needed to survive the battle if he was eve
r going to find out.
Chapter 6
As they stepped out of Daisy's house, they heard the sound of a horn resonate across the village. "The doomwakers must be on the march," said Daisy.
They ran to the edge of the village where they found the others waiting. Smallgrass was looking through a telescope in the direction of Season Pass. "They are coming. Our raid must have spurred them into action." He passed the telescope to Gary.
Adjusting the lens, Gary saw a black cloud in the distance. The doomwalkers, marched zombie-like in the direction the village. "How long till they get here?"
"Less than thirty minutes," said Smallgrass. The other creatures of Summervale haven't arrived yet. We are on our own."
"Shouldn't we retreat to meet the others?" asked Gary.
"We can't let the village fall," said Daisy. "Once they control it, they will defend it at all costs. It is part of the old straight line."
"The old straight line?"
"It is part a line that runs through the four lands," said Raleigh. "Warrensgate is one of the waypoints on the path. Whoever controls it, gains the key to Summervale. The Ice King already has Winterhaven and Autumnfall under his complete control. This will take him one step closer to ruling all of the four lands."
"I didn't understand any of that," said Gary. "But I'm guessing we don't have time to discuss it right now."
"All you need to know is that the village must not fall, and we must keep them at bay until reinforcements arrive," said Smallgrass. "Let's go."
Smallgrass and Smallgrass led them out of the village towards the doomwalkers. They walked slowly and deliberately.
"Show no fear," shouted Raleigh. "March straight and true."
Gary looked around. There were no more than fifty of them, mostly rabbit people, the badgers and some deer. "How many doomwalker do you think there are?"
"About two hundred," said Smallgrass. "They didn't expect us to resist so they only sent a small force. With our reinforcements we would easily outnumber them."
"You shouldn't have rescued me," said Daisy.
