by Sven Grams
Trex looked queasy, Sara looked terrible.
Trex grabbed his head, which suddenly felt like lead.
“I feel like death warmed up,” he stated, “If that makes you feel any better.”
Sergeant Brex allowed enough emotion to come into his focused state to smile wryly.
“You two did well,” he complimented, “let’s get out of here.”
Nearby, a male and female archer fired two signal arrows high into the air. The arrows screamed into the sky, both with a different pitch. Exploding with a bang, two different colours of smoke and glitter could suddenly be seen.
“I hope the next beach comes soon,” said Kirra sternly, “we’ve been travelling along this cliff coast for some time now.”
“Me too,” stated Brex as he took an injured comrade over one shoulder, “me too.”
It was many minutes later and the cliff coastline appeared to have no end. The lion force hobbled and carried the injured forward. Only a few lions were in a very thin skirmish line around the main group trying to scout a way through the increasingly rocky, forested terrain. Almost everyone else was assisting to move the injured as quickly as possible.
Sara and Trex were amidst the group. Too weak to assist others, they stumbled on.
For a few minutes now they could hear the sound of approaching war drums following them. The leading force was closing in.
“Damn it!” said Sergeant Kirra, letting some rare emotion show. She was panting heavily with the effort of assisting a hobbling comrade.
The group slowed again as they searched for a way forward. It was getting increasingly difficult to find a good way through the large boulders of the ridgeline that was in front of them.
“This way!” called one of the few skirmishers.
“We keep heading inland,” said Brex, an unconscious lion slung to his back. The small Sergeant looked like an ant carrying the much larger unconscious soldier
“We don’t have a choice,” replied Kirra, “there is no other way over the high ridge, we’re getting closer to the great pass after all.
“There better be a bay after this,” replied Brex, shifting the weight of the injured on his back.
The group stumbled on, half scampering, pulling and pushing each other over the boulders, rock faces and roots of the imposing trees that found a home between the rocks in the crevices.
Kirra and Brex had given their injured to other fit soldiers and began to lag back a bit. They could begin to hear the yelps and calls of the following Anthro bear warriors. The bears were not worried about stealth any more, they knew they had the lions where they wanted them.
Sara and Trex were just in front of the Sergeants. They were still tired, but slightly recovered after having eaten and drunk a bit.
“This is not looking good,” said Kirra clinically, turning to look back through the thinning forest.
“How many were in the lead group?” asked Brex, turning to Sara and Trex.
“We only saw them from the side,” replied Trex, “so I’m not really sure, perhaps fifty or sixty.”
“That’s more then enough to finish us off. There are also the rest of the group we just fought…” said Brex, turning to look at his dishevelled force as they struggled to get the injured over another obstacle.
They were almost at the top of the ridge. The small sergeant could see the blue sky just above the tall boulders that blocked their path. They still hadn’t found a way through the last obstacle.
The four ran up the large boulder the rest had just cleared. Looking back, they could see the first of the bears racing through the forest in the far distance some way below them, they were coming in a line, there were about sixty of them.
“Another dead end,” called a lion who was further up the tight rocky pathway.
Sara and Trex’s heart sank… there was no time to find another way.
“They’re coming now!” shouted Brex.
He and Kirra retrieved their staffs from their back, tucked in behind their shields. They transformed the wood and metal into longbows.
“Send up a distress arrow and find a way through!” commanded Brex,” use lanyards and scale the rocks if you have to, we just get the injured out. Everyone with shields is to form a barrier to block the path!”
Kirra and Brex began to fire at the approaching force. The shields of the bears blocked most of the shots.
Trex also created a longbow as Sara ran to assist the healers in moving the injured.
A distress arrow wailed into the sky, exploding into a blood red cloud of smoke and glitter.
The bears were storming up the incline.
“Aim for the feet,” said Kirra.
The three let loose a continuous barrage of arrows.
There were a few shouts as some bears were hit, faltering and falling on the way with curses and shouts.
The war drums were deafening and the bears roared as one as the continued their relentless march.
“Fall back!” shouted Kirra as the bears raced closer.
The three ran back to the wall of shields between to high rocks.
A small mercy of the landscape meant that there were just enough lions to close off the choke-point completely, so there was no chance of being outflanked.
Brex changed is bow to a spear and joined the line.
Trex and Kirra ran to the injured.
A rope had been set up and the first injured was being heaved up.
Sara and the others looked back with concern as the Anthro bears appeared over the edge of the rock formation in front of the waiting line of lions.
“Prepare!” shouted Brex.
He and his twenty or so comrades all leaning heavily into their shields.
The blow never materialised, however, as the commotion suddenly died down.
Brex blinked a few times at the unexpected development. After a hesitant moment or two, he risked a look over the top of his shield.
The line of bears had stoped, the menacing warriors were all staring at the lions intently.
The heads of the rest of the lions in the shield wall also began to reappear.
It was oddly silent. The only sound was the wind and the heaving of an injured lion up the rest of the small cliff, about six meters high. On top of the sheer rock was one healthy lion and the first of the injured. Two other ropes had already been prepared.
A gap appeared in the line of Anthro bear warriors and a massive creature emerged. The leader was a hulking male. He had very dark brown fur and wore a lot of gold ornamentation and a striking headband with jewels and feathers. He carried a metal shield and a large broadsword, very unusual weapons for an Anthro bear. The sword would have been a double handed weapon for any wolf, but was held loosely in the hulking Anthro’s massive fists.
“Who is in charge here?” he said in a gruff, business like voice. Though accented, he spoke almost a perfect wolf dialect and was easily understandable.
Brex blinked a few times. Coming out of his defensive stance, he looked back at Kirra. The two Sergeants walked in front of the shield line to face the leader.
The chief easily weighed more then both of them put together, and all of it pure muscle.
“Stop evacuating the injured,” the chief commanded.
Brex looked back at the three ropes. Raising his hand, he signalled for his troops to stop. He did not see much of an alternative, and did not want to antagonise his superior opponent.
The one healthy and the two injured soldier on top of the cliff looked on, the healers down at the bottom prepared the next injured regardless, just in case they had to restart quickly.
There was another pause, as both sides sized each other up.
“Who am I addressing?” asked Brex, Kirra by his side.
“I am Chief Thoson,” said the large bear in a matter of fact way.
Sara and Trex gulped, knowing exactly who that was. Brex and Kirra ,however, had not yet been informed.
Brex and Kirra exchanged glances
in silent communication, the two had been through a lot together.
“The big chief himself… we’re honoured.”
Despite his emotional control, Brex couldn’t help but have a cheeky element mixed into his language, it just being such an ingrained part of his nature.
“You have heard of me?” asked the chief in a calculating way, it was clear he was a very thoughtful and intelligent Anthro.
“No,” replied Brex “not really… but you sure fit the bill.”
Chief Thoson smiled, seemingly happy with his non notoriety.
Kirra spoke next.
“We are an expeditionary force from the Lion-Empire here to pick up some settlers, we mean you no harm.”
“I know you are no threat,” said the chief with a shrewd smile.
“Then, why attack us?” questioned Kirra, “we will be gone before the day is out, you are just wasting lives if you fight us.”
The chief seemed to contemplate before speaking.
“I wouldn’t call it a waste of lives,” he said with a smile.
The calm smile sent a chill down Trex’s and Sara’s spine. They were watching from just behind the wall of shields.
“And perhaps I don’t want you to leave,” Chief Thoson continued.
The Sergeants gave each other an inquisitive look.
“If you surrender now, I will guarantee that no one will be killed, in fact you will be my guests, back at my capital.”
Kirra and Brex had to think for a second.
“Since when do bear clans take prisoners… or have capitals for that matter?” whispered Kirra.
“You will find a lot has changed,” the Chief stated graciously.
“And if we refuse?” asked Brex, turning back to the Chief.
The Chief raised an eyebrow. “You will find that many things are still the same,” he stated coldly, “I am not sure how well I can control my warriors if you force us to attack, many of you may not survive.”
Sergeants Kirra and Brex took a moment to talk the matter through. Everyone in the lion group was under no illusion what being a guest really meant. It meant they would never see home again.
One of Sara’s ears twitched, she sensed something. She turned to look up to the north, her eyes focusing on instinct on some undergrowth along the ridge. She turned her head away again automatically, as if compelled to do so, having seen what she needed to have seen.
“The wolves are here,” she whispered to Trex nearby.
Trex looked back questioningly.
“How do you know?” he whispered.
“Sage Filfia just got my attention,” Sara whispered, “she’s up on the ridge to the north.”
Trex almost looked up
“Don’t look!” hissed Sara, grabbing his arm.
“And what does that mean?” asked Trex, a little perplexed.
“It means that she wants us to fight.”
“She what?!” hissed Trex. “Even with the wolves here, there are so many.”
“She knows what she’s doing,” replied Sara confidently.
Trex frowned, thinking over the alternative… reluctantly, he seemed to come to a decision.
“And how are we meant to tell this to Sergeants Brex and Kirra?” the young lion asked.
“I think I can manage something,” said Sara with a smile.
The girl stood up, seemingly regaining a lot of her former strength.
Trex walked by her side as the two made their way forward through the wall of shields, much to the confusion of the other lion soldiers.
Sergeants Kirra and Brex looked back with questioning expressions as the two walked up to their side.
“And who is this?” asked the Chief indignantly.
“I am Sara and this is Trex, and I’m afraid that we can’t take that offer,” Sara stated loud and clearly.
Sergeant Brex looked a little stunned and was about to say something when Kirra grabbed his arm, sensing that something was going on.
The Chief laughed, it wasn’t menacing, but clearly indicated his confidence.
“You can’t seriously think that you will come out victorious young wolf?” he questioned.
Sara smiled evilly.
“You don’t recognise bear blood when you see it?” Sara asked, indicating to her and Trex, they still had blood splattered all over them from assisting that one injured bear.
“We are not afraid of you.”
The chief frowned, unhappy with the developments. He looked over at the Sergeants who were not speaking up.
“You let this arrogant youth speak for you?” he said darkly, “perhaps you are not worth having as guests. But you will not leave these lands alive, I promise you that.”
Sergeant Brex couldn’t help feel like they had all just received their death sentence. The four quickly returned behind the shield wall as chief Thoson walked back behind his own line.
“What are you doing!?” asked Sergeant Brex, grabbing Sara’s arm. “We are all going to die.”
“I just saved you from slavery,” said Sara confidently.
“We are not alone,” said Trex, nodding to the ridge on the north.
Brex and Kirra were too experienced to look up, simply glancing over briefly.
The war drums began again as the bears readied themselves.
“You had better be right, because we have about five seconds to find out.”
The Sergeants both returned to their positions as Trex and Sara went to help lift the next injured up the side of the cliff.
“Let’s hope that Sage Filfia has some more tricks in her bag,” said Trex to Sara nearby as the bears all let out a simultaneous roar.
“Hurrah!” came the reply from the lions. The sound of the shields all locking together in a solid wall had a defiant ring too it. One of the benefits of the controlled mindset of the Anthro lion warriors was an almost limitless moral. When pushed into a corner, lions would fight to the last warrior, which made them particularly dangerous.
The Bears rushed forward, preparing to simply steam role the shield line with pure mass of muscle.
Half of the rushing bear line suddenly faltered, however, when a very audible piercing crack punctuated the shouts, the gunshot like noise could be heard from miles away.
A massive tree which was perched on the northern natural barrier of the chokepoint that the lions were guarding started to move. It was an ancient specimen, almost sixty meters tall with a trunk cross section approaching three meters. Mass like that simply didn’t ‘begin to move’. Any move at all meant something very important was going on.
The bears on the right flank began to hesitate then scatter as the implications of the unstoppable momentum suddenly registered through their initial surprise.
Sara and Trex watched as the ancient tree slowly began to topple over directly onto the attackers. Though the tree moved as in slow motion, its size was enough that not all of the bears could scamper out of the way of its large canopy.
Sara and Trex could just make out Sage Filfia about ten meters up the falling tree. She was riding the trunk on the way down while holding onto a larger branch with one hand, the other hand on her glowing staff, which was speared into the trees side.
“Amazing,” said Trex in awe.
The sound of splintering wood and impacting mass drowned out the shouts and screams of the unfortunate Anthro bears that had not cleared the fall area.
The branches and trunk seemed to rebound slightly as the tree settled into its final resting place. Sage Filfia was now standing on the horizontal trunk. The upright branches still waved back and forth.
Silence returned as coughing and growling bears made their way out of the mess of wood and leaves.
The fallen tree had affected only half of the Bear line, the rest standing back apprehensively.
The bear Chief could just be seen to one side. He did not look as surprised as the rest, he looked angry.
He shouted something in Bear followed with a defining roar. It was en
ough to rally his warriors as the drums started up again.
“The wolves!” shouted Sara happily as the female soldiers of the Wolf Kingdom began to stream down the rocky ridge from the north.
The lion soldiers began to turn to face them in a defensive formation before hesitating.
Brex and Kirra exchanged sheepish glances.
“Well, its not every day that wolf reinforcements are on our side,” said Brex, as if speaking for the lions in general.
“The Colonists!” shouted Trex happily.
Up on the ridge with the few injured that had been lifted up, stood a mixed group of colonists, all armed with bows and arrows.
Brex and Kirra both smiled broadly.
“Let’s give our allies a warm welcome!” shouted Kirra.
“Hazza! Hazza!” shouted the lions.
“Hurrah!” came the shout from the descending wolves, Lieutenant Rosso and Mayor Petrice leading the charge.
The lions turned as one to face the enemy again.
The sudden emotional support from the wolves was immediately effective. Though not as powerful as what Trex and Sara could muster together, the beleaguered troops suddenly felt invigorated. The wolf soldiers too picked up speed, in their eyes was control, confidence and power.
The bears hesitated no further, rushing forward as one.
With the wolves now in their midst’s, the melee equipped lions charged with their new allies by their side. Arrows flew in with deadly precision from above.
The fighters clashed. The bears strained to hold their smaller and suddenly quite strong opponents. Swords, shields, spiers, axes and arrows impacted. Shouts and yells filled the air.
Slightly to the side, Sage Filfia had not completely uprooted the large fallen tree, which was still very much alive. The tree’s branches suddenly began to move as if they were massive puppet limbs controlled by invisible strings. A few surprised bears suddenly found themselves swatted away by a large branch and fast growing vegetation was tripping others up or restricting their movement.
Sage Filfia was exerting massive power and almost glowed.
The war machine of the lions and wolves was unstoppable for the unfavourably positioned and already reeling bears. Not even the raw projecting power of the Chief Thoson was enough, despite seemingly burning almost as fierce as the projection of the Sage or Mayor Petrice.
