by Taki Drake
“The bone creatures, the Demon Bies, are the adversaries. They are vicious attackers with a long reach and expert tree-climbing skills but do not appear to have a strong sense of smell. Even better, their vision is only good within 20 feet. Farther than that, their perception is muted and mostly limited to the detection of movement. They also appear to be weaker right before dawn, so the general plan is for us to catch an early night, maintaining a sentry watch, until two hours before dawn.”
Pavel added, “We should have enough time to travel the kilometer and a half to what will become our battleground and attack while their energy is low. We have a plan that will start with coordinated attacks on the right and left opponent. The mercenary teams will be divided into two on one side, three in the other. I will take Mikhail and go after the enemy to the west. Both he and I have some degree of Magic and have the most experience with Demons.”
Taking up the explanation, Stefan added, “Tolya, Kasha, and I will try to take out the opponent to the east. Since I am the strongest Magic wielder after you, we hope that we can severely damage that opponent and take him out of the remainder of the fight. Tolya and Kasha are excellent fighters, and if they can keep the Demon off me, I might be able to disable him with Magic and allow them to finish him off.”
“We Hidden Folk fight better from concealed positions. Before the fight, all of us will get ready, armed with stocks of sticks, stones, and other small missiles. The Evil Ones will not bother to chase us from such useless attacks, but it will help to confuse them. Then the conflict can start.”
Pavel said, “When all are in position and ready, the battle will start with the barrage from the concealed force. Attacking from two different sides with the mercenaries, we hope to draw the bone creatures’ attention away from the center. There is no sure way of moving the middle creature to either side, although we believe it will move to reinforce the outnumbered entity to the east.”
Stefan took up the briefing at that point, adding, “We depend on you to go up the middle. You and Dascha will be assisted by Tisha’s father. He should be able to get you into the fortified area. Then you can position yourself as the anvil, and we will be the hammers to smash the enemy between us.”
Chapter 32 – Battle Dawn
Zhanna had not expected to sleep, but her exhausted body had forced her into a dreamless four hours of profound slumber. Waking up abruptly, the young woman heard vague stirrings on the outside of her tent. Rolling over, she encountered a fierce, green-eyed stare from Dascha.
<< Why do you stare at me that way? Could you not sleep? >>
<< I am just thinking about today and how life has changed for both of us. It doesn’t seem that long ago when we first met. >>
<< No sad, depressing thoughts today. There is a battle, and we don’t know how it’s going to turn out. Treasure the time we’ve had and let’s rise to meet the challenges today. >>
Zhanna refused to wallow in fear and dismay. While she might be afraid, that emotion would be packed away until she had time to pull it out and examine it afterward. Right now, they had preparations to make and a bit of a hike. She didn’t want to be late, because after all, this is one party that she was obligated to attend.
By the time the Witch and Familiar had emerge from the tent, the Hidden Folk group had already departed to take their positions. Zhanna would’ve liked to say goodbye to them but knew that such a mournful attitude would not add to anybody’s overall well-being. She hoped that she would not have reason to regret the missed opportunity for final words at the end of the day.
Moving quietly through the woods, Zhanna and the mercenaries split up about half a kilometer away from where their battleground awaited. The young Witch and her Familiar proceeded straight ahead. Accompanied by Narama, they stopped in concealment about 100 feet back from where the forest ended, and the broken rock field started.
In the slowly growing light, Zhanna could see that the area in front of the rocky hill and its protected cave was very similar to that of her practice ground. The same sort of rock was present, cut with the tracks of long-ago rivers in deep rivulets. Disappearing through a maze of partial rock walls and large boulders, the young woman appreciated the concealed nature of the cave while still ruing her inability to see precisely where she would be going.
Pavel and Mikhail had split off from Zhanna’s group more than a kilometer back. The two of them had a more difficult pathway to their strategic position, especially if they were going to draw attention away from Zhanna’s emergence and foray to join the defenders. Just before they had moved apart, Mikhail had reached over and grabbed Zhanna’s shoulders for a brief moment. His look of concern and the pressure of his fingers in that short clasp had told her of his worry and his hope.
Stefan and the two youngest mercenaries had departed from the camp on an entirely separate route. Their trajectory was longer and needed to avoid a marshy area while still getting to a position that would allow them to draw the enemy to the east. Zhanna regretted not being able to see Stefan before he left but was not sure if it was better this way. The young Witch could feel the adrenaline running up and down her nerves and trembling her muscles. She felt like a horse at the beginning of a race, unable to run yet, but all keyed up and ready to go.
Waiting for the signal of the battle to start, Zhanna practiced taking deep slow breaths. Concentrating on that process so intently, the young Witch missed the first few seconds of their attack. The dawn had just broken, and a cheerful, slightly rosy glow lit the edges of the forest and illuminated the rocks across the field. As the light touched each of the boulders, sliding closer to the gap between the broken walls of the natural labyrinth, Zhanna was startled when three of what she thought had been rocks begin to move.
<< Slava Bogu, dear God, they are huge and horrible! >> murmured Dascha.
<< Evil, they radiate evil. >>
The three creatures that rose from a featureless huddle on the ground had an appearance that would haunt Zhanna’s nightmares for years to come. Looking like animated skeletons with wrappings of tendons and muscles, the ones referred to by the Hidden Folk as Evil Ones lived up to their name. Elongated, bony jaws had teeth worthy of a shark or crocodile. Three long hooked claws on each forelimb matched the scouts’ description of their favorite method of attack.
Draped in tattered clothing and trailing the bandages of a shrouded corpse, Demons Bies were a frightening sight. Zhanna shuddered thinking of the story of how they would snag their victims and drag them into their maws.
If their natural weapons were not enough, the danger they presented was greater because of their reach and height. Standing more than seven feet tall, each of them had arms that reached almost to the ground. They moved in a shuffling but rapid manner, covering ground in very few strides.
It was evident that they were uncomfortable in the early morning. The creatures moved jerkily and did not interact with each other visibly. They had spent the evening posted as far apart as they could and still cover the field in front of the labyrinth entrance to the cave. Zhanna thought that they had some form of speech since they made clacking sounds at each other in a pattern that reminded her of conversation.
Looking around irritably, the three creatures tried to determine where the sporadic flights of rocks and small missiles were coming from. The young Witch was impressed by how well the Hidden Folk had concealed themselves because she could not see any of them. Even Dascha was unable to find them.
The attack did not seem to be strong enough to do anything, and Zhanna worried that it wasn’t going to work. Reminding her Witch that the purpose of that first blow was to raise irritability, Dascha added, << This is to make them mad so that they react more emotionally to the next phase, remember? >>
<< Now I do. I must’ve been drained, but I had forgotten that. Thank you! >>
<< Just remember, our part is not yet. >>
There was a shouting of men’s voices and the crackling light from a Magical attack. Zhanna and Da
scha’s eyes were both drawn to the east side of the rock field where Stefan had entered the stony area and slammed a beam into the chest of the Evil One that turned slowly to meet him. Before the Demon could charge, Kasha and Tolya seemed to spring from the ground and attack their opponent from either side. Kasha was firing a modern-looking weapon, taking a two-handed stance and putting bullet after bullet into the center of the creature’s chest. It appeared to have no impact, and he gave way slowly as it struggled to move toward him.
Tolya had chosen a sword rather than a gun. To Dascha’s enhanced sight, the sword had a soft lavender glow to it, obviously spelled for either damage or defense. Raining blow after blow on the creature’s one side, Kasha narrowly avoided a sweeping attempt to snag him. Only his agility and the fact that his shirtsleeve ripped easily prevented him from being drawn off balance.
On the other side of the field, Pavel and Mikhail had emerged from the surrounding forest. Entering the rock field about 50 feet apart, both minor Witches slammed the Demon there with low-level flashes of light and the crashing of small explosions.
Although pummeled around and thrown off its balance, the Demon on that side did not appear to be taking significant damage. It took the two mercenaries working in concert to make any impact on the huge creature. For the moment, neither Pavel or Mikhail wanted to get anywhere in reach of the vicious capture technique of which the creature was capable.
The battle cries of the men and the strange clacking sound of the bone creatures were disorienting and distracting. Somehow Zhanna had thought of battles as quieter. She felt off balance, frantically asking her Familiar, << Is it time for us to move? Should we be trying to run up the middle? >>
Dascha replied, << We have to wait until the center creature goes one way or the other. I don’t think we would survive a one-on-one encounter with this Demon, at least not right now. >>
The young woman’s eyes snapped to the middle enemy. She had forgotten all about him in the confusion of the two fights going on either side of the field. She could see that it was just as confused as she was. Its head swayed from side to side watching the progress of the fights, indecision embroidering each of its movements.
“Wait for it, young Witch,” said the shaky voice of Narama. His old eyes watched the battle in front of them, calmly waiting for the right signal to advance. “The large one, the one in the middle, will make a decision soon. You can tell from how much faster his movements are becoming looking side to side. He is closer to making a decision, but we have to wait till he commits. Then we can move.”
Chapter 33 – Desperate Fight
Forcing herself to not watch the hand-to-hand fighting on either side, Zhanna kept her eyes on the center creature. She saw what the old Hidden Folk male meant about the indecision. The rapid examination of first the left and then the right situation, the half movements to one side or the other, these were all signs of someone who could not make up their mind. She saw the actions becoming faster and faster. The air pushed on her lungs as if she were a runner at the end of a race. That feeling of pent-up emotion was present, the bottled up explosive feeling that would very soon find an outlet.
Finally, the center Demon moved. Contrary to what Stefan and Pavel had expected, the creature decided to enforce the fight to the west. Rather than trying to rescue its compatriot to the east in its battle with Stefan, Tolya, and Kasha, the leader of the Demons decided to help with the fight against Pavel and Mikhail.
<< Zhanna, perhaps Magic is more of a danger than the number of people. Both Pavel and Mikhail have shown Magical attacks, and that apparently is a greater threat than more people. >>
<< It looks like the Magical attacks are doing more damage than the physical ones, Dascha. Also, there only two people to overcome on that side. >>
At that moment, another element entered the battle on the side of Pavel and Mikhail. Seeming to erupt from the very dirt below the bone creature’s feet, two of the twig-like Hidden Folk rose up from the earth and wrapped their slender, branch-like arms around the feet of the embattled Demon.
Uttering the first high-pitched screech that had been sounded by the creatures, the embattled Bies dropped to its knees and began to move his arms and snapping jaws in an increased speed that’s subtly told Zhanna of its fear and mounting desperation.
That additional attack was all that was needed to draw the center, larger Demon into a charge in support of its endangered ally.
“Now! Now, Lady Witch is the time for you to make good on your vow. The center is open, and it is time to defend. Come, I will lead the way!”
“Tisha! This is not part of the plan.”
The small brown-furred female paid no attention to Zhanna’s protest. Instead, she took off at a scuttling run straight down the middle of the field heading directly toward the entry to the labyrinth. An anguished cry of “Daughter!” from Narama was the only sound before the silver-streaked brown-furred elder took off after Tisha.
To Zhanna senses, everything became slow motion. Her time was telescoped, and everything was very clear. The intensity of the light, where everyone was moving, even the sounds of footsteps on the soft ground.
Her mind worked with utmost clarity. Every thought had plenty of time to form and express itself, every fact was interpreted and processed. Tisha was running, her father close behind. Zhanna found her feet following them and knew that her Familiar was by her side.
Isolated thoughts pinged into her consciousness with the speed of bullets. Fact - the demon saw movement. Fact - she knew a better camouflage spell. Fact - they would get further if the demons didn’t see activity.
Moving at a steady run, almost a sprint, the young Witch pulled energy up from her contact with the ground without conscious thought and let it flow out over her and the sprinting Hidden Folk. Settling over them like a protective shell, the young Witch’s concealment made them invisible to those without Magical sight.
The yells and screams of battle rose like walls on either side of them. Zhanna knew that she could not move her attention away from her goal and that it would be fatal for her to stop and think about this battle. The training that Stefan and Mikhail had drilled into her reinforced the idea that fighting needed action, while battle required strategy and thought. She was in a fight, and now was the time for doing, not thinking.
Zhanna was in a focused tunnel, alert to her immediate vicinity and focused on her objective. The young woman could feel breath moving harshly in and out of her throat. The burn of muscles performing at a high level and the sweat of effort trickling down her back and across her face kept her in the moment. Her Familiar’s presence through the companion bond sang a song of, “Dascha is fine, Dascha is fine.”
The terrain was getting more difficult. Zhanna stumbled over a rock, losing her focus and concentration just for a moment. Inexperienced at holding the spell, her cloaking illusion shattered into motes of light. The sudden appearance of movement at the center of the field drew the attention of the largest of the Evil Ones. Realizing it had been duped, the creature charged across the ground heading for Zhanna and abandoning the kneeling, smaller Demon with a screech of rage. The sharp harmonics of its discordant cry dropped Dascha and Tisha to the ground, semi-stunned.
Skidding to a halt, Zhanna turned and ran back to her Familiar. Ignoring Dascha’s mental command of, << No! Save yourself. I will catch up! >>, Zhanna reached down and clasped her beloved companion to her chest and turned once more to rush toward the entrance to the labyrinth.
Just as Zhanna had stopped for Dascha, so had Narama stopped and tried to help Tisha. The elderly Hidden Folk male managed to get his daughter to her feet but was unable to move her forward. Ignoring her attempts at commanding him, the silver-tinged man set off on an intersection path with the onrushing Demon. Calling back over his shoulder in a determined voice, he shrieked, “Carry my daughter, too! I will not let him get to you. But hurry!”
The young Witch realized that he meant to sacrifice himself to allow the
m to escape. A brief moment of clarity found one crystal thought, No more sacrifices. Skidding to a halt next to the stunned Tisha, Zhanna took a deep breath, trying to center before beginning her Magical attack. She had no clear vision of what spell she was going to cast, but she knew that something was going to come out.
A triumphant cry from the east and the ear-piercing shriek and death rattle of the Demon Bies announced that Stefan and his two mercenaries had defeated their opponent. A quick glance over in their direction told Zhanna that there had been injuries and she quickly turned her attention back to the creature rushing at her.
Time telescoped further, and everyone’s movements became slower. Zhanna felt like she was moving at regular speed through a world inhabited by others that acted at half her speed. She saw the most massive Demon charging at her. She saw the moment when Narama leaped an impossible 6 ½ feet in the air to sink his shining claws into the face of the vicious Evil One.
A narrow tunnel opened in Zhanna’s mind, and the Witch fired off a series of spells, faster than she had ever managed before. Hitting the demon with a blast of pure force at his hip line, Zhanna succeeded in dropping him to the ground. As the semi-stunned creature fought back, she clamped bands of energy clumsily over his body. The few she managed to anchor well, confined his legs and one of his arms but she was unable to fully immobilize him.
The hooked claws of his free arm caught Narama across the back. This frantic movement of his limb slung the elderly Hidden Folk across the broken field and into the face of a rock. The old man slid without a sound to lie motionless on the ground. Keening, Tisha stumbled her way in a broken, drunken-looking path, desperate to get to her father.
Looking over at Pavel’s battle, Zhanna saw the moment where the merged weapons of Mikhail and Pavel ended the existence of their opponent. Pavel wielded a massive, two-handed dagger in a sharp stabbing motion that started out over his head and came down squarely on the chest of the disabled creature. Mikhail stood next to him concentrating on providing a fiery glow to the edge of the weapon as it smoothly slid through the Demons chest and the creature exploded.
