by Travis Bughi
The only reason amazons went deep into Angor now, deep enough to worry about elves, was for the treants. As luck would have it, this was going to be one of those trips.
“We’ll do what we always do,” Chara said now. “Get in and out fast, and just keep our eyes and ears open. If the elves find us, we’ll be leaving in a hurry. We can’t stand up to them with only twenty of us.”
“Don’t worry, Emily,” Belen called out, hearing Chara’s voice carry in Angor’s silence. “You’ll be fine. Elves don’t kill farmers.”
Gaia chuckled far too loudly. Emily ignored them.
“The way Belen acts,” Emily whispered to Adelpha, “you wouldn’t think she was my mother’s age.”
“There’s a reason my aunt gets along with her so well,” Adelpha replied. “Her immaturity and stubbornness make her easy for Stefani to control.”
“And annoying for others to tolerate?”
“Only if you aren’t seeking her favor,” Adelpha smiled.
The forest grew darker, yet light still shone through. It created a perplexing twist of dark shades pierced by rays of bright sunlight. Emily did not like it. On the Great Plains, there were only three shades of light: the darkness of night, the brightness of day, and the twilight between them as the sun set or rose. In the forest, the trees’ branches played games with the sun’s rays, darkening some areas and brightening others. In clearings where a tall tree had yet to grow, a circle of light would illuminate a large, hollow spot on the ground. The flashing light and dark that penetrated some areas and not others only added to Emily’s nervousness, and she thought, Is total silence not torture enough?
All her life she’d dreamed of the forest, but after being in it for a few minutes, she already wanted to leave.
Then, as if the forest sensed her suffering and felt guilty for it, she heard noise. It was faint at first but as constant and rhythmic as the wind that had put her to sleep at night as a baby. It was the sound of water running rapidly over rocks and around bends and twists. Emily felt a slight twitch of relief upon hearing the small river. It was music to her ears. The sounds grew louder as they approached the river, which was more like a large stream, and upon reaching it, the amazons knelt down to drink the frigid water. It was close to freezing, which wasn’t surprising considering how close they were to the mountains of Khaz Mal. The melted snow ran down the mountains, then west along the northern edge of the plains before traveling in smaller channels through the forest. From what Emily had been told, the water never warmed up very much. Compared to the warm water Emily had drank all her life, this was yet another discomfort that she would have to endure until they could reach the jungle.
That was assuming the traitor didn’t act against them first.
“Hey!” Kirke yelled.
Emily looked up to see Leda had splashed her twin sister with cold water from the stream. Leda laughed and then took a deep breath as Kirke lunged at her and plunged them both into the freezing water. They came up gasping but smiling. Hanna was already yelling at her two daughters and beckoning them to come out. Emily cracked a smile at the scene.
She leaned down now and sipped a handful of the water. It was so very cold that she had to pause after each small sip and sit back up on her heels. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her throat, returning warmth to the areas that had been infected with the water’s cold.
This is going to be a long trip, she thought. My mother was right.
“So what do you think of the forest?” a voice said from behind her.
Emily opened her eyes and turned to see Heliena standing behind her. She looked fragile, meek, and as beautiful as always. Her straight, black hair, no longer assaulted by the wind, hung down about her face in a perfect cascade. Her blue eyes gave away nothing. She looked neither friendly nor sarcastic, and Emily decided to offer up a smile.
Heliena returned it.
“It’s quiet, and kind of cold,” Emily spoke casually. “It’s not what I’m used to, that’s for sure. What do you think of it?”
“I hate it,” Heliena replied.
She looked down, as if embarrassed of her answer, and then up as Emily laughed.
“Honestly?” Emily shrugged. “I think I do, too.”
Heliena cracked a smile and chuckled, and Emily felt a bit of her suspicion slip away.
Emily was having a tough time staying impartial. All the amazons were. There was a traitor amongst them, one who had tried to kill one of their own, and that injury was deeply felt. The women tried their hardest not to accuse outright, but silent whispers were spoken every night amongst huddled groups. Old wounds were ripping open, festering with contempt and mistrust. Emily knew more than a few women thought herself the traitor—being the outsider she was—but it was Heliena who shouldered most of the whispers.
It was as the beautiful amazon had foretold.
When Emily first met Heliena, the amazon had warned she would be the focus of suspicion. It had been Adelpha who’d nearly been killed, and thus Heliena had been determined to find Okamoto and learn the truth before she was accused. Unfortunately, that avenue had ended dead and void of substance, and just as she’d predicted, the younger princess was given accusing glances. Perhaps that was why she turned from the others, and from Emily, since even Emily felt the urge to watch her closely.
Still, though, Quartus’ words rung in her mind. She must not let her emotions dictate guilt, and so she gave Heliena her warmest smile. Heliena returned it and then walked away. She returned to her place in the back of the group and carefully sharpened her knife. Emily watched her go, admiring her beauty.
Then a monstrous, inhuman roar shattered the silence and shook Emily to her bones.
Chapter 3
“Bugbear!” Kirke yelled.
There was another roar, loud and thunderous, and Emily looked to its source. A huge creature, larger than a minotaur, loomed in the distance. On two legs, it stood at least three times the height of a human. Its broad body was covered in short, brown fur, and its short snout was paired with tiny eyes. When it roared again, Emily saw a mouth full of short, jagged teeth.
It was massive. Not massive like a behemoth, but it still carried a thick coat of muscle and fat on every inch of its body. The bugbear could easily have knocked down a small tree by leaning against it. And for such size, the creature had surprisingly short legs and arms, which ended in big paws.
“Emily! Back!” Adelpha shouted.
Emily looked around and realized that the other amazons had already fled the stream and she was the only one left kneeling by the water. Quickly, she jumped up and started clambering up the shore, but it was too late. The bugbear snarled and bent to all fours, slamming its body down and crunching the leaves and twigs into dust. Its tiny eyes locked onto Emily, and it charged.
It moved so fast. The legs and arms Emily had thought too small had just instantly propelled the bugbear across the land. The impossible weight it carried barely affected its movements at all. One second it was standing tall, as tall as a behemoth, and the next it was charging through the woods. Each step launched it faster, and Emily’s heart leapt to her throat.
Of the creatures Emily had seen, only a behemoth, a minotaur, and a colossus were in any way similar to this bugbear in size. All of them had been slow, lumbering beasts that took huge steps and a couple of moments to ramp up any sort of speed. This bugbear shared none of their flaws. It was blindingly fast, so much so that Emily was stunned by the speed it achieved so quickly.
“Emily!” Chara yelled. “It’s coming for you!”
Fear and terror struck her core—a white, bone-gripping fear she had never felt before, not even years ago when she and her brother were hunted by a banshee. Her legs locked up, and she tripped over the scattered debris of the forest floor. She tried to crawl desperately with a body crippled by panic. Why can’t I move?
The bugbear barreled through the stream, spraying water in all directions, a juggernaut of destruction, a huge
boulder that moved of its own accord. The beast snarled and bared its teeth as it closed the distance to Emily who was hopelessly trying to scrabble away. Its eyes, such tiny eyes, focused on the small girl it was going to crush under its massive weight.
“Shoot it!” Chara yelled.
Arrows from amazon bows flew through the air, each one striking its target. Most were aimed at the bugbear’s face, and the animal twisted its head to shield its eyes. Just as it came upon her, Emily’s back found a tree, and she knew that the bugbear would crush her against the solid wood. It wasn’t the bugbear that was going to kill her, she realized, it was her fear.
Then something pulled at her thoughts, an invisible hand in her mind, and she had no doubt who or what it was. The touch of Quartus was easily discerned. Emily gasped as fear was altogether plucked from her thoughts. Then courage flooded in its place, and she had control over her body once again.
I’m not going to die here, she thought.
Just before the bugbear would have crushed her, Emily pushed off the tree and dodged the barrel of destruction. The bugbear tumbled forward, missing Emily and ripping the tree she’d leaned against straight out of the ground. The beast roared as it tripped, crashing to the ground and sliding along the underbrush of the forest, crushing several shrubs and bushes in its path. All the while, arrows burrowed into it from short snout to massive body. The bugbear’s fur was slowly being covered in sharpened sticks.
This only angered it. Another arrow struck its shoulder, and it roared as it pushed itself back up and stood to full height again.
“Its neck!” Adelpha shouted. “The neck!”
The bugbear looked down at Emily and lifted a large paw to swipe her. There were claws on the end of the massive paw, but they weren’t what made her tense. After seeing the fallen trees, Emily knew there was more than enough force in the coming swing to kill almost any creature.
Arrows plunged into the bugbear’s neck. A thick mane of arrows formed under its chin in moments, and the bugbear lifted an arm to shield itself. With the other paw, it swung down at Emily.
She had already bent low, and when the paw came down, she leapt backward. Her timing was perfect—almost. The tip of the bugbear’s claw nicked Emily’s leather sandal, and the force sent her spinning across the ground. She hit the ground in a tumbled heap, sliding along the dead leaves until her head hit a tree. The blow dazed her, and she heard the bugbear roar again.
“Finish it!” Adelpha yelled.
Emily held up her hands to shield herself while her eyes tried to adjust from the blow. It was more of a gut reaction that anything else. Her hands alone could not save her, but she held them up all the same and heard the giant beast give one final roar.
A moment later, Emily heard and felt a thud against the ground. Clear vision came back to her, and she saw the bugbear slumped dead just a single pace from her fragile body. Its entire length was covered in arrows with thin trails of blood flowing from each one. However, the killing blow, the one Emily saw first, was the arrow shaft that went through the bugbear’s ear.
“Good shot, Iezabel!” Hanna said.
Emily clutched a hand to her chest and felt her heart pounding. It threatened to burst out of her, so she held it down with one hand while she buried her face in the other.
“Emily!” Chara called. “Are you okay?”
The old woman rushed over and knelt down. She lifted Emily’s face with gentle hands and brushed the leaves out of her hair.
“I don’t know,” Emily replied, voice as shaky as her hands. “Am I?”
She was still in shock. She looked at the corpse of the bugbear and shuddered at the sight of it. The forest had been so quiet, and yet they hadn’t heard or apparently even seen this huge creature coming towards them. What other horrors could it possibly hide?
And to think she’d been afraid of a little quiet and cold.
“You seem alright,” Chara summed up, scraping dirt from Emily’s cheeks. “You gave me a scare there, just standing still against that tree. I didn’t know you were waiting until the last moment to jump away. That was clever, but risky. Perhaps next time you should just start running from the start.”
“There’s going to be a next time?” she asked.
Chara didn’t answer. Instead, she helped Emily to her feet and brushed off more of the leaves and sticks that had found their way into Emily’s clothes and hair. Emily made a conscious effort to calm her shaking.
“Relax, Daughter,” Chara said. “It’s over now.”
Emily nodded and took a few deep breaths. She was surprised at how fear had locked her up. On the Great Plains, she’d hidden from banshees and run from thunderbirds. In Lucifan, she’d threatened a vampire and snuck onto a samurai’s ship. She’d even defended herself from four ogres who wanted to eat her. Through all those endeavors, she’d remained calm and kept her emotions in check, but this bugbear had unnerved her. Only a moment’s reflection revealed why.
The bugbear’s attack had been nothing like those events. Consumed by rage and a desire to kill, it had charged her without a moment’s pause under the ferocious assault of a hail of arrows. Even as it died to those arrows, it never stopped, and that’s what had frightened her. Not the nearness of death, but the seemingly unstoppable bloodlust of a deadly creature bent on her destruction.
She could not let that fear take hold of her again, and she hoped that with Quartus’ help it never would.
“Something’s not right about this,” Adelpha said, walking up to the creature and kicking it. “That bugbear shouldn’t have attacked so quickly. The edge of the forest, too? Why come this far?”
There was a murmur of agreement through the amazon ranks.
“Perhaps the smell of farmers brings out the worst in animals?” Belen suggested.
“Silence, you old hag!” Adelpha threatened. “This isn’t a time for your petty taunting.”
“How dare you!” Belen raised a fist, which didn’t look very menacing compared to Adelpha’s size. “You WILL mind your elders, you insolent little twit!”
“No!” Chara interrupted. “She’s right! How many arrows does everyone have left?”
Most of the amazons didn’t need to check their quivers. Having carried them all their life, most kept a constant mental count of their remaining ammunition. Emily didn’t have to check either. She hadn’t fired a single shot.
“We have,” Kirke said.
“Two,” Leda finished.
“Five,” Iezabel said.
The numbers continued to sound off, with only three amazons having more than ten arrows left: Emily, Belen, and Gaia. As the last one called out her number, they heard the sound of a horn to the near south. Every head turned in dread, except for Emily’s, which only looked in puzzlement.
“I knew it,” Adelpha said, shaking her head slightly. “That’s a centaur horn. They must have been hunting the bugbear. Draw!”
The amazons drew the last of their arrows and nocked them. The thunder of hooves came quickly, and the sound reminded Emily of unicorns running.
Through the twist of trees to the south, a group of ten centaurs burst into view.
They looked just as Emily expected: a unicorn body from the waist down, but a human body from the waist up. There were a few things no one had mentioned. For one, they all grew the hair on their head out very long. They also had pointy ears and big, bushy eyebrows, and none of them wore any clothing except a light, leather chest piece. They seemed so odd and interesting that Emily had trouble peeling her eyes away from them, until she saw what was in their hands. Each of them carried a sword at their side, a quiver on their back, and a bow in hand with an arrow ready to fire.
They halted when they saw the amazons. Their faces twisted in disgust, and they drew back their strings ready to release. The amazons took cover behind trees, and Emily followed a moment later.
“Humans!” one of the centaurs seethed, making no effort to conceal his distaste.
“We wan
t no trouble, centaurs!” Adelpha called out. “You can have your bugbear, and we will be on our way.”
“Do I look a fool?” the centaur shouted. “You’d kill a bugbear and leave it to us untouched? What’s your plan? Did you poison the meat first, or do you plan to kill us as we strip its carcass? Drop your weapons, all of them!”
“Perhaps you are unable to count, but we have twice your number!” Adelpha countered. “Maybe you should take this offer. We have no desire to fight you!”
“Stupid human!” the centaur almost laughed. “We sounded our horn! The rest of our hunting party will be here shortly. None of you will see the next dawn!”
Emily heard Adelpha curse along with several of the other amazons.
“Is he speaking the truth?” Emily whispered to Chara who was hiding behind the same tree.
“Do you think they sent only ten centaurs to kill that beast?” Chara pointed to the dead bugbear. “They were probably just the forward party, scouting and driving the bugbear to a good killing zone. There’s likely at least another twenty centaurs on their way here, probably more.”
“Will they really attack us?” Emily asked.
“Centaurs have a deep hatred for all non-centaurs, Daughter,” Chara said this as if it were painfully obvious. “They are at constant war with everything in these woods.”
“Mother, is there anything in Angor that will not try to kill us?”
Chara paused for a moment.
“The hippogriffs and harpies tend to avoid us. Also, the kobolds won’t try to attack if we stick together.”
Emily sighed. This was definitely going to be a long trip.
“Alright, listen up,” Adelpha said to the amazons, trying to keep her voice low. “It looks like we’ll have to do a combative retreat deeper into the forest, west across the stream. If we go east back to the plains, they might catch us out in the open if they follow. Not to mention we’ll be cut off from water and from capturing a treant.”
