300) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 64 — War

Mere minutes from safety, Devona shouted, “Archers! Behind us!” and they turned to see the first volley hurtling toward them from a group of eight, sprinting fast. The next volley came quickly. As they got closer, the archers started firing in sequence, one right after the other, keeping a constant rain of arrows hurtling towards them. They could shoot and run much faster than Kohra and the others could dodge and retreat, and they were closing the gap quickly.

“It's her!” Dominic yelled. “In the middle!” Sure enough, it was Graxia, in all-black leathers, holding what looked like a wand.

“Stop rrrunnin’! Shoot back!” Gorb cried, raising his crossbow, planting his feet and taking aim. He was right; Graxia’s squad was already too close to be outrun.

A moment later, a small red spark sped through the blackness, straight for Graxia. As it exploded, she dove into the snow, somersaulting as the fireball exploded overhead, and springing back to her feet, wand still in hand. Two of her archers weren't so skilled, and their prone bodies lay smoking in the snow. The others kept coming, but more cautiously, keeping up their blistering rate of fire. 

A tall woman with a longbow took careful aim at Reilly, who was standing beside Gorb, aiming her Wand for a second shot. Kohra wondered momentarily how the girl had managed to transform, but there was no time to ponder such things. She focused instead on Connecting with the Flux, trying to Shape fire into her hands. Nothing. She concentrated harder, gritting her teeth, desperate to reach the Flux, but there just wasn’t enough time! “Dammit!” she growled, shouldering her own cross-bow.

Dominic recognized the tall woman as the Archer Captain, the woman he’d watched training the others back in the cavern. This was bad. She was as good as he was. Maybe better.

“Melkorn, get in front of Reilly!” he shouted, and the big man jumped in front just in time, the arrow aimed for her chest glancing off his armour.

Kohra and Devona stood side by side, crossbow twanging and Darkness Balls flying. Lenny stood a few feet away, delirious with pain but blasting FrostBolts rapid-fire out of the fingers of one hand. They weren't even trying for Graxia, who was far too nimble; they just wanted to slow the other archers down. And it was working, buying them all a little more time, although Kohra still could see no way out.

“HAMMERRRR!!” Melkorn bellowed, and shield up, barrelled up the hill, straight for Graxia.

“Melkorn! No!” Dominic screamed, but Melkorn was already out of control. The archers trained their shots on him, but between his shield and armour, he seemed impervious to mere arrows. Startled, they broke formation, backpedaling up the mountain.

“Aim for the Captain!” Dominic shouted to Devona, and the three of them trained fire on the tall woman, who had been taking careful aim at Melkorn. She backpedaled as well under their onslaught.

Graxia stood alone to receive Melkorn’s charge. CRAAAACKZZZZZSCHSCH!! A lightning bolt sizzled from her wand, hitting Melkorn square on, knocking him backward several feet. His body twitched, shaking with sharp spasms, but he didn’t fall. Even across the distance, Kohra could see the surprise on Graxia’s face as Melkorn staggered forward again, battle-axe raised.

“HAMMERRRR!!”

A second red spark streaked from Reilly, this time catching the archer squad unawares. They hit the ground and didn’t get back up. Lenny, Kohra and Devona had by this point found some partial cover, and were exchanging fire with the Archer Captain.

CRAAAACKZZZZZSCHSCH!!! A second bolt seared into Melkorn. He spun to the side, partly dodging the blast (or maybe he fell; it was hard to tell), going down on one knee for a moment before lurching back to his feet. Blood poured down his face, but he raised his axe defiantly. “HAMMERRRR!” Once again, he stepped forward.

Graxia backed up, and the Archer Captain fell back as well. One of the archers knocked down by Reilly’s blast got back up and sprinted uphill.

“Melkorn!” Gorb yelled. “Come back!!” Melkorn slowed, then stopped, teetering like a tree about to fall. Dominic and Gorb rushed forward, Dominic reaching him first, propping Melkorn up with a shoulder, and helping him stagger back down.

There was a pause. Graxia, the Archer Captain, and the one remaining archer took the moment to check on their fallen companions. Only one of them got up, staggering up the hill.

“Hey, she's leaving!” Lenny pointed groggily with her one good arm. Sure enough, Graxia, the Captain and the two others were moving away!  Although in a moment, Kohra realized they weren’t heading back where they’d come from, but were cutting to the side. This seemed to serve no purpose; there was just as much deep snow to the left as anywhere else, and nowhere for them to go.

“They're gaining the height advantage!” Dominic cried. “So they can shoot further than we can!” But Graxia and the two archers weren't paying them much attention anymore, having gotten out of range of their crossbows and even Dominic's bow. They seemed intent on wherever they were going.

“What are they doing?” Devona wondered aloud.

“Who cares?” Kohra yelled. “They're leaving the pass open; let's run for it!”

They galloped through the snow as fast as they could. Gorb and Dominic half-dragged a staggering, singed Melkorn, Devona supported Lenny, and Kohra and Reilly broke trail, running for all they were worth.

Kohra chanced a look back. The enemy was gone. She couldn’t believe their luck. Then her heart leapt as she realized, Grok's was right around the corner! They were going to make it!

Sprinting flat-out around an outcropping of rock, Lenny suddenly cried out, a red spray of blood speckling the snow as she fell. 

“They’re beside you!” Dominic yelled from behind.

“Lenny!” Kohra shouted, ignoring the arrows in her rush toward her friend. Then Dominic was there as well, firing back as fast as he could, while Melkorn crouched in front of them all, trying to protect them with his shield.

“They took a shortcut!” Devona cried.  Indeed, somehow, Graxia and her three remaining archers had gotten ahead of them. 

“We'rrre not gonna make it!” Gorb panted, catching up to them, raising his shield beside Melkorn’s like a protective wall. Lenny struggled to her feet, signaling she was okay, but her shoulder was bleeding heavily from a second wound, her eyes blurry and unfocused.

More arrows zinged, two hitting Melkorn’s shield and one glancing off his leg-brace.

“They're too close!” Dominic shouted. “We have to back up!”

Returning fire, they retreated, and Graxia let them, taking advantage of the opportunity to fully seal off the pass.  Maintaining a position a good two hundred feet away, the silver-haired woman, her Captain and the two archers stood, arrows nocked, carefully watching but not advancing. 

“What are they doing?” Reilly yelled. “Why are they just standing there?”

“They're waiting for the others,” Kohra muttered. “They don’t need to fight us; they just need to keep us here until the army catches up!”

“Her Wand must need to recharge,” commented Devona, looking up at Kohra. “From what I’ve learned, Wands can only fire a few times before they run out of energy. Like a person, they need to rest.”

         Gorb gave Reilly a big one-armed hug. “Ya did good, lass. Ye all did.” He looked around at each of them. “Bought us some time, let's use it well.”

         Dominic tried to take charge.  “We need a plan. We need to figure out….” He faltered.  “We're getting sandwiched…. I….” He trailed off.

         They had nothing. The wind started to blow harder, swirling snow into the air. Not enough to create any useful cover, just enough to make them cold while they huddled together, watching in case Graxia’s archers tried any long shots. “We're sitting ducks here!” Devona yelled, getting the saying right this time.

Melkorn didn’t look at her; his eyes were crusted shut with blood and he merely stood, like a man-mountain, holding up his shield to protect the others. Nevertheless, he managed, “You’re still a girl, Devona.”

Devona ignored him. “Set up defences! We're going to have to fight this out….” She finished weakly, as if she knew what she was saying was absurd, but had to pretend anyway.

         Kohra re-bandaged Lenny’s arm as best she could, but there was nothing else to do. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and just a matter of time before the army arrived. They had no chance, no plan, no options. 

We tried. We tried, people of the future, if there still are people in the future.  I hope you know, we tried.

“We gotta do something,” Melkorn spoke up, rubbing his eyes and blinking blurrily, trying to see his friends. “We can’t fight no army. But there’s only…three of them?” He squinted, trying to count. “I’m going in. Who’s with me?” He tightened his grip on his axe.

“I’m with you, Korn,” Lenny assured him, cracking her knuckles.

“You're right,” Dominic agreed. “Let's rush 'em. We're dead either way.”

“This is hopeless,” Kohra moaned. She caught the others' glares. “I'm sorry, I just…I—”

“Just shut up, Kohra,” Dominic snapped. “Be helpful, or just shut the Hells up!” 

She looked down, into the snow that was soon to be her grave, biting her lip, fighting back tears.

“Um, where's Reilly?” Lenny asked suddenly. 

Once again, the little girl was gone.

“Look!” Dominic pointed into the snow. Sure enough, squirrel tracks.

Kohra growled, deep in her throat like an angry bear. “Why does she DO that!?”

“Why does anyone do anything?” Lenny replied coolly, as though this was just another day in Ms. B’s class and they were trading smart-ass comments.

“She should have asked us!” Kohra stomped her foot, looking for a moment just like Reilly when she was about to throw a fit.

“Logically, if she asked us first, we'd have said no,” Lenny pointed out, then adding, “Well, you would have.”

Kohra glared. Her teeth were chattering, the sweat on her body from their mad sprint now freezing as they stood around waiting to die.  

“What is she doing?” Kohra asked, peering into the darkness. 

“Don't look!” Dominic snapped. “Don't give her away!”

“Oh suck it, Dom,” she snapped back. “They’ll just think we’re watching them anyway.”

They all tried to make it look like they were just keeping an eye on Graxia, which wasn't hard to do. What else were they supposed to be looking at?

“We have to go after her.” Kohra started forward, but Devona grabbed her arm.

“She's gone, Kohra, she's gone. Let her do it.” Kohra struggled, trying to shake off her grip. 

“Kohra, stop it!” Dominic barked. “They're watching us! Now they're suspicious, wondering what the heck we’re doing!”

“Fine! Then let them think we're fighting!” she yelled, lunging at him.  They fell into the snow, Kohra on top for about half a second before Dominic flipped her off. She grabbed a fistful of snow and threw it at him just before he tackled her. 

“'Tis workin,’” Gorb muttered. “Dey're laughin' at 'ow stupid yerrr makin' us all look.”

Dominic pinned Kohra's wrists, sitting on her chest. “Now stop!”

She glared at him, in her anger reaching for the Flux. But nothing happened. Helpless, furious, she glared as angrily as she could. But stopped struggling. He didn't let go. 

“Kohra, I'm sorry.” His voice had softened, the anger in his eyes giving way to...sorrow?  “I just, Kohra, I don't want to die out here either.” He let go of her wrists and rolled off. 

She sat up, then stood and walked off a few paces to stand by herself. She felt...so much. Angry. Stupid. Hateful. Desperate. And somehow, like it was all her fault. She started to cry, not caring anymore who saw, who knew, whether it was stupid. She just didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. It was over.  

It figures, that I would die like this. Useless, cowering in the snow. In some Godsforsaken place. My corpse will lay here frozen in ice until the Last Age. Forever useless, forever…. 

“Hey,” Lenny interrupted her thoughts. “Don’t look now, but I see Reilly. She got behind them! So quit your blubbering and get ready for some action.”

“Reilly?” Melkorn asked, worried. “They'll kill her!” He hefted his axe and shield as though to charge.

Lenny put a hand on his arm, holding him back. “Squirrelly. Sorry Korn, I see Squirrelly.  Don't look anyone. But she’s, Reilly, I mean Squirrelly is, she’s just standing on a rock, looking at the. Uh, she’s just standing there….”

Nobody moved. An eternal handful of seconds passed. Then another.

“Oh,” Lenny muttered, shaking her head. “She’s banging her head on a rock.”

“Squirrelly, no!” shouted Melkorn, everyone hushing him at once.

“Is she ok?” Devona asked.

Lenny shrugged. “Still banging her head. Gods Reil, er, Squirrelly. That’s gotta hurt.”

More eternal seconds passed. Dominic looked behind them, up the slope toward the pass. Still no army. “What’s taking them so long?” he muttered, mostly to himself.

Gorb was beside him, wondering the same thing. “Dey dunno wherrre we arrre, or what’s ‘appened. Dey’rrre prrrob’ly takin’ it slow, prrroper military strrrategy, watchin’ out ferrr an ambush. Maybe dey’rrre warrrry o’ de Kobolds too.”

“Well, thank the Gods for Kobolds then.” Dominic managed a smile. “Maybe the beasts ended up saving our lives without even knowing it.” 

“Hey, Squirrelly fell off the rock,” Lenny called out softly. “She’s…I can’t see her anymore.”

“What's the plan?” Devona asked in a low voice.

“Get ready to run” Lenny muttered. “Whatever she's up to, she'll need help.”

“She's going to freeze,” Dominic said. 

“We've gotta do something!” Kohra started forward again. Dominic grabbed her arm and she glared at him, again. “Dom!”

“Just wait. Give her a bit more time.”

“Wait!” Lenny hissed, eyes widening. “Holy crap, she's Reilly again!”

They all looked; they just couldn’t help it. Reilly, crouching behind a boulder on the far side of Graxia and the archers, raised her wand.  A tiny glowing spark, almost imperceptible against the vast landscape of the mountains, streaked forward. Reilly jumped up, hooting with glee as it hit Graxia square in the back, the fiery blast hurtling all four of them into the snow.

         “Charrrrge!” Dominic yelled. 

         Graxia and the Archer Captain were already on their feet, looking about wildly in all directions, trying to understand what was happening, who was attacking them.  The other two lay in the snow.

         Another spark streaked from Riley's wand, but this time, Graxia and her Captain saw it coming and dove to the side while it whizzed by, exploding some distance away.

         The silver-haired woman snarled, rushing towards Reilly's rock, leading with her wand.  CRACKSSSZZZZSCHTSHCTTT!! Snow and chunks of rock flew into the air as the lightning bolt shattered the night. She saw Melkorn quickly barreling down on her, and cursed, spinning to face him. CRACKSSSZZZZSCHTSHCTTT!! He took it right on his breastplate and...stopped. For a few seconds, he just stood, staring blindly, then staggered forward again, axe still raised.

         Suddenly, the Archer Captain cried out, dropping her bow into the snow, one of Dominic's arrows in her shoulder. She staggered back, then fell.

Graxia was livid, drawing her sword as Melkorn rushed. Easily side-stepping his blind, ferocious swing, she sliced the backs of his legs as he lurched past her. The big man finally went down in a pool of red. In the same movement, she ducked Dominic's arrow, blocked Gorb's hammer-swing and kicked him in the chest, knocking him off balance. Whirling around, a dagger flashed out of one hand, slicing Dominic's bow-string, and in the same movement, her sword stabbed towards Gorb who barely got his shield up in time.

Lenny, swearing a blue streak, hit her right between the eyes with the biggest FrostBolt she had left in her. Graxia staggered backwards, wiping at her eyes, cursing, as Lenny hit the snow, completely spent. Devona fired Darkness Balls in quick succession, pummelling the woman while she was too stunned to dodge. Kohra managed to conjure a FlameBall in her hand, and threw it, but it fizzled out immediately. The woman snarled, her half-burnt hair sticking out in frizzled clumps. 

“You will all die for this!” she spat, then sprinted away into the darkness. Kohra managed to take one shot at her back with her crossbow, but missed. Graxia disappeared into the darkness.

* * * * *

Everything was a disaster. Melkorn wasn’t moving, the snow a red slush around his mid-section. Lenny lay prone on her back, eyes vacant, her face as white as the snowflakes gently falling around her. Dominic knelt over Melkorn, trying in vain to stop the bleeding. Devona and Gorb staggered toward the boulder Reilly had been hiding behind.

“Reilly!!” Kohra screamed, scrambling frantically after them.

Devona got there first, reaching Reilly’s prone form, the little girl looking smaller than she had ever seemed, her hair partly burnt off, blood trickling from her left ear. Dev fell to her knees, scooping Reilly up and cradling her.  Her eyes were closed, her skin blue.

Kohra knelt, trying to help, feeling Reilly's wrists, her neck. There was still a pulse.  Then Gorb was there. 

“Heal her Gorb! Come on, you can do it! The Light’ll come back right? It has to come back!” Kohra was delirious with panic.

Gorb tuned her out, concentrating, raising one hand to the sky, placing the other on Reilly's chest, right over her heart.  He began chanting in Klliik, the healing prayer Kohra had heard before. But although the words sounded the same, Gorb himself sounded unmistakably different. Once, his prayers had been like a song, deeply resonant and full-throated; now, they were thin, reedy, like he was begging. Which he was.

Nothing.