Chapter 6
Edrin
Northstar, prince of the Tera Vi Elves broke through a brush
wall and rolled behind a twisted oak trunk. Dirt and branches
fell from his long blond hair, his ice blue eyes still glowed
with a vision spell he cast earlier. He wasn’t even trying
to be quiet at this point, the scent of his blood running down
his side was more than enough to attract the creature. He wasn’t
even sure what to call it, or if there was a true name for it
on this realm.
Behind him he heard the heavy sword of Heilan, Edrin’s
sworn protector, slam against the creature’s horns. A
roaring scream filled the woods with fear, and Edrin knew his
protector’s sword found more than horn. Smiling, he pressed
his left palm against his side, mentally bit down on the pain
and broke from his hiding place at a run, heading for the next
thick grove. He knew the demands of his position and what Heilan
was fighting for; it wasn’t to win, merely to give Edrin
time to gain some ground and setup an ambush if he could, or
to keep running if that proved impossible.
The pain was astounding. Every step pumped blood from his wound,
through his closed fingers like a bilge pump. By the time he
reached the next grove and got his back against a tree, his
vision was blurred. “That’s not good.” He
whispered, and dropped his pack from his back. It hit the ground
behind him, but he didn’t drop right away to dig out a
bandage and some healing liquids. Using the healing liquids
in the middle of a battle was dangerous.
The sword in his right hand was just dead weight, he couldn’t
lift the arm, but somehow he was keeping a grip on the weapon.
He pulled his left hand away and took a look at the wound in
his right side. The leather jacket and girdle were both ripped
through by the demon’s claws, and he could see three of
his ribs, one was clearly broken. “Not good at all”
he murmured. The slurring of his words alerted him to a greater
danger than the wounds; he was loosing his mental abilities.
He had to decide on a course of action quickly, and begin before
he could no longer think clearly.
Magic was out of the question, he couldn’t focus enough
to keep even the simplest spell in true form. His swords were
useless as well, he couldn’t lift them. Shadows were everywhere,
taunting him with escape; all he had to do is gather enough
mental clarity to leap into them. Suddenly he was sitting down
on his pack, his legs splayed out in front of him, a gash in
the right leg from his own sword blade as he fell. “Guess
I won’t need that plan after all.” He said, looking
around him.
He could feel his heart beating in his chest; slowing down,
and becoming louder in his ears. He could see the clearing he
just crossed, over his left shoulder. It wasn’t a large
one, just a break in the trees really. Not more than fifteen
feet wide. He would hunt for small places like this as a child
to lie in the sun, and escape his teachers, and his father.
Just lie in the sun, and feel the grass growing. He wanted to
crawl out there, to lie in the tall grass and look up to the
sun, but he couldn’t move any longer.
Heilan broke through the brush wall and rolled into the clearing;
the demon coming through after him. Heilan’s heavy shield
hung broken from leather straps on his left arm, his helmet
gone from his head and the armor of his right arm missing. His
long black hair matted with blood, lay thickly around his neck.
The furry in his eyes, cold and clean.
The creature was thick in the shoulders and head, his horns
like that of a yaks or northern oxen; heavy, and almost a single
piece lying across the head like a helmet of bone. One of these
was cleaved away, Edrin noticed.
The claws of the beast were the real danger. The arms were
longer than proportionate, and muscular, like the southern gorillas,
but the claws were like steel, ripping through armor and flesh
with equal ease. The skin of the beast was thick and reptilian,
giving it a strong natural amour, but not enough save it from
Heilan’s heavy sword.
While Heilan was pure elf, from a long line of nobles, he was
stronger than most orcs. Unlike the thin sensuous bodies of
his kin, Heilan was thick in the shoulders and thighs, with
strong muscles rolling under tan skin, like a predator cat stalking
prey. There were a few who suggested that his line was reproducing
from their wild elf heritage.
The creature charged.
Instead
of backing up, or dodging to the side, as Edrin expected, Heilan
slung his broken shield at the creature’s head, forcing
the beast to lift up to avoid a blinding wound. Heilan followed
his shield inside the creature’s reach, slamming his shoulder
into the middle of the creature’s chest, and then lifting
his right elbow fast to break its jaw as it started to bend
over. The creature however was tougher than Heilan predicted
and neither lost its breath or broke its jaw. The stump like
neck of the demon barley moved under Heilan’s elbow assault.
Edrin watched with sadness as the demon’s arms encircled
his protector, who probably thought his death was giving Edrin
a chance to escape, not knowing that he was dieing only fifteen
feet away.
The creature’s claws sank into Heilan’s plate armor,
some of the finest Mithril armor in these lands. The banding
snapped away, as the creatures jaws closed down on Heilan’s
head.
Heilan dropped to his right knee, free of the armor plating,
and spun, cleaving the monster’s right leg off at the
knee. The creature fought to free its claws from the plate armor,
as Heilan followed his own momentum and brought his blade around
to cleave the creature’s head from its shoulders.
