Rashemen Book 2

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Jex turned as Delinos tapped his shoulder. This is not what we need right now he thought to himself as he saw the group charging through the trees. Drawing both scimitars he prepared to fight. His eyes flared red, as he slipped into dark vision and he enacted the regeneration abilities of his amulet, just to heal the minor aches and pains of the last few days.

He had fought barbarians before, in the Spine of the World, they all followed a simple tactic it seemed, hit the enemy harder that he hits you. The group Jex was with seemed to lack the strength to go toe to toe with the group of barbarians, but with Jex's, Delinos's and Kelvado's skills they should be able to walk away from the minor with only a few problems. He wasn't sure how well Del could fight right now.

Slipping into the shadow provided by a tree, he quietly awaited the barbarians to rush by. He'd take the last one, and take him quickly.

 

Atten also noticed the approaching warriors. It wasn't difficult given that they made no pretences at stealth, preferring to charge loudly and rely on rage and aggression. It was not clear to him who they were or what they wanted. He wondered why they were being attacked and whether it had anything to do with the Heart of the Earth. They could not afford delays such as this.

Atten was no good at telepathy but he reached out with the living force anyway to see what he could find out. The signals he got back were undeniable.

"Bears?"

These would-be attackers clearly had a strong affinity with bears. Atten wondered if there was a way to use that to their advantage.

 

Delphinae slipped into the shadows and waited for the barbarians to declare who they thought they were attacking. Being a friend to the Starclan can cut both ways sometimes, depending on who's at war with whom.

 

Nakia slipped into the shadows, wondering who these were. The way they attacked would make it easy to do back-stab and sneak attack.

 

Atten realised that these attackers were barbarians. He wished that they did not have to fight. Unlike the ignorant city dwellers, these clansmen lived in harmony with nature and took great care to maintain the balance of life. In particular, they respected and revered the mighty bear and lived their lives in his shadow. This could well end up being a tragic and unnecessary battle. But Atten could see the rage in their eyes and knew that no mere words would be able to stop them at this point.

Was there anything he could do to calm the rage before it was too late?

Atten could only think of one thing in the short time he had. He closed his eyes again and reached out to the living force, searching, searching against hope that he could find a certain specific animal nearby that would answer his call.

 

Seeing everyone duck away, Delinos drew both wakizashis and ran towards the barbarians.

Kelvados turned to see an axe coming down on him. He quickly pulled out his great sword and blocked the attack, and pushed the axe sideways. The barbarian was caught off balance as Kelvados stuck three daggers in his side.

Delinos ran at a barbarian, and dodged the axe that had been thrown at him. He jumped on the axe, jumped over the barbarian and inserted both blades into the barbarians shoulders, then took them out and sliced down the back.

 

Atten watched sadly as the fight began. He had been trying to call a bear. He had hoped that if the barbarians saw a bear they might lay down their arms, which would give them a chance to at least try and talk and let the clan know that did not mean them any harm.

But Atten could not tell if there were any bears in the area and his concentration was disrupted by the sounds of the battle.

Atten sighed and prepared to look for a way to defend himself and the Heart, or maybe to find an escape route if necessary.

As he looked around at possible exits from the area, he became aware of a crashing and growling from the thicket to his left. He crouched to one side and awaited whatever was approaching.

 

Sepp drew his axe and knife and prepared for the onslaught of outraged big people, dropping to one knee. They all just ran by him and started getting attacked by Delinos and Kelvados. Sepp was just happy that he didn't have to get whacked in the back again with a big axe, when he heard a loud roaring and crashing coming through the trees.


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Blueface saw Targ get three daggers stuck in his side. Targ kept fighting the drow, though when his rage came down, he might already be dead. Hutrag got sliced down the back by another drow and dropped dead to the ground, rage or no rage.
A huge white bear, with a broken black line across its face broke through the trees and reared up on its hind legs.

Medvartak! Bearclans seldom seen messenger from Ursus Major! Blueface couldn't believe his luck to have this immortal bear come help him kill these enemies of his clan. He ran to the bears side and yelled exultantly, preparing himself to charge with the bear when it attacked.

But the bear didn't attack. It dropped down to all fours and snuffed a friendly greeting towards someone, or something, unseen in the trees to the south. Against all previous experience, Blueface's rage suddenly cleared, and he felt a calm, peaceful presence enter him. He saw it in the faces of his companions too. Was this what bears felt when they were hibernating?

 

Atten jumped in shock at the sight of the huge bear. He had not been aware that he had actually managed to make contact with a bear at all, let alone one was large as this one. It was actually a magnificent beast. Atten made a mental note to spend some time exploring this area further at some point in the future.

More to the point, Atten breathed a sign of relief as he saw the clansmen stop their attacks. The window of opportunity was short though. Atten hoped that somebody diplomatic would say something soon before the barbarians got over their initial shock and figured they should start attacking again.

 

Bearclanners! Delphinae realized suddenly. The only clans they're fighting with at the moment are the Wolfclanners and the Ramclanners. What a lucky break!

Stepping out into the open, she half-spoke, half-shouted, "Hold! These people are not your enemies! I speak as a friend of the Starclan. I have been observing them for months, and this is the first time they have come near your territory. We are on an important mission, and I ask you to let us pass." Standing her ground only a few feet away from the leader, Del awaited his response.

 

Blueface didn't know what to do. He looked at Medvartak for direction. The great bear scratched a huge furrow in the ground, pointing south-west, then turned and went loping off that direction. It must be where the Wolfclanners were running to.

"We go," he called to the five remaining in his group. As one, they turned and ran after the bear, leaving Hurtrag laying dead on the ground.

 

Delinos and Kelvados stopped and sheathed their weapons.

They turned and were ready to leave.

 

Jex stepped out of the shadows. "Damn, I didn't even get to get my blades wet." Kicking the dirt with mock dissapoint he shrugged and grinned. "Maybe next time I'll get to kill something. But perhaps we should find a spot to rest. I can hear a river running nearby and I wouldn't mind getting some of the blood off my skin. And we all can use a few hours to rejuvinate ourselves."

 

"That's a great idea, Jex," Sepp said. "I was getting pretty tired too, and a bath would be great. Hey, um, did anybody see my Pa's short sword and dagger down in the cavern? I must have dropped them when I got hit in the back. Or if not, does anybody have a small weapon I could borrow that would be better than my hatchet and knife? I didn't feel well equipped to fight those angry big people."

 

Atten followed the rough trail down towards the river. It turned out to be a bit further away than he had expected. This was because the sound of the river was fairly loud. As he approched he saw that the river appeared to be running fairly heavily despite the fact that here not been much rain lately. Atten did not approach too closely because he could see that the banks did not look too stable.

 

Jex stopped at the edge of the river. It was much bigger than he first thought. Walking down the river a little he found a small inlet that the water settled in. Crouching down he cleaned his hands first. They were sticky with blood, sweat and dirt. He looked at the water, it had a reddish tinge to it from the setting sun, it almost looked like blood. Scooping a handful of water up, he splashed it onto his face, and through his mohawk. Sitting at the edge he stared off into the distance deep in thought.

 

With Kelvados in the lead, the drow brothers approached the river. Kelvados bent down onto his knees and drank from the river. He got up and pulled some weeds from the ground, keeping an eye on Atten, just in case. He took out a pestel and mortar and ground the weeds together. He added water and offered some to his companions. "It doesn't taste too bad. It's food at least."

Delinos sat down at the base of a tree and looked up at the red and orange sky. A part of him missed the Underdark. Even though he knew that the other part of him loved the Surface. He grabbed a branch from the ground and started to carve into it with his blade-fingers. He pulled his piwafi(sp) over his legs and sighed.

 

Nakia went to the river bank near Jex. Seeing he was lost in thought she just quietly set to cleaning herself as best she could. Then settled herself to rest.

 

Atten did not approach the bank. There was something wrong. The river was running much too strongly. It was also a strange colour.

 

When she is sure the Bearclanners are well out of hearing range, Delphinae finally relaxes. The breath she had been holding rushes out in a loud Whoosh! as she seems to deflate. "That was close. I'm just glad that bear came along when it did. Atten, was that your doing? And what about this water?" she asks, eyeing the brackish yet strongly flowing water with mistrust.