Authors: Doug Backus
Deke felt sorry for
Torrell, but Deo was right and so was Mary for that matter. Torrell could no longer be trusted. Too exhausted to think anymore he sat down on a grassy patch of ground and was soon fast asleep.
Jayden had made it to the edge of Solharn’s camp well before sunrise. He could move much faster on his own. He climbed a tree to get a view of the inside of the camps and saw what he had feared. He watched with an aching heart, as one by one, his warriors succumbed to Solharn, just as the Kaltaures soldier had described.
His eyes filled with
tears as he watched the Nightstalkers standing tall, knowing what was to become of them at the hands of this monster. Out of respect he did not leave until the last of them had gone through the evil ritual.
It was not hard to figure out Solharn’s plan. He would send these soldiers back to the Lealian camps and then control them from within, just as he had planned to do with him. Hundreds would die at the hands of the
ir own people; the Nightstalkers were perhaps the most dangerous of all Lealian warriors. Jayden knew he had no time to waste and scaled down the tree. They would have to find a way to beat them back to the Lealian camps. He ran back toward Oisin and the others knowing it would be nearly impossible.
Ω
Oisin watched in admiration as the Nightstalkers ran through the woods in silence. He was right behind them yet he could not hear a sound. When they finally reached their destination Oisin pointed out the location where he and Jayden had seen the Kaltaures positioning themselves. Toltad only nodded and motioned for Oisin to stay where he was. When Oisin began to protest, Toltad gave him a stern look as if to say there was no time for this. Oisin knew better than to say another word as he watched Toltad using only hand signals to command his troops.
The last of t
he Nightstalkers disappeared a mere ten feet in front of him. Less than an hour had gone by when a hand grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth. He looked up to see Toltad; his face was splattered with blood. They were soon joined by the others.
Oisin wondered why he was still being silenced until Toltad motioned for him to look to his left. He could see a lone Kaltaures soldier exploring the area where his soldiers must surely be lying dead. After a few moments the soldier turned and rode back toward the camps. When he was out of sight Toltad released his grip.
“We could not have timed it better Oisin. Jayden was right. After we disposed of the Kaltaures soldiers we could see people starting to emerge from their camps. We thought at first it was more soldiers approaching and braced ourselves for another attack, but as they got closer we could see that they were our own, and we were able to save another eighteen of the missing Nightstalkers.
Unfortunately
, we arrived back here only to see a Kaltaures soldier riding from the camp. We could not move fast enough to stop him. It means that we can wait no longer. That soldier will be alerting the camps and these woods will soon be swarming with enemies. We must move now,” Toltad said grimly.
“But what of Jayden
? We cannot just leave him here,” objected Oisin.
“Jayden would expect no less
Oisin. You heard him back there. He knew the risks, and told us to leave without him if he wasn’t here an hour before sunrise.”
“That is another half hour away, Toltad.”
“Yes, but he gave that time for a reason. He knew if he was any later there would be a greater chance of being discovered. A chance he would not take. We will soon be discovered and he would want us to move. That is what we are going to do.”
“Then I will stay so he knows what has happened. At least he
will know he was not abandoned,” Oisin said.
“That is honorable Oisin but foolhardy. Jayden will figure out what has happened in mere minutes. He does not need you to risk your life for something that would make no difference in his strategy.”
“Just the same Toltad, we have made it this far together and I will not leave his side.”
“Very well, Oisin. I wish you well and hope that you find safe haven soon.”
With a few hand signals from Toltad, the Nightstalkers disappeared into the night air leaving Oisin standing in the dark forest alone.
Oisi
n had waited just under an hour. The sun was rising over the fields, and still he had not seen Jayden. He was contemplating walking back toward where they had separated when he heard a noise coming toward him from a distance. Oisin readied his sword from his perch in the tree he had climbed for cover.
He was pleased to see he would not need
his sword when he saw Jayden running through the forest toward him. Oisin was impressed at his speed; he was wasting no time.
Oisin began to scale down the tree but stopped when he heard a sound resembling a loud buzzing noise. There wa
s no mistaking that sound, Phits. Oisin turned to see that Jayden was being chased by a troop of them. He stopped half way down the tree ready to move. His best chance was to attack from above and take them by surprise. Jayden was still running straight for him. He could count at least six Phits converging on him.
When Jayden ran beneath the tree Oisin gave a yell and jumped doing a flip and a somersault
all while swinging his sword up and around. He beheaded two of the unsuspecting pursuers.
The other four turned on him instantly. He was able to wound one
by slicing into its wing which caused it to come crashing to the ground. He lost the grip on his sword when another took him from the side biting into his arm. In a single motion he grasped for his knife with his free arm and came around to attack. He jumped back when he saw only the head of the Phit attached to his arm, its lifeless eyes staring back into his and its teeth deeply embedded into his flesh.
Jayden had heard
him yell and had ended the Phit’s life before it could do any more damage. He was now rolling on the ground and coming up at the remaining two Phits. It seemed almost like it was in slow motion as Jayden’s sword sliced into one of them and its head rolled slowly through the air toward him. Oisin ducked as the head spun by him and rolled across the ground. The last Phit was flying down toward Jayden. Oisin threw his knife, striking it through the heart. It landed at Jayden’s feet; in its last throws of life, its nerves caused its wings to flap widely to and fro for several seconds until finally it relented to its fate.
Jayden turned to Oisin; he couldn’t help but smile while containing his laughter. Oisin still had the Phit’s head attached to his arm.
Even Jayden was surprised at the grip this Phit had on Oisin. After several minutes of trying to pry its jaws open without success, they finally opted to break its teeth and pull them out one by one. It was a long painful process, but in the end they managed to free Oisin’s arm and bandage it.
“I owe you, my friend. I was in such a hurry to get back I failed
to see the Phits patrolling the outer edge of the camps. There were too many of them to fight, so I ran in hopes the Nightstalkers would still be here.”
“They left Jayden. Their attack was a success and they were able to save eighteen
of the missing Nightstalkers as they slipped out of the camps. Unfortunately, when they returned a Kaltaures soldier discovered the attack and was able to make it back to the camp. The Nightstalkers left knowing that reinforcements would soon come. I stayed to advise you of the situation.”
“They made the right decision. You should have gone with them Oisin but I am glad you stayed. I would never have survived without you.”
“The strange thing of it was that no troops ever came. It was as if the Kaltaures soldier did not alert anyone.”
“That is strange, but even if he failed to alert reinforcements I am sure the seventh Phit that was chasing me did. He veered off toward the camp less than half way back.”
“Did you find what became of the other Nightstalkers, the remainder of them?” Oisin asked.
“The go
od news is they are still alive; the bad is that they have been possessed with the essence of Solharn, which for now makes them our enemies. He has sent them back to our camps. They will be at least an hour ahead of Toltad and the remaining warriors. Kaelyn and Issa will have no idea what has hit them and unfortunately, we have no way to warn them in time.”
“What are we to do then, Jayden?”
“The only thing we can. We must get back to our camps. It will not be easy for daylight has come and Solharn’s army will be starting to move. We will go now and hope for the best. We have no other choice.”
Oisin and Jayden left the safety of the woods and began to move across the fields using the cover of whatever they could find. Jayden knew it would not be long before they were discovered but
he was counting on having some time. They had gone less than half a mile when they heard the rumble of thousands of their enemies behind them. They would not make it. Even if they could out run the Kaltaures, they would be overtaken in no time by the Ralcriff and the Phits.
Jayden was sure that Oisin would be wondering why he had made the decision to leave now instead of awaiting the cover of darkness. There was only one reason. He knew Kaelyn was taught many of the sam
e battle strategies that he was. After all, his father had taught them both. He was hoping she would have sent a scout over Solharn’s camp in the morning as he would have done. Jayden knew the only chance such a scout would have of seeing them would be in the open. It was a gamble he wished he had not taken, at least not with Oisin’s life.
They had run maybe another quarter mile when Oisin stopped and grasped his sword with the only arm he would be able to use in a battle.
“Oisin?” Jayden said turning briefly to look at the droves of Kaltaures and Phits that were quickly closing in on them.
“I will run no longer Jayden. We will be overrun any minute now and if I am to die it will be fighting
, not running away.”
Jayden smil
ed while pulling his sword from his side and his father’s knife from his boot. “I am sorry that we will die so soon in this quest Oisin, but I am honored to die with you.”
Both turned and ran toward their enemies. It would be their final battle but one fought for the pride of Leal and the love of Rhol. They screamed their
allegiance to Rhol, and engaged their enemies who had already taken too much from them. They fought with unsurpassed valiance. Fourteen Kaltaures, two Ralcriff and four Phits lay dead on the ground before Oisin received a blow to his leg causing him to fall to the ground. Jayden stopped and stood over him swinging his sword in wide circles.
Oisin could see the blade glimmering with blood in the sunlight as it sliced through the bodies of anyone who dared get near. Oisin had never seen anything like it
, and as Jayden fell beside him; a sword impaled in his side, Oisin rose to his knees and continued where Jayden had left off.
He was exhausted, his arm burned trying to tell him that enough was e
nough, but he continued to swing. He was amazed that the thrusts of his sword were causing so many of his enemies to fly through the air away from them. One by one they disappeared. When he looked down to see that his arm had given out, he could not understand. He was no longer swinging, but it didn’t matter; neither Phits nor Kaltaures nor Ralcriff could get within ten feet of them.
All at once he felt a tug on his shirt and
found himself staring down at his enemies from high in the air. He was riding on the back of a Pegapire. They had come, they had found them. He looked around for Jayden to give a victory yell, but no matter how hard he looked he could not see him. He was not there. Jayden was gone.
Issa and Kaelyn flew around the outskirts of Aura in search of a place where they could safely rest and build a home base. They had located a small ridge in the mountains just west of Aura. The caves located around it would provide shelter for the wounded and tired warriors. There was no way to access it on foot, which allowed them some peace of mind that they would not be surprised by an attack.
After several hours
, all of their warriors had reached the safety of their base with the exception of the Lealian Nightstalkers. The Nightstalkers consisted of one hundred warriors that were highly trained in stealth fighting tactics. When night fell they would slip into their enemies’ camps undetected and slit their throats while they slept. Each warrior would return to a designated meeting spot after completing one kill. If every warrior returned safely they knew they had not yet been discovered, and after a brief rest they would return to the enemy camp and repeat the same process all over again. If at any time one of the warriors failed to return, the mission would be discontinued out of an abundance of caution that they had been compromised. It was really quite a brilliant war tactic, and over time it drastically reduced their enemies’ numbers, while they suffered very few casualties.
Issa had sent Yita, an eager young Pegapire
, to remain at the Nightstalkers base and report back frequently on their progress. She had already returned twice to advise they had successfully entered the camp, returning unscathed and were in the progress of mounting a third and final attack.