Three months had troops protected the last haven of Themis. The followers of the Huntress, The Goddess Adah, had suffered many casualties at the hands of the Reclaiming of the Elven Soul�s soldiers. Terreis had only been in mock battles and skirmishes before the Reclaiming had begun. Since then there had been no peace.
The women warriors of Themis had sent word to the outside followers of the Huntress. However, no help had arrived since the messengers� bodies were catapulted into the keep. All hope was nearly lost but they had finally broken the enemy and sent them retreating. A cry of victory rose above the moaning cries of the dying.
Terreis forced her body out of its paralyzed state. She should check for her fallen comrades. She should kill all the wounded enemies. Terreis at first found the killing of the wounded to be horrendous, but after watching the treatment of prisoners, her opinion changed. She hadn�t even taken a step. Her helmet clanged as her feet bumped it. Her eyes went to the sky. Arrows.
�Regroup!� screamed her commander. The enemy had split its army, or so it seemed. One half retreated while the other waited to ambush. Arrows rained down from the trees.
Terreis dropped to the ground and curled her body into the smallest possible position against a dead body. She reached cautiously for her helmet narrowly avoiding an arrow in her wrist. She felt two arrows strike her corpse-shield.
She could hear the screaming of orders, screaming of the dying, screaming of the enemy, and the screams of the fear inside her head. All were blurred by the high pitch scream of one. Terreis turned her head and found that her sister, Mysia, had left the keep.
�MYSIA! Get inside!� she screamed.
Mysia was cowering against the keep�s stonewall. Her pink hair was in a thick braid down her back. She had on only a thin cotton dress of sky blue. She was pounding on the door with her tiny fist. Tears were falling from her large lilac eyes.
�Mysia!� yelled Terreis. She broke cover and began to run towards her older sister. Sheer stupid luck prevented any arrows from striking her down. She ran, concentrating only on getting to Mysia. She jumped over bodies, managing to grab a shield from a dying man�s hand when she slipped on blood soaked grass and fell on her butt as two arrows flew over her head, then continued onward towards Mysia.
Terreis grabbed Mysia and pulled her to the ground using the shield to cover as much of them as she could. An arrow struck it causing a renewed burst of shrill screams from Mysia. Then the whisper of raining arrows stopped. The thunder of hooves brought even greater fear. Terreis shoved the shield into Mysia�s hand.
�Count to one hundred staying here and acting dead, then run to the woods and don�t turn back for anything. Go to our hiding spot. Don�t disobey me,� ordered Terreis. Mysia nodded, her lips trembling.
Terreis ran out into the field. She had expected horses. Her eyes found the enemy on the mythical beasts of stories. Tigers with the size and build of oxen carrying heavily armored soldiers with lances. Larger reptilian creatures with canyon red dirt colored scales their bodies long and twisting with many riders and eight short legs. Teams of large rats the size of large dogs pulled catapults out of the woods claimed by the attackers.
Terreis rushed forward with her sword towards the nearest mutated animal. She dodged the man�s lance and brought her sword onto it. The animal�s huge striped paw came at her and she dropped and rolled. Its tail twitched as it prepared to pounce. Terreis thrust her sword into its throat. It roared as it rose to its hind feet. It clawed at its own throat causing additional damage in hopes to free itself from the pain of her sword. The rider lost his balanced and fell to the ground. Terreis ran passed the beast to the rider pulling out her knife from her belt.
The rider had gotten to his feet and had removed his sword from its sheath. Terreis kicked his wrist and plunged her knife into his face. She twisted the knife and then removed it. The man fell screaming to the ground. She grabbed his sword from the ground and went on fighting.
A loud whoosh caught all attention on the battlefield as the first catapult was released. The rock had been coated with oil and while it flew in the arrow an archer released a fire arrow. The arrow hit and the oil lit on fire as it smashed into the keep. The shards of burning rocks rained down on those nearest the keep and inside. Small fires began to catch inside the keep.
Mysia found the cave and crawled relieved into its depth. She felt the cool moist dirt beneath her fingers and smiled. She felt reassurance enter her mind as she strained to hear over the roar of battles the sound of the creek. She tried to catch the scent of the pines and the dirt but instead her nose caught another smell. A thick dark scent twisting in the air like a flag in the wind. Something was burning. She crawled out a little and turned back to where the battle was raging just beyond the thick thicket of trees and the high fields. The keep was burning. The flames rose up its stone sides scorching it. How was it burning? Rocks didn�t burn.
Terreis rushed forward as the fourth barrage of lumps of black semi solid oil flew at the keep. The doors to the keep were opened and civilians began to run form the burning inferno. They had to get to the catapults. Whatever had created the beast had created the ability to catch stone on fire. She joined some of her sisters as they fought the twisting lizard and its six riders. The lizards could spit acidic pus from beneath their tongues. The pus could burn through armor, leather, flesh, and bone. Once it hit it spread out encompassing all. The only way to stop the burn was to cut the infected area off completely through.
Suddenly, the enemies turned and retreated again. The warriors stood tense and ready for their return. Some began to run back to help carry the wounded and supplies away from the keep. An eerie silence filled the air.
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