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Flying 246

The biggest pigmy gorilla to Parmenides right edged forward. It could reach Parmenides with its long arms, but to do so it would have to trespass over the Wisp powder. It studied the situation, then looked towards the bank of trees and saw a stick the size of a small club nearby. Hooting to another to retrieve the stick, it thumped its massive arms against its chest. The other gorilla produced the stick with a screeching laughter. The big gorilla edged up to the Wisp powder circle and put its club across it. But, it was leaning too far forward. Parmenides, in a quick motion with the front edge of his sword, swept the stick out from under the gorilla, which toppled forward only to end up being driven through by Parmenides� waiting sword. The gorilla�s eyes rolled to the side, then down at the sword sticking out of its midsection. It reached down and grabbed the sword as if it were a delicate substance. Blood ran over its hands and through its fingers. Then, it gave a step towards Parmenides, who only shoved back harder, in fact, with every bit of strength that he had left. A gurgle, a few steps in place like some sort of leg twitch, then, the gorilla toppled backwards onto the ground. Its legs gave a little death dance. And a blue Wisp tentacle eased from its nose.

There was a snap where the tentacle tried to get through the circle at a place that had been disturbed by the gorilla�s stick. The circle was intact, but barely. Parmenides had no strength left, but to watch. The tentacle did not make it through, but there was no doubt that the end was near. Other gorillas had gathered sticks and were bearing down on them, teeth barred in scowls of animal rage.

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Flying 247

The closest gorilla raised its stick to signal the others to begin to dismantle the circle. He held the stick high and made a circular pattern in the air, signaling the others to close in. But, there was more in the air than his stick. A silver shaft Keep arrow sprouted from his forehead with a crunching sound of a pot holding mud breaking into many pieces. Telos had rounded the bend and had taken a quick shot. It was no contest. Dead on, yet on the run as fast as she could. She was on target down to the split hairs. The two gorillas beside the downed one made moves to the side to bring their sticks into position to strike at Parmenides. One arrow appeared in the mouth of the gorilla on the left, another in the temple of the gorilla on the left who had turned his head in the fraction of a second to see what the noise was coming from the woods behind him. In the beat of a heart, the battle was in full force.

The gorilla on the right fell across the circle of Wisp powder, breaking the circle�s integrity with dying thrashes. It quivered once, then lay still as another gorilla stepped on its body, squeezing out blood from the fallen gorilla�s mouth. It raised its club, blue cataract eyes triumphant, to strike a quick blow to Parmenides. It drew back its right arm, holding the burnished wooden club high overhead; the Wisp was savoring the moment of complete domination in its lead dance of death. But, the club arm did not go forward. It fell backward, the club tumbling from fingers that no longer felt the grip. Protruding from the gorilla�s heart section was a close combat spear. The body followed the arm with a lurch, the momentum of the spear carrying it over to sprawl in a twisted heap with the gorilla that had disrupted the circle. Hyle�s throw not only had precision, it had the force of being hit by a mountain boulder. In a second, Telos was standing by Parmenides and Treste, Hyle at her left side.

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Flying 248

Four gorillas attacked Telos from her right. Telos took a step closer to Treste who was sitting upright and was began leaning against Treste�s right leg for support. The gorilla at the extreme right was closest to Treste and had a massive club with sharp stones driven into it so that a blow would cause not only blunt trauma, but also lacerations, perhaps penetrating her armor with an extremely vicious stroke. Treste was aware that Telos could not see that this gorilla was about to strike; it was slightly out of her visor range and was in a crouch. It came across the disrupted circle quickly, ready to pummel Telos from the side. The smell of matted fur mixed with mud and clay followed like a shadow. It swung the club back sideways, underhanded, so as not to attract attention to its movement; the blow would be to Telos� right ribcage. The blue cataract eyes widened in anticipation. Treste rolled towards the gorilla and with what little strength she had left, drove her dagger into the thigh of the gorilla. That was enough to cause it to hesitate in a screaming howl. Before the howl ended, a crossbow arrow from Snipe�s weapon shattered its head with an ear rending thwack, raining blood and brain matter on Treste. As the gorilla fell backwards, Treste followed it with her body, unable to support herself or release her grip on her dagger, dragged by the weight of the dead gorilla to sprawl head down on the blood stained ground.

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Flying 249

�Hyle, on my right!� shouted Telos.

Hyle made a feint at two gorillas who were approaching him on his left, stepped in front of Telos, backhanded two gorillas attacking her with his left hand arm shield, round-housed the third with his sword sending its head rolling down its body in red splashes, did a complete turn jump in the air, pulling his sword in close and down, ending up with his sword slashing through the midsections of the two gorillas he had halted with his feint. They folded over into halves like creased papers. But, two other gorillas came immediately in and grabbed him with their strong arms, pinning his sword and shield arms. One maneuvered his right arm and grabbed Hyle�s helmet to try to twist off his head. A second or two would have been the end for Hyle. Telos was fast, lightening fast. With an upward swing of her sword, she dismembered right arm of the one who had both arms around Hyle and sent it hurling straight up into the air, fingers still splayed in shock. On the downward stroke, she cut off the left arm. The armless gorilla back off in a gush of spurting gore and dangling muscle. It stood still for a second, fell to its knees, then over backwards. Before the spraying blood of the fallen gorilla had even hit the ground, another upswing by Telos and the left arm of the gorilla who was trying to twist off Hyle�s head was sheared off. The arm detached freeing Hyle�s sword, which flashed upward then down, severing the arm and splitting the gorilla�s face like a peeled banana. It toppled to the side on top of the other fallen gorillas and began thrashing. The hand and its part arm still held Hyle�s head, but he pushed it off as one would remove a water soaked scarf. A thrust from Hyle centered its heart and the thrashing stopped.

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Flying 250

The remaining gorillas massed for a straight on attack, but in that second, the other Guardians arrived from the sides of the poplar opening. In a blink of an eye, the gorillas had either sprouted arrows, spears or hatchets from their bodies, each projection accompanied by a resounding thud as the weapon tore into the flesh. A few groaned before they hit the ground. Some fell forward on the arrows lacing their chests, which made them look like large pin cushions with arms and feet, meat hanging from the tips of the arrows which had been driven through. Hyle did a quick scan; all gorillas were down and being put away. A Guardian from each side ran around the opening with Wisp powder. Then, with the circle complete, began to spiral in towards the center, crisscrossing as they converged. The Wisps were found hiding under the dead gorillas lying closest to Treste. Bishopp was merciful and efficient, dismembering the Wisp�s heads cleanly, waiting a few seconds for them to lose consciousness, then chopping the heads and bodies into small bits.

Hyle and Telos did a quick second scan of the surroundings.

�Done and clear,� shouted Hyle. Still, he turned in a circle slowly, sword out, shield up, guarding Telos and the others against some unforeseen attack.

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Flying 251

Telos looked over her shoulder. �Medics Platla and Aiidro here on the double. Get your field packs open now. Badly wounded. Bishopp. Get a team to gather the Wisp and gorilla bodies. Put them in that bare clay spot thirty feet to your right away from the poplar trees. There are some fallen branches close to the poison blackberry bush in front of the poplars. Build a pyre. Burn them all to ashes.�

She and Hyle turned their immediate attention to Parmenides and Treste. Parmenides was slumped towards Treste, his shield in defense position spread to cover Treste. Treste lay visor down on the ground, her right arm straight out from the trust she had made into the gorilla�s thigh, her hand clenched around the dagger.

�Please, please let them be alive,� muttered Telos as she looked at the two downed Guardians. She reached down and firmly grasped Treste�s shoulder armor to try to straighten her arm. That slight movement upset Parmenides who began to fall, but Hyle was there to catch him a lower him softly to the ground.

�Bad. They both look to be dead,� said Hyle. Telos shook. He eased Parmenides onto his back. When he did he gave a loud cry of horror when he saw the stomach plate.

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Flying 252

�Dragons! Acid slugs! From the damage to his stomach plate, I�d say that there not much left of his midsection.� Hyle took a white rag from his emergency pack and wiped off some of the debris from the marred plate. It was not pretty; blood clots, white acid burned skin, some of the emergency towel skin that Treste had used was sticking out of the ragged hole in the armor, dirt, grime and the smell of burned flesh.

Telos banged her sword the ground. It gave off a sharp metal bang.

Parmenides� head moved slightly towards the sound and he moaned something.

�He�s alive!� Hyle shouted. Where are�.� Hyle didn�t have time to finish. He was shoved aside by Platla and Aiidro, the two field medics who had just come running up, as if he were an unwanted fly on a cake. They already had their field packs open and were ready to start work. They were intense in their concentration.

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Flying 253

Platla was along side Parmenides. �Throw a good second Wisp powder ring around us, Hyle,� he said over his shoulder without breaking a motion in his beginning to research the stomach plate. Plata�s pushed back his visor and bent down to look under the plate as he released it using medic codes. He leaned back and shook his head. But, never stopped working.

�Done,� replied Hyle as he a Telos finished spreading a circle of white powder, close enough for good protection, yet far enough so that any hurried medical treatments would not break the circle. Snipe gave a scan of the area, picked out the nearest tall poplar with thick leaves, took out a flat knitted rope belt from his pack, slung it around the tree, called something from his boots (they produced short dagger like spurs on the inside heels), and went up the trunk faster than a squirrel, dissolving in the foliage �a trace of a cloud disappearing into thin air..

Aiidro was along side Treste. He slowly removed her helmet after pushing the medic codes on the underside buttons.

Her face was caulk white, though her mouth, chin and neck were colored dark rust brown from a gummy syrup of stomach juices mixed with the ant sized blood clots. Her teeth were barred in a death mask grin. Her breathing was in short gasps sounding like soft butterfly wings on the fly. There was a dank smell of rust and vomit.

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Flying 254

�This one�s alive, too, but barely. Lot of blood lost. Internal injuries. Critical. She�s going into deep shock,� said Aiidro urgently. We can�t leave here without giving her blood now. I�m going to start our emergency type O,� Platla called off his gloves which fell to the ground beside him. He removed a packaged bottle from a large armored bulge on his back, a medic backpack, stripped a thin clear tube from its side leaving it dangling, bit off a holder cap at the end of the tube revealing an inch long vein needle, swabbed a spot on Treste�s neck that he had found using two fingers of his left hand, then slowly and carefully inserted the needle to its hilt. He reached up and started the flow from the bag, which Hyle was already holding. The blood began to flow.

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Flying 255

�Got to do the same for Parmenides,� said Platla, who repeated the same process. Sohta held the bottle.

�Elevate the legs slightly,� called Aiidro. Trake and Bishopp went to Treste and Parmenides respectively. They sat down. Trake put the Treste�s legs over his thighs, letting them down slowly. Bishopp lifted Parmenides legs as if they were spindles of glass, then rested them on his lap. He did not want to disturb any of the muscles of Parmenides� stomach �if there were any muscles left. He could see the scarred skin lying on the muscle that had turned a dark red, almost black.

A minute went by. Parmenides began to blink his eyes slowly. More color returned to his face. He tried to raise his head and speak, but Platla shook his head. Parmenides let his head back down, but turned to see where Treste was.

�How is�?� he began in a whisper, but then clenched his teeth in pain.

�No talking. My team mate is taking care of Treste. You need to help me now. Close your eyes and try not to move your stomach. I�m going to have to do some preliminary work on your acid burns. It will hurt. Concentrate on the idea of getting back to the Keep.� Platla had one hand on Parmenides helmet to hold it just in case Parmenides tried to turn and look again for Treste. The move would not help his stomach and what he may see could cause him to move.

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Flying 256

Parmenides said nothing. There was a hint of movement of his helmet, but Platla held firm.

�You with me?� asked Platla. He bent down close to Parmenides so that his voice would be strong and clear.

�Done,� whispered Parmenides.

�Good,� said Platla. He got out some tubes of emergency cleansing ointments, took the top off of a blue tube, put it on a clean white gauze towel, and began slowly to clean the outer most edges of Parmenides� stomach area.

The pain was bad enough at first to cause Parmenides to bite his lip, but whatever was in the ointment began to take effect and an icy cold sensation began to flow on and through the touched areas. Platla continued on with careful movements.

Aiidro looked at Treste�s blood bottle. It was almost gone.

�Almost all the blood�s gone here, but she needs more. And, we don�t have it. Her armor read out says she�s B positive. The other O bottles are in the medic wagon. I�m going to do my best to treat her shock with positioning and getting her armor to squeeze her legs to make the blood flow better. My hope is that we can move her, but my best conclusion is that she�s not going to make the trip to the wagons.� Aiidro was raising Treste�s arms and putting them across her stomach. Then he pressed some medic buttons on each inner thigh plate. It could not be seen, but her leg armor began to constrict in pulses that would force her blood towards her heart.

Telos reached over and grabbed Aiidro�s arm. �Did you say that she was B positive?�

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Flying 257

�Yes, that�s what her armor reads, and it would never display incorrectly,� said Aiidro, turning to face Telos.

�Have you got a artery to vein transfer tube?� Telos had her visor flipped back, her eyes honing in on Aiidro.

�Yes, but I�ve only done two direct transfers. They�re very dangerous.� Aiidro could see in Telos� eyes what was coming. He shifted his feet to turn back to Treste to try to avoid the confrontation.

�I�m B positive. Run a line from me to her. Now.� Telos spoke as if she were politely telling someone how to string a child�s bow, but there was an underlying force of command in the words that rang hard and loud in Aiidro�s ears.

�Can�t do that. We need to get Parmenides back to the medic wagon where we can start work in better detail on his stomach. And, I cannot jeopardize my commander, you, for what looks to be a lost cause. I�m not giving up on Treste, but the transfer is out of Keep logic.� Aiidro began turning to deal directly with Treste.

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Flying 258

He was stopped by a sudden grasp of his shoulder. A strong, unyielding hold. Telos� armored right hand held him firmly in place.

�You will do as I command. I am now turning over duties and authority to Hyle.� She gave a clenched hand, pointed at Hyle, then turned her hand palm up, flat. Hyle gave a return clenched hand, but waved it back and forth, palm down. Telos only continued. �Hyle will be in command, just in case there is some trouble with my abilities. Hook me up now.� Her hand gave a slight shake of Aiidro�s shoulder, which felt to Aiidro like a sword practice jolt thrusting him into one of the worst decision spots he had ever been. Field line artery to vein transfers were extremely dangerous. You had to time and watch just right, otherwise the donor could be bled too much and go into shock. There had been terrible cases in which both patients had died. He shook his head.

Hyle eased around Platla and Parmenides, still holding the blood bottle for Treste, which was now almost empty. He flipped back his visor. Clear lines of stress were scratched gleaming red across his face.

�Telos, the artery to vein procedure is really as dangerous as Aiidro says. I saw it work once and fail once. Those odd are about the same for all cases I�ve heard of. We need to be on the move to the wagons. Treste will have to make it on the blood that she has been given. You cannot give up your command and jeopardize the entire unit. Not in line with Keep logic.� His face began to be covered with dew sweat that formed a drop on the end of his nose. The wrinkles of stress turned to gullies.

Telos didn�t budge. �Hyle, you have heard my command. Help Aiidro with the transfer and get all of us back to the wagons. Done?� Her words flamed in Hyle�s ears.

�Telos, I don�t�,� stammered Hyle, looking quickly at Treste, then back at Telos.

Before he could finish his sentence, Telos barked out, �Done?� She clenched her fist and raised it to the sky. Hyle and Aiidro froze in static shock for half a blink of an eye. Then�

�Done!� Aiidro and Hyle shouted in unison and jumped to start the transfer.

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Flying 259

While Aiidro was setting up the transfer, Hyle called to Bishopp who was doing a slow turning circle scan. �Bishopp. We are going to be here a short while longer. Secure the surroundings with a slightly larger perimeter. Build two fast carry stretchers. Be ready to go when I give the word. Best estimate, five minutes, maybe less.� Hyle turned around to Platla and handed him the now empty blood bottle. Parmenides looked better.

�Done,� said Bishopp and posted men at strategic places a bit farther out than they had been. Two others he gave the job of slashing down some young poplars and stringing vines across them to make carry stretchers.

Aiidro finished his preparations. Telos called for her right armor sleeve to come off, which it did. She lay down next to Treste. Aiidro prepped Telos� arm, inserted a transfer needle with attached tube, then connected the tube to a joint valve on the clamped tube that he had taken from the dry blood bottle. He released the clamp. The rich red blood began to flow from Telos� arm into Treste�s neck. Aiidro was counting in his mind, �One, two, three...�

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Flying 260

�Talk to me Telos,� he said. The blood red tube pulsed with each beat of Telos� heart, transferring the critical life to Treste.

�Assessment. Two badly wounded. Going to be a hard carry back to the wagons and a tough, fast trip back. You and Platla will have to be working on Parmenides and Treste most of the time. Hardest part will be getting to the wagons. �Telos paused as if to catch her breath.

�Don�t stop,� said Aiidro urgently, looking back and forth from Treste to Telos. The chalk face of Treste had a pinkish color, but Telos� began to turn a light gray.

�Hardest part will be getting to the wagons, Assessment. Hard carry to the wagons and a long trip back� Ah, assessment...� The gray crept up Telos� face and her eyes began to look into the distance at some far away object.

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Flying 261

�That�s it,� cried Aiidro, who pinched off the tube and removed the needles from Treste�s neck and Telos� arm. Hyle bent down close to Telos� right side. His lips were pulled back over his teeth in a pained grimace.

�Talk to me Telos,� he said.

She moved her mouth, but nothing but whispers about a hard trip came out. Hyle leaned closer to hear what she had said.

Snipe came down the poplar, silently and as invisible as a lizard. He ran over to Hyle, who raised his head up in anticipation of a message. There was one. Not good.

�Maulers coming this way from the south. Five to seven minutes. Big pack. We must leave now,� he said.

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Flying 262

Bishopp came running up. �Stretchers ready.�

�Good,� said Aiidro. �Load Parmenides and Treste up and get ready to move. Plata and Aiidro put the stretchers beside the two, then they went to Treste, rolled her onto her right side, moved the stretcher under her, half rolled, half shoved her onto the stretcher. They repeated the process with Parmenides. It looked liked a scurry, but the process was well thought out and was done in mere seconds. When finished, Aiidro turned back to Telos.

�Telos?� said Aiidro. Hyle very close to her, his eyes scanning her face for an answer. It came with a slight clench of her hand on his right wrist.

Telos was still gray, but there was a spark of color in her cheeks, a spark, not a fire, but enough of a spark to let Hyle know that she would not die. She tried to sit up, but swooned and fell against Hyle.

Aiidro looked as if he had committed murder.

�Move Aiidro. I�ll handle Telos,� Hyle said. Aiidro started to say something, Hyle held up his hand. Aiidro turned his attention to getting Treste on the stretcher. Platla was doing the same with Parmenides. Two other Guardians came up to take the ends of the stretchers.

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Flying 263

Hyle turned to the group around him. �Bishopp, take my right. Sohta, my left. Snipe, by back. Trake, take the point and call the whole team�s movement. Whole unit team, form the protective diamond around us in your designated positions.� He leaned over to Telos and spoke softly into her ear. �This will not be a dignified way to travel, Telos, but it�s the best I can do. Grab my shoulders when I tell you. If you can�t, don�t worry.� He closed her visor. With that he lifted her into a sitting position, squatted down with his back to her, grabbed her arms and positioned them over his shoulders, reached down and put his hands under her thighs moving her legs to be around his waist.

�Can you grab around my shoulders and neck?� Hyle asked.

Telos tried, but she could not close her hands together into a tight enough grip. Her hands would clench together, then fall apart.

Hyle reached down to a side pocket on his shoe that he called open. He removed a flat, thin piece of belt like leather material, only this was woven in small lattice strips which made it very flexible.

�I usually use this belt to tie up things before they are done away with, but I�ll make an exception this time,� he said as he tied Telos� hands together in front of his neck. Telos bumped her helmet against Hyle�s back. �Good,� Hyle thought to himself. She�s coming back.� He shifted into a deep squat position.

�Hold on best you can,� he said as he rose from a dead squat with her on his back. He moved as if he were getting up normally, without anything on his back. Bishopp caught the lift out of the side of his eye as he was scanning. He marveled at the strength Hyle had to stand from a dead squat with the weight of a combat Guardian on his back. They checked gear, Trake called �Clear,� then the diamond shaped mass of Guardians took off at a run with the two stretchers in the middle, Hyle trailing right behind them.

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Flying 264

Hyle could feel Telos� body bounce at first from side to side as if he were carrying a dead body, though after about one hundred feet, he felt her reposition herself making it easier for him to run and taking off the pressure around his neck plate as she forced her hands down over his chest plate.

�You with me?� asked Hyle as he exhaled a strong breath. They were making good ground. Only a few hundred yards to the wagons.

�With you,� came the soft reply.

A loud chorus of howls came from behind them.

�Maulers closing!� shouted Snipe. He turned and to the amazement of Bishopp and Sohta ran backwards as fast as they were running forwards. He raised his crossbow and let an arrow fly. A screaming snarl that lasted only a split second was heard. Snipe turned forward, scanned, cocked his bow, seated an arrow, turned and fired again. Another death snarl. They could hear the growl and clattering thuds of the Maulers� clawed feet against the ground. Even with leaves covering much of the path, the sound was that of fist size rocks hurled against the side of a large oak. Many, many rocks.

�Time assessment and recommendation,� called Hyle. His legs were raging in fatigue, but he willed them on. His gait never missed a step with the rest of the unit.

�We�ll make it to twenty feet of the wagons. Then they�ll have us,� Snipe shouted. We�ll have to make a stand in a not too many more strides. Medics and Hyle go on, the rest, prepare to defend.

�Done,� shouted everyone.

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Flying 265

Hyle took a frantic look back. It was a big pack. They were in for a terrible fight; the Guardians that stayed behind to defend would handle the first surge of the beasts, but the second set of Maulers would be very problematic. There were just too many of them. �The unit would be decimated. Dragons!� he thought to himself. �They would be mauled, torn to flesh ribbons and eaten dying.� His stomach knotted into a ball of painful realization of the death of his friends. He turned back ahead and continued running. He ground his teeth into his will and forced his feet to move faster, faster, feet pounding, heart racing, lungs burning, legs on fire, eyes tearing, thoughts only of survival �Telos, Treste and Parmenides�and how he would die with a sword in his hand. He would return to those who might still be fighting once the three were safely in the wagons.

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Flying 266

From the Guardian in the lead, Trake, Hyle heard a shout from heaven. �String mines ahead! Follow the red patterns! String mines ahead. Follow the red patterns. On my command, my lead is to the limit!� Trake�s voice was trembling with fatigue, but also with the clear ring of hope.

The safety Guards of the wagons must have had a premonition about the Maulers or other predators and laid out a pattern of string mines. These were mines that were round disks about the size of a large plate and had a paint concocted by the technical research program at the Keep that would assume the color of its surroundings. When activated, they shot to knee level, spinning at over two thousand revolutions per minute. From the sides of the disks emanated five, ten foot wire strings no larger than the size of the fang of a cat. But, the thin strings were of a strong, very strong metal and had sharp edges on three sides; the strings were shaped like triangles, each edge a razor that only had to touch to sever. The strings would slash in circular, then looping motions as the disk hovered for twenty to thirty seconds. Anything within the bounds of those strings would be sliced into a thousand slivers. The range of destruction was a bit more than ten feet (sometimes the disks wobbled a bit as they rose up), so the running Guardians would have to stay a good twelve feet from the red markers. Two feet was a very close margin, but in training, they had practiced running minefields until they could almost do it as if it were a simple dance. Which, in fact, Snipe was mostly doing, running forward, then backward to shoot, then forward, again. The mines would give them a chance to reach the wagons. Even with the mines, it would be very close.

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Flying 267

Trake yelled. �Mines on right in ten. Then, swing left twenty. Then, right, ten.� �Counting, now. Ten,� he paused his voice to hear �Done,� behind him, then picked up the final count. �Five, four, three, two, one. Left!� The group ran the paces to the exact count, abruptly swung to the left on Trake�s mark, and continued the run.

Snipe turned to look back. The Maulers were about thirty feet behind them as the Guardians made the swing to the left. The Maulers saw the move, but looked ahead and saw that the goal was the wagons. Maulers weren�t dumb predators. Over half the Maulers cut straight on through the small green foot high green, small leaf bushes which had attractive, bright red flowerlike ribbons on their tops. The Maulers that cut through were gaining fast and were only fifteen feet from Snipe. But, they were well into the minefield.

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Flying 268

The cut-through Maulers were brushing close to the red ribbons as they pushed to head off the Guardians. The second from the lead made one small red ribbon flower flutter as it sped past. The first set of mines went off. The effect startled the retreating Guardians, even through the numbness of their fatigue and their expectation of the triggering of the disks of destruction. A multiple, high pitched �HSSSSSSZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ� screaming split the air as the disks shot up from the small green bushes. Along with the high pitched sizzle sound was a noise that sounded like hundreds of sheets of wet paper being torn to strip shreds, then to bits. Loud popping and cracking sounds that could only be made of bones being severed flashed their ear rending score into the buzzing symphony of whirling horror. The Mauler howls that began at full pitch only lasted a micro second, as if an invisible axe had air chopped their cries launched from their mouths. The mine area became a ground tornado of bits of flesh, mulched bone, liquefied bushes, leaves and branches, flying pieces of stone: a red haze of misted blood, whirling, swirling, so thick that light would not go through �a five foot blood pudding suspended above the ground. Then the disks fell to the ground with slashes and small hops as they stopped spinning. There were only reddish purple, flat circles of mulched pulp where there had been once bushes and Maulers.

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Flying 269

The remaining Maulers that had followed the Guardians slowed for a second, howled in rage, then pressed on to catch up for the kill; they still outnumbered the Guardians.

�Left ten, right ten, left ten!� shouted Trake. �On my count,� and he repeated the calls to which the group responded with precise accuracy. They did the left ten and were half into the right ten, running hard. They could see that the mines of this set were closer together. A false step from anyone and they would all die an agonizing death of a thousand cuts to the bone, through the bone, through their souls, before they could know that they had even made a mistake.

The Maulers still never saw the ribbons for what they were, not the delicate flowers that they seemed to be, but the trip wires for instant evaporation. The back foot of a large one hit a bush with a dangling ribbon. Another tornado of carnage rose into the air and the flat brownish, red pulp circles of round tombstones appeared on the ground. One Mauler, however, was close enough to Snipe to follow him through the mine field. As it was about to take Snipe down, Snipe turned, ran backwards until the Mauler was near enough for him to see the dribble foaming in its mouth, and with a seemingly casual easy move, Snipe put one of his crossbow arrows between its eyes. It did an end over end crash to lie dead on its side next to Snipe�s right boot, which he used to prod the body to make certain it was dead. Half of Snipes armor was a red rust spray of blood; he head been closest to the Maulers when the mines sent off. Very close. He walked over to the side of the closest wagon and turned a cleansing spay on himself, then wiped his armor down as if he were hurried cleaning some delicate piece of porcelain.

Trake called for back coverage. The Guardians around the wagons had their bows and spears ready. But, there was no need. The Maulers were already only dark red rust mash beginning to dry in the heavy air. The wind carried some of the smell to them. Liquefied putrid fatty flesh with a touch of lemon bitter weed of the destroyed bushes.

Platla called for the medic teams to open the medic wagon. They loaded Parmenides, Treste and Telos inside. Telos shook her head indicating that she wished to remain outside, but Hyle only patted the top of his head showing that he was in charge. He was breathing too heavily to talk. She made no further request and was loaded in. In minutes, the wagons were readied for departure, the perimeter deemed safe, and the wagons began to move. Slowly at first, then building up speed.

(to be continued)

Flying 270

Platla called up to his driver, Flaase. �Send a signal to the lead wagon. No sharp turns, no rough starts or stops. I want a velvet ride. We�ll be in surgery. Any oversight bumps and I�ll have the driver�s head.� Platla turned back to ready his surgical team; they began to remove forearm and glove armor to ready Parmenides. The armor rained on the floor in sharp bangs against the fortressed floor. Aiidro and his team were doing the same with Treste. The sounds of Keep emergency procedure crackled the air with precise words snapped out and metal equipment rattling against the holding trays. To the right wagon side at the rear, Trake was administering a special drink to Telos, which looked purple-black and thick enough to use as drawbridge paint. He held onto the flask in one hand as he supported her with the other. She drank slowly, pausing to breathe long and deeply.

�Ready all?� asked Platla. The two teams surrounded Parmenides and Treste.

�Done,� came the reply.

Flaase called back in. �Platla. The lead driver and his partner acknowledge your request and guarantee the velvet ride. They are Hyle and Sohta.�

Platla did not blink, but kept his team at full speed preparing Treste. But, he did call back to Flaase. �Good. But, one unnecessary bump and he�ll have to deal with one very hot Medic, and he knows what that means.�

Flaase nodded and gripped the reins with feather touch feeling and eyes on the surfaces and upcoming turns. The message was not just for Hyle.

(to be continued)

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