The Land: Forging (Chaos Seeds Book 2) (16 page)

There was no response at first, but then there was a scrabbling at the door. Richter heard a scrape, followed by a loud thump, as something heavy hit the ground. Richter pulled
on one door while a dwarf villager
pulled on another. The heavy wood moved easily when confronted with his strength. A cloud of black smoke came out blinding them all momentarily.

Richter was hit by a weak tackle. He was ready to attack when he heard, “Thank you, my Lord! We would all have died in a few more minutes!”

Richter blinked his eyes clear and saw he was holding a high elf woman. She looked up with bloodshot eyes set in a
soot-stained
face. She began to sob, clinging to him like he was the last light in a suddenly dark world. He held her awkwardly for a few seconds until another villager led her away to make room for more people escaping the
still-burning
building.

Someone shouted, “There are
still some inside! They were too weak to move! Help them!”

Richter ran inside hacking against the smoke. He couldn’t see anything, but then Hisako cast a spell that shot a dozen shining globes into the rafters of the longhouse. Five bodies were on the ground. Richter ran to the closest. He didn’t waste
any time
checking for life, but just picked him up in a fireman’s carry and ran out of the door. He kept running until he was ten yards away, and then put the body down. He was going to go back, but he saw others had taken the other bodies out.
Besides
as he watched, a portion of the roof collapsed with a crackle. The structure of the building had finally succumbed to the flames.

He looked back to the body
he had drug out of the flames. The smooth face of a young dwarf male looked back at him. The eyes were half open and stared sightlessly up. The dwarf hadn’t even been old enough to even start growing a beard yet. Guilt and anger surged up from deep within Richter. “Noooo!”

He cast
Slow Heal
, but again the spell couldn’t find purchase on the body. Richter wasn’t
done
though. He slammed a fist into the dwarf’s chest. He then started compressing the dwarf’s chest. “One, two, three, four,” he said under his breath in time with his exertions. After a count of thirty, he moved to breathe into the dwarf’s mouth. After tilting the dwarf’s head back, he placed his lips on the young dwarf’s and blew forcefully into his mouth. Richter blew a second breath into his
lungs
before he began to compress the chest again.

A small hand touched his shoulder. “He is gone Richter,” Hisako said.

He ignored her. There was a lot he couldn’t control. There were mistakes that he would make. Hell, this whole attack was his fault! He would have to live with the consequences of this night for the rest of his life. The needless deaths of his people occurred because of his carelessness, and he couldn’t change that. He would not let THIS life go, though. One, two, three, four, … He breathed into the dwarf’s mouth again.

He was starting his third round of compressions when Hisako touched him again, “We need to keep fighting. Yoshi needs out help! I am sorry for your loss, but…” Her words trailed off.

The dwarf youth coughed. Richter couldn’t believe it! It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard! Placing a hand
to
the dwarf’s neck, Richter could feel a faint pulse! It was weak and thread, but it was there. As he was checking it faltered. It might go out at any moment.

“Hisako! Please heal him.”

She was staring at the dwarf in shock, “But how… this is impossible…”

“Hisako! Please,” Richter pleaded. She shook her head to clear it and extended one hand. A golden glow surrounded her hand and extended to the body of the dwarf. The pulse grew strong under Richter’s hand and the breathing eased. The dwarf lapsed into an easy sleep.

Once breathing normalized, she looked at Richter, “We have much to discuss, Lord Richter.”

“Later,” he replied. “We need to help Yoshi.”

Turning to the villagers, he raised his voice, “All of you who can stand support those who cannot. Those who can fight, your job is to protect the other villagers and make your way back up to the meadow. No arguments,” he said sharply. Several of the villagers had opened their mouths to protest at being sidelined, but they closed them quickly at his tone.

Terrod had walked up while he was speaking. His blackened face made it clear he had been trapped in the building. “You heard Lord Richter. Let’s get moving!” The man’s voice was scratchy from smoke inhalation, but it still radiated authority. How much of that was due to the Comradery ability, and how much was due to his learned gravitas, Richter didn’t know, and he didn’t care. He nodded his appreciation to Terrod, who simply nodded back. His Companion turned away, and picking up an unconscious
villager, began walking towards the meadow north of the village. Not wasting any more time, he just turned to Sion and said, “Ready?”

The sprite nodded and they ran to the flashes of blue light, Hisako and Daniella not far behind.

Hisako cried out in outrage and pain. Six of her people lay on the ground. Their bodies were bloodied and ruined. More than one was decapitated. Eleven bugbears bodies joined them in unnatural positions. None
were
moving. The remaining ten sprites were split between firing out of the village to keep the reinforcements out of the village or attacking the knot of bugbears still inside walls. They were outnumbered even if their attention had not been divided. At least fifteen bugbears remained inside the earthwork walls. The only reason the sprites had not been overwhelmed was the presence of the angel. Zacharia was battering with its crystal sword against an unseen barrier.

The Dark mage was straining to keep the defense in place. He was down on one knee with both hands raised above his head. The drain of maintaining the shield was telling upon obvious. Next to the Dark mage was another figure. She wore
tight-fitting robes that in the light of Hisako’s Blessed Light spell, looked more dark grey
than black. There was no submission in her
face
however, unlike her comrade.

The grey-robed sorceress had dark grey
skin and fine features. Jet black hair hung loose and straight down her back. She held a staff of braided black wood. The end was pointed at the angel. Her face would have been considered beautiful if not for the cruel snarl fixed upon
it. She was five and a half feet tall and her ears were upturned like an elf’s. Even at a distance, her form fitting clothes showed off an athletic and pleasing build.

All of this registered to Richter in a moment, but what caught his attention was Yoshi’s battle with a bugbear several inches taller than the other bugbears Richter had fought. Aside from being bigger, he wore a mix of chain and leather armor, not just the leather of the rest of the attackers. He wielded a large sword. The blade swelled out closer to the tip resembling an
axe
blade. In the other hand, he held a heater shield. Analyze showed:

Name: Lif’alt. Bugbear Raider Level 24. Health 410. Mana 130. Stamina 430. Disposition: Enmity. Bugbears are the result of sorcerous experimentation blending cave bears with goblins. The race is naturally strong and hardy. They are adept at hiding. Warlike to a fault, it takes a strong leader to control them. Well known to incorporate other races into their war parties. Bugbears obtain the title of ‘Raider’ by undergoing special training. Every raider has +3 to Strength and Constitution. They also have advanced weapons training. Bugbears get one point to distribute per level, and each level gives +1 to Strength, +1 to Constitution, +1 to Dexterity, +1 to Endurance. Profession: Warrior.

The steady banging of the angel against the two mages
shields provided a slow tempo. The movement of the two Fighters though was faster by far. Everyone around them fought in what looked like slow motion. Yoshi had two blades out, held in either hand. Each was three feet long and
double-edged
. The blades were one inch wide uniformly until they tapered to a point. They glowed the pale blue of a glacier. As Richter
stared
, the two exchanged furious blows.

The raider
swung his sword down in an overhand chop. Rather than trying to block, Yoshi smacked his sword against the flat of the falling blade while jumping slightly to the side. The heavy weapon served as a relatively
unmoveable
surface, allowing Yoshi to push himself out of the way. Getting back on the ground, he spun in a circle both swords
lashing
towards his opponent’s legs, using the form Samara Seed Falls. The bugbear didn’t even try to dodge, and instead just took the strikes on his iron greaves. Yoshi’s
swords left blue
white splotches of ice against the iron but did little else. In response, the raider thrust out with his shield trying to bash the sprite. Yoshi had not stayed
still however,
and used the momentum of his spin to continue behind the invader. That was the idea anyway.

Seeing his shield bash fail, Lif’alt lowered his center of gravity and pivoted on his front foot, keeping the shield between himself and Yoshi. He activated
Thrust
, and his heavy blade shot forward several times faster than it would have by strength of arm alone. Richter’s breath caught in his throat. At such a short range there should be no way that Yoshi could dodge. Richter was wrong again.

Yoshi bent backwards at the waist
almost to ninety degrees, putting one leg behind him for balance. At the same
time
he crossed his swords in front of him, catching Lif’alt’s weapon in the crook of the two blue blades. The other side of the angle they formed was only an inch from Yoshi’s chest. The tip of the sword drew a drop of blood from the end of the adept’s nose. Drawing his blades across his body in a reverse scissoring motion, he pushed the sword up and away. He straightened and he spun both of his swords back into a guard
position.

The two circled one another before resuming their deadly dance. The raider led with his shield, with the sword laid atop sticking towards Yoshi. Taking half steps forward, he closed the distance and jabbed over the top of the shield. Yoshi struck the sword
away
and swung the sword in left hand over the shield. The bugbear had already retracted his
blade though,
and was able to deflect the half sprite’s strike. The two started to circle again, putting some space between them.

Lif’alt activated another Warrior ability,
Lunge,
triggering an unexpected burst of speed. He crossed the six feet in under a second, the sword leading with a straight thrust. He followed this with a sideways slash, a shield bash and then overhand chop. Yoshi barely dodged the first
strike
and ducked under the second. Richter saw that the bugbear had waited until Yoshi was backed up against a large stone. The first two attacks of the combo had just been a distraction! The shield bash connected and flung Yoshi back. Richter resisted the impulse to look away from the last attack that he was sure would
cleave
the half-human in two.

Once again Richter had underestimated the sword adept
. The shield had indeed connected, but it had not knocked Yoshi off balance. He used the force of the shield bash like a
spring board
to propel him to the stone. He quickly kicked off the large rock and jumped over the bugbear.

The invader’s downward slash had brought his body forward and made him bend down to a certain extent. As Yoshi passed over the bugbear’s head, he stabbed down with one sword, two feet of the icy blade entering just above the clavicle. The blue blade sunk two feet vertically into his opponent’s chest, leaving frost at the penetration site. A startled grunt
escaped the raider, but Yoshi was not done. He maintained his grip on the imbedded sword, using it as a fulcrum. He ended his flip by hanging crouched on his enemy’s back. One hand was holding the handle of the
buried
blade and his other sword was poised to strike. A moment of stillness came and went, ending when Yoshi thrust forward. The tip of his sword entered through the base of the neck, traveled up at an angle, and then fangs,
blood
and glowing blue metal exploded from the bugbear’s mouth. That was how the story of Lif’alt ended.

Richter had been totally distracted by this battle between two fighters
and came back to himself with a start. Though it had captivated his entire
attention
the fight took less than one minute. The other bugbears upon seeing the death of their strongest fighter seemed to
deflate
and lost some of their intensity.