Where Darkness Treads: Book Two—Of Tears & Darkness

Chapter Fifteen: Of Blood And Hounds

One week later, for the second consecutive day, a soft rain continued to dampen their spirits. Steadily, they plodded their way through the forest toward the mountains, which loomed in the distance before them. They extended for as far as Brenna could see, in either direction. Thus far, the journey from the hill had been uneventful. The enemy had once more vanished into thin air. This only served to make everyone extra cautious.

Brenna took it as a sign the enemy was biding their time to attack when the situation was more in their favor. She found herself critically inspecting every stump, hill, and tree, for signs of danger. Before them, a thin line of trees gave way to an expansive forest clearing. Along the opposite side, a great deal of activity was taking place. Several Dreena were standing still, while others paced back and forth.

The search for Tinje, Sidek, and Feja was over. Their three mutilated bodies were impaled garishly upon boles of small trees, which had been made into crude stakes. Brenna dismounted and approached the cruel spectacle, alongside Donovan, Morgan, and Changa. It was clear a message had been sent to them, to either quit the field, or face the consequences.

Abruptly, a dark aura appeared around the three Dreena on display. Quickly, the aura spread to the surrounding air, which now appeared ominously overcast. Everyone stepped back from the now moving forms, which writhed on their wooden impalements. "The Prince has arrived and with him, the witch he would call Neeri. I would bow in greeting, yet as you can see, I am in a sticky situation," the centermost of the three said in a raspy voice.

"What manner of evil is this?" Celete asked. In a blur, she crouched as a cat and drew forth her pale white gleaming sword.

"It is of the darkest kind," Brenna said. She stepped towards the three, who were struggling to remove themselves.

"Neeri, you have managed to travel a great distance from home—an admirable feat indeed. Continue this endeavor and all of you will suffer deaths, which will make this lot's seem pale in comparison."

"As the Master has decreed it, so it shall be," another of the impaled hissed.

"The enemy believes they can frighten us away by torturing and crudely displaying our friends' bodies. Hear me, dark whelps of Bemenah, there is no hole deep enough, where we will not find you. We will hunt every one of your foul ilk down, your last breaths will be spent, screaming in agony!" Celete roared, shaking with anger.

"What has been done here is inhuman and is an insult to life itself," Changa raged, while drawing forth his battle stave.

"You have not frightened us, foul ones. You have only succeeded in kindling the wrath within us into a firestorm of vengeance. From the weakest of you to the strongest, we shall send each of you to the Dark Hag!" Donovan shouted in unmitigated anger.

"Is there any trail to follow?" Morgan asked of no one in particular. In the distance, echoed a chorus of roars and bellows. Brenna assessed the situation and did not like anything she saw.

"There is no need to track us down, my lady. Can you not hear the baying of our hounds? We are coming to you!" The bodies of the dead Dreena began to convulse, as laughter filled the air. Abruptly, the darkness surrounding them faded and they hung limply once more from their sharpened wood skewers.

"Everyone, form into a large circle. Knights to the outside, archers within. Quickly now, look alive, we have not come this far to be sent away as sniveling cowards," Prince Everin commanded to all.

Amidst a great deal of jostling, the men's training took over and their formation rapidly took shape. Donovan nodded to Prince Everin, who smiled at him in return. "We will do everything we can to disrupt their attack, Prince Donovan. You know my people can change at will to wolf-form and back to human. As a battle-priestess, I am not as limited to the form I can change to. Do not be alarmed. I will discuss this at length with you, later," Celete said over her shoulder, after quickly leaving his side.

The Warrior Priestess ran to the edge of the clearing, facing whatever was charging unseen through the brush at them. Mere moments later, Celete became a blur and in her place, the huge hulking form of a raken now stood. With a mighty ear-splitting bellow, the bronze scaled form charged, crashing into the forest and disappeared.

For a minute, Brenna could do nothing except stare at the area of the forest, where Celete had disappeared. She checked herself, out of concern she may have lost control of certain functions. Relieved to have found otherwise, she was able to form words once more. "Why did Celete not tell us this before? By the Great Lady, it was incredible to behold."

Around her, Brenna heard many gasps and cries, as each in their own way, sought to recover from the terrifying visage. The Neeri turned her head to look at Prince Everin and found him staring back at her. He was making a determined effort to calm down and speak at the same time.

"What, pray tell, manner of beast was that? Do they really exist? We really must speak to our friends, about their surprises. Here I am about to go into battle, and I find myself having to check first, to check if I had soiled myself!" With that, Prince Everin began to laugh out loud, while wiping his face with a gloved hand.

The laughter proved to be once again, what was needed. It served to break the feeling of despair holding sway over them. Everyone gathered there, joined in, venting the tension which had been building within them. With renewed diligence, all prepared for whatever the enemy threw at them.

"Commander Celete had not informed you of this before, because she said the time was not yet right to make such an impression. At times such as these, anything which can be done to raise the morale of the men is invaluable. I must take my leave now," Timitz said, while standing beside Brenna's horse. Moments later, the fleeting form of a silver wolf charged away from him and disappeared into the swaying branches of the trees.

"Prepare yourselves men, here they come," Girard shouted to all.

"Come to us, dear ones, no need to be shy! We promise to sing ya a lullaby!" Alfred bellowed loudly, brandishing his great sword. Immediately, everyone let loose with a resounding roar. It was plain to see courage stood strong within the hearts of everyone here. After all they had been through, each one of them still stood strong; giants, filled with bravery.

From the trees before them, a mighty roar filled the air. One which made Brenna instinctively cringe and want to regroup. It was the bellow an enraged raken made, when closing with its prey. An ear-splitting wail and loud hiss filled the air, combined with the snapping and popping of branches and trees. In a blur, a form was hurled through the air, which hit the ground before her. The Neeri had never seen such a creature before. The crushed, black scaled creature lying before her, stood perhaps seven feet tall, with powerful hind legs. Its upper limbs were equipped with sharp long claws. From its powerful jaws, a mouthful of sharp teeth glistened in the sunlight.

"What is it?" asked Morgan in a subdued voice.

"It is unlike anything I have ever seen. Everything about it looks deadly," Changa answered, as he prodded it with his sword.

Suddenly, amidst a great deal of savage growling, hissing and shrieking, several forms charged out of the trees. In a blur, black scaled forms leaped at them, with claws extended and teeth-filled jaws agape. One black scaled nightmare charged at Brenna and was rapidly transfixed, with what must have been ten or more arrows and crossbow bolts. With a pitiful bellow, the creature collapsed on its side.

In an incredible leap, another of the scaled attackers pounced upon a knight, knocking him from his horse. With savage swipes of its mighty claws, it ripped at the knight's armor. The armor blunted the creature's attack, allowing the knight time to begin fending off its attack. The creature, not to be denied, immediately attacked the knight's horse. With a savage sword thrust from a knight beside the hapless fellow, the creature was finally downed.

Out of the brush rolled another scaled killer, with at least three Dreena in wolf-form clinging to it with clamped jaws. Another in human form appeared, wielding a sword and with a savage rip, he disemboweled the creature.

Some of the beasts leaped upon men of their group and in the ensuing chaos, managed to knock them from their horses. On the ground, a desperate game of survival ensued. Two soldiers, Brenna saw, lost the battle, for their helmets had been raked off. Their throats had been ripped out and were now draining their lifeblood away in heavy red spurts. The battle disintegrated into a hazy nightmare filled with various black-scaled monsters, wolves, humans, and one raken. One of the dark forms toppled another armored fighter from his horse, to land with a crash upon the ground. Moments later, cruel claws and a mouthful of sharp teeth were doing their best to end the poor fellow's life.