Elemental Awakening

Chapter Twelve

Dankiyet could feel life, and she was devastated. She understood that impending doom could erase all her hopes and dreams. In the middle of a move to the dragon maw this could be some of the worst news. Feeling frail and scared, the mother to be, confided in the one person whom would understand. She found Avensong with the walking dragon rider that was escorting her group of travelers while his dragon circled overhead. The elementals decided to separate themselves among the groups of travelers, they have been getting better with the telepathic communication, and didn’t want to become one single target for the darkness in the dessert. Dankiyet was without her other half.

“Mother, I have a problem.” Dankiyet got right down to the issue at hand. “I’m with child.”

Avensong stopped mid stride and stood agape. Others in the group politely walked around the obstruction that she created. Unable to say a word Dankiyet continued. “I don’t know what to do. I need David, I need to tell him. Mother I’m scared.”

“Then go to him.” Avensong began walking again, still unsure what to think. She was to be a grandmother. “Flare will take you to him.” She motioned up the line to the rider whom left as soon as Dankiyet delivered her news.

“You’re right, Mother.” Dankiyet hugged Avensong, kissed her on the cheek and started weaving her way through the dispersed Cactus Paw people. Dankiyet had everything that she owned packed into a pack that she strapped across her back, her clothes, her medallions, and a portion of the herbs that aid in healing certain illnesses or injuries. It amazed her that her life could crush down into an uncomfortable bundle that bounced against her body. “Flare! Hold please?” the tall man turned to regard her.

“Congratulations? I know at this particular time that this is going to be difficult for you.” His dry face cracked into a nervous smile, and he rolled his shoulder in the direction of his dragon whom was back winging for a landing. “Radegast is happy to help, I assume you want to break the news to the father yourself, yes?” the nervous smile widened into a mischievous grin.

Feeling somewhat relieved Dankiyet nodded. “Yes. Of course.” The two travelers walked over to the brown dragon. His color looked like it would easily be able to blend into the rocks of the mountains that were still days ahead of them. Flare mounted Radegast and dropped a hand down to assist Dankiyet up into the saddle behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and tucked her head down behind his shoulders to prevent the wind from whipping her face.

Radegast squatted spread his wings forward and launched directly into the air without a running takeoff. Dankiyet was impressed with his demonstration of strength. As the trio climbed Flare noticed a dark cloud on the horizon. Radegast powered directly toward the cloud knowing exactly what it was. His belly boiled as he prepared to rain liquid fire on the threat. Radegast bellowed with rage as he spewed forth flames that melted the sands below to glass. Half of the swarm that Lochsear sent to cripple the caravan was incinerated as the brown dragon continued on his task at hand.

Dankiyet looked down at the rest of the miasma in helplessness as the Dragon ferried her on to her husband. She tried to scream over the rattle of the wind to no effect. Flare just looked back at her knowing that she wanted to go back and fight, but Radegast had other intentions. The dragon summoned his brothers to aid the refugees as he hurried the spiritual leader out of harm’s way. He would not stop and drop her off with David, no he was taking Dankiyet Directly to the Dragon Maw.

Avensong watched as her daughter was spirited away to safety, she hoped, and the black cloud circled around the group. Six families from the Cactus Paw and four families from the second village that they passed through were cut off from escape. Everyone was instructed when they set out that this was a possibility and they knew that instead of panicking that the best protection that they had was to light the torches that each person carried. The frightened but determined people of the desert pulled cloaks soaked in pungent cactus juice around their bodies and over their heads. Steadfastly the entire collection of free people pulled all adults into a circle around the children and the very old. The animals were left outside the protective ring as the vile infestation and fire would likely scare them and cause an even bigger calamity.

The adults in the outer ring cloaked and goggled spread flame oil and more pungent cactus juice on the ground in front of them and lit it with their torches. Avensong directed movements for the defenders. Avensong herself was soaked head to toe in pungent cactus juice, it stung her skin, but it would be nothing if the flies and beetles began to bite and rend flesh. The foul smelling sticky ichor was proven to deter the insects that were known for biting in a normal situation, it was with shear hope and prayers to whatever Gods may be listening that this would work. Dragons would be good about now, Radegast managed to wipe out half the Swarm on his way out, she was thankful for that.

The multi-hued mass of writhing and chewing bodies were inching ever closer. It was as though they were being forced forward even though they didn’t want to tread through the fire or the pungent cactus juice. As fingers of claws and mandibles reached for the displaced people they would swing their torches in arcs that caught one or two insects on fire at a time. The wing casings of the beetles managed to protect delicate body parts. Very few of the snapping and clicking beasts tried to venture over the putrid soaked sand until the sand began to move. The green and black bodies of the blood beetles that headed the attack began to chitter and snap faster as the sand began to look like boiling water. Flashes of gold and red began to show through the sand.

“BURN THE SAND!” Avensong screamed. The gold beetles were eating the pungent cactus soaked sand allowing the blood beetles through the protective line. The insects were getting louder. She had to yell to the man standing next to her.

In sequence the man to her right dropped his torch to the sand to ignite the flame oil, starting all others in the circle to follow suit. As the flames licked higher the people holding the circle began to sweat. The sweat mixed with the pungent cactus oil and began to burn. Skin began to itch and sting, but everyone was too focused on the target at hand to do much about it. Fear of breaking the line, and being the one person responsible for the death of so many others fueled determination. With torches lowered the beetles began to lift casings and unfurl wings to take flight. Each blood beetle became a self-propelled projectile. All exposed skin was a target. Hoods and sleeves were kept as tight as possible, yet a beetle or two would still make its way through to begin stripping flesh from bone. Blood began to drip to the sand, as beetles were being burned and crushed.

A man cried out in agony as he could no longer beat the insects off of him. They began to tear into the soft tissue of his neck and face. His torch fell dangerously close to the man and woman on either side of him as he broke the circle to run without direction to attempt to escape the knowing and rending mandibles. With one gory look back in the direction of the last sliver of safety available he fell to the sand motionless. His eye sockets already empty, the skin on his face stripped to the bone, unable to scream because his throat was devoured.

In an act of desperation, a woman douses herself in flame oil ignites it and runs straight into the swarm of gnashing insects. The vile prickly creatures around her caught in puffs of smoke and burned to ash. Her cloak was falling away in threads and trailing burning oil around her. As her skin blistered and fell away in hunks of cooked meat; she furiously swatted at any flying bug that came within her hellish circle. Arcs of her torch signaled that she was still alive for a few breaths after she collapsed to the earth in shock and exhaustion. A crumpled pile of smoldering ash was all that was visible through the clouds of hungry bodies.  

One by one, five more people were devoured by the onslaught. Avensong committed names to memory, in hopes of being able to tell families. Issack the first to be taken, Glory who lived up to her namesake. Victor was next, then Avensong heard Nardieu scream out to the Gods for mercy. She was a sister in arms, went through warrior training with Avensong, and helped to defend the Nomads on migration early in their careers. She would be missed dearly by all that knew her. Nardieu’s brother River tried to save her but was consumed in the flood of chittering and buzzing bodies.

Sweat began to weaken Avensong’s grip on her torch. Her swing was getting sloppy as she kept batting away fist sized blood beetle after beetle. She knew that if she was getting tired that surely the rest of the people holding the circle were getting haggard as well. The ring was getting tighter as members were dragged away or eaten in their place. Children and old were taking up torches and sacks of flame oil or containers of pungent cactus juice. The people were stinking and itching. The smell was enough to make one’s eyes water. As another man died, by the name of Byord, his young son took his position with the torch and the flame oil.

The boy brought new hope and vigor to the defenders, as his quick wit aided him in fashioning a method of spraying the flame oil across his torch like dragon breath. Clouds of the smaller beetles and ravenous reaper flies began to burst into balls of fire before the boy. Other children in the circle began rigging the sacks of flame oil to be used by the boy and other members of the protective perimeter. The flame oil would not last in this method, but they could see the difference it was making. The swarm was thinning with the constant burst of flaming oil. This tactic would not last though. The insects were guided and would find positions around the circle that did not have a person with a flame oil sack.    

Somewhere behind the defensive line an elder screamed out in fear as reaper-flies swarmed her face and blood beetles coated her cloak. Attackers were behind the line. The old woman swatted furiously as the beetles crawled up her clothing and found any weakness they could. She screeched as reaper-flies dotted her face and began to feed. As the old woman that was known as Grandmother Lilly to almost all of the Cactus paw flailed to the ground the rest of the circle panicked. As soon as the children saw Grandmother Lilly die they tried to escape. The older children knew that it would be death if they ran out into the swarm, and grabbed up as many little ones as they could.

Even with as quick as the older children were they could not restrain all of the frantic little ones. One little boy of about seven years ran right past the older children and the elders into the swarm swatting and batting furiously. His older sister and mother screamed for him to stop and began to run after him until Avensong grabbed them and threw them violently back into the circle. She pointed her finger in their faces and yelled at them. “Do not move!” Avensong left the hysterical family members with the elderly that were within the enclave of the Cactus Paw. She needed to think, as people were dying around her she still needed to maintain composure so the others could gain some self-control.

No matter how she tried though fear crept across Bintain’s face. Avensong kept her back to her people and displayed her courage by swatting insects with her torch and spraying flame oil into particularly thick sections of the swarm cloud. For as much as she tried though the sky still blackened with the miasma. Dread settled into her chest, the realization that she may never see her grandchild crept into her awareness, and she felt regret.

As people ran out of flame oil the cloud of doom descended upon them one by one. Two brothers were devoured in an instant as if a candle was blown out, to include their clothing and packs. One was a warrior now in Lamasuli’s house named Deacon, the other was a mere tailor holding his position in solidarity with his family even though he had no formal warrior training. The name he added to the list was Blind. So many people, she thought. She had to stay alive to tell someone what happened here today. These were her people. She was the Bintain! She stood for the people and their warriors.

She concentrated on her task. She just had to make it through. Surely Radegast and Flare sent word that they were under attack before they left. Avensong’s face is shredded, her teeth can be seen where her cheeks had been, she could taste her blood, and the pungent cactus juice. She could feel the air across her tongue, but she felt no pain. This was bad. Her eyes were safe behind her goggles but she could feel that the beetles would be scraping at her cowl and eye protection in breaths. Blood running down her chin and neck she knew that she was running out of time. It wouldn’t be long before she would be unable to pull the reaper-flies or blood beetles from her face and neck anymore. They were forever hungry.

As the sky disappeared, and hope crept away Avensong grew still and sighed. What was the point in killing this many insects? It was a mere grain of sand in the vastness of the dessert. She held on to one last resort though. Flame oil soaked her cloak, and she held her torch up high with intent to ignite herself and run into the maelstrom. “The Elementals are coming! I want you all to hold to your hope. I want you all to fight until your last breath has left your bodies. You shall all go on knowing that if you do move on to the after lands here today, that you will be avenged, and your families will know that you fought bravely!”

Somber faces looked back upon Avensong, understanding that this would be her last stand. With a heaving chest her arm began to lower. She was apprehensive, she didn’t know if this looked like she was escaping, or if she was giving her people a few more moments. As she looked at the flames licked above her mutilated face she noticed something.

Dragon flame! It burst into brilliance above her. Above the entire group. They made it, thank the Gods they finally made it. Brite white flame was accented by green as David unleashed his element upon The Swarm, a cocoon of air formed around the weary travelers and all insects were pushed out. The Cactus Paw people were in a safety net. Sand whipped up around the invisible shield and scoured the land clean of the infestation that Lochsear sent. The sky opened up to the people who were not cowering in fear as most should, they were brave and proud, damaged maybe, but valiant non the less.

Cheers went up as the people rejoiced they are saved. The sand began to crystalize around them, but they could not feel the heat. The Elementals were protecting them even as they were meeting the threat. Green flame flicked into their vision as flame burst beetle bodies like popcorn. The sand whipped harder and faster as air and earth began to work together. Nothing was visible except a wall of beige. The wall twisted and pulled high into the sky. A column of sand towered over their heads, but they didn’t know how far out the walls reach. The sand began to turn into a brilliant glass that sparkled and intensified the light from the sun. rainbows danced and refracted from the walls that were completely encasing them. Everything went calm, and quiet. The only sound was that of breathing. A clear sign that they were alive.

Sobbing began in a quiet corner of the crystal chamber that had grown around them. Brothers and sisters died today. Shock began to wear off and pain crept in. the aftermath of battle and war. Injuries would need to be cleaned. Avensong looked to on wall, as she reached up her hand to touch the smooth sides she saw her reflection. She was grisly, the only skin that was saved was hidden under her goggles. The wall that she was looking at began to glow. The Bintain stepped back as it radiated heat. She knew that the elementals were now done cleansing the earth of the miasma.

As the wall melted to the floor David stepped in followed by Sui, then Wendy, and Cleo. Their dragon riders followed after them. “I’m looking for…” David trailed off as he saw the half skeletal face of a person. “Avensong?”

The warrior leader nodded, no longer able to speak without lips or cheek. Wendy stepped forward to access the damage to her face. She looked at her from several angles, not asking her to move her head or even touching her. After a few moments the water elemental raised her hand incased in a ball of water. She brought it to the Bintain’s tattered face. The water reached out from Wendy’s hand and flowed over Avensong’s face. Contagion was pulled from the wounds and blood was cleansed away. “Now I can see. I’m no healer, but I think I can stop the bleeding and with help make a protective mask until you can be moved to the Dragon Maw.” She asserted.

Avensong nodded in understanding and agreement. The water was cool, and relived the pain that was deep and thorough. Her face began to itch as tissues began to knit began together. Her face felt warm under the water, she was almost instantly hungry. Wendy’s concentration was punctuated by fascinated and bewildered faces. As her face began to warm to an uncomfortable degree she heard gasps around her. “It looks like we won’t have to worry about that protective mask. I didn’t know that you could do that Wendy.” Sui stated impressed.

Avensong walked over to the wall of the crystalline structure to see her reflection again. It wasn’t perfect, but the amount of healing was amazing. All of her deep gashes were closed up, and fresh skin was beginning to knit together. It wasn’t perfect and she was going to be scared for life, but she wouldn’t have to worry about dying from the amount of damage that she had sustained from the battle. “Please take care of everyone else if you can?” she touched her face one last time before going to speak with the dragon riders and the Elementals. “You have power young one, much.” The Bintain walked to David and His rider to discuss plans of how to get the refugees to the Dragon Maw. It wouldn’t make much sense to make them walk the rest of the way when they no longer had pack animals or food provisions because of the attack.

“How many riders do you have with you?” The tactician in her asked the rider that was David.

“Presently we have eleven dragons and riders here Bintain.” The somber looking man replied.

“Is your dragon in charge? Or are you waiting on your wing leader?” Point blank she asked.

“She is on her way ma’am. I am in communication with her right now, there are eight more Dragon coming from the Maw and five more coming from the escort to bring this group of travelers back to the Maw.” He smoothly answered all of questions before she had a chance to ask them. Twenty-four dragons would be a little more than enough to carry the remaining people to their destination.  It pleased and saddened her that they knew how many to send before the attack.

“Thank her for me?” Avensong sadly said and walked out of the shining tower to look for the dead that she knew wouldn’t be there. The tower that she knew wasn’t built on purpose would be a monument to those that died here today. She would have Sui inscribe their names in the walls on the inside. She thought that if they ever came back to the land that the tower would be a good stopping point for nomads on their trek to the mountains of the dragon clan. Maybe Cleo and Wendy could create a well here protected in the floor of the tower. Maybe that source of life could make up for the lives that were lost today.