“Stay here, stay out of the way, and for the love of Gaia try not to get yourselves killed.” Suamalie didn’t even give us enough time to voice concerns or ask questions before she turned on her heel and sprinted down the hall. The few other people that she passed she shouted at, and after she darted past them, they in turn started acting like the world was about to end. Within minutes, the entirety of the wall was abuzz with activity. People were constantly running by us, some in armor with weapons and others with normal clothes and bundles of supplies but they all had one thing in common.
Their faces.
Each and every person wore a face of fear and horror. And as time passed, their expressions deepened. Within half an hour any sign of hustle and bustle that had suddenly overtaken the wall vanished just as quickly as it arose. The only difference being that we were no longer alone where we stood. Off to both side of us were soldiers in various types of armor, mostly consisting of forms of leather with a bit of metal here and there. Every soldier had a bow somewhere on their person. On either of their shoulders, across their backs, already held in hand, or some variation therein. Aside from there, they also had some form of close quarters combat weapon ranging from short swords and daggers to longer range weapons of spears and something that looked like an axe rather than a spear. Apparently, whatever is going to happen, everyone is expecting it to make it to the wall.
Moments passed, and then minutes, and the silence was deafening. The longer I listened, the worse I felt. Nothing. No birds, no bugs, not even the wind. The was absolutely no sound, to the point that it felt like my heart beat was the clearest I’d ever heard it.
Bump. Ba-dump. Bump. Ba-dump.
A steady rhythm, and the only thing that I could hear. There was no breathing from anyone else, no panting, no panicking, once again, there was nothing. Not even the sound of the city behind us could be heard, even though it was heard not to long ago. Something was wrong, and no one was bothering to say what thing was. Looking at Lily and Eon, I could tell that they at least had thoughts similar to mine. I wasn’t sure if what was happening to me was happening to everyone else the same way, but I wasn’t going to be the one to ask. Turning my attention to the seemingly growing shadow of the forest, which didn’t seem possible to me as it was not much past mid-day where Sol should have been high in the sky.
Looking at the guards that lined the openings in the wall, I saw a few who had their spears out and looking. And saw glints of light bouncing off their spearheads. Great… Sol is all but directly overhead and the shadows are growing before he’s even started his major descent. All the things I can think of that would be able to do that to shadow’s… really, I don’t know anything that can do that to shadows, I just really don’t want to know what can do that, cause when I find out what can, I have this strange feeling that I’ll have to deal with it.
Time continued marching on with nothing happening. And that was the problem, nothing happened much like there was no sound. The extended amount of time wherein nothing happened simply piled onto the stress everyone was feeling. Knowing that something was going to happen yet not knowing when or how greatly it grates on ones nerves. And then, just as suddenly as the silence grew, it was shattered.
From the depths of the forest, before movement of any kind was seen, a loud and sharp CRACK pierced through the large space between the forest and the wall. A crack louder than even the worst storms that I can remember from my years as a Ray. A sound so loud that I that the very ground would split open at any moment. And then nothing again. There was no obvious change after that sound, and judging by some of the reactions I saw on some of the guards as they looked around confused as to what just happened, I could tell that whatever was about to happen was not what these people are used to dealing with. And with that, my first thought was that height would be our friend. I turned to my companions to try and voice my opinion and was greeted with the running figure of Suamalie sliding to a halt in front of us. Obviously out of breath but not stopping to try and catch up on her missing air, she all but picked Lily up and put her over her shoulder before she looked at me and said “Grab him and follow me!”
She didn’t bother detailing who she was actually talking about before she turned on her heel and began running away in the direction she just came from, a violently surprised and discontent Lily yelling over her shoulder, something about the ‘indignity of being carried like a sack of farm crop!’
I didn’t even have to say anything to Eon as I walked over to him. He was smart to see a losing situation heading his way. As in, either he would willingly get picked up , get comfortable, get carried, and arrive safely at our destination no matter how far away it is; or unwillingly picked up, carried in whatever position I managed to get him to stick regardless of whether he was comfy or not, be jostled around in transit to our destination which is who knows how far away, and finally arrived in an internally jumbled mess that will barely be able to stand upright, let alone be able to complain about the rude and rough handling of a package. He all but went limp in my hands as I hefted him behind my neck over my left shoulder. Placing said shoulder squarely between his legs and laying his chest around my right shoulder, I took his left arm in my hand and grabbed his left leg, leaving me an arm free to grasp around with. This whole process took around a second before I turned and began to hurriedly follow Suamalie and her luggage as rapidly as I could.
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“Have you had experience doing this before, Eon? Not that I’m complaining, that was actually the fastest I managed to do that outside of practice.”
“… yes… and… no…” came his paused reply between the side to side rocking motion he was experiencing as I ran.
“Care to elaborate, or is that more of a later discussion?”
“More… later… focusing… on… not… losing… breakfast…”
“Fair enough. And if you can’t help it while still on my shoulders, do me a favor and try to aim away from me. While I do have spare clothes, they are currently in our room, and something tells me that it might be more than a bit before we get back. I’d rather not smell like your breakfast for as long as I can.”
“Will… try… no… prom… ises…”
Well, at least he’s honest about it.
A few minutes later, and I was very much appreciating Eon’s honesty, and he managed to keep his promise as well. Though to someone else’s detriment judging by the yelling that I heard shortly after a wet ‘BLEGH’ came out of Eon. Just the one and I could tell that he felt immensely better after the fact. The highlight of the run out of the way, the only other change aside from my immediate scenery of wall, hole, and guard was replaced with wide open space as we bolted through to the top of the wall. I didn’t realize how stuffy being inside the wall actually was until the fresh air hit my nose; the scent of various flower smells mixed with animals and dampness. An unexpected change, but a welcome one all the same.
Getting to the spot where Suamalie had all but tossed Lily down at, I much more gently set down my cargo in a heaving heap next to Lily before finding my place aside Suamalie. She was at what appeared to be a make shift table made up of two barrels and a plank of wood. She was in different clothes, closer to what she was wearing when we first got here rather than what she started the day off in. Surrounding her were various other people, and judging by how they held themselves, they were high ranking and or veterans. Given the whole Gaia thing, probably both. There was one human, three Fairies that looked a lot like they could have been Suamalie’s relatives, and a very lanky tree person. In terms of the fairies, I’m sure they think the same thing when they see a group of humans, so I’ll just keep my thoughts to myself on that one.
“I need all of you to get to your posts and default to war time operations. Keep at least two to three runners coming here to keep us informed of how things are looking at your corresponding posts. I want them sent out once every ten minutes with status updates, even if all they say is “No change” or something along those lines. If anything happens in between the runs, send another runner with all haste. Launch a grace flare into the air and do your best to hold out. Lala, that goes double for you.” Suamalie said looking at the tree person. “Your defense on the bottom of the wall are bountiful, but not everyone under your command is an Ent like you, nor do they have the battle experience that you do. Do not get overconfident and assume that what you can do your men can do as well. I say this only because this command position is still fresh for you, I don’t doubt your combat capabilities, I just want you to be aware of your surroundings.”
The Ent, not tree person as I have just found out, gave a quick nod and spoke in the whistley tone that I heard the other Ent Pa’u speak with yesterday. “I will heed your command and take your worries to bud.”
“Excellent.” Turning her head to give a quick look at the others present, she looked back at the map. “Now that that is out of the way, are there any questions from anyone?” A few moments of silence was all it took for Suamalie to have her answer. “Good, this is just another wall defense. Yes it’s early, but until we see otherwise, this will be no different form any other standard ‘Po Filemu’ we have had. I pray to Gaia that it is, and I pray to Gaia for you all to survive the selection this time as well. Gaia’s grace be with you.”
The five people she was talking to all stomped their feet together in unison, crossed both arms across their chests such that their left hands touched their right shoulders, and right hands their left shoulder. Once more in unison they all barked a response, “BY GAIA’S GRACE!”, and marched off. We both watched them hurry off to their designated areas, and waited for the last of them to disappear before we got into our own conversation.
“If this were any other time, I would have simply pegged this attack as Gaia wanting to thin the herd that has taken residence behind this wall. However, knowing what I know given last nights events… something tells me that you’re involved, at least your mission is anyway. These attacks are called ‘Po Filemu’, what you would call ‘Silent Night’. As you just experienced, everything goes supernaturally quiet, and its incredibly unnerving. They tend to happen twice a year, usually when the inhabitants of the forest grow out of control and seek to expand their domains of influence. Any town that fails in its defense of a ‘Po Filemu’ cause the boundaries of the forest to shift and ripple. In recent years there have not been any major shifts in borders, so we have been due for a large-scale assault, but this is too soon. In all my years going through this, never once has there been two attacks within three months of each other. Gaia is the goddess of the Earth and Nature, and nature works in cycles. Yes, nature is unforgiving and merciless, but she gives you warnings if you know what to look for. There was no warning for this. There was no change. It simply showed up.” Pausing what she was saying and looking towards the forest, the shadow the had grown out looked to be shifting and swimming, almost as if it were alive.
“I know these fights, and this… this is something that shouldn’t have happened. Whatever is causing this, it’s not Gaia, but it’s trying its damnedest to make us think that it’s her.” Turning to look at me, I could see the concern growing in her eyes. “I don’t know what to expect from this fight, I’m sure the usual suspects are going to be on our doorstep, gobose and the like. But that can’t be all that we’ll see, I just don’t know what. And that terrifies me.”
Any thoughts I had to try and comfort Suamalie, which I wasn’t expecting to have, left just as quickly as they came, broken by an ear-splitting screech. I could tell that everyone in the wall stopped whatever it was that they were doing to look towards the sound. Suamalie only managed to utter one line before the shadows began to rush us, even though it was said in the Gaian tongue, I could understand it as if it were spoken in Solian. “E amata.”
“It begins.”