I was starting to regret my choice to wait lying in ambush like this a little by the time I finally heard the human detachment approach. The wait had been hard on me. It probably had been a lot harder on my sister. I risked a quick glance at the approaching bastards. I had pulled a small stone from the wall for that purpose. Actually sticking out my head would have given me away too easily. A faint mist was rising from the wet meadows in the morning sun, obscuring my view. That was both a blessing and a curse. The fog might obscure me. The same was true in reverse as well though. In addition it carried sound in a weird way. That didn't exactly help either.

Finally the foragers of the enemy army came into view. I counted them silently. Twenty four in total. Two were carrying mighty cleavers as well as an impressive assortment of various knives. Another handful came bearing various buckets as well as ropes and various poles. The rest were armed guards although they probably would have to carry meat as well on their way back. Some of them were armed with crossbows and carried large shields. Others were armed with various melee weapons. I could see anything from swords over axes to clubs and maces. They were a very diverse bunch. Except for some of the crossbowmen with their large shields they weren't terribly alert either.

With the way they were talking among themselves and taking the fog into account I might get of a shot or two before they would even realize that they were under attack. Still I waited, keeping an eye on them best I could through my peephole. They stopped at the first walled pasture, one that was empty. It was one of the smaller ones at the edge of the forest. It quickly became apparent why. The ones with the ropes and other assorted things started setting up a makeshift butcher shop under the thick branches of an old tree. Of course. They would need to bleed and clean out any sheep they butchered after all. Some of them even started to gather wood for a fire a little off to the side.

They must have used that spot before. There were a few stones, probably from the walls separating the fields and meadows providing seating for them there. Even the armed men that had remained on guard relaxed a little once they got the fire started. Especially once the crossbowmen set up their large shields to provide additional cover to the men sitting around the fire. There were gaps in between those shields but I was no master marksman. Not like Eld'tide. She might have been able to snipe them through these gaps. I had no illusions about my prospects in that regard though. I would not waste my bolts on those. There were still enough men out in the open after all.

Finally some of those who had been loitering about headed for the neighboring pastures to gather some sheep. They didn't take them to the butchers one by one. Instead they gathered about twenty to the spot where they had set up shop. The animals were scared. And even if I wasn't very familiar with them I was certain that it would get worse once the actual butchering would start. I couldn't even begin to imagine why they did it that way. Was there some practical reason? Why would they confront the sheep with their immediate demise? Were they just cruel? Or were they just stupid? They didn't even tie the feet of the sheep. Weren't they afraid that the animals might panic?

Sure, sheep weren't exactly fearsome beasts, but they could still cause confusion or even some minor injuries if they were to panic amidst the humans. Well, I wouldn't complain. It was something I might just be able to use to my advantage. It didn't take long for my expectations to be proven true. The butchers grabbed two sheep and tied them up, hoisting them in the air with the ropes that had been slung over the branches of the old tree. Then they set about to bleed and gut the animals. The rest of the sheep didn't take to that kindly. They raced about in panic, searching for a way out, but the dry stone walls and the locked gate of the pasture made escape impossible.

I waited just long enough for the butchers to finish with the first sheep. They had skinned them as well. As far as I knew that was good enough. They should be pretty much ready to cook now. I readied my crossbow, taking careful aim at one of the men who had strayed a little from the rest, probably to relieve himself. He was facing away from me. Just as well. The bolt hit him a little higher than I had intended but I was just glad that I had hit him at all. He slumped forward and for a moment all was well. Then he started to scream. Damn. I cursed and hurried up reloading my weapon.

Things weren't as bad as I had expected them to be as I took aim for my next shot. Between the butchers grabbing the next animals, the sheep panicking and the screaming man confusion reigned supreme. Even the men sitting around the fire stood, looking about in an attempt to figure out what had happened. I decided to take advantage of that. They were a good deal closer to me as well. My next shot smashed into the head of one of them, shattering his skull. This one didn't scream. Not even as he fell into the fire. I ducked back into cover to reload once more. By now they knew that they were under attack. They hadn't figured out from where yet though.

I was shaking a little. Two down. Twenty two to go. We had faced similar numbers during the ambush we had set for our pursuers in the forest. Then Eld'tide and even the wounded and sick Khuzan had been fighting alongside my sister and me though. Right now our odds were a lot worse. I shuddered. Oh dear Moon Maidens, I had to be crazy to face odds like this. I closed my eyes briefly to focus my mind. My sister and the others were counting on me. I was fighting this fight for them. I opened my eyes again, rose over the edge of the wall providing me with cover and fired once more.

Stolen novel; please report.

I had aimed for one of the butchers this time. He was a big man. Big for a human anyway. It made him my best target. His screams let me know that I had hit him. They let me know that the hit hadn't been fatal as well. That probably would have been too much to hope for. As I hurried to reload the crossbow again the first crossbow bolts smashed into the other side of the wall I was hiding behind. Seems they figured out where I was. I hugged the ground and crawled along the wall for a few paces. Occasionally quarrels slammed into the dry stone wall where I had been. Good, they hadn't noticed me moving then. I had to be fast now. They probably were only waiting for me to peek out of cover again.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. Then I rose once more to bring my weapon to bear. They had all hurried to take cover. More or less. None of them provided me with an easy target. Of course they wouldn't be so forthcoming. I fired anyway and ducked back into cover myself. No screams rewarded me this time. Instead I could hear the bolt smashing into wood. Next I heard the return fire hit the other side of the wall once more. Damn, they might not be the best the enemy had but they still were better shots than me. I had to keep going. I had to keep them focused on me. I had to make sure my sister would get a chance to get in a good shot or two.

I crawled back to my first position. Could I tempt some of them to come out by holding off on the next shot? Maybe they would send some of their number over to get me? It was a course of action I would certainly take once I figured out that I was dealing only with a single shooter. A crossbow took some time to reload. Their best chance would be to swarm me. I peeked through the peephole once more to get a glimpse of them. I could hear them shouting orders but it seemed as if they weren't ready yet to charge me. Well, I would have to encourage them some more then. I adjusted my position some more, rose and shot. It was an unaimed shot in their general direction. As I dove back into cover I could almost feel a bolt whiz through the air above my head.

That was what they had been waiting for. They started to charge me with a scream. I didn't even bother with reloading the crossbow once more. My best bet right now was to get close and personal. That way their crossbowmen couldn't shoot at me without risking hitting their comrades. I grabbed my glaive and cast the two spells that had served me so well in the past few days. I was really getting a lot of practice both with Cat's Grace and Blur. I could hear them close in on me. I rose and swung my weapon wide, smashing it into the neck of the closest attacker. It didn't cut very deep, the edge had suffered too much in the past days, but the hit was a powerful one nonetheless. I could hear something break and the man stumbled sideways into one of his comrades, like a puppet that had had its strings cut.

Still there was about a dozen of them left. Maybe more. And they were almost upon me. I whirled my weapon around to buy myself some time and drew upon the surrounding Mana again while building the spell matrix. “Lion's Roar!” As I shouted at the top of my lungs my shout didn't sound anything like a lion though. I let one of my recent experiences inspire me instead. My roar was that of wyvern instead. It carried far and wide, it resounded from the nearby mountains and it shook the men that had been about to pounce me to their very hearts. I didn't have time to enjoy the effects of my new and improved spell though.

I buried the blade of my weapon in the guts of a warrior only wearing cloth armor. I lifted him into the air and threw him, screaming all along the way, at a duo that had attempted to outflank me. The thick and long shaft of my glaive gave me plenty of leverage. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see magic missiles shoot from the forest's edge into the enemies with the ranged weapons. They had come out of cover and got what they had coming in return. Kaele didn't stop with that one spell. I couldn't see her as she remained invisible but she had to be running along the forest's edge as she kept launching more of the magic missiles at the assholes with the crossbows.

It was a veritable storm of magic projectiles. Sadly I didn't have the time to appreciate it in full. Instead I rammed the butt of my weapon into the chest of the first enemy that had managed to recover from my roar. The next moment I already had to parry a blade from another. It left a deep notch in the bronze blade of my weapon. I cut a man in cloth armor next. My blade still cut deep. Plenty of blood spilled forth, but then it caught on the cloth and as the man dropped the weapon was pulled from my grip. An axe smashed through one of my afterimages. I pulled my hunting knife from its sheath and plunged it into the neck of the next enemy, all the way straight down into his heart. I grabbed his sword in exchange as he dropped to the ground, not to get up again.

The barrage of magic missiles had stopped but I had no time to check on my sister. I could only hope that she had either downed all her enemies or at least disengaged in time. I could only hope for the best as I was in a bit of a pickle myself. I danced about in between the men facing me, dodging left and right, parrying strikes that came to close. At the same time I struck at any opening they provided, slowly whittling them down. Right until only one of them was left. Not all of the others were dead. Some lay still moaning. One or another might even still get back up. But the only man left standing was the other butcher.

He had held back so far. He had let the others tire me out! The realization was almost as sobering as the sight of the rather large cleaver he was wielding. His plan had worked. I was breathing hard. He swung his murderous weapon with an ease that spoke of a lot of practice and as it came crashing down on me I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge in time. I had to parry. I barely managed to deflect the blow and it still hit hard enough to numb my hand. The borrowed blade dropped from my grip as I stumbled back. I could only stare at him in wide eyed horror as he brought around the cleaver for one final swing. I clenched my eyes shut only to open them again as I heard something strike flesh and he grunted in pain. I was still staring wide eyed as he dropped to the ground in front of me, three arrows protruding from his back.