The charm beat like an erratic heart in Chess’s hand.
"The pulses are getting faster again," Chess said, as she crouched next to Amber when she paused yet again to study the forest ahead through the rain-drenched night.
A torrent of water pounded on Chess's helm and despite the waterproof cloak she was thoroughly soaked. Her hood kept getting caught on errant branches and pulling off or tangling. If she hadn't been trying her best to keep her crossbows dry, she'd have ditched the covering long ago.
"Good," Amber said in a soft voice Chess barely caught.
Chess copied Amber in studying the near pitch-black forest ahead and shook her head. Even her improved vision failed to penetrate the nighttime storm more than a couple of dozen feet. So, she waited for another flash of white to blanket the sky.
"I don't see anything," she murmured into Amber's furry ear, causing it to flick like a cat’s after a loud crack and boom showed nothing but trees and brush.
Amber nodded, and they bolted for a fallen tree Amber indicated.
They continued hopping from cover to cover for another handful of minutes before Chess put a restraining hand on her friend’s shoulder and whispered in her ear. "I can't tell the beats apart anymore, it's buzzing. I think we should be on top of her."
A flash of sheet lightning gave them a brief view of the empty forest ahead and highlighted Amber's nod indicating they get lower behind the root that hid them.
Chess strained her eyes and near-useless ears, blinking water from her lashes while trying to make out anything in the gloom.
Then a shadow shifted in her peripheral vision, and she froze as a huge hulking figure emerged from behind a tree.
Another flash gave Chess a horrifying view of a half-furry body with a wet dog's head and huge pendulous breasts streaming water down past their bared nipples onto thickly muscled legs covered in thin brown fur. The result was a strange amalgamation of an eighties werewolf, a female bodybuilder, with some insane porn star's idea of a boob job, all covered in a strange assortment of belts and pouches. Chess felt both disgusted and strangely curious about the creature.
Chess pulled her helm back on, slowly.
The ax and shield the creature carried were a monstrosity she'd only seen on the cover of fantasy books. No armor, thank Freya.
Amber grabbed Chess’s armored head, making her heart skip a beat before she heard the hissed words. "Freya's terrific taint, a Gnoll!" Thankfully her words were covered by another peel of thunder.
Chess smiled at the curse and turned to Amber, noting she'd donned her helm. She went to open her mouth but Amber shook her head and turned Chess's head towards the gnoll. It had turned its hyena-shaped snout in their direction to snuff at the air.
Chess froze and concentrated on feeling the Charm's pull again. It didn't point to the Gnoll but further to its right. Close though, Chess thought.
A few heart-clenching seconds later, yet another form moved into the area a few dozen meters beyond the first gnoll. A soft bark let the pair pick it out over the din of falling water. The first gnoll yipped in return and Chess felt Amber's hand drop from her head.
A handful of other soft barks and yips floated forward from behind the visible pair of gnolls.
Amber patted Chess's knee, held up five fingers then two, then indicated the spare crossbows on lanyards at her belt. Chess nodded and removed her two spares and used her goat's foot to span them, the creaking of silk cords and wood disguised by the clacking of trees in the wind and the pounding of the rain.
Chess pulled Sprig from her back and leaned her against the fallen tree they cowered behind.
Amber pointed at the bush in front of the trunk then to their sides and back.
Chess nodded and began to softly hum the beginning of Bohemian Rhapsody. The brush slowly rose, disguising them with green branches. Every time one of the now four gnolls in view turned their way Chess paused her efforts as her heart thundered in her chest.
As Chess worked, Amber shuffled the crossbows around on the top of the fallen tree.
They watched the first four gnolls move deeper into the forest only to be replaced by another handful that searched the brush more thoroughly.
Amber picked a crossbow and indicated Chess should do the same.
A loud clunk sounded in the distance drawing the gnolls' attention close to Chess and Amber who both froze, and then slowly ducked.
Chess lay back in their blind just in time to see a fox-like creature slow-fall from a tree to their right. It seemed to grasp each branch as it descended with paws and tails. Chess did a double-take, as the creature landed on all fours and bolted at an oblique angle to the line of searching gnolls. Thankfully away from Chess and Amber's hiding place. Nope, I didn't see that wrong. It has three tails.
The white, orange, and fire blue tails fanned out, each distinct and stark against the dark night, as the creature bounded away dodging the grasping hands and swung clubs of a few of the closest gnolls. It used all its limbs, tails included, to juke and jive through the foliage even up into a tree for a moment to jump from branch to branch.
The yips and barks of the large humanoid canines redoubled, louder this time as they gave chase.
Are they glowing? Chess wondered, staring at the tails, then grasped at the charm again to feel its pulse, quickly noting it following the bounding fox.
"It's the fox!" Chess hissed, indicating the charm.
Amber swore and raised her crossbow only to hesitate when another pair of gnolls ran into the clearing. One of which was covered head to toe in charms and feathers; much like Chilkuy. It held a large gnarled staff topped with a big feline skull which it shook while barking and yipping at its companions.
Amber pointed her bow at the shaman. Chess followed suit and when the sky flashed white again, they both fired at its back.
Chess immediately dropped her bow and reached for the next, nearly having it in hand before the bolts struck the shaman in a cacophony of noise and the flare of a green and blue energy bubble.
Amber grunted, and they waited. Chess's heart clapped the inside of her chest with each beat as the three gnolls spun and searched the nearby area.
Chess spared a glance for the fleeing fox only to catch its bouncing tails disappearing into the darkness chased by looming shadows.
Another flash and the pair shot again. Chess caught a different one with her second shot. The bolt slammed into its belly and made it trip mid-step only to catch itself with the next and turn about frantically for what had hurt it. Amber's second missile flared against another of the shaman's shields, this one a deep purple.
The shaman barked something, and yellow magic started building around him pushing back the darkness while his companions spread out.
The uninjured guard started barking louder, and Chess heard Amber hiss in frustration as its call was returned by distant barks. She almost missed the next bolt of lightning.
Amber's shot hit another of the shaman's bubbles.
Chess shot the barker. She'd aimed for center mass but got lucky when it ducked to look into a bush and hit it in the neck. Another flash of lightning showed it stumbling back with both hands at its throat.
Chess fell to her knees and began spanning crossbows. She felt Amber's pulsing veins of magic connect to her and the dark blood shield form over her crouched form.
Chess fed Amber three loaded crossbows before her friend said. "Let me out of here, this won't work," then "incoming!" Followed by the sound of snapping branches and barking laughter just as Chess ducked.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
A flash of lightning showed a large chunk of her makeshift hide had disappeared.
Chess flipped onto her back and sang.
"I've paid my dues
Time after time
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime!"
The brush to Amber's left laid down.
"Get up! He can't have many more shields!" Amber snarled while firing her final loaded crossbow at the hulking figure swinging its large staff at the plants blocking its way. The bolt buried itself in the glowing Shaman's thigh making it falter to a stop. Both seemed surprised that it had penetrated.
However, it didn't slow the brute's next swing. Amber ducked as the blow scraped the length of the fallen tree, then hefted her hammer and shield, and stepped out to face off against the enormous shaman.
Chess gulped. "Did it get bigger?" The shaman looked like he was half again as large as he had been.
The shaman swung its skull-capped club down at Amber who raised her shield and expertly redirected it to her side. The giant cat's skull sank into the loamy soil.
The huge gnoll cackled when Amber still staggered aside under the blow and missed with her return swing.
Chess slipped and fell on the wet grass as she stepped out of the shelter and her crossbow went tumbling away.
"Fuck!" she swore, then again when a new gnoll appeared and approached Amber from behind. Its huge ax raised and big breasts swinging.
Fuck me sideways! she thought as she scrambled to her feet and rushed to the new figure.
Her half-stumble, half-diving tackle foiled the gnoll's ax swing and sent them both tumbling in the rain-soaked underbrush.
Chess scooted back and fumbled at her belt for a weapon with uncooperative hands. Amber's blood shield moved back in front of her.
"Shield!" Amber yelled then grunted in pain under another heavy blow. The blood shield came dangerously close to smacking Chess's forehead under the phantom blow.
The female gnoll was on its hands and knees. Laughter cracked out as it eyed Chess with a toothy grin.
Chess staggered as another blow rocked the blood shield protecting her, driving it into her pauldron.
She began to sing again.
"We are the champions, my friends and we'll keep on fighting till the end!..."
The foliage around the gnoll surged up and over its legs and arms before it realized the danger.
Chess found her feet and freed her dryad-wood hammer from her belt.
The gnoll tore an arm free with an amused huff before barking something incomprehensible at Chess.
"No time for losers,"
The gnoll's eyes grew large, and it struggled to free its other arm with sudden panic.
Chess aimed the spiked end of the two-handed hammer at the gnoll bitch's head and drove it up, over, and down with the practiced ease developed over a lifetime of pounding stakes.
The gnoll tried to react much too late.
"'Cause we are the champions of the World."
The spike drove down through the back of its skull then out its eye socket before planting itself in an exposed root. Wet chips of bone and brain matter splattered everywhere.
As the gnoll slumped and twitched in its last death throes the yellow light from the shaman winked out and Amber cursed, "Freya's bouncing booty! Die already!"
There was a meaty crunch and Chess looked up to see her partner kick the fallen shaman in the ribs under the light of another flash of white lightning. The titan steel hammer's spike sat buried in the shaman's chest.
Chess jerked her weapon but it was stuck fast. She left it and strained her flash-blinded eyes for her crossbow.
"Forget it, get Sprig!" Amber said.
A triumphant bellowing roar shook the forest and drowned out the pounding rain.
Chess and Amber froze.
"What the hell was that!" Chess had to resist the urge to cover her ears.
"Dire bear?" Amber sounded unsure and more than a little scared.
A loud rhythmic thumping sound followed by a few shrieks of pain heralded the new combatant.
A pair of gnolls flashed by on all fours, shown with a jolt of lightning.
Chess and Amber stood stock still, rain running under their armor, as an huge white form crashed through the underbrush and a few small trees in pursuit of the fleeing gnolls. They passed bare feet in front of the pair.
A few seconds later two pitiful horrid whines that resemble kicked dogs followed by whimpering then silence spoke of the gnolls' ends.
Amber and Chess drew together and waited. Amber limped a little.
"Uh?" Chess began only to stop when a small figure appeared from behind a nearby tree and approached.
The voluptuous Asian woman—the first Chess had seen since arriving—with three glowing tails and tall fox-like ears stopped a few paces away. After glancing at the dead shaman with an unreadable expression, she put her hands on her hips and looked up displaying her stunning nude form in all its wet glory while she studied Amber and Chess critically. Her swaying tails were white, orange, and blue. Each color looked like it had been plucked directly from a roaring fire.
The woman had a very pronounced baby bump which, along with her small stature, muted the woman's clear attempt at intimidation.
Chess giggled.
Amber snorted.
Then the pair burst into laughter.
The woman raised an eyebrow. The pair laughed harder.
When they'd calmed down a little the woman asked, "Are you two quite done yet?"
Chess nodded and pulled her silk rain cloak over her head before passing it to the woman who donned it with a grateful smile.
Amber removed her helm and Chess reluctantly followed suit.
"Obake," Amber said, giving the woman a precise bow from the waist. "May your spirits protect you."
"And may your spirits protect you, young cat." The woman returned the bow, though she didn't bend as deeply.
Chess shuffled uncomfortably and looked at Amber. Damnit! Did I wait too long? Chess coughed. "Sorry, I've never met one of your kind before. I could hazard a guess, but I don't know what you are." Chess shot Amber a look. "And now I've made this awkward. Well, I'm Chess, Chess Stewart, and my polite companion is Amber Lynn. It's, uh, nice to meet you?"
The woman graced her with a wide smile. "That's perfectly alright, considering the circumstances. My name is Hatsumi Masae. Hatsumi is my clan's name in your tradition, but you may call me Masae. I'm a kitsune. A distinct subset of foxkin."
Kitsune sounds eerily familiar, Chess thought and scratched the side of her head. The wet locks resisted her unconscious gesture, and Chess pulled at them instead.
Chess looked at Amber who smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Masae-san," before repeating her bow. Chess awkwardly mimicked her, receiving a bow in response.
"How... why are you here?" Masae asked as she straightened. "I'm honored and in your debt for your timely assistance but why are two young beauties out in this storm so late, alone?"
Chess opened and closed her mouth a minute, looking for a way to explain before lamely holding up her charm and showing it to the woman.
"A wooden bird?" Masae asked.
Chess could almost hear Amber's eyes roll in their sockets. "Read it to her," she told Chess before turning to the woman. "It's a faith charm for expecting mothers."
"Not for any divine I know," the woman insisted, peering at it closer.
Chess read the charm's ability aloud and the woman's beatific smile widened, "A powerful charm. Who is Freya?"
"Freya is… you know what? I don't feel like discussing theology in a thunderstorm." To emphasize her point another loud peel of thunder rolled through the forest.
Chess shivered under the water that easily penetrated her armor now that she’d removed her helm.
"Fair enough, we should move before the rest of their tribe arrives. Are either of you harvesters by chance?" Masae asked, looking around at the dead gnolls.
"No," Chess sighed, and opened her vault to retrieve the Harvester while Amber policed their dropped gear and looted the fallen.
Amber limped by and Chess frowned. "Are you alright?"
Amber waved her off, "I'm fine, the armor did its job. It's just a bad bruise. I'll heal it later."
Chess sighed and muttered, "I hate this part," as she lined up a strike on the shaman's neck. "We should have brought Ashley with us."
"Your daughter is better off with your grandfather right now," Amber disagreed.
"I'm not so sure about that," Chess countered. She looked up from the decapitation to find Masae smiling at her with a hand on her belly. Chess barely resisted an eye roll.
"Would you two help me kill their leader? For my daughters?" Masae asked calmly.
"What?" Chess sputtered.
"You can't be serious!" Amber protested.
"As a diving dragon," Masae said. "He's in his prime and Gnolls don't live that long, maybe 40 years," she added, as though it was a reasonable reason to attack a tribe of gnolls.
"What's that have to do with anything?" Chess wondered.
"Don't bother, she'll never tell you. It's one of their clan secrets. Suffice to say they prefer strong mates that are likely to die young or in their prime…" Amber studied the serene fox woman intensely for a minute before nodding slowly. "...and they always hunt their rapists."
"There are no old heroes, and rapists can die in a fire," Chess murmured then sighed.
"My tribe will reward you greatly if you assist me in this," Masae added.
"Why not just ask them for help?" Chess asked.
"It's been many months... I don't know where they are." Masae seemed to deflate with her own words, and she looked a lot younger and vulnerable all of a sudden.
Chess couldn't resist the urge and pulled her into a tight hug.
The dam broke and Chess found herself holding a sobbing woman with glowing tails waving like flames behind her. Masae’s head only reached the middle of Chess's chest.
She looked up and caught Amber's raised eyebrow. Chess rolled her eyes, blew her a kiss, and said, "These tails make hiding at night impossible, don't they?"
The woman in her arms cried, spluttered, laughed, then cried harder.
The light from Masae's tails winked out.
Chess blinked to adjust to the darkness again only for a flash and boom of lightning to ruin her efforts. "I shouldn’t’ve said anything."