Activity

Ferran

The wolves were massive, supernaturally large. Yet, Liorah barely seemed surprised at them. Before I could keep track of it, one of the wolves attacked Hugon, then turned on Liorah. There was no way I could get there in time.

Before I could do anything, Lorcan shoved Liorah to the ground, out of the way of the wolf. Then Klein snapped its neck with barely any effort. The sound made my blood turn cold.

The landscape changed to a city, too large, too grey and too unfamiliar.

Liorah scrambled away from Lorcan, then turned tail and sprinted to the other side of the room. To anyone else, it would have seemed like she was simply fleeing, but I knew her better than that. I’d seen her pull the strap of leather from beneath her belt as she ran.

One of the creatures’ yellowish eyes fixed on her, trailing her, then gathered itself for a spring. Oh, no, it wouldn’t.

I estimated the distance and swung my staff in a wide arc just as it leapt. I struck it squarely on the jaw, so hard it flew far out of its course. The blow had been so hard I stumbled, barely able to keep my feet. What were these creatures made of, steel?

The animal crouched back, its bloodshot eyes fixed on me now. It was now so close, even if I did hit it, it wouldn’t make much difference.

“Liorah, give me a hand here?” I called back, trying to catch my breath.

“Stop nagging, I got it,” Liorah snapped, with the kind of annoyance that came when she was trying to concentrate and someone interrupted her.

“Take your time, I’ll wait,” I said, sarcastically. I positioned my staff like a spear, so the creature would land on it as it jumped. It wouldn’t make much difference but it might buy me a few seconds.

I heard a whirl, then a sharp snap as the creature gathered itself for the jump. Either the creature had very creaky joints or Liorah was finally in the right position.

“I told you I had it,” she called back, triumphantly, as the creature collapsed with a roar. Its fur was so thick you could barely see where the lead bullet from her sling had dented its skull.

“Keep doing that,” I said, without turning around.

“Wish I could, but I’ll hit someone sure as the sunrise. It’s chaos, I can’t aim that precisely.”

I could see what she meant. It was a seething chaos of people and wolves.

I was just in time to see a wolf slash at Lorcan’s armor. I took a step forward, ready to help, only to watch him lift the wolf up with his bare hands and snap its neck with barely any effort. He had superhuman strength and it was unsettling to watch.

He tossed away the wolf and looked over his shoulder. “Thank me later.”

“I’ll consider it if we both survive this,” Liorah called from across the room. She sounded like she’d almost prefer dying if it meant she wouldn’t have to thank him. I smiled wryly.

I cast a look over my shoulder. Liorah had found a large rock where she could stand, so she had a fairly good view of the battlefield.

“And?” I asked.

“Too crowded, I can’t get a clear shot,” she said.

I had an idea.

Azar had stuck close to my side throughout, only mildly disconcerted at the horse-sized wolves.

I made a hand signal that meant she had to bark.

She looked at me as though I were barking mad but obeyed. (Author’s note: I, too, enjoy terrible puns and y’all are going to have to live with it XD)

One of the wolves reacted to the sound and charged toward us. I scrambled to get out of the way as the wolf  stormed us with slavering jaws.

“That’s your cue,” I shouted up to Liorah.

Whiz, snap, crack. 

The creature roared and crumpled in a heap of fur. I gave a low whistle of admiration. Liorah had hit him squarely in the eye, a ridiculously tiny target from that distance.

“I’m impressed,” I said.

“Yes, of course. I was– definitely aiming there,” Liorah said, sounding sheepish.

I laughed through the roar of battle.

“Mission failed successfully,” I commented. “You should miss more often.”

“Do your part and leave the commentary up to me.” Her tone changed abruptly. “Over your left shoulder.”

I didn’t have time to hesitate but dodged sideways as a bullet screamed by me. Literally. It was one of her whistling bullets that gave off a ridiculously loud screech as air passed through the holes drilled in the stone.

It hit a creature coming from the front. I’d missed it completely, because it wasn’t as large as the others. This looked more like a black chunk of slime.

“Thanks, was the whistling bullet another successful failure?” I asked, ducking out of the way of a wolf Lorcan had sent flying.

“Dramatic effect.”

“Brilliant reason.”

“Hugon, go left!”

This came out of nowhere and I was left hesitating. It took Hugon by surprise just as much since he promptly turned right, trying to figure out where the voice had come from.

I saw what Liorah was trying to do. There was a knot of three creatures to his right, and they were headed straight for him.

“Your other left! Sinister!” she shouted, in annoyance, throwing in the sword fighting term either because she suspected he hadn’t understood her or because of the aforementioned ‘dramatic effect.’

This time he did dodge to the left and Liorah hurled three bullets in quick succession. Two of the creatures fell, one wounded and one dead.

Liorah cursed, then hurled two more. She’d missed in her hurry, but this time she hit and it went down.

Lorcan had cast a circle of wolves around him and stood gazing over them as a rich farmer gazed over his well-tilled property. And failed to notice the black slime oozing nearer behind him.

I gave a sharp whistle to attract Liorah’s attention and pointed my staff toward Lorcan.

“Lorcan, out of the way, now,” Liorah shouted.

I was just hoping he’d actually do it. He might miss the creature entirely or be just too late, while Liorah could hopefully hit it in time. Probably.