A torrent of bodies surround me, a hacking, burning, slashing mob. Everywhere, miniature duels were taking place, connected by the web of turmoil that stretched throughout the length of the pale white limestone wall.
Dozens of snarling faces growled at me, right before I shoved them away with my sword, seeing memories of pain, torture, hatred.
Cities burned down, the trapped innocents inside crying out. Thousands killed, even more wounded. Surges of fury shuddered through each goblin, mindless and without direction.
More fanged faces replaced those who fell, swinging scimitars and spears. One slashed through my pant leg, leaving a deep gash as wide as my hand. Hot blood spilled over, trickling down my calf.
Hot fury bubbled up inside me as new energy filled my arms. It was like an adrenaline pump: suddenly every one of my senses was acute. Each movement in the battleground was known to my eye. Each ghastly smell that reached my nose was recognized. Each scream of pain, roar of anger, every sound was pinpointed.
Yelling, I stabbed the foe through the chest and spurred Fallie to a gallop. The last thing I saw before I toppled off her back was a spitting goblin, every muscle in his arm straining as he brought an axe with a blade as large as my head down on Fallie's chest.
Jared yelped and yanked out a dagger from the ground, pulled it out of the small black scabbard, then threw it straight at the heavily muscled arm.
I winced as the goblin's roar tore through the air. Patting Fallie, I climbed back on. "Take us out of this place," I whispered. She did not hesitate.
Jared wiped the dagger on his shirt, shuddering. I tried to flick off the dark black blood that coated my sword, some of it dripping on my fingers. Ugh. It was cold.
Helen just clung to Jared, horrified. I felt sorry for her. This was her home, the only place in the world where she felt safe. And right before her eyes it was being torn down, brick by brick. A lonely tear coursed down her cheek and Lan'lienn disappeared from view, veiled by the hordes of gnarled trees. Within minutes every trace of the battle vanished. I began to relax now: the perpetual lulling beat of Fallie's galloping rocked me back and forth, each bounce bringing me farther from the danger that lay behind.
Soon the forest became more layered, darker: less sunlight came from above and deep shadows littered the ground. Debris from leaves was scattered throughout the forest, pine needles and russet oak leaves, curled up like lazy cats from past winters.
Suddenly, one of the spindly branches lashed out and snagged my shirt, leaving a long red line on my arm. Helen shrieked as more branches hailed down, wrapping around our arms. Fallie snorted and kicked as another as thick as my own arm curled around her flanks and snaked past her barrel. Grimacing, I tore out my sword and hacked as hard as I could at the branches. Golden sap spurted from each cut, gluing my hands to the sword. But with each hack, the branches only held tighter.
A throaty laugh echoed from the woods, bouncing everywhere. A heavily cloaked figure emerged from behind a tree, chortling.
"What do you want!" I gasped, trying to loosen a branch from around my neck. The figure flicked up his hand and the branches flew back to their places, leaving us to fall to the ground.
I painfully rubbed my rear.
"Well?"
The figure snarled and through back his cowl, revealing a black mask that covered his face. Sharp spikes jutted from every contour. "Do you even know who I am?" he growled. I glanced back at my sword, which had fallen from my reach, behind the man.
"No," I spat back.
"I am one of the Thirteen!" thundered the man. "One of the Thirteen Dark Hunters, you ignorant idiot." I frowned.
"Oh, you don't like that, do you?" cackled the Hunter. "Idiot, you are an IDIOT. Stupid and brainless, with no sense at all. Naga will relish killing you, little fool." He smacked me with a spiked gauntlet. "Take that, idiot!" He rose and kicked me once more, than watched Jared take up his dagger.
"You little fools!" he roared, kicking the dagger out of Jared's hand, bloodying it. Jared screamed as the cuts welled dark blood. The Hunter cackled, drawing his sword. "I will bleed you like a stuck pig!" he whispered, raising the sword.
Then he gasped, falling to his knees. A silver blade, glowing, erupted form his cloaked chest.
The Hunter vanished in a puff of smoke. Helen stood behind him, feet slightly apart, holding my sword. Jared grinned.
"You got 'im good!"
Helen smiled."Thank you," she said, handing the sword back to me. Oddly, not a trace of blood was left on it. "But he was only the First. The Second will be twice as strong as him, the Third even more so, and so on. To kill one, you have to stab it through the heart with an iron stake." She peered at my sword, watching it glow. "I suppose that has some iron in it. It could burn me if I'm not careful." With that, she tore a strip from her dress and bound Jared's cut knuckles together. She wiped her hand on her dress and turned.
Looking over her shoulder, she said, "You might want to tag along. His horse has got to be here somewhere."
His horse was there, all right, but it had fled at the sight of us, loosing the weapons on its back. Helen picked up a bow.
"I'm pretty good at shooting," she mused, and slung it on her back. "But I'll need practice." Jared kept a set of dirks, after reclaiming the dagger from the tree stump it was lodged in.