Post by Shura on Feb 24, 2004 14:28:36 GMT -5
Just to mention that this is the sequel to Spiritwight, thus the third in the series beginning with The Fly
Kael laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t run off’ he cautioned, ‘Be silent and stay close as my shadow. We are hunted by a small group of men, but I sense that one among them presents a grave danger. Don’t ask questions, stay calm and follow me.’
The blind monk had his katana drawn and was crouched down, walking in a slow, deliberate manner. Alya came close behind, anxious and afraid, but determined to obey her protector, as she knew that only the warrior monk’s considerable prowess could protect her from their mysterious hunters. Kael had so far kept her secure from all harm, and so her kidnapper had won her implicit trust.
Together they dashed along the trail and stealthily crept through the undergrowth of Feywood. Even in the morning light the forest looked forbidding. The trees were huge, ancient things, gnarled and knotted giants. The bushes underneath them were masses of tangles and thorns that left her criss-crossed with slim red scratches. More than once she stumbled on a branch, and was instantly plucked up by Kael who stressed the need for speed. Small woodland animals and birds alike regarded them in passing without making a stir, as they were only inconsequential interlopers that would be dealt with shortly.
She lost track of time, and focused on Kael and what lay directly ahead of her, not even daring to look back. Suddenly they burst into a clearing within the forest. It looked too round to be natural, yet there were no obvious signs of human interference with the environment, it was simply a small round patch of soil around a solitary great oak tree. And its size was impressive. It towered over them, easily surpassing in its dimensions those at the circumference of the clearing. Set into its knotted trunk was a spiral carving, picked out with blue paint.
Kael paused abruptly, placing his arm across to halt her, a restraint as sure as an iron bar. The warrior monk soundlessly slid out Harmony from its sheath, and advanced cautiously towards the great oak, with the nodachi raised as if expecting an attack. Alya was too scared to even move, except to glance behind in a vain attempt to catch sight of any pursuers. If she had dared, she would have asked her enigmatic guardian to explain himself, but he looked like he knew what he was doing.
‘Something’s wrong’ he heard him whisper, and he as he glanced around she made out further mutterings, something about ‘Druids’. Unable to contain herself any longer, she burst out, ‘Why have we stopped? What are you doing anyway? Aren’t we being hunted? Why-’
Kael cut off her babbling inquisitions with a dismissive wave from his hand. ‘Hold your tongue, girl. I must concentrate. As for the hunters, stay vigilant, for although I believe we have left them behind, I cannot guarantee our safety here.’
For a second she was taken aback by his remark. She had been raised by a noble family and was unused to being addressed in such a way, but realised that he meant to do something important.
With his sword Harmony held out, Kael began what looked like one of his kata, a sequence of fighting moves. This one had much more graceful movement than the one she had seen him perform with his open hand earlier She was bewildered as to why he would to such a thing at a time like this, but kept silent and looked around for any signs of pursuit. His movements increased in speed, and he began to execute acrobatic leaps, which became more extravagant as he progressed. Alya noticed that a west wind had whipped up, and was growing in intensity. Suddenly Kael stopped his movements. He was standing completely straight, and held his great blade across in front of his face. Then something occurred which came as such as surprise to Alya that she immediately forgot her vigil and turned to investigate. Harmony sang. The oriental sword sang in a high pitched ringing tone that definitely followed some kind of tune. It was a haunting, almost longing sound that emanated from the monk’s weapon. Kael immediately resumed his kata, calmly assaulting the air, and leaping as if he intended to jump over the great oak itself. Alya was confused and doubly afraid. I there was any better way to alert others as to their whereabouts, she couldn’t think of one then. Then the monk stopped, and tossed the singing sword into the air, where, to her amazement, it flew of it’s own accord, speeding though the air deeper into the forest and out of sight.
Alya was bewildered, as much by why her protector had cast away his only weapon as by the display of magic, and voiced her concern. ‘I have awakened Harmony, and sent it to find help. A powerful evil hunts us, one that will require more strength than we can currently muster to defeat. I had hoped to find aid from the druids, but it seems that during these dark times they have abandoned even places as sacred as this one.’
This reply was far from reassuring.‘But we’ve got to keep moving! They’ll catch us and you’re unarmed!’
‘Further flight is futile,’ was Kael’s assurance, ‘Stay close to me and the oak. Defend yourself with the sword I gave you if you must, flee if I should appear to fall. Already our pursuers close in around us.’
It was a full minute before three of their assailants broke cover and charged Kael from different angles. They were howling, filthy ruffians armed with long knives, howling with bloodlust as though bezerk. Kael approached the closest, seemingly ready to receive the thrust, but stepping aside at the last moment to seize his attackers wrist, deftly turning so as to have his opponents arm lock from behind. The warrior monk had turned swiftly enough so as to catch the thrust of the attacker behind him in the belly of his human shield, which he then threw forward on the second assailant, following it up with a kick which sent both of them back, the live one toppling under the weight of his comrades body, thrashing and bellowing bloody curses. The third attacker was caught by the same sidestep-and-wrist grab that had dealt with the first, but this time Kael followed it up with a devastating roundhouse into his opponent’s ribs, simultaneously exulting a wordless warcry. Alya heard a crack and a wail of pain. As Kael pulled down his opponent face down, and twisted his arm between his legs, the crunching was more obvious. Something was definitely broken. One of them was still alive, having freed himself from under the corpse, but no sooner was he erect than he collapsed with his late accomplice’s knife in his throat. Kael was a dead aim as well has a good grappler, despite his disability.
Kael laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t run off’ he cautioned, ‘Be silent and stay close as my shadow. We are hunted by a small group of men, but I sense that one among them presents a grave danger. Don’t ask questions, stay calm and follow me.’
The blind monk had his katana drawn and was crouched down, walking in a slow, deliberate manner. Alya came close behind, anxious and afraid, but determined to obey her protector, as she knew that only the warrior monk’s considerable prowess could protect her from their mysterious hunters. Kael had so far kept her secure from all harm, and so her kidnapper had won her implicit trust.
Together they dashed along the trail and stealthily crept through the undergrowth of Feywood. Even in the morning light the forest looked forbidding. The trees were huge, ancient things, gnarled and knotted giants. The bushes underneath them were masses of tangles and thorns that left her criss-crossed with slim red scratches. More than once she stumbled on a branch, and was instantly plucked up by Kael who stressed the need for speed. Small woodland animals and birds alike regarded them in passing without making a stir, as they were only inconsequential interlopers that would be dealt with shortly.
She lost track of time, and focused on Kael and what lay directly ahead of her, not even daring to look back. Suddenly they burst into a clearing within the forest. It looked too round to be natural, yet there were no obvious signs of human interference with the environment, it was simply a small round patch of soil around a solitary great oak tree. And its size was impressive. It towered over them, easily surpassing in its dimensions those at the circumference of the clearing. Set into its knotted trunk was a spiral carving, picked out with blue paint.
Kael paused abruptly, placing his arm across to halt her, a restraint as sure as an iron bar. The warrior monk soundlessly slid out Harmony from its sheath, and advanced cautiously towards the great oak, with the nodachi raised as if expecting an attack. Alya was too scared to even move, except to glance behind in a vain attempt to catch sight of any pursuers. If she had dared, she would have asked her enigmatic guardian to explain himself, but he looked like he knew what he was doing.
‘Something’s wrong’ he heard him whisper, and he as he glanced around she made out further mutterings, something about ‘Druids’. Unable to contain herself any longer, she burst out, ‘Why have we stopped? What are you doing anyway? Aren’t we being hunted? Why-’
Kael cut off her babbling inquisitions with a dismissive wave from his hand. ‘Hold your tongue, girl. I must concentrate. As for the hunters, stay vigilant, for although I believe we have left them behind, I cannot guarantee our safety here.’
For a second she was taken aback by his remark. She had been raised by a noble family and was unused to being addressed in such a way, but realised that he meant to do something important.
With his sword Harmony held out, Kael began what looked like one of his kata, a sequence of fighting moves. This one had much more graceful movement than the one she had seen him perform with his open hand earlier She was bewildered as to why he would to such a thing at a time like this, but kept silent and looked around for any signs of pursuit. His movements increased in speed, and he began to execute acrobatic leaps, which became more extravagant as he progressed. Alya noticed that a west wind had whipped up, and was growing in intensity. Suddenly Kael stopped his movements. He was standing completely straight, and held his great blade across in front of his face. Then something occurred which came as such as surprise to Alya that she immediately forgot her vigil and turned to investigate. Harmony sang. The oriental sword sang in a high pitched ringing tone that definitely followed some kind of tune. It was a haunting, almost longing sound that emanated from the monk’s weapon. Kael immediately resumed his kata, calmly assaulting the air, and leaping as if he intended to jump over the great oak itself. Alya was confused and doubly afraid. I there was any better way to alert others as to their whereabouts, she couldn’t think of one then. Then the monk stopped, and tossed the singing sword into the air, where, to her amazement, it flew of it’s own accord, speeding though the air deeper into the forest and out of sight.
Alya was bewildered, as much by why her protector had cast away his only weapon as by the display of magic, and voiced her concern. ‘I have awakened Harmony, and sent it to find help. A powerful evil hunts us, one that will require more strength than we can currently muster to defeat. I had hoped to find aid from the druids, but it seems that during these dark times they have abandoned even places as sacred as this one.’
This reply was far from reassuring.‘But we’ve got to keep moving! They’ll catch us and you’re unarmed!’
‘Further flight is futile,’ was Kael’s assurance, ‘Stay close to me and the oak. Defend yourself with the sword I gave you if you must, flee if I should appear to fall. Already our pursuers close in around us.’
It was a full minute before three of their assailants broke cover and charged Kael from different angles. They were howling, filthy ruffians armed with long knives, howling with bloodlust as though bezerk. Kael approached the closest, seemingly ready to receive the thrust, but stepping aside at the last moment to seize his attackers wrist, deftly turning so as to have his opponents arm lock from behind. The warrior monk had turned swiftly enough so as to catch the thrust of the attacker behind him in the belly of his human shield, which he then threw forward on the second assailant, following it up with a kick which sent both of them back, the live one toppling under the weight of his comrades body, thrashing and bellowing bloody curses. The third attacker was caught by the same sidestep-and-wrist grab that had dealt with the first, but this time Kael followed it up with a devastating roundhouse into his opponent’s ribs, simultaneously exulting a wordless warcry. Alya heard a crack and a wail of pain. As Kael pulled down his opponent face down, and twisted his arm between his legs, the crunching was more obvious. Something was definitely broken. One of them was still alive, having freed himself from under the corpse, but no sooner was he erect than he collapsed with his late accomplice’s knife in his throat. Kael was a dead aim as well has a good grappler, despite his disability.
