Chapter Seven, 'Escort; Part Two'

"So you guys are Searing Ear clan. What's that like?"

More silence, the first three seemed really downtroden and sullen; criminals, all condemmed to this task. The fourth was a young warrior, his tail was beneath his legs except for his frequent trips to the nearest tree; Poor kid had the crap literally scared out of him. What ever was on this road had better be as bad as he imagined or it would seem really silly on their parts.

She heard a cracking noise beneath her feet. Not the normal, dry leaves on gravel cracking noise; this was a very loud sort of cracking noise. It was like the sound of stepping on a large branch, only if it were a rock instead of a branch. She'd never quite heard it, but she had heard the sound muffled beneath fur and flesh. Poor kid thought he was scared now, if hee looked down now he'd probably faint.

Another footstep met with another cracking noise, then she heard a rustling in the forest around them. She drew her axes. "Keep that truck going, and don't stop till you get to town."
"Like he..GRAGH!"
A blade lifted the guard from the ground. The other two whipped their Katars from their sides and began hacking away at their asailants. The last one leaped into the truck as it began gaining speed away from the melee. Alicea knew better than to waste her time with this fight, thereal enemy would be waiting ahead of them. A few rotten corpse warriors wouldn't last long against the frantic slashing of these two. There'd be a main force up ahead.

She couldn't find a word for exactly what was in front of her, it was an atrocity against ethics, magic, and life itself. It was like a warrior, only twice as large and with a hide sewn together with what she suspected were the armor of the previous guards sent down this road, the flesh of those guards, and the oddly shaped limb growing from its back appeared to be a device constituting a set of the Nieldic spring bows popular among older hunters joined to what may have a some point been sections of some unfortunate beings frontal lobe and left eye. It was grotesque, and the understatement of the century came from the hapless Ga-Vok in the driver's seat.
"That's not natural!"
"What did I say about driving?"

Alicea vaulted over the stopped truck, casting several spells to enhance her reflexes and strength as she did. The contraption on it's back hurled a large javelin on a chain into a tree behind her as she moved towards it. As it retracted the javelin, tearing a large section of the tree onto the road in the process, it swung with a large spiked club. She could see that sprouting from it's back was an engine that was being used to retract the javelin, and The spikes on it's club were the Katar's belonging to the warriors back down the road.

"You cannot hope to defeat my creation fool! I am the master of this road. All those who dare oppose the great Unai shall perish!"
She knew it couldn't be engineered. There was a crazed litle old Shaman about five yards away from the atrocity. She hadn't been born a fool, a creation of necromancy that size would be unsustainable after the destruction of its master.

She flung a bolt of lightning toward the engine, the loon blocked it with a spell. As he did so she spun and hurled an axe into his shoulder, flinging him to the ground.

He choked out blood as she charged to finish him.
"My..Creation..cannot be.."
She brought her other axe through his cranium. Then rolled to the side drawing both axes from his body as the javelin impaled the shaman's corpse.
"Fool, I warned you before. My creation will destroy all who oppose me!"

Behind her, still very much sustained by the life of its master, the atrocity was readying its club for another blow.


To be continued...