Frost and Flame, Foes in the Dark (book 2)

Chapter 23, When the Ravens Fly

Star twinkled in the gloomy night. The moon was barely visible in the cloudy sky, and the darkness laid thick over the leaf forest. The mercenaries looked up, tensed by the increasing screeching noise coming from the dark sky. Nothing was visible, but flapping and cawing came through the dark night like a stampede.

"What is that?" asked Amai with a frown, her skin prickling with ill foreboding. "Ravens?"

"Why so many though?" Her father asked. "And why do they seem to gather here?"

She nodded to the mercenaries to go and take a look, a few of them grabbed onto torches and wandered into the forest. The ravens seemed to follow the men, cawing above them. Amai's eyes narrowed, as one of the distant lights of one of the torches suddenly went out. Then another, and another.

One by one, they were plucked like blowing out candlelights.

"What is going on?" muttered one of the mercenaries from behind her. Amai pulled her dagger and prepared it by coating it in poison.

"We have been discovered, the ravens are warning our enemies on our location. Pull yourself together, they are plucking us one by one which means that they should not be plenty in numbers, " Amai ordered, watching as the last of the lights went out in the forest. No screams had come back which suggested to her that these were no amateurs. They weren't just attacking, they killed quickly and skillfully. With a purpose.

"Is it our target?" asked her father, and Amai snorted.

"Seems our employer lied to us about the Auon's intelligence. He noticed our trap and set one of his own."

"We can still turn it around. Let's capture the Auon."

Amai didn't answer her father. Her instinct told her that the Rial Caraid most likely wasn't here. He wasn't a warrior, so he would not lightly enter a battle. Her employer had told her that those around the Rial Caraid weren't noteworthy so Amai hadn't looked closely at them. She cursed her own foolishness and readied herself.

The men huddled together, trying to spot movements or hear sounds. The latter was impossible since the ravens cawing masked any sound while the night did the same for sight. Leaning down, Amai closed her eyes as she pressed her dagger into the ground and leaned down to listened.

"What are you doing?" asked one of the mercenaries nervously.

"Quiet, and don't move!" hissed her father who knew what she was doing. The mercenaries froze, and the vibrations stopped. Amai waited patiently, the moment they stepped on the ground she would feel it.

But... Nothing came. Amai frown before she realizes why that was, "They are coming from above!"

The trees rattled as shadows threw themselves at the group. The lights went out, sending the small group into pitch darkness. One of the shadows was so fast that two of the men were dead before they could turn around to face it. Amai rushed forward, following the shadow who bounced of and went into the sky to vanish among the ravens. Almost like they caught the shadow.

Turning around she saw that the other shadows weren't nearly as fast, and they stayed to fight her group. Arrows shot from the trees, convincing Amai that one of them specialized in ranged attacks, because the arrows struck true. Mercenaries feel quickly as they weren't used to fighting in the dark.

Amai grimaced and grabbed onto a lantern, throwing it at one of the tents. The entire camp lit up by the large fire, showing their enemies. Two warriors were waving their swords skillfully, showing that they weren't inexperienced warriors. As the light was cast upon them, they huddled together. Protecting each other's backs.