The Journey, Warrior

Chapter 12, A Strange Beast

The sun started to rise and Edena could be seen close by. Nekonata saw something shimmering flying towards him fast, he turned his body slightly to the side, using his reflexes his arm shot up in the air stopping it before it hit him. It was an arrow:-

"ON YOUR GUARD!!!" Nekonata looked in the direction the arrow came from. "Pat, yellow banner with a snake?"

"Humans from Baylon Plains," Pat replied. "I have no idea what they are doing here though, we need to send message to Vivi."

Nekonata found a scrap of parchment from inside his robes, wrote a message and put it in a thin leather tube. "Santaya you are the fastest, straight to Master Vivi, then back here, I need you at mine side beautiful," Santaya growled wagging her tail and shot off towards Edena.

"The arrow came from the forest of there, they have strong archers for it to make this distance." Nekonata looked around at the soldiers with him. "I can't see how many are there hiding behind the trees. I need to find out somehow;-"

Just then a small swallow hurtled from the sky flying fast towards him, the bird spread its wings to slow its descent landing on Kimbo heads.

"Saluton well met Meera the Swallow!" Said Nekonata smiling.

"Althor is coming from the North to meet Vivi, he will be here by this eve. Gabija will be riding with him. Vivi told me to bring this message."

"Thank you, Meera, but right now we have a problem. Could you help me with something please?" Meera nodded. "In the forest, humans are hiding, they've made their presence known by firing an arrow. Problem is we've no idea how many are there, could you have a look?"

Meera stretched her wings, "Of course."

"Ok, we move back out of their range. We wait for Meera to return, then we will make a decision on our next course of action. Keep your eyes peeled and be on guard at all times. The horses need to rest, stable boy you're up."

Nekonata dismounted and walked forward, he looked to his right and saw Edena Village. It was now noon and Santaya would be back any moment. Kristolia lay next to him in the grass whining. Nekonata noticed a small shadow from the corner of his eye, he looked up to see Meera was on her way back. He held out his hand so the little bird could land.

"Sorry I took so long." She said panting. "There is 700 of them at least. Some of them are riding beasts, I know not what they are, they look like wolves but much much bigger with tusks."

"Ingmars they are called," Joseph said as he jumped off his horse. "Nasty things they are."

"Where do Ingmars come from?"

"Bretheran Abyss." After a short pause. "They have not been seen for a very long time. They are clever and very agile. It is said they are some kind of descendants from the Dragons. Dragons, of course, refuse to acknowledge that. Thousands of years ago the Dragons came in search of new fertile land, they flew for days on end until they found this land of ours. Ingmar's already lived here, so naturally, there was a war, it was a very bloody war that reduced the size of both their species dramatically. Some kind of peace treaty was arranged. The Dragons chose Termini Cliffs and the rest of the mountains, while the Ingmars chose the desert caves which they themselves called Bretheran Abyss. This is strange and disturbing."

"Santaya you must rest... Kristolia I need your help, it is time to ask our new allies for help." Kristolia bowed her head and ran off faster than she'd ever run before.

Kristolia ran through the forest straight for the cliffs, she could sense the tension in the air. Her hatred for leaving her friends behind was strong but knew her task was important. How she wished she could talk like the others. That was her dream!

Kristolia arrived at a Birch tree, and slowed down, she could see the White Wolf through the grass and reeds. She slowly walked forward so all the wolves could see her, she bent her back legs slightly and planted her front paws firmly in the ground, she snarled showing her pristine fangs and then howled as loud as she could, asking for help from the White Wolf.

The White Wolf walked across the clearing with slow long strides, stopping in front of Kristolia,

"You can't speak can you?"

Kristolia shook her head, and bowed her head, but stayed strong and proud.

"The man known as Nekonata calls for our help, we owe him this! So get in your packs and let's march!"

Nekonata noticed Santaya running back to him in the distance closely followed by Vivi on a light brown horse.

"Nekonata do you have any plans?" Vivi asked quietly.

Nekonata shook his head, he had ordered his troops to dig a trench spanning the length of their camp. He knew full well that it would not be enough to protect them. "Do you have any suggestions? We are unable to access any wood to make stakes to put into the trench, we have very limited arrows and lances."

"It is time you trust in yourself and in your abilities!" Vivi paused looking around. "You have whether you believe it or not the ability to take on ten thousand men, you just have to believe in yourself."

"They are making their final preparations," Meera called out from above.

"Cole!" The soldier stepped forward. "How many spears do we have?"

"Each troop carries 3 spears, as per the requirement with regiment rules, two long shafts and one short Sir."

Nekonata jumped from the saddle of his horse and walked towards the trench, he tested the ground with his feet near to the edge of the trench. "Vivi, have you any idea how far these Ingmars can jump?"

"Around 40 feet in distance and 20 feet or so in height."

"Pass me a spear Cole, we have 600 long shaft spears, I want them planted into the ground at an angle facing towards the trench, I want three rows offset with each other at intervals going along the length of the trench."

Cole nodded and gave out orders to some soldiers that had just rested.

"How many arrows do we have?"

"We all have two satchels of 20 arrows each Sir."

Nekonata nodded, thinking about how he could the best use out of them. "Ok, I want short spears at the front with shields. I want one row of arrows, then swords, then the rest of the arrows behind. The mounted cavalry will again split into three, there will be a centre, left and a right. Arrows must not be wasted if possible. All archers must try their best to aim true!"

Cole nodded and ran off to give his orders. Nekonata heard howls from the distance. He dropped to his knees and put his ear to the ground. "Our new allies are getting closer. They are around 2 hours away, let's hope they get here in time."

Vivi nodded his head. "Is the flower ok?"

Nekonata opened his bag and showed Vivi the flower. "It's fine, but I have no idea how long for."

"Hand it to me, and I will start the potion. Quickly now."

Nekonata did as he was told.