A Game of Chi Book III: A Sword of Dust

Chapter 26: Skinnet IV

SKINNET

Skinnet twirled his spear, smashing it into several Ice Hunters around him. All around him, Lavertus and the bears were fighting as well, keeping the undead creatures away from the Ice Tower. "Once we drive them back, we can resurrect Worriz!" Lavertus cried over the din. He expertly used his sword to decapitate an Ice Hunter and kicked its head away; while it wasn't dead, it was much less of a threat. "Understood!" Skinnet shouted back. He ducked under an icy hammer and rammed his spear into the Ice Hunter's chest, knocking it back. Beside him, Buchuma was fighting an Ice Hunter with her bare hands, punching it back, while a bit further away, Bungey was using a sword to cleave Ice Hunters in two. We're incapacitating them, Skinnet thought, but we're not killing them. Only my flames can do that. "We need to group them into a single area!" Skinnet yelled. "That way, I can use my last firestarter to ignite and incinerate them all!"

"Easier said than done!" Lavertus responded. "They're surrounding us!" The lion was right; Skinnet, Lavertus and the bears were fighting with their backs to the Ice Tower, and the Ice Hunters were closing in around them. They weren't trying to drive the Ice Hunters back or escape; they were simply trying to eliminate them as fast as possible to use their Goldfire, which Lavertus had left inside with Bulkar and the other bears. "Behind you!" Lavertus yelled, and Skinnet ducked just under a spear. Growling, Skinnet flipped the Ice Hunter bear that had attacked him over his shoulder and onto the ground, and Buchuma finished the job by stomping its skull. "Stay away from it," she reminded him. "It may still attack." Nodding, Skinnet resumed fighting until he noticed an Ice Hunter vulture dive-bombing them from above. "Look out!" he shouted, crouching to evade the attack. The vulture, whose head was a faded blue with a brown cap, had once been female, as far as Skinnet could tell. It attacked him with a Derimous blade, and Skinnet angrily thought of Wilhurt. He jabbed his spear into its eye and pushed it away, but he understood that this wasn't a battle they could win like this. There are a lot more of them than when Lavertus saved us, he thought. I have enough spray for them, but not when they're spread out like this. The Ice Hunter he had previously defeated grabbed him by the leg, and the frigidity of it scared him. "By Cavora!" he exclaimed, trying to jump away. However, its grip was firm and it pulled him down. With his other foot, Skinnet tried to kick it away to no avail. Should I use my spray and my firestarter now? he thought. I might survive the flames, but then I wouldn't be able to use my spray to save anyone else! Frozen with indecision, Skinnet barely noticed Lavertus cleaving the Ice Hunter's arm off, saving him. "On your feet!" he roared, instantly whirling around and slashing a mammoth's trunk off. "You want to see Worriz again, don't you?"

"Y— Yes," Skinnet replied, getting up and reaching for his fallen spear. "Then let's fight and survive!" Clenching his jaw, Skinnet nodded and readied his spear, charging back into the fray.

Several bears lay dead, but Buchuma and Bungey were still fighting against the Ice Hunters who had arrived. There are a good dozen and a half, he thought, quickly counting them. And they're already this much of a threat. I can't imagine their full army attacking the Barrier. Seeing an Ice Hunter bear approaching Bungey from behind, Skinnet leapt forward and brought it down, impaling it through its throat. "Thanks," Bungey managed after knocking down a sabre-tooth. "We're in this together," Skinnet told him. Underneath him, the Ice Hunter stirred, so he rapidly got off. "They won't stay down!" he cried, watching as some of the ones that Bungey and Buchuma had defeated were crawling towards them or standing up. "We can't kill them without fire," Buchuma reminded him. "Use your spray!"

"I've only got one firestarter," Skinnet responded. "If I use it now, I won't be able to use it on anyone else!"

"There might not be anyone else to use it on at this rate!" Buchuma hollered back. "Let's fall back to Lavertus," Bungey suggested, and Skinnet saw the surviving bears doing the same. "Alright," he said. "Let's move!" As they got closer to the brown lion, Skinnet looked up and saw several other vultures circling; two of them began heading straight for the Ice Tower itself and attempting to get through the windows. "They're trying to get inside!" Skinnet told Lavertus. "Then go in and stop them!" the lion roared. Nodding, Skinnet opened the door to the Ice Tower and prepared to protect those inside.