Spirit Animals: Life Of Tarik - Book 1

War

Hearing the commotion, Greencloaks began to pour out of the huts that they had entered just before. Olvan had his sword drawn, slashing at Lynk who was blocking his attacks with ease. Blood trickled down his chest, but it didn't seem to worry the powerful Greencloak.

Tarik watched in horror as the Greencloak commander fought with his enemy. He caught Lynk's eye, and the man looked at Tarik with pure hatred. Ricko turned towards Tarik, Chinwe, Lishay and Dorian, his eyes narrowed.

"Run!" Ricko cried as he charged towards the children, his lynx at his side.

Reacting instantly, the group of kids ran away from the fury. Tarik looked back over his shoulder to see that Lynk's army had charged forward and were now fighting the Greencloaks, swords clattering together and the shouts of men and women roared.

Everyone had their spirit animals with them now, running by their side with Zhosur and Azrael at the rear. Dorian's owl flew up ahead to make sure they weren't running into a trap, while Chinwe's wildebeest and Lumeo raced at the side of the group.

Tarik knew Caylif better than anyone here. As he raced passed Chinwe, now in the lead, he was about to make a right before Ricko's harsh yell came from behind.

"Stay together!" Ricko snapped. "We don't want you running off again!"

Tarik bit back a smart comment, realising that Ricko's words were meant for him, but now wasn't the time to argue. They had to get away from the battle. He glanced at his side to see Chinwe was still keeping up with him, while Lishay and Dorian were lagging behind.

"Hurry up!" Ricko urged.

"We're trying!" Lishay hissed, panting.

Tarik realised that something wasn't quite right, he glanced behind him again, only to see that Lynk's army had outnumbered the Greencloaks dramatically. Panic welled inside his chest. Where were the people of Caylif?

Tarik stopped in his tracks, spraying sand in front of him as Dorian crashed into him, not realising that he had stopped. Both of them tumbled onto the ground, the rest of the Greencloaks stopping too.

"What are you doing?" Ricko asked Tarik, a hint of panic in his voice.

"We have to fight them!" said Tarik as he got to his feet, dusting himself off while Dorian did the same, grunting.

Chinwe stared at him, her eyes wide. She had not said a word since Fang was killed.

"They are outnumbered," Tarik added, looking back at the battle.

"And our numbers won't be much difference if we went back!" Ricko scolded.

Something flashed in the corner of Tarik's eye. Following the blur that he saw, a grey wolf with cobalt-blue eyes stood in the path between him and the battle.

What?

"Are you even listening to me?"

Blinking, the wolf had vanished and Tarik turned his attention back to his mentor. "Yes, I am."

"Then we must-" Ricko was interrupted.

Men on horses charged towards them from the other side, their swords drawn. They did not look like they were from Lynk's army. They were the people of Caylif.

"Move out of the way!" Lishay pushed through them, sticking close to a nearby wall. Once they had moved, Tarik watched as they charged passed, their horses panting heavily and the people's faces twisted with rage.

Tarik locked eyes with the boy leading the attack, and he returned Tarik's look. He looked familiar, but it was as if Tarik hadn't seen this boy for a long time. As they passed, Tarik realised that the boy was Ahmar.

He's alive!

Tarik felt a new feeling of courage flow through his body, he clutched the handle of his sword as the remaining few horses charged passed towards the battle. They were fighting for Caylif, and so should he.

As he was about to run after them, Ricko grabbed him.

"I want to fight!" Tarik tried to wriggle free.

"We must not risk it, we cannot afford to lose any of you," Ricko tried to keep his voice calm as he eyed them all. "I know you want to fight for your home, but Olvan will handle it."

Tarik frowned at Ricko, unable to understand.

"Trust him," Ricko let him go and turned away.

Tarik seemed to accept Ricko's words. He looked back at the raging battle, many warriors had fallen, and many were still fighting. Blood had been spilled almost everywhere behind him.

The group went on, this time with Ricko in the lead. They came around a corner that led out of the village, but Tarik could still not stop thinking about the wolf he saw earlier and the thought that Ahmar was alive.

They came to a halt near the end of the pathway, their path blocked.

"Who are they?" Dorian asked quietly.

"Lynk's men," replied Ricko, clutching his sword.

Lumeo bared his teeth and Zhosur growled.

"Why can't we turn back?" Lishay put in.

They all looked behind themselves, seeing that their escape was blocked as well. They were surrounded, even worse was that the enemy rode horses.

Tarik gritted his teeth.

Ricko looked back at them. "Stay close to me, we need to fight our way out."

Chinwe looked hesitant, but nodded, her wildebeest at her side.

"Stop where you are!" called the soldier up ahead. "We have you now."

"And you know exactly who we want," another added with a smirk, encouraging his horse to move closer.

"I won't let you take them," Ricko challenged, glancing back at Chinwe and Tarik.

Tarik's heart was pounding, he fixed his gaze on Lumeo for a second, locking eyes with the otter. He felt energy flow through his body, suddenly feeling much lighter on his feet and highly alert of his surroundings. Tarik stared straight forward at his target.

He heard a squeal from Lishay as she was knocked forward, falling face-first into the sand with a knife in her back. The enemy behind them had snuck up and attacked!

"No! Lishay!" Dorian cried as he rushed to her side.

Ricko's eyes widened, as if realising that the enemy ahead had distracted them.

Rage surged through Tarik and he lunged forward with speed faster than any man in Erdas. He spun in the air, his sword drawn and sliced into Lishay's attacker. The man fell off his horse, dead.

Landing lightly, Tarik pivoted and faced the other man and charged forward. He felt as if everything around him was in slow motion. Tarik charged forward and cart wheeled, feeling very graceful as he jumped up again and struck the man in the chest, killing him.

Lumeo was chattering somewhere nearby as more soldiers came rushing in. He saw that everyone was fighting now, except Lishay. Zhosur was ripping into a woman nearby, rage-filled. One by one, Tarik sliced and struck down many more soldiers. He zipped through the battlefield, holding out his sword as he watched it slash through soldiers on the way.

Tarik narrowed his eyes and could make out the figure of Olvan watching him. Tarik kept charging forward, taking down enemies without even realising. There was something in Olvan's face that made him curious, but then Olvan's look turned to horror.

Tarik looked back and stopped. Lynk was chasing him through the battle!

"Come here, brat!" Lynk hissed with his sword swinging.

Tarik froze, all the power he had felt before was gone.

A flash of green came into view, and before he could react, Ricko had jumped in front of him and taken Lynk's sword into his chest, the tip sticking out of his back.

"Ricko!" Tarik screamed in horror as he watched his mentor fall to the ground.