The Myrrian Crisis

The Myrrian Crisis - Chapter 07 - The Duskfire Gang

hapter 7 – The Duskfire Gang

Karana and I headed for the war room. We were met by a tall, clean shaved man in a navy blue armor set.

“Sergeant. I want you to go find and kill these invaders. I don’t care who they are, what they say, or what uniform they’re wearing. They killed two of my fastest scouts. One survived, but has fallen very ill, in addition to the severe wounds.”

“Very well. We’ll pack light. Battle garments, no armor. I take it they’re not using arrows?”

“Not that we know of... then again, the survivor wasn’t very coherent.”

“Did they bend?”

“As far as we know, no. But be prepared. They’re coming in from the Northwest, so expect Fire or Earth.”

“Got it. Mikkel. Follow me.”

Karana and I had been searching for a few miles when we saw five scrawny males.

They wore scarlet clothes with a gold sash on each. They also wore red facial veils from their noses down.

We quickly took cover behind a large patch of brush, watching their movements, and praying that they didn’t see us.

“They’re Pyrmyrrads.” Karana whispered, “And they look awfully skinny to have taken two scouts down without bending.”

“Well,” Mikkel started, “What’s the plan?”

“For you? Shut the hell up and let me handle this,” she teased as she drew out her bow with one hand. She opened her other hand and made a small stream of water travel upwards, and then froze it in the shape of a serrated arrow.

She silently drew the arrow back, breathing heavily, yet steadily.

All in one split second, as she released her arrow, and one of the scouts cried out in pain.

It sounded half like a normal man, and half like a guttural roar. His voice was scratchy and rough, as if he’d had an injury to his throat.

He crumpled to the ground, writhing and screaming, “FIND THEM! CUT THEM APART!”

Three of the remaining four scouts split off to search for us, each going a different direction. The fourth one stood guard by Karana’s downed target.

“Come on, Mikkel.” Karana whispered to me, pointing towards an unusually large tree. It had thick, reachable branches. Perfect for climbing.

We moved as fast as our crouched bodies could carry us. Just as we reached the tree, one of the scouts sighted us.

He quickly extended his heft hand and proceeded to hurl a wall of bright fire at us.

As Karana grabbed me by the hand and jerked me out of the way, she cast a shield of ice and climbed up the tree.

The scout continued to launch a steady, fiery stream at us.

Karana hopped from branch to branch while I struggled just to hang onto one.

She finally escaped the scout’s range, and created another icy arrow. She quickly drew it back - no time for aiming - and released it.

Perfect headshot, and a nice, clean kill.

“Three to go!” Karana called in my direction.

At this point, the remaining scouts were in such disarray, that taking down three of them didn’t seem quite so dangerous.

There was one scout left. Karana could sense him nearby, but neither of us could see him. Anywhere.

She carefully moved over to another branch, keeping her bow drawn and aimed as she did so. She signaled for me to stay where I was.

We heard a rustle above us. Karana spun about, almost at a neck-breaking speed, firing her icy arrows into the foliage as fast as she possibly could.

“Impressive,” chuckled a cool-headed voice.

By the time I saw her, it was too late. The bony man was singlehandedly holding her up by the throat. His nails were long and sharp. They began to cut into her skin, drawing small amounts of blood.

“You know,” the wretched Pyrmyrrad hissed calmly, “I haven’t had a decent meal in quite a while now.”

With his free hand, he drew back the veil and smiled wickedly, baring razor-sharp teeth.