Looking back just in time for another dismaying sight, Dragol saw one of the two warriors that had been hovering with their bows falling from the sky. Its steed had been slain by yet another remarkable arrow shot that had come from beneath the trees.
To the right, a couple more of his riders were disappearing below the treeline, through another opening a little farther off. Without pausing even a moment, Dragol cried out at the top of his lungs. He ordered them to come back immediately into the skies.
It was not soon enough, as his own orders were mixed a moment later with the terrible sounds of raging growls and throaty barks, accompanied by the pained cries of Harraks. The noise was followed by the courageous war cries of the two riders, as they faced their adversaries out of Dragol’s sight.
There was suddenly a high-pitched yelp of pain, and Dragol’s heart surged as he guided his Harrak speedily towards the point where the two warriors had descended. The momentary hope was dashed, as his ears captured agonized Trogen cries, mixed with louder, snapping barks and growls.
He bit back impulsive anger as he crossed over the location, and saw the wreckage that had been made of his warriors and their steeds.
There was nothing that he could do for them, though he took a little solace as he noticed that one of the dreadful beasts that had attacked them was badly wounded. It was trying to crawl away, struggling to pull itself away from the opening in the trees.
With his heels, Dragol signaled to his steed to hover in place. His blood was scorching hot as it raced through his veins, but his mind remained cool and resolute.
With a growl in his throat, and forgetting about the skilled enemy archer that he knew was somewhere out there, he sheathed his great longblade and whipped out his own longbow.
Notching an arrow, he poured his rage and malice towards the slayers of his warriors into one single shot, which raced towards the injured beast. The vengeance-driven shot ripped into the creature’s head, abruptly finishing off any chance that it might have had at survival.
Dragol knew that his patrol was unprepared for whatever was below the treeline. Calling out forcefully, and gesturing urgently, he ordered the rest of his surviving warriors to abandon the attack.
He then let loose with a great howl of sheer rage, as his steed climbed back towards the sanctuary of the high skies.
Thwarted and filled with a boiling hostility, Dragol found very little to be comforted about as the remnants of his patrol sped away. The grandiosity of the total destruction of the Saxan patrol had been smashed asunder by the sudden misfortune brought about by the unknown four-legged assailants, and the deadly, unseen bowman.
There was small comfort to be had in such a short period of time where fortunes had changed so drastically, swinging so quickly between extremes. It was true that the Unifier’s armies would soon be swarming through the lands that Dragol now left behind him, but that was no solace at all to his embittered heart.
He could only think of the undignified deaths that several of his warriors had met at the jaws of forest beasts, formidable though they were. The feral images of the unusual creatures were stamped indelibly into his mind. He promised himself to see to it that they would be hunted down mercilessly, and slain wherever they were found, once Saxany was held by the Unifier.
His mind then settled upon the black-feathered arrow shaft embedded in the dead body of the beast he had slain, reminding him that he had already exacted the first fruits of vengeance. While only slight, the remembrance nonetheless brought him a little relief, to help endure the return journey back to their camp.
LEE
Lee saw nothing behind him, or anywhere around him, his eyes searching frantically among the trees for even one sign of any other being. Without a doubt, there was another archer very near to his group, one who had just intervened on their behalf. The irrefutable evidence lay not far away, in the form of the dead winged beast with the arrow shaft protruding from its neck.
Despite the unexpected assistance, the notion of an unknown warrior lurking somewhere close by was still unsettling. The friend of the moment could well turn into the foe of the next.
Lee turned his head to and fro, urgently looking for any indication of their unknown benefactor, while keeping his eyes open for the rise of other threats.
Shadows crossing over him brought his head up in a flash. More of the winged creatures were flying at a low altitude just over the tops of the trees. Lee wanted to maneuver over to join Ryan and Lynn, if only so that they could all make a stand together.
He knew that he was effectively trapped where he was. If he emerged from the trunk of the tree, he would come into the clear sight of the two hovering riders, one of whom had already come dangerously close to claiming one of his companions’ lives.
Lee peered carefully around the tree that he was behind, looking up towards the two riders imminently besetting them. He then cast a glance across the short distance to where Ryan and Lynn were crouched. If it was only a matter of himself, he might have sprinted out from his position and attempted to join them. With Erin to think about, he gauged that it was too much of a risk to try to reach the others.
Turning his focus back up to the riders, he concentrated on executing a solid attempt with the bow. He steadied his aim as he tilted the weapon upwards, sighting one of the riders as he began to pull the string back.
He wondered if he would have enough range for the shot, as their attackers held the considerable advantage of firing downwards. To his eyes, the distance to the pair of attackers looked daunting to any hope of loosing an arrow that would have even a slim chance of striking one of them.
It was in that moment of rising doubt that a furious commotion broke out somewhere to his left. Flinching, he almost let go of the partially-drawn arrow. His body tingled, and a chill raced over him as he listened to the raucous clamor breaking out just beyond his sight. The growling frenzy was guttural and vicious.
Mixed within the tumult were cries like those of the warriors above, which rang out through the forest. In moments they transformed into unmistakable shrieks of agony, the sounds sending shards of ice into Lee’s heart. Very quickly, the forest fell quiet again.
Lee’s chest constricted with the fear swelling inside of him, as if someone were pressing down upon it. More crashing sounds brought his attention snapping back to the area on the other side of the tree. He saw one of the two winged beasts that had been hovering plummet to the ground, breaking some branches and careening off of others as the creature dragged its rider down with it. A heavy thud and the sickening noise of cracking bones reached Lee’s ears.
Though the body of the winged beast was a little farther off, Lee’s eyes spotted the vertical shaft of an arrow coming from the creature’s neck. To his guess, it was lodged at almost the exact place of the shaft that had dropped the first winged steed.
Lee turned his head and saw that Ryan still had his arrow notched. He was shaking his head from side to side as Lee’s eyes met his, confirming Lee’s suspicions.
Another commotion started to Lee’s right, and he broke his eyes away from Ryan to rivet upon the sight of two more of the winged steeds trying to land through the trees a short distance away. They were coming down through a small opening in the trees, barely wide enough for the expansive wingspan of the flying creatures.
A huge blur of movement froze Lee’s heart a second later. Some manner of creature leaped off of the ground, lunging towards the landing entities. Its momentum hurled its bulk into one of the winged creatures.