[Lerune]: 6.Untitled.Randomness

Talon stopped short.

“What is it?” Kronin asked.

Talon put a finger to his lips, in a motion for Kronin to be quiet, and looked around. His dark blue eyes scanned the woods carefully, and he reached for the hilt of his sword. After a long moment, he spoke.

“We are not alone, probably goblins…”

Kronin drew his sword and focused on his surroundings. Jerrick did the same with his daggers. Suri stayed close to Kronin. The tension was thick as they kept their pace, yet eyed every shadow warily. The setting sun cast spots of eerie darkness all around, but the presence of something else could be felt. As they neared what appeared to be a clearing in the woods, Suri heard a twig snap to her right.

A scream caught in her throat as several gangly creatures leapt out of the brush. As quickly as they ambushed, it seemed Talon and Kronin were swinging their blades. Suddenly, Suri’s ears filled with the sounds of flesh being cut by strong steal, the high-pitched, ear-splitting wails of the creatures as they fell and the unexpected battle cry Talon wailed as he flung himself into battle. She could see that his blade, all their blades were covered with dark, thick blood, and the smell of the creatures overwhelmed her. The sheer intensity of all that was happening around her had literally grounded her, and she found she still could not move. A fear like she had never known gripped her tightly and refused to let go.

Suddenly, she became aware that one of the creatures was heading toward her, it’s rusted spear aimed for her stomach…

Jerrick had broken away from the battle, taking advantage of the attention Talon and Kronin both brought to themselves. He was swiftly creeping through the shadows the setting sun was beautifully providing him. Once he found that the creatures had been intelligent enough to stage an ambush, but not intelligent enough to leave reinforcements behind to back themselves up, he gave his throwing daggers a good workout, and took out an unsuspecting few. Had anyone been watching, they would have seen a quick flash of Jerrick appear as he pulled his daggers out of a dead body, and darted once again into the shadows. As he cloaked himself in darkness, he noticed Suri, standing frozen, as a goblin approached her, spear in hand.

It was Kronin and Talon who were drawing the most attention. Kronin was no stranger to the blade he wielded, having forged it himself, but even he marveled at Talon’s skill. Talon seemed to handle his blade as if it were merely another part of him, and the two of them were able to quickly combat the small number of goblins that had foolishly ambushed them. Their numbers quickly diminishing, the few remaining goblins made move to retreat.

“They’ll only return with more!“ Talon called, “leave none alive!“

As Kronin moved to follow, he noticed Suri out of the corner of his eye, a look of horror on her face as one of the creatures advanced on her.

“Suri!” he called, and abandoned his chase to defend her.

Talon also turned, and in the moment he lost his focus, knew that the remaining few goblins would make their escape. Swearing beneath his breath, he rushed after Kronin.

In what seemed to take forever, Kronin moved toward Suri as the goblin brought back his spear to strike her. Panic gripped him as he realized there was no way he could make it in time. He couldn’t protect her -- no matter how he tried, his body would move no faster. Behind him, Talon moved with the same urgency, but just as the creature made move to strike, Jerrick seemed to come from no where, and buried his daggers to the hilt in the goblin’s back. In a second that lasted a lifetime, the goblin fell. The fray was over. All that remained was a terrified Suri, who broke immediately into tears at the sight of the wretched, dying creature in front of her, Jerrick smiling at his handiwork and Kronin and Talon both panting for breath.

“Suri,” Kronin began, “are you okay?”

Suri crumbled into his arms and wept.

“Seems the others got away after all,” Jerrick commented, straining his eyes to peer into the darkness.

“Most unfortunate,” Talon scowled, “they’ll only return later on.”

“Then they return,” Kronin said. “We’ll be prepared when they do.”

“You cannot be ‘prepared’ for an ambush,” Talon replied irritably, “we’ll have to be on alert all night.”

“Shouldn’t we have been anyway?” Jerrick asked absently, wiping his blade on a few leaves he had pulled from a nearby tree.

“That is beside the point--” Talon began.

"Were we supposed to just leave her to fend for herself?” Kronin began angrily.

“Of course not, I only meant--”

“We did what had to be done.”

“She had a weapon, Kronin!”

“She has only ever frightened a few wolves with it -- she’s never had to use it that way before!”

“And she’ll never learn if you don’t stop coddling her like a child!” Talon cried, then regaining his composure, he looked at Suri. “Forgive me, it is not my place to say such things.”

Suri pulled away from Kronin and looked at Talon, and the aggravation on his face crushed her. She had let them all down. It was because of her that the goblins had gotten away, and because of them, no one would rest tonight, for fear of another attack. She hung her head in shame.

“No…you are right,” she stated. “I…I froze. I’m sorry…” With trembling fingers, she wiped her face, and fought the urge to vomit as she caught sight once more of the putrid creature that lay dead at her feet.

Talon softened, but stood firm.

“My frustration is not only with you, Suri,” he began, “more with all of us. I knew you had never seen anything of this sort before, and we should have not allowed you to be separated from us, even for that second. But you must remember,” he continued, sheathing his sword, “that it is important that you prepare yourself for what might lie ahead. We will do what we can to keep you safe, but you will have to find strength inside of yourself so that you are ready for the day that comes when we cannot be there. You should not feel that you have to depend on anyone,”

Suri looked into his face and then turned away, “I don’t have the strength you speak of…” she whispered.

“I am sure your Kronin will disagree with that, as I know I do,” he replied with a soft smile, “You will surprise yourself one day…”

“Do these guys have anything on them that isn’t decayed, decrepit or disgusting?” Jerrick’s voice called out.

They all turned to see Jerrick pilfering through the goblin bodies, searching for any semblance of treasure or anything of value.

“Jerrick,” Kronin grimaced, “have you no shame? You should not defile the dead like that!”

“I guess,” he said absently, using his dagger to flip open a molded, rotting leather pack lying beside one of the corpses, “but they don’t seem to mind it too bad…” Then, holding up a few crude gems he had found, he exclaimed triumphantly, “And where he is going, I doubt he’ll be needing this.”

“I doubt very seriously that any of them possessed anything of actual value, or they wouldn’t have tried to rob us,” Talon stated, “those gems are not particularly valuable…”

“I know that,” Jerrick smiled, “but they are worth something, and that is something I didn’t have before that I have now. I like to think of it as a small consolation for trying to skewer me and display my remains on a pike.”

Talon broke a small smile, but Suri whimpered. She was trying to compose herself, but all she could successfully do was remember her mother’s words when she told her that she would not last long in the wild. She had been right…looking at the dead, stinking creatures all around her, she realized that Talon was right when he said they come again, and she wept inwardly at the thought. Would she freeze again as she had before? 

Kronin noticed her silence and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

“It’s okay, Suri,” he spoke quietly, “no one is prepared for something like that until it happens to them. Don’t be so hard on yourself, alright?”

She smiled and nodded. Talon watched, but said nothing.

“Well,” Jerrick began, eying the clearing, “this looks as good of a place as any to set up camp for the night. Should be able to see those rotten bastards before they creep up on us this time.”

“They won’t bother you. I got them.”

The four of them jumped, startled by the female voice that had spoken, yet did not belong to any of them. Talon immediately drew his sword. They looked to see a shadowy figure making its way toward them....