Lost Bloodline 2 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Arthene’s sensitive nose was spot on about the Crooked. Todd and Hannah quickly returned to the group to relay that they’d spotted the enemy just around the next hill. Todd had actually spun about and frantically began signaling they stop until he noticed that their group had already halted.

“What—” he began to ask, but Koda hiked his thumb at Arthene.

“Tall, dark, and gorgeous there said she smelled them. I know better than to argue with a woman like her.” Koda’s words brought a storm of snickers out of the group and a grin to Arthene’s lips.

“Oh? You do now, do you?” Arthene hummed, grinning down at Koda.

“I learned it with Sienna. You just benefit from her training,” Koda shot back with a wink, and Sienna began giggling as well.

Behind the trio, the rest of the war party was only happy to take a break and catch their breath for a moment. Hans, in particular, was bent double with his hands on his knees, heaving for air.

“You okay back there, Hans?’ Netta teased, and the bull man flipped her off, clearly not thinking it worth the oxygen to respond.

“Well, miss Arthene’s nose was right,” Todd cut back in, the statement sapping the humor from the group and returning seriousness to the air. “There’s at least three dozen of the Crooked bastards resting in a valley just on the other side of this hill. If we move quickly, we can hit them before they get moving again.”

Koda nodded before glancing at Arthene and Sienna. Sienna had a thoughtful look on her face, chewing lightly on her bottom lip. Arthene was just grinning like a madwoman, her yellow eyes bright with anticipation as she bounced her bone club on her shoulder lightly.

The motion drew Koda’s eyes to the stained knuckle on the end of the club; the dark colors were the remnants of their last battle that had soaked into the ancient bone and refused to budge even with washing. Stains that outlined faint runes Arthene had carved into the bone itself.

“Right, here’s the plan then…”

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They hit the Crooked like a runaway train.

Sienna, Koda, and Arthene led the charge, with the big woman staying in her bipedal form for now. The last thing they wanted to do was scare off the Crooked forces and have them scatter. In order to prevent that, Sienna jogged slightly slower than her two lovers, so she could concentrate on what she wanted her magic to do.

After their conversation the previous day about letting his instincts guide him, Koda approached the fight in a low lope, using both his hands and feet to propel him across the ground. It should have looked and felt ungainly, as the human body was not meant to bend that way, but the flexibility and strength that had been granted to him by Thera as her champion helped propel Koda in a series of bounding leaps that actually had him ahead of the two girls.

Arthene announced their charge with a bellowing roar and a massive stone that she launched through the air like a misshapen shot-put. The rock was roughly the size and shape of a large watermelon and it crashed down on top of two of the Crooked as they turned to see where the noise was coming from.

In their hubris, the Crooked hadn’t even bothered to set a perimeter watch.

As if they had already conquered and claimed these grasslands for their own and had nothing to fear.

Instead, the group was just sitting on rocks and relaxing while a pair of the gnarled champions conversed in low tones towards the back of the group.

One of the champions had overlong arms that hung to its feet on a skeletal thin frame, while the other was one of the robe-wearing Crooked that Koda had seen use magic in the past.

When Arthene’s rock crashed home, accompanied by her bellow of challenge, the two champions whirled towards the approaching trio. Koda knew that their gaze would be drawn to the large and imposing form of his bear featured lover, something he was counting on.

The skeletal-thin champion pointed a wave-bladed sword at them and screeched in a voice akin to a dumpster moving on rotted wheels, while the robe-clad individual began gesturing with a pair of shovel-shaped hands, conjuring some evil spell.

Unfortunately for it, the spell would never reach its target.

An arrow zipped from Koda’s left and embedded itself in the hooded monster’s forearm, the only thing that kept the arrow from its chest actually. The Crooked caster shrilled in pain and yanked its hand back, turning to where the arrow had come from, but Koda was already upon them.

His bounding leaps had carried him low to the ground and the final one brought Koda up into the air to crash headlong into the caster’s chest. He ducked a slash from the gangling champion as he drove the clawed fingers of both his totemic gauntlet’s into the casters chest.

Musty cloth tore and blood spurted as he rode the other champion to the ground with a crunch of breaking bones. Koda marveled for a moment that the maneuver, which should have broken a few fingers at the very least from using his bone-clawed gauntlets as spears, didn’t even harm him.

The Crooked Koda landed on didn’t fare as well. Koda’s momentum had driven his fingers deep into the caster’s chest and when Koda ripped them free, blood spewed in their wake along with a gurgling, sucking noise that told him that his blow had perforated the monster’s lungs.

Koda let his momentum carry him over the caster, scrambling in a tight turn to launch himself back at the downed Crooked to ensure that it stayed that way. Other than dodging the first slash from the gangling champion, Koda ignored that one entirely. He spared a glance for the rest of his group of warriors as they came charging in from the flank with arrows flying from the hunter’s bows.

He didn’t need to think about the other champion, because before it could turn its attention to attacking him, Arthene arrived and slammed into it with a cross-body swing that broke the Crooked over her weapon like it was a simple reed, rather than an empowered being.

Arthene’s blow launched the Crooked champion off to one side in a squealing heap that she pursued with abandon, even as Koda tore into the robed individual he had pinned to the ground, who was only struggling weakly now. Those struggles ended when he drove his claws into the creature’s throat and slashed it open.

With their two champions dealt with like they were nothing more than errant bugs, the Crooked forces broke.

In the last week of time, Koda had seen several reactions to this situation. The foot soldiers of the Crooked were often disorganized if they didn’t have a commander in the form of a champion or higher authority figure. When he brought that figure down, the Crooked usually acted in one of two ways, either fleeing in terror, or attacking in a blind rage to bring down their opponents. Either would work for him at the moment, but one would definitely work better than the other, given their situation.

This time, the Crooked ran. Which was exactly what Koda had been hoping for.

“Sienna!” The name had barely left his lips when his redheaded lover finished her spell-work.

The group of Crooked had been clumped relatively close together for their rest break, and the attack was so sudden that many of them didn’t have time to react until Koda and Arthene had plowed into their forces. Now, though, they scattered in a disorganized pack, moving in any direction but at Koda and Arthene. This allows the two to basically sheep dog the Crooked into the trap that Sienna had laid.

No sooner had the first three Crooked crossed the invisible line where Sienna’s power had started to work than they began to sink into the sandy soil.

The sudden shift from packed earth to loose sand caused several to tumble over in surprise, this led to a further tripping hazard and bringing more down in a great heap. A few tried to climb over their fellows, using the bodies of those on the ground to find stable footing, but also fell prey to the extremely fine sand on the other side. That or the arrows of the hunters.

The next several minutes devolved into a rather messy swirl of combat, as those with longer weapons struck out to kill the Crooked floundering deeper into the section of shifting sands that Sienna had created. The ground would remain relatively stable if one walked slowly, but the furious scrambling that the Crooked were attempting only made them sink in faster. It wasn’t true quicksand, as the ground wasn’t super-saturated with water. Instead, it was Sienna’s magic that infused the earth in a wide curve around the back of the Crooked camp.

When the Crooked realized there would be no escaping, they tried to fight back to escape in a different direction, but the sight of either Koda or Arthene would send them scattering like quail from a bush or the shoals of little fish from the presence of a shark. The other warriors from the village were quick to capitalize on this, driving their foes towards one of the two before darting in to strike while the Crooked were cowering or scampering away.

It took less than a handful of minutes before the fight came to a savage end, with the last of the fleeing Crooked finding its end at the mercy of Hans’ mattock.

“Now that…” panted the broad-shouldered bull man, “…is work I can handle. All this running can get stuffed…”

“In an ideal world, Hans, they would be running to you rather than away. But we can’t always have the ideal situation, right?” Koda laughed, bending to scoop one of the dead Crooked up and tossing it into the shifting sands once more. “Toss the dead back in there. It’ll be easier for Sienna to just let them sink. Once the bodies are in there, take a break.”

That got a ragged cheer from his group of warriors, and Koda didn’t bother to hide his smile. It was good to be appreciated by these people, and even better to know that they trusted him enough to follow his orders and believe in him.

I want to bring home only heroes. No fallen, Koda reminded himself before glancing back towards Sienna to check on his mate.

The redheaded huntress had joined in with the fighters, wielding her broad-bladed spear with lethal efficiency while maintaining the wide band of magically infused soil. At a glance, he could tell she was tired, but not exhausted yet. At the moment, she had joined Arthene in dragging the spindle-limbed champion to dump into the loose soil. From the affectionate smile on Arthene’s face, he knew that she didn’t need the help but appreciated the goodwill from Sienna, so wasn’t going to complain.

“I still don’t know how we do this…” Netta muttered as she dragged another of the Crooked past him, pausing to pat the corpse’s pockets before hefting it up and tossing it out into the soil where it began to sink out of sight.

“Do what?” Koda asked, walking alongside the hawk beastfolk and grabbing the foot of another to help her out.

“We keep getting through these fights when we are outnumbered, severely so, and the worst we got this time was a couple of scratches. If this is luck, I fear for the day that it runs out.” Netta’s voice was low, but he could hear the concern in her tone. It was sobering to hear her echoing thoughts he’d been entertaining only recently as well.

“I think luck is part of it,” Koda said slowly, patting the dead man’s pouches and pulling one open to reveal a handful of tarnished copper coins. He tucked that pouch into one of his own. They had recovered a small chest of coins that Arthene was carrying, since the big woman didn’t mind the weight. He intended to add this to the chest and would split it amongst those with him when they got home.

“Just a part?” Netta snorted before joining him in flinging the dead Crooked out to vanish beneath the soil.

“Yes. Another part is the determination we all have. We are all determined to return home safely, and that gives us strength. And Thera watches out for us.”

Netta grimaced at that, glancing up at him warily before she began to speak once more.

“Yes… but you’ve faced and fought how many champions? I don’t mean to decry your achievements, but as easily as you dispatch them… it makes me worry that you will be taken down just as easily. And that is the end of it. If you fall, our goddess is lost to us again.”

Koda felt his insides clench at that statement. It was one that he’d considered a few times over the last few days, but had pointedly ignored. He didn’t want to think about how easy it might be to fall in a fight. He’d certainly dispatched enough enemies quickly, and nearly died only days before at the Windwalker’s Retreat when the Crooked warleader had clashed with him.

“I understand your fear, Netta,” he said at last. “And know that I do not plan to carelessly throw myself into fights. Thera promised me that she will share the strength she gains from the sites of power with me, and thus I believe I am stronger than the average Crooked champion. I mean… you’ve seen how many we’ve run into over the last few days. They feel less like champions and more like just… empowered versions of their soldiers. Their natures are violent and twisted, and that only grows, exacerbated by their power.”

He paused at that, and they disposed of another body, with Netta letting him think for a moment without interruption.

“I also think… that all of you are growing stronger as well,” Koda said when he finished his thoughts. “Maybe not to the level of a champion, but think about it, Netta? You and everyone else here fought in a pitched battle up on the mountain, rested a day, then marched for several more days to get to the portal camp. There we ambushed that camp and slaughtered half again as many of these Crooked in the ambush and gained only injuries. We fought them again here and got even fewer injuries. We aren’t just fighting them blindly either, we are using their weaknesses against them and fighting smart. I think as long as we keep doing that, we will be fine.”

Netta digested his words for a moment before nodding slowly, her feather-hair flexing slightly before smoothing down once more.

“I think I understand, Koda. I will… do what I can. I want you to be right, that we can make this place safe once more. I… miss the innocence I had when I was younger, when I believed the whole wide world was safe and the only adventures I would have would be ones I knew I didn’t need to fear. A dream I have is to bring that safety back for any children I might have in the future.”

“A good goal to have, Netta,” Koda said with a smile, patting her firmly on the shoulder. He was about to elaborate more when Arthene calling his name drew his attention away.

“Go see what she wants before she just comes over and picks you up again,” Netta said with a laugh, giving him a playful shove to the shoulder.

Rather than argue with her, Koda just rolled his eyes and trotted over to where Sienna and Arthene stood over the body of the robed Crooked. Sienna was looking thoughtful again, but not worried. He could tell because her tail was swaying slowly behind her full hips. Arthene was grinning as she stared at a tattered slip of parchment in her large hands.

“What did you ladies need?” Koda called as he got close enough. His words broke Sienna out of her thoughts and he got a radiant smile from his redheaded lover.

“We found their orders,” Arthene said, speaking before Sienna could and holding up the sheet of parchment.

Koda grimaced when he saw it, the stains and mildew on the paper made him honestly hesitant to touch the thing, and he made a mental note to get Arthene to wash her hands before she was allowed to play with his hair like she seemed to enjoy so much.

“What do they say?” he asked, pushing his concerns away for the moment. Sienna was the quicker one this time, answering his question before Arthene could even open her mouth.

“Report to the siege around Amberpost and reinforce that area. They are to relay orders to the commander there to take the town, or suffer when the next raiding force comes through the portal.”

“Which means that they still haven’t taken Amberpost,” Koda sighed with relief, a weight he’d been carrying since that morning when he’d seen the larger clouds of smoke falling from his shoulders.

“At least not since the order was issued, but that’s not the most important part.” Arthene was grinning even wider now as she wiggled the paper in her hands tantalizingly.

“Oh?”

“Mentioning the next raiding force means that we just trapped them on the other side of the portal with no way through. Someone back home is gonna be pissed at them!”

Now that was a thought that brought a smile to Koda’s face.