Risha: Chapter 65

Fire rained from the skies, blasting tents before it was met by the magic of the shamans. Archers drew back their bows, firing into the sky at the drakes that harried them. 

Risha watched them fly higher, before swooping in for another attack. She stood tall in her chitinous armor, her black cloak billowing in the wind behind her. She drew back her arrow, her spirit channeling through the runes in the bone of her arrow. 

[Pack Leader: White] stabilized her form and increased her senses. She saw the paths of the Drakes before they followed them.

A deep breath, and a whisper to the spirits of air who watched her. 

She loosed the arrow, and drew another, spirit flowed into it as she loosed that one too. 

They flew farther than they had any right to, guided by the spirits of air until they pierced the eyes and wings of two drakes. 

They fell, and strings rose from the forest, ensnaring them as Klaz’zks controlled the webs of hundreds of spiders. 

Fire rained down, but the shamans were ready now, and the spirits of wind had gathered to Risha’s call, blowing the balls of flame into the river that flowed beside them. 

On the other side of camp, birds rose from the branches of trees, following the sapling’s call. The size of a small goblin, hundreds of the birds flocked around the drakes, harrying and distracting them in large black flocks. 

Risha drew another arrow, and loosed. The bone of the panther shifted through the birds, and reappeared on the other side, puncturing the chest of a drake rider, and causing him to plummet to the forest floor. 

Screeches filled the sky as another drake fell, then they were turning, retreating. It was the second attack they’d rebuffed, but it was slowing their march all the same. 

The fact that the enemy was this close to the roads had Risha worried. Supply caravans were important for Glo’s army, and the fact that Risha only had two draconic creatures to control the sky wasn’t good. Sun-Chaser had been protecting the supply caravans, but she only had so much power, even as one of Risha’s Chosen Spirits.

Risha lowered her bow. Shouts and calls sounded over the army as the wounded were organized, and damage was assessed.

Elder Oltak approached Risha. The Elder had been integral to the quick response of the shamans, his own magic leading their defences. Even now, a ring of water circled one of his hands as his bracelet glowed with magic. 

Risha paused, taking note of minute changes in the Elder. He looked younger, his cheeks sharper, and his hair with streaks of gray. His eyes now glowed with black flecks. 

“You evolved?” Risha asked. 

Elder Oltak nodded, “Just in time to take that last drake from the sky. I’ve become a High Goblin Mage.” 

Risha smiled, “Congratulations! I knew you’d get something special.”

He bowed his head, “Your words make me happy. Are you alright Grand Mother?”

Risha’s smile disappeared as she looked over the recovering army. “I’m not injured, but we’re moving too slow.” 

Elder Oltak considered his words before speaking, “Grand Mother, I have a suggestion.”

Risha turned her head to him, her expression hidden by her helmet. 

“What if, instead of meeting with Glo, we struck them here? Attack them on two fronts, force them to react.”

Risha mulled the suggestion over. If the enemy caught on too fast, it could be dangerous, but the direction of their march had been clear for a week now, an unexpected turn… “Call Klaz’zks and Elder Kulos.”

“Yes, Grand Mother.”

Elder Oltak sent runners, retrieving the two leaders of this expedition. 

Klaz’zks arrived in seconds, quickly covering ground in her spider form. Elder Kulos was a second behind. Risha explained Elder Oltak’s idea to them, curious what they thought.

“Glo protects the Goblin Town, if they chose to push before we arrived, it could be dangerous.” Elder Kulos mused, looking at the Elder who stood in opposition of him, “However, they are not expecting us to turn so soon, and the distraction could be what Glo needs.” 

Risha stared ahead, then turned to Klaz’zks, “Take a unit to reinforce Glo, keep the enemy's eyes on you for as long as possible. Make them think we still keep the path. Once you arrive, have Glo attack.” She turned to the two Goblin Elders, “Prepare everyone else to change paths, have the saplings give us the cover of the forest, we’ll need to be swift, but the Drakes can’t be roosting too far away.”

The three bowed to her, and the camp shifted as preparations were made to separate. Groups broke off from the main army in small numbers, rejoining under the cover of the trees. Subtle magics of the saplings increased their cover, foliage shifted in the wind, blocking sight from the skies as Monsters prowled through the forest. 

A skeleton army continued down the road, with the large black Empress spider standing large in her spider form. 

Risha watched the skies with baited breath, waiting before ordering her people to move. Eventually, [Tribal Hunter] focused on a drake in the skies. It drifted through clouds, following the disappearing army.

Risha raised her hand and dropped it in a signal to move.

Complete silence followed their footsteps. Hunters and Scouts used their skills to hide their presence, while Risha silently called the spirits to assist them in their movement. Most of the monsters here had spent their lives in these forests. Those, like the Under Goblins, who could not keep silent, accompanied Klaz’zks to the south.

The forest assisted them in their silence, the saplings who walked with them calling on the earth to support their every step. 

Soon, the air became damp, the ground wetter than it had any right to be. 

Ponds became deeper as the world around them turned into a swamp. Still, they did not stop. Saplings called upon the roots of the trees to rise for the army which stalked forward.

The first camp became visible, tents resting above the water. Scaled warriors, Drakes, and Serpents waited and walked around.

Elder Kulos led the assassins, silencing their scouts. By the time they noticed something was wrong, it was too late.

A cry went out, only to be cut short. That was their signal as Risha and a group of archers released their arrows into the camp.

Kliks jumped forward, and Risha climbed on top of her in one movement, following the large group of skittering spiders that flowed out of the forest and into the tents.

Drakes attempted to rise to the air, only to be caught by webs and arrows. 

A serpent struck from a nearby pool, and Kliks jumped away, dodging the lightning fast strike. 

Risha heard the voices of Scarlet and Crimson, begging to be drawn. 

Risha obliged. 

Scarlet flew forward, burying itself into the scales of the serpent. Risha pulled herself to the sword and she sliced forward with Crimson. 

Her blade dug deep into the snake’s neck. Risha’s eyes glowed as she increased the spirit flowing through the sword.

The large snake’s head flopped away from its body as its neck was cut.

Risha drew both swords, standing on top of the corpse. Scaled warriors rushed her, their heads taking all kinds of different forms, from lizard to cobra. 

Risha smiled as [Pack Leader: White] increased her senses, showing her the movements of her dance with death. 

Scarlet flew forward, piercing a Scaled warrior. With a flick of her wrist, the sword pulled free, and flowed into the wooden shield of another, larger Scaled warrior. 

She pulled herself to Scarlet, her other sword cutting through the neck of the large warrior. 

Her senses warned her, and she pulled the body of the warrior in front of her, several spears of ice piercing his body. 

A shaman raised his staff, calling the water of the river above him in the image of a dragon. 

Spears of earth rose from the ground behind the scaled shaman, piercing his body and raising him from the ground. The water fell to the ground, in a great splash.

Risha kicked the body of the scaled warrior off of her sword, then turned to see Elder Oltak. Water, air and earth flowed around him as he chanted, controlling the world around him. More scaled shamans fell under his magic.

Risha turned back to the battlefield, only to see the battle silencing with the deaths of the last of the Scaled creatures. 

In the distance, a single drake labored through the sky, attempting to retreat. Risha sheathed her swords. [Tribal Hunter] activated, tracking the creature through the sky.

She raised her hand, drawing the attention of all the nearby monsters.

She pointed, and the army moved, deeper into the enemy’s swamps. 

They followed the trail of the Drake through the dirty waters, ever deeper. Risha never lost sight of the Drake as they snuck through their lands.

Spiders climbed atop the branches of the trees, avoiding the waters after many harshly learned lessons. 

The enemy was prepared for them, and creatures watched from the skies and the water. But Risha had an advantage they did not. 

She spoke to the spirits, asking them to identify the creatures in the waters and the skies. With hundreds of invisible eyes assisting her, she pointed the scouts out to the assassins, and they approached the traveling clan of Scaled Warriors in silence. The injured drake they followed had forced the Scaled Warriors to stop to take care of it, and they’d set up camp on one of the few pieces of land in the swamp.

Risha watched them from atop Kliks as her people approached. Among the enemy were noncombatants, women and children. They stood amongst their warriors, bringing them food and healing the injured Drake.

This was a full clan, and their hundred warriors, like all the others, wore the chitinous armor of killed spiders. 

She knew what she should do. What would save her people’s lives. She had the advantage of surprise, and she could use it here and now to kill them before they could react, just as she had the others.

Her conversation with Iris came to mind. These creatures here, they did not see the other races as living, and they only cared about their own clansmen. But they did care about their clansmen. Their bonds went deep, and their traditions deeper. They would hate her people, simply because they were at war and she’d killed so many of them.

Risha raised a hand, considering her next choice with baited breath. She lowered it slowly, not giving the expected command that she knew she should give. 

Risha closed her eyes, then opened them. “Take me into view, Kliks.”  

The spider didn’t hesitate, trusting Risha's words.

They stood atop the trees, and Risha’s next words were translated from the power of her skill [Brood Mother].

“Clansmen of the Storm Dragon Clan, I am Grand Mother Risha. I have you surrounded. We can fight here and both of our people will die, or we can talk.”

Her words had a visible reaction from the Scaled Warriors. Bows were drawn, and arrows were fired, only to be pushed aside by a spirit of wind. 

A cry came over the scaled people, and an older Scaled Warrior stepped forward, his skin wrinkled, and a necklace of prizes decorating his neck. “Hold! Hold!” He turned to her as the drakes next to him spread their wings, ready to take to the sky. “You lie, Goblin.”

“I do not lie, Chief. Your scouts are dead, and my people are waiting. But I do not wish to kill all of you. Surrender.” 

The old lizard stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head, “We serve the Great One. We cannot surrender.” 

With those words, the drakes took to the sky, and the arrows fired.

Kliks fell between the trees, dodging the attack as her people ran forward, into battle.

Risha watched the battle, the death. Her people had orders to take those who surrendered, but even children will attack with a knife to defend their home.