Chapter 149: Another Screech
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Chapter 149: Another Screech
Tala spat out a weird collection of dirt, leaves, and other detritus as she vaulted back to her feet. You lied to me!
Rane grinned as he kept his relatively short training-sword up and on guard between them. How so?
Youre better with a bastard-sword, than with a greatsword. Why the rust is your main weapon a greatsword?
Better reach? Even this has better reach, though. He shrugged. Skill doesnt come into play as much when fighting beasts, and the greater range is useful. But this? He nodded her way. Fighting one on one, skill factors far more.
Tala pulled a stick from her hair, then hesitated, thinking back to his words. Waitwhat is your best weapon?
He shrugged again. The one I learned first was a simple club, so I am most experienced with that, at least time wise. As to my best weapon, skill wise?
Yes. Tala tried not to grit her teeth.
I think longsword would fit that role. He shrugged. Swords bigger than that, he tapped the bastard-sword, like this one and Force, just take a bit of modification to the movements and tactics. Give me a shield and Im even better. He grinned.
Tala took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was used to losing, but shed been getting better, improving her form and technique. So, youre still not using your best weapon.
Shed thought she was catching up to Rane.
Shed been mistaken.
Rane had taken her apart in less than three exchanges in each bout that theyd had that night. More humiliating, however, was that without Forces magics, a single hit wouldnt take her down. Rane had to weave around her defenses scoring multiple blows before he could gain an opening through which he could trip her up and knock her to the ground.
You are getting better. His tone was sincere enough that she really didnt have much choice but to believe he was being honest.
Tala sighed. Thats kind of you to say, but it feels like a lie.
He shrugged. Whether or not you believe me, its true. You even used that rod to block a couple of my attacks. His eyes flicked to the tungsten rod, now orbiting Tala in slow, regular circles. It is disconcerting to have that thing whipping around you.
Tala had to grin at that. Shed been able to fend him back quite a few times with the unconventional weapon. Without it, the bouts would likely have ended even more quickly. Though, in truth, her use of that extra tool made his victories all the more impressive.
I have a suggestion, if I may?
She nodded.
I think you should practice two-fold. First, we should work with some of the guardsmen who are interested, to fine-tune the movement of your defensive bloodstars through the weapon forms youre practicing. Then, that placement can become second-nature to you.
Tala found herself nodding. Well have to modify them again, when I change to more useful items.
Rane shrugged. Itll be good exercise, either way.
Whats the second aspect?
I think you should defend against me with just the rod. No attacking, just watching for my attacks and blocking them.
She thought for a long moment, then nodded. Yeah, I think that makes sense. It will pair well into the first aspect.
That was my thinking. He smiled. Shall we?
Tala grinned back. That sounds great. Thank you.
* * *
It was the middle of the night, and Tala was keeping herself awake to be alert on watch for the second half of the night.
Shed used a few different things to accomplish that increasingly difficult task.
The first, and most obvious, was a copious amount of coffee. Irritatingly, now whenever she drank coffee, she saw that horrified healers face. Ill cut back soon when I dont need to stay awake.
On top of the coffee, she exercised her soul and her magic, alternating and interspersing that with physical exertion to keep herself from falling asleep just because she wasnt moving enough.
Of course, she kept her fusing progressing in the background. She couldnt easily tell how much she had left to fuse, but it was less than when shed started. Obviously.
At the moment, she had expanded her aura in front of herself, covering an almost ten-foot sphere above the wagon-top. Within that sphere, she moved through her soul exercises and used them to manipulate Flow and her tungsten rod in a mock duel.
Flow was in the form of a knife, with the training sheath secured in place.
As the two items clashed, Tala was imagining little figures wielding the small weapons in a death battle. Flow was about to defeat Rod once and for all when something tickled her mage-sight.
Immediately, Flow was in her hand, and her rod was floating behind her, ready to defend. She stood, spinning to face the source of the horribly familiar feeling.
The empowered lights spaced around the caravans camp cast a large bubble of light, and at the edge of that light, beside a large trunk, stood a small form made of vegetation.
Ohrust.
Leshkin! Tala hissed out the word with enough force that the guardsmen stationed on watch atop the chuckwagon could easily hear her, without it being a shout that would carry into the woods.
One of the guards looked to her as Tala pointed, using that to orient towards the threat.
An instant later, the twang of a crossbow announced their response.
Only one? She nodded. Right, the lesser only take one.
As the bolt struck home, the tiny creature threw back its head and let out a skin scraping shriek.
The inscription on the quarrel activated, and the Leshkin puffed into a disconnected cloud of leaves, which tumbled aimlessly before settling to the ground.
Silence fell over the clearing as the creatures scream seemed to echo in Talas ears long after the origin of the horrible sound was gone.
Dont sigh in relief. In the stories, thats always when the answering cry comes.
One of the guards, Carl, if Tala was seeing and remembering correctly, let out a long breath, and Tala barely was able to hear his words. That was a close one.
As if in answer, another screech sounded, off in the forest, then a second a bit further away, then a third farther still.
Tala glared across the distance to the chuckwagon as one of the other guards glared at the offending man. Rust you, Carl. You just had to say something.
They came in groups and packs with seemingly randomly varied spacing, which gave Tala and Rane time to move backwards to keep pace with the retreating wagons.
And while this was absolutely fantastic practice for virtually every one of her techniques, she had a feeling that it was going to be a very long day.
* * *
Tala was exhausted.
Cut, duck, kick a Leshkin back.
Acid rolled across her skin, cutting caustic lines in her elk leathers, even as it repaired itself. Tala maintained two void-channels to the garments, praying that it would be enough to keep them from being overwhelmed.
The caravan was still retreating behind their backs, as monsters swarmed up from the south in an unending tide.
She needed a break, or she was going to make a mistake and be overwhelmed. Thankfully, theyd set up a short command phrase for her to indicate such a need. Stepping back!
Shed heard Rane use it several times already, and it worked just as well for her, as it had for him.
The guards behind her surged forward, moving around her to plant their shields between her and the next batch of Leshkin, short swords drawn to replace their crossbows as they hacked the Leshkin back.
Some of the mounted guards came forward to use their spears to reinforce those on the ground.
Tala took deep breaths, using the moment to guzzle the rest of the ending berry juice from her flask, followed by water from her incorporator and jerky straight from Kit.
Terry was perched on the back of the chuckwagon, eyes watching her intently across the distance. Hed not interfered at all throughout the long morning, but there hadnt been a need.
Now that noon had come and gone, even Talas high endurance was reaching its end.
Rane had cycled out a few times already, though he was back in the fight at the moment.
The guard units were switching out every half-hour or so. That let them rest for the majority of the time. Though, that rest included a stint as the mounted backup and another as the crossbowmen on the wagon roofs.
Its alright for me to take a breather. Ive earned it; I think.
Tala had been out of the fight for less than a minute, when the Leshkin swept around the guards, ignoring them almost completely to rush at her. The horses of the mounted guards shied back, despite their combat training.
After all, anything gets a bit skittish when a tree comes for it.
Tala grunted around the jerky. Well, that settles it.
There was no longer any doubt that they were targeting her. Even after more than a month, they remember me
There had been countless paths to go around her and those fighting with her, but the Leshkin had largely ignored the potential.
Now that she wasnt on the front line, they were bypassing those who were, making it laughably obvious that only their obsession with her was keeping the creatures from catching the caravan.
Tala cursed, swallowing and pulling Flow back into her hands in the form of a glaive to cut across the necks of those rushing her with animalistic intensity.
The jerky lodged in her throat.
Chaos reigned.
Even as Tala gagged on the improperly chewed jerky, her attack killed four Leshkin, but also sent a spray of acid at the backs of the guards who had relieved her.
Their armor protected them to some extent, but the damage was still done.
Tala had to briefly bend over, hacking to clear her throat.
The creatures still facing the guardsmens shields were able to batter through the suddenly agonized defenders, and Talas desperately needed break became a desperate situation of an entirely different kind.
No. Now able to breathe again, she didnt let herself freeze as the men and women whod been fighting beside her were taken to the ground.
Tala lunged forward, accepting slashing cuts to draw closer, slaying as many as she could, while she tried to cover the mere feet between her and the falling guards.
A Leshkin that she couldnt counter without slowing down latched its wicked fangs into her left shoulder. Its claws sunk into her side and leg as it whipped its head back and forth like a dog with a bone.
Tala screamed in rage and pain as she stretched over and drove Flow down, through the top of its head. As she struck, Flow changed from a knife to a sword, allowing for a strike that she couldnt have easily accomplished with any other weapon.
With a twist and forwards sweep, Tala ripped the Leshkin open sufficiently to end this vessels life.
The thorns of its being still clung to her, making her inscriptions struggle to push out the invading material and close the wounds.
But her mind was on the five figures just before her.
She swept low with her tungsten rod, aiming to knock the Leshkin from atop the bodies on the ground.
She mainly succeeded, though it put a great strain on her soul to do so.
She was scrapping the bottom of her reserves.
Putting most of her weight on her uninjured leg, Tala took up a firm stance before the guards on the ground, her every trick coming to bear. Thankfully, both her legs would soon be effectively undamaged.
As a group of Leshkin knights came into view, rushing her, she dropped all three with Crush. It took two rings each. They were blessedly much weaker than the juggernauts that they could meld into.
The warriors were too numerous for her to use that limited casting on them, but she still tried messing with their effective gravity.
She found that reducing their gravity really didnt do much, as they could use the vegetation in their feet to grip the ground and move with very little difference. It didnt even take them that much time to adjust.
Making them heavier, however, caused stumbling and eventual destruction, but that took nearly thirty seconds to achieve. So, she targeted those the farthest away, trying to bring them down before they could reinforce those she was actively engaging with Flow and tungsten.
Blessedly, the steady thwack of quarrels into the swarm of Leshkin let her know that she hadnt been abandoned. Not that they could let me go that easily.
Mistress Oderas voice came to her, then. Retreat, Mistress Tala. We must risk a shielded retreat. I am preparing now. Master Rane and his guards are already moving this way.
Tala glanced down and back at the guards still on the ground. They werent moving much, but she could see evidence of life, still, despite the blood and acid liberally speckled around them. You know, some of that is definitely mine No, not without them.
She felt herself settle in, firm in her resolve. I will not leave them behind.
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Chapter 149: Another Screech
Tala spat out a weird collection of dirt, leaves, and other detritus as she vaulted back to her feet. You lied to me!
Rane grinned as he kept his relatively short training-sword up and on guard between them. How so?
Youre better with a bastard-sword, than with a greatsword. Why the rust is your main weapon a greatsword?
Better reach? Even this has better reach, though. He shrugged. Skill doesnt come into play as much when fighting beasts, and the greater range is useful. But this? He nodded her way. Fighting one on one, skill factors far more.
Tala pulled a stick from her hair, then hesitated, thinking back to his words. Waitwhat is your best weapon?
He shrugged again. The one I learned first was a simple club, so I am most experienced with that, at least time wise. As to my best weapon, skill wise?
Yes. Tala tried not to grit her teeth.
I think longsword would fit that role. He shrugged. Swords bigger than that, he tapped the bastard-sword, like this one and Force, just take a bit of modification to the movements and tactics. Give me a shield and Im even better. He grinned.
Tala took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was used to losing, but shed been getting better, improving her form and technique. So, youre still not using your best weapon.
Shed thought she was catching up to Rane.
Shed been mistaken.
Rane had taken her apart in less than three exchanges in each bout that theyd had that night. More humiliating, however, was that without Forces magics, a single hit wouldnt take her down. Rane had to weave around her defenses scoring multiple blows before he could gain an opening through which he could trip her up and knock her to the ground.
You are getting better. His tone was sincere enough that she really didnt have much choice but to believe he was being honest.
Tala sighed. Thats kind of you to say, but it feels like a lie.
He shrugged. Whether or not you believe me, its true. You even used that rod to block a couple of my attacks. His eyes flicked to the tungsten rod, now orbiting Tala in slow, regular circles. It is disconcerting to have that thing whipping around you.
Tala had to grin at that. Shed been able to fend him back quite a few times with the unconventional weapon. Without it, the bouts would likely have ended even more quickly. Though, in truth, her use of that extra tool made his victories all the more impressive.
I have a suggestion, if I may?
She nodded.
I think you should practice two-fold. First, we should work with some of the guardsmen who are interested, to fine-tune the movement of your defensive bloodstars through the weapon forms youre practicing. Then, that placement can become second-nature to you.
Tala found herself nodding. Well have to modify them again, when I change to more useful items.
Rane shrugged. Itll be good exercise, either way.
Whats the second aspect?
I think you should defend against me with just the rod. No attacking, just watching for my attacks and blocking them.
She thought for a long moment, then nodded. Yeah, I think that makes sense. It will pair well into the first aspect.
That was my thinking. He smiled. Shall we?
Tala grinned back. That sounds great. Thank you.
* * *
It was the middle of the night, and Tala was keeping herself awake to be alert on watch for the second half of the night.
Shed used a few different things to accomplish that increasingly difficult task.
The first, and most obvious, was a copious amount of coffee. Irritatingly, now whenever she drank coffee, she saw that horrified healers face. Ill cut back soon when I dont need to stay awake.
On top of the coffee, she exercised her soul and her magic, alternating and interspersing that with physical exertion to keep herself from falling asleep just because she wasnt moving enough.
Of course, she kept her fusing progressing in the background. She couldnt easily tell how much she had left to fuse, but it was less than when shed started. Obviously.
At the moment, she had expanded her aura in front of herself, covering an almost ten-foot sphere above the wagon-top. Within that sphere, she moved through her soul exercises and used them to manipulate Flow and her tungsten rod in a mock duel.
Flow was in the form of a knife, with the training sheath secured in place.
As the two items clashed, Tala was imagining little figures wielding the small weapons in a death battle. Flow was about to defeat Rod once and for all when something tickled her mage-sight.
Immediately, Flow was in her hand, and her rod was floating behind her, ready to defend. She stood, spinning to face the source of the horribly familiar feeling.
The empowered lights spaced around the caravans camp cast a large bubble of light, and at the edge of that light, beside a large trunk, stood a small form made of vegetation.
Ohrust.
Leshkin! Tala hissed out the word with enough force that the guardsmen stationed on watch atop the chuckwagon could easily hear her, without it being a shout that would carry into the woods.
One of the guards looked to her as Tala pointed, using that to orient towards the threat.
An instant later, the twang of a crossbow announced their response.
Only one? She nodded. Right, the lesser only take one.
As the bolt struck home, the tiny creature threw back its head and let out a skin scraping shriek.
The inscription on the quarrel activated, and the Leshkin puffed into a disconnected cloud of leaves, which tumbled aimlessly before settling to the ground.
Silence fell over the clearing as the creatures scream seemed to echo in Talas ears long after the origin of the horrible sound was gone.
Dont sigh in relief. In the stories, thats always when the answering cry comes.
One of the guards, Carl, if Tala was seeing and remembering correctly, let out a long breath, and Tala barely was able to hear his words. That was a close one.
As if in answer, another screech sounded, off in the forest, then a second a bit further away, then a third farther still.
Tala glared across the distance to the chuckwagon as one of the other guards glared at the offending man. Rust you, Carl. You just had to say something.
They came in groups and packs with seemingly randomly varied spacing, which gave Tala and Rane time to move backwards to keep pace with the retreating wagons.
And while this was absolutely fantastic practice for virtually every one of her techniques, she had a feeling that it was going to be a very long day.
* * *
Tala was exhausted.
Cut, duck, kick a Leshkin back.
Acid rolled across her skin, cutting caustic lines in her elk leathers, even as it repaired itself. Tala maintained two void-channels to the garments, praying that it would be enough to keep them from being overwhelmed.
The caravan was still retreating behind their backs, as monsters swarmed up from the south in an unending tide.
She needed a break, or she was going to make a mistake and be overwhelmed. Thankfully, theyd set up a short command phrase for her to indicate such a need. Stepping back!
Shed heard Rane use it several times already, and it worked just as well for her, as it had for him.
The guards behind her surged forward, moving around her to plant their shields between her and the next batch of Leshkin, short swords drawn to replace their crossbows as they hacked the Leshkin back.
Some of the mounted guards came forward to use their spears to reinforce those on the ground.
Tala took deep breaths, using the moment to guzzle the rest of the ending berry juice from her flask, followed by water from her incorporator and jerky straight from Kit.
Terry was perched on the back of the chuckwagon, eyes watching her intently across the distance. Hed not interfered at all throughout the long morning, but there hadnt been a need.
Now that noon had come and gone, even Talas high endurance was reaching its end.
Rane had cycled out a few times already, though he was back in the fight at the moment.
The guard units were switching out every half-hour or so. That let them rest for the majority of the time. Though, that rest included a stint as the mounted backup and another as the crossbowmen on the wagon roofs.
Its alright for me to take a breather. Ive earned it; I think.
Tala had been out of the fight for less than a minute, when the Leshkin swept around the guards, ignoring them almost completely to rush at her. The horses of the mounted guards shied back, despite their combat training.
After all, anything gets a bit skittish when a tree comes for it.
Tala grunted around the jerky. Well, that settles it.
There was no longer any doubt that they were targeting her. Even after more than a month, they remember me
There had been countless paths to go around her and those fighting with her, but the Leshkin had largely ignored the potential.
Now that she wasnt on the front line, they were bypassing those who were, making it laughably obvious that only their obsession with her was keeping the creatures from catching the caravan.
Tala cursed, swallowing and pulling Flow back into her hands in the form of a glaive to cut across the necks of those rushing her with animalistic intensity.
The jerky lodged in her throat.
Chaos reigned.
Even as Tala gagged on the improperly chewed jerky, her attack killed four Leshkin, but also sent a spray of acid at the backs of the guards who had relieved her.
Their armor protected them to some extent, but the damage was still done.
Tala had to briefly bend over, hacking to clear her throat.
The creatures still facing the guardsmens shields were able to batter through the suddenly agonized defenders, and Talas desperately needed break became a desperate situation of an entirely different kind.
No. Now able to breathe again, she didnt let herself freeze as the men and women whod been fighting beside her were taken to the ground.
Tala lunged forward, accepting slashing cuts to draw closer, slaying as many as she could, while she tried to cover the mere feet between her and the falling guards.
A Leshkin that she couldnt counter without slowing down latched its wicked fangs into her left shoulder. Its claws sunk into her side and leg as it whipped its head back and forth like a dog with a bone.
Tala screamed in rage and pain as she stretched over and drove Flow down, through the top of its head. As she struck, Flow changed from a knife to a sword, allowing for a strike that she couldnt have easily accomplished with any other weapon.
With a twist and forwards sweep, Tala ripped the Leshkin open sufficiently to end this vessels life.
The thorns of its being still clung to her, making her inscriptions struggle to push out the invading material and close the wounds.
But her mind was on the five figures just before her.
She swept low with her tungsten rod, aiming to knock the Leshkin from atop the bodies on the ground.
She mainly succeeded, though it put a great strain on her soul to do so.
She was scrapping the bottom of her reserves.
Putting most of her weight on her uninjured leg, Tala took up a firm stance before the guards on the ground, her every trick coming to bear. Thankfully, both her legs would soon be effectively undamaged.
As a group of Leshkin knights came into view, rushing her, she dropped all three with Crush. It took two rings each. They were blessedly much weaker than the juggernauts that they could meld into.
The warriors were too numerous for her to use that limited casting on them, but she still tried messing with their effective gravity.
She found that reducing their gravity really didnt do much, as they could use the vegetation in their feet to grip the ground and move with very little difference. It didnt even take them that much time to adjust.
Making them heavier, however, caused stumbling and eventual destruction, but that took nearly thirty seconds to achieve. So, she targeted those the farthest away, trying to bring them down before they could reinforce those she was actively engaging with Flow and tungsten.
Blessedly, the steady thwack of quarrels into the swarm of Leshkin let her know that she hadnt been abandoned. Not that they could let me go that easily.
Mistress Oderas voice came to her, then. Retreat, Mistress Tala. We must risk a shielded retreat. I am preparing now. Master Rane and his guards are already moving this way.
Tala glanced down and back at the guards still on the ground. They werent moving much, but she could see evidence of life, still, despite the blood and acid liberally speckled around them. You know, some of that is definitely mine No, not without them.
She felt herself settle in, firm in her resolve. I will not leave them behind.
Chapter 149: Another ScreechTala spat out a weird collection of dirt, leaves, and other detritus as she vaulted back to her feet. You lied to me!Rane grinned as he kept his relatively short training-sword up and on guard between them. How so?Youre better with a bastard-sword, than with a greatsword. Why the rust is your main weapon a greatsword?Better reach? Even this has better reach, though. He shrugged. Skill doesnt come into play as much when fighting beasts, and the greater range is useful. But this? He nodded her way. Fighting one on one, skill factors far more.Tala pulled a stick from her hair, then hesitated, thinking back to his words. Waitwhat is your best weapon?He shrugged again. The one I learned first was a simple club, so I am most experienced with that, at least time wise. As to my best weapon, skill wise?Yes. Tala tried not to grit her teeth.I think longsword would fit that role. He shrugged. Swords bigger than that, he tapped the bastard-sword, like this one and Force, just take a bit of modification to the movements and tactics. Give me a shield and Im even better. He grinned.Tala took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was used to losing, but shed been getting better, improving her form and technique. So, youre still not using your best weapon.Shed thought she was catching up to Rane.Shed been mistaken.Rane had taken her apart in less than three exchanges in each bout that theyd had that night. More humiliating, however, was that without Forces magics, a single hit wouldnt take her down. Rane had to weave around her defenses scoring multiple blows before he could gain an opening through which he could trip her up and knock her to the ground.You are getting better. His tone was sincere enough that she really didnt have much choice but to believe he was being honest.Tala sighed. Thats kind of you to say, but it feels like a lie.He shrugged. Whether or not you believe me, its true. You even used that rod to block a couple of my attacks. His eyes flicked to the tungsten rod, now orbiting Tala in slow, regular circles. It is disconcerting to have that thing whipping around you.Tala had to grin at that. Shed been able to fend him back quite a few times with the unconventional weapon. Without it, the bouts would likely have ended even more quickly. Though, in truth, her use of that extra tool made his victories all the more impressive.I have a suggestion, if I may?She nodded.I think you should practice two-fold. First, we should work with some of the guardsmen who are interested, to fine-tune the movement of your defensive bloodstars through the weapon forms youre practicing. Then, that placement can become second-nature to you.Tala found herself nodding. Well have to modify them again, when I change to more useful items.Rane shrugged. Itll be good exercise, either way.Whats the second aspect?I think you should defend against me with just the rod. No attacking, just watching for my attacks and blocking them.She thought for a long moment, then nodded. Yeah, I think that makes sense. It will pair well into the first aspect.That was my thinking. He smiled. Shall we?Tala grinned back. That sounds great. Thank you.* * *It was the middle of the night, and Tala was keeping herself awake to be alert on watch for the second half of the night.Shed used a few different things to accomplish that increasingly difficult task.The first, and most obvious, was a copious amount of coffee. Irritatingly, now whenever she drank coffee, she saw that horrified healers face. Ill cut back soon when I dont need to stay awake.On top of the coffee, she exercised her soul and her magic, alternating and interspersing that with physical exertion to keep herself from falling asleep just because she wasnt moving enough.Of course, she kept her fusing progressing in the background. She couldnt easily tell how much she had left to fuse, but it was less than when shed started. Obviously.At the moment, she had expanded her aura in front of herself, covering an almost ten-foot sphere above the wagon-top. Within that sphere, she moved through her soul exercises and used them to manipulate Flow and her tungsten rod in a mock duel.Flow was in the form of a knife, with the training sheath secured in place.As the two items clashed, Tala was imagining little figures wielding the small weapons in a death battle. Flow was about to defeat Rod once and for all when something tickled her mage-sight.Immediately, Flow was in her hand, and her rod was floating behind her, ready to defend. She stood, spinning to face the source of the horribly familiar feeling.The empowered lights spaced around the caravans camp cast a large bubble of light, and at the edge of that light, beside a large trunk, stood a small form made of vegetation.Ohrust.Leshkin! Tala hissed out the word with enough force that the guardsmen stationed on watch atop the chuckwagon could easily hear her, without it being a shout that would carry into the woods.One of the guards looked to her as Tala pointed, using that to orient towards the threat.An instant later, the twang of a crossbow announced their response.Only one? She nodded. Right, the lesser only take one.As the bolt struck home, the tiny creature threw back its head and let out a skin scraping shriek.The inscription on the quarrel activated, and the Leshkin puffed into a disconnected cloud of leaves, which tumbled aimlessly before settling to the ground.Silence fell over the clearing as the creatures scream seemed to echo in Talas ears long after the origin of the horrible sound was gone.Dont sigh in relief. In the stories, thats always when the answering cry comes.One of the guards, Carl, if Tala was seeing and remembering correctly, let out a long breath, and Tala barely was able to hear his words. That was a close one.As if in answer, another screech sounded, off in the forest, then a second a bit further away, then a third farther still.Tala glared across the distance to the chuckwagon as one of the other guards glared at the offending man. Rust you, Carl. You just had to say something.They came in groups and packs with seemingly randomly varied spacing, which gave Tala and Rane time to move backwards to keep pace with the retreating wagons.And while this was absolutely fantastic practice for virtually every one of her techniques, she had a feeling that it was going to be a very long day.* * *Tala was exhausted.Cut, duck, kick a Leshkin back.Acid rolled across her skin, cutting caustic lines in her elk leathers, even as it repaired itself. Tala maintained two void-channels to the garments, praying that it would be enough to keep them from being overwhelmed.The caravan was still retreating behind their backs, as monsters swarmed up from the south in an unending tide.She needed a break, or she was going to make a mistake and be overwhelmed. Thankfully, theyd set up a short command phrase for her to indicate such a need. Stepping back!Shed heard Rane use it several times already, and it worked just as well for her, as it had for him.The guards behind her surged forward, moving around her to plant their shields between her and the next batch of Leshkin, short swords drawn to replace their crossbows as they hacked the Leshkin back.Some of the mounted guards came forward to use their spears to reinforce those on the ground.Tala took deep breaths, using the moment to guzzle the rest of the ending berry juice from her flask, followed by water from her incorporator and jerky straight from Kit.Terry was perched on the back of the chuckwagon, eyes watching her intently across the distance. Hed not interfered at all throughout the long morning, but there hadnt been a need.Now that noon had come and gone, even Talas high endurance was reaching its end.Rane had cycled out a few times already, though he was back in the fight at the moment.The guard units were switching out every half-hour or so. That let them rest for the majority of the time. Though, that rest included a stint as the mounted backup and another as the crossbowmen on the wagon roofs.Its alright for me to take a breather. Ive earned it; I think.Tala had been out of the fight for less than a minute, when the Leshkin swept around the guards, ignoring them almost completely to rush at her. The horses of the mounted guards shied back, despite their combat training.After all, anything gets a bit skittish when a tree comes for it.Tala grunted around the jerky. Well, that settles it.There was no longer any doubt that they were targeting her. Even after more than a month, they remember meThere had been countless paths to go around her and those fighting with her, but the Leshkin had largely ignored the potential.Now that she wasnt on the front line, they were bypassing those who were, making it laughably obvious that only their obsession with her was keeping the creatures from catching the caravan.Tala cursed, swallowing and pulling Flow back into her hands in the form of a glaive to cut across the necks of those rushing her with animalistic intensity.The jerky lodged in her throat.Chaos reigned.Even as Tala gagged on the improperly chewed jerky, her attack killed four Leshkin, but also sent a spray of acid at the backs of the guards who had relieved her.Their armor protected them to some extent, but the damage was still done.Tala had to briefly bend over, hacking to clear her throat.The creatures still facing the guardsmens shields were able to batter through the suddenly agonized defenders, and Talas desperately needed break became a desperate situation of an entirely different kind.No. Now able to breathe again, she didnt let herself freeze as the men and women whod been fighting beside her were taken to the ground.Tala lunged forward, accepting slashing cuts to draw closer, slaying as many as she could, while she tried to cover the mere feet between her and the falling guards.A Leshkin that she couldnt counter without slowing down latched its wicked fangs into her left shoulder. Its claws sunk into her side and leg as it whipped its head back and forth like a dog with a bone.Tala screamed in rage and pain as she stretched over and drove Flow down, through the top of its head. As she struck, Flow changed from a knife to a sword, allowing for a strike that she couldnt have easily accomplished with any other weapon.With a twist and forwards sweep, Tala ripped the Leshkin open sufficiently to end this vessels life.The thorns of its being still clung to her, making her inscriptions struggle to push out the invading material and close the wounds.But her mind was on the five figures just before her.She swept low with her tungsten rod, aiming to knock the Leshkin from atop the bodies on the ground.She mainly succeeded, though it put a great strain on her soul to do so.She was scrapping the bottom of her reserves.Putting most of her weight on her uninjured leg, Tala took up a firm stance before the guards on the ground, her every trick coming to bear. Thankfully, both her legs would soon be effectively undamaged.As a group of Leshkin knights came into view, rushing her, she dropped all three with Crush. It took two rings each. They were blessedly much weaker than the juggernauts that they could meld into.The warriors were too numerous for her to use that limited casting on them, but she still tried messing with their effective gravity.She found that reducing their gravity really didnt do much, as they could use the vegetation in their feet to grip the ground and move with very little difference. It didnt even take them that much time to adjust.Making them heavier, however, caused stumbling and eventual destruction, but that took nearly thirty seconds to achieve. So, she targeted those the farthest away, trying to bring them down before they could reinforce those she was actively engaging with Flow and tungsten.Blessedly, the steady thwack of quarrels into the swarm of Leshkin let her know that she hadnt been abandoned. Not that they could let me go that easily.Mistress Oderas voice came to her, then. Retreat, Mistress Tala. We must risk a shielded retreat. I am preparing now. Master Rane and his guards are already moving this way.Tala glanced down and back at the guards still on the ground. They werent moving much, but she could see evidence of life, still, despite the blood and acid liberally speckled around them. You know, some of that is definitely mine No, not without them.She felt herself settle in, firm in her resolve. I will not leave them behind.
