Reader Beware

Chapter 13

            Rika wasn’t sure how longer she was going to be able to keep this pace up. Her whole body felt weak, certain muscles flaring with pain when she moved wrong, making walking unpleasant. And they’d only just barely got on the road. She knew that Damek was doing his best to teach her as quickly as possible, but she was going to have to talk to him. If she kept this up much longer, she was going to collapse.

            The sun was still low in the sky, dew not yet evaporated off the shaded grass under the trees, and some birds were only now greeting the morning with song. With only a few puffy white clouds, and a light breeze cooling any sweat that formed on her forehead, Rika thought this was going to be a beautiful day. The kind where all she wanted to do was curl up in the sun with a good book and a cold glass of lemonade. It was almost enough to make her forget about the pain of her body.

            They entered the shadowy arch of trees, the first patch of woodland Rika had seen since yesterday that was more than a few dozen feet long. The sun filtered greenly through the branches, occasionally penetrating far enough to create patterns of light and shadow with the ever shifting leaves.

            It wasn’t until she heard the sharp crack of a dry twig snapping that Rika realized they weren’t alone. She whirled around, taking a step back when she saw the uniformed men behind her. Unlike the soldiers of yesterday, these men wore uniforms of mustard yellow. She noticed the colour before her mind finally accepted the fact that they were blocking off the road they come from.

            Rustling from her back had Rika turning again, seeing more yellow uniforms blocking the road in front of them and emerging from the trees to their sides. In short, they were surrounded.

            Her companions knew it too. Damek faced those blocking their road onward, shifting into a low stance that had one arm in front of him, while the other hovered by his cheek. Facing the other side of the road, Ahisu held his staff two-handed, keeping it between him and the men in front of him. Rika looked from one to the other, biting her lip. She knew, even with Damek’s teachings, she couldn’t hope to be more than a nuisance.

            One man stepped forward from the yellow swarm, head up, gold braid heavily weighing his jacket down. “Surrender. You are surrounded and outnumbered.”

            Ahisu snort and Damek laughed. “Numbers don’t mean as much as skill does. And if you’re going to attack us, we will defend ourselves.”

            The man looked down his short nose at Damek then raised a hand. When he brought it down, the soldiers rushed in as a whole. But the other two had obviously been expecting it, since they moved at the same time.

            Her heart pounding in her ears, Rika watched as Damek swung his whole body forward, all his weight going into the punch he slammed into the ground. She could actually see the ground moving, height increasing as it went, until it slammed into the soldiers charging, just below their knees. Two went down at once, to be trampled by those behind them.

            He didn’t stop there, changing stances in a blink of an eye. When the first soldier cleared the short rock and human barrier, he was ready, swinging one leg out before the man could register that Damek had moved. His foot caught him on the side of the head, the force of it slamming him into the ground, where lay, unmoving.

            Rika looked to Ahisu next, worried about him. She needn’t have bothered. His staff a red and black blur, he slammed it into anyone who got too near, in any target that presented itself. One man was down, a dent obvious in his head, while another was screaming and clutching his knee. Already the other soldiers were hesitating, none of them wanting to get close.

            A scream and the sudden metallic tang in the air had Rika turning again, this time to her right. She felt her stomach buck and roll, protesting what her eyes were seeing. Splattered in blood, and clutching at his protruding intestines, one soldier was dropping to his knees, his scream slowly dying. Even as she watched, another man went down, crying out until he ran out of air, his chest suddenly gaping open. It was like some invisible monster was carving up the soldiers as they crossed a certain line, something not lost on them either, if the way they were backing away, faces pale, was any indication.

            But as many as were falling, there were still more crowding up behind them. Rika saw one dart between Ahisu and Damek, his eyes locked on her. She set herself into the stance Damek had taught her, doing her best to ignore the fear fizzing in her veins along with the adrenaline.

            When he got in range, she swung a punch straight at his stomach. He caught her fist and yanked her forward, off balance. She yelped, scrabbling to recover and free herself at the same time. A moment later, a red crystal stuck in a loop of blackened wood entered her view, slamming into her captor’s face. He went down, face broken and bleeding, without even a twitch.

            Ahisu glanced at her briefly before running back to where he’d been. He lashed out with his staff again, shoving those trying to take advantage of his momentary absence back. Only when they were falling back did he called out “Shetton!”

            Brain still trying to deal with the fact that she’d come so close to death, Rika couldn’t figure out what the mage was trying to say. He didn’t help matters by turning away from the soldiers he’d been fighting, shifting his hold on his staff and rapidly drawing something on the ground, in a fluid, continuous movement.

            Rika was about to shout a warning to him, seeing three men moving in on him at once, but two fell in a moment, both clutching gushing neck wounds, the third staring at his companions before trying to run. He only got a few steps before his head exploded off his shoulders, landing with a thump in a bush a few feet away.

            That was too much for Rika. She felt her stomach heave and she doubled over, throwing up just beyond her feet, tears streaming down her face. This wasn’t the kind of adventure she’d imagined. This was…too real.

            A hand closed on her upper arm. She jerked up, staring into the dark eyes of Ahisu. He yanked her upright, then shoved her towards where he’d been standing, spinning just in time to catch a sword with his staff. Rika stumbled, stopping just sort of the weird symbols he’d drawn in the road’s dirt.

            Damek, seeing what was happening, dodged his last opponent, and raced towards her. He shoved her into the design, following right behind her. For a second, all Rika could see was red light, before she continued her forward tilt, only just catching herself from falling.

            When she looked up, she no longer so soldiers. In fact, she could only see trees several dozens of feet away, the ground around her covered in cobblestones, grass and flowers appearing just beyond it. Damek was standing just beside her, staring around in the same way she was.

            There was another flash of red, and Ahisu appeared, looking slightly dishevelled. Rika;s eyes went to him. “What…?”