Rojuun

Chapter 30

The knight looked at him thoughtfully.  “I believe your instincts are to be trusted, Master Tathan.  I do not know how to attack a sense of dread, however.”

Tathan chuckled.  “I haven’t figured that one out either.  Just be ready for the unexpected I guess.”

He nodded.  “I will be extra diligent, Master Tathan.”

“Thank you.”  Tathan smiled gratefully and placed a hand on his shoulder.

They reached their destination a short while later.  This tunnel was near the river, which flowed just a short distance away.  A waterfall poured out of the wall about twenty feet up, creating a pool that would be perfect for swimming in when the cavern was safe.  From there, the river traveled to the lake on the far end.  They were on high ground, enabling the party to see everywhere else.  The glow of life in the river made it bright, while phosphorescent moss from the ceiling and walls combined with the plants, giving the cavern a moonlit cast.

The builders set up camp between the pool and the tunnel they were going to gate.  They began work just as soon as everything was set.  Liselle stayed at the camp with Vevin and his trainee.  Sir Danth, Tathan and Marrraa took their trainees and scouted the area.

It wasn’t long before they came across a pack of sstejj that had caught scent of the builders.  Sir Danth and Marrraa led their trainees into the pack while Tathan fell back to catch any that might get past.  He looked at Aaruulaa to see if she were ready.  She was juggling her knives and grinning at him, ready for anything that should come.

He was surprised to see three of the sstejj get past Sir Danth and Marrraa right away.  It was a larger pack than usual.  Tathan leapt onto the back of one, slicing through it and somersaulted to the next, killing it just as efficiently while his trainee took care of the third.  She looked at him in surprise, as he had never taken the first kills like that.  There was also some awe there as she saw how easy he made it seem.

Suddenly there were more sstejj rushing toward them, a lot more.  Sir Danth was yelling at his trainee to fall back.  Tathan and Aaruulaa covered the retreat.  Marrraa and Turrr also fell back to Tathan’s position.  The sstejj were rushing past their flanks.  There were too many and Marrraa pulled out a horn to sound the alarm to the building party.

Sir Danth stood at the front of the rush and raised his sword.  Brilliant light emanated from the blade.  He plunged it deep into the ground.  An enormous shockwave knocked scores of sstejj off their feet and shattered creatures close to him.  The force of the shockwave acted as an overload to the sstejj, stunning them.  The warriors dashed back to the perimeters of the camp, taking defensive positions.

Sstejj began flowing toward the camp like a tidal wave.  The builders gathered with weapons ready.  Vevin stood at the right, rear flank of the camp in a crouch, purple whip coiled around his body.  Liselle stood behind him, not taking any action.  They would be safe near the pool.

Sir Danth, Tathan, and Marrraa spaced themselves at the outer diameter of the camp with their trainees and fought the rush.

A crack of thunder sounded through the cavern, then another and another.  Purple lightning killed large swaths of sstejj as Vevin cast his spells, determined to keep Liselle safe.  Tathan felt a burst of speed and began cutting through sstejj twice as fast.  All of the warriors were moving faster.  He felt Liselle’s touch in the magical energy and knew she had done something to give them speed and strength.  He hoped that it wasn’t too much for her, but decided to be more thankful than upset.

Magic flared forth from the builders.  Tathan had been told that all Rojuun could do magic, but was surprised to see so many spells cascading into the pack.  Vibrant colors of fire, ice, lightning and other spells washed through the sstejj.  In addition, Tathan discovered that his vision became sharper, he moved even faster, and there was power in each action he performed.  Rojuun spellcasters were sending their own boosting magic toward the warriors.  Suddenly Tathan became confident that they could take this fight easily in spite of the numbers.