And then the Primiad rolled over them and everything dissolved into a wave of darkness. Van Joss quickly found himself moving without thought, fighting not for advantage but for mere survival. His hands became weapons, his feet lashing destruction as he wove through the darkness, slashing through the darting bodies that sought to bring him down. Time again flew as his conscious mind yielded to his trained reflexes, the only things that were keeping him alive.
As quickly as it had begun, it was over. With stiffened fingers, van Joss crushed the windpipe of the Primiad soldier in front of him, looking oddly human as it fell back, choking up blood. While it writhed its last moments away on the ground, the lean operative glanced around, looking for his next opponent. And he found himself quite unexpectedly alone.
Not only was Longspear gone, but so were Kelly and his elves, along with the two Primiad.
A flicker of irritation sent a ripple along van Joss's jaw. Then he shoved it aside to concentrate on looking for survivors. If there were any.
"Longspear? Salina? Kelly!" A groan to his left quickly captured the lean operative's attention. Carefully he worked towards it, moving around the dead bodies and through the trees.
It was Longspear, pinned beneath the dead bodies of three Primiad soldiers. Without hesitation van Joss pulled the dead bodies off of her, the last one still transfixed by one of her poniards. As that body fell away into the darkness, relieved of the poniard, Longspear finally stirred.
"Oooh, my head," she groaned softly, leaning forward to rub it. When she brought her hand back forward and into the moonlight, it was dark with blood.
"You must've hit it against a rock or a root when you fell," van Joss noted, glancing around cautiously as she shook her head to clear the cobwebs. He didn't want any surprises while he waited for his erstwhile companion to recover her wits somewhat.
"I think you might be right about that," Longspear conceded with another quiet groan of discomfort. "Last thing I remember was one of the Primiad throwing himself forward. I tried to get my poniard up in time but he crashed into me. Next thing I knew I was hearing your voice calling my name."
Her dark eyes, still a little cloudy from her blow to the head, then glanced around as van Joss returned her poniard minus the blood that had smeared the bright metal.
"Our losses?" Longspear asked softly as she sheathed it. Van Joss frowned.
"Total, from what I can tell. And they included you up to a moment ago."
"Burn me!" The Gideon operative hissed, frustration washing across her face. "Kelly we could afford to lose. But Salina? She was our voice in the wilderness, our proof that our claims were valid."
"I know," van Joss began. And just as quickly he fell silent as a soft rustling reached his ears. On impulse he called out in the Primiad language.
"Salina? Is that you?"
"Van Joss??" returned the extremely frightened voice of the Primiad princess from somewhere out in the darkness. Instantly both humans heaved a sigh of relief.
"Aye, girl. Stay there and I'll come and get you." As he made ready to step back out into the darkness, Longspear reached out and grabbed him by the arm.
"Watch out for monkeys that aren't quite dead," she warned in a low voice, reminding him of an old Primiad tactic. Van Joss grinned.
"You too. And see if you can find the elves."
A quick moment's search through the darkness and van Joss slipped around the heavy trunk of a large tree to find Salina up against another tree almost as big. She was practically buried beneath a pile of dead Primiad bodies. She began to cry with relief and fear as he grimly began pulling the bodies off her. And in doing so, he found Alinar at the bottom of the pile, a trio of Primiad daggers in his chest.
"He gave his life so that I may live," Salina sobbed quietly as van Joss reached out to take her by the hand and pull her free.
Van Joss looked down at the dead guard captain for a brief moment, a thoughtful expression on his lean face.
"He might end up being the lucky one," he bluntly commented. Then he looked over at Salina. "C'mon. We've got to get out of here. I don't think it'll be long before more of your erstwhile people are swarming all over this place!"
The two of them found Longspear crouched beside one of the elves that had accompanied them from Bel Lorimir. With his neck bent almost double to the side, there was little doubt that he was dead. Yet the veritable mountain of dead Primiad around him attested to his effort to stay alive against their swarming attack. Longspear looked up as she heard van Joss and Salina step close.
"This was the only one I could find," she indicated, wincing as she stood. With a hand to the back of her head, she glanced around.
"And I don't think we should wait around to see if we can locate Kelly and the other one."
"I concur. I found Alinar dead back there, with Salina. So we have everybody present that we need in order to leave." Van Joss glanced back at the sky, which had since clouded completely over. Somewhere above that thick, swirling blanket hung the moon and the stars, their only means of reliable navigation. He then looked at the trees around them, hoping to find moss clumps, lichen or other signs that could help them determine which way was which. But it was too dark to make out any details. There was simply no way to tell which direction they should head in.
Then the sound of fighting reached their ears, a sound that was steadily growing closer. 'Decision made,' he darkly mused, turning his back on the sound.
"We go this way!" he rasped, pointing in the opposite direction and into the darkness. The three immediately trooped off and were quickly swallowed by the darkness and the forest.
by the time the first rays of dawn finally began to brighten the sky, van Joss had no idea of how far they had gone, or in what direction. Nor did the still clouded spring sky show them where the sun was, so he could take a bearing. A quick examination of the tree trunks yielded no physical clues to their direction after all. Unlike northern trees, which often had moss or lichen growing on their southern sides to avoid the cruel northern winds, these southern trees had no such clustered growths.
Regardless, they had left the fighting far behind. After a brief pause for breakfast, which consisted of dried rations from their packs, the small group continued to press in the direction they were going in. Hopefully they would eventually run into a landmark that matched one on their maps so they could properly orient themselves.
But, four days later, van Joss, Longspear and Salina still found themselves tracking through what appeared to be an endless forest.
"This isn't good," Longspear muttered darkly as they crossed a small brook after a pause to refill their water skins. "We have no idea of the direction we're going in."
"No, we don't," van Joss grimly agreed, looking back over his shoulder at her from his lead position on the small game trail they had found paralleling their course. "But logic dictates that eventually we'll run into a large body of water, if we're not going in circles. And we've been flashing the trees to make sure we're not doing that. So eventually we'll come across either the Alanic Ocean, or the Pack, depending on how long we travel. Or maybe even the Carib. And if we've been traveling northward, then we'd certainly run into a Fisted town or village somewhere and they'll be able to tell us where we are. If we don't figure it out ourselves."
Longspear grimaced as she glanced up at the clouded sky.
"Aye, that is all true," she admitted with a sigh. "But I would give an eye for one clear moment where we could see the sun. Who knew it'd be completely overcast four days in a row?" The female operative grimaced. "And who knows how deep into Kanid territory the Primiad vanguard has penetrated. Maybe as far as the capital. For all we know, Novus is dead and the Legions are scattered."
"I think it'd take more than a vanguard, no matter how big and powerful, to scatter the Legions of the Kanid Imperium." van Joss pointed out, keeping his voice low despite the fact that it seemed they were absolutely alone, with no other living creature within dozens kilometres in any direction.
"Most likely the Legions are regrouping in the core provinces to prepare for the real invasion when the bulk of Rand's armies come ashore." The slender man frowned as a thought occurred to him.
"It's too bad, really, that Gideon isn't closer to a major ocean. A navy at this point would be most useful in determining how far along the Primiad are to completing their transportation convoy. And how fares the Imperium's navy; that Kanid officer had indicated the Fourth Fleet had already suffered a defeat in the vanguard's move to Noranda's south shore. That doesn't leave many imperium war barks in the Carib to prevent any further landings."
Without warning the trees thinned and the trio found themselves standing on top of a small hill. A small hill that had them looking down at a sparkling blue body of water that stretched to either side along the dark coastline as well as out to the horizon.
"Gideon may not be close to an ocean," Longspear commented dryly, a half smile playing about her lips. "But it looks like we are. And, considering that it only took four days to get here, I would suggest that it's the Alanic."
"Logical," van Joss conceded, letting his eyes scan along the coast. There! Did that look like something far too regular to be natural? Focusing on it, the veteran operative let his eyes carefully move over what appeared to be buildings and streets. Buildings that were almost overgrown by the forest they currently stood in. 'A Pre-Burn prot?' he wondered with a frown. 'A city not destroyed by the Great Burn?? I thought all the major human cities on Noranda were obliterated by the rain of fire from the sky!'
"See that?" He pointed out the structures to Longspear, who frowned as she looked them over.
"A city?" she said out loud, looking over at van Joss with a questioning look. The wiry operative shurgged.
"At some time in the past, perhaps," he replied. "Now it's an overgrown ruin. Regardless, we need to follow the coastline northwards, which should be to the left, if this truly is the Alanic." He glanced up at the cloudy sky, which had started to darken as if hiding a storm in its heart. It might be the perfect time to start looking for some shelter, as storms off the ocean after the Great Burn were legendary in their viciousness.
"Might as well go down there and check it out."
"But there might be surprises waiting for us to stumble upon them," Longspear pointed out, a doubtful look on her face. "Surprises with lots of teeth and claws."
"I doubt it," van Joss looked down the hill's slope, plotting their downward path. "Most of the monsters made by the cold fire were hunted down by the Fisted in the first centuries of their existence." He began to walk forward. "But if they missed any, we'll find them soon enough down there. Or rather they'll find us!"
It took the better part of the morning to make their way down to what Longspear had called a city, though it didn't resemble anything more than the ruins van Joss had indicated they were by the time they reached street level. The buildings were more like heaps of rubble while the streets themselves were virtually choked with debris, both natural and artificial from the collapse of nearby buildings. And over everything grew trees, bushes and vines, working to complete the task of obliterating this place, reclaiming it for a renewed Nature.
"It doesn't look like people have been here for a very, very long time," Longspear commented softly as they walked along a relatively clear street, staring in awe on the broken buildings on both sides of the corridor. The massive constructs were still larger than anything either human or Fisted had built in this modern era, even though they were crumbling and in ruin.
By carefully navigating their way through the ruined city, the small party finally made it to the seashore. There van Joss knelt by the water and carefully stuck in his finger. And just as quickly he drew it out, the clear stuff icy to the point of being biting. Lifting it to his tongue, he tasted salt.
"Definitely salt water," he noted, moving into a crouch to better look over the massive bay that stretched out before them. Whatever this city was, it must have been a busy place, taking advantage of the natural harbor the bay afforded.
Longspear nodded then glanced upward, noticing the same darkening in the clouds that van Joss had seen from the hill top. Of course, by this point, they were even darker and considerably more menacing.
"I have a feeling those clouds are going to open up on us at any time," she muttered. "Maybe we should look for some shelter. Set up camp and begin traveling north in the morning after getting some sleep." As Longspear's last words hit the air, van Joss felt the first splash of rain on his face. Or rather, sleet with the rain still somewhat frozen in this early spring. Such a combination would make things miserable fast.
"That sounds like a good idea," he noted in a quiet voice as the sleet began to fall in earnest around them, hissing as it struck the water in front of them. He tugged the cowl of his cloak close before taking a quick look around.
"And that building right there, the one right on the water, looks like it will do."
As the frozen rain pelted them, the three quickly ran into the large building which was remarkably inteact, considering that its companions were in decay around it. They slipped in through a hole in the outside wall and shook off their cloaks with relief when they found the roof intact enough to prevent the sleet from falling inside.
Van Joss looked back out the hole as Longspear and Salina took a quick look around.
"Looks solid enough," Longspear announced a minute later. "It seems to be constructed of some sort of artificial rock. And there's no wood in sight!"
"They called it 'concrete'," van Joss supplied, turning from the sheets of frozen rain falling past the hole to take a look at the vast space they found themselves in. A space that was filled with the decaying rubble of a time gone by.
Everywhere they looked there was a heap of stone, or concrete, as van Joss had called it, and rusting metal. And despite being such a large space, it was liberally cluttered with the piles of debris. Shelter among them wouldn't be difficult to find.
"The ancients made it from a combination of sand, clay and water."
"The ancients put sand, clay and water together in such a fashion to make these?" Longspear asked disbelievingly as she walked up to a massive pillar, easily five metres in diameter. It was one of the major support columns that held up what was left of the roof, some twenty metres straight up. She lightly brushed her hand along the weathered gray surface as she looked up along the column to the distant roof.
"Incredible!"
"Indeed," van Joss dryly commented. "And it doesn't burn very well. Perhaps that's how it managed to survive the Great Burn. Regardless, we need to find something that does burn, like wood. Spread out and see what you can locate some. Or we won't be having a fire." He repeated the order in Primiad for Salina's sake. The princess nodded and began to carefully move out into the space, trying hard to not look so awestruck at the enormity of the structure around them. Longspear wasn't far behind, looking only slightly less awestruck. Picking a third direction, van Joss too began the search for flammable materials.
A good half hour passed, according to van Joss's internal clock, before he stumbled onto a pile of what looked like freshly cut wood. As the sleet was still hissing down outside, and this wood was dry, van Joss found himself frowning as he carefully eased forward, intrigued by his discovery. Had they joined another group in the ruin? Primiad scouts, perhaps?
He just as quickly dismissed that possibility. Primiad weren't the most stealthy of creatures. Even their scouts would've been making a racket in the vast space that would've woken the ancients.
Kneeling, he let a careful hand touch the wood and found it green. 'Hmm. It is fresh cut, perhaps in the last hour. From trees here in the city,' he silently note.
Suddenly the scent of salty brine rushed into his nostrils as if he stood once again on the ocean's shore. Frowning, he glanced down at his clothing. 'I didn't get anything wet, did I?' Then, just as abruptly, he felt a sharp prodding in the center of his back. Thinking it an impatient Longspear poking him with one of her poniards, he glanced over his shoulder with a cold chiding ready on his lips.
Only to have it die there as he caught sight of the silvery metal head of the large, and very business-like halberd that had somehow found its way to the center of his back. Following the halberd's haft up towards its owner, van Joss felt a cold shiver go through him at what he saw there. 'And where in the name of the Maker did you come from?'