Sye-nitch was surprised by how many of the tribe knew about the death of Hotchpik.  It was quickly becoming the worst-kept secret in their ranks, all because of Croll.  Also thanks to Croll, was the pain Sye-nitch now suffered, as he squinted, walking on the forest floor.

The little light that came, was still the visible light of the sun, forcing his eyes out of the heat-sensing spectrum.  And it was still punishing to his superior dark-bred orbs.

Tri-cleorps always waited for night.  That was how it was supposed to be!  Then their true vision could see the slightest body heat, and their foes would be helpless.  Now he was searching for humans who were not even here.

The only other creature around was a grey furry rodent.  The little squirrel chattered at him, not helping his mood.  He had to stare, and focus his three straining eyes just to see how big it was, as it hung onto one of the holes in the side of a nearby shroom.

Fantasies of punching the rodent, and squishing it into its hole-perch, had to play themselves out, before he started to wonder, why were two rows of holes, evenly cut, going up the side of that shroom?

Halrick had just checked the window again – there was nothing better to do – when the shouts and guttural roars, audible in the distance, started to get louder.  Then he and Caitlyn could both tell the tri-cleorps were very close.

The Coastals tensed.  They knew something was wrong, as the noise grew around them, then quieted down.

A moment later, the door started to open.

Halrick stabbed the unfortunate volunteer, but his fall ignited a clamor great enough to wake the dead.

“The jig is up,” he told Caitlyn.

In the other shroom, Fawnlum heard it, and her fears were realized, when Lucas snuck a peek through the door and nodded.

“Our headbands aren’t ready.”

“We’ll use fire,” she told him, as she quickly put on her pack, and made the rope ready.

“Use your magic to get them away from Halrick’s shroom,” she said, as he, Sienna and Dreighton quickly donned their packs.  “We’ll fight our way out.”

“Where will we run?” he asked.  “We’re surrounded, and the night just started.”

“We’ll go where we’re not surrounded.”

With that, Fawnlum took the rope, pushing the door open slightly with her back.

As she opened it and slid down, Lucas followed, pausing at the lip, pointing his ring at the enemies gathered below Halrick’s nest, and speaking the command word.

The fireball shot down, and struck the packed mass of bodies.  The base of the shroom lit up, with screams amid the burst of ignited flesh.  Those on the south side of the trunk turned away from the explosion.

Their surprise was complete, as Fawnlum cut into them.

Halrick slid down first amid the bright pyre, landing beside Fawnlum, lighting the fire-gel torch on the burning body under his feet.

Dreighton, Sienna and Lucas backed them up, as Caitlyn descended.

Fawnlum handed Caitlyn her headband.

“Take us south!”

With their numbers so great, and their frenzy for revenge so strong, the tri-cleorps quickly recovered and closed in again.

They could not break out with each flank hard-pressed.  Sabers flashed like lightning, hacking away and unable to miss.

Fawnlum saw a solid wall of tri-cleorps in the light of the torches, before they came two-deep in a rush.  Although the torches held them back, they still advanced.  The ones in back kept pushing the ones in front forward.  Blinded enemies cringed.  Bodies fell, and were stepped on by the reinforcements.

On Lucas’ side, he held a wand and ring at the ready, and they gave him a wide berth.  Fawnlum started to shout at him to come to the south side of the defensive ring, and blast a hole in the enemy line.

“Spears!” Caitlyn cried.

The Coastals swung their packs around like shields; Fawnlum watched helplessly, as the heavy shafts came down on Lucas’ position.  Only jumping back and rolling had saved him.  The tri-cleorps had aimed for her wizard.

He was up, ring leading, and Sienna was yelling for him.

Dreighton had gone down, a steel-tipped shaft stuck in his torso.

“Fire on that side!” Fawnlum shouted to Halrick, as Lucas slipped behind her.

She waved her torch as forcefully as her saber, shouting her war-cry and keeping the monsters back.

Lucas pulled the polearm out with Dreighton’s gasping help; then the warrior fainted, the wound letting loose a gush of blood.

Fawnlum stood in the hope the frontal enemy would stay forward, with less chance of another spear attack.  They had killed a few of their own in the first lob.

Changing tactics, they passed the torches between them, forcing the line back in spots and keeping their defense strong.

“Spears!”

In the seconds that the tri-cleorps drew back, she and her comrades brought their perforated packs up again.  They hunched down around Lucas, and met the next volley.

The packs took the punishment; but a jolt of hot pain shot through Fawnlum’s right leg.  They rose back up, sabers and torches at the ready.

Forcing herself to focus, Fawnlum growled and jerked the spear out of the muscle of her upper leg.  She kept her discipline and sword high, and took her dagger and held it in the same hand as her torch, tip to the flames.  The handle felt near to blistering, but she bore it.

As she passed the torch back to Halrick, she took her glowing blade, and plunged the narrow tip into her wound.

Her brain sought to pass out, to flee from the pain by sinking into blackness.  She forced herself to stay conscious and face it, and kept her cry from escaping, denying her enemies the pleasure.

Her focus on those responsible became sharpened to a needle’s point, and her saber lashed out with new ferocity.

Beside Lucas, Dreighton stirred from his magically mended wound.

He got up with a great intake of air and exhalation, and shouted a battle-cry to Diergon as he took position.

Lucas clenched his ring, as he shoved a space between Caitlyn and Sienna, and shot a fireball to their south.  It parted the tri-cleorps ranks, and Caitlyn took the lead, the stragglers falling to Sienna’s saber.

“Go!” Fawnlum snapped, as Halrick glanced at her leg.  She would not forsake her place as the rear guard.  She covered their back as they ran, following Caitlyn’s torch.

They met another wall of 50 tri-cleorps, a scant 50 yards further on, and quickly bunched together in their circular formation.

Lucas held up a different wand, and a swirling ball of lights appeared over him, and got brighter as it spun and expanded.  The tri-cleorps covered their eyes and cursed.

“Break!” Fawnlum shouted.

Fawnlum led the Coastals forward in individual combat, herself raising her voice in song, at this wounded and outnumbered moment, as fine an honorable fate as she could ask for.

Poor Lucas, her indentured wizard, had little faith in Diergon to usher him into the glorious divinity’s mead-hall.  But he stood beside her, like a Coastal wizard would.  With the blood-debt she would collect this night, she would earn his way in.

The song of Diergon came again, Sienna joining, and Fawnlum felt herself lifted above her pain, nearly laughing at the tri-cleorps daring to come at her.

Before the light above faded, Lucas used the fire-gel, and lit two new torches.

The area of light flared brighter; the tri-cleorps drew back with spitting snarls.  Lucas was hit by a poorly-thrown club, and shook it off.  He passed a torch to Dreighton, holding his lightning wand.  Then he tripped.

It was a tri-cleorps body.  His shirt caught on an arrow sticking out of its neck.

A tri-cleorps before Fawnlum went down, a pair of arrows vibrating in his back.  She spun on its fellows, wondering briefly who was shooting in this chaos, when she saw a flash of silver pass by.

Among the dancing lights, more and more three-eye’d bodies fell to the ground.

Consumed with battle-lust, the tri-cleorps did not notice their fallen.

“Form up!”

Fawnlum brought her comrades to her again, trusting the shadowy uzruul to make the best use of themselves.

She yelled at Lucas to hold his fire, and light more torches instead, and he worked frantically with what he had.

In front of Fawnlum, the look on one particular tri-cleorps’ face was priceless, as he noticed an uzruul elf looking up at him.

Iljareve cut out his throat in one wicked swipe, and the rout was underway.

Lucas was looking around, to see where danger might still be lurking, and Shahrv’j was suddenly beside him.

“Attack,” she simply said.  “There.”

He followed her pointing finger with his fist, recited the command, and his ring let its bright projectile fly.  He saw several tri-cleorps fall in the blaze, packed together as they were.

“How many more fireballs have you?” she shouted.

“Two!” he said, brandishing another ring.

“Leave your torch.”

He dropped the burning stick, as she took hold of his hand, and led him into the darkness.

<*>                                                          <*>                                                      <*>

Egress looked up from his crystal ball, and breathed slowly with exhaustion.

He felt as though the front of his brain was trying to push its way out of his skull.  It hurt to even breathe.  He would need some tonic before his head split open.

But so effective were Fawnlum’s exploits over the last few weeks.  Such madness she had sown!  And the dancing fools – those followers of Seln’ri – never would he have dreamed they could be so potent, but they were doing their part!

“My goodness,” Loray exclaimed.  She looked wide-eyed, herself quivering from her aching head.

Egress had to admit, the human’s focus had been very good to last so long.

“My boy is in the middle of that warfare,” she said.  Then she added, “I hope he doesn’t get any ideas about that uzruul woman, just because they walked so closely together.”

Egress nearly burst out laughing.  “I’m sure their relationship is strictly one of comrades in arms,” the disguised uzruul murmured, as he considered where his own plans lay.

“Maybe the kingdom should do something.  East Osterly needs help,” she said.

“I don’t know,” he replied, clearly smiling.  “That Lichner woman is doing quite well by herself.”

“You know what I mean!”

“Ho-ho.  Of course.  I’ll get a message immediately under way.  In the meantime, get some rest.”

And let me be rid of your presence, he wordlessly added.  He had no love for Bik’nar’s uzruul, but at the display of Loray’s bias, he was tempted to drop his disguise enchantment, and tell the human to sod off.

This was the reward for the charitable moon-worshippers, he thought.  The place uzruul held in the minds of other peoples was just too strong.  However, he had to temper his internal diatribe, as he noted how Fawnlum had trusted Bik’nar, and their alliance had become a powerful thing.