Valkyrie's Page of Wonder

January 30, 2010

Fallen Angel - Maerd, Part 3

After dinner Gatomon leads the group back out of the house and to the east. When they reach the front lines they ask for an update and learn exactly where the enemy camp is set up. After obtaining a few supplies from the quartermaster they quietly begin their trek toward the enemy base. The last rays of sunshine disappear beyond the horizon as the soldiers disappear from view.
As they slowly creep along the edge of the river, the only light coming from the stars above, Sarah walks up next to Xannon and whispers in his ear.
“Are you sure you and Gatomon can do this?”
“You’ve asked me that several times now. Yes, I’m sure we can do it,” Xannon replies as nicely as possible.
“Sorry, it’s just… I’m not sure if I will be able to protect you like I promised. I wasn’t even able to help back in Hirogei. What if I fail and you get hurt?”
“I trust you, Sarah. Believe in the Goddess. She will give you all the power you need.”
“Quiet!” Gatomon says as loud as she dared, “They are right over that hill about one hundred yards. Xannon, do you need to be closer?”
“It would be helpful, are there any hiding spots closer?”
Gatomon peaks over the hill and surveys the land. Except for a few sparse trees the ground was clear. The only way to get closer would be the river.
“Not enough cover. We’ll have to use the river bank. But I’m sure they will have guards posted so we can’t get too much closer.”
“Let’s see how close we can get then. Quiet from here out,” Xannon orders.
Everyone replies with a nod.
Gatomon leads the way up river staying as close to the water as she can. She carefully peeks over the river bank ever few feet to check for guards and to see how far they have gone. As they slowly get closer she peeks over the edge again and sees a pair of soldiers heading their way. She immediately motions for everyone to stop moving and get down.
The light coming from the camp was too far away to reach them behind the river bank making it very hard for the soldiers to see much of anything beyond it except for the stars reflecting off the river. The soldiers stop at the top of the small hill and look around, waiting for their eyes to adjust.
“I told you there was nothing there,” one says to the other.
“I dunno. It’s too dark to see anything clearly,” the other replies. “I just have a bad feeling, that’s all.”
“Bad feelings… You always have a bad feeling about everything. You even had a bad feeling about your last birthday party.”
“And look what happen. The wind caught the stack of napkins blowing them across the burning birthday candles, setting them on fire and nearly burning my parents’ house down!”
“It was a freak accident! There is no way you could have known or felt that was going to happen.”
“Look, Frank. Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean the world isn’t out to get me, ok?”
“I guess if you always expect something bad to happen you’ll eventually be right, huh?”
“Exactly, now let me take another look.”
He carefully examines the river for any disturbances then scans the area where Xannon and the others lie motionless. His eyes fall on Sarah and she freezes, unmoving, unflinching, even her breathing stops. He watches her spot for what seems like hours. Finally Sarah closes her eyes and focuses on Bast silently asking her to avert his gaze.
“Are you done yet, James? It’s getting cold out here and I have a card game to finish.”
James looks around one more time before answering.
“Yeah, I guess so. I still think something is out there though.”
“You keep thinking that. Maybe some day you’ll be right again, just not today.”
Frank heads back to the camp followed by James. Sarah takes a slow deep breath to not cause a lot of noise. Gatomon makes a motion that this is as far as they go. Roger, Grey and Aaron form up around Gatomon while she prepares to cast her spells while Kris and Sarah wait on either side of Xannon.
Xannon kneels down and closes his eyes focusing on the energy around him. At first he feels nothing, but slowly he can sense Sarah and Kris, then Gatomon and the others. He expands his range and they fade to the back of his mind. Soon all the small life forms scurrying around the river bed come into focus. They are as numerous as the stars and even harder to keep track of. He reaches further with his mind and the animals fade away. As he continues to concentrate a large mass of energy is felt from the camp. At first it’s all a massive blur, but slowly it comes into focus, first being divided into camps, then finally as individuals. He mentally travels among the soldiers, learning who their leaders are from how they interact with each other. Suddenly one of the soldier’s signatures begins to fade as Gatomon begins her Suffocate spell.
Using this distraction, Xannon concentrates on one of the lesser soldiers and casts Suffocate as well. He holds the spell until the energy is extinguished. Realizing this tactic will take too long to be effective he begins channeling a localized Vacuum spell, removing the air from an area near the far edge of the camp. All those in that area immediately begin to fade from his mind. He increases the power and range of the spell and focuses on a larger area. More soldiers fade from his mind’s eye as the Vacuum cloud grows.
Sarah waits patiently for any signs of attack but only hears the cries of the soldiers over the hill. Soon the fires begin to fade and die. Thinking the soldiers are trying to mask their presence she slowly and silently pulls out her staff and inches toward the top of the hill. She watches as the frantic soldiers scurry about trying to find the source of the attacks only to suddenly start gasping for breath before collapsing to the ground. The raging fires they were using to warm up and cook food quickly dwindle and die, the embers only glowing for a moment before fading to darkness. The cries of pain and alarm are soon replaced by silence. The entire camp has gone dark. No fires burn and her eyes slowly adjust to the new darkness.
Behind her, Xannon takes a deep breath as if breathing for the first time.
“It is done,” he says after a moment.
The voice startles Gatomon and she looks back to him slightly confused.
“They are dead.”
“All of them?” Gatomon whispers.
“All of them,” He replies flatly.
“But… how?” she asks silently scrambling up the hill next to Sarah.
She looks across the field to the camp and sees no fires and no movement. The only audible sound is their own breathing. She carefully climbs over the embankment and heads for the camp. Sarah silently follows her in. As they approach the silent camp she can see the soldiers lying on the ground, their faces twisted in horror. The stone cold camp fires look as if they had been out for days. Sarah reaches down to touch one of the soldiers and finds his body cold. She shivers and draws back her hand.
“This isn’t what I was expecting. It’s eerie,” Sarah whispers to Gatomon.
Xannon walks past them headed toward the main tent. Sarah follows and they both enter the tent to find the enemy commander slumped over a table. A map lies open with several figures marking troop placement at various points. Xannon walks around the map and pulls the dead body to the floor. He then proceeds to carefully examine the map. Gatomon and the others enter the tent and examine the map as well.
“According the map and what few notes are written here,” Xannon begins, “they were planning a raid tomorrow night. It also appears that their main group of magic users was in this camp until recently. I think they may have headed back to the main group a little over an hour ago. If we hurry we might be able to catch up to them before they can reach them.”
“How did you do it, Xannon?” Gatomon asks. “I had only just begun on my third soldier when I heard you say it was done.”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now. There are more important things to do.”
Xannon makes a few more notes on the map, including marking where the figures were, then clears it off and folds it up, handing it to Roger for safe keeping.
“Gather whatever supplies you can safely carry. We have to leave soon if we want to catch up to their mages.”
Xannon goes to leave the tent when Gatomon grabs his arm.
“How?” she simply asks.
“Later,” he replies pulling his arm free and leaving the tent.