Mactabilis Umbra

.............We were not well hidden with our black clothes, clashing against the green colors of our surroundings, trying to mingle with the bright leaves and grass. The sun above our head was dying away into the horizon, preparing for the arrival of dusk. The shadows were slowly growing longer, but not fast enough. I was glad our colors were black and not shiny silver like a lot of people, especially on our armors; the reflection of the light would have given our position away...not very useful when you are trying to sneak into a hostile surrounding. The only element working in our favor was the wind, covering the noises of our movements as we approached the fortified gates of the enemy city. The only obstacle that separated us from our destination was the hill we were crawling on. And when I say crawling we were REALLY crawling. It was so steep I had to use the trees and bushes to pull me up and to hold me there.
.............I was behind Gyand who was climbing first, Shaylann behind me, and Ghostbear closing the walk. Of course I had a nice view, from where I was I could catch glimpses of Gyand’s muscles working under the parts of his armor at the intensive physical effort. Not to mention his nice butt, but shhh they don’t have to know that I look. I wonder how he really looked without that armor on...remind me to ask Shay if she wants to come with me to sneak on the boys when they are in the water cleaning themselves. I bit my lips to stifle a chuckle at the thought and shook my head to make the image go away...be serious Helle. Anyway to return to what I was saying, I’m sure I was not the only one enjoying myself in this difficult position, Ghosty who was below me and Shay was surely taking advantage of the situation also. I’d have asked if we weren’t into an enemy area where the slightest noise could get us killed. It was not worth it to die just so I could confirm the theory.
.............Somewhere around us Scopulus and Benelli were watching from the shadows, masters of concealment they were invisible even to us who knew where they had been minutes ago, so close to them. They were assassins, meant not to be seen until they laid upon you their fatal blow, but then, when they had you in their grasp it was usually too late. They knew where to hit to paralyze you or to perforate important organs, and also, most of the time, had poison to help...one way or an other your were dead. Even though I couldn’t see them I knew they could see us, nothing escaped their attention and I knew they would be there to warn us from any danger. Our realm calls them shadowblades.
.............The first hint to tell me that something was wrong was the sudden silence, it was too damn quiet; no insects, no birds only the wind with his gentle touch was giving up the impression of life around us. I heard it carrying a warning, a whisper through the air from the assassins, there was someone, a group, ahead of us.
.............We all stopped moving at the warning, and I was grateful of the small break even though it was not for the best. Eyes that we couldn’t see might be seeing us, but I was out of breath. A peek down told me that Shaylann too, was getting tired. I saw her quick breathing and the light flush on her cheeks telling me she was also out of breath. We were so out of shape eh. Me and her could not fight, we hadn’t mastered the art of fighting like Gyand and Ghostbear had, but we were there to help them, to give them strength and protections, as well as many more small tricks. You don‘t think I would tell you all our surprises do you? Anyways, healers (yes that is how they called us) couldn’t really fight well. I mean we knew how to whack someone in the jaw with a hammer but that was about it. We devoted too much of our time to magic to have some left for combat classes.
.............I felt movement below us and I looked down to see Ghostbear slowly crawling up passed us to meet Gyand further up. They both crouched on the ground, as low as they could above us, looking at something Shay and I could not see. Obviously they were standing on top of the hill for that position to be physically possible...I mean I never saw them standing on a 90degres angle without falling backward. Shaylann and I were still laying flat on our stomachs against the side of the hill, holding onto trees and roots.
.............Then they slowly drew their weapons as silently as it was humanly possible. Gyand reached out for the hammer he was carrying on his back. It was small and delicate looking but designed to hurt a lot...I bet I wouldn’t want to see that between my eyes as the last thing I remember before I died. It was carved around the handle with strange runic symbols that I didn’t recognize, but I did know it was magical. Ghostbear took out 2 axes, one in each hand, magical too. I saw him fight with these once, they glowed with a strange energy when he was in intense combat. Did they react to his fury? To blood? To violence? I didn’t know the answer but when he was just holding them they were just axes, normal looking axes.
.............Ghostbear and Gyand were both fighters, one pure melee skilled, and the other using half magic and half weapon skills. Ghostbear held within him a curse, or a gift depending on how you see reality. He was inhabited by a beast, which made him powerful enough to decimate a small army for a certain time when he called upon it. I saw him once under the influence of that beast; I saw him toss people away and rip them apart as if they were just made out of cloth. The blood and other thick fluids told me otherwise. All this deadly strength and power but at what price...I never asked him about it, maybe one day I will, maybe not.
.............I snapped out of my thoughts startled when I heard Gyand’s powerful voice echoing through the air. Gyand’s power came from his voice, he could entrance you with it, as he could destroy you. The spell he had just called out was active on a small group of people. I could feel it on me at this very moment, it felt warm like a strong continuous current of energy and it was meant to increases the strength of our hits. In other words if I’d hit you with my natural sissy strength you’d probably have a good laugh and I’d probably hurt myself. But if I’d hit you with that spell on me, then I’d probably break one of your tooth or two...and run of course.
.............I saw Gyand and Ghostbear rushing forward. We had been caught I guess. I heard blades shrieking against metal and screams of flesh being ripped away, explosions of fire. It was bad. Ghostbear and Gyand had vanished out of our sight within the raging battle. I heard once again Gyand’s voice exploding through the air bringing forth a blinding flash of light, and the sound of electricity lashing out to meet the closest target on sight, and it actually hit because I heard a scream of pain and I saw what looked like a body, burned to a crispy, rolling and stumbling down the hill passed us. I looked down at Shaylann who had been following the downfall of the crispy too.
.............“That had to hurt”, I said continuing my ascension toward the chaos.
.............“I agree”, she added laughing.
.............We both climbed more to at least be able to see what was happening on top. One bad thing about magic is that you had to see to be efficient, if we can‘t see them we can‘t help them.
.............I suddenly sensed a movement to my left in the trees, a quick one, like lightning, I saw a sparkle of light and then I felt the hit. It happened so fast, I didn’t even have time to think. A man seemed to have appeared out of the void right next to me, and in a powerful blow drove a dagger deep within my side and took it out as quickly as it went in. The pain took away my breath, and Shaylann did what I couldn’t do, she screamed, a loud and high pitch scream to warn the others. I jerked backward in a reflex to avoid an other hit; the survival instinct in all of us will make us want to flee from what is endangering us, but what I did was a mistake and it was too late when I realized it...
.............I felt emptiness, I felt gravity releasing me into the void below me...I was falling. I felt the shock of another body against mine and heard a feminine cry, Shaylann’s voice; I took her in my fall.I remember was my body hitting hers, the pain of our bones crushing together, and then emptiness again, a terrible freedom that was going to kill me, the air lashing at my back as I was falling, and then blackness.