Battle of the Woods

[TheDeryni]

       It was a beautiful, clear, starry night just outside Kylemore Village. The moon was bright and full as another cool wistful breeze wafted through the small campsite, chilling the night air from the oppressive heat of the day. Regan smiled to himself as his straight raven hair lightly brushed against his bare shoulders. He loved being out amongst the trees and the stars. Normally, he would be closing up his family's place, McFee's Tavern, just about then. Wiping down the bar, washing the dishes and sweeping the floors. Then his favorite chore of all time: lugging the garbage out the back and up the hill. Digging a pit and then cramming the garbage into said pit. Tossing the dirt over the whole bloody stinking thing and, lastly, jumping up and down on the not so flat, that needs to be flat, mound like some crazed loony! "Bloody hell!"

"Problem over there, Regan?" Macden asked with a tilt of his head.

"No, Macden, I'm just bloody fine. Forget it." Regan replied in frustration as he got up to don his shirt. Then he remembered something. "Huh? What was that about Altairen brakna, Orla?" Regan inquired as he turned to the young, slim and silky golden haired girl. Her hair flowed almost completely down the length of her back in a majestic ripple as she turned to him. Macden's eyes seemed to glaze over from the ripple's effect.

Orla pointed to Allem, another of Regan's trustworthy friends, and said with a beautiful, pearly white smile and a light hearted giggle "I was saying to Lunkhead here that McFee's does, indeed, serve Altairen brakna and that these whelps here would never be able to handle it!"

Regan tossed a twig in the fire and chuckled. "I would not be so sure, Orla. These, err, whelps as you call them, are some serious connoisseurs of some serious libations . . . and ladies. Better you gather your skirts and flee before you find yourself without them!" Regan then slowly turned his head toward his best friend with a deadly and accusatory stare.

"Aw Regan, your sister 'tis safe from us!" Macden exclaimed while holding out his hands in abeyance. "We only take what is given. And, as we all well know, Orla gives nothing but a smile and a twist of her hips. Besides, I don't need another thumping from that staff o' yours!"  Then Macden crinkled his eyebrows and asked himself in confusion "Orla wears skirts?"

Regan's sister then lithely approached Macden, leaned over, placed her hand on his forehead, looked him straight in the eye and whispered "My dear, dear Macden. Since when did I ever twist my hips for the likes of you?" Regan could tell Macden was having a tough time trying to keep his eyes locked onto Orla's and not glance down her blouse. After a moment's pause, Orla slowly and gracefully twisted her hips and, with a soft chuckle, shoved the entranced Macden backwards into the fire.

"Yikes!" Macden shouted as he frantically patted himself down while he rolled on the ground like some crazed, spasmodic imbecile.

Their laughter swept through the forest like the wind.

"Please Macden!" Regan's cousin Vildar cried as he wiped the tears from his grey eyes. "You have none the chance! The day Orla lifts her skirts for you will be the same day one of those bastard Anadari Knights turns from his duty! Give to!"

"I suppose. Just a wish, 'tis all." Macden mumbled in dejection.

Orla then winked at Macden seductively. Macden bolted upright in his astonishment. Then, after an apparent struggle to regain some small portion of composure, he slightly declinated his head and placed his right fist over his heart in an affectionate salute.

Regan rolled his eyes. "Anyways . . . I'm off to check on Raider and the other mounts. Orla, are you staying the night?" Regan asked with another stare at Macden. Macden raised his hands in defense, but was unable to fully mask the hope in his eyes.

After giving Macden a considering look, Orla shook her head and sighed. "No, I'm off.  I have a good half day's ride to Aunt Moira's. I'll start now. Since you're headed that way brother, you might as well escort me to Rionna."

"Um, excuse me, Regan?" Allem asked as he clearly avoided looking at Orla. "Speaking of escorts, should not one of us accompany her back to Moira's?"

Regan, Macden and Vildar instantly cringed.

"Shut your trap, Allem!" Orla shouted as she placed fists on hips and stomped her foot.

"Now wait a minute, sis, he has a point." Regan said quickly in a conciliatory tone.

"A point? The only point he's going to have right now is the one I make on the top of his empty head when I'm finished pounding him senseless with the pommel of my dagger!" Orla spat as she pointed to the weapon tucked in her belt. The slightly curved blade was slender and shone brightly as soft moonbeams reflected off. It had silver runes along the carved, black hilt and was apexed with a clear, pointed glass-like gem.  "I've ridden these woods to and fro at least one hundred times by myself Regan, and you know it!" Orla shouted as she slowly slid the dagger from her belt and bent down to pick up a rock. Her amber eyes were afire as she stood and faced Regan. "Now . . . not . . . one . . . more . . . word." she growled as her eyebrows furrowed and her nostrils flared.

Regan eyed Orla's expression, then the dagger, and then back again. He was all too familiar with the multitude of ways Orla could yield that thing.  He rubbed the back of his head and winced at the memory of the last time she used that Light-forsaken, pointy little gem. Regan also knew he was far, far too close to avoid the rock. His sister had impeccable aim. "Fine, Orla. You win. No escort." he said with a sigh, not wanting to risk calling her bluff. 'Well, at least I think she's bluffing.' he thought to himself.

"Good." Orla said as she winged the rock back-handed toward Allem without even the slightest of looks. The rock whizzed by the side of his head. "Next time, Allem, I will give you a point to remember." she warned as she nonchalantly walked away.

"Regan, you have first watch...um...okay?" Allem asked as he checked to see if his ear was still attached to his head.

"Aye, sleep well Allem. See you all in the morning."  Regan answered.

Orla and Regan walked toward the horse line. "You do know that you are my best friend, right?" Orla asked quietly after a few moments of walking.

"Yes." Regan replied in kind.

"And you know McFee and mother sent me here to try, once again, to persuade you not to go?" she queried as she took Regan's hand.

"I know. I didn't think you came out here just to frustrate Macden and beat Allem senseless." he said with a quiet laugh.

"Allem is a twit. A brave one, but still a twit. Now, as for our illustrious Macden, he loves me true. Some day soon I will have to make him into a respectable man."  Orla said with a smile.

"Ha! Macden? Respectable? Good luck with that one, sister!" Regan piped.

"Now, now brother, you have no idea what I will do to that man." she whispered sheepishly. "He's done for."

Regan went to untie the two horses, but then shook his head as he realized they had already done it for him. "Heh, I suppose you're right . . . the poor sap. Okay, mount up!"

"Now? The man will be useless tomorrow!" Orla stated with fained concern as she glanced back at Macden.

"Rionna, Orla! Your horse!" Regan exclaimed.

"Oh, this mount! Very well, if you insist." Orla muttered playfully as she climbed into Rionna's saddle.

"I do insist, you tart of a sister!" Regan laughed as he tried to pat Rionna's neck affectionately. The horse turned her head back in an attempt to nip Regan's hand, but he was well practiced in his defense and sighed as he quickly moved his hand out of her reach.

Orla stared down at Regan intently. "Last chance, Lord of the Woods."

Regan smiled at his childhood nickname. "No, it's forward from here. Tell mother and father that I will be back soon enough. And to stop worrying! I will be fine! Now, let me at least escort you to the perimeter." he offered as he grabbed Raider's saddle horn and, in mid-mount, paused as if listening to himself think.

"What? What is it, Regan?" Orla asked.

The sound of branches thrashing could be heard from within the woods nearby.

@@ "Did you hear that?" @@ Orla Sent as she turned toward the sound and flicked her wrist deftly, producing a throwing knife from up her sleeve.

Regan returned aground and slowly slipped his obsidian and silver rune quarterstaff from its stay in Raider's saddle. He was surprised to feel that the staff was vibrating slightly. He then moved back to Rionna and placed his free hand on Orla's leg.  Rionna was completely focused on the forest.

@@ "Yes...I did." @@ he replied.

@@ "Beware!" @@ an unfamiliar voice shouted inside his head.

Suddenly Raider surged forward, knocking Regan aside while he reared on his hinds and thrust a foreleg straight up and under the beak of a feathered . . . bear?! The owlbear tumbled backwards and out of sight with a roar.

"HO! TO ARMS!" Regan shouted.

From the corner of his eye Regan saw Macden grab his battleaxe, Vildar and Allem quickly attain their short-swords and all three advanced on his position as he planted himself between Orla and where the beast last was. "Ride Orla! Ride! Head towards Macden, then out!" Before he could slap her horse, Raider bit Rionna on the hind quarter. Rionna bolted for the men. The men separated to allow Orla through, but as she reached them, Regan watched in horror as another owlbear vaulted out of the darkness and slammed into Rionna's rear quarter. The mare skittered sideways and tried with all of her strength to keep Orla from launching out of the saddle. Two throwing knives suddenly appeared in the creature's chest; one thrown by Orla and the other by Regan. Allem thrust his sword into the side of the owlbear. The beast reacted with a swipe of a razor-sharp claw and took Allem's head clean off. Regan whipped another knife and it imbedded in the beast's right leg as another one of Orla's took the creature in the neck. Then Orla shrieked at the sight of Allem's headless body still trying to stab at the beast before eventually collapsing. "The legs! Strike the legs from behind!" Regan commanded. Macden, ensconced between Orla and the owlbear, shifted to the beast's side, jumped up and chopped down on its upper left leg. The owlbear, in return, snatched Macden by his braided hair and flung him. "Macden!" Orla yelled as he flew over her head and into the trees some fifty paces away. Regan threw three more quick consecutive knives into the side of the beast's head as he yelled "Orla! Flee!"

The owlbear spun toward Regan and tilted its head one way, then the other. After the briefest of pauses, it roared and bolted for Regan, though considerably hampered from Macden's chop to its leg. "Come and get me, you bloody overgrown sparrow! Come on!" Regan challenged as he prepared for the onslaught. Then Orla screamed again. "NOOOOO!"

Glancing forward over the oncoming owlbear's shoulder, Regan saw Aunt Moira's only son valiantly hacking away at yet another owlbear as the beast lifted him up in a two-clawed grasp right next to Rionna and Orla. When he was eye level with the beast, Vildar screamed "Long live Alaknar! Long live the Dark Son's King!" He then, with both hands over his head, thrust his sword down and into the creature's skull, right between the eyes. As the owlbear bellowed in rage and pain, it viciously twisted and ripped Vildar in two. Regan, blocked from Orla by the oncoming beast, was helpless as the now unicorned owlbear dropped his cousin's dead body and reached for Orla. Courageously, and with all her teeth in full display, Rionna shifted to face the beast head-on.

Suddenly, from out of the darkness, Macden leaped over Orla and Rionna with a primal scream. "Beast of Darkness! You shall not have my love! You and I will feed the dogs of hell!" Macden's axe-point took the beast in the eye just as the creature's beak snatched Macden out of the air and snapped his spine with a loud crunch. Both plummeted to the ground. With a labored breath and blood seeping through his teeth, Macden shouted silently: "Flee, my love! Flee from mine eyes' sight! Live!"

Rionna then bolted into the darkness with her Charge.

Regan, now insanely focused, held his staff horizontally in the air above his head with one hand and yelled an Old Tongue battle cry of "Teach na Ó Fuaruisce!"  Regan charged the oncoming owlbear and performed a side-vault with his quarterstaff and thrust both feet up and into the beast's neck as talons ripped into his back. As he descended, Regan whipped his staff around and struck the side of the beast's head.  He then received another swipe from the creature, vaulting him straight up in the air. When Regan finally landed, he tumbled to a roll between the owlbear's legs and stabbed upwards with his staff, penetrating its bowels. Shifting sideways, Regan leaped up and took the owlbear with another strike to the head. This time the staff sparked on contact and the beast fell with a loud thump and remained motionless. Breathing hard, Regan leaned on his staff to catch his breath. "Macden." he whispered to his now motionless friend as he felt blood trickling down his back. "Oh Macden, you saved her. Thank you, my friend."

Suddenly, to his left, he spied three more owlbears advancing upon him in a triangular formation. Regan shook his head and whispered "Bloody hell." Then the lead owlbear glanced to its left just as Raider bolted in from Regan's right and rammed into the beast. Both Raider and the creature disappeared into the woods. Regan could hear the creature roaring with rage and Raider screaming in pain as they fought in the darkness.

Regan tore his eyes from where Raider's horrible screams were sounding and looked to the last spot he saw Rionna and his sister. Agonizingly he made the hardest decision of his life and fled south away from Orla's last position while he reluctantly, though purposely, drew the two remaining beasts into the woods after him, leaving his ever-loyal mount to fend for himself.