Surprises

Meanwhile, Rain was in the middle of a bloody battle with a small group of young Raiders, who were probably out trying to make their first kill.

"Well I am certainly not going to allow it to be me," Rain thought with surprising venom. "God she hated Raiders, pointless, that is what their existence is, absolutely pointless. What cruel person would create creatures whose only purpose in life is to kill, nothing more?"

Suddenly a sharp pain on her left arm focused her attention back on the Raiders. "Where is Silver?" she wondered, beginning to feel a hint of worry for her oldest friend. "He should have been here by now, especially if he is close enough to smell the blood and hear the fight," she added to herself. Her mild frustration at being held up by a few Raiders, turned to down right anger when she suddenly heard the same piercing signal as in her past. Memories began flashing in her mind which she was powerless to block out. Then with a loud scream she voiced her panic, fear, anger, and pain.

As she skillfully avoided the Raiders' blades, she suddenly realized something, "I can call Silver", why did I not think of it before. "Silver has seen Raiders and will know what to do. Sadly I know that one of those times was when he was a young pup and that day still holds many bad memories for both of us." Then with great determination shining in her eyes, she threw back her head and howled, it was a beautiful sound, pure and magical, full of pain, love, longing, and trust, and in it a request for aid.

The sound was so beautiful and unexpected that even the Raiders froze for a moment, fearful of the young woman who before had seemed so human, but now seemed so much more. She was new to them and as Raiders were a race who depended on routine, they were born with a great fear of anything that did not fit into their daily lives of killing and violence. The few seconds that it took for the Raiders to comprehend this call for help and to come to a decision, was all that Rain needed to recover her breath and prepare for whatever the signal would bring.

She did not have to wait long, with a great crashing a determined group of Raiders marched into the clearing in the aid of their brethren.

Rain, overwhelmed by their vast numbers, stood for a moment in shocked silence, "Oh my God what am I going to do!" she thought to herself, "I do not want to die at the hands of a Raider, where is Silver when I need him more than ever? Why hasn't he answered my call?"

Rain in desperation, whistled two long sharp poignant notes, hoping against all odds that Silver was nearby and would respond to the call that she had not used since her days in the village trying to train the young pup.

Rain's call had two unexpected side effects, first it was very close to the call that Nate used to train Shadow, and second it frightened the Raiders into momentarily delaying their attack.

This gave Rain an opening that was needed for her to grab her bow and arrows and to draw, aim, and fire twice into their midst. Her aim as usual was perfect and the arrows went clean through two large Raiders. "Yes!" she shouted with a bit of pride, then flinging herself to the side to avoid a blow from a savage thrust of a Raider's club, she slung her bow on to her back and swiftly drew her hunting knife. Taking a deep breath and saying a quick prayer, she dove into the mass of Raiders and began fighting for her life.

Just when it seemed that she would be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers, Rain heard a familiar howl, and grinning turned just in time to see Silver, with his fangs bared in a hideous snarl, jump into the fray to land at her side. Now if it had just been a few Raiders, or even a slightly smaller hunting party then the Raiders would have fled at such a frightening display of what they saw as magic, however they had already spent so much effort on Rain that to them it seemed pointless to give up now. So now it was simply a fifteen year old girl and a rather large wolf against a hunting party of thirty vicious Raiders.

What would have happened to Rain if she and Silver had been left to defend themselves will probably never be known, and thankfully she did not have to find out, as at that moment something happened that even Rain had not expected.

In Rain's eyes it seemed as if the Gods themselves had sent one of their own to protect her, as a young man not much older than her, riding a midnight black screaming stallion, came thundering into the clearing. The young elf had a fierce look upon his face and was ready to fire a finely made bow that was strung taught in his hand. He reared to a halt beside Rain and pointed his weapon at the Raiders. This was too much for the Raiders and having had their share of surprises for the day, fled in fear, deciding that one young girl was just not worth it. Silver seeing this unusual stranger went into hiding where he could watch the stranger but save Rain if required. He had a strange feeling that Rain would come to no harm with this young boy.

Rain too was speechless as her savior dismounted from his horse and rushed over to see if she was unharmed. Rain looking over his handsome body and face and thought to herself, "Wow, whoever this young man is, he is definitely not human. He is much too graceful, and he radiates a force of energy. His skin is so pale, yet he does not look sickly, in fact he looks strong and well fed, and his eyes glow an intense silver. Definitely not human," she decided. Then as he walked closer and pushed his straight long black hair away from his face she realized something, "He has pointed ears," she thought to herself, and as this realization was too much on top of all her other experiences throughout the day, and she promptly fainted.