Sisters of change
By: moonling child with some help from Hibernia12
Disclaimer: the stars and the pok-a-dots tell me I don't own anything... stupid stars... *grumbles*
Key: "talk" *thought* "different language"
"Yes Gilan. Will will ride Blaze and Tug while Blaise will ride Spirit and Moonlight. The two of them are the lightest and so they will be able to make the best time." Halt explained. "You and Charlotte will follow on foot behind us."
"Um, I'm not leaving my sister." Blaise told them seriously.
"You have to. If you don't more people will die." Halt told her.
Blaise glared at him but gave in. "Fine. But if my sister gets hurt at all, I'll hurt you twice as bad." She warned Gilan, who nodded. After Will was told Blazes code, both Blaise and Will rode off.
Blaise and Will cantered away at their horses best pace. Blaise kept pace with Will, though her horses were slightly faster, due to the fact that she was on the horses with no saddle, so her horses were lighter and therefore faster.
"Will, worrying about everything will not make it better. It will just exhaust you. Let what happen happen. Other then Charlotte, the others can all protect themselves, and they will be fine." Blaise called over the clattering of their horses hooves.
"I know that. But I can't help it." Will confessed.
"I understand that better then what you think. But there is a reason why they are full Rangers' while you are an apprentice. They have been through much worse then this before and will survive this. Charlotte will be fine as long as she stays close to Gilan." Will had a suspicious feeling that Blaise was saying that for her own benefit and not his.
"I think that they are going go after Halt and not the King." Will blurted out as they came to the river. Will and Blaise dismounted and led their horses and let them have a brief rest.
"I do believe that you are correct. I think that Halt got all of us out of the way so that if they do end up going after him we would be safe." Blaise admitted something that she had thought every time that she had read the book.
"We should be with him then!" Will exclaimed.
"No. If we turn back we will more then likely get him killed. You are an apprentice, with very little training, while I am not even an apprentice. His best chance of survival is for us to get to Redmont as fast as possible to get help." Blaise told him bluntly. Will nodded though Blaise could tell that he wanted to turn around and go back.
"Look, you are doing what you are told. You can't more then that right now because you would probably die and get Halt and many more killed to. Getting help to kill these things is the best thing to do." Blaise again said bluntly, though not unkindly.
"What if it gets Halt killed?" Will asked quietly.
"As much as I sound like an ass saying this, you will have to move on and deal with it. You can't put your life on hold just because someone dies." Blaise seemed to be coming from a different place as he said that. The two mounted Spirit and Blaze respectively and raced away.
"You say that as if you speak from experience." Will observed.
"I do. When I was six, a little girl who was the reason I wanted to be a fighter was found dead. Other the Charlie she was my best friend. I had to learn to continue living even though it hurt. It still does a bit, but I have gotten over it. I knew that there was nothing that I could do to stop it." Blaise said.
"Why are you so cold? Even while talking to me you are cold. It doesn't seem like you have any emotions." Will told her. He had been silent for a while and it was now nearing twilight. Once they had hit the King's Highway the two had been making excellent time with small stops to change horses, and, at Shadow's insistence, stretch out their muscles quickly before continuing.
"I am that cold because it keeps anyone who does not truly want to get to know me away, while the people who do have to work hard to get to know the real me. If someone ever does work that hard to get to know the real me, then I'll know that they won't leave me for being me. The one and only time Carrots ever got truly mad at anyone was when I tried it with her and she yelled at me for it. It was really funny." Blaise snorted.
Will silently made a promise to himself that he would get to know the real Shadow. Will and Blaise said nothing else as the night had fallen. The night sounds got to Will again and Blaise yelled to stop. Will reined in Tug and looked back at Blaise.
"What's wrong?" Will asked urgently.
"Nothing. But it is time to switch horses. You would have made poor Tug carry you all night and lost some time." Blaise told Will as she dismounted and started to stretch.
"Sorry, boy." Will said as he dismounted. Will rubbed Tug's nose before loosening the saddle and stretching himself. Will was glad that Blaise made him stretch because she didn't then he knew he would have been much worse off then what he was.
"Why is the night not scaring you? I'm worried that the Kalkara are going to be in the woods and yet you seem to be perfectly fine." Will said as they once more started riding towards the Castle Redmont.
"Smaller animals that would be frightened of the Kalkara would fall silent." Just then an owl hooted and a badger could be seen. "Those animals would be long gone. I would be frightened if things had gone deadly silent. Plus, the horses would be freaking out if those Beasts were around us." Blaise said.
"But how can you have such a level head?" Will asked.
"Practice, lots and lots of practice." Blaise smirked. "I also grew up in nighttime like right now so the night has more of a positive affect on me then the day does. That also helps." Blaise confessed.
Will smirked. "Why does that not surprise me?" He teased.
Blaise lifted an eyebrow. "Don't make me come over there." She threatened. Will was worried for a second until he could see that she was fighting back laughter. Will then laughed and the dark, dread filed night taking a happier turn. Will and Blaise bantered back and forth as they rode towards the Castle, and Blaise made sure that they switched horses and stretched at regular intervals. It was mid morning when the Castle came into view. Blaise kept them riding instead of pausing when the Castle came into view. The people looked up in surprise to see two small, dust covered people wearing Ranger cloaks riding two horses while another two followed them. Blaise was following Will as she didn't know the lay out of the Castle. Will lead them across a bridge and into what Blaise believed to be the court yard to an entrance to a tower. Two men-at-arms on duty there, surprised by the two's sudden appearance and break-neck pace, barred their way through with crossed pikes.
"Just a moment there you two! Where do you think you're off to in such a clatter and a rush?" The man demanded, though his eyes were glued to Blaise's mainly unclothed form. Blaise was giving the two an icy glare, making them both take an automatic step back. Will too was glaring at them. Before things could escalate, however, a voice rang out.
"What the hell do you think you are doing, you idiot? Don't you recognize a King's Ranger when you see them?" Sir Rodney demanded as he strode towards them. Rodney was tall, and would tower over Blaise, he had on a chain mail shirt over a white shirt with a scarlet wolfs-head crest. His step faltered for a moment when he saw what Blaise was wearing before evening out again. The two sentries stiffened to attention as Will and Blaise turned towards Rodney, one grateful, the other annoyed.
"Sir Rodney, we have an urgent message from Halt for Lord Arald and yourself." Will said. Rodney looked at the two and again and noticed that the horses were dust covered, the two children in front of him were cover in dust as well, and their disheveled clothes, the horses were all standing with their heads drooped tiredly and realized that there was no time for foolish questions.
"Best come in and tell us then." Rodney said before turning to the sentries. "Have these horses looked after. Feed and water them."
"Not to much of either, please, Sir Rodney." Will said quickly. "Just a small amount of grain and water, and maybe you could have them rubbed down. We'll be needing them again soon." Will spoke for Blaise too. Rodney's eyebrows rose at that. Will, the unknown girl, and the horses looked as though they needed a long rest.
"Something must be urgent." Rodney mused, before adding to the sentries. "See to the horses then. And have food brought to Baron Arald's study - and a jug of cold milk." Blaise snorted and followed Will in dismounting. Will groaned as he landed but Blaise sighed. Blaise followed Will into the tower where she sighed in relief when the two sentries were out of sight. Will had seen them staring at Blaise as she walked up the stairs and glared at them.
"Glad they're gone. Stares never get any easier." Blaise grumbled. Will gave her a sympathetic look. They both jumped and drew a knife each when Rodney's voice came from in front of them.
"What are you two talking about? And who are you, girl?" Rodney asked from in front of them.
"I'm Shadow, and I was talking about how the two guard people were staring at me. Made me uncomfortable but I'm very use to it." Blaise shrugged.
Rodney frowned, though they couldn't see it. "They should have been more professional. I will speak with them."
"There is no need. It's fine, I'm use to it." Blaise told him. Rodney didn't respond as they had reached the Baron's study. Rodney knocked and then they waited until a voice called out for them to enter.
"Sir, Halt sends us an urgent message with Will and a girl, Shadow." Rodney told him as he entered.
The Baron looked up surprised as the dust covered children entered after the Battle Master. The Baron was even more surprised when both Rodney and Will offered their chair to the small girl and she pushed Will into the chair he was offering before sitting on the arm of his chair. The Battle Master and the Baron exchanged a look before Rodney sat down.
"Where's the fire?" The Baron asked amused.
"I don't know. But there are three Kalkara who want to kill Halt." Blaise said calmly, as though she was discussing the weather, making the Baron and Battle Master nod, until the meaning was registered.
"WHAT?" They both yelled at the same time.
"Maybe you should start from the beginning?" The Baron said mildly. Will snorted and shot Shadow a look.
*Only Shadow could get a reaction like that without truly trying.* Will thought to himself before launching into an explanation about what was going on.
The two Knights whistled in astonishment as Will was telling their story. "So Halt thinks that they may be going after the King?" Baron Arald asked. When Will nodded the Baron shifted his focus to Shadow. "But you think he is going after Halt?"
"Yes. If you think about it, it is common knowledge that Halt is one of the Kings advisers. So far, Morgarath has been taking out people who would weaken the Army, the people who would fight against them. I don't think that he would go after the King, at least not yet, because the advisers would help the kings Heir lead the kingdom to victory. That might actually work against him as the Kingdom would fight to avenge their King, and make it that much harder for him to take over. Just taking out the King wouldn't weaken the Army because the Commanders and other Leaders would still be in place when the Princess became Queen. If anything Morgarath should kill the Princess since that would take away much of the Kings reason to fight, making Morgarath have an easier time to take over since the King would be focusing on revenge rather then his people." Shadow mused, getting off track. Everyone stared at her.
"What? I can't help it if I have a brain that lets me see all the possibilities." Shadow said defensively. Will rolled his eyes.
"We think that he is going to go after Halt because Halt probably did the most harm to Morgarath. The Plainsman would have had plenty of time to tell the Kalkara where Halt was. They would have had time to lead him into an ambush." Will summed up what Shadow tried to say.
"Well, Rodney, there's no time to waste. You and I will go. Half armor, I think. We'll move faster that way. Lances, axes, and broadswords. And we'll take two horses each - we'll follow Will and Shadow's example there. We'll leave in an hour. Have Karel gather another ten knights and follow us as soon as he can." The Baron said to Rodney, who nodded.
"Will and Shadow, you two have done a great job. We'll take care of this now. You two look like you could use eight solid hours of rest."
Will drew himself up erect. "We'd like to come with you, my lord. Sir, none of us knows what's going to happen, and Gilan and Carrots, Shadow's sister, is out there somewhere on foot. Besides..."Will trailed off and looked down.
"Go on." The Baron prompted quietly, and when the boy looked up, everyone could see the steal in his eyes.
"Halt is my master, sir, and he's in danger. My place is with him." Will said.
"I will not leave my sister any longer then necessary while those beasts are still out there. Even if you leave me behind I WILL follow behind. I will also bring Will with me. We would be much safer in a group then separate." Shadow said from her perch. The Baron could see the determination in both of their eyes.
"Very well. But at least you can get an hour's rest. there's a cot in that annex over there." He indicated a curtained-off section of the study. "Why don't you make use of it and someone else can use the furs to make a bed on the floor?"
"Yes sir." Will said gratefully.
"Take the bed. I probably won't sleep anyways so there is no point in you sleeping on the floor when there is a bed to be used." Blaise told Will as she gracefully stood on the arm of the chair.
Will opened his mouth to argue before remembering how little she had slept when they were traveling. "Fine." Will huffed. Shadow smirked before hoping off the chair and landing lightly on her toes.
Rodney and the Baron both stood and left. "So what do you think of Shadow, Sir?" Rodney asked.
"She will either become a great ally to this Kingdom or the biggest threat this Kingdom has ever faced. There will not be an in between for that girl. What kind of Parent names their children Carrots and Shadow?" Arald asked the world in general. Rodney shook his head, as he had no answer.
Shadow had asked Will if the person who was going to bring the food and drink would go and get some things for her if she asked. When Will said yes and sat down. The servant knocked on the door, announcing their arrival.
Blaise opened the door and took the food and drink from the surprised servant. "I have brought the food and drink that the Battle Master asked for."
Blaise nodded. "Can I also ask that you bring us four cups of coffee, sugar, and a large shirt please?" Shadow asked in an ice cold voice. The servant nodded, eyes wide, before leaving quickly. Blaise saw two guards had been posted on either side of the door and glared at them darkly, before re-entering the room.
"What did I do?" Shadow asked Will. When she got no answer, Shadow turned and saw that Will had fallen asleep. Shaking her head, Blaise set up two filling plates of food and two glasses of milk. Blaise slowly ate her plate of food while watching the sun slowly move across the sky. After a while of her sitting there, Shadow heard a hesitant knock at the door. Opening it, Shadow saw that it was the servant returning with the things that she had asked for.
"Thanks." Shadow snapped. The young girl nodded, very frightened, and then left again as quickly as she could.
"It must be me." Shadow grumbled. "I don't know what it is I do! that girl was taller then I am! It doesn't make ANY sense." She grumbled and complained to a sleeping Will. Once the sun had passed the hour mark, Blaise tried to shake Will awake, and, when that didn't work, grabbed the end of his bed and dumped him out of it, waking him with a jolt.
"WHAT?" Will yelped, sitting up right with wide eyes.
"It's time to get up." Shadow said calmly.
"Why didn't you just shake me awake?" He demanded.
"I tried, you didn't wake up so I tried a different way... It worked, didn't it?" Shadow snorted. Will gave her a half-hearted glare.
"I'm still tired." Will grumbled as he got up off the floor and started eating the plate of food that Blaise had left out for him.
"Well, I could leave you sleeping here while I go find Halt and Charlie, or you stop complaining and come with me to find them." Shadow said calmly as she brought a tray over from the fire which contained four cups and a bowl. When Shadow put down the tray, Will saw that they were four cups of coffee.
"The coffee is needed to help keep us awake. Because while you might have had a nap, i did not and am very tired. Sugar helps as well which is why there is so much here." Shadow calmly explained as she poured a lot of sugar into one of the cups. Shadow took a small sip from the cup and, finding not to hot, drank the rest of it as quickly as she could with a shudder.
"I hate coffee." She complained as she filled the next cup with even MORE sugar. Shadow drank that cup just as fast as the other cup. Will followed her example and poured in a lot of sugar in the two cups Shadow had put ion front of him and drink them both quickly. Shadow then proceeded to steal Will's glass of milk and drink some of it before giving it back.
"Thanks. Try not to move more then what you have to, it will wear off the coffee faster." She said as she stole the little bit of his food that was left as well. Will nodded to the last part as he finished his coffee.
"Your welcome. I always wanted to share my food with a thief." Will snorted.
"A thief i may be," Shadow purred as she placed her head on his shoulder. "but am I at least a pretty thief?" Shadow breathed as she placed her arm on his other shoulder and drew herself up so that she was looking up at him with big eyes through her eye lashes. Will was red faced and knew that Shadow was teasing him so he was about to play along when the door opened and Sir Rodney and the Baron came in only to freeze at the sight of Shadow all but sitting on Will with their faces inches apart.
"Do you mind? We were in the middle of an conversation." Shadow growled as she moved so that she was sitting on the arm rest again. The Baron and Rodney exchanged a look before shrugging and entering the room anyways. The Baron sat behind the desk while Rodney sat in the chair that was free. Will was glad that Shadow had set up the food near where he had spent the night because there was no food on the Baron's desk. Will sat down in front of the Baron and beside Rodney while Shadow once again sat on the arm of the chair. She was wearing the big shirt that she had asked for and it came down to nearly her knees.
"Sir Rodney and I have prepared and are ready to go. It is now up to the two of you. No one will blame you if you chose to stay behind. In fact, that would be the smart thing to do." The Baron told them. Will and Shadow shook their heads as one. "No, My Lord. We have made up our minds. We wish to come with you to find Halt and Carrots." Will said determined. Shadow had simply said no.
"Very well, we leave now." The Baron said and got up. The other three followed, Shadow grumbling in German the whole way about being ordered about.
"When we get there, Will and Shadow, I want you two to stay in or near the tree line away from trouble. Rodney and I will be charging the two monsters. If Halt is there, I'm sure he'll lend a hand too. But I want you two well back out of harms way, Will and Shadow. That bow of yours won't make any impression on a Kalkara. Shadow, I don't think you even have a weapon to fight with, so stay with Will."
"Yes, sir." Will said.
"We'll see." Shadow said simply. The other three looked at her in disbelief.
"You have no weapons. It would get you killed if you were to near the Kalkara." Will told her shocked.
"I promise nothing. If I can help, I will." Shadow said, as calm as could be.
"Fine. But if the damn things get the better of us, I want you two to ride for more help. Karel and the others will be somewhere behind us. Find them, then go after the Kalkara with them. Track those beasts down and kill them."
"Sounds fun." Shadow commented, and, since Carrots wasn't here, Will whacked lightly on the shoulder, only to find himself on the ground.
"ONLY Charlie gets away with hitting me. Got it?" Shadow spat near his ear. Will nodded and Shadow hauled him up. The Baron and Rodney had their backs to them so they didn't see the by play. Shadow was colder then ever towards Will.
The Baron and Rodney both mounted their horses while Will mounted Tug. Blaise mounted Moonlight while grumbling now in elfish about how her horses still didn't have a saddle. They rode hard, with both Will and Shadow having to rein in their horses a little as they had started to out pace the battle horses, despite them being fresh when they party left Castle Redmont. They couldn't keep pace to the Ranger horses constant pace. The Afternoon passed by slowly, with the hourly changes from horse to horse being the only difference to the pace. Will and Shadow again stretched at every stop, though Shadow ignored Will's existence. Will felt really bad because as they had been riding he had remembered what Shadow had said about her past.
It was nearing dusk when they stopped to change horses. will saw his chance and went for it. "I'm sorry Shadow if I hurt you. I didn't mean to. I was only trying to play around. I'm sorry." Will apologized. Shadow stared at him for a minute.
"Fine." Shadow said. Her voice had lost some of its frostiness but was no where the near warmth she had been talking to him with before. Will sighed but realised that that was as good as it was going to get.
They had been riding for a while more when the Baron called over to them. "How long before Dusk, Will?"
Will turned and looked at the setting sun. "Less than an hour, my lord."
"Half hour, tops." Shadow called. The Baron urged his horse on a little faster, with the Ranger's horses following the change in pace without effort. No one wanted to be hunting the Kalkara in the dark... Except maybe Shadow.
The sun had all but set when the Baron raised his hand and brought everyone to a stop. Shadow and Will stopped beside each other while the Baron and Rodney stopped beside each other. Shadow stretched her arms with her fingers linked together above her head and Will winced as all of her fingers, both arms, and her back cracked.
"That can not be healthy." Will told her.
"Probably not, but since we're going to die, why stop now?" She smirked. Will didn't say anything, as it was beginning to dawn on him that there was a high possibility of that happening.
They were galloping quickly, with the torches held high and their lances held in place by leather thongs looped around their right wrists. Ten minutes later, the unearthly screaming start again. The Baron and Rodney both involuntarily reined in their horses as they heard it. their horses plunged wildly against the reins.
"Good God in heaven! What is that?" The Baron exclaimed.
"It's the Kalkara. They're hunting." Will said grimly. Shadow had her eyes closed and her head cocked to one side, trying to pin point where the noise was coming from.
"Look, my lord!" Rodney exclaimed, pointing through the trees at where they could see a sudden flare of light from a fire reflected in the night sky.
"That's Halt. Bound to be. And he'll need help!" The Baron exclaimed. He urged his horse into a wild gallop with Rodney, Will, and Shadow following behind. After some time had passed, they burst from the trees with almost no warning, and before them was a scene from nightmares. The grounds were littered with giant pieces of masonry, still held together by mortar, some half buried by grass, and some on their sides and edges. The ruined walls of the Castle surrounded the Castle on three sides, nowhere rising more then five meters in height, destroyed by a vengeful kingdom after Morgarath fled. This though, left almost no clear ground. The Kalkara were over two and a Half meters tall, with shaggy, matted scale-like hair covering its entire body, the Kalkara had long, talon-clad arms that reached to beneath its knees. Relatively short, powerful hind legs gave it the ability to cover ground at a deceptive speed in a series of leaps and bounds. The face was savage and apelike, with huge, yellowed canine teeth and red, glowing eyes filled with hatred and the blind desire to kill. The beast turned towards the four riders and screamed a challenge, tried to rise, and stumbled back into a half crouch again. Shadow growled at it, getting bewildered stares from the others.
"What's wrong with it?" Rodney asked.
"Well, its working with Morgarath for one." Shadow drawled. She was ignored.
"Look!" Will cried, pointing at the arrows protruding for its chest. "Look at the arrows!"
Halt, with his uncanny ability to aim and fire in a blur of movement, must have sent a volley of arrows to smash into the armorlike matted hair, each one widening the a gap in the monster's defenses until the last arrow had penetrated deep into its flesh.
"Rodney!" yelled Baron Arald, "With me! Now!" the Baron charged the beast with Rodney a half second behind him. The Kalkara rose to meet them in time for both of the lances to enter his chest. The horses reared back on their hind legs while Arald and Rodney leaned forwards to keep their balance. When the horses plunged back down, the sharp pointed lances were driven home and the Kalkara stumbled back into the fire and was engulfed in flames. For a moment, nothing happened, and then there was a blinding flash of light and a pillar of red flame that reached ten meters into the night sky. And quite simply, the Kalkara disappeared.
"Damn." Shadow breathed. Will and Shadow trotted towards the two knights.
"That was interesting." Shadow drawled, once again looking unfazed.
"Does nothing faze you?!" Will asked flabbergasted.
"Nope." Shadow said calmly. While Will had been talking to Shadow, the Baron and Rodney had also been talking.
"He must have fired from over here." Will indicated where he had found the broken bow. The Baron took the shattered weapon from Will as he remounted Tug.
"Another Kalkara must have reached Halt when he was finishing off this one." He said.
"Question is, where are they?" Shadow asked calmly. She was scanning the night, looking for any sight of the Kalkara. That's when the screaming started.
"Found it." Shadow said dryly. Will shot her an exasperated look, before calling out. "Halt!" Pointing towards him. The Baron drew his massive broadsword from the saddle and charged the beast with Rodney whirling his battle axe around his head after they saw Halt take out one of its eyes. The Baron shouted for Will and Shadow to get back. Will started to comply when he saw that Shadow hadn't moved a muscle so he moved up beside her. All four of the Ranger horses were shifting nervously.
"Calm, it's ok. We know that there is danger here." Shadow told them softly. The horses settled a little but didn't settle completely. They watched as Halt made a flying leap and landed in a roll towards the Baron, and as the Kalkara knocked him out. They held their breath as the Baron was knocked down and Rodney came to his rescue, only to be frozen by the Kalkara's gaze. While the Kalkara was screaming its victory, Will whipped out an arrow, wrapped it in the waxy substance, lit it on fire, and then shot it at the Kalkara. The Kalkara caught fire and died quickly after that. Will flung his bow away and raced towards his fallen mentor. Shadow leaped from her horse and tried to save the bow, but it was too late. The String had caught and the bow was ruined. Shadow charged after Will after telling the horses to stay put.
"You stupid idiot!" Shadow yelled at him. Will looked back at her with wide eyes.
"What?" Will asked. Shadow threw the broken bow at Will.
"You just destroyed our best chance at survival you fucking idiot!" Shadow shouted at him. Will was wide-eyed as he realized what it meant.
"Will, Shadow, get out of here! Go get help!" The Baron ordered. Will took half a step back, shocked, but Shadow just looked around calmly.
"As I said at the beginning, if I can help, I will." The beast started roaring and Shadow continued as she turned to Will. "You can go get help. I would not blame you." Will shook his head.
"No, I will be staying with you." Will said adamantly.
"Good. Now, remember your lessons from before?" Shadow asked. Will nodded, determined, and was handed the Baron's broadsword, which he almost dropped before he became accustomed to its weight.
"Will, I'm going to charge at it and slash it and then run away. If it works, you should be able to run up behind it while its chasing me and slash at it. Then I will turn and we shall continue until we can not any longer, ok?" Shadow told him. Will swallowed, but nodded. "Good. We will draw it away from Halt, as he is the main focus."
"Let's hope this works." Will said with a shaky laugh. Shadow bent down and quickly made sure that Halt still had a pulse. Once she was sure he did, Shadow got up and tried to heave up the battle axe but over estimated its weight and ended up falling backwards with a squawk. Rodney was out of it and didn't notice. Halt, Arald, and Rodney were lined up with Halt in the front, the Baron next, and Rodney at the back, with at least a meter in between each of them.
"I meant to do that." Shadow said as she picked up the heavy battle axe. The Kalkara was slowly stalking towards them.
"Well, here goes nothing!" Shadow sighed before charging the Kalkara with a bellow that was impressive for her small size. The Kalkara stopped its advance and stared at Shadow, its hypnotic eyes staring into hers. Shadow though, had guessed how many steps she needed to take between her and then Kalkara, and as she felt her mind leaving her, she focused on her feet hitting the ground and how many steps were left. When Shadow reached zero, she swung and hit its side, shocking the beast into releasing her from its gaze. Shadow instantly spun on her heel, using her momentum, before sprinting off, her battle axe still clutched in her hands. Will watched her, amazed, before charging once the Kalkara started chasing Shadow. Will cut the Kalkara and raced off in a different direction, and thankfully it started chasing Will. Shadow charged it again and the three of them were off in a deadly dance.
After what felt like hours to Will and Shadow, the Kalkara was starting to slow down due to blood loss. But then Shadow started to race away from the Kalkara when she stumbled on one of the lose rocks, and that was enough for the Kalkara to catch her. It wrapped its clawed paw around her middle and scratched her. Shadow though, had somehow managed to throw herself backwards at the same time so she went flying over one chunk of rock and into another one, instead of being ripped in half.
(A Little Blip From Halt.)
Halt groaned as he came to. Halt opened his eyes in time to she the girl who looked so much like his sister go flying through the air and land with a thump at the base of a rock with a battle axe beside her. Halt tried to push himself up to help her when his leg gave out. He was helpless to as the Kalkara bounded over the rock and stretched out a paw, having learned from its brother not to pause, when Halt saw something he never thought that he would see. Halt watched, Shadow had been crumpled in an almost ball at the base of the rock and using the momentum from her whole body heaving upwards and swinging the battle axe, managed to cut off the Kalkara's paw, though the battle axe got stuck in the rock behind her. Shadow rolled out between the Kalkara's legs and raced towards him.
(Halt's Little Blip Is Done!)
Shadow raced towards Halt, her heart in her throat, she couldn't believe that worked! She had thought that she was going to die. Out of the corner of her eye, Shadow saw Will sprint around the rock, pale faced. Shadow twisted, meaning to stop in front of Halt, but lost her footing. Shadow twisted and landed on her hands and pushed herself up with a twirl and landed on her feet. "Glad I took gymnastics!" Shadow said to herself. She turned to place herself in front of Halt again only to see that Rodney had already done so. Rodney though, was still a little out of it and unarmed. The Kalkara slashed at him and hit his leg, as he had dodged to late. Shadow shook her head.
*He should have just stayed down.* Shadow thought to herself.
"Lets dance, beasty boy." Shadow growled at the Kalkara, staring at its mouth and ignoring the urge to look at its eyes. The Kalkara bellowed its challenge at the small figure stalking towards it. Shadow just bellowed back, making the Kalkara growl, but was unsure. Nothing had ever challenged it before tonight, and this little nothing had just challenged it. The Kalkara knew that it must be more powerful then it let on, otherwise to its primitive brain, it never would have challenged it. Shadow drew out a Ranger throwing knife and a saxe knife and held one in each hand. Will stabbed it from behind and, once the Kalkara turned to Will, Shadow sprinted as quickly as she could and jumped off of a near by rock and cut straight in front of the Kalkara and stabbed it in the eyes with each knife. Shadow let go of the knives and continued up and over a high part of the wall by climbing, after she had landed with enough force to drive all of the air out in her body.
"WILL! NOW I'M OUT OF WEAPONS!" Shadow bellowed from her high perch on the wall.
"THEN WHAT DO WE DO?!" Will shouted back from somewhere to her right.
"I HAVE NO IDEA. LET SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES ONE OF US TO DIE!" Shadow shouted back. The two teens didn't need to have worried though, as the Kalkara took a staggering step towards Shadow's wall, only to fall down, due to blood loss. Shadow jumped down from her perch and landed with a roll to break her fall. Will came out from his hiding spot and approached Shadow, who was crouched on the ground, glaring at the Kalkara.
"Is it dead?" Will asked softly.
"Dunno." Shadow said. Shadow took Will's sword, crept up towards the Kalkara, and poked it with the sword. Shadow and Will both jumped a foot in the air when it growled and tried to rise.
"Well, it's not dead." Shadow said dryly.
"Will, go find some fire please." Will left and was soon back, sliding down a few rocks to get back to Shadow faster. Shadow had watched over the Kalkara, stabbing at the wounds to make it stay in one spot until Will got back.
"Here." Will panted and gave Shadow the fire.
"Let me get my knives first." Shadow said and gave Will the sword. Shadow stalked over to the Kalkara's face and ripped out the two knives and jumped back, just as the Kalkara bellowed and she dropped the fire onto it. Nothing happened for a moment, and the like the others, it caught on fire and in an instant it was gone in a blaze of fire.
"Its dead." Shadow announced, coming up to Will's side. Will and Shadow exchanged a long look before both burst out laughing at the fact that they had survived.
A/N: Ok, so I all but stole the last part from my partner. Meh. And they survived so well simply because i wanted them to. So, deal with it. And this worked out because I wanted it to. Will may seem more childish, but that is only because Shadow is the same age as he is. He doesn't act like what he had been with Shadow when he is with Halt, as you can see from previous chapters.
Answers:
blodrose: Good enough?"
WeTheTreatys: HeyZ!