Daven IX
Hooves pounded behind them like a surging torrent. Daven stumbled forward frantically, but his lungs were aflame and the searing wounds that had reopened all over his chest threatened to tear him apart, fibre by fibre, if he did not slow down. As he gasped and choked for air, he saw that his soldiers had also long since reached their limits. In this wretched state, it would be a miracle if they could stagger over the next hill.
"H-halt!" Daven coughed. A few of the others nearly collapsed. It's no use. We can't outrun them on foot. If we keep fleeing, we'll just get cut down from behind. This hill is as good a place as any to make our last stand.
"Turn and stand your ground!" He shouted. The terrified northerners looked at him like he was a madman.
Eryk relayed his orders, barking at the soldiers. Old instincts died hard. Even these seventeen ragtag survivors, the wounded and crippled remains of Daven's once proud army, snapped to attention. They huddled close, standing shoulder to shoulder in a wedge formation, chipped and dented spears brandished defiantly, old cracked shields upraised as if they would offer any protection. At least we go down fighting. A fitting end to a story that was never meant to be. Daven glanced around him, drinking in his last fill of the Island. Imposing redwood trees stretched up into the air, tall as mountains and thick as mammoths. Vivid green fronds and ferns carpeted the forest floor, even this late in the fall. The redwood forest. Huh, Jek really was right. We were going the wrong way. Well, our chances of reuniting with Otto's army were slim anyhow. At least this isn't so bad a place to die.
The enemy came. There must have been almost thirty, mounted on equus and gallimimus. Armed with nets, as if they were hunting escaped slaves. They weren't Keith's men. These were probably garrison soldiers from some outpost that Daven's small band had passed. They had been tracking his party for the past few days, probably thinking the tracks meant escaped slaves. Harmless, defenseless, and easy to recapture.
Well, they were in for a surprise.
Daven saw a few of them hesitate before plunging forward again. We'll put up a fight but they'll still kill us eventually. They outnumber us two to one, and they're mounted. He hefted his spear.
However, as the enemies were galloping up the hill toward them, something curious happened. They fell. At first it was three near the back, toppling from their saddles as if they had slammed into a wall. Then more. Daven squinted closer. No, they didn't fall, he realized. They were shot. Arrows? But none of my soldiers have bows. . . A little speck caught Daven's eye. A tiny black barb slammed into one Protector's throat, and his entire body stiffened. The man careened off his mount, falling facefirst into the gravel where he lay twitching.
Then Daven saw. By backtracking the path of the zipping black darts, which he had mistaken for insects in flight, he looked up at the trees. There, kneeling on the thick branches, were dozens of figures. Daven squinted closer. Who are they?
The Protectors also realized the direction of attack and scrambled away, scattering in all directions, taking cover behind trees and boulders. A few of the slave hunters had bows. They dismounted, nocked arrows to their strings, and trained their sights on the trees above. A disarrayed volley of arrows took flight, but found no marks except bark and leaves.
Then some huge thing slammed down into the ground. Daven gasped and involuntarily flinched back, as did the northerners on either side of him. The creature was almost the size of a direbear, but it moved fast. Faster than his eyes could follow. The monster slammed its paws into some slavers, then tore the head off another man. Arrows zipped toward it, but the beast sprang back up, grappling onto the side of the tree and hurling itself higher into the canopy with every thrust of its powerful limbs. As the archers were distracted, a second tree monster crashed down on them and slew the remaining men with a few bone-shattering swats of its muscular paws.
The whole forest came alive with war cries as more strangers appeared on the branches and the ground. More slavers fell to buzzing swarms of blowdarts, long wicked bone spears, or the two ravenous tree monsters. Now that they were out in the open, Daven got a closer look. They looked feline. Almost like huge sabertooths. Thylacaleos? Daven found himself grinning despite the terror.
In almost no time at all, the last of the slavers died. The ambush had caught them completely off guard and they were easy prey. Daven was relieved at first. . . until he found his own warband under the scrutiny of the newcomers. Daven's soldiers looked to him for guidance, terrified at having witnessed their pursuers cut down in an instant. He gulped. Be the leader your men need.
Daven stepped forward cautiously toward the strangers. They were arrayed all around his group. Some on the ground, prodding at the Protectors' dead corpses. Some in the trees, with bows and blowguns trained on him. The thylacoleo had also retreated up to the canopy but he sensed them watching, with their intense yellow eyes. Daven hesitated.
Fortunately, one of the warriors also moved forward to meet him. The other man stopped a few feet away. He was tall and tan, with dark hair and cleverly camouflaged clothing. His leather shirt and pants were smeared red, the color of the tree bark. His shoulders sported boughs of pine needles. His expression seemed curious. Not overly hostile, but still threatening. "What brings you to our land?"
Daven tried to compose himself. "We s-seek our people." He flushed. "But we got lost along the way. . ."
The man eyed him sharply. He gestured to the dead slavers. "These filthy demons were no friends of yours, I presume?"
Daven cracked a nervous smile. "N-not by the slightest. They killed hundreds of my soldiers. They were the r-reason we're in this predicament to begin with."
The other man nodded. "Any enemy of the Protectors is welcomed." He pointed to himself. "Chief Varah of the Redwoods."
"Lord Daven of the Northern Coalition."
The other man raised an eyebrow. "You hail from the north?"
"H-hard to believe, I know. We've strayed a bit off course."
Chief Varah smiled. "We hear of your efforts, even here. You fight the Protectors. You resist. Better than most have."
Daven nodded in thanks. "They tried to invade your land as well?"
"Invade? No, we were conquered long ago."
Daven furrowed his brows. "But you f-fight against your oppressors."
"Only in secret. There are few of my people left. The Protectors can wipe us out if we draw their wrath."
"Why help us then? These dead men will be missed. The Protectors will come."
Varah shook his head. "They will think you did it. Besides, they're focused on destroying the last of your army."
Daven shuddered. "We n-need to get back to them! But. . . my men are tired. We've been hunted for days. Please, if it's not too much to ask, can you provide some shelter before we strike off?"
The other man frowned. "There are Protectorate overseers in our camp. You would not be safe. Come. I know another tribe that has remained hidden from their awareness. I will take you to the caves."
Author's Note: I am truly and sincerely sorry for disappearing for months without a word of forewarning. A combination of moving away from home, figuring out how to live on my own, and burnout kept me from writing much since September. But I just wanted you all to know that I fully plan on finishing this story, no matter what it takes. Very rough versions of all the remaining chapters have been written but I do not feel ready to post them without much further editing. For sticking around so long, you all deserve a proper conclusion to this story.
I wanted to post this chapter, short though it is, to let you all know that I am still very much committed to delivering an ending to this story that we have all invested so much time into. I would not get my hopes up about more chapters following soon after - I have no idea what the posting schedule will look like for the foreseeable future. But just know that I will deliver eventually, whatever it takes. Thank you all so much for the support so far.
DinoNerd89, Jeyne and the others holed up at Hotspring Hold are for sure in a tight situation and the coming months will take much more sacrifice from them but I think they have the strength! Haha thanks and there's more mammoth action coming eventually! They have been getting held back from big battles because they're such a powerful and valuable weapon.
1211, LOL maybe this chapter was proof enough of the tides turning, at least for a little bit. The upcoming war is definitely going to go back and forth a lot, so there'll be plenty of good and bad moments for both sides :)
1895newhanover, I completely agree! Fantasy is just much more interesting to me than scifi so I wanted to write a story without the implants or obelisks or overseers.
thompmil000, :O Very nice ideas! I have actually planned something similar which I'm sure you'll be excited to eventually read about! Also I do like those names so I will see if there's anywhere appropriate I can use them but no guarantee!
Thunder, Thanks for the nice comment! I really appreciate that you enjoyed the journey but it's not over yet!
Thanks for taking the time to check out my work, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Feel free to comment, ask questions, or criticize my story, review is always welcome! If you liked what you saw, make sure to check out the other ARK stories on this site! Have a great day!
- DaRumpyBurr