Might and Magic

By Sammie Spitz

Chapter 10: No Man's Land

The group carefully walked through the now destroyed plains. There was no telling what else happened. Plus, chances were, since the area was so close to his lair, Crozen probably had guards out in some way, shape or form. And, knowing the kind of things he seemed to go for, the last thing they wanyed was to be caught off guard.

The area was definately getting to Vela. As she got a closer look around, her feeling toward the place got even worse. She thought she kept hearing rustling noises, snorts and grunts. And, she was suddenly made nervous by the hoofprints on the ground. All of them belonged to deer. Either someone suddenly decided they had a SERIOUS hatred for deer, killed them all and left or...no, it couldn't...could it?

There was another sudden rustling nearby. Then, it was followed by a high-pitched squeal. Everyone immediatly stopped and looked around for the source. Vela was a nervous wreak. Juno, hearing her make a few noises of fright, asked, "What's wrong?"

"Saw deer hoofprints all over the place. Either someone has a serious feud with them..or.."

"Or what?" Rainer asked.

"Or we're dealing with some deer that were sick of being vegitarians."

Suddenly, the rustling got louder. Without warning, a dozen or so dark figures came flying out of what was left of some bushes. In the confusion, Vela accidently fell off Juno. When it was all over and everything had settled down somewhat, Vela was surrounded by something she hadn't even wanted to think about.

They were deer, alright. But not deer she was used to seeing. They were jet black, with red eyes that stared at her with an obvious intent to kill. The stags had dark grey antlers, but the does still looked just as intimidating. They had her surrounded and were making low growling noises. These animals probably used to be the type of deer she was used to seeing. But, now, they were a far cry from that. Now, they were just another animal in this place, hell-bent on killing.

For a while, her mind pulled a blank. Then, she mentally cursed herself, 'The sword, you jackass! Nevermind looking at them, get out the damn sword!'

She quickly yanked out the sword and pointed it at the buck that had it's snout only inches from her. It pulled it's head up to avoid being hit by the blade and backed up about a foot. Then, it continued growling at her. But, being surrounded, she didn't seem to notice a doe sneaking up behind her.

She heard a sudden growl behind her, but a familiar one this time. She turned around just in time to see Lupus lunge toward the deer that were getting ready to attack. The others followed. The deer started scattering. Another doe tried to make a run at her, but she slashed it in the side with her sword. But, when the deer landed, the wound glowed for a second, than healed.

"Oh, shit." She muttered to herself. These were obviously no garden-variety deer she was dealing with. Of course, their blood lust was a pretty good clue, as well. The deer stared back at her, turned around and rushed at her again. Vela ducked and the deer leaped over and crashed into a black, stone pillar. The pillar glowed a bit and the deer started letting out horrible screams. They were at such a pitch they could have easily shattered glass and, for a few minutes, Vela thought she was going deaf. She covered her ears, which didn't seem to help. Finally, the deer settled down and Vela thought it was safe for her to take her hands down. Then, it hit her.

'The pillar!' She thought, also taking notice that the black pillar, which looked like it might have been carved from onyx, had a white, crystal circle on it, that seemed to glow for a few seconds after it was hit, then stop as the animals settled down. She shouted, "Guys, the pillar! Aim for that circle on the pillar!"

Juno pulled out the bow and an arrow and was ready to fire when a doe, who had recovered faster than the other deer, suddenly rammed him in the chest and caused him to drop his weapons. The deer were charging everywhere, trying desperatly to protect their pillar and chaos reigned as a result. In the confusion, Vela had been trying to move and had managed to get within striking distance of the pillar. She lifted the sword and struck the circle, which split into two. Vela turned around and saw a buck in mid-jump, just about to trample on her. She coverd herself with her arms. Suddenly, she saw a flash and smoke. She looked up and all the deer were gone. Nothing was left of them except a purple smoke that hung in the air.

Vela was about to lean against the pillar, but fell over and discovered that it wasn't there. In it's place was another medallion with a purple ribbon and a ghost carved onto it. Vela picked it up and looked at it for a minute before giving it to Juno. He picked her up and put her on his back as they started for the fortress, their final destination. They were maybe only another couple of fights away from going back home.

"Juno, we just had to fight cannibal deer." Vela said, still worked up from the attack, "How can this get any worse?"

"We're about to walk right into Crozen's fortress, we don't know anything about him except he's a mean son of a bitch, and we still don't know what happened to Tobias. Also, keep in mind, these monsters get worse and worse."

"Oh God..." Vela leaned against his back. Something told her they were in for a looong fight...

To Be Contiued...

A/N: Just a little tidbit to take with you ^_^! I was originally going to use zombie animals and the final boss going to be a big, bad-ass ghost horse. But, the zombie idea would have jacked the rating up a notch and I wasn't willing to go to an R-rating on a story yet. And the ghost, I really couldn't fit in anymore. So, there you are, more useless trivia!