Chapter ten (wowza!); Into battle!

Present…

Amanda

We all kind of sat huddled around what was left of the fire (now no more than a few smoking remains) and… well… we weren't doing much.

"I'm hungry" Marco mumbled. He was still huddled in that blanket, even though it was starting to get warmer by then. I guess he liked that blanket.

"Well, maybe we can go ask Ithiell-" Jake stopped as we heard Ithiell go 'oomph!' and then land on his back on the ground, a peregrine falcon in his arms. Not even seconds later, a golden eagle landed smack-bang in the fire.

"Jade!" Marco cried, running over and grabbing her weakly fluttering form from the fire, holding it close to him.

"Ithiell? Are you okay?" Robert was over by him, helping him up. He still had the falcon in his hands.

"It's Rtaia, it's got to be" Ithiell muttered, shaking the bird. Ax was over barely seconds later, taking her from Ithiell and holding her close. Soon, the form of the bird began to change, and Ax and Ithiell both looked relieved.

I looked over at Marco, seeing Jade was still all eagle. But as I watched, I saw her eyes open.

"Guys! What happened!" I cried.

(Urrggnnn… we saw… we saw the Terinans… were about to peel off and come tell… they shot at us! Had to… had to lead them away. Shot Rtaia… unconscious, so I carried her… I think I got us enough time to… enough time to…)

"That's okay, just take it easy. You did good getting the message to us" Cassie said gently.

"She's right. Just shift back and take five" Jake instructed, and I saw the eagles form changing, and Marco put her down reluctantly. Soon, she was herself again, and when I knew she'd be ok I went to check on Ithiell.

"Are you okay?" I asked, placing my hands on his chest to make sure. He felt okay, but there could still be internal…

"Mandy, I'm fine. Chanaiben males are built for flying, and falling from trees. I am just perfect" He took my hands in his own, rubbing my hand against his face and making strange clicking noises. He done this before. This was how they kissed. And Ithiell was 'kissing' my hand in assurance.

How I fell in love with him, I'll never know. I guess fate has a funny way of working out.

He turned around and looked at an now complete Chanaiben Rtaia, who was, strangely, in Ax's arms. Neither seemed to care at that particular point in time.

"How long until they're here? Give me a straight answer"

"I believe… half an Earth hour"

"Great. Everyone! Pack up camp as fast as you can! Ax and Rtaia are getting out of here to get back our stupid fighter" Ithiell told the others.

"Which is where exactly?" Rachel asked, looking strangely at him.

"Back at the small cave. Well, near it. When they attacked… we barely had enough time to escape" Robert explained.

"We only got out when Ithiell flared his wings and ran at them"

"A fake-out manoeuvre" Ithiell explained, then turned to Rtaia "Go as quickly as you can, the rest of us will stay here"

"It was cloaked, wasn't it?" Jade asked, and I saw she was on her feet, with Marco keeping her steady. She looked fine to me. Ithiell nodded, and we watched as Rtaia and Ax became birds, taking off in the right direction.

"Aaaannd…. what about us?" Marco raised an eyebrow, looking at him.

"If Rtaia and Jade are right, it means they've probably smelled the fire by now. They'll be spreading out all around this place to box us in. If we all go, we might as well write our wills"

"Say what!"

"Terinans have amazing sense of smell"

"Why did you send those two off then!" I cried, slapping his arm. He looked down at me and sighed.

"Because if they get moving now, they might not be noticed. Plus Ax and Rtaia work well together, and Rtaia knows where the ship is"

"Yeah, they work real well together" Marco muttered.

"So… what about us?" Jake asked, not liking this at all.

"We stand our ground. Fight and retreat, then fight and retreat again. It's the best tactic there is for here. We're protected, so this graveyard should give us all the means to defend ourselves. It's partly the reason why I chose for us to come here"

"Thanks. Now we can all die!" Marco snapped. Jade pulled herself away from him, sighing heavily.

"Okay, in plain English? We use the ships hulls for cover. We wait until the last possible second, strike with everything we have, and then pull back and wait for the next batch. We used this method once before"

"And if they all come at once?"

"Hide and seek until you can get wings or get away some other way" Jade shrugged, looking at Ithiell.

"I say we try flies this time. We might be able to slip under their radar that way"

"Again, why didn't we just go with the two loony aliens?"

"All right Marco. Go with them. See if you make it ten metres before you're shot down. Too many things going on in the sky? They're bound to notice"

"So, here we are then" Jake said "On the verge of another battle"

"Anyone bring some chewy?"

Rachel took a moment from gleaming with pleasure to slap Marco on the back of the head. Then she turned to us.

"Let's do it!"

"We're doomed"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Past…

Ithiell

Tssssewwwww!

Tsssssewwwww!

We fired! They fired! We hit! They missed by millimetres!

"Again!" I cried, feeling my panic rising. If something went wrong...

TSSSSEWWWW!

"Ahhhh!" Amanda screamed, and when I looked over I saw the branch just under her had been shot, and was starting to snap under her weight. She held on tight, desperately grabbing the branch above her, and that too began to break.

"No!" I cried, running and leaping off the thick branch I was on, catching her in mid-air and slamming against another tree, digging my nails deep into the wood. We slid about an inch, but stayed where we were. Both of us had lost our Jara guns now.

I had predicted that we might be safe in the trees. What I did not predict was that they would have weapons too, and because of that we would be 'sitting ducks' as Robert once mentioned. We could not duck and hide, and our weapons were useless if we could not see our enemy. The situation was looking hopeless.

"Are you all right?" I asked as she clung to me. I fought to get us up the tree a few more inches. Explosions were going off around us, and the air smelled thickly of smoke.

"I'm ok. Thankyou" She whispered into my shoulder, and I could feel a wetness there. I believed she was crying.

"Come on guys! Get up behind us!" Robert was screaming. So I dug my claws deep and fought my way further up the tree. Soon, I was panting from the effort. The first branch I came across, I used as leverage. It was only then that the climb got slightly easier. By then, my nails were raw and bloody from the effort. Amanda latched onto the tree and continued to climb. I sat on a fairly strong branch, looking down at the mass of Terinans that were firing up at us. Rtaia must have heard wrong. There were more than fifty on the ground!

I saw a bright blue shot go past me, knocking out another. Rtaia's skill was impressive. Why did I not listen to her!

"Ah!" My head shot up to see Jade start to fall, but her hand shot out and grabbed a branch below it. She climbed up, but now she had lost her weapon too!

"Fly!" I cried, coughing on the smoke of burning trees and burning bodies "Get as high as you can, and into the air!"

"Not until you're here with us!" Robert snapped, surprising me. Humans were still so hard to understand.

Over the months, they had taught me many things, and I admired their bravery. They gave me courage when I did not have any. Now, they were surprising me again, by risking their lives for me.

I fought to climb up, but loosing my footing about once or twice. Then…

"Arrrgh!" my foot got stuck between two branches! And the more I moved, the tighter it seemed to get.

"GO! GO WITHOUT ME!" I cried, turning around and struggling to get my foot out with shaking fingers. Seconds later Jade was beside me, yanking the branches apart so I could pull my foot free.

"No, do not!" I cried, but she shook her head.

"Not without you!" She snapped.

"But-"

Tsssewwwwww!

The shot hit just between us, and we both leaned back to avoid it. But… the branch…

"Oh… oh! AH!" It snapped, and before I could grab Jade's hand, she fell, towards the ground, slipping of what was left of the branch she had tried to grab.

She landed in the middle of them!

"NO!" I scrabbled desperately down as they began to encircle her. Robert and Rtaia kept firing! They hit four! But… still so many…

I landed beside her, making the beasts scatter. They looked at me, and smiled…

"Ahhhh! Kemaaalaaa!" Three grabbed me, and I as hard as I tried I could not fight them.

One scratched me across the cheek, then spoke such well pronounced English I could not help but stare up at him.

"You've given us a lot of trouble, Changeling, but that all ends now. We'll get your friends, don't you worry about that"

"Take a hike!" I cried. Robert had taught me that.

"Sorry, but this planet has so many valuable resources, and we can't just leave it for these greedy people now, can we?"

"Get off this planet! You will be sorry!" I pulled my arm free, swiping at him and catching him right in the eyes. He screamed in pain, and then the others forced me to the ground. I whipped my tail forward, knocking off one. The other… I will not mention what I had to do to get free of him.

I got up, then looked left and right. Where was Jade!

"Ahh! No! No! Get away from me!" Suddenly a Terinan was knocked back, and I finally saw she was using her fists and feet to knock them back. One suddenly tackled her from behind!

"Ahhh!" I was down! And I could do nothing but watch the horror unfolding in front of my eyes. Two held her down, and the third turned her on her side.

"I wonder… how humans taste" The Terinan licked its lips, and Jade fought harder.

"I don't do barbeque very well!" She screamed.

The Terinan lifted up the side of her shirt, flexed its fingers, then in one fluid movement, sliced her side! She screamed, trying to curl up into a ball, but they had her pinned down too tightly!

"NOOOOOOOOO!" The cry came not from her, but from me. I was…. angry!

I knocked the Terinan above me off with my tail, then ran at them.

"Not today!" I dug my claws into the throat of the one that was trying to cut her open, taking its life. I slashed another across its face, then fought with another, getting a deep gash in my shoulder before my anger made me… get rid of him as well.

I looked over at Jade, who was curled up into a ball, holding her side tightly.

"Are you all right!" I grabbed her under the arm of the other side, helping her up. She moaned and her breathing became more shallow.

"Hurts… can't…" She whimpered, the pain in her voice, and on her face, unmistakable.

"Hold on, I will get you-"

"You are not going anywhere, boy" They were suddenly all around us, closing into a circle. We were trapped!

(Think again!) Suddenly, a roar, and claws jutted out from one of the Terinans stomachs, then it was thrown against a tree. Behind it… a polar bear!

"Rrrrraaaowwwlll!" A panther leapt into the fray, snarling and biting, then leaping away to do the same to another, then another! The speed of the creature!

Finally, Rtaia, as herself, came. Her speed and accuracy was incredible!

But still…

"Let us go! Birds!"

"Ithi-can't…"

"Focus on the eagle. We must get out of here!"

"I-"

"DO IT!" I yelled at her, and she nodded. Slowly, I saw her changing, and set her down so I could help the others. Soon, we had driven them back.

But only for a short time.

"Birds! Fly!" I screamed as I saw Jade, now a golden eagle, lift off into the sky. She would be okay. I hoped.

I saw the others immediately shrinking, becoming more bird-like, and I focused my own mind.

Moments later we took to the sky. But the fight was not over yet. There was still so much to do!

Sadly, I doubted I'd be able to do them.