"And I kid you not, he kicked both me and the log directly into the river." Silver articulated.
With wild gestures and animated movements, the young prodigy recounted one of his wild adventures to the crowd of invested rangers.
"Did it hurt?" A small voice piped up.
"Oh yeah it did!" Silver spat. "But what hurt even worse was all the water getting into my lungs."
Intrigued, the pack leaned forwards.
"So logs - they roll. And this log was being tossed and turned by the river and I had to fight to stay on top of it." Silver explained, stepping around the firepit. "All the while Shadow and Mephiles are fighting on the riverbanks."
The sun had set long ago, leaving the world cast in deep blues and greens from the auroras above. Despite the darkness, the large firepit cast a soothing orange glow across the entire ranger encampment. With uncovered heads and intrigued faces all tracked on the bright white hedgehog, Silver could see how his fur seemed to gleam in their reflective eyes. Using the firelight to his advantage, the prodigy continued his story.
"Several times the demon tried to get me." He grinned, assuming a hunched stance with hands outstretched into scary grabbing claws. "But each time Shadow managed to drag him back - pushing him underwater and fighting him back onto dry ground."
Punching the air, Silver mimicked the fighting in his memory.
"It was scary, but I eventually managed to float back to the village where I fixed the gate and ran back to find them."
"And then what?"
"That's when things get a little tricky." Silver smiled. "One thing not known about the cloud demon is that he's a shape-shifter."
Ooohs filled the air as the entranced rangers absorbed this new information.
"He took the Hero's form and by the time I got there - I couldn't tell which was which!"
"Oh no!" One of the young puppies squeaked, grabbing his ears and pulling them around his eyes.
In the distance, a long and haunting howl filled the air - followed by several others in an eerie harmony. Annoyed, Silver let out a long groan.
"Oh no…" He grumbled, slamming his palms into his eyes with a huff.
"What's the matter?" Shep asked with a tilted head.
"I stayed out after dark." Silver growled, looking up at the auroras. "I wasn't supposed to do that."
"Did we keep you too long?" Ria spoke up, standing and starting to gather the plates of others around her.
"No." Silver answered. "I just lost track of time…"
The howls sounded again, however this time closer.
"Great."
"What?" The group of rangers inquired.
"It sounds like the stalkers caught our scent."
"Kids, you know the drill." Shep spoke, standing from his place on the ground and waving his hands at the young ones amongst them.
Like a well oiled machine, the rangers began to move all at once. Like cockroaches, the youngest of the group began to scuttle up the petrified trees. Their shiny eyes glistened down at the rest of the rangers below as they began to secure the settlement. Watching as one struggled to find a foothold, Silver bolted to the young girl's side. With careful hands he boosted her small body near a stone knot; using his taller build to hoist her where she couldn't reach. Gratefully she grasped it, scurrying up the rest of the way without much trouble.
One, two…three… four five…. Six… Jogging around the circumference of the camp, the prodigy counted the children above. It was best to get a sense of how many there were now versus later when one could get knocked from the safety of the trees. Seven eight.. Nine… ten children. Ten kids. All younger than he. That couldn't be too hard to keep track of right?
"Go a little higher!" Silver called, gesturing to a young bird perched too low for the hedgehog's comfort. Howls began to sound once more. Closer and closer they echoed as the chick scurried up to a safer position. Of course stalkers would arrive the one time Silver stayed out after dark. Now it was all of Shadow's rules that Silver was throwing to the wind. First talking to strangers, now staying after dark, and doing something stupid was the rule he was about to break.
"Shields up." Shep ordered, now brandishing his own as the pack formed an orderly semi-circle in the direction of the approaching beasts.
Drawing his dagger, Silver felt shivers travel down his spine. He had never had to use a knife in combat before. Fortunately Shadow made beating stalkers look easy enough. But still. It wasn't a good time to screw around and find out how well his training translated into weapon use.
"Torches ready." Shep called.
On cue, five long torches were lowered like lances out towards the woods. The fire illuminated the surrounding trees, providing both light and heat to deter the monsters. Fortunately it seemed the pack had dealt with stalkers before. But how well they could…still remained to be seen.
"Prodigy, are you ready?" Shep asked, turning his head towards the hoglet who had returned to the firepit.
"I'm gonna need these stones." Silver stated, not asking permission as he selected one from the ring around the fire. "Make sure to watch your back - I'm not quite good at aiming yet."
Taking his place at the end of the semi-circle, the hedgehog raised his foot into the air and slammed his heel down on the rock's warm surface. Like pottery, it shattered under his blow - forming spikes and sharp pebbles that would be more than good enough to use as projectiles against those stalkers. Assuming a well known stance, Silver prepared for his first battle.
It was eerie. To say the least. Usually Shadow took the stage when it came to fights against anything. But now? The hoglet was on his own. A child two thirds of the size of everyone else lined up to defend the camp. Looking around, he remembered he wasn't entirely on his own. At least he was surrounded by friends that at least looked like they could hold their own. An assortment of weapons were distributed between them. Some carried bows. Others swords. A few axes. Silver hoped they knew how to use them. Even if Shadow knew how to make a stalker fight look easy, those crystal and shadow beasts were still a force to be reckoned with.
Red eyes began to dot the horizon as the pack of beasts began to approach the camp. Growls and snarls began to ring in the hoglet's ivory ears as he remembered Shadow's three rules once again. Don't stay after dark. Don't talk to strangers. Don't do anything stupid.
Don't do anything stupid. Why would he do something stupid? He wasn't a stupid kid. Heck he was pretty smart all things considered. Why in the world would he do anything stupid? Even as his mind grasped ahold of one of those sharp pebbles, he still could hear the rule echoing in his head.
Don't do anything stupid. Silver felt his right hand arc backwards as his knife hand raised gracefully above his head. His controlled yet heavy breathing filled his ears as the stalkers began to creep closer and closer. Red eyes sparkling in the shadows. Crystal claws digging into the stones. Shadowy bodies glistening in the torch light. Don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything stupid, Silver. Don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything stupid.
His right hand shot forwards - mind pushing the stone with it at an incredible pace. The prodigy felt his face grow pale as his brain finished the motion without him. Eerily, the stone whistled as it flew through the air - moving faster than anything Silver had ever thrown before as it sailed and sailed and sailed…
Point first into the forehead of the frontmost stalker.
"I did something stupid." Silver blurted, unable to keep his thoughts private as the injured stalker let out a horrid wail of pain. Black smokey blood spilled from its wound as it recoiled back from the attack. Enraged by the injury of their packmate, the rest of the stalkers let out an angry roar that shook the shields of the rangers around him.
"Hold steady!" Shep called, bending his knees slightly and hardening his stance. "Brace for impact!"
With a shriek, the wounded stalker threw itself at the wall of shields - drawing deep grooves into the wooden barricades with its deadly claws. Yelps and growls of surprise sounded as it continued its attack. Neither stopping nor giving up, the stalker roared and howled. Seeing the others drawing closer and closer, Silver did the only thing he could think of.
"Hold on!" He shouted, extending his hand and maintaining unbroken focus on the unnatural beast.
Cyan exploded around the creature's silhouette as the hoglet rapidly arced his hands up and around. Movement practiced and fluid, he shifted his weight between his anchored feet. A step and a thrust, and the stalker flew through the air - sailing between the trees and right in front of its advancing brethren. Tumbling beneath the feet of the running pack, the stalker's flesh ripped to shreds under the stampeding crystal claws.
"Hold steady!" Shep called.
Not a moment passed between the sound of the order and the leap of another stalker. With a rapid thrust, Silver seized another shard and wedged it between the beast's ribs. As it tumbled on top of the rangers it hissed. Swords and axes fell upon its neck and within moments its screeching head rolled away from its sorry body.
But there were more.
Seeing the eyes sparkling in the woods, the hoglet found himself thinking faster than he ever had before. A step back and a deep breath was all he needed to prepare himself. An arc up, a sweep down, and a thrust. Arc, sweep, thrust. Feet stepping backwards and hands whirling around and around, Silver commanded pebble after pebble in a rapid fire of shooting stones. Momentum carried through each wave of the hand in whistles and cracks of rock and air. Stone met stone in puffs of dust and granules, and when a sharpened rock hit its mark; Silver could tell by the unnatural guttural shrieks of pain.
But there were more.
Even with shards of stone sticking from eyes and muscle, the stalkers continued their advance. The torches did little to deter the beasts - even when waved about and fueled by straw and dead fibre. The uniform semicircle was broken as the rangers moved to protect the camp - scattering around the area and chasing the circling creatures.
"Defend the tent!" Shep ordered, realizing how overrun they were.
Having run out of pebbles, Silver flung himself back at the firepit - leaping high into the air and driving his heel straight into the nearest stone. Paws thundering against the ground, the stalkers began to surround the camp. One two…three four… eight….seventeen…
"There's so many!" Rake shouted, grabbing a bow and leaping on top of one of the wagons.
"They're after me!" Silver shouted, planting his foot and shooting a shard straight through the body of the nearest stalker with a practiced lunge. "They're expecting a fight!"
Shouts and clashes of metal against crystal filled the air as the rangers attempted to defend their own. Gnashing teeth and slashing claws glistened in the firelight. Steel and eyes flashed in the darkness. Tears and cries began to fill the air from the children above…
"Go higher!" Silver ordered, leaping backwards to avoid a swipe from a crystal laden paw. "You're too low!"
Listening to the young prodigy, the ranger younglings began to climb. Teeth and paws snapped and swiped at the base of the petrified trees. As the stalkers leapt and clawed in an attempt to climb after them, Silver found himself running towards the beasts.
He wasn't a stupid kid…right? He wasn't stupid for challenging several monsters more than three times his weight. He wasn't stupid for running towards a deadly creature made from Mephiles' shadows. He wasn't stupid for betting on odds stacked against him…right?
Loosing his grip on his prower-steel blade, Silver planted his foot once more. Muscle memory overtook his comprehension as he moved through poses he'd practiced for years. A step, an arc, and….
Whoosh.
The blade left his palm. Silver only blinked as his mind still wrapped around its sharp surface. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he watched it fly. Eyes and fire twinkled and shone on the reflective metal as it sailed. Twisting. Spinning. Racing.
Thunk.
The quality steel drove straight through the skull of a stalker swiping at the feet of a puppy still attempting to climb higher. Black blood exploded from its eyes and nose as the knife nailed the beast to the petrified tree like an expensive artisan tapestry. Lifeless, it hung limp against the tree - never having known what ended its existence.
Not having time to react, Silver grasped the hilt of the blade with his cyan glow and commanded it to his palm. It whistled to his fingers - traveling as fast as it had left him and hitting his hand at an uncomfortable speed. The stalkers turned on him, tripping on their fallen brother in an attempt to get at the hoglet who dared to face them alone.
A step right and Silver found himself dodging an open mawed leap. A second one followed behind, forcing the hedgehog to dodge left and avoid its swiping claws. Dropping down, Silver allowed the third to pass over him - driving his blade into the chest and holding it steady with a braced body. The beast's belly opened as it passed overtop, dissected by the professionally forged knife and scattering its entrails over the ground below.
There was no time to wipe the viscous black fluid off his ivory eyelids before the first beast charged. Without a moment to spare, Silver reacted on instinct. Like a leaf upon water his raised hand flung downwards. An audible thwack reached the hoglet's ears as the pommel of the knife slammed against the stalker's skull - snapping its jaws shut and leaving a bleeding dent in its forehead. Dazed, it stumbled a few paces; shaking its head before falling to the ground.
Spreading his stance wide, Silver guided his hand underneath the chest of a returning beast. Its crystal jaws snapped at the hoglet but missed as he slipped between its forelegs. Dropping low, the prodigy weaved between the galloping claws and emerged behind as it slid itself to a halt. Arms spread wide he stepped, swiped, and thrusted. His blade whistled as it left his fingers - slipping between the beast's ribcage and straight into its lungs.
"Prodigy!"
Silver looked up as a frightened child pointed - alerting the hedgehog to a strange mass on the ground.
"What is that?" Ria asked, jogging next to the hoglet and holding her shield out defensively.
Squinting, the two watched as it slithered towards them. Trying to ignore the chaos behind them, Silver assumed a defensive stance.
"Imp!" Shep shouted from behind, kicking away a stalker and pointing at the shadowy puddle beyond the ivory hedgehog.
On cue it emerged - leaping from the ground with a high pitched shriek. Reacting to the movement, Ria grabbed the hoglet's arm. As the creature aimed its massive claws at them, Silver felt himself pulled under the ranger's sturdy shield.
Thunk.
The imp fell upon the large wooden barricade, putting its full weight on Ria's strong arm. With a shout, she pushed it off - parrying it away in a massive swing. It hit the ground, pronged feet creating grooves in the stone as it slid away.
Grimacing at its ugly visage, Silver took note of its appearance. Unlike the stalkers, which seemed to be made of mostly shadow, this creature seemed to be made of crystal. Its large hands ended in three massive claws that glowed in the midnight darkness with an eerie purple. Its footless legs ended in spikes that clicked and clacked against the stone ground. Its mouthless face emblazoned with crystal grooves stared at the hoglet with a single lidless red eye.
"Oohhh…" Silver grumbled, stumbling out from underneath Ria's scratched up shield. "That's…that's not good."
With another hair raising screech it charged. With no hesitation, Silver swept his knife at the approaching crystal claws. Sparks erupted from the blade as the hoglet pushed the hand-like appendage away. As it spun from the displaced momentum, the prodigy lifted his boot into the air once more - arcing it around and driving his heel into the side of its crystalline head.
Ria jumped on the creature, bringing the rim of her shield down onto its neck with a strained shout. Shards of wood splintered off the shield as she shouted. Again and again she slammed it against the imp's body until it shook her off with a shriek and a kick. Tumbling to the side, the rabbit struck her head against the stone ground and laid motionless.
"RIA!" Silver shouted, quills flared and eyes wide.
A small groan emerged from the rabbit as she moved to get up. Yet her wobbling hands and swaying body told the hoglet of extreme dizziness and nausea.
"Ria!" Shep called, thrusting a sword through the heart of a stalker and rushing to pull it free.
The imp pulled itself from the ground, scuttling towards the fallen rabbit with another high pitched scream. Acting fast, Silver caught it in his cyan glow and threw it to the side - watching as it tumbled off its legs and ground to a scrunching halt. There was little time to do so, but Silver ran to the ranger rabbit's side.
"Come on!" He begged, taking her arm and pulling. "Get up!"
Another ear assaulting cry sounded from the imp as it charged once more - this time intercepted by Shep as he flung his shield at its hard head.
"Imps are near impossible to destroy!" Shep called, taking his sword and attempting to drive it through the creature's eye. "Prodigy - we have to get rid of it!"
A yell sounded from behind as a stalker grabbed the arm of a ranger. The others around him rushed to try and free him - only for the beast to drag him around the encampment. As Silver turned to look, the imp swiped at Shep's chest. Blood splattered against the ground as the claws sliced through fur and flesh. Knocked back from the blow, the ranger fell from his feet.
"NO!"
Silver caught the dog in a cyan glow before he could also smash his head against the unforgiving stone below. The imp moved to strike again, but the hedgehog pulled his hands inward. Stepping under the ranger as he released him on top of the half-conscious Ria, Silver planted a kick on the imp's hardened forehead. Like clockwork, he found himself moving. Strikes and blocks came natural as all of Shadow's training appeared at once in the whirlwind of adrenaline and fear. The imp's exoskeleton was unforgiving to the hoglet's joints but the fear for the lives around him persisted through each punch and stab.
The rangers behind screamed and yelled as tails and limbs were caught in the crystal jaws of the stalkers. Blood and tears tainted the ground. Cries and sobs rained from above. And with every strike and every hit Silver managed to land on the impossible imp, his frustration grew and grew. There had to be a way to beat this thing. There had to be.
Ria shouted as a stalker emerged from behind - biting and snapping at her dazed body as she crawled out from underneath the stunned Shepard. In a last ditch effort to save his friend, Shep grasped his sword and swiped at the advancing beast - yelling as it caught his elbow in its hard teeth.
Silver's concentration broke as the sound of crystal and bone greeted his ears. The crunching snap of the osseous structures filled his mind just long enough for the imp to strike at the hoglet's distracted face. Clenched claws landed in a punch against Silver's jaw - sending the world spinning and his ears ringing as the ground grew closer and closer. Instinctually, he curled - spines and fists covering his head as he rolled into a snow-white sphere just before he hit the stone beneath him. With a whooshing punch, the slashing claws of the imp knocked him back towards the two rangers.
"Silver!" Shepard shouted.
Not a split second later, the compacted hedgehog hit the stalker's head at a harsh speed - knocking the crystal jaws open just wide enough for the ranger to reclaim his arm.
"I GOT IT!" Silver shouted, uncurling from his ball and landing on the ground with a remarkable recovery.
"Hurry!" Shep whined, noticing the dwindling numbers of monsters around them.
Leaping onto the stalker's neck, he grasped at the crystal growths protruding from it's hard skull and pulled. This way and that the monster shook, flailing its head and swiping it's jaws, the beast let out an angry, frustrated roar.
Now.
Shooting forth his hand, Silver seized the imp in his cyan aura. The stalker finished its angry cry and began to drop from its enraged display. Sensing time running thin, the hoglet twisted his arm and pulled - yanking the imp without a moment to spare. It swished as it flew through the air, accelerating from the force of Silver's mind as it grew closer and closer and closer….straight into the jaws of the raging stalker.
Crunch.
The crystal teeth of the beast cracked straight through the hard shell of the imp's head. Black goop and fluid splattered everywhere as it fell limp in its trap. Not sparing a moment, Silver took his knife and plunged it through the skull of his ride with a twist for good measure.
All around, the rangers began to chase off the remaining monsters. What few were left sensed the loss and began to scamper off, roaring and swiping at those who attempted to chase them. As the stalker mount fell limp to the ground, Silver dared to unclench his jaw. Shakily, he pulled his blade from the dead beast's head. Black blood dribbled from the metal, sliding off to reveal his quivering eyes staring back at him with a dazed look of unprocessed emotions.
"Uuuough…"
"Shep!" Silver shouted, reality slamming back to him as the bloodied ranger moved from his frozen position on the ground.
"Prodigy…" He groaned, grasping his broken arm with a wince. "You…you did it."
"You're injured!"
"Shep!"
Rake bolted towards the three, casting aside his bow and arrows in his rush.
"Shep! Your arm!"
"We…we don't have the supplies.." Ria mumbled, grasping her head and attempting to find her balance in her seated position. "They're…they are used…"
"Shep, we'll figure this out.." The teen choked, panic showing on his face as he unclasped his cloak and bound it around the dog's bleeding chest. "I'll get the sewing kit…we'll stitch it all up…"
Another shout sounded from behind as another wounded ranger reacted to the attempts to heal him. Light exploded from an onlooker's palms as she used her power to attempt to fix the situation.
"Does anyone have healing abilities?" Silver asked, hope twinkling in his heart as he watched the doe wrap her hands around the wounded leg.
"No…" Shep mumbled, unclasping his own cloak and helping Rake bind his broken arm to his chest. "Clove is the only one among us with powers…"
"She has the ability to negate pain with physical contact." Rake sighed, shaking his head. "Only a temporary fix…"
"I… I think I can help." Silver stammered. "Back home there's medical supplies for severe injuries."
"Will you make it in this darkness?" Ria asked, rubbing her forehead. "Do you need a lamp?"
"No." Silver responded, standing and unclasping the blue flashlight that had sat useless on his belt for so long. "I have a way to make light."
"Please hurry.." Rake begged, shifting his weight to help Shep to his feet. "I'll do what I can with what I have but I don't know how much we can fix."
"I'll run as fast as I can!" Silver shouted, turning on his heel and bolting into the woods. "I'll be back soon - I promise!"
"Travel light and travel fast!" Rake called after him. "May Gaia have mercy on us…"