The arrow that she had fired landed short, and the flame flickered and extinguished quickly. The Mortalborn readied his sword and prepared himself for another attack, but to his relief Elyna’s companions killed the beast before it could reach him which allowed to focus again and gave him a moment’s respite. Soon however more of them arrived. He had never seen so many of them in one place before. When his students and he had exchanged their stories, they had never mentioned more than one or two of them. Where had they all come from?
Despite the fact that the situation seemed quite dire he did not allow himself to panic, but remained calm. He knew such behaviour to be counterproductive. He ignored the howls that rang throw the twilight and mixed with the sounds of the thunder. He ignored anything that happened outside of his blade’s reach. His world became a small circle whose edges were marked by steel and shadow. He moved his sword as fast as he could, slashed and thrust and cut. It didn’t seem to matter where he hit the creatures, he noticed, only that he hit them. They didn’t bleed, and they fell quickly. Their strength was in numbers.
A brief glance at Elyna made him realize that she was almost out of arrows, and yet the creatures still kept coming, an endless wave of teeth and claws. He paused for but a trill and allowed himself to survey the scene in front of them. A few of the arrows that had landed in the mud still burned, he noticed, but they seemed to deter the creatures little. They just moved around them. And yet it made him wonder …
"The barn!" he called out to Kit and Rafa. "Throw out all the hay bales you can find. We will hold the creatures off in the meantime." If Elyna’s arrows burned, the hay would burn as well, he thought, even more brightly, at least for a while. It would create a bigger fire, hopefully big enough to drive the creatures away and do what his sword could not.
"Do you have any arrows left?" he asked Elyna as another creature fell in front of them and disappeared. "Fire them at the hay bales. We need a proper fire to scare them away!" If it worked, he thought somewhat grimly, they might just live to see another trial.
Despite the fact that the situation seemed quite dire he did not allow himself to panic, but remained calm. He knew such behaviour to be counterproductive. He ignored the howls that rang throw the twilight and mixed with the sounds of the thunder. He ignored anything that happened outside of his blade’s reach. His world became a small circle whose edges were marked by steel and shadow. He moved his sword as fast as he could, slashed and thrust and cut. It didn’t seem to matter where he hit the creatures, he noticed, only that he hit them. They didn’t bleed, and they fell quickly. Their strength was in numbers.
A brief glance at Elyna made him realize that she was almost out of arrows, and yet the creatures still kept coming, an endless wave of teeth and claws. He paused for but a trill and allowed himself to survey the scene in front of them. A few of the arrows that had landed in the mud still burned, he noticed, but they seemed to deter the creatures little. They just moved around them. And yet it made him wonder …
"The barn!" he called out to Kit and Rafa. "Throw out all the hay bales you can find. We will hold the creatures off in the meantime." If Elyna’s arrows burned, the hay would burn as well, he thought, even more brightly, at least for a while. It would create a bigger fire, hopefully big enough to drive the creatures away and do what his sword could not.
"Do you have any arrows left?" he asked Elyna as another creature fell in front of them and disappeared. "Fire them at the hay bales. We need a proper fire to scare them away!" If it worked, he thought somewhat grimly, they might just live to see another trial.
