Behind
the Barricades
8/4/10,122 - Ust-Alayakit, Thail Mountains
Moving quickly upwards & onwards, forewarned of the chasing pack, the trail is littered with the discarded possessions of the Bear clan. . Without hesitation they realise that the slowly moving wagons need more time, dragging together as many of the these items as they can a barricade is hastily erected across a narrow stretch of the path. Moments before the hunters round the bend Tharla shins up the near vertical cliff face & peering down over the blockade casts a wall of darkness across the trail. As she watches from her vantage point, Illyra dispatches the youngest of the bear clan warriors to raise the alarm & return with help, nodding understanding he lopes away up the trail.
Tharla reports that the head of the Thailot militia column has come into view but halted some way back down from the barricade & that archers & pikemen are pushing to the front. Before climbing down she arches the veil of darkness over the barricade to obscure her friends from view however it fails to hide the defenders from the eyes of an eagle rider who silently drifts overhead.
A hail of arrows clatters through the darkness & into the barricade, Molin answers in turn with his own bow, a pair of fire arrows & is satisfied to hear a scream of pain from below. Illyra, reaching into her pouch of summoning, casts the tooth of an ice troll through the darkness but is mystified when the power of summoning does not react. In her confusion Illyra reacts to late & is struck by several arrows, fortune however smiles & none pierce her armour, nor that of Molin, Kilite or Tharla, the remaining clan warrior is not so lucky however & drops with a shafts projecting from his leg & torso. Again Illyra throws a tooth towards the encroaching troopers & is relieved when a war dog springs towards the front row of troopers, through its eyes she watches as it sinks its fangs into the leg of a bleating archer who in his panic to dislodge the dog topples to his death over the edge of the precipice, soon though her contact with the dog is lost as it dies under the blows of the gathered foot troops.
Peering forward through a hole shaped in the darkness Tharla warns of more arrows, Molin & Kilite scramble for what cover they can, whilst Illyra points & lets loose a burst of flame from her ring, for the second & last time this day Tharla loosens a second blaze of sun hot light from her sword, again the reward is heard on the wind as the blast racks the front of the column.
As more arrows pour through the darkness Illyra draws a second ice troll tooth from the pouch, but stays her hand as she realises why it didn't work before, the bag has no power to raise the form of a sentient creature, in disgust at her forgetfulness she returns the tooth to her pocket for future consideration.
Again Tharla raises the alarm warning that the troops are moving forward, pikes at the ready, more arrows continue to spatter the barricade as the following archers fire at will. Realising that they cannot hold the column much longer, they pour forth what magic they can to delay its progress hoping that assistance will soon be near.
As Molin drags his wounded clan brother ahead, Illyra uses the last available of this days summoning to call forth a lumbering bear, watching through its eyes the pike men to the front of the column desperately try to fend it away. Before it slumps to the dirt, pierced by a score of shafts, it takes near on a half dozen soldiers to their death.
Realising that no assistance is coming the four turn to flee as poleaxes probe the darkness & push against then tumble the piled trappings over the edge of the path into the valley below.
Kilite, struck by several glancing arrows desperately tries to batter the shafts aside with his staff, alas his skill with it as a weapon does not transfer itself to that of a shield & yet more blood flows freely from his battered body.
Mid run Tharla slows, quickly she prepares & again casts dark wall across the path as it narrows & cuts sharply back upon itself, Illyra, peering through a spy hole left in the wall successfully casts a spell of befuddlement upon one of the leading troops, as the soldier stands confused, he is cursed & buffeted by his comrades until, still not sure why, he allows himself to be pushed to one side where he is berated by a following mounted V'Duuyek Captain.
Molin, ahead of the others despite his burden, glancing ahead, can see the earlier despatched clan warrior returning, out of breath he tells of a, not unexpected, trouble ahead. As Molin listens he remembers the place described by the young warrior from his own youth, the path opens to form a plateau some hundred yards or so across, the main path continues skirting the cliff face, whilst to the left is a steep, scree choked ravine which quickly climbs & runs onto a larger shelf above. Passing the injured man to the young warrior telling him to go back, Molin turns to assist his friends as best he can.
Bravely the four try to hold back the advancing column as long as possible; alas it is too much & as arrows reign down upon them they turn again &, all carrying wounds, flee to the relative safety of the plateau ahead.
Coming upon their brothers in arms, all is in chaos, the bear clan warriors are holding there own against a formation of Sky City infantry whilst above eagle riders unleash arrows & short javelins into the fray, however the four are very aware that soon the Bear clan will be heavily out numbered once the troops behind them reach plateau.