Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One (42 page)

“But how many soldiers are we talking about
?
” one of the Myndar asked.

“
Three of them are dead.  But they were able to carry off the weapons, so it
was
probably more than one scouting party,” Sariel answered.  “If it was two parties, then there should be eleven left.”

Ananel
turned to face his fellow angels.  “I say we go after them.  We
can catch up with them. 
They’ll only be walking on two legs.”

“But what will we do when we catch up?” another asked.

Sariel ran through
t
he scenarios in his mind, then quickly verbalized his thoughts.  “Those of us who can fly
,
can probably catch them within an hour, if we push hard.  Those who travel by land…perhaps two or three times as long.  If any of you wear forms accustomed to water, you’ll be somewhere in between.  But
I’m the only one who knows how to use these weapons, so
we may only be able to slow them down.
”

“If we’re going to go after them, we’d better do it quick
ly
,” Ananel pointed out.

Sariel looked from angel to angel, still seeing fear in their eyes.  But now
,
at least they realized the gravity of the situation and the consequences for waiting.  From years of battle, he knew this look.  He’d seen it on countless faces.  Many times, it was
the
last he ever saw of the soldiers.  But he also knew that action must be taken.  And sometimes, the only way to initiate it was to make the decision for them
; t
o push their wavering courage over the edge.

“Alright.  Those of you who can fly, follow me.  We’ll move fast and try
to slow
the
Anduar
ym
down when we reach them.  The rest of you, catch up as quickly as you can.  The greater our numbers, the better chances we have.  Where’s Enoch?”

“Right here,” the
human
said, stepping out from beneath the crowd as
a
child among adults.

Sariel knelt to the ground.  “
Wait here for the
Amatru
. 
When they arrive, t
ell them what has
happened.  Give them the weapons and tell them to follow us.  Do you see this mountain range here,” he
asked
, pointing to the south.

“Yes,” the prophet answered.

“Semjaza’s fortress is beyond the western end of this range.  If they head in that direction,
they’ll find us
.”

The
short man’s fingers wound
nervously
through this dark beard
, b
ut he nodded anyway.

Sariel
reached over to the nearest bundle
of weapons
and untied the cord that bound them.  The pale,
fibrous
cloth unrolled across the ground.  From the pile, he chose two
v
aepkir
, then stood up, feeling their comforting weight resting in his hands and the cold metal lying against the outside of his forearms.

“Take what you need and let’s move.”

“…just my teeth,”
Ananel
replied
.  His voice already sounded like the canine outline that his shimmering form began to take.  When the process was complete, a massive grey wolf raised its
head into the air
and
loosed a deep howl which spread across the valley
.  Then, with his snout to the ground,
the Myndar
burst into motion, running swiftly through the deep grass to
the west.

One by one, the Myndarym
s
haped
into their preferred forms, some as creatures of the air
and
some as creatures of the sky. 
Before he took to the air, Sariel noticed several Myndarym who were still in their angelic forms, wading into the nearby
water
.  Seconds later, they began to shimmer, as well.

Sariel
looked back to the odd assortment of flying creatures
scattered across the field
.  They were
waiting
for his lead.  He pulled his weapons to his chest and spread his wings. 
“
Try to keep up
!”

A massive bird of prey came to a quick, but graceful landing on the ground beside Sariel. 
The group of winged Myndar parted to make room for his sleek, brown form.  With massive talons embedded into the soft earth, the bird’s head swiveled toward Sariel and its golden eyes fixed on his.  Then its form began to shimmer.

“You were right—eleven
Anduar
ym
,” it said, as soon
as it wore its angelic body.  “They’re moving quickly across the plains to the west, about two miles away.”

Sariel b
reathed deeply,
readying himself for the last charge
. 
“
…a
nd the
weapons?”

“Eac
h one of the brutes is carrying at least two bundles,” t
he Myndar replied.

Sariel
nodded
. 
The
Anduar
ym
are made for this sort of thing.
 
Then he looked around at the peculiar assortment of winged creatures that made up his
untrained
group
and was struck by the contrast.  All of them were large, even in their animal forms
, b
ut none were designed for war.  Few were even capable of a meaningful attack.  It would be a challenge to make use of them all in a capacity that wouldn’t result in their deaths.

“
Alright,” he said to the group. 
“
We’ll have to move together and attack as one.  We’ll only get one chance.  After the first strike, they’ll change formation to ensure they’re protected on all sides. 
With their weapons, we won’t be able to do anything;
it’ll become a waiting game.  So, the
first priority
for you
is to disarm them. 
Grab those bundles and anything else they’re carrying. 
If
you
can do that, they’ll be vulnerable for when the other
s
arrive.
”

“What about you?”

Sariel looked to the one who had scouted the
Anduar
ym
.  His golden eyes were bright behind disheveled, brown hair.  He almost looked like a
n
Iryllur
.  “You and I have weapons,” he replied.  “I want you to sink those talons deep into
Anduar
flesh and not let go until your prey is dead.”

The Myndar squinted, but remained silent.

“
Let’s go,”
Sariel
said, taking to the air once more.

V
ast plains
stretched to the horizon,
bordered on the south by mountains and water to the north. 
Sariel led the flying Myndarym swiftly across the terrain, staying close to the ground to keep their outlines visually obscured for as long as possible.

At the center of the
thirty-mile wide
flatlands, a small cluster of shapes
could be seen moving
due
west
. 
Their silhouettes were barely visible against the
harsh
backdrop of the
setting sun, frequently disappear
ing
as the fleeing soldiers moved in and out of the trees.
 
T
he occasional glint of light reflected from the metallic weapons slung across the
ir
broad shoulders
. 
The
l
ong and muscular legs
of the Anduarym
carried
them quickly
across the land and it
appeared
that they were trying to reach S
emjaza as fast as possible.

But they were no match for the swift wings of
the Shapers
.  As
the Myndarym
came upon the soldiers, Sariel
pulled back slightly to
tighten the formation and give the signal to attack. 
Then, he
dove
and
pump
ed
his wings furiously
to gain speed
. 
He brought his hands together and fle
x
ed
his
arms
until his
vaepkir
were at their
fullest
exten
sion
.
  With silent precision, he targeted
a space between two
Anduar
ym
and quickly
retracted
his wings at the last moment
before impact
. 
His narrow outline shot through the gap, but the weapons
collided with the back of the
soldiers’
legs,
chopping
their
sturdy footing
from underneath them.  With most of his forward movement
coming to an abrupt
halt
,
Sariel
instantly tucked into a ball and rolled as he hit the ground.

A flurry of sound followed.

Wet earth pounded his body.

Blades of g
rass lashed at his skin.

The bright colors on the horizon whipped past in a blur.

Sariel
pushed his legs outward and
came
swiftly
to his feet with
v
aepkir
ready
, facing the enemy.

The nine remaining soldiers were already breaking formation as the Myndarym fell upon them.

The grasslands erupted into a chaotic explosion of movement, color, and sound.

Piercing
shrieks cut through the air amidst the clang of metal.

G
reat wings of dappled brown bea
t
frantically as the giant eagle wrenched one soldier away from the group and attempted to drag him across the ground by the
bare flesh of his back.

Another
Anduar
pitched forward and slid through the grass,
holding tight
to the cord that fastened
his
bundle.  A
ripping noise emerged from the
uproar as
a
white, feathered creature
rose
into the air
, still clutching a
piece of
co
a
rse
fabric
.  Spears
scatter
ed
along the ground
in its wake
.

Sariel’s eyes darted from the
two
Anduar
ym
he’d cut down
,
to
another two who were coming at him now, both carrying
vandrekt
.  He
advanced
slowly
upon the larger angels, wary of their deadly strength and proficiency with bladed objects.

The
one
on
the left
stepped wide, while the
other
came straight
at him
.

A sudden flicker of movement
in the sky to the left
prompted
Sariel to rush forward, keeping the soldiers
’
attention on him.
 
Raising his right arm, he feigned an attack and watched the
eagle descend again
.

It came from the northeast and plunged i
ts talons
deep into the back of the
Anduar
on the left.

The soldier fell forward
without a struggle.  His body went limp the moment his heart was punctured.

The eagle, with
talons
still
embedded in its prey, flapped its
giant
wings to keep from being
pulled to the ground.

To the right,
a brightly-colored
flurry of wings drew Sariel
’s attention as
another
bird
descended.