hereiam_1971
Literotica Guru
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- Sep 6, 2006
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Caiatra moved cautiously through the dense forest. She had first seen the smoke two hours earlier when she emerged on an open meadow at the peak of the large hill some four miles behind her. The black color of the plume gave her a pause and after a moment’s thought she changed her course towards it. By the time she could smell the foul odor it was beginning to darken.
‘Should have camped on the hill and investigated in the morning,’ she thought as she brought the kerchief up over her mouth in an attempt to mitigate the odor.
The smoke had now become more of a fog, as whatever had been fueling the fire was spent and now she could detect the odor of burned flesh tainting the black sooty haze. She stopped, her alert level rising and she shifted the long spear that she carried from her left hand to her right. The branches to her left began to rustle and she glanced in that direction as the head of a brown bear poked through the underbrush.
She smiled to herself as the creature’s body emerged from the thicket. Her ace card had appeared. The creature lumbered up next to her and looked as if it was preparing to roar. Her empty hand shot out, and she rubbed traced along the beast’s snout with her fingers, whispering, “Linn amin revanthas, lye ant nae na din.” (hush my friend, we need silence).
The bear’s mouth gaped wide, before it silently shut its jaws and Caiatra turned back towards the source of the smoke. She pulled the straps of her pack off of her shoulders and carefully set it on the ground. Her dun colored leather jacket was quickly placed next to it, folded into a neat small package. The cool evening wind blew through the gap between her shoulders and the straps of the sleeveless hard leather tunic she wore, causing her nipples to harden; the sensitive nubs pushing into the tight cloth she used to bind her full breasts. Leather wristgaurds served a dual purpose, protecting her forearms from a foe’s slashing weapons as well as the snap of the bow string. Supple leather leggings, which were molded to her long muscular legs, extended from beneath the hem of the tunic to end in a pair of boots made in the same fashion as the leggings. Her armor had been fabricated by Kevros, a druid who resided within her own village and leatherworker of great renown.
She reached behind her to check the cord holding her deep auburn hair in a ponytail and tightened the knot on the green woolen kerchief which covered it. Then made a couple of small jumps, listen for any sounds that would give away her presence. Satisfied, she pulled her yew longbow loose from the back pack and laid the spear in its place; the bow was heavy, made of two different layers of wood and layer of bone, crafted by the most revered bowyer in her clan. She quickly strung the weapon; her strength did not lie in archery, but she was more than proficient with the weapon.
Just before setting out, she checked the accessibility of her melee weapons, a matching pair of axes were within easy reach. They were wicked looking weapons she had discovered several years ago deep within the haunted ruin of an ancient keep; a place of immense evil, where she had been the only one of a party of six to escape with her life. Her long dagger was sheathed in the small of her back; within easy reach should she become disarmed. She reached down one last time and pulled a handful of arrows out of her quiver, all made by her hand, she began to move towards the source of the smoke.
Cautiously, Caiatra slid between the trees, her footsteps completely inaudible even to herself. At her insistence the bear remained at the preparation site, but she knew that should she need his help he would be but moments away. After about one hundred yards, she detected a high pitched gibbering coming from ahead of her. Sliding the balance of the areas into her belt, she nocked one of the lethal projectiles, and pulled the string of the bow a quarter of the way back. A new odor assailed her nostrils, which she quickly identified as the body odor of a humanoid creature, she was very familiar with; goblins.
The first of the horrid malformed creature died silently, the arrow from her bow punching through the back of its head as it bent over a heavily armored corpse of a man; it had died unaware of her presence. She ducked behind another massive tree, pausing to catch her breath. Where there was one goblin there was usually hundreds. She peered around the tree to the remnants of the fire.
The remnants of a wagon sat in the middle of a rough cleared road. The front end of the vehicle was burned to ash, the corpses of the horses that had pulled it smoldered along with it. Short ugly forms moved along the rough trail; dancing between dimly lit shapes lying on the ground. She counted just shy a score of the creatures, harmless individually, but in a pack could be more than dangerous. She knew they hadn’t caused the carnage they were pillaging from. Most likely they had seen the smoke and come to investigate like she had. As she watched, one of them drew a dagger, knelt by one of the motionless bodies and with a quick flash of steel delivered a coup de grace to the body.
Transferring the arrows from her belt to set them point down in the soft earth, she nocked another. Caiatra knew the bear was already in motion, flanking her to appear up the road, where it could make an unfettered charge. Again she half drew the bow, stopping when she encountered the first real resistance.
The bear’s roar came from her left and Caiatra saw the throng ugly little bodies and misshapen heads turn towards the sound. Without hesitation she let the arrow fly and the goblin on her far right was sent flying onto its back, the impact of the arrow that was now protruding from its chest knocking it on its ass. She reached down to pull another arrow free of the soil.
Two more goblins were dead by the time the bear first made its appearance; emerging from the gloom to barrel directly into the first goblin, catching the miserable creature at the throat and all but rending the creatures head from its body. One or two of the figures had realized they were being assaulted from two different directions and ran towards her, crude spears at the ready. Caiatra had dropped the bow and already drawn her axes when she heard a sickening crunch and a squeal of pain as the bear bowled over and mauled the other goblins. She could feel the bear had not been harmed, in fact the activity of slaughtering these evil creatures had not really made it catch its breath; she turned and threw the axe in her right hand at the first goblin threatening her position.
The weapon struck the goblin directly in the forehead and exploded in a fiery ball disintegrating the creatures head. Its companion and a third goblin that had followed the first two stopped, gawking as their ally stopped midstride and slid to the ground. “Entul nae amin!” she shouted and the axe wrenched itself free of the remnants of the goblins head and flew to her hand as she stepped out of the dusky mist to confront the other two creatures.
She had switched the second axe from her left hand to her empty right as its mate magically returned to her grip. She had expected them to run at this point, but the first charged her, its spear tipped slightly up to target her chest. With the axe in her right hand, she deftly parried the weapon out of its line of travel and the curved heel of the axe in her left caught the creature at the back of its thigh, sending it to the ground. Without hesitating she dipped and brought the head of the axe down on the goblin.
As the creature died, she glanced up to see the remainder of the goblins scatter wildly. Most were running away from the bear, and she wished she had brought her hunting dogs to run down the survivors. She quickly picked up her bow and shot the remaining five arrows towards the fleeing monsters; taking one more down in the process and seriously injuring another. The bear lumbered in the general direction of flight, taking a stance thirty yards from the corpses of the horses.
Caiatra’s first thought, after security, was to investigate the remnants of the wagon; however, she knew that the goblins had not been the instigators of this attack and that the original perpetrators could easily still be in the area. She judged from the fire and other debris that the ambush must have taken place several hours prior.
She paused next to the corpse that the goblin had dispatched. The blade that had slashed through the figures armor was not that of a goblin, the gash through the protective chain had to have more force than any of the goblins she had seen processed. She turned the body, and saw it was a human, though she was not familiar enough with the race to be able to identify much more.
Surveying the ambush site, she identified seven more prone figures, all dressed in similar armor. Moving quickly between the bodies, she quickly determined that all were beyond her help. Her mind went to her bear, who let her know that there was no threat from its vantage point, however she knew that she was still very exposed. She trotted to the wagon and climbed up on the cart. The acrid smell of burned wood mixed with the grease the wagon used to lubricate its axles combined with the sickly smell of burned horseflesh, making her retch slightly.
In the bed of the wagon was a large wooden box; hacked open and its contents forcible removed. There was no indication of its contents and as she knelt in the ruined cart she heard a groan from a copse of trees opposite from her ingress. Hefting her axes she slid silently off the cart and into a crouch behind one of the remaining wheels.
Again she heard the sound; and cautiously began to move toward the group of trees. The bear had already sensed her unease and had begun to slowly pad in her direction. The afternoon light was quickly disappearing and her vision began to adjust as she inched around the cart. At the last moment, her cover completely gone, she sprinted towards the trees; the bear moving to intersect with her at their destination.
Entering the trees, she saw another figure leaning against the trunk of the largest tree. It was dressed in armor identical to the corpses that littered the area around the cart. As she approached, the figure groaned again; obviously in great pain. With the bear standing over watch Caiatra knelt next to the figure, accessing any wounds that were visible on the body.
‘Should have camped on the hill and investigated in the morning,’ she thought as she brought the kerchief up over her mouth in an attempt to mitigate the odor.
The smoke had now become more of a fog, as whatever had been fueling the fire was spent and now she could detect the odor of burned flesh tainting the black sooty haze. She stopped, her alert level rising and she shifted the long spear that she carried from her left hand to her right. The branches to her left began to rustle and she glanced in that direction as the head of a brown bear poked through the underbrush.
She smiled to herself as the creature’s body emerged from the thicket. Her ace card had appeared. The creature lumbered up next to her and looked as if it was preparing to roar. Her empty hand shot out, and she rubbed traced along the beast’s snout with her fingers, whispering, “Linn amin revanthas, lye ant nae na din.” (hush my friend, we need silence).
The bear’s mouth gaped wide, before it silently shut its jaws and Caiatra turned back towards the source of the smoke. She pulled the straps of her pack off of her shoulders and carefully set it on the ground. Her dun colored leather jacket was quickly placed next to it, folded into a neat small package. The cool evening wind blew through the gap between her shoulders and the straps of the sleeveless hard leather tunic she wore, causing her nipples to harden; the sensitive nubs pushing into the tight cloth she used to bind her full breasts. Leather wristgaurds served a dual purpose, protecting her forearms from a foe’s slashing weapons as well as the snap of the bow string. Supple leather leggings, which were molded to her long muscular legs, extended from beneath the hem of the tunic to end in a pair of boots made in the same fashion as the leggings. Her armor had been fabricated by Kevros, a druid who resided within her own village and leatherworker of great renown.
She reached behind her to check the cord holding her deep auburn hair in a ponytail and tightened the knot on the green woolen kerchief which covered it. Then made a couple of small jumps, listen for any sounds that would give away her presence. Satisfied, she pulled her yew longbow loose from the back pack and laid the spear in its place; the bow was heavy, made of two different layers of wood and layer of bone, crafted by the most revered bowyer in her clan. She quickly strung the weapon; her strength did not lie in archery, but she was more than proficient with the weapon.
Just before setting out, she checked the accessibility of her melee weapons, a matching pair of axes were within easy reach. They were wicked looking weapons she had discovered several years ago deep within the haunted ruin of an ancient keep; a place of immense evil, where she had been the only one of a party of six to escape with her life. Her long dagger was sheathed in the small of her back; within easy reach should she become disarmed. She reached down one last time and pulled a handful of arrows out of her quiver, all made by her hand, she began to move towards the source of the smoke.
Cautiously, Caiatra slid between the trees, her footsteps completely inaudible even to herself. At her insistence the bear remained at the preparation site, but she knew that should she need his help he would be but moments away. After about one hundred yards, she detected a high pitched gibbering coming from ahead of her. Sliding the balance of the areas into her belt, she nocked one of the lethal projectiles, and pulled the string of the bow a quarter of the way back. A new odor assailed her nostrils, which she quickly identified as the body odor of a humanoid creature, she was very familiar with; goblins.
The first of the horrid malformed creature died silently, the arrow from her bow punching through the back of its head as it bent over a heavily armored corpse of a man; it had died unaware of her presence. She ducked behind another massive tree, pausing to catch her breath. Where there was one goblin there was usually hundreds. She peered around the tree to the remnants of the fire.
The remnants of a wagon sat in the middle of a rough cleared road. The front end of the vehicle was burned to ash, the corpses of the horses that had pulled it smoldered along with it. Short ugly forms moved along the rough trail; dancing between dimly lit shapes lying on the ground. She counted just shy a score of the creatures, harmless individually, but in a pack could be more than dangerous. She knew they hadn’t caused the carnage they were pillaging from. Most likely they had seen the smoke and come to investigate like she had. As she watched, one of them drew a dagger, knelt by one of the motionless bodies and with a quick flash of steel delivered a coup de grace to the body.
Transferring the arrows from her belt to set them point down in the soft earth, she nocked another. Caiatra knew the bear was already in motion, flanking her to appear up the road, where it could make an unfettered charge. Again she half drew the bow, stopping when she encountered the first real resistance.
The bear’s roar came from her left and Caiatra saw the throng ugly little bodies and misshapen heads turn towards the sound. Without hesitation she let the arrow fly and the goblin on her far right was sent flying onto its back, the impact of the arrow that was now protruding from its chest knocking it on its ass. She reached down to pull another arrow free of the soil.
Two more goblins were dead by the time the bear first made its appearance; emerging from the gloom to barrel directly into the first goblin, catching the miserable creature at the throat and all but rending the creatures head from its body. One or two of the figures had realized they were being assaulted from two different directions and ran towards her, crude spears at the ready. Caiatra had dropped the bow and already drawn her axes when she heard a sickening crunch and a squeal of pain as the bear bowled over and mauled the other goblins. She could feel the bear had not been harmed, in fact the activity of slaughtering these evil creatures had not really made it catch its breath; she turned and threw the axe in her right hand at the first goblin threatening her position.
The weapon struck the goblin directly in the forehead and exploded in a fiery ball disintegrating the creatures head. Its companion and a third goblin that had followed the first two stopped, gawking as their ally stopped midstride and slid to the ground. “Entul nae amin!” she shouted and the axe wrenched itself free of the remnants of the goblins head and flew to her hand as she stepped out of the dusky mist to confront the other two creatures.
She had switched the second axe from her left hand to her empty right as its mate magically returned to her grip. She had expected them to run at this point, but the first charged her, its spear tipped slightly up to target her chest. With the axe in her right hand, she deftly parried the weapon out of its line of travel and the curved heel of the axe in her left caught the creature at the back of its thigh, sending it to the ground. Without hesitating she dipped and brought the head of the axe down on the goblin.
As the creature died, she glanced up to see the remainder of the goblins scatter wildly. Most were running away from the bear, and she wished she had brought her hunting dogs to run down the survivors. She quickly picked up her bow and shot the remaining five arrows towards the fleeing monsters; taking one more down in the process and seriously injuring another. The bear lumbered in the general direction of flight, taking a stance thirty yards from the corpses of the horses.
Caiatra’s first thought, after security, was to investigate the remnants of the wagon; however, she knew that the goblins had not been the instigators of this attack and that the original perpetrators could easily still be in the area. She judged from the fire and other debris that the ambush must have taken place several hours prior.
She paused next to the corpse that the goblin had dispatched. The blade that had slashed through the figures armor was not that of a goblin, the gash through the protective chain had to have more force than any of the goblins she had seen processed. She turned the body, and saw it was a human, though she was not familiar enough with the race to be able to identify much more.
Surveying the ambush site, she identified seven more prone figures, all dressed in similar armor. Moving quickly between the bodies, she quickly determined that all were beyond her help. Her mind went to her bear, who let her know that there was no threat from its vantage point, however she knew that she was still very exposed. She trotted to the wagon and climbed up on the cart. The acrid smell of burned wood mixed with the grease the wagon used to lubricate its axles combined with the sickly smell of burned horseflesh, making her retch slightly.
In the bed of the wagon was a large wooden box; hacked open and its contents forcible removed. There was no indication of its contents and as she knelt in the ruined cart she heard a groan from a copse of trees opposite from her ingress. Hefting her axes she slid silently off the cart and into a crouch behind one of the remaining wheels.
Again she heard the sound; and cautiously began to move toward the group of trees. The bear had already sensed her unease and had begun to slowly pad in her direction. The afternoon light was quickly disappearing and her vision began to adjust as she inched around the cart. At the last moment, her cover completely gone, she sprinted towards the trees; the bear moving to intersect with her at their destination.
Entering the trees, she saw another figure leaning against the trunk of the largest tree. It was dressed in armor identical to the corpses that littered the area around the cart. As she approached, the figure groaned again; obviously in great pain. With the bear standing over watch Caiatra knelt next to the figure, accessing any wounds that were visible on the body.