…co-starring her pet possum, Carmelita
The Doclopedia #3,029
366 Days, 366 Paragraphs: #268
Chapter Forty Two: The Battle Of Beaver Pond
Everybody was in place when Hadolfus finally made his move. He sent Padro searching near the old camp, while he headed for the creek. He walked down the deer trail a short distance, then stopped where it crossed the creek. Looking around, he saw the red ribbon and assumed it was left as a marker, the way Offroaders often do. He barely held in a whoop of joy.
Dree and Bevan were hiding behind a tree. The relic was fifty yards away, but across open ground. They would wait until the signal was given.
Ala and Lahn were on the far side of the pond, watching Hadolfus and Padro. Lahn was a fair shot with a bow, but Ala was a rank beginner. With any luck, she would at least keep and enemies busy ducking.
Seyan was less than 20 feet behind Binjim. She figured that taking out the biggest threat was the way to go. She took a deep breath and began counting down from ten.
Carso was in a new hiding place. He was amazed that he had gotten here without being seen, but the dog had shown him the way. He looked at her, then nodded.
Padro was acting like he was searching, but he was really heading towards his horse. Once he got there, he casually untied her and started walking her away from the pond.
Tonas had his eyes locked on Hadolfus, as did Xandy. The moment he picked up the relic, he was dead.
Binjim and Lorah where watching Padro, who seemed to be leaving the area. Deciding that he was not a threat, they began looking for the Museum agents. They might be tricky to see, since the sun was low enough to make much of the forest dark, but when they did see them, they had arrows ready for them.
Everyone was wound up like a clock spring, so when the dog started barking, all hell broke loose and things moved very fast.
Seyan had reached “three” in her count when Sunset barked and she decided to pass “two, one, go”. She ran as fast and as quietly as she could towards Binjim, her staff held like a lance.
Hadolfus was just reaching for the rock when the dog barked. His instincts took over and he dove to the ground just as two arrows flew over him.
Seeing Padro leap onto his horse and ride away, Lahn fired an arrow towards two people who had just stepped into view near the opposite side of the creek. It was extreme range and his arrow fell short, but it made them duck.
Ala fired an arrow at Padro, but missed him by a dozen feet. Cursing, she moved to firing in the same direction as Lahn.
Carso began climbing up a tree with the end of a rope in his mouth. He really hoped nobody could see him.
Tonas and Xandy had no sooner fired at Hadolfus than arrows began falling near them, so they dove behind bushes and looked for targets. This fight had just gotten a whole lot more complex.
Lorah watched Padro ride off and turned towards Binjim just in time to see a black suited form closing on him from behind. She had just enough time to call his name out.
The moment the dog had barked, Binjim had begun to look around for enemies. When he heard Lorah yell his name, he whirled around to look behind him, firing an arrow as he turned.
The arrow just missed Seyan’s head as she came in low, catching the Seeker in the stomach with her staff, then releasing the blade. A quick jerk of the staff and he was too busy holding in his guts to be a problem.
Hadolfus hit the ground and rolled under a bush. Then he drew and threw a knife in one smooth motion at Lorah diving behind another bush. The knife bounced off a boot and Hadolfus cursed. Then he saw Dree.
Bevan told Dree to run and the boy headed for the relic. At the same time, the Offroader ran towards the female Seeker who had yelled at Seyan’s target. He fired off an arrow as he went, grazing her side as she dove behind a bush.
A moment later she fired at him but missed, because an arrow fired by Ala miraculously hit her in the back. She fell dead.
Leaping over a log, Seyan cracked Tonas on the top of the head, then turned toward Xandy. They fought fiercely for a few seconds, then Seyan leaped into the air, wrapped her legs around his neck and broke it as they both fell to the ground. Getting up, she went over to Tonas. The big woman was just coming to when she felt a dagger at her throat.
“Listen to me very well, Tonas. Your three friends and Hadolfus are either dead or soon to be. I’ll let you live if you get up, turn, and run. You keep running until you can’t, then you walk. If I ever see you again, anywhere, I’ll kill you on sight. Do you understand?”
Wiping blood out of her eye, Tonas nodded.
Seyan took all of the weapons Tonas had, then ordered her to stand.
“Now start running.”
Tonas began running, but was somewhat wobbly from getting her skull cracked. Seyan watched her until she disappeared into the deeper woods, then headed back to her friends.
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