Silently, the charge began. Essa had ordered the women not to cry out and to run as quickly as possible. If the alarm went up too soon, the citizens would flee before the maidens could reach them.
Just as they reached the edge of town, the shouting began. Women were grabbing their children and leading them away from the charging elves. Just as they had hoped, the men grabbed whatever weapon was at hand: hay forks, woodcutting axes, and shepherd’s crooks. These tools did not stand a chance against the maidens’ broadswords, but the men were prepared to fight in any case.
Essa charged wildly at a blond-haired farmer wielding an axe. He swung down hard as Essa came within reach, but her two-handed sword blocked the blow. She swung at him with her blade while the farmer made a weak attempt to block it with the axe handle. The force of her swing splintered the handle into pieces, and the man staggered back, surprised by her strength. With one swift move she slashed open his chest. Silently, he crumpled to the earth.
Reylin and the archers picked off the women as they tried to flee. As they had promised, the children were spared. They ran eastward toward the Na’zoran city of Duana. Reylin knew that could only spell trouble for his people, but he did not dare break his word. Any more trouble out of Essa and their clan may be divided. He could not risk infighting. Every Wild Elf who could fight was desperately needed if there was any hope to win this war.
Once the fleeing citizens were dealt with, the archers moved to assist the sword maidens. Anyone who had yet to fall to their swords was quickly taken down by their arrows. Their victory secured, the men began retrieving any useable arrows they could find. The fate of the elven smiths was uncertain, and they would not risk wasting precious arrow tips. These were forged of steel, not simple bone or rock. Such arrows were useful in hunting, but in times of war, steel or iron was preferred. A few of the recovered arrows bore etched runes which greatly increased their chances of surviving to a second or third use. As he inspected the arrow tips, Reylin hoped silently to himself that his sister would find a living rune carver among the Sycamore Clan.
As she wiped the blood from her blade, Essa looked up at Reylin and nodded her head. “Good fight. This was more honorable than before.”
“It was,” he agreed, “and now those children can sound the alarm. Within hours, we could be tracked to wherever we choose to spend the night.”
“Na’zorans don’t have the skill to track us in the Wildlands. They are blind and ignorant in these forests.”
“Let’s hope they stay that way,” he replied.
The sword maidens slaughtered two sheep and prepared the meat for travel. It wouldn’t be safe to hang around much longer with the children raising the alarm, so the majority of the group returned to the dense forest to feast and celebrate. A few men stayed behind to search the village for any goods that might be useful and set fire to the homes once they had finished.
Lon was the last to rejoin the group. With him, he carried several pairs of iron scissors in a linen bag. “I’m guessing they use these to trim the sheep,” he told Reylin. “They look like iron. When we find a smith, he can melt these to make new arrow tips.”
“Well done,” Reylin said, handing him a mutton rib. “The rest of us were too busy thinking about our stomachs.”
“Who can blame you? We haven’t had meat in weeks.” Lon tore at the rib with his teeth.
“What’s next for us, Reylin?” Essa asked.
Swallowing a bite of mutton, he replied, “We keep heading north and raiding wherever we come to. Some of our clansmen should be reaching their destinations by now, so hopefully we’ll be joined by other warriors soon. We just have to keep moving to avoid the Na’zoran patrols.”
“Their king will be furious when he hears of these attacks,” Lon said, still chewing on his food. “I hate those mages, and I’ll bet he brings more of them into the fight.”
“Let him bring them by the dozens,” Reylin replied. “Our arrows kill them just as well as any other man.” He flung a bone away into the cooking fire.
“He’s right,” Essa said. “Mages are tricky. We don’t know what to expect from them. They might even think they can attack us in the deeper sections of the Wildlands.”
“I doubt that,” Reylin said. “They might have new tricks to perform, but they’re still cowards at heart. We’ll be safe if we hide deep in the forest, and we don’t have to raid every day. We just have to make sure our presence is known.”
Essa nodded her head in agreement. The warriors finished their meals and took to the trees to spend the evening in silence. Reylin climbed to a high branch and began the first watch of the night. Any Na’zoran who came looking for his clan this night would fall the instant he came into sight. None would be spared while Reylin stood watch.