Page 83 of Blood Bearon
Eager growls swept over the Queen’s Own, and they, along with their liege lord, charged into battle.
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A group of Fae cut them off before they could reach the battle lines, slicing in from the left to intercept the Queen’s Own. The fifteen or so Fae clearly didn’t realize who they had trapped, however, because they closed with eagerness, throwing caution to the wind as they went for the kill.
Khove stepped forward, sword in hand, and he and his men gave the faeries a proper greeting and welcome to Ursidae Manor. Purple blood fountained as he casually lopped off a hand, then a leg. The troll-like creature howled with pain, but didn’t give up. Not until Khove separated its head from the rest of its body, the injuries and radiation spewing from his sword combining to banish it back from whence it came.
One of the largest centaurs Khove had ever seen reared up at his side and powerful hooves impacted on his arm as he tried to block the blow. The impact sent shivers up his arm. Khove’s hand went numb and he dropped the sword.
Another member of the Queen’s Own swept in from the right and sliced the creature in two with one powerful hack, freeing Khove to lunge up and tackle the elf that had been going for his savior’s back, a wickedly curved knife in hand. The two hit the ground and rolled. Khove grabbed the elf’s arm, snapped it at the elbow and drove its own knife into the elf’s chest. The creature died with a blood-filled exhale.
Getting to his feet, he retrieved his sword and the Queen’s Own formed up. He noted with disapproval that Kaelyn had acquired a sword from somewhere. Not only that, but it was dripping purple liquid. He didn’t say anything, because there was no need.
All around them, the battle raged fierce. Overhead, the blackened sky flickered with echoes of mostly blue and green, but every so often a blast of red would light the near-night sky. The duel in the heavens was ongoing and seemed to be a stalemate. Unfortunately, Khove couldn’t say the same of the ground war.
The shifters were being pushed hard. They’d already fallen back to their secondary lines on three fronts. Only the east appeared untouched, though they too had retreated. Each concentric ring collapsed tighter around the Manor, which allowed more shifters to defend a smaller space. The lines tightened and held firm as reinforcements arrived at the worst-hit areas.
Khove and his men moved forward with the Queen. Off to his right, a group of asps went by, doing battle with a particularly large Faerie that was old enough and strong enough to use magic as well. A nasty green bolt incinerated one of the asps who was too slow to move, but in return a quartet of red energy bolts impaled the attacker.
Up ahead, the lines were a maelstrom of death. Many of the shifters fought in their animal forms, the untrained members of the House doing what they could to deal out maximum damage. The guards and former guards of the House were noticeable simply by the fact they all held swords and worked as a unit, slicing through their enemies.
But the Fae were more numerous than any would have believed, and the beleaguered north line wavered and nearly cracked. Then it stiffened and threw back the Fae as the Captain’s reinforcements worked their way into the lines.
He, his men and Kaelyn hung back, watching the flanks and darting forward to eliminate any that slipped through. Khove knew better than to try and keep his Queen away from the fighting, but conversely, Kaelyn knew well enough to stay back from the lines themselves. It was a tradeoff on both their parts.
“What now?” Kaelyn asked.
“That.”
Khove nodded to the forest as a quartet of creatures crashed through the last line of trees and angled down on the shifters. They could have been elephants, except they were easily twice as big, and had huge tusks that swept forward nearly to the ground. Someone had lined those tusks with razor wire, with more of it strung between them, like a lawnmower.
“Well shit,” Kaelyn muttered.
“Look,” one of the Queen’s Own whispered. “It’s Klaue.”
A figure strode forward from the shifter lines, standing apart from the others. Khove watched intently, noting the glowing light in the Champion of House Ursa’s left hand. Experienced as he was, Khove had no idea what the man was planning.
Fae fell back at a trumpet, leaving the lone shifter standing in the way of the oncoming tide of death.
Golden light sprang forth from Klaue’s hand a moment before he slammed the light into his chest, and began to change.
“Holy shit,” someone said flatly. “I didn’t know that was possible.”
The light infused the Champion’s body, and even as he changed, he grew. And grew. Andgrew.The ground quite literally jumped as Klaue fell onto all fours, his bear now easily half again the size of one of the elephants.
“Earmuffs!” Khove shouted, dropping his sword and clapping hands to his ears.
Then Klaue roared. The sound was tremendous, a physical wave that hit both sides like a jackhammer. Anyone not protecting their ears fell to the ground screaming, while even most of the shifters grunted and were driven to one knee by the unholy thunder.
Khove kept his eyes open, watching as the Champion lunged forward and engaged the elephants like a murderous wolverine. The earth trembled and shook as the titanic combatants slammed together and backed away.
One massive paw the size of a car slapped out and grabbed an elephant under the chin. Klaue bellowed once more and somehowliftedthe creature from the ground, whipping it around and crushing a second as it charged.
Then the massive beast howled in pain as a third elephant’s strike went home, one of its tusks sinking in deep into Klaue’s flank.
“Forward!” Khove heard himself shouting as the gargantuan bear tumbled back.
The lines rushed forward, catching the Fae by surprise, and the shifters swept the smaller creatures aside like wheat before the scythe. They didn’t stop there. Guardsmen lunged forward and threw themselves at the fourth elephant before it could close. Men simply leapt upward and plunged their swords deep into its flesh.
