Eirika grunted as her sword cleaved through another monster. The disgusting beast fell before her, but not before getting stuck on the Renais princess's blade. The lithe, blue-haired young woman again grunted as she tried to pull her weapon free. She heaved and pulled, then again, then a third time saw success for the girl. But not before another monster had come to avenge its fallen ally.
Eirika shrieked, but steeled herself against the foul creature's oncoming fangs. Then, just as suddenly as it went to strike at her, it fell uselessly to the ground. A javelin pierced right through it. Eirika gasped, knowing well who had just saved her in her time of great need. It was Tana, and she was flying on her pegasus towards Eirika.
"Eirika, come on!" Tana, pegasus knight princess of Freila, yelled for her best friend to join her and the others in safety.
"I'm coming!" Eirika shouted back, making a dash for it. She couldn't believe how things had come to this.
Eirika and co. had been ambushed by monsters on a routine scavenge. The nearest town was many miles away. So it was up to the group, made up of both Eirika and Ephraim's armies, to go out and look for any sort of supplies they could find. This time around, it was Eirika's turn. She took with her some of her most capable people, and also the people that just begged to tag along for fun.
Along with Eirika, there was also Tana, Natasha, Lute, Vanessa, Syrene, and Seth and Joshua had tagged along as well. This formation made things pretty easy going.
However, as their progress into a forest proceeded, a dense fog built up. Eirika's first instinct was to turn back to camp with what little things they had found so far. It was too late though, as many monsters seemed to fill up the surrounding forest and had effectively circled the unsuspecting group.
Which had lead to them getting separated for a time, only now did Eirika and Tana join the others. They were huddled into a small circle. Eirika smiled when she saw them, they looked alright, but she had to be sure.
"How is everyone?" Eirika asked.
"No major injuries to report." Seth answered.
"Oh, yes, that's great. Now think up a way for us to get out of this mess!" Lute complained. The purple-haired girl threw her arms up, to signify her annoyance.
"Have faith, Lute. Eirika will help us through this." Natasha insisted. The soft-spoken blonde woman clasped her hands together in prayer.
"Allow me, princess Eirika." Syrene offered. The green-haired woman held up her lance, ready for battle. "I will fight."
"No, sis! I-I mean, ma'am! We should do it together, at least!" Vanessa protested loudly. The younger green-haired girl rushed to her sister's side, holding up her lance in the same manner a Syrene, who looked down at her, a little surprised, but accepting.
"This is foolish, we're not getting anywhere just sitting around like this!" Joshua shouted, pacing around the group. "Come on, guys, I think I saw a shrine or something like that nearby."
"Hee hee, looks like everyone's okay, huh, Eirika?" Tana laughed, despite the circumstances.
"You're right." Eirika smiled, but then she turned serious.
Eirika had to think. From what she could tell there were monsters all around them, everyone was battle ready though, so it seemed like a better situation then she first thought. Joshua had told them there was shelter nearby, if they could all get there, it might a good place to make a stand and defend until each creature was dead. The fog of war was not helping things, so it sounded like a more than viable solution.
"What are you thinking, Eirika?" Seth asked, waiting for his liege's response.
"Joshua, do you remember where you saw that shrine at?" Eirika asked.
"Yeah, it's just past these trees here." Joshua pointed. "It's straight that way. Not too far either."
"Good. Then that's where we'll go." Eirika stated, nodding.
"Alright, let's do it!" Tana exclaimed, mushing her pegasus into the air. Vanessa and Syrene did the same. The rest of the group followed on foot, aside from Seth, who rode horseback.
"My lady?" Seth offered Eirika his hand to the blue-haired young woman. She would gladly have taken it, if there were not others in the group that needed her protection.
"I'm sorry, Seth. I must ask that ride ahead and look after Tana and the sisters." Eirika told him. Seth looked dejected for a moment, but nodded and obliged his liege, riding off ahead of the people on foot.
That left only Eirika, Lute, Natasha and Joshua together as a small group. They headed in the direction Joshua had pointed them in. Each one of them keeping both eyes and ears open for any monsters that might be approaching.
Things were going smoothly, until a Gorgon slithered onto the scene. It's snake-like movements made it hard to hear for, and it caught Natasha by surprise and charged her, pinning her to the ground. The blonde holy woman screamed as she was downed, and struggle to fight of the bulkier monster by herself.
"Natasha!" Joshua, and Eirika, both shouted at the same time. They both drew their blades and went to cut down the attacking creature.
Meanwhile, Lute was preparing one of her magical attacks, tome in hand. While doing so, she noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye. It was a large, human-like creature similar to a Cyclops, but looking both more human in appearance while also looking more monstrous too. It seemed to be slow and lumbering, as it slowly made its way over to Eirika and Joshua. Lute wasn't taking any chances though. Eirika and Joshua could handle the Gorgon, she needed to get this new guy before it got them!
"Elfire!" Lute shouted her attack. Magical flames burst from her tome, firing directly into the new creature, causing it to explode in a ball of smoke. "Got you!"
The smoke cleared and Lute gasped in shock when she saw that the monster appeared to be unaffected by her attack. She couldn't believe this monster's insolence, and prepared another, different type, spell. She hoped it wasn't resistant to magic, and that the first attempt was only a failure because she chose the wrong magic element.
"Elwind!" Lute again called out her attack. This time a "blade" of wind cut through the creature's flesh, clearly hurting it. It wasn't enough to kill it though, as its next move was to turn its attention away from Eirika and Joshua, and towards her.
"H-Hey..! I could use some help here!" Lute shouted. She hurriedly tried to ready another attack, but the monster was so close to her now. It raised its hand to the increasingly afraid girl, almost as if it was merely going to rub her head, but Lute could tell it was up to something more sinister than that.
"No you don't!" Eirika suddenly yelled, jumping in front of the monster, and blocking it from getting to Lute. She cut right through the unidentified creature's chest, spilling its guts. Eirika sighed in relief. That relief turned to terrified disbelief as the monster started moving again, despite its gaping wound, it didn't look affected by Eirika's attack at all.
"What is this?" Eirika barely had time to ask before the man-like creature grabbed her by the head. She shrieked, but the forcefulness of the monster made her drop her sword, so she was left to fight it off by merely pounding at it with her fists. An odd feeling swept over the princess's body, she felt weaker the longer the monster had her in its grip, and was it looking bigger then before?
"Do I have to do everything here?" Lute interjected sarcastically. She'd been just as stunned as Eirika was, but managed to keep her usual attitude. She positioned herself to the side of the monster and braced herself for another wind spell, but then noticed something horrible...
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
