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He felt the warmth of her kiss, the sent of her hair, and the lovely 
feel of her body under his hands.  Paradise if ever there was one. 

In the midst of this bliss a sharp chill ran through his spine.  Then 
Jeratko <My rider, wraiths.>  He stiffened.  He knew it would come, 
and he would have to sit by and watch.  His eyes met with 
Renata's, "I believe dinner will have to be delayed."  He picked up 
his sword.

"That won't help."  She said protectively.  "Steel isn't much good 
against Wraiths."

He looked at the weapon, and then her.  "I am a warrior, I cannot 
stand by while the warren is under attack."

She nodded, knowing his mind was set.  "Let's go then and see where 
Dan'yar wants us."

"You can.  I am not under any wing yet.  I will go to the 
Warrenlady."  He kissed her lightly, then a second time deeper.  "Fly 
with the wind, and may it carry you back to me."

"My heart will always come back to you."  She responded followed by 
another kiss.

He reached the green where Cynthia and Trevor and the other wing 
leaders looked out over the up coming storm cloud of wraiths.  
Cynthia looked at an older woman, he could see the contempt on her 
face as plain as the hoard in the vally below them.  "And what does 
death mean to a wraith?"  She spat out.

Nothing, when one is mindless, one's existence is not worth saving."  
She spoke clearly and very acutely, she seemed to look on Cynthia as 
sort of an inferior creature that she was teaching the most simple of 
lessons too and hoping she could wrap her head around the concept.  
She was a hellspawn.  "Thus, again and again, wraith will fling 
themselves into the flames of your dragons, thinking nothing of doing 
so, simply because they can *not* think."  She crossed her arms over 
her chest and looked at them all as if to measure how much they had 
absorbed.  "But I am no longer a wraith, and I am no longer mindless^� 
and now find that I no longer consider myself expendable.  I have no 
love for your warren, nor for you^� but I do value myself.  I am 
willing to help you defeat my former masters^� for that is the only 
way I can survive.  I know things you do not, things that may help 
you.  In return, I ask to be given a host body and means to leave 
this place forever.  Decide quickly, for our time is running short."  

C'aranth's mind worked it over for only a second, and he knew where 
the wraiths were weak.  "Can you get us to the queen?"  He stepped 
closer to the group, his hand on his sword, if he was to kill a 
wraith today, he knew who it would be.

Danki/Amar seemed a bit shocked at the question.  "I could, I know 
where she is."  

C'aranth bowed to C'ynthia.  "I offer my humble opinion.  We can use 
one wing to draw out the wraith, and a portion of another to attack 
the queen. They will protect the Queen, and without her, they will 
not fight as units, but as mindless feeders, and they will not kill 
as many of our riders."  He looked at the hellspawn and sneered.  "As 
for this creature, I see no reason to give into its demands.  If he 
does not help us, we can see it is the first to die.  But if you must 
sacrifice someone for the warren, I would ask for that honor."  He 
bowed again to show he was not going to force the issue with his 
Warrenlady.
(Tag?)

***********************
The nomad line approached slowly, much to slowly for Amberylle's 
tastes.  They sat waiting it seemed, for something.  Her Captain 
tapped her on the shoulder and she looked to him. He silently pointed 
to the horizon.  She paled.

Wraiths massed there, only miles away from the settlement.  The nomad 
hoard seemed a raiding party to the mass of creatures in the 
distance.  She heeled her horse and rode to the Nomads.  A young 
chief lead the party rode out to meet her, she could see they had 
recognized the same thing.  "Hail."  She greeted and he responded in 
like manner.

"It seemes we have a greater enemy at our gates." She spoke as well 
as she could in the Nomad tongue.  "I offer our tents as refuge, and 
we can fight them together."

"How can you fight something that does not die?"  She could tell he 
did not think much of her opinion.  

"With fire.  We have fire, and we have oil to keep our flames hot.  
We could protect ourselves, if nothing more.  You will not make it 
back to your tents alive when they strike, but together we can make a 
stand."

One of his captains leaned over and whispered something to him and he 
nodded.  "We will make our fight with you, we will stand together."  
He motioned and the mass of horsemen slowly rode to the camp.

Amber raced over strategy.  The cliffs would offer protection, and 
also death if they were pinned in.  The small building they had made 
would not offer much protection, but it was the best they had.  

How were they to survive?  If the wraiths got the livestock they 
would be ruined.  "Captain, use your men to round up all the 
livestock and bring it into town.  Set fire to the perimeter, and get 
some arrows burning.  I will let you coordinate efforts with the 
Nomads."  She silently prayed the warren could help.  But the cloud 
on the horizon crushed her hope with the reality of their number.

"If I do not make it through this mame, I would like to say, you did 
well."  He heeled his horse and started barking orders across the 
field.

Nomad chief next to her looked at her. "What would you have my men 
do?"  

"Go to the center of town, they will fit you with fire for your 
bows.  We might be able to quell the attack with that fire; if you 
can assist my men in lighting fire to the surrounding grass, that 
would help as well."  She could see them looking at her as if she had 
all the answers.  "And pray to your gods for the strength we will 
need to destroy them."

With fires lit all around the camp, a wall of orange and yellow 
topped by thick black, she felt a bit more at ease.  They had made a 
ditch full of oil on the front part of the village, with a fall back 
point half way into the tents.  The tents were soaked as well for 
ease of lighting.

She looked over the archers sitting in front of her, a line two ranks 
thick and several men wide.  The nomads as well, fires placed at 
every fourth man.  They waited, and then they smoke broke.  One then 
many, all coming over the wall of flames and through the black smoke, 
arrows flew through the air like shooting stars, and the wraith 
surged on.  She felt sick.

Her men stood their ground for as long as they could, then lit the 
first wall as the wraith approached.  The sound of the burning wraith 
filled the air as the oil turned to flame. Still a dozen more lifted 
over the wall, arrows punching into their bodies.  Two fell from the 
arrows.  The line broke when the first pike man was consumed, his 
scream muffled by the wraith.  "Fall back."  She shouted.  She was 
not going to let them all die like that.

They turned and ran, useless effort when the wraith can out fly even 
a horse.  But the men they attacked slowed the advance of the 
creatures.  Tents burst up like instant bon fires, making another 
wall for them to hide behind.

She turned back to look, counting the dead.  She grit her teeth and 
pushed back tears of hate, pain, and failure.  Where was the warren?

(Tag)


Darren Hunter
AKA C'aranth


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