Chapter 11
Fountain Grove, State: Percival, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat Year: 2040, Planet: Grimoire
Dense forest gave way to moderately thick pine and oak groves. Then dark and brown cliffs began to make an appearance. The group moved along at a steady pace. While Harper thought he should start feeling more comfortable. This area gave him the creeps. There was an eerie fog lying low upon the ground, obscuring the footing before him. He slowed his pace as he gazed around.
Wait a second, this wasn't Fountain Grove. This was something else entirely. Stunned, Harper inhaled sharply. "Something is wrong here." He uttered uncomfortably.
"He's right," Anara stated. "This isn't Fountain Grove. Where have we been sent?"
"Say, what? This is odd." Marcus looked around their surroundings. "Hmm," He shook his head and checked his communicator, while everyone took a moment to gain their bearings.
Much to their dismay, Hermina Marten was the first person to identify their surroundings. Not even she was pleased about the discovery either. "Eh, we're in Cleft Highgate, the easternmost section of Fountain's Grove." Her concern became rather apparent. "I think someone messed with the coordinates. Not even women will walk around here unguarded."
This was bad. Harper knew about the trash reputation of Cleft Highgate. He'd come here before in the past on missions with veteran hunters. No one with sanity ever stepped foot inside this place without bristling with weaponry prepared for a fight. Not a single one of them had weapons they could pull out.
Talk about being at a severe disadvantage.
"My, my, my what do we have here?" A bright lantern flared, almost blinding them.
Shrouded figures surveyed the weary and wary group.
"Shiloh?" Marcus looked at the speaker warily. "So did you sell us out after all?"
Shiloh shook her head. "No, I didn't. People come forward and help get them to the safe house. We don't have much time before the local thugs start searching for fresh meat."
Harper didn't think they had that great of luck. He kept his mouth shut because there was something strange about this group. His suspicions were correct when he noticed another group emerging from the gathering fog.
Some of the people shifted and then menacing laughter rang out. "Heh, we hit the jackpot following Shiloh once again."
"Damn," Shiloh cursed. "You people just don't know when to quit, do you?" She scattered weapons through the air. "Kiddos prepare to fight." She ordered without sparing a glance at the Whitcombe's. "Now is the time to prove you're not prey to these bastards."
Harper caught the spear, while his brothers and sisters grabbed various knives, axes, and a few swords. He knew that Anara wasn't going to be able to handle this atmosphere. "Anara, join the others in the middle," Harper ordered. "Now isn't the time to act brave."
There was a soft sigh. "I know, but this time I've learned a few offensive spells," Anara murmured. "I can create a defensive barrier as well."
"Also, we can sync our abilities," Sapphire announced. "Which means I can do whatever she isn't able to."
Ah right, he'd forgotten about the fact they'd recently gained a new instructor in the hunter guild. That individual had given some extra time to all of them so that they could broaden their repertoire of skills. Something they hadn't managed to tell their mother about before her passing. Harper sighed. "Well, whatever, we need to get into formation to protect the newborn sisters and brothers."
Paramount in their minds right then was ensuring the safety of their newborn siblings and the adults who had chosen to assist them. Any other time they wouldn't have actually cared about the adults. This time was an exception because the adults were giving them positive attention, not negative for once.
*
With a specific goal, for once Anara didn't feel so out of place in a situation that typically would've kept her at a severe disadvantage. Certain that she could do this, Anara formed a link with Sapphire, and indeed their abilities did sync admirably well. It meant that they would succeed in creating a formidable barrier. Soon Jennifer and the others threw their energy into the barrier, reinforcing it while they readied themselves for a fight.
The adrenaline rush was something that always made Anara somewhat nauseous. Today however it was slightly different though she couldn't figure out why.
{It is because you eight children have successfully integrated your energies into a functioning barrier where cooperation includes working together completely. The fact that the adults' energies are also smoothly integrated means you're able to immediately heal them through the interlinked connection that you all formed in the Blessing Meadow.}
upon hearing what the elemental had to say, Anara was surprised. This was the first she'd heard of such combinations happening before. Especially since she and her siblings had made such connections before but with varied levels of success. However, now wasn't the time for distraction. She concentrated on ensuring that everyone was up to good health for the battle approaching.
"Heh, to think we'd have to go against the three battle axes while they're guarding a bunch of brats." One of the thugs sneered.
"That such a day has come is shocking indeed." Shiloh's voice was amused. "Too bad you didn't consider the consequences of whom you hunted so impetuously and ignorantly." She sighed. "What a nuisance."
There were at least forty of them. So, they were outnumbered five to one. Not great odds, but not insurmountable either when Anara recalled monsters they'd gone against in the wild.
Only this time, they were up against intelligent humans, some of whom also had abilities. Clearly a few of them were once hunters that for whatever reasons chose a different path to walk that had nothing to do with honor, but greed and ill-intent. Anara watched as they attacked, and the others counterattacked. She healed anyone who was struck with the odd arrow and narrowly avoided a net slung in her direction. She slashed it with a dagger she kept on her body at all times. Now it came in handy to avoid capture. {Watch out for nets. They're looking upon us as monsters to sell, or if that turns useless, to slaughter and remove any useful organs.} While Anara wasn't sure if that really was their intent, it sure had felt like it when that net zinged past her head.
"Damn! They're doing the nets." One thug yelled in frustration.
"So what? We'll wear 'em down eventually. There are more of us than them." The leader snorted. "Besides, their stamina sucks. All of the adults retired and aren't in shape for this any longer."
Unfortunately, from Anara's perspective, they were right to a certain extent. however, she'd discovered something quite troubling about Hermina. She appeared fine on the surface, as did Anara's mother, but she suffered from a debilitating illness that was slowly killing her.
As if realizing someone divined what was happening to her, Hermina glanced at Anara and gave a slight shake of her head. Obviously, she'd known about her health but chose to help them anyway.
Anara swallowed hard and vowed that she would make sure that Hermina survived this battle one way or another.
*
Damn, these kids were too smart for their own good. Hermina hadn't wanted anyone to realize that she'd be next to pass away not long after Davina. Well, she would at least make sure that the kids didn't suffer from trauma because of her death. It wasn't as if she'd been as close to them as she'd been to their mother. "Ladies and gents, let's wrap this up. We're wasting time." Hermina glanced at Shiloh, wasn't she supposed to have brought reinforcements, or was she one of those damned thugs after all?
Shrill whistles shattered the silence of the night and even penetrated the barrier.
The thugs began cursing when they heard them. "Ah, damn, someone alerted the guards? It isn't as if they're gonna do anything good for these termagants. We've got them in our pockets." The leader sneered.
"Not these ones," Shiloh commented. "Those folks were replaced earlier today once a few investigations were wrapped up. Thanks for telling us in your own words that you'd threatened and bribed them to turn a blind eye."
Stupid morons. Hermina couldn't believe the audacity of those fools. Did they really think they were owning this territory within the Fountain Grove area? Hah, that was some confidence. How life had begun so easily for them only to dissipate the moment the guilds for protecting civilians teamed up with the guards administered through the republic system. Hermina snorted. "Well, this should be interesting later on when they're taken to court...if they make it that far."
wow, these warriors weren't messing around. They appeared, took in the situation, Shiloh addressed their leader, and then stepped aside to let them take charge of dealing with the thugs.
Hermina and the others put aside their weapons but remained still. Their barrier wasn't lowered either since none of the children seemed trusting of these newcomers. She leaned against a wooden wall and watched everything while resting.
Once again, their mother's teachings and reinforcement of protecting one another against unknown variables were making an appearance. Hermina had to admire just how strong Davina's influence on those kids was. Well, Davina hadn't wanted to raise weak wusses. She succeeded admirably in that goal.
However, Hermina was concerned that it meant they would be too stubborn when it came to accepting help in finding lodging and jobs before attending that specialized academy. She recalled Davina's doubts when it came to Amos Denbigh's promises about the oldest trio's higher education.
Hermina now understood why. Once again, Davina's intuition proved to be correct. He hadn't followed through on anything. Most likely he was also the one behind these thugs appearing out of nowhere. That would be investigated later though, when everyone was settled where they ought to be.