he counted hastily.
"Shit!" shouted Gideon. "We're outnumbered!"
"Run!" repeated Ragan as he began making swift gestures in the air before him. "I will attempt to hold them off for you to get away! Now, move swiftly! Fear not for me, for if I fall, I shall not fall alone!" With that, the wizard gestured in the air, and a swirling glow appeared on his hand.
"Come to me, darkspawn," shouted the wizard. "Come and taste the power of a Tauri."
The Charachau howled in a frenzy of delight and slowly closed the circle. Ragan began to glow, and from the palm of his hand, a sphere of energy shot out and impacted the closest one in front of him, knocking it to the ground and making it emit an inhuman howl of pain. A second Charachau swung its spear at the wizard, striking him hard on the shoulder. Another struck at him on the side, but the blows seemed to be deflected, as if by an invisible wall.
The wizard had apparently created some kind of invisible shield to protect himself—either that or he was much tougher than he appeared; soon, Gideon began to realize it was a bit of both. Another blow fell, this time penetrating the shield. There was a brilliant flash of light, and the wizard let out a yell of pain.
Only slightly shaken, Ragan pushed one of his attackers backward with one massive shove and rolled out of their way. The Charachau warriors saw this and jumped on him again as he maneuvered to regain his footing. Ragan seemed an incredibly durable and resourceful individual. The Charachaus' glowing weapons fell repeatedly as they tried to pulverize him, but his shield still held, though it was weakened. Gideon saw one of the weapons slice clear through a medium-sized tree after it missed Ragan.
Meanwhile, Gideon was having problems of his own. A single Charachau warrior had grabbed hold of his elax's reins as he attempted to flee and killed the animal with a spear thrust to the chest as the elax was trying to bite the Charachau. Gideon fell in a yelp of fear, dropping Ragan's sword as he hit the hard ground. The Charachau then lifted him up by his arm and hurtled him to the ground in a bone-crushing throw.
Air fled from his lungs, and he lay horribly vulnerable as he fought to catch his breath. He was injured and unarmed. The Charachau warrior then stabbed down at him with its spear-ax with almost lightning speed. Gideon rolled to avoid the blow, which struck the ground inches from his chest and flared in a blaze of dirt and electrical discharge. It zapped and sparked like one of those insect-zapping devices on a hot summer night.
What type of weapon is that thing? Gideon wondered in that instant. He had never seen such a weapon before—some sort of diabolical double-bladed spear carrying an electrical charge. If the blades do not kill you, he mused bitterly, then the accompanying shock might! His initial shock gone and his breath back, using a martial maneuver, he instinctively wrapped his legs around the pole of the spear-ax and with a sudden twist of his hips, pulled the weapon from the creature's grip. As it was leaning on the weapon, the Charachau fell off balance. In a flash, Gideon was on his feet, the creature's usurped spear-ax poised in his hand. The Charachau began to rise, snarling with unmitigated fury. Its teeth gleamed with dripping saliva in the moonlight. Not waiting for the beast to regain its full stature, Gideon, with a powerful downward thrust, slammed the weapon into its chest. The Charachau howled in agony, shaking spasmodically as the electrical charge coursed through its body; then it slumped unconsciously to the ground.
Gideon stood over the body, shaking, and he felt heaviness. He half-believed that it was not dead. A monster of such immense physical power could not die so easily. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Gideon saw some flashes. It was a blast of some kind, like several grenades exploding. He saw the swarming Charachau warriors hurtling backward in smoking ruin and Ragan rising from their midst. He was bleeding, and his clothes were partially torn, but he was quite definitely alive.
"Come," he called to Gideon in a breathless voice. "They are only stunned and may regenerate. The Charachau are tougher than most creatures and hard to kill. We must leave this place if you wish to live!"
As they began to move away from the area, a dark and shadowy form astride a black horse like creature moved from the trees to block their escape. The being was humanoid, a very beautiful female with jet-black skin. Her pure white hair hung well past the middle of her back. Accented by the white eyebrows that were furled in anger, her eyes gleamed with unusually colored violet irises. On her hands, she wore a pair of gray-brown gloves with intricate decorations that reached the length of her lower arm. Covering her tall, slim, athletic form was a black cloak, which was held together by a golden broach at her neck. On her crown sat a helm embellished with many fine metallic feathers. She was clad in a fine silvery chain-mesh armor that covered her breast and back, trailing down to her upper thighs. Her boots were black, riding high on her calves, and were equally armored. Though she was inhumanly beautiful, Gideon felt a wave of nauseating fear wash over him as he looked at her. Every nerve in his body awakened. His senses told him to run.
Ragan turned slowly to face her. He expended great personal energy in the fight to rapidly defeat the six other Charachau warriors.
"Vasha," said Ragan with anger and a hint of regret in his voice, "so it was you who set this ambush."
Vasha ignored Ragan and began muttering an incantation. However, by now, the wizard was not standing still. Grabbing Gideon by the arm, he began running in a mad dash for the cover of the trees. Before they could move very far, Vasha's spellweaving was completed, and the very ground upon which they stood began to shake. The earth around them broke open, and huge rock spears jutted violently upward to block their way. Then the grass began to writhe and change into thick vines that wrapped about their feet. Vasha laughed cruelly, as if to savor her victory, but Ragan was not yet beaten. He concentrated and then mumbled a few words. A glow appeared about his and Gideon's feet, withering the vines as they approached. Then he turned to face Vasha, who was in the process of casting yet another spell.
"Gideon! The sword. Get my sword!" cried the wizard hastily as he turned to face his enemy. Gideon ran as fast as he could toward the fallen blade and slid, picking it up. Then he ran back to help. He noticed to his horror and despair that several of the fallen Charachau were beginning to stir. It was at that moment that Vasha's spell was released.
From out of the darkness came a form darker still. A shadowy vapor emerged from her fingertips and coalesced into a nightmare. It formed a huge, hideous shadow having six swaying heads and mighty clawed hands. With a horrendous wail that reverberated throughout the forest, it leaped straight at Ragan. The wizard gestured frantically, and the result was a white-hot ring of fire that encircled the monster. It screamed, as if hurt or blinded by the sudden light, but passed through unharmed. Seeing this, Ragan reached into a small pouch on his belt and withdrew a silver-colored powder, which he scattered about him. Then he said a word of invocation and suddenly vanished.
Vasha, seeing this, called out to the wizard, "I know you are here, Ragan. You cannot escape me. If you think that by becoming ethereal and masking your scent, it will help you hide from my shadow-beast, you are gravely mistaken." She laughed harshly and then added, "The creature tracks by scent, not sight. Surrender, Tauri, for you are beaten and doomed. Oh, long have I awaited this hour, Ragan. Tonight, you shall fall and return to your father in Errada."
With that, Vasha laughed hard and cruelly, her teeth shining white against the blackness of her skin and soul.
The shadow-beast stood immobile, its heads swaying slowly, as it sniffed the air in an attempt to lock in on Ragan. This gave Ragan the necessary time to attack. Gideon watched as a large ball of white light energy appeared in the air and hurtled toward the creature as if from thin air. The sphere impacted with the beast and then was drawn inside it. For a brief instant, the creature glowed
