Sigil
1318 Words
When Kaia awoke, it was as though she were under water. She had not slept for very long, leaving her in a state of dazed confusion. Noises, which she was unable to identify at first, sounded muffled as though she were floating in a pool of water and they drifted toward her, distorted. Her body was reluctant to let go of sleep, even if it had only managed a fitful slumber. Deep down, she began to register the urgency of the sounds around her. A shrill scream sounded from right next to her left ear, where Mary usually slept. At last Kaia's eyes flew open and she shot up into a sitting position. Kala'ree were scrambling around the tiny chamber, some looking confused and others out right panicked. It was too crowded as women pushed toward the exit. A loud boom out side the Kala'ree tent, but certainly close enough to be within the encampment shook the very ground they sat one. Mary shrieked again and scrambled toward Kaia, grasping her arm. Kaia could feeling her trembling with fear. Sarah, on her other side, was on her knees. Her eyes were wide with alarm and she sat crouched, as though ready to spring away at any moment. BOOM! Screams. Foot steps all around the tent could be heard. Kaia could barely distinguish the voices of Ula'mor shouting orders.
"We must go, now!" She said to the others, scrambling to her feet. Mary reached after her as though to drag her back to the ground.
"What!? No way!" She said, looking petrified. Kaia looked from her to Sarah, trying to keep any trace of fear from showing on her face.
"We must!" She urged them, "We have no idea what's going on out there, and whatever's causing those-" She broke off as the earth beneath them shook again, "-sounds like it's getting closer!" Finally Sarah stood as well, making Kaia sigh with relief. Sarah nodded at her and Kaia made her way out of the chamber into the main section of the Kala'ree pavilion. It was already almost completely deserted, with the last couple stragglers engrossed in panicked conversation near the exit. Ignoring them Kaia led the Creesan girls out of the main entrance, still dragging along Mary who clung to her arm like a child.
They stepped into a scene of utter chaos. Huge fires burned in the forest surrounding their lake clearing, casting long, haunting shadows throughout the camp. Embers and smoke were being carried in an unusually strong breeze, causing Kaia's throat to burn and make her squint her eyes. She pulled her cowl from around her neck a yanked it over her head, tucking it securely to cover her mouth and nose. Sarah and Mary quickly copied her, both of them coughing and choking terribly. People and horses ran in all directions, making the scene even more confusing. Another explosion sounded, this time Kaia could tell the sound was from just beyond the tree line, and where it sounded the fire swelled alarmingly. With all the panic, Kaia struggled to figure out exactly what was causing the fear, other that the obvious fires. She had never seen the Razaak scared before, and the thought that something could send them into a riot such as this sent a chill to her spine. She looked around wildly for any recognizable faces but the smoke and fear made everyone look distorted. Nobody even stopped to look in their direction. They slowly walked on, trying not to get trampled. Men rushed back and forth from the river to the tree line, filling buckets to try to extinguish the blazes. The blind panic seemed to be subsiding somewhat as the Razaaks began to reorganize. The men spread out, obeying the orders shouted from their superiors, and surrounded the encampment. Kaia could see a few of the Ula'mor who stood nearest to her. Their faces were covered and they drew their razor sharp curved blades, and held them ready. Kaia was not close enough to see their eyes, but their heads were turned to face the surrounding forest, watchfully.
An ominous, hushed silence seemed to fall over the camp. It appeared that the Razaak were waiting for something, what ever had caused those awful explosions, Kaia assumed. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fires that continued to blaze, although the Razaak had certainly gotten the worst of them under control quickly. Kaia felt her breath catch in her chest as she began to hear rustling in the thick undergrowth of the forest. The sound seemed unnatural, but also appeared not to coming from just one direction. The Razaak that Kaia could see stiffened, as though they too had heard it. Kaia thought she sensed movement below the trees in the forest nearby. Suddenly a pair of luminous red eyes appeared, at least five feet about the ground, out of the darkness in front of the Razaak closest to her. The eyes shone like rubies, and flickered slightly as the glow of the still present fires danced on the reflected light. Behind her, a Kala'ree let out a piercing wail. Reluctantly Kaia turned to look and saw with horror that all around the encampment, spread evenly in the surrounding forest, at least five pairs of glowing red eyes could be seen. Fear froze Kaia's feet to the ground, Mary whimpered pittifully and buried her face in Kaia's shoulder. Sarah simply stood in open mouth horror.
After a moment the eyes appeared to grow larger as they moved into the clearing. Kaia nearly fainted as she saw the monstrosities that they belonged to. The body of an enormous wolf but nearly the size of a small horse. The red eyes glowed eerily on their huge heads, sharp teeth bared at the Razaak soldiers, while gobs of salivation dripped from their maws as though they had never before seen such a delicious meal. Something odd struck Kaia, in spite of her self, although she had never seen a wolf in real life she had seen many drawings of them. Travelers who had passed through the Rusty Nail had told her stories of encounters with wolf packs who threatened shepherd's flocks. From what they had told her, wolves were generally shy creatures, who only attacked when provoked, but these monsters were certainly not shying away from a fight. Another thing she noticed was that their massive heads were sharp and angular, and their ears stood upright, ending in sharp points, which was not like any wolf likeness sketch she had studied. Although this was true, the creatures reminded Kaia faintly of something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Her thoughts were cut off suddenly as the monsters advanced, stalking as a group toward the Razaak, surrounding them. The Ula'mor readied themselves, taking defensive stances and raising their curved blades. Suddenly, the massive creatures stopped, all at once, as though given a silent order. Kaia's breath hitched again as more movement could be seen behind the wolves in the darkness of the undergrowth. All at once figures began to emerge, men on foot and on horseback. They wore thick suits of plated metal armor. In their hands they held either wooden bows or long swords of glistening metal. Their helmets sprouted plumes of yellow feathers from the top, and had open faces. Kaia looked around and saw that a few of the men were bannermen, and wielded long poles with a flag waving at the top. Suddenly, gazing at the banners, Kaia realized what the snarling black creatures reminded her of. She had seen it many times before, it was the sigil of Creed, a black hound with red eyes, plastered on a simple yellow background. Kaia stood dumbstruck, unable to make sense of what she was seeing. After all, the peaceful kingdom of Creed didn't have an army.
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