them out.”
Jymoor nodded. It certainly sounded favorable for her first battle.
Being on the ambushing side with a larger force should be relatively easy to survive.
The force from Ascara-home broke into three even groups. Jymoor went to the left flank with the warriors around her. They clambered over some smaller black rocks, then crouched in groups of ten or twenty between larger boulders that rose over her head. Jymoor was with a group toward the entrance, with a clear but narrow view of the approach.
She crouched there counting her breaths for an age. Then she shifted her feet carefully to dispel pins and needles in her leg.
At last she saw something in the approach.
A group of Ascaran scouts moved hastily through the site of the trap. They didn’t look at their fellows and didn’t turn around. They fled into the draw. Jymoor lost sight of them in her narrow view, but she assumed they must have moved through the draw and up its far side.
Jymoor finally caught sight of the enemy. It was a mass of huge blue humanoids. The creatures looked thick and strong. She saw armor of some black metal on most of them, though no set of armor seemed like any other. Some had massive shields, others helmets and bracers. Jymoor didn’t see any in full armor like herself. She felt a bit better, estimating she would always be able to find a spot to strike with the fenlar.
At least a dozen monstrous bird heads towered over the blue men. Even at a distance, Jymoor could make out the feathered crests and hooked beaks of the giant birds.
“What are those things? Huge birds?” she whispered.
“Hunting birds. Flightless. Watch their legs, they’re just as dangerous as the beak,” Legrach told her. “Do you still have your sword?”
“Yes.”
“If you fight one of the bird-things, use it. Your fenlar won’t hurt them.”
“The bird-things have no name?”
Legrach shook his head. “I have no name for them. They’re not of this world. But the Meridalae have brought them before. Now be silent.”
Jymoor watched. Her heart beat rapidly. She licked her dry lips and wondered again if she would survive the day.
The ambush worked. The Quan and their bird beasts moved into the sheltered area, trying to catch the fleeing scouts. Then a horn sounded and everyone was running forward.
Jymoor ran forward with them. Some moved faster than others over the rough terrain, descending upon the mass of enemies below. Jymoor found herself among the first few Ascarans to arrive. She faced the first blue warrior who turned toward her.
The creature bore a massive weapon, which, though only about four feet long, had a two-foot handle of heavy metal wrapped in leather that terminated in a curved two-foot blade as thick as a meat cleaver. Jymoor wondered for a split second if the blade could rip her arm off even through her armor. Then she simply reacted, thrusting her fenlar at the creature’s throat directly under its thick chin.
The stinger sunk into the folds of blue skin covering its neck. Then the heavy sword slashed out toward Jymoor’s head. Jymoor ducked. The great blade swung by her. Jymoor leaned into her fenlar with her enhanced strength, trying to push the creature back.
It finally seemed to react to the poison. The blue warrior grabbed at its throat with one hand and tried to swing the blade again with its other. Jymoor stepped forward inside the swing, blocking its arm with her elbow. She pushed again. The blue warrior toppled backward, still clutching at the fenlar.
Jymoor shoved it to the ground and stood over the vanquished foe. But there was no time to savor the flush of victory. Another enemy was already on top of her, its blade raised overhead. She managed to block its attack but toppled over, landing on her back.
The Quan above her lifted its huge black blade to cleave her in half. Jymoor uttered something unintelligible. As soon as the blade started to accelerate downward, she rolled to her right, away from the Quan’s weapon arm. She felt the ground rattle next to her helmet. It had been a close miss.
After her roll she scrabbled to her feet. She caught a glimpse of Legrach who stood nearby, watching. Her attacker struggled to retrieve its thick black blade that had lodged between two massive greenish stones. Jymoor drew her sword and thrust it in the Quan’s side. It grunted oddly, gave her a twisted grimace, then fell atop its brother.
Now it was Jymoor’s