Possessing the Grimstone - By John Grover Page 0,40

like to be hungry. To have no food was unimaginable. Food grew in his backyard ever since he’d been alive. He didn’t know what life would have been like not knowing where or when they’d receive food. He was beginning to understand how important it was what his father did, what all of his people did. His father tried to instill this in him, but it was only now that Pim was finally beginning to realize this.

“Let us continue,” Tolan said, stowing his food and giving his horse an apple.

The soldiers climbed back onto their mounts. Drith and his man followed suit, and Pim climbed up last. A strange sound caught him, and he froze. He looked about the notch.

Barking sounded through the notch, echoing in the distance.

“Dogs?” Pim said. “There are dogs in the mountains?’

“That’s no dog,” Tolan yelled, unsheathing his sword.

Pim’s heart fluttered, but he followed Tolan’s lead. Suddenly a howl called through the notch, and a horde of creatures appeared on the rocks above them.

Seconds later, the creatures leaped down on the group. One barreled into Tolan, ripping him from his horse before he could even swing his blade.

Drith’s eys widened. “Ambush!” He, too, was pulled from his horse.

Pim saw dog-faced creatures all around them, with wild hair sprouting from their bodies, small tusks poking from beneath gray lips, and upturned noses sniffing at the air. They were clad in armor made of leather and horns.

A spear soared toward Pim, and he ducked. A scream exploded as one of Cardoon’s soldiers fell from his steed, the spear protruding from his chest. Horror gripped Pim, and one of the beasts tackled him from his horse, as well.

The wind was knocked out of the Wivering as his back hit the ground. The creature sniveled and snorted around Pim’s throat, bearing its tusks. It drew back and opened its saliva-filled jaws.

Pim screamed. A blade swung.

The creature’s throat ripped open. Drith kicked the beast, and pulled Pim up. “We’re under attack by a pack of Gnolls,” Drith said. “They must have followed us from the hollows.”

Pim turned to see Tolan struggling with one of the beasts, unable to get his sword from under his own body. Pim dashed form Drith’s side and used his fleet to race to the downed Tolan. In a flash, he pulled the Gnoll from the warrior’s chest.

Tolan jumped to his feet and swung his blade, gutting the Gnoll. Pim reappeared by his side. “Thank you, my friend.”

Pim nodded as two more Gnolls confronted them, swinging flails with multiple chains. Pim ducked, then dodged, as the flail whipped inches from his face. He lifted his sword and one of the flails caught the blade, pulling it from his grip.

Tolan stepped in front of Pim and parried the Gnolls and their flails. “Back Gnolls, back! There is nothing for you, here!”

Pim saw Drith and his guard rush to their aid out of the corner of his eye, but a net fell over them. More Gnolls drove the Southerners to the ground, and focused their attention on Tolan and Pim. They were now surrounded, spears and flails drawing closer and closer.

A fluttering sound filled the air. Pim’s gaze shot to the skies, which held a group of women descending on make-shift wings. They launched a volley of arrows at the Gnolls, taking half of them down.

The women landed on the ground, discarding their wings. The silver-armored women attacked the remaining Gnolls with blades in each of their hands: short, curved, double-edged, and serrated weapons that no one had ever seen before.

Pim couldn’t believe his eyes. He watched the women warriors slash and rip their way through the Gnolls until the creatures yelped and retreated into the trees.

The women ceased their chase and turned back to the group. They lifted the net from Drith and his guard, and then moved to Pim and Tolan.

Tolan bowed. “You are the D’Elkyrie from the M’Illium Fells, the mountains in the Northwest. We owe you our lives.”

The leader of the group, a strong, lean woman with long raven hair and violet eyes that glinted in the light, bowed in return. “No one owes anyone. We have a duty to protect all life. We are honored to join the fight. I am Shannara, leader of my people.”

“I am Tolan of Cardoon. You know of the threat?”

“Of course. Our seers foresaw the invasion and the threat to our world.” She gestured to the trail among the trees, where two men, fair-skinned and shorter than the women,