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by Jader on Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:57 pm
It seemed the entire valley had slipped into chaos. Their entire group had more or less completely split apart, and Ka`zeh's crimson orbs continued to flicker about the environment, searching for a shred of salvation. His horse's hooves grinded into the steep earth of the path descending into the valley. The detective was caught between a rock and a hard place. The Vyken's were using the forest located inside the valley to camoflauge their presence, meaning Ka`zeh and his entourage could easily be killed or captured if they sought the shelter of the trees. Even if he led his group down into the valley and avoided the forest situated within the valley's depths, they would surely be captured by the Ghalerion forces.
"Damnit..." He growled, kicking his horse into a full on gallop. The soldiers that he had barged through began to recover, and soon began to retreat from the forest. Apparently Ka`zeh's bluff that Vykens were in the trees apparently wasn't a bluff at all. He would have to take his chances with the Vyken's situated down in the valley. It was obvious that the Ghalerion army had no intention of stopping its invasion. Ka`zeh realized that a small group of men could not stop a war on their own. Perhaps the Vykens would listen to the man's pleas.
The condition of the Ghalerion camps situated near the forces suffered heavy losses. The screams of panicked horses echoed into the night as they threw their handlers from their backs, dashing away wildly to escape the overwhelming presence of the Vykens. All the horses could sense with their feeble minds was the intimidating gaze of a predator. Perhaps their minds were not so feeble in this instance, and the Ghalerion forces near the forest began to collapse under the barrage of arrows cascading down upon them like rain. Several of the Ghalerion archers returned fire, but their eyes could barely see in the thick blanket of shadow coating the environment.
"FOOLS! IGNITE YOUR ARROWS!" The head commander bellowed, jerking one of the Vyken arrows from his shoulder. A few barrels of oil were clumsily thrown about, and the archers began to dip the tips of the arrows into the oil. A small stream of oil was poured before their ranks and lit, allowing the bowmen to dip the tips into the flames and ignite them. The Ghalerion archers released their arrows blindly into the forest, but the whistling presence of flames began to set fire to the trees, and soon it had become an uncontrollable wild fire.
Ka`zeh ducked low to avoid a few arrows that had gone astray, his hair whistling through the night air as he charged past the Ghalerion forces situated near the forest. They were far too preoccupied with their counter attack to notice the Ghalerion Commander plunging into the depths of the trees. His horse immediately panicked, its senses picking up on the primal rage of the Vykens, and it swiftly reared itself upon its hind legs, hurling Ka`zeh from its back. It then dashed away into the shadows, never to be seen again.
Ka`zeh grunted with pain as he slowly scrambled to his feet, his hands searching blindly for his blade. The sun had nearly passed into the horizon, smothering the forest with a thick coat of darkness. His eyes had yet to get used to the dark, and he cursed under his breath as he heard the screams of men echo into the night sky. A hand bumped into the hilt of his blade, and his digits swiftly wrapped around the base securely. Ka`zeh stood to his feet and began to glance around feverishly. Getting thrown from the horse had dazed him, and now he had no clue where he was.
Thick smoke filtered through the tops of the trees as the environment began to light up with the presence of fire. Ka`zeh covered his mouth, coughing a bit as he dashed further into the woods, hoping to escape the approaching flames. The Ghalerion Archers had obviously set fire to their arrows, hoping to soften the handicap of their inability to detect the Vyken retaliation by mere sight alone. It was a clever move, no doubt, and clearing the forest would mean the Vykens would have less of a chance to hide themselves.
Ka`zeh continued to dash through the woods, his speed something that perhaps even a Vyken could admire. He was always very agile and swift on foot, more than any Ghalerion could boast. A Vyken could kill him on the spot any moment now, but Ka`zeh knew of their extra sensitive hearing. Perhaps if he made his presence known as well as his intentions, they would come at him in a peaceful demeanor.
"Vykens!" He called out, trying to sound as harmless as possible. He also knew that declaring himself as a citizen of Ghalerion would surely increase his chances of death, so he decided to leave that small bit of information out of his plea. "My name is Ka`zeh, and I have traveled from afar to plead that you retreat from Harborym Valley! I understand that it is your home and you wish to defend it with your lives, but you are fighting a losing battle! The Ghalerion forces are numbered at one million strong, and will not stop until they have completely slaughtered every single being of your kind! Think of your offspring and their safety!" Ka`zeh called out, his crimson eyes slowling beginning to adjust to the darkness.
He waited, hoping that at least one of the Vyken scouts would reveal their presence and perhaps lead him to an area of safety to negotiate with him. It's all he could do really. The Arch Generals were determined to destroy any opposition that dared to stand against them, and with such an overwhelming army, the casualties of the Vyken nation would be devastating. The only thing Ka`zeh was concerned about was preventing as many deaths as he possibly could. His group was scattered the moment they exited the jungle, and he blamed himself for that. If he had not panicked, and had stayed with his group and just waited for an opportunity, they would not have gotten split up.
He put himself at the mercy of the Vykens now. They could kill the man at any moment, but he hoped with all his heart that they would sense with their animalistic tendencies that Ka`zeh was earnest in his declaration.
Meanwhile, the small division that Ka`zeh had charged through previously near the borders of the jungle outside the valley began to recover from the commander's insane endeavors.
"It's obvious the Vykens aren't our only enemies here!" One of the officers barked with frustration.
"There are a few stragglers within the forest. See that they are arrested and brought back to our main establishment inside the valley. If they resist...kill them," The head officer barked, splitting his division in half. The division was only comprised of twenty troops, considering that it was only a scouting group. Ten of the troops clicked their heels into their horses' sides, beckoning them into the jungle. The other half began to make their way back to camp.
The ten soldiers that had stayed began to cross over into the jungle, maintaining a tight defensive formation. Their presence was drawing closer to Von, Gent, and Robert, but the sound of their armor, weapons, horses, and the blazing light of their torches would alert the three to the group's presence long before the group of Ghalerion soldiers detected them.
"Keep your eyes peeled. Might be a few Vyken scouts lingering around here too," One of the guards muttered, keeping his torch held low to prevent from setting the jungle on fire.

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