The Nian Chronicles
Chapter Eleven

Time seemed to stand still as Alaene swung her sword as hard as she could. The Lizia screamed as she sliced through its mouth. With a deft rollover she moved to its side and plunged her sword into its membrane, separating it from the body. It screamed again and plummeted to the ground.

“Linae!” she yelled, looking to see the Youngling duck under another Lizia wing as it snapped at her. “Slice its wing or neck! Stab its eye!”

She couldn’t watch her assistant as a shrieking Lizia reared up in her way. She stabbed out, but this one pulled aside. With a quick roll it attacked from underneath. She slashed its neck, but her sword slid off of its thick skin with barely a scratch.

It snapped at her and she stabbed its unguarded eye. Blinded it thrashed in pain and anger, exposing its softer neck. Alaene slashed the skin, spilling green blood onto the forest. The Lizia tumbled through the trees, taking off large branches as it went.

Linae rejoined her. “I killed one!” she wailed. “All by myself! It was horrible!”

The musty odor the Lizia gave off was strong enough, but their blood reeked like rotten meat. And to take a life, even one that was trying to eat her, made Alaene feel sick. Fortunately the small flock attacking them had been reduced to half, and those were hurrying back to the main flock.

“What about the citizens?” she demanded, and Kalec pointed below.

They hovered at the edge of the forest near the cave clearing. With a battle in full rage along the creek bed, they had no safe passage to the caves. Catapults flung rocks or netting at the invaders, crushing or tangling them, and spears pierced intended targets. Several dozen bodies littered the ground, most of them Lizia; but Alaene noticed a few remnants of bright wings.

“We have to help them!” she urged.

They descended to the Nia huddling under branches in fear. All of Alaene’s Dancers had survived the first encounter, so she ordered them to form a barrier between the Nia and the Lizia.

“Go!” she told the citizens. “Hurry! We will guard you!”

As the Nia ran, Dancers blocked the Lizia coming after them. Alaene attacked two in quick succession, slicing one in the wing and the second through its cheek. When it raised its head to shriek, she slit its throat. As she turned away, a mouth full of teeth opened to grab her. She zipped left but banged into its flapping wing, spinning for a few feet before righting herself. Another Lizia lunged for her, but she ducked out of the way.

Not completely though, as a claw tip dug into her calf. Alaene jerked around to slash the beast across the membrane of its right wing. Unable to fly, it tumbled to the rocks to be attacked by the ground forces.

A loud shriek pierced the air, not from a Nian or the Lizia; a shriek Alaene had heard before.

“Nest robbers! Mate killers!” Sari-gan cried and tore into the flock with talons outstretched. He seized a Lizia to peck out its eyes and rip at its wings. Helplessly the invader tumbled to the ground. Again and again the eagle grabbed his prey until some of the flock turned on him. They were smaller than he, but several attacked at a time.

They tore at his feathers, and Alaene wailed, “We have to help him!”

“No, watch!” Kalec urged.

The eagle plummeted towards the ground then pulled out of his dive and flew across the clearing. Spears hit three Lizia chasing him. Two more enemies trailed the bird as he rose higher away from the battle scene. Alaene turned to watch Linae finish off a Lizia with a stab into its head.

Suddenly they heard another cry, “Help! Help me!”

Alaene pinpointed the plea. On the ground, a Youngling huddled under a dead Lizia, his bottom right wing torn so he couldn’t fly. The boy’s leg was shattered with bones peeking out, and he couldn’t walk. Someone else had also spotted the youth. A wounded Lizia on the ground began stalking him.

With horror Alaene realized it was her brother! “Mattan!”

“I’ll get him!” Linae shouted. “You get the Lizia!”

Alaene zoomed down to confront the beast. Its left wing flopped, but its legs were fine. “You will not eat my brother!”

It hissed at her intrusion and leaped forward. She stabbed its left eye, making it howl in pain and shake its head, but it wasn’t ready to give up. From the corner of her eye, Alaene saw that Linae had reached Mattan and was half carrying, half dragging him to the shelter.

Alaene placed herself between them and the beast, waiting for its next move. It lunged, and Alaene slashed it across the muzzle. It screamed and lunged again. Alaene skipped to its blinded left side and stabbed its leg, opening a gash.

Again she charged, stabbing its neck. Just as she hit, it flung itself sideways, hitting her hard and knocking her backwards. She tumbled through the air and landed on her belly, her sword clattering ahead of her. She was up in a flash, grabbing her weapon. Linae had almost made it to the shelter, but the Lizia was close behind, seeing two fleeing prey easier than a fighting one.

A twang rang out, embedding a spear into the Lizia’s throat clear up to its brain. It fell dead on the spot. “Good shot!” Alaene yelled.

The eagle plummeted from the sky and seized another Lizia, tearing it apart with talons and beak. “Nest robbers!” Sari-gan shrieked. “I’ve lost enough eggs to your hunt! No more!”

Alaene made her way to the eagle. “Sari-gan! I thank you for your help!”

“I see you, Brightwing!” he returned. “I do this for me as well as you!”

“We are grateful all the same,” she praised and slashed a Lizia flying by. “They killed your mate?”

“Aye,” he yelled. “And all my young! I will not stand by and watch them kill Brightwing families, too! Today I hunt only Lizia!”

“Good hunting, then!” she offered then flew to help another Dancer harried by two Lizia.

Suddenly the Lizia shrieked and all broke away in a group, flying up and away to the west with the eagle trailing them. His cries came back to them, “Nest robbers!”

The Nia cheered as the flock of Lizia faded away. Injured Dancers limped or flew to the shelter. Those still whole in Alaene’s group realigned themselves in order. Linae returned to her side, having successfully taken Mattan to the shelter.

She gasped, “Commander! Your leg!”

Alaene felt the pain as soon as the words left the girl’s mouth. She looked to replace blood oozing from a deep gouge in her right calf. Blood had soaked her legging and boot and now dripped off her foot.

“That looks bad,” Kalec warned. His voice sounded oddly distant. “Commander!” he called as Alaene sank through the air, her weight suddenly too heavy for her wings to support.

Linae and Kalec grabbed Alaene as her vision danced with spots. “Get her down to the shelter,” Kalec urged.

They lowered her towards the caves between the Dancers and weaponry. Healers rushed to take her inside the cave. She was too weak to protest.

“Kalec,” she gasped. “Check on the other units!”

“Already working on it,” he promised then turned to the skies.

Alaene sighed as the healers lay her on a soft bed. “How many Nia did we lose?” she whispered.

“I haven’t heard a count,” one replied. “Your brave Youngling helped that boy to safety.”

Alaene drank a medicinal tea that made her sleepy. “That was my brother. I am proud of her.”

As they attended to her leg, she faded out of consciousness; the last thing she remembered was a soft cloth bathing her face.

“They’re getting closer!” the scout warned.

Nadia glanced over her wings, gasping for breath from not having flown like this for so long. Her wings ached, and she could barely keep up with her own guards, but still the little flock had gained on them. Their mouths gaped open with snapping pointed teeth, and Nadia whimpered in fear.

“We’re almost to the trees,” a guard wheezed to her left, also not in good shape. “They’ll have a harder time flying in the forest.”

With the last bit of her energy Nadia pushed herself on to escape the myths that had turned out to be real after all. Tears rushed from her eyes and blurred the trees ahead, but she managed to zip around a looming trunk just before the Lizia panting on her heels smacked into it face first.

Nadia didn’t have time to consider how many had followed them into the forest as she darted between the tree trunks, under and over branches, and around the terrified birds also fleeing the Lizia.

Crashing and shrieks followed her little group, one shriek sounding like a Nia; but she didn’t dare turn to look or she might be next. “I don’t have a weapon,” she wailed.

Her scout passed something over, and Nadia grasped the familiar but hated handle of a standard issue long knife. Feeling a little braver, Nadia dared to look behind as she crossed a small opening in the trees. A Lizia followed ten feet behind, its beady eyes narrowed on her.

She yelped and dove into the sheltering trees, hoping to lose it in the dense undergrowth, but the grazing animals had eaten most of the greenery along the forest floor. More Lizia appeared around her, chasing her guards.

Two turned to fight them off, and Ardena suddenly appeared. “We should go to the shelter,” her friend gasped. “More Dancers will be there to help us.”

Nadia groaned, but admitting defeat to Alaene would be better than getting eaten. “Find the creek!”

She could smell the water not far ahead of her, and they burst over the nearly dried up creek before realizing they had reached it.

“Where are the others?” Ardena wailed.

Nadia looked behind to see a lizard break through the forest into the open. “I don’t see them!”

“Come on!” Ardena urged. “Back into the forest! It slows them down.”

Nadia followed her under the shady trees, hoping to lose the lizard, but it noticed and veered in after them. Closer it came until Nadia could almost feel its breath on her back.

“Break up! Circle!” Ardena barked.

Years of training came back to Nadia. She jerked right while her friend turned left, confusing the enemy by their actions. The lizard continued on for a few moments, giving them time to dart around and slash at its wings.

Lack of skill and little practice bungled Nadia’s attempts, but the other girl sliced the membrane on her side right down the middle, making it useless for flying. The creature fell to the ground shrieking and crashed into a bush.

“We did it!” Ardena gasped.

A loud crash behind alerted them to another predator, and Nadia ducked a set of claws just in time. Ardena was knocked off balance and fell towards the ground before righting itself.

“Come on,” she groaned as the Lizia turned. “Straight and bank!”

Nadia gripped her sword and flew at the monster, veering right and barely avoiding a snapping muzzle. She stabbed its side but lost her knife in the process. It jerked around, the weapon sticking out but not even slowing its flight.

“Go!” Ardena urged, flying above to distract their hunter; like Nadia was a commoner needing protection.

Nadia sped up, a sudden rush of fear spurring her on. “Where are those caves?” she muttered.

“Not far, keep going!”

But Nadia heard the pain in her voice and noticed her friend's left arm hanging uselessly. “You’re hurt!”

“I can still fight! Keep going!”

“We need a place to hide!” Nadia wailed. “We won’t make it to the caves!”

She scoured the forest for a hole in a trunk or someone’s burrow. An old tree rose up in front of her with a hollow in the split between two branches. “There! We can hide!”

“You first!” Ardena ordered. “I’ll confuse it!”

“But—”

“Go!”

Nadia dove for the opening, barely pulling up in time to avoid hitting her head on the inside of the tree. The opening wasn’t deep, but the hole was small. She lay panting on the wood, her wings quivering and she sobbing quietly to not attract the Lizia. She heard a few cracking branches, and then her friend dropped into the hole almost on top of her.

“Made it,” Ardena whispered, but her dangling arm had bruised and started to swell above the elbow. “Keep quiet.”

Nadia huddled in a ball, not daring to breathe. No birds sang, the leaves didn’t stir, and she couldn’t hear the creek anymore. The tree quivered, and they hunched together as something snuffled outside. Ardena held her sword ready if their foe found them.

The snuffling stopped, and a shadow fell over their hiding spot. A clawed foot raked at the tree, taking away some of the loose bark. Nadia covered her mouth to still her whimper, but the Lizia clawed their hole harder. A muzzle appeared, biting at the tree, but Ardena continued to wait.

“Kill it,” Nadia mouthed, but Ardena crouched, ready to jab her sword.

“Not yet. Not a good shot.”

The snuffling resumed, and hot air reeking of rotten meat filled the hole. Nadia covered her nose and mouth with her tunic, but the smell made her retch. Claws raked faster, ripping away larger chunks of the wood. Finally an eye peered sideways into the hole.

“Now,” Ardena growled and stabbed straight into the eye.

The monster screamed and pulled back, yanking the other girl out of the hole with the sword.

“No!” Nadia screamed.

Outside, the Lizia thrashed and roared, Ardena screamed once, and then a crunch silenced her. Nadia huddled in a ball, tears sliding down her cheeks as she shamefully hoped the Lizia’s appetite was sated with the other girl. Nothing happened for several minutes, but she dared not even move in case the predator was still outside.

One claw appeared, green blood dripping from it into the hole, barely missing Nadia. The claw closed around the edge of the hole and yanked, ripping a chunk from the tree large enough for Nadia to see the Lizia’s left eye oozing green blood and slime. Its head turned and the right eye stared in, roaming over her hiding spot.

Searching for bright colors and movement, she thought. Don’t move. Don’t move. Don’t move.

She waited, her heart thumping, not daring to even quiver. She had always been proud of her bright orange and white wings. Now they were folded tight, but her orange and white body glared against the dark wood. The Lizia’s eye stopped roaming and settled on her. Its lips opened, revealing red and black wing bits caught between dagger teeth. The muzzle, blunt but narrow enough to fit into the gap, opened and moved forward.

Nadia screamed.

Zabor led his unit down to the west edge where an officer with red and orange wings greeted him. “It’s good to have you back, Zabor!”

“Tell me what to do."

The officer barked orders to those that followed to take positions with the Dancers in the sky, but he kept Zabor nearby. “These are the new spear throwers,” he said, gesturing at the weapon in Zabor's hand. “They’re powerful weapons, but the operators are too busy shooting to watch their surroundings. That’s our job.”

Zabor noticed several dozen Dancers on the ground spaced around the weaponry. One operator sat under a wooden canopy manning the armed bow while a second stood by a wooden trough filled with spears, ready to replace the first after his companion shot. Their gazes were trained on the sky, and Zabor looked to see the smaller cloud approaching from the west had nearly arrived.

Had he and Nadia left on time, they would have been too far away from the village to turn around and would have flown straight into the advancing flock. Only a rip in one of the commoner’s carry packs had kept them back until a replacement had been found.

Zabor shuddered as he thought about what might happen to Nadia. He had been a fool to listen to her lack of faith; he had been a bigger fool to leave Alaene. She had been right all along.

“On your guard!” the officer warned, and Zabor glanced up to see the first edge of the advancing enemy dive toward the forest straight at them.

“Fire weapons!”

The spear thrower twanged, and Zabor jerked as a spear flew up like lightning and struck a Lizia. It squawked in shock and pain then plummeted to the ground, landing with a hard thump and shaking the ground under Zabor’s feet.

The smell drifting from the crash wrinkled his nose and nearly emptied his stomach. “Why do none of the Histories mention that horrid smell?”

The officer shrugged and pointed, so Zabor turned to see a Lizia diving, missed by two spears that stabbed the next two following it. The monster’s claws extended towards the operator, but Zabor leaped in a flash, slashing at the membrane wing held open to balance the lizard. It screamed and rolled out of balance, crashing into the forest behind the spear launcher.

Another lizard tried the same tactic only to run its eye into Zabor’s sword, spilling green blood and slime over him, definitely raunchy enough to make him retch this time. He landed near the weapon operator and lost his last meal onto the ground then threw his slimed velvet tunic on top.

Bare-chested, his black and gold stood out even more, drawing malevolent eyes his way. “Sir, I think we're drawing them in too close, not holding them off!”

The officer shrugged. “So be it. Rise a little higher, but watch the area around the operators.”

Zabor scanned the entire area, seeing another lizard coming at the officer who had turned to fight a different enemy. His back was to the newcomer, so Zabor rushed to stave off the attacker.

“Watch out, sir!”

Zabor met the Lizia with a stab to its open mouth, reaching straight up to its brain. He kicked it away before it started falling, then heard a horrible scream and a crunch. He jerked around, sword in hand, but too late. A bright yellow and orange wing from the officer fluttered to the ground, and the officer’s body was nowhere to be seen.

“You horrid creature!” he screamed, attacking it head on but diving left as it snapped at him, then he rolled down to its membrane and sliced it away from the front leg.

The creature screamed and wobbled in the air, trying to stay aloft with only one wing. Zabor followed it down and finished it with a stab through the eye. He ignored several familiar wings on the ground even though he wanted to collapse in grief; there would be time for that later.

“Zabor!” someone shouted. “You’re next in command!”

Zabor rose up, anger fueling his strength. “I accept! Carry on as your officer outlined!”

While a subordinate filled him in on the specific duties of the now dead officer, Zabor kept an eye on the cloud of enemies. They seemed to understand the Nia tactics of fighting and anticipated their moves. Several other Dancers fell victim to their appetites until an eagle appeared above the skies.

“Nest robbers!” it screeched and dove into the flock. “Mate killers!”

Zabor gaped at the bird. “Is that the Commander’s eagle?” he asked.

“Sounds like it,” the other Dancer agreed.

Zabor caught a glimpse of silver and blue wings joining the eagle before his attention turned to another attacker, this one slightly green. It looked smaller and seemed to have a large belly.

“A female!” he yelled, attacking her with several others. They did not need her laying young right there in the forest, because then she would stay longer than the general flock.

The female screamed, trying to bite someone; but with so many Dancers attacking she decided to leave well enough alone and escape. Zabor happened to be in her way, and she jerked up to avoid his sword, exposing her underbelly.

Zabor dove in for the shot and sliced her belly as deep as his sword, getting kicked off by a clawed foot as the female screamed and floundered to the ground, struggling to at least run; but others Dancers descended on her to finish her off.

Zabor flew through the air and landed hard on his elbows and knees next to a spear thrower. The assistant helped him behind the lines then returned to his post, handing spears to his partner. Suddenly the flock screeched and veered west with the eagle chasing and screaming after them.

Other Nia cheered, but Zabor could only stare at the red and orange wing on the ground, wondering if he had been the cause of the officer’s death by his shouted warning. He would never know, not having seen the officer’s reaction, but he felt guilty nonetheless.

A messenger flitted from the forest, calling for the fallen officer until he saw the wing. “Oh.”

“I’m in charge,” Zabor called out. “What do you need?”

The messenger flew to him. “I have a message from Sergeant Ramal. The citizens are safe in the caves, but the Commander has been injured.”

“Injured!?” Zabor growled. “How?”

“A Lizia caught her leg with its claw. She bled a lot before realizing it, but the healers are stabilizing her right now. They say she should be alright.”

Zabor groaned, terrified of losing his friend. He was sure he had lost Nadia. He didn’t want to lose Alaene. “I will come to visit her when I can. I have to . . . to . . .” He suddenly realized he didn’t know what he was supposed to do next.

“Account for your unit,” the subordinate whispered helpfully.

“Yes. That. Will you see to it? I think . . .” He cringed and palmed his bare chest, replaceing only scratches but feeling hard bruising. “I should rest a while.”

“I will take care of it, sir,” the subordinate assured and flitted away.

The messenger sank to the ground beside him. “Are you in need of medical care? Did you break your ribs?”

Zabor prodded his chest, wincing at deep pain spots. “I don’t think so. I might have bruised them, though.”

The messenger nodded. “I will send a medic out after I return to the caves.”

Zabor watched the commoner scurry off, hoping he didn’t get spotted by any straggler enemies along the way. He turned to the battlefield, now weeping at the many wings littered among the dead Lizia.

“I should have believed Alaene,” he sobbed.

The subordinate returned with a scroll. “I have the tallies, sir.”

“Tell me,” Zabor whispered.

“A thousand Lizia are dead, and a hundred Dancers are missing. Only fifty pairs of wings were found, so I am hopeful the others are just too injured to report in and will be found later.”

Zabor groaned and stared at the still cloudless sky. “What could have changed the outcome?”

The subordinate hesitated, staring at the names on his list. “Half of these were dissenters, sir. If . . . if they hadn’t abandoned their duties, they would have been better prepared to face this battle.”

Zabor hung his head, knowing that many of them had followed his lead in leaving the village. “And the Younglings in our care? We have some, don’t we?”

The subordinate nodded. “We have three. All are accounted for. I’m one of them.”

Zabor studied the subordinate closer. He seemed too mature to be a Youngling. “What did Commander Alaene do to make you all so brave?”

The Youngling hesitated. “She gave us hope,” he replied simply.

Zabor sighed, wishing he could have been as brave and hadn’t run from his duties.