Stormbound...Part 3

It wasn’t easy, but I gathered my wits, lowered my shoulders into the stiffening wind and caught up with Ravyn.

When I caught up to her, I noticed that she was staring in the distance as she walked, fixated on a figure standing high up on what I later learned was one of New Orlean’s many levees. The street we were travelling on was coming to a quick end at what at first appeared to be huge, grassy wall that was topped with a fence of some sort. The hill/wall stood taller than all of the houses and shops nearby, and seemed to stretch across the horizon. Standing squarely at the top of the damn thing was a robed figure that appeared to be human. We were too far away to get a good look at face, or even tell if the figure was male or female, in part because the loose robe and cloak of the figure were flapping in the winds. The figure stood firmly rooted to the earth though, with it’s feet planted slightly wider than it’s shoulders. It’s arms were reaching up into the sky, each hand grasping one end of what appeared to be a staff of some sort.

“Who the fuck is that?”

Ravyn was succinct in her reply, “Trouble. Look above it!”

I looked where she was pointing in the sky far above the figure. “Oh shit! Are those things obeying that person?”

“Maybe. But whatever is going on here is not natural, and we’ve got to stop it.”

“Damn right we do.”

Just as I said that, we reached the corner. We had been watching the figure above us, who also hadn’t seemed to notice us yet. But as we hit the corner, I glanced to the right, towards where we needed to go to get to Alexa, what I saw stopped me in my tracks. “Ravyn...Look, they’ve taken her!”

Just down the street, three very large figures that I can only describe as ogres or trolls of some sort were emerging from the wreckage of a house. One of the bastards held a tightly swaddled baby in one oversized, clawed hand and a large wooden club in the other. The second of the beasts was holding back a screaming, distraught young woman whose cries were lost in the storm. The third towering beast brought down it’s own massive club down on the woman as I yelled, “NO!” and bolted into action, drawing both Witchbane Blades and hurtling myself in their direction.

Ravyn’s loud curses were followed by a blazing bolt of fire that launched from her hand and blasted into the troll that had struck down the young woman. The thing was lifted off it’s massive feet by the blast and landed in the street, screaming as it burned.

The trolls were now aware of the threat we posed, and reacted accordingly. The troll holding the child tossed its club to the second troll and began loping in great strides towards the levee wall and the figure above. The second troll turned to block my way, waving its new weapon in a menacing manner.

I was half expecting Ravyn to blast this lummox out of my way as well, so I wasn’t as prepared for its first swing as I should have been. If only the Tigers could get a hitter like this thug. He took a perfect masher’s swing, two-handed, good footwork, great concentration, and tremendous bat speed. The uppercut swing caught me solidly under my right arm, lifting me clear off the ground and sending me flying. I heard a number of loud cracks, wasn’t sure if they were from me or the club, or both. Luckily, I landed on a nice soft car to cushion my landing, accompanied of course by lots more cracking and crunching sounds. This time I was relatively sure that most of the damage was to the car, and not me.

From my new face-up vantage point, I noticed why Ravyn wasn’t as quick on the draw as I had hoped, she was surrounded by the blazing red glow of her shields fending off the lightning bolt blasts from a pair of small, dragon-like creatures.

From my particular vantage point, I could also see that the first troll was about halfway up the embankment, heading straight towards the wild robed figure we had seen before. Just as I was starting to wonder if the second troll was going to follow the first, a looming shadow told me everything I needed to know.

I rolled to the left, falling off the hood and windshield of the poor car, just as the thing’s now battered club smashed it further. Luckily, I landed on my feet and had just enough sense to slash out with the blade in my right hand, Diego’s blade. I felt Diego guide my hand slightly, dipping the blade just enough to nick the rough, green hide of the beasts hand as it was trying to pull the club from the deep impression he had created in the car’s hood.

Even with a small wound like that, the beast leaped back, roaring. It also abandoned the club.

Seeing my opening, I jumped onto the hood of the car and launched myself into the creature’s chest, leading with both blades.

The blades sank into the thick flesh at the base of his neck like they were cutting through butter. The impact of my leaping thrust and the power of the blades coursing through the beast forced it backwards as it collapsed in a heap on the pavement.

I yanked the blades from the smouldering beast’s body and spun to see the first troll not ten feet from the cackling robed figure. In one smooth motion (especially considering I had never even thought of trying this before), I cocked my right arm back, whispered, “Don’t fail me now Diego!” and heaved the blade with all of the power I could muster.

Diego sailed through the air, turned end over tip a couple of times and planted himself squarely in the small of the back of first troll right before it got to even ground. The beast screamed, stiffened, loosened its grip on the child in it’s one claw and started a slow motion fall backwards...

“NOOOO!!!!....”