World at War: Attack

Shayne Johnson peered through the underbrush. He was leading a group of 20 men on patrol along the eastern perimeter of the compound. They were traveling from south to north keeping the heavier brush to their right. This was supposed to be a routine patrol, but Shayne didn't feel right about it. There was something about it that he could not put a finger on.

A snap of a branch from the right brought the entire patrol to a stop. Everyone's senses were heightened, listening for any sound and looking for any movement. It dawned on Shayne what had been bothering him; not since they started their patrol had they heard any wild life. No birds chirping or monkeys barking at them from the forest canopy. Not even the slithering of a snake through the dead leaves. This forest had been full of wildlife, and if they were too frightened to make a sound, then Shayne should be too. "We have to get out of here."

The words had barely left Shayne's lips when a hterana step out of the heavy brush. Both Shayne and the hterana froze, staring at one another. The hterana's eyes shifted back towards the brush, looking for his comrades who were behind him. A rookie in Shayne's patrol pulled the trigger of his rifle, shattering the silence and any surprise that the patrol might have. The hterana demon was killed immediately, the rifle round shattering its chest and ripping a hole from its back the size of a hand. Suddenly the brush was alive with screams and howls as a group of hterana erupted around them. Two of Shayne's men fell before they were able to raise their weapons in defense. There were so many of them! It was like being in the middle of a swarm of angry bees. Another man screamed, wounded in the shoulder but still able to fight. Shayne switched his rifle to full auto and emptied the clip into the nearest group of hterana.

The gun clicked empty. Shayne grabbed the hot barrel and began clubbing anything that moved. The stock cracked over the head of a hterana, dropping him to the ground but leaving Shayne defenseless. He reached for his knife, but too many hands were clutching at him, preventing him from unsheathing it. Shayne struggled with his attackers, kicking and punching at them, trying desperately to break free of their grasp. Another of his men let out a wet, bubbling scream. Shayne looked up only to see him fall beneath a throng of hterana, knife shoved completely through this throat.

Shayne's rage overtook him. His men were dying and he would join them shortly if he did not let go of his fear of discovery. Shayne's eyes clouded blue, completely obscuring the surface of his eyes. A blue light began emanating from his fingers and with a primordial scream he thrust his hands to the ground. A forest of black obsidian spears rushed up from the ground, skewering the hterana surrounding him. Their screams of fear and pain were drowned by the rage consuming Shayne. Another quick motion of his hands and two obsidian swords appeared, glinting in the light breaking through the forest canopy.

Some of the hterana who were not speared in the initial attack turned to flee. They were immediately cut down, some nearly hewn in two by the force of Shayne's attack. The howls of pain from the hterana had drawn the attention of the remaining hterana. Realization dawned on them too late what they were witnessing. Shayne bellowed for his surviving patrol to run, turning on the nearest hterana. His obsidian swords flashed through the air and killed the demon before he could move. Shayne's patrol awakened from their daze and began running from the battle, heading towards Bael'Fin and sanctuary. The movements of the men drew the attention of the remaining hterana, allowing Shayne to dispatch two more without a fight. Only five remained.

The surviving hterana demons turned their anger and rage on Shayne. Their deadly swords and axes swung at Shayne from every direction. Shayne saw their movements in slow motion. He deftly stepped to the right, avoiding the blade of the smallest hterana still alive and moving himself out of the attack range of the others. Only five left? This would be easy if he didn't get careless. Shayne intercepted the small hterana's next blow with his right sword, exposing the hterana's right leg. He quickly cut through the hterana's knee, and as the demon fell to the ground screaming, Shayne silenced him with a blow to the back of his neck. The hterana's head rolled free of its body.

Two more hterana quickly filled the space left by their dead comrade. Shayne dispatched them quickly, fooling them into locking their swords with one another and once more beheading the offending demons. Shayne stepped quickly towards the remaining two demons and lunged with his right sword towards the larger of the two. The hterana easily defended itself and stepped back from his attacker. The other emitted a small squeak of fear and turned to flee. Shayne snapped his left wrist sending the sword hurling through the air. The blade embedded itself through the shoulder blades of the retreating hterana. The remaining demon took this distraction to bring his large sword down heavily on Shayne's right obsidian blade. Shayne's sword shattered, unable to withstand the blow. The hterana howled his triumph to the sky. His howl was cut short, his neck pierced by a new obsidian spear extending from Shayne's hand.

"Maertee dun jhaekeen -- death comes to the wicked." Shayne thrust forward again, severing the spinal column of the demon. The hterana fell instantly to the ground.

Shayne surveyed the surrounding forest, looking for any hterana that may have escaped him. Slowly his breathing calmed and his eyes lost their blue hue. Shayne looked around the battle ground, trying to determine how many of this men had been killed and injured. Eleven of his patrol lay of the ground not moving, most slashed or run through to the point that there was no hope they could be alive. A shuffling behind Shayne drew his attention and he saw a lone hterana pulling its broken body towards the dense forest underbrush. Shayne purposefully strode over to the demon, picking up its own wicked spear and placing the tip to the neck of the demon.

"Where are the others" Shayne demanded. "Kalak ok ta tallak?! Where are they?!" At the use of its own language, the hterana stopped and looked wide-eyed at Shayne. "Your fear is deserved. I am an iskari -- I am a dajhek assassin! Where are the others? How many are there? Tell me now or you will experience pain and torment beyond what your own master can carry out. Bak ie!" At these words Shayne began grinding the spear into the demon's throat. His eyes clouded blue and a black obsidian spear issued from his left hand. Shayne dug the obsidian spear into the foot of the demon, twisted, and then rammed it up the inside of the leg. The demon screamed and writhed against the pain of the spears cutting its body. "Bak ie" Shayne shouted. "Bak ie!"

The hterana began babbling in its demonic language, telling Shayne everything he demanded to know. Whenever the demon stopped talking, Shayne would twist the spear in its leg and a new sharp point would rip outwards from the tip of the spear, exiting the leg in a spray of blood and muscle. The demon begged for mercy, and when Shayne believed it had divulged everything it knew he said, "Maelieth a Saedh -- Go with God." Shayne rammed the demon spear through the spinal column, killing the hterana instantly. Again the blue faded from Shayne's eyes and he turned in the direction of Bael'Fin. He was met face-to-face with the surviving members of his patrol. They had regrouped and returned to rescue Shayne, but had stumbled upon the torture of the hterana by their squad leader. Their faces were a mix of fear, confusion, and hate.

A senior member of the squad raised his rifle at Shayne and called for the others to do the same. "Sergeant Johnson, please keep your hands were we can see them. I don't know what the hell I just saw, but I don't like it. Commander Berger will hear of this." The men parted and Shayne with walked between them, keeping his eyes forward and his hands where they could be seen. Shayne had no need to frighten his men any more than he already had; what they witnessed was enough to give them nightmares.