The Line (Unfinished)
This was a short story that I began but never really followed through with. I was never exactly sure where this was supposed to go as but I wanted to use it to explore a pivotal moment in the histories of the Esurian Islands; the Vulpine Civil war. When the easternmost city of the Vulpine Island Lauror, Kimiyamour, sought to unseat the power of the Vulpine Headmage and the Vulpine reliance on Magic.
I may return to it one day but for now it is what it is.
“I don’t know what it means.” She said looking over the valley. The chirping hadn’t ceased for days, its unpredictible sharp strike sounding at random intervals. It held a weird quality, like an echo, only there were no stone walls to bounce off of, no deep caves to explore. The valley before them was vast, short grass gently rustled in the wind. Small arrangements of white flowers dotted the green display, wholly unaffected by the insidious noise. At least, the prevailing thought was there was no good to come of it.
“Could it be them Anneh? The Kihmeyahmorians?”
Anneh kept her eyes wide and muzzle shut. Her Vulpine ears flicked with each whisper of the wind as her pads tightened their grip around her short staff.
“Could be, Kelarch.” Anneh told him, trying to keep a semblance of steadiness in her voice. In reality she was just as scared of the chirping as Kelarch was and probably the rest of the line. Anneh felt the weight of her staff in her pads. Its familiar heft, the counterbalancing of the tail and head, the bits of flourish that adorned the head, all served as a sort of relaxing presence.
“I don’t want to fight them again.” Kelarch said, his eyes trained on the valley’s horizon as well. He imagined seeing small black dots appear which steadily grew larger until they were revealed to be the Kihmeyahmorians fully dressed and ready for battle. It was a sight both of them had seen before and unfortunately most likely wouldn’t be the last.
“You got out of the last one.” Anneh said looking to her left along the treeline that they stood in front of. None of their pitiful force could be seen and now she wondered if that was the best choice. Kelarch stood and took a few steps back towards the wall of trees.
“Easy for you to say, commander. You don’t have to be out there, don’t have to use your staff, don’t have to draw your knifes or claws.” He stopped right before the trees would have swallowed him, still plainly visible but Anneh did not move.
“At least you’re comfortable with your weapons.” She muttered when the chirp rang out again. This time it had grown in varsity, bouncing off the valley embedding into her ears. “That’s it, I’ve had enough.” She whispered to herself and then rose her staff into the air so it lay horizontally above her perked ears. At once Kelarch took a few steps forward and knelt down, facing the valley and called out. “Line!” Then on either side of the two, other Vulpines appeared from the trees, took a few paces and knelt in the same way, each calling “Line!” as they did. Each one was spaced ten tails apart from each other and had their own yellow eyes peeled on the distance.
Once the most distant call fell silent Anneh surveyed her command. It wasn’t her first choice, not by a long shot but wars call for that sort of thing. She didn’t even feel ready to mount any sort of command having only just started her studies having just barely passed her Apprentice exam before being told the basics of movement and kicked out with a pitiful force. Though being as small as it was had certain advantages. She knew each one of those under her command by name, an impossibility for most in her position. Not all of them agreed with having her as their commander but that couldn’t be helped. There were always dissenters, Kelarch helped keep it in check with his soft padded approach.
There they were, aligned in a row, their dark green tunics just almost blending in with the short grass. Each one had a short sword and knife fixed to their waist and a pack of emergency supplies fixed to their waist. Their bushy tails fell out the back and were kept low, as with their ears, to hide their vibrant colors. Anneh brought her staff back down and scanned the distance again when the chirp boomed through the valley, yet all of her commend kept their attention forward.
“I really don’t like this.” Kelarch said. Suddenly the chirp morphed and fell into a crackle that sounded more like sinister laughter. Then at once the ground shook, like a great earthquake had torn through the valley. The crackle grew louder and louder, forcing much of the line to cover their sensitive ears! But Anneh did not move, she continued to look for the Kimeyahmorians until she saw it. The air moved and her view broke as if it were a paining being torn away. It was then that someone called out, Anneh couldn’t know who it was but it didn’t matter. What mattered was what they saw.
“Scrier!”