“Let’s move,” Perry’s low voice carried down the ranks.
The men surged up the hill, breaking into several smaller groups as they went, hoping that they could escape detection from the revenant’s weak eyesight.
Shea’s legs pumped as she stayed with Eamon and Buck who ran parallel along the hill. She saw one of the men who had slayed the revenant running to the right of them.
“Get rid of your blade,” Shea shouted.
His head jerked toward her, but he ignored her, picking up his pace. She growled and surged forward, dogging his steps.
“Your blade. Get rid of it. They can smell the blood.”
Her message given, she veered back towards Eamon and the rest. It was up to him if he wanted to listen.
A revenant surged into view, his lips bared in a snarl, drool dangling in thick ropes from its open mouth. Shea’s group froze as the beast lifted its nose, sniffing the air suspiciously, its milky white eyes moving right over them.
The creature’s skin, leathery and black like a bat’s wings, was closer to a reptiles than a mammal’s. Its front legs were slightly longer than the ones in the back. There were no ears on its broad, flat head, only small slits for the ear canal. It also had no tail.
It bared its teeth again before darting off.
“Thank the gods,” someone whispered.
“Let’s go,” Eamon said softly. “We need to make the rendezvous.”
In single file, they moved through the wood. Every time a revenant’s distinctive hunting call echoed over the hills, Shea tensed then relaxed when there was no accompanying human scream.
So far, it looked like the plan was working. But for how long?
The men in Shea’s group were moving at a fast clip towards the next landmark where they would regroup with the others. It couldn’t be far now.
Shea’s breath sawed in and out of her lungs as she raced after Buck. He was a quick little fucker and keeping up with him took every ounce of concentration she had.
She wasn’t the only one breathing heavy either.
“Revenant!” came the shout.
“Idiot,” Shea muttered. He should have stayed silent.
There was a high-pitched scream.
He wouldn’t be the last to fall. The pickleberry juice was wearing off. It was bound to happen with all this sweating. Shea had warned them that it was likely to fade the more they moved. It’s why they had spent half the night working on contingency plans.
The juice had done its job by getting them over halfway through the territory and to the rally point, but now that the ruse had been discovered, it wouldn’t work on this particular group of revenants again.
“We’ve still got a quarter mile to the next point,” Eamon swore.
“Told you, these fuckers are smart,” Shea panted.
“Pick up the pace, you slackers.”
The pace quickened, the haunting wails of the revenants lending motivation to those who were tiring.
“There,” Clark shouted.
Shea’s heart leapt at the sight of the overhang where they planned to make their stand. The space carved into the side of the hill created a large hollow that was easily defensible.
Reaching it, the men spun around, placing the overhang at their back and facing their enemy. Shea, Eamon and Buck did the same, holding their weapons at the ready and watching as the last of their party came into view.
“Come on, you lot,” Eamon shouted. “Get into position.”
Sweat dripped down Shea’s forehead, and she urgently wished for something to drink. A rustle of bushes caught her eyes. She watched as shadows snaked through the trees.
She screamed, “Run.”
Revenants burst from the trees, latching onto legs and dragging their prey, screaming, back into the shadows.
“Don’t break formation,” Perry roared as several men moved toward their fallen comrades. “Grieve later. Raise your sword and avenge your comrades.”
There was a long drawn out scream that only broke long enough for the man to draw breath.
“Why don’t they kill him?” Clark asked.
“Intimidation,” Shea said, scanning the trees for movement. “They’re trying to get in your head and scare you. It’s not easy listening to a person you know being eaten alive.”
“How many do you think are out there?” a man asked.
“Fifty, maybe more,” Eamon said.
“Here they come.”
Revenants crept from the cover of the underbrush, their heads lowered and teeth gleaming white as they darted up to the line of men, testing their defenses. They wove back and forth, avoiding the slash of steel.
“Stay on line,” Perry screamed as several men started to rush to meet the revenants.
“Come on, you demon spawn,” a man shouted on their left.
The revenant tormenting him slunk back and then lunged, never coming into range, and letting out an eerie cackle when the man hacked at him uselessly.
“Where are the rest?” Shea asked, softly.
There were only ten or fifteen of the beasts in the clearing with them. From what she knew of the beasts, they enjoyed fresh prey and wouldn’t miss this, especially after their pack mates had been slain.
So, where were the rest?
A set of teeth closed around her boot, yanking her feet out from under her and dragging her off the line. It shook its head fiercely, trying to get at the skin beneath the leather. She kicked at it with her other foot, the blow glancing off its head but not deterring it at all. She’d dropped her blade when it grabbed her, and her hands scrabbled at the dirt searching for a weapon.
Getting nowhere with her boot, it dropped her leg and lunged at her torso. She raised her hands protecting her face and neck. A blade pierced its eye, freezing it in its tracks. Shea followed the blade to Eamon who planted a boot in its side, pushing it off his sword.
“Stop wool gathering. I don’t have time to be babysitting,” he snapped, keeping a watchful eye out as Shea climbed to her feet.
She turned to get back on line, glancing up as she did. Her eyes widened in disbelief at the revenants amassing on the ledge above. They were preparing to jump on the men below.
Guess she’d found where the rest of the little bastards went.
She pointed up, yelling, “Behind you. Cover your backs.”
As if on cue, half the men pivoted while the rest stepped forward swinging their blades to meet the ones on the ground. Arrows flew, picking several of the revenants above off, but there were too many.
Shea swung her sword as one leapt, catching it in the throat. It went limp as it landed, taking her back to the ground. She cursed and wiggled out from under its dead weight. An ululating cackle sounded to her right. She pushed harder as another revenant peered around its dead companion. The weight on her doubled as its saliva dripped onto her face.
She whimpered, her hand creeping to her waist and pulling her dagger. The beast leapt, and she brought her arm up. It screeched as it buried itself mouth first on the blade. She angled the dagger into the soft tissue of its palate and then into its brain.
Great, now she was pinned under two of the damn beasts.
The sounds of battle continued around her as she grunted and shoved her way out from under the dead revenants. Bit by bit, she shifted the combined weight until she was finally free.
She reclaimed her sword and looked at the carnage. Bodies, both revenant and man littered the ground, and the previously tight lines had degenerated into a free for all as men defended as best they could.