Ryzom

The tale of Drakfot - Part 23, The time has come

There was a slight buzzing sound from the portal behind Drakfot as she slowly
opened her eyes and for the first time she saw Bounty Beaches. They were all
gathered in a rift where the portal resided and just outside it were the largest
gathering of Homins Drakfot had seen to date. It seemed as everyone were there,
even Homins that were not living in Aeden had seemingly dropped everything at
hand in order to defend the lands. It was an amazing sight to see so many
gathered at the same place. From the sky it must have looked like as if the land
itself was alive and moving.

Drakfot almost ran into three packers following a Tryker whom seemed very busy.

"Sorry lady, need to have these armours delivered to the soldiers at the camp.
Its urgent and every little piece of cloth that can be protective has to go there
now" He said as he followed the first wave moving out from the portal.

"This is a dangerous place usually, even more dangerous now" Crythos said as he
walked up to Drakfot followed by Rikka and the others from the guild.

"I see" Drakfot replied, she was still taken by the sight of so many Homins.

"Well, time to move out. There is a camp setup nearby here where we are headed.
We will move out from there" Rikka said to them just before they started to
follow the second wave of Homins from the portal. She had spoken to one of the
guards whom had informed her about the plan.

So it began to move, the massive amount of Homins that had gathered at the portal.
Even the fauna around them were surprised to see that there was so much movement
all of a sudden. Some of them thought it as an opportunity to get an extra meal
and so hurried up towards the Homins that was not as fast as the others. But the
moment they were sighted they shouted out a word of warning and the attempts for
a quick snack was soon thwarted by the mass of Homins.
Drakfot was still running in the back of the line as she was not suited for the
battles in the front, nor was she able to defend in the middle as her studies of
the art of Fight had not progressed as far as she would be able to take on the
more aggressive animals around.
She had early decided that healing was something she wished to do, to help others.
And she had found that the Atysian art of Magic was something that she had an
ease for. This had done that she had been able to develop her healing knowledge
faster then the usage of knives and swords. She had also thought that her body
was too small and tiny for head on combat. Given the size made a plus for agility,
but it would not help much when just one strike would send you facing down in
the ground. Given that her healing knowledge was not much higher then Defensive
Magician, still every heal counted.

So she was running near the end of the line trying to make sure that no one
would fall behind while also scouting to see that no ill intended ones snuck up
and attacked from behind.

The Homins was running out from the rift into the wide open, still following the
mountainside as the smaller the line was, the easier it was for everyone to
arrive unharmed. It also made it easier for everyone as it removed about half of
the attack surface.
The word spread from the front lines to the Homins in the back quickly, that
they were headed towards a Teleportation Unit, so those that did not hold a pact
for it would be able to make one.
Drakfot thought to herself that it was kind of them indeed, still she felt that
this place was still something that was quite too much for her for the moment.
So she decided to make the pact when possible and then perhaps travel here again
later with friends and when she had studied more ways to be able to defend
herself.

As they ran along the wall they could see that much of the open areas were almost
empty, oddly enough. But instead of animals usually roaming around the area it
seemed to have been replaced by corpses of them, telling of the ravaging of the
fearful Kitin. Here and there some Torbaks took the opportunity to feast upon
the already fallen animals. Others were trying to stay alive from the wounds
they had gotten. Drakfot saw a young Yelk that slowly was limping away from the
open field, it had a huge gash on its side and it was bleeding from what seemed
to be a bite in its leg. It moved slowly and sometimes seemed to give out a
short whimper from the pain. She felt sorry for the poor Yelk, but at the same
time she knew that this was the way life were on Atys. One falls to give life to
others.
Drakfot decided not to look towards the fields again, but to keep her focus on
the line of Homins ahead of her and the area around them.

"It is a gruesome sight isn't it?" Crythos said to Drakfot as he had fallen back
to run with them in the back for a while. He being a rifleman told of his good
sight and that made him useful as a scout in the back.

"Aye, it be a horrible sight. It makes me not wanting to come back here for a
good while" Drakfot replied as she looked behind.

"You are right, still also think that what we see here now could happen to our
home town, to our friends and family" He added with insight.

Drakfot knew that he was more then correct saying so. That this was the reason
for them all to be here, to prevent that such ravages would never happen to the
safe havens of home. That what they saw here today would not be the sight of
tomorrow. Still it was a terrible sight.

"Come on Drakky! You are lagging behind again!" Rikka shouted from up front as
she waved to her to hurry up.

Drakfot took a deep breath and together she and Crythos increased their speed to
match the one of the others.

"Keep your mind on your task, shut out everything else. It's what I do when I
take aim" Crythos said to Drakfot as he had noted that she was unfocused and
somewhat confused over it.

"I... I shall... try. Thank you" She replied and took another deep breath.

They had now come not too far away from where they were to make a turn from the
safe wallside and run straight through the open fields towards the mountain in
the middle of the land. Drakfot remembered Rikka showing it to her on her map
saying that they had to pass it in order to reach the camp.

They all stopped to gather everyone as close together as possible. The Tryker
guard was talking to the Zoraï, Fyros and Matis for a little while before he
announced:

"We have to move straight through here to reach the mountain you can see in the
distance there. We will head towards the Teleportation Unit of the Karavan that
resides near the end of it. There we will have a short stop so that you whom do
not have a pact with them will be able to make one. We will also use this time
to breathe and prepare. The battle is not far away from here now" He said loud
and clear so that everyone could hear. Then he continued:

"When we move across here, it is very important that we try and be as small as
possible, the smaller we make us, the lesser space there is for animals to
attack us. So do your best and listen closely to the leader of your teams as they
are responsible for you!"

"No worries, we all know our places, right?" Rikka said as they had gathered up.

"Uhm, where do you wish me to be?" Drakfot asked as she did not know where to be
or what to do in the team. She was a newcomer after all.

"You will help the healers Drakky. If you heal them while they heal others it
will be a great help" Rikka said comfortably. It could be noted that she was not
unused to hold command in situations like these. Her calm also spread to the
members of the team helping them to be more focused and clear sighted.

Drakfot nodded and corrected her now worn amplifiers as she repeated some of the
spells she had recently learned silently to herself. Every time she thought of a
healing spell her amplifiers started to shine blue, but as she was just
rehearsing them she did not let them leave the flow of her own sap.

Snake whom had seen Drakfot standing a meter away moving her mouth as she was
saying something walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, you will do fine" He said with a calm voice.

His hand had ripped Drakfot from her mumbling of healing spells so she was
surprised when she felt his touch as she turned around and forgot to keep the
spell. It was released and hit Snake right in his torso.

"That felt good, nice heal" He replied almost laughing from Drakfot's nervous
reaction.

"I .. I am so sorry. I am not used to all this commotion.. and... and.." Drakfot
tried to explain as she realized what she had done.

"Hehe, it is all ok. And besides, that was a good heal. You will do fine" Snake
said as he walked up to Crythos and Rikka. They were smiling at what had just
happened.

Drakfot turned red in her face and stared at the ground for a moment. She almost
felt ashamed not being able to control herself as much as she wanted to.

"Don't worry Drakky. We are all nervous about this. I guess we are calmer as we
have seen battles before" She was smiling again.

Drakfot nodded and thanks Rikka for her kind words. She did not feel as ashamed,
still she wished that she would be able to be of better use. But that was a
worry for later times.

Finally everyone was in order and so they moved out, away from the mountainside
and into the open fields of Bounty Beaches. In all the chaos they were lucky
that the Kitins had already attacked and killed most of the animals that would
otherwise be a danger to them as they ran across the beachlands. They took the
way across an old abandoned outpost and guardpost as they were sneaking around
the dangerous animals that still were alive. It went rather well for them to
cross the open lands and soon the mountain in front of them grew closer and
closer. Some animals caught their scent, but as earlier they did not manage to
come near the Homins as bolts of fire or poison flew through the air and hit
them even before they had taken three steps towards the Homins. Soon Drakfot
could see the distant lights of a Karavan Teleportation Unit that she was
familiar with.

As they reached the mountain they once more gathered along the side and checked
that everyone was well and ready to make the final run towards the Teleportation
Unit just a few hundred metres up ahead. Once more they had a safe wall to follow
towards their destination. Having a wall at the side while running did calm
Drakfot as she was now once more looking around to see that nothing ill was
lurking nearby.

After just a bit of running they reached the Karavan Engineer whom was
responsible for the Teleportation Unit. He did not seem to show much notice of
the massive amount of Homins that suddenly appeared alongside the wall, or if he
was he did not let it show as he was still standing still next to the Unit and
approving the pacts the Homins wished to make.

Drakfot slowly walked up to him when it came to her turn, she was still in the
back of the lines as she did not wish to leave her position or given task.
She bowed towards the Karavan and asked if he would want to allow a travelling
pact with her.
Drakfot placed her hand on the large machine that was next to him as he pointed
at it and the print of her palm glowed for a second as she removed her hand to
find a small kind of parchment in her hand.
She looked at the little note closely, it had a green tint and the letters were
almost glowing with a pulsating light as she read "Karavan Altar of Bounty
Beaches" on it.

Drakfot thanked the Karavan and headed towards Rikka and the others.

"It seems as the Kitins have advanced faster then expected" Rikka said. "We have
to move out now, and faster at that so that we will be able to reach the camp in
time"

The others nodded and got ready to run as the Tryker guard was once more
shouting out direction on where they were headed from here on.

Drakfot closed her hand around the little note she gotten earlier and placed it
in her bag.
Then she put on her amps firmly.

The time to use them had come.