Chapter 69 – Cat and Mouse

  They made their way down through the fire and out of the camp. With Zephyr’s wind, they were able to pass through the fire without it burning them, but they didn’t stay there for long. Soon they were back in the jungle and rushing through the vegetation once again.

  They moved through the treetops slower than they were comfortable with, but it was the only way to ensure they didn’t leave as much trace of their passing. Even breaking some of the spiderwebs could be enough to let Clayton know where they went. They kept a lookout, watching for anything that could be following them.

  Several times, Jack thought he saw something moving in the leaves but couldn’t pinpoint what it was. All he knew was that it wasn’t a Wenduag or a spider, and that it didn’t want to come close to them, so he ignored it.

  “Probably just a wild animal,” Jack muttered.

  “What was that?” Zajowle asked him.

  “I think something is watching us,” Jack said.

  “A Wenduag?” Elaine asked.

  Jack shook his head. “Pretty sure it’s nothing. Probably just some wild animal.” Still, his danger sense nagged at him. He was certain it was the same creature each time, like it was following them. He would need to keep an eye on it, but there was nothing they could do right now.

  They hadn’t made it far before Jack felt a shift in the air like the charged moment before a lightning strike. The air was filling with raw energy. Jack focused his new Mana-Sense trying to see what was causing it, but all he saw was a haze of red energy. It was accompanied by the sense that something was locking on them.

  “I think we should hurry,” Jack told the other two. “I can’t confirm, but I think Clayton is about to do something.”

  “Do you know what?” Elaine asked. They never stopped moving, but now they were moving as fast as they could carry their charges through the jungle.

  “No,” Jack said. “But I think he knows where we are.”

  As though in answer to Jack’s statement They heard several large creatures moving fast towards them. Zephyr flew out to see what it was but came back immediately.

  “There are Wenduags coming this way,” Zephyr said. “I think they have our trail. I counted six of them. All elites, no spiders are with them though.”

  “That’s too many,” Zajowle gasped. “We can’t outrun them. Not like this.”

  “If I pull them away, can you carry two with you?” Jack asked.

  “Jack, no!” Elaine exclaimed.

  “Not a lot of choice right now,” Jack said. “They’ll catch us like this, and the elves will be sitting ducks if a fight breaks out here. Someone will have to be the distraction and lead them away.”

  “Any one of us could do that,” Elaine said.

  “Yes, but my spear is probably the only thing that can reliably hurt them. I can take Ciao with me. With her and Zephyr’s help, I think I can lead them away so the two of you can escape.”

  “Take who now?” Ciao hissed. “I’m not a fighter.”

  “You helped earlier,” Jack said.

  Ciao tsked. “Knew I shouldn’t have shown off my skills.”

  “It’s not a great plan,” Zajowle said. “But I see your point. I could only run. No guarantee I’d pull all of them off us. Elaine, you might be able to do something to them, but could you do enough to keep six of them focused on you? Jack and the Familiars might be enough to pull the attention of all of them. I don’t like it, but none of us can carry all three elves.”

  “Fine,” Elaine huffed.

  Jack handed the unconscious elf over to Zajowle who took one under each arm. Ciao jumped over to Jack’s shoulders.

  “Stupid plan,” Ciao grumbled. “You really do have a death wish. How did I get stuck with a Summoner like you?”

  Jack ignored her, turning to Elaine who wasn’t happy with the situation either and wasn’t hiding it.

  “You better make it back,” Elaine said.

  “After last night, I am definitely making it back,” Jack said.

  “Last night?” Zajowle asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Shut it!” Elaine said.

  They parted ways. Elaine and Zajowle continued to the camp, as Jack stayed behind to confront the Wenduags. He turned to the Familiars, getting ready for the fight that was about to take place. He activated most of his defensive spells and summoned fire onto his spear. He left his Spinning Blaze Ward off. With Ciao clinging to him, the spell would only cause issues as Jack ran through the jungle.

  “What’s the plan?” Ciao asked.

  “We’re going to need to piss them off,” Jack said. “All of them. Enough to forget about the others and chase after us.”

  “I can help with that,” Zephyr said.

  “Hit them with everything you got,” Jack said. “Both of you.”

  “Then what?” Ciao asked. “You don’t think you can take on six of those things at once?”

  “No, of course not,” Jack said. “Then we play a game. I think you know this one Ciao. We are going to play cat and mouse.”

  “You mean feline and mouse,” Ciao said. “And I only like that game when I am the feline. Not the mouse.”

  “Nobody likes being the mouse,” Jack sighed.

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  “What does that make me?” Zephyr asked.

  “The fly,” Ciao said.

  “There is a fly?” Jack asked.

  “Yes,” Ciao said. “Very distracting and annoying.”

  “Rude!” Zephyr exclaimed.

  “We’re all the mouse,” Jack said. “We have to hold their attention, but anytime you think they are getting close to catching us, do anything to throw them off.”

  “I can do that,” Zephyr said.

  “Going to need your help for this too, Zyne,” Jack said.

  “Just tell me what to do,” Zyne said. “I’ll hug anyone.”

  “Might get your wish soon enough,” Jack muttered. “And no drinking my blood until I tell you it’s safe again.”

  Zyne grumbled at that but ultimately promised he wouldn’t. The Wenduags arrived moments later charging towards him. Jack stopped their rush by summoning a shield in their path. The lead Wenduag slammed into the shield, its charge brought to an abrupt stop, but it was quickly replaced by another Wenduag. Jack shifted into the middle of the charging troop and slashed out in a wide arch slashing several of them. Zephyr zipped around them blasting them with air as Ciao shot several needles of darkness and light at everything in the area. Jack shifted away just as suddenly as he had appeared. He reappeared on a tree branch nearby. As the Wenduags were looking around trying to find him, Jack let out a long piercing whistle to pull their attention. They turned to look at him as he started throwing balls of Dark-Fire at them.

  The Wenduags dodge the flames easily, leaping up and after Jack. Jack shifted away again, moving deeper into the jungle. He made sure to stay within the Wenduags’ sight. Close enough that they could almost reach him. It was just enough to get them to chase him. To give them more reason, he threw another ball of fire after them.

  They took the bait, chasing him through the jungle and away from Zajowle and Elaine. Jack took them on a wild run through the twisting trees. He barely paid attention to where he was going before he went, more concerned with keeping track of the six Wenduags.

  As he ran, he pelted them with his spells. He summoned shields to appear in their paths when they got too close, or when he thought they were unable to change directions. He started favoring summoning a shield in the air when the Wenduags jumped. It caused them to crash into a ceiling they weren’t expecting and fall several feet to the ground before they could right themselves. This only worked a few times, as they soon began to predict the shield appearing and started using it to help them swing after him.

  When he couldn’t get them with the shields, he would leave nets thrown between the trees hoping to catch some in the trap. Most of the time it didn’t work. Either the Wenduag would see it, and rip it apart or avoid it entirely, accomplishing nothing. But occasionally, he managed to surprise one, tangling it in the net.

  Neither of those spells really hurt the Wenduags, but it was enough to slow them down and kept their anger focused on him. That was what he wanted the most right now. It spurred them to chase him more, and that meant they weren’t going after Elaine and Zajowle.

  When they got too close, Zephyr would summon a gush of wind to push them away, or shine light in their eyes trying to throw off their aim when they tried throwing something after Jack. Ciao shot out her light needles to hamper the Wenduags, as they stabbed into their flesh, but whether this bothered them was anyone’s guess. They certainly didn’t slow down from the attacks.

  Jack used a combination of his shifting, parkour skill and Zyne to move around the environment. When he wasn’t jumping, climbing or running around the branches of the trees, he would have Zyne grab a nearby branch to swing him around the jungle helping him change directions quickly. It helped him save Mana. He used his shifting as a last resort.

  Mana was starting to be a concern. His Mana was the only thing keeping the Wenduags from catching him. If he ran out, it would only be seconds before they were on him. Something that was more at risk as the chase continued. Eventually, he was going to have to find a way to escape his pursuers. But holding their attention and leading them away from their camp was the most important thing for now. If he could buy just one hour, then the others would likely be safe. But he wasn’t sure if his Mana would last that long.

  Jack threw a ball of Dark-fire Flame at one of the Wenduags hitting it squarely in the face. It fell to the ground, fur alighting with dark purple fire, trying to put the flames out. That brought everything to a halt. The Wenduags came to a stop, helping their brethren smother the fire and stand back up. Afterward they looked at Jack, hatred filling their eyes.

  “I’m not sure you should have done that,” Ciao said.

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “I don’t think they like that spell.”

  “Being caught on fire,” Ciao said. “Difference. Pretty sure you’d feel the same.”

  “Touche’”

  Jack started to run again, but one of the Wenduags was quicker. It grabbed a nearby tree. He heard it splintering and breaking as he was running through the jungle once again. He turned to look only to see a large tree-trunk flying straight for him, forcing him to shift away or else be impaled by it. He reappeared on a nearby tree branch only to find one of the Wenduags there the next second. It lifted all four arms, bringing them down where Jack stood. Jack dodged forward slicing at the Wenduags leg and leaving a dark red and black cut. He had barely managed to get his footing when another Wenduag came swinging up to him from below, kicking him squarely in the chest.

  Jack was thrown through the air. His Barrier broke from the force of the kick, and he slammed into the trunk of a tree. He cast a quick Mend on himself before he had to move again as a dagger the size of a cleaver came flying at him. He barely managed to get out of the way in time before the dagger flew through the tree he had just been at, sending splitters everywhere.

  A Wenduag was there the next second appearing above him with a Mace raised high. Jack summoned his shield as the Wenduag brought the Mace down, cracking the shield but having its strike blocked. Jack brought his spear up, letting his shield crumble away as he thrust, stabbing into the Wenduag’s neck as poison and fire magic burned into the Wenduag. It died a moment later falling to the ground and forcing Jack to shift away or else be pinned under its weight.

  The sight of their fallen comrade only served to enrage the other Wenduags. Jack found himself struggling to keep up with their assault once again. He had to keep pushing more Mana into his Barrier as the Wenduags kept breaking it with every strike they landed, but Jack didn’t want to know what would happen if he didn’t have it up in time. Running was no longer an option, and he quickly found himself surrounded and trying to fight back against five Wenduags.

  He struck back when he could, but the Wenduags were more cautious now. Not letting him get too close with his spear. The few scratches he was able to leave did little to slow them down. They were working to wear him down now. He wanted to get away, but he couldn’t put enough distance between him and the Wenduags. Every time he tried, a Wenduag would be there moments later. Even his Dark-fire Flame was useless. He caught them off-guard one time, but after seeing what it had done, they were even more weary of letting the flame touch them.

  This went on for a while as Jack started to feel like a soccer ball being passed around. He continued to endure it as he struggled against them, but just as he avoided a dangerous kick, he felt the hands of one of the Wenduags grab him. It spun him around and threw him across the empty air. He slammed into a nearby tree; the force of the impact caused him to crash through it and sent him falling to the ground, his spear tumbling away. His Barrier saved him from the worst of it, breaking once again from the initial impact, but he couldn’t get it back up in time to help save him from the fall.

  Jack landed hard on the ground. He thought he heard a few bones crack, but that was the least of his issues right now. He struggled to get back up, to shift, something, but both his Mana and Stamina were almost gone now, and the spell didn’t activate. A Wenduag landed on top of him. Each of its feet landing on one of Jack’s arms crushing them and pinning them to the ground. Jack let out a scream from the pain as the Wenduag lifted its axe.

  Zyne shot from Jack, straining against the Wenduag and trying to prevent it from bringing down its axe as Zephyr and Ciao tried their best to stop the beast. It ignored them all. The Wenduag was too strong for the vine to hold and too tough for Ciao or Zephyr to stop. It brought the axe down aiming for Jack’s head.

  Jack watched as though in slow motion as the axe descended towards him. His eyes, glued to the sharp blade of the axe. Just as he thought it was all over, the axe came slamming down into the ground inches away from his head. And explosion of dirt covered Jack’s eyes, preventing him from seeing anything for a few seconds. He didn’t understand what happened. He should be dead. Why had it missed? The cloud of dirt cleared, and Jack could finally see the Wenduag again. It stood frozen over him with several arrows pierced through its head.