By the time he heard the scream, it was too late.
Falling to the ground, Jon gave an ear piercing screech, clutching at her neck. Wheeling around, Jack saw the man with the blowgun rapidly reloading, hoping to get out another shot. Jack didn't let him, quickly sighting and pulling the trigger. The bullet slammed into the man's shoulder, sending him sprawling into the dirt.
"Shit! They're here!" Sam shouted.
"No shit!" Rachel screamed back, rushing to check up on Jon's prone body.
"More! In the trees!" Jack worked the action and sighted again. A whole line of bandits emerged from the trees, brandishing a wide variety of bladed weapons.
"Oh, SHIT!" Jack fired into the advancing rush as fast as he could, not even bothering to aim. Man after man went down into the creek, some screaming in pain, others dropping wordlessly. A few made it across, only to meet Sam coming straight at them with her twin swords. With a skill that Jack seriously doubted his friend had possessed previously, Sam took down a trio of men who made the mistake of underestimating the fox.
In a minute, it was over. Seven men lay dead or dying either on the rocks or in the blood soaked stream, with one survivor rushing back into the wood.
"Something's not right." Sam said, breathing heavily, her red fur soaked in blood.
"Yeah, I know. Check the bodies, see if you can find anything. See if you can find a map."
"Right." Sam walked over to the nearest corpse and checked the bag.
Jack then walked over to Rachel, who looked ashen. "She alright?" He asked.
"I think so. They must have used some kind of poison, to knock her out. She's still breathing, far as I can tell." She replied.
"See if you can get her out of here. Hide her in the woods somewhere." Jack said. Rachel nodded and lifted the harpy up with deceptive ease. Jack watched them go, then turned his attention to his rifle. Taking some spare ammunition from his pack, he loaded it to capacity. Satisfied, he walked back over to Sam.
"Find anything?"
"This guy had a map." Sam indicated someone who had a small, round hole in the center of his forehead. Jack whistled.
"Damn, that was a nice shot." He said, patting his rifle. "You didn't do too bad yourself."
"I know. I barely even know how to fight, but I felt like I knew what I needed to do." She shook her head. "I don't like it. I'd prefer to keep my head to myself."
"Imagine how Rachel must feel." Jack said, leaning over to inspect the papers Sam had retrieved.
"At least she doesn't have a damn tail." Sam replied, looking menacingly at the offending appendage.
Jack shrugged and stuffed the map and some other papers into his pack. They could talk later about this. "Any ideas?"
"Why, I thought you had all the plans, glorious leader!" Sam sarcastically replied.
Jack laughed. "Me? Leader? Hell, I'm barely holding on myself. God knows it's a miracle that I haven't pissed my pants yet."
Suddenly, a bugle sounded off in the distance. Jack and Sam shared a look.
"I fucking knew it." Sam said.
"Okay, here's a plan." Jack said, backing up. "We wait for Rachel, then run like hell."
"To where?!" Sam shot back.
"Fuck, anywhere! We can't hold off that many!" Jack replied. Spotting a crossbow, he scooped it up and tossed it to Sam.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" Sam asked as the trees up ahead began to rustle.
"It's good for one shot! Take one out, then drop it." A red flag appeared before them, piercing through the trees. An entire skirmish line followed, fifteen men long and three deep. Most of them possessed swords, some massive war hammers, and the back line was made up of crossbowmen.
"Fuck! Fuck!" Jack started firing rounds as fast as he could jerk the action. The line of men charged forward, even as Jack managed to drop five of them. Tossing down his Winchester, he drew the cavalry saber off his back and faced death.
--
Rachel ran as fast as she could through the woods, cursing at every opportunity. She just had to be an elf, didn't she!? She just had to put all the points she could into magic and healing, didn't she!? Raging to the heavens, she cursed her decision to even go and see that rotten movie. When she got back to reality, she would find the people who made that trash and kill them. Or at least maim them a little.
She had just dropped Jon off in a small, remote clearing when she heard the bugle. She honestly felt sorry for the boy-turned harpy, as even Sam's change hadn't been as radical as that. To be honest, she had been frustrated with herself constantly over the past two days, feeling useless even though she didn't have to stumble around camp, constantly falling on all fours like Sam had. She would have felt jealous of Jack, both for retaining his body and remaining the most physically able out of all of them, but in a way she couldn't fault him, not when she could tell that he was barely keeping it together himself.
At least her acrobatics seemed to have improved, she thought to herself. She was running and dashing through the forest like she had known it her whole life, expertly ducking and weaving between the trees.
She emerged back at the stream to witness a bloodbath. Jack and Sam were huddled against a rock, bleeding from dozens of cut wounds, some minor, some severe. Before them lay a pile of dead bodies, at least a dozen men sprawled before the minor ridge.
"Jack! Sam!" she shouted. Nearly everyone, including most of the enemy soldiers, turned to look at her.
"Goddamit, run!" Jack shouted back at her, keeping his bloodstained saber pointed at the enemy. "Get out of here!"
"No!" Rachel shouted back, collapsing to the ground in helplessness. Raising her arms, she put every fiber of her being into the headache that had been constantly throbbing ever since they had gotten here. "Do something " She whispered softly.
A blue barrier suddenly emerged between Jack, Sam, and the soldiers. Sam looked in amazement, but Jack grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Come on! We've got to go!" He yelled, and pulled him along. Running as fast as their injured bodies could muster, they dashed back to the edge of the forest.
"Come on, Rachel!" Sam shouted back.
Rachel smiled meekly and shook her head. She didn't know why, but she knew she had to stay, otherwise the barrier would fall.
"Go on." She said softly. "Get out of here."
"What the-" Jack started to protest, but Sam grabbed him.
"It's something to do with magic, I know that." She said. "We've got to get out of here."
"But-"
"NOW, Goddamit!" Sam pulled him into the forest, and they both ran into the wilderness.
Rachel held the barrier as long as she could, then collapsed, utterly spent. The last thing she saw was the group of men approaching her slowly.
