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Chapter 3 (men) Attack

Illuthiel stood ready across from Treagon. The sun beat down on her bear arms and areas left uncovered by her light clothing. Her twin brother was only wearing cloth breeches. Her shoulder length brown hair was tied back with a leather cord but one thick lock kept escaping and hanging in front of her face.
There it was again! That infuriating grin flashed across his face again. It would make losing a fight to him so much easier if he just wouldn't grin at her like a pickpocket standing beside a rich man. She stepped towards the right, arcing to his left side. He kept pace with her, slowly turning towards the left to keep her in his sight. Illuthiel crouched down, bunching her muscles into tight cords, then she sprang at him, flying at him almost parallel to the ground. She swung her feet under her catching her fall and simultaneously swinging her hand at the area in between his left shoulder and neck. Her straightened hand almost connected with his skin but his hand shot up catching her wrist and squeezing painfully. Twisting, she tried to shove her fist into the underside of his elbow.
There was a sharp pain in the center of her back and somehow she was spun around and forced down. Shoot! She rapidly blinked her watering eyes then glared at the ground. He had beat her yet again. She tried to rise to a kneeling position but a strong pressure in the center of her back held her down. She squirmed for a few more minuets, writhing to where she almost beat her brother's strength. But every time she could almost get free, he would redouble his efforts and she would end up with a face full of dirt.
“All right, you win!” she cried out. The pressure on her back eased and her brother chuckled. She pushed up from the ground and propelled herself out of Treagon's reach. She spun to face him. Her brother watched her with his arms crossed over his tanned chest and one eyebrow raised. “You are getting better. Out of ten times, you beat me three times. Two months ago you couldn't even accomplish that.” He told her this as he tilted his head to one side then continued. “However, your big flaw seems to be not keeping a broad enough focus. You key in on certain aspects then you are as good as blind to all others.” His serious manner left his face as a twinkle came into his blue eyes. “If we both clean up really fast, we will have perfect timing for dinner!”
Illuthiel shook her head at her brother's air headedness. The motion caused yet another strand of hair to fall loose and hang in front of her eyes. “You mean plenty of time for father's endless talk of war and general unpleasantness where he repeats everything at least five times and you stuff your bottomless pit of a stomach the entire time.” She pretended to brightin up and clapped her hands together with obviously fake enthusiasm and a smile that felt out of place on her face. “Great! I can't wait. Let's go.” And with that she led the way from her and Treagon's improvised practice area.
Later, the four of their family sat around their dinner table. Her father Nargothrand who was an advisor for the baron sat quietly as they talked back and forth. He looked as though something was bothering him but every time some one brought the question up, he would smile and deny that anything was wrong. Illuthiel sat across from her mother, Valma, and contemplated the thick stew in her bowl. Beside her, Treagon was wolfing down a second helping, a small trickle of gravy running down his chin as he lifted the bowl to his lips to drain it. She frowned at him but he was impervious to all except for the bowl in his hands.
Her muscles still throbbed from her hand to hand combat training session with Treagon and she tensed her arms up, feeling the strong muscles pulling against her bone. Her brother started talking. She listened in to him while poking at the contents of her bowl with a spoon. “Ha!” he laughed. “You should have seen her today! It was definitely a sight to see. I swear she forgot everything that I taught her and she just can't cover herself.” Whatever she thought as she tuned him out. No one every really payed much attention to what he said and it didn't really bother her what he told their parents. Nargothrand and Valma had wanted a smallish house in a small town but with her father's job, it had to be near the capital city of the fiefdom. From the town square you could see the rising walls of Baron Aldrec's castle. Illuthiel was considering visiting a friend of hers who worked in the castle and was about to bring up the topic but Treagon started rambling about something else so she decided to fore go it at the moment. She had picked up a piece of beef and was raising it to her mouth when a high pitched scream rent the air.
Her spoon dropped and with a splash landed in her bowl but she was already up and on her feet running to the door. Sounds of scraping chairs and footsteps behind her told her that the rest of her family wasn't far behind. However she still reached the door first and what she saw out side was horrifying.
Outside it was supposed to be night but it was strangely bright. The sky was covered with fierce dark storm clouds that should have blocked out all light but there were strange patches of yellow light coming through. The air around her felt as though it pulsed with electricity and the light that lit the sky resembled a mixture of the strange brightness given off by a bolt of lightning and early morning sunlight illuminated the air and seemed to hang there as though it were a solid thing. Wisps of mist floated in the air and at the same time appeared to writhe, tracing out intricate patterns in the air before dispersing. Strange patches of darkness seemed to move about the village and weave in between and above houses as though the darkness were a living creature, picking it's way through a maze to find its prey. There were people running about and screaming. However, there were also motionless forms laying sprawled in the dirt. All of this she took in at a moments glance. In another second she had already started moving as she saw one of the pools of darkness moving towards there home. Wind tugged at her and she saw that trees and bushes near the darkness were being blown with powerful winds. As she ran towards the center of the town, she made a mental checklist. 1. The black clouds that moved on the ground were obviously hostile. And 2. Judging by the fact that there were people running from all directions towards the baron's castle, there must be more hostile dark clouds from all the other directions.
She slowed her pace to check over her shoulder to make sure her family had had the good sense to run as well. They did. Luckily, before he had become the baron's advisor, he had been a knight and he insisted that all members of the family could protect themselves and do what needed to be done; hence the combat lessons and that all of the family could run a mile without stopping. That strength proved useful and soon they had caught up to her. They joined the crowd of those leaving and their progress slowed even more. It was impossible to see over the heads of the crowds so Illutiel and Treagon both ran up to a shop front were they climbed to the top of the low roof awning. The road was congested and people were pushing up against the road to Aldrec's city. There were many more people than she would have thought lived in this area and the unbroken crowd stretched a good thirty feet from what was considered the end of the road. The first fifteen feet of that line would never make it though.
Illuthiel felt a tingling in the air and saw sparks suddenly erupt in the air. The electricity seemed to be pulled to the area near the front of the crowd. Then with an earthshaking crash, exploded. The two of them sat on their perch on the roof and stared dumbfounded as the smoke cleared and they saw the crater where the villagers had once stood. An unreal quiet seemed to settle everything. 3. Don't run towards the road. She looked around and saw the black figures moving in what looked like ring around the village. Slowly the were closing in like a hanging noose around a condenmed man's neck. Another boom sounded. More screams filled the air. Tiny streaks of lightning streaked in horizontal lines through the air. Bodies piled up and fell over each other. Frantic fear filled her mind but the fighter's part of her mind, the one trained to be icy, to survive, fought to keep the panic from overwhelming it. Finally a numbness stole over her and she exchanged a glance with Treagon. She saw fear in his eyes and they both slid off of the roof to rejoin their parents. The way things were, there was no point in running. They were trapped. They were going to die.