"I see twenty." Kalandri counted the people in the column.

In recent days large groups of travelers were becoming a more and more common occurrence in their lands. One time she had even stumbled upon a group numbering tens of dozens. Some found it hard to believe, but that was no lie!

"That'll be a lot of loot…" Malikh spoke.

He, of course, was right. Their horses alone would be enough food for the kin for the next moon cycle. She personally didn't like horse meat much; she found it a bit too chewy for her liking, but that mattered little. Some preparation for the coming winter was always welcome. Nevertheless there were some more important things they were after. Travelers always carried novel and often useful things. Their wine, for example, was safer to drink than water from the nearby streams, although it tended to make most of them somewhat dizzy.

Those men were particularly heavily armed. It was a common occurrence in recent times. Had they looked less pathetic she could almost swear that they were after her kin. Most were in possession of a weapon with long reach; either a halberd or a spear. Both could be of use at home. After another peek she noticed that the man closest to her also carried a short sword on his belt. It was likely the others were similarly armed.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Heliel: "I wonder what's up with that symbol..."

Kalandri gestured to remind her to be quieter. Nevertheless their appearance was indeed odd. Each and every one of them seemed to have a three-headed eagle depicted on their clothes. They even had a banner that showed that same bird. Perhaps it was some clan symbol to them.

"Who cares?" Malikh replied. "We better act fast. The Elder Ones are getting restless."

He was likely right. The Elder Ones were something she needed to put into consideration. Although the sheer physical might of these members of her kin dwarfed hers, it was important to remember that in many ways they were also a liability. Those creatures were extremely unpredictable and aggressive. The fact that they couldn't speak didn't help either. She often wondered if they were even capable of thought. The notion that she'd turn into one of them after a few years terrifying.

Kalandri nodded: "Very well…"

By the time Kalandri said that Malikh had already charged.

 

"Orcs!" The first man to notice them shouted and followed with some command in his language.

Orcs… that was the word humans used to describe her kin, wasn't it?

Kalandri followed into the fray.

It was fortunate that for the most part the humans were unprepared. The weapon she used was a two handed sword; a two handed human sword. She did just fine using one hand.

She stabbed the first man she encountered straight in the head with one swift motion of her blade, not even letting herself slow down for she was already seeing another. Then she felt her naked shoulder being grazed. She turned to see another human with a halberd. That was a female one judging by the facial features. Two or three hands taller, Kalandri towered over her.

The human appeared to be a well-trained warrior as she didn't shiver even one bit when Kalandri shifted her full attention towards her. Instead the warrior attacked once again. Kalandri barely dodged by jumping to the side. At least now she had overextended herself. Kalandri grabbed the shaft of her spear and the pushed with all of her strength. The warrior fell over and Kalandri killed her.

Now she could deal with the second one.

To her surprise an Elder was already standing there, the impending doom of the poor human. She saw how the being just lifted its hand and punched the man in the head, breaking the skull with ease.

 

With that the battle seemed to be over; her kin triumphant once again she could breathe lightly once again.

A noise, a groan to be exact, caught her attention. She followed it to a broken wagon, where a heavily wounded Elder lied. He seemed to have been stabbed many times in the chest area. It was likely that the lungs were punctured.

"There wouldn't be healing for him…" she though, as she stabbed him in the hearth.

It was a fast death. Hopefully a peaceful one.