Another Fight?!

They traveled until late, not bothering to make a complete camp. Taking turns on watch, no fire, they each napped in turn with either Maffy or coffy, an actual battle raging not far off. They'd hoped the battle would soon be over, and indeed, upon the morning there were many more corpses. However, more were meandering in from somewhere. Worse yet, an hour into their travel, with no signs of diminishing, another such crowd could be seen. It was separate from the first, and located in such a way that going around would be far more impractical then attempting to go in between. It seemed to be working better then expected. However it was strange, as if the entirety of the plains were being driven to this area, then incited to some sort of violent frenzy. That night they had to chance a longer sleep. Van stayed awake to keep watch, and though there were three incursions by monsters, Van managed to deal with them without waking Oolah. His devilish power would maintain his stamina and  remove his need for rest. He was happy when Oolah risked a small campfire to make some coffee and tea drinks to have with ash cakes. By that afternoon they were well between the two groups, which was less then half a mile apart. Then, before they knew it a third group of some sort was charging right up the middle, as of yet too far for identification. Between the two Oolah had better sight for distance, and watched for a few minutes until finally she said, "Oh, looks like kovoidians... and.... something else. They're strange, moving like their mounted on something, quick and agile. Oh, I see, it's a sort of Kovoidian but, their bottom half is a wolf, and their top halves are like the other kovoidians.

     Van had no idea what a Kovoivian was, let alone what sounded like a kovoidian-taur. At least if their bottom halves were wolfish, how big could they be?

     Turned out they were pretty freaking huge. And they were fast, and they were agile. Also, they had nasty pointy things made of bone and flintstone. First, the 'taurs were on them much sooner then expected. They hurled sharpened flint wedges as they closed at break neck speed. They hit almost simultaneous with their second hurled weapon. It was with practiced trust that Van didnt glance back at Oolah to make sure she was ok, and a fraction of a second after they hit, two on each side of him tumbled down, sling bullets hitting them cleanly on the head with tiny explosions. They had to preserve power. The size of the herds they'd seen had warned them, this may be their toughest battle, an actual humanoid army created to destroy kingdoms. After the 'calvary, would come the foot troops, smaller, but organized and tightly packed. The wouldn't see them until after several passes by the 'taurs.

      With his long sword, he had to stop as many as he could to keep Oolah from being overrun so she could watch his back. There would be too many for this, as they surged past beyond the reach of his sword. Oolah had cautioned him not to worry in those instances. She had faith him, in his abilities, and he should understand her abilities to launch a running battle. The erlokas were near tireless, and fast. Meanwhile, he too would be fighting a retreating battle, albeit at a much slower pace. This was to keep the downed foes he was fighting around to a minimum. Supposedly 'dead' foes can rally and launch an unexpected surprise attack, sometimes from behind if actually fighting among them. The enemies could use them for cover and launch volleys of surprise attacks. Also, it was easy to trip over them.

      Still, Van had to fight down his frustration to keep from making rash decisions. He constructed a hard wall at his back with an angled top to keep missile weapons from being thrown over it at an angle that would hit him. Occasionally he would launch a massive vertical shockwave about neck level for the ground troops and around stomach level for the 'taurs. Trusting that Oolah was doing fine somewhere behind him, he learned more about his power levels and reserves as he fought on. He had to strike a delicate balancing act to make the massive power attacks and maintain enough strength to safely continue to fight. The special attacks, a long and thorough as they were, originated from him like a fan, which allowed enemies to pour in from the sides. By the time he had vanquished those from the side, the front had caught up. 

     "What is feeding their morale?" Van wondered, during a fresh attack from the front, before he had even completed finishing off the side attackers... Then suddenly the press of bodies stopped, and he found himself being driven back by the sheer number of missile attacks. First short range, then medium, then arrows... Just as Van had expected them to be finished, ballista! Had they made it from bone and sinew? Had they lashed together wood from the small plains shrubs? It didn't matter, all he had to do was back up... that's when he saw the campfires being lit. They had finished for the night. Turning around he noticed more campfires in the distance. Rising himself up on his ebon platform, he put plenty of distance between himself and his enemies as he made his way over them in Oolahs direction. while up there he noticed the vast amounts of enemies, as though they hadn't even fought that day, at all. There was something else he noticed. The enemy had no compunctions over cannibalism, some eating their former comrades raw, and others cooking them with their small campfires. When they'd lit them, considering the heat of these plains, he'd wondered why. What would they use them for? Were they cold blooded? Now he knew. It was to cook the dead!

     There was one group of infantry and several groups of 'taurs' between him and Oolah. Groups numbering several hundred. Van was elated when he spotted her, beyond their reach, making her own small campfire. Landing near her, she seemed ragged and worn. He wished he could give her some of his supernatural stamina. "I'm glad to see you well." he said.

     Smiling weakly at him, she said, "That wasn't even a full day. I don't think I'll make it tomorrow."

     "It seems I'm not yet able to stem the tide of an army." Van complained.

      "Yet?" Oolah asked, incredulous.

     "Edvarti of Zon," was his answer. "Didn't even have my raw power, yet defeated armies."

     "Does he say how?" Oolah inquired.

     "He uses abilities I'm uncomfortable with, and some I haven't even experimented with."

     Oolah, thinking she understood why he found some powers so detestable offered him, "If I travel with the Erlokas throughout the night, would you be able to do what you need to do tomorrow, without concern for me?"

      Van thought for a minute. There were some things he could try. Even if they were to fail, it would at least keep Oolah safe. "I may fail." he said simply. "If it happens, I'll send a flare... a bright light into the heavens. If you see that, go to the lion elves."

     Oolah nodded, and decided, whether he like it or not, this next part needed to happen. She gave him a hug. After a few moments he returned it. It wasn't the sort of hug someone might give their loved one, it was the hug of a friend who feared one might never see them again; a comfort and possible goodbye. Without another word, she mounted Maffy, and abandoning Van and the campfire she'd made, Rode out into the night.