Dressed To Die - Part 3

Looking coyly at what appeared to be the leader of the group, Aen smirked and unleashed the taught bowline, smiling smugly as the arrow sliced through the air. Neatly slicing the side of Reion's neck, the arrow collided solidly with the oak tree he had backed up against. 1

Gasping in pain and falling to his knees, Reion looked up fearfully in shock to see another arrow pointed in his direction. With the same smug look, Aen pointedly adjusted to Reion's new position. A questioning look and a motion to release the arrow, the arrow was kept drawn at the lack of response from the attackers. 2

Yais. That's what the few surviving traders called them. Recollections of the endless overheard conversations flitted through Reion's mind, stories of travelers attacked in the middle of the night, whole settlements that had disappeared without a trace, and many other tales of the horrors that roamed the wastelands that isolated the few remaining barricades. They were one of the many reasons no one strayed from their village. You were lucky if you made it to a village, Reion realized, thinking back to how life had been, and of the millions who hadn't been as lucky as he. How lucky he and the hundreds of others were that Aen had been there...3

Hazily looking about, Reion saw the leader of the horrid creatures -of the Yais, he corrected himself- slowly move to the center of the clearing, standing between Aen's taught bow and his crumpled form. The creature began speaking in a harsh, guttural language, seemingly trying to placate Aen, and as Aen smiled that crazy malicious smile he remembered so well, Reion slipped from consciousness, his last thought being that for such big, awkward creatures, those Yais sure were rather graceful...4