The wind blows cold up here in the mountains; ice crystals sting my eyes and sand my exposed skin raw. I make a mental note to once again thank my friend Gryff for this very warm Mattekar Coat he had made for me. Through the blowing snow, past the pine trees in which I hide, I can see the reason I am up in this forbidding environment. They hunch over their latest victim; a young mage hot on the trail of treasure told of in tales at the bar in Arwic. He was valiant yet foolish. He stood his ground when the first one came. The poor man never saw the 4 others near the portal he only saw the one that had been chasing me. Their chiterring language drifts on the wind. I ponder my prey. They are large and insect like easily 8 foot at the shoulder with incredibly powerful upper arms ending in spear like tips. But I know their weakness. They are arrogant. They are supremely confident in their ability to destroy any intruder to the hive. Or are they? May be it is the low value that these creatures place on life including their own. After the first attack and they have identified the threat they only dispatch one defender at a time. The rest only come when it is clear that the first defender is dead or dying. Their chittering is becoming very annoying now. It grates on my nerves. I have one last thing to do before I attempt to avenge the poor mage. The Creatures are covered in almost plate mail like armor. I have many arrows designed for piercing this armor but I fear that my arrows are not meant for such as these. I creep closer; my armor blends with the snow. I must find a weakness in their defenses. I crawls into a snow drift mere yards from the monstrosities. I see it! When they move the joints of their legs and head part just a fraction. Barely enough for the wind to enter but it is there. If I were any other I would leave this place. The mountains are unforgiving and treacherous. As are the Othoi. But the Mages death is my fault and so I plan and scheme. I creep back the way I came. Over the rocks past my previous hiding place in the pines. Up the mountain side looking for hiding places and escape routes. The valley below has tuskers and mattekar in them so I must be careful. At last my traps and blinds are ready. I sneak up to the pine trees again. I string my new bow, another gift from Gryff. It hums softly in the mountain air. Such a powerful weapon I have seen maybe twice in my whole life. The yumi is almost alive in it’s intensity to kill. It hugs the first of my arrows. I place 2 more in front of me; they are all I will have time for before I must flee. I look out past the trees. It is almost 75 yards to the first of them. I draw my bow and as my father taught me and his father taught him back 100 generations of the Kokuru line I pause and I AM the target, the arrow releases without thought and the next and the next all in a breath, all as natural as the breath I took before firing. They scream their anger through the air and find their mark. The first takes the monster in the back of the left leg. As it turns the second strikes in the joint between his head and body and the third smashes into the front of the left knee. It is slowed but not stopped. Even wounded past what most creatures would survive it is a streak of Black Death rushing through the driving snow. The beast is upon me I duck his first swing and head for my first trap. I duck around the trunk of a pine just before the creature tears it in half. I am fearful. This thing is more powerful than even the Black Drudges of the Direlands. It is fast yes but I am just as fast and smarter. I pull a rope lying on the ground near a large boulder and my carefully laid trap is sprung! A small avalanche engulfs the beast. As it struggles to free itself Arrow after arrow smashes into its tender joints. Finally it dies screaming and struggling just like the mage did. It is a fit end for an unfit beast. I hide in a nearby grotto while its brethren investigate its death. They search but cannot find me. They return to their duties unalarmed. After all it is just a laborer. The queen will send another soon. I slump beside the fallen fiend. I am tired and it actually hit me even though I did not notice at the time. “come” I tell my beautiful new bow, “we are not finished yet”. The Yumi almost looks like it is smiling at me. I creep back to my pine trees overlooking the nest. I sigh. “it is going to be a long night I think” as the first of three more arrows finds its mark.

John P Loggins