Callie's Heroes

PART II - NETHERHOUNDS

“So, what are you showing us today?” Callie asked Pixyl as she sat on the wall of the ring, looking down at the Pixie limbering up and getting ready for this week’s Demon demonstration. Callie had to admit she really enjoyed watching Pixyl stretch, bend and twist.

“Netherhounds,” Pixyl replied, pulling an arm behind her head. “Fast, vicious, a little smart, too. We’ll start using multi-class t-t-tactics to fight these things.” She gestured towards the other side of the ring, where Koda was armored up and talking to Trainer Terrin and the Warlocks. “Once you understand how they move, though, they aren’t that tough.”

“For you maybe,” Jesca mumbled, a worried look on her face. Next to her, Artemis was on her hind legs looking over the wall, and wearing an equally dubious expression.

Pixyl waved Jesca’s concerns away. “J-J-Just watch how they move. They tend to run with a hopping motion, so it’s easy to see where they’ll land. Just don’t be where they land. Oh, and listen to your D-D-Dodge. At Silver it will start to work on attacks you can’t see, t-t-too.”

That really did not make Jesca feel any better.

“That’s fine for those of you who have Dodge,” Ambria pointed out. “I can’t really heal it to death, though.”

The smirking Pixyl looked like she was about to respond with some kind of a smart-assed comment, but Master Trainer Thorn walking to the center of the ring and clearing his throat through an amplification sigil interrupted. Pixyl hopped quickly into the air, shot Callie a wink, and zipped off to join him, Koda also walking towards the center. In turn, Callie spun and slid off the wall, landing on a booster so she could turn back and still see over.

“Good morning, everyone,” Thorn said, holding up his hand to settle down anyone who was still in conversation. “I have several announcements and important instructions today before we get to the new Demon, so I need all of you to pay attention.” The remaining murmurs evaporated as all eyes focused on the Ratkin.

“As you are well aware, the start of Midsummer is this week. That doesn’t come until Lastday, though, so you all need to focus on your training until we get there. If all of you can do that, we’ll take the afternoon of Sixthday off, and get an early start.”

That sent a minor round of encouragement around the ring.

“Let’s talk for a bit about Midsummer, though,” Thorn continued. “There are some rules for you all to follow, and we’re going to be extra vigilant about making sure you all follow them, so pay attention. Several people are going to be joining us for the holiday. The visitors will be easily identifiable by a white cloth they will wear on their arm. All of you, and I absolutely mean this, all of you will be on your best behavior towards these visitors. If they ask for directions, provide them, or even guide them. If they ask for help, provide it. If they ask you to carry their shit, you eagerly pick it up and take it wherever it needs to go. I want each of them to leave here thinking you are all the most-polite and well-behaved recruits ever, not the pack of crazy misfits you actually are.”

A solid round of laughter went up around the ring with that comment, everyone actually taking it as a backhanded compliment.

“It is possible, probably even likely, that you may be asked to demonstrate your capabilities by one of these visitors. If you are, then do so, but only on the training field. I’ll let you in on a secret, if you’re pressured to demonstrate elsewhere, it’s a test. Don’t fail it! For anyone observing, you make sure they are in a safe place before you demonstrate, and you stop if they step out of that safety. Do not show off! We aren’t here to entertain. The Army only cares about your actual effectiveness and I honestly don’t give a damn what most of our visitors care about.” A few eyes drifted towards the resident showoff, Pixyl, but she was nodding aggressively in agreement with Thorn, reinforcing the directive.

“Next, as part of being polite to our visitors, every day you will shower and put on fresh clothes before dinner. I don’t want to smell sweat on anyone in the evening, and trust me, I’ve got a really good nose.” He tapped it while a few collective groans, primarily from the various Catkins, emerged. For the most part, everyone did wash daily, if only to soak in the tub, but the Catkins tended to be able to go an extra day or even two before they needed to, and of course, weren’t big fans of the water.

“Also,” Thorn continued, cutting off the groans, “those of you with Yogosi, report to medical after training concludes today to get new ones. You were all going to get fresh before you left at the end of training, so we’re just going to do it now.” A few new groans, these ones female-sounding, rippled around the ring. Both Ambria and Jesca joined in the grousing.

“What is this ‘Yogosi’,” Juniper asked, her face confused.

“Um…” Callie started to respond, not really sure how to explain it to the Dryad. For that matter, not even sure if it was actually relevant. Did a Dryad reproduce the same way, or even have to deal with the so-called ‘red days’? For that matter, were they even red? The Nymph was physically similar to Elves, and seemed to have the same parts, but Callie had no idea how her reproductive plumbing worked, as it were.

“We’ll talk about it when we're done here,” Ambria quickly interjected, putting on a medical face and saving Callie from the awkward explanation, at least for the moment.

“On that topic, let’s talk about some rules for the Midsummer traditions,” Thorn continued, almost with a heavy sigh in his voice. “First, the visitors are off limits. If they are wearing white, you do not approach them as companions. If they approach you, you politely decline. Second, obviously anyone wearing red is also off limits. Blue is fine for trinkets, but know they are spoken for and respect that. Third, and I really shouldn’t have to say this, but whatever you and your companion may do, you do it in private in your bunkhouses. Other people, be respectful of whatever people are doing in private.”

“Hang a sock on the door!” Callie called out without even thinking.

“W-what?” Thorn said, his speech momentarily stumbling at the interruption.

“If you’re busy inside, tie a sock to the damn door handle!” Callie repeated in irritated clarification. Across the ring, she saw an embarrassed glance from Lena. Seriously, everyone should know that rule in any world!

Thorn shrugged, gestured generally towards Callie and said, “There you are. Tie a sock to the door.”

Callie caught Pixyl’s eye, and shot her a quick wink. The Pixie smiled and looked down, obviously blushing, still embarrassed by what had happened the previous day.

“Finally, let’s talk about the schedule of events,” Thorn continued. “On Homeday, we’ll be doing the traditional crafting of masks and trinkets starting in the early afternoon and including the evening meal, and then a bonfire for everyone once dusk comes. Visitors will be participating, so remember, nothing but absolute politeness. On the first day of Midsummer itself, there will be a casual open-air party starting late morning through mid-afternoon to exchange trinkets. Then, a formal dinner that evening, with Pama making actual real food, not replicated. It won’t be like the feast at the beginning of term, but some extra etiquette will apply, so manners from all of you.” A murmur of genuine excitement rippled through the crowd hearing that, likely because of the ‘real food’ part. “After that, there will be a dance and party, with professional musicians we are bringing in from Highridge Crossing. Apparently, they have a gifted Illusionist, too!” A second round of murmurs, this one even more excited, rippled around the ring.

“Everyone, and again I shouldn’t have to say this, but fresh showers and fresh clothes before the dinner. Clean up and make yourselves respectable. If any of you need or want to get your hair cut, report to the provisioning building after the evening meal over the next three days and someone will help pretty you up. If you have hair and beard adornments from when you arrived, you may wear them for the holiday, but then they come back out.”

Instinctively, Callie took off her hat and grabbed one of her pigtails, pulling it in front of her eyes. It was a little longer than in those first days, and the ends were pretty raggedy from a month of constant training and abuse. Maybe a little bit of a trim would be a good idea? Yeah, just a bit off the ends. As she thought more about it, Callie found herself wanting to feel pretty for this dance, and for Pixyl, for that matter, and found herself a little bummed everyone would just be their everyday uniforms rather than being able to dress up. Maybe when they all made masks, she could come up with some ideas to fashion-up for the evening? If only she had a tight little black dress to wear like her college days.

“Since we have a second day of Midsummer this year, we’re going to do the weekly bunkerball game that second day afternoon, followed by an outdoor picnic dinner, with the musicians providing more music into the evening. There will likely be the usual bonfire come dusk, but nothing else formally planned. Firstday and Secondday also have nothing planned so everyone can just relax and the visitors can begin their journeys home. You are on your own those two days. Again, best behavior, at least until all the visitors are gone.”

Thorn tapped the sigil, muting it, before turning to Terrin. “Are you ready?” Callie was able to hear him ask, with the Warlock nodding in return. Unmuting himself, Thorn continued. “Moving on to why we’re here. For the past two weeks, all of you have been training admirably on how to fight Imps and Fiends. Those two Demon types make up seventy, to maybe even eighty percent of what we see on the battlefield. The rest consist of other types of Demons with their own peculiar methods of fighting, and their own dangers. They begin to become smart, or have magical abilities they can use against you, or other odd characteristics.”

Trainer Terrin stepped up, tapping his own sigil, and Thorn stepped back, yielding the ring to him as he muted. “Starting this week, we’re going to begin training on how to work together with other classes,” Terrin began. “Specifically, we’ll be pairing Guardian classes up with the ranged and Strikers. Guardians will Taunt and hold the Demon at bay, while the other person focuses on getting the kill. Each Guardian fights slightly differently, so you’ll rotate to work with them all. On the battlefield, this ability to focus on your job, while others are focusing on theirs, will let you ultimately work in instinctive synergy together.”

Waving his hands as he spoke, Terrin formed a Ritual Circle on the ground. “The Demon we’ll be working with this week is called a Netherhound. This is the next most-common demon you will encounter on the battlefield, and the first with magical abilities.” While he had been speaking, a purple glow began to coalesce inside the Circle, finally forming into the new Demon.

All the recruits had seen one of these before, on that first full day when Tazrok punished the five and gave his inspirational speech about needing to grow up. This time, though, it wasn’t nearly as terrifying. They now had four weeks of training under their belts, and two weeks fighting real Demons. They understood there would be new tactics to learn, but everyone knew that they had already learned a lot, and more importantly, how to keep their worry in check and focus on the enemy and what they needed to know.

“The Netherhound,” Terrin continued, “fights similar to the Imp and Fiend in many ways. They are fast, relentless, and dangerous. They also have four sets of claws instead of two, and sharp teeth. All of you have trained for that kind of an attack, though, so while they are a little more capable, you know what to do. However, the Netherhound, as I mentioned earlier, is the first of the Demons that begins to employ magical abilities, and you’ll need to understand how to anticipate and defend against it.”

Casually gesturing towards the Warlock end of the ring, Terrin sent the Nether hound in that direction with orders to sit patiently, which it did. Koda and Pixyl moved to the other end, Koda facing the Demon, while Pixyl took position behind and to his left.

“The Netherhound has the ability to go incorporeal for up to a few seconds,” Terrin said. “During this time, you cannot hit it, and it will be very difficult to see, but luckily it cannot hit you, either. It uses this ability as part of its attack, disappearing just as it closes in. Your primary defense is situational awareness, so that you know where the monster is before it disappears, and thus can anticipate where it will reappear. The Guardians have been trained to Taunt it, drawing the monster’s wrath upon themselves, and that gives the rest of you the opportunity to end the fight.” He glanced across the ring to Koda, who returned a sharp nod.

With a flick of his finger, Terrin released the Netherhound. It didn’t immediately charge, instead taking a few seconds to let out a horrific roar; almost a tortured scream. Then it was off, tearing up the ground. A blink of a moment later it leapt, and then it was gone, only a vaguely warbly haze in the air!

Reappearing a split-second later in mid-leap, Pixyl rolled easily out of the way before the monster fell upon her. It turned to face the tiny Bladeweaver, her green energy sword in one hand and magenta shield on the other. Then it stopped, turned, and charged towards Koda.

The oversized Paladin easily smashed the Demon off its feet with his shield.

“Do you have it?” Terrin called out.

“Yes,” Koda said with a grunt as he kicked the Netherhound in the face, sending it staggering. “I can hold it.”

“Good.” Terrin said. He knew Koda wasn’t like Pixyl. It wasn’t in his training to prolong the fight, but he needed the recruits to see this. “Everyone! Note how it is behaving now. Recruit Koda has Taunted it, and now appears to be the bigger threat. At this point, the Netherhound behaves much as a Fiend does. Fast and vicious, with occasional attempts to intimidate. Guardians have the skills to absorb or avoid those kinds of attacks, and to keep its attention.”

The truth was, Koda could probably use the sword in his right hand to immediately slay the Demon, that was pretty obvious. The point here was for everyone to see the Demon move and fight, though, not simply die. Under normal circumstances, this fight would likely have already been long over, probably by Pixyl, in fact.

“Now that the Guardian has its attention, that allows the other person to easily come in for the kill with far less risk.” As Terrin provided commentary, Pixyl positioned herself and, at the right moment, zipped in. Her sword sliced the Netherhound at the neck. Immediately the two pieces fell to the ground, immediately beginning to turn to purple smoke.

A round of applause went up around the ring, with someone shouting out, ‘The Queen!’. Koda threw the smoking rear half of the Netherhound off to the side, while Pixyl grabbed its head, flinging it likewise out of the way. The Pixie stretched, cracked her neck, and then shot Callie another wink.

Callie had long since stopped being worried about Pixyl in the fighting ring. For the past two weeks she’d seen the Pixie defeat Demon after Demon, usually toying with them in some form to demonstrate an important bit of knowledge. Still, she couldn’t help but be amazed by the Bladeweaver’s confidence, simply shaking her head slowly and muttering to herself, “... and that’s my girlfriend.”

Terrin cleared his throat, reclaiming everyone’s attention. “Obviously, we worked to slow that fight down so you all could see what was happening. We’re going to do this several more times so you all know it, and then begin to speed things up. By the end of this week, all of you will be able to execute that kind of coordinated attack with your Guardians in the mere blink of an eye, and without even thinking about it.” He’d said much the same thing during the previous demonstrations, and despite some initial doubts by the recruits, it had proven true.

“Now, shall we begin again?” Terrin said, looking across the ring as Koda and Pixyl returned to their ready positions.

“Bring it, Ancient One,” both the Paladin and the Bladeweaver called in unison, grins wide on their faces as Koda smashed his sword against his shield. Pixyl added a giggle and a rather rude gesture to emphasize the insult.