[i][b]Fear[/b][/i]…the underlying emotion driving all activity. Seth felt it and so did his companions. His head constantly on a swivel, he saw everything. He was prepared for anything. The fear only made his senses more aware. Caution lead to sustainability.

[b]BANG![/b]

The report of a rifle in the distance was unmistakable. The SNAP of the round striking the tree not eight inches to his left was equally identifiable. Call it instinct, call it training. The former Airborne Ranger dove for cover. His two companions mimicked the orc’s actions believing the man they called, Vick knew what he was doing.

“What was that?” Joe asked in a shouted whisper.

“A bullet,” Seth responded in a normal tone of voice. It didn’t matter if anyone knew they were there or could hear them. They were compromised. Sound discipline was irrelevant. “Did either of you see a shooter?”

“No,” came the chorused response. Of course, they didn’t see a shooter. No one ever does.

Seth craned his neck around the tree he was hiding behind searching the bark for the bullet strike. He located the impact roughly five or six feet up the tree. He then looked in the direction from where the bullet came. He spied a dark grove of pines just to the left of a white Birch tree. “You see that birch up there about four hundred yards away?”

Both the dwarf and the human eyeballed the hill in the direction Seth was pointing. They shook their heads in affirmation, “yea.”

“Just to the left is a group of pines. The trees provide decent concealment because of their dark color.” Seth looked up the hill. “I’ll bet you a beer, our shooter is in that grove of trees.” He allowed the two men to focus on that point. Maybe they would see some movement. “I want you two to shoot at that area, whether you see anything or not. Put out one round about every 3-5 seconds. I just want you to keep him pinned down, so he won’t shoot at me as I rush up the hill.” Seth looked back at Thalis Joe, “you got that?”

“Yea, Vick. We got it.”

“Oh yea, could you please try not to shoot me?”

The two smiled at one another and gave him a queer look.

Seth wasn’t sure about these guys but would have to trust them now. [i]‘Will I get shot in the back or in the front today?’[/i] “Keep calm and aim. Count the seconds down. I’d rather you conserve your ammo as best you can. You can start shooting now.” He uttered that last point matter of fact like just to get them to do something. Fear was retarding their actions also.

Joe picked up his rifle, aimed at the tight grouping of trees. He slowly pulled the trigger to the rear, discharging a round up the hill. Thalis followed suit placing a round in the same area roughly two seconds later. “When you see me near that group of trees, stop shooting and come join me!”

Seth, gripped his carbine, shouldered the stock, peered along the top of the weapon and charged forward through the ferns. [i]‘I’m up, I’m moving, I’m down.’[/i] The words rang off in his head as he rushed forward. They allowed him a three second run. That was all the time he would allow the [i]other[/i] to get a shot off at him; three seconds. Once on the ground, he listened to the reports from Thalis and Joe. He looked around at the terrain; the underbrush, the trees, the insects, the birds flying away, the smells of the earth and whether or not the [i]other[/i] sent any return fire. He consumed another three seconds taking in these sights, sounds and smells then rolled away. He was back on his feet, rushing forward. He moved for three to five seconds and hit the ground again. Seth continued to repeat the process alternating between rolling left or right so as to not be a predictable target and only giving his threat a few seconds get a bead on him, if he were still there.

On Seth’s twelfth rush, he dove for cover behind a rock and found himself staring at an unarmed pale faced elf with long bronze hair, pointed ears and bright green eyes. Seth jumped in surprise as soon as he landed, rolling back and fighting to bring his carbine around to her. He brought the carbine to bear on her from the ground then realized she was no threat. She appeared frightened. Seth brought a finger up to his lips as if to gesture to the elf to remain silent. He pointed up the hill then gestured for her to stay there. Then he rolled away and charged back up the hill. 

Although, his breathing was beginning to quicken, and perspiration beaded up on his bluish grey flesh, Seth felt more alive than ever running up the hill. His muscles were warm and solid. He felt the strength surging through him. He was confident he would be able to reach his objective quickly. The sound of Thalis and Joe’s gunfire kept him focused in the right direction.

[i]‘Who was that elf?’[/i] The thought unnerved him. [i]‘Where the hell did she come from? Was she with the shooter? I hope I don’t get shot by her. I hope she remains after we investigate this shooter.’[/i] Seth continued his slow and steady advance up the hill—rushing, diving for cover, rolling away from where he landed and repeating the process, stopping no more than a second or two at each cover. 

After two minutes of rushing, diving and rushing again, he heard another rifle shot from higher on the hill than expected. [i]‘It wasn’t the darkened trees, like I thought.’[/i] It was more to the right of the Birch. “Stop shooting! Stop Shooting!” Seth yelled down the hill hoping Joe and Thalis would hear him. They did stop shooting. [i]‘I guess I owe those assholes a beer.’[/i]

Seth peered over the underbrush from behind his cover. He thought he detected movement near a fallen log roughly thirty yards up and to the right of the white birch tree. He brought his carbine up to his shoulder again and fired three rounds in succession towards the fallen tree. He stood up, charged the remaining hundred and fifty yards to where he saw the movement pulling the trigger every five or six steps. He saw the muzzle burst right in front of him. Fear hastened in his heart pumping more adrenaline into his veins. Luck was with him today. The bulletd grazed his left shoulder leaving a three-inch abrasion, ripping up flesh and sinews. This only caused Seth to increase the tempo of his shots. “Thank the Gods for thirty round magazines.” As he got closer, he found what appeared to be an old man, human, maybe 65 years of age with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead. Sure, it was an unaimed shot, but it is tough to aim when someone is shooting at you. Seth made sure this shooter was nervous and hopefully unable to get a shot off. Yes, Seth was scared the entire time, but his training and experience from his time in the army kicked in, telling him to keep going even though common sense said he should have run away. He was certain his traveling companions would have left. He couldn’t do that. After all, this old man and those like him were the enemy.

“Get up here!” Seth yelled down the hill. “That means you too, elf lady!” Seth looked back in the direction where he found the elf. “Joe, there’s a young elf woman between her. Bring her up here with you!” Seth pulled the magazine from his carbine’s well. He looked inside. There was one bullet left. He inserted a new magazine from his ammo pouch. Then he inspected the wound on his left shoulder and scanned the area to see if anyone was approaching them. They did make a hell of a loud racket.