15min fic #52
Oct. 3rd, 2004 05:29 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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yrae
Title~ Ambush
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ Not that there are any real charcters as such, but Kazin's mine.
Notes~ 15 minute fic, word 52. More serious characterising of Kazin, since every other thing I've done in Kazin has been comical. Kazin isn't a comical place, to be honest. They like killing each other for no apparent reason.
~ ~ ~
A severed head, spiked atop a crude wooden stake, clearly marks the border between the two warring Kazinian states. Bright blue macaw feathers hang despondently in a ring around the stake. It is a firm warning to any wanderers that crossing the bridge into Nissaya means certain death.
The Syzrans of the northern coast of the lake know well the dangers of crossing the Nissayan bridge. They wouldn’t dare walk straight into the trap that doubtless lay not far beyond the trees on the southern side. It was common knowledge that Nissayan archers perched in the trees, protected by the large leaves, so that while they had a clear view of approaching Syzrans, the Syzrans would have no knowledge as to their whereabouts until the arrows began falling from the sky.
The vast lake to the west lies silent, shrouded in tropical mist that dulls even the careless splash of a fish’s tail, let alone the cautious lap of Syzran oars. The canoes glided effortlessly through the water, well-hidden in the morning mist that wouldn’t clear for a number of hours yet. The Nissayans wouldn’t see them unless they fell over them.
Without a word, the Syzrans slid their canoes up the sandy beach and into the trees, where they abandoned them and instead armed themselves with bows and arrows. Swords never fared well in tropical Kazin; even if it never rained on them, the humidity meant the steel blades required near-constant attention so they wouldn’t rust.
The stealthy invaders kept their bows at the ready as the wormed through the trees, keeping their eyes not only at ground level, but scanning the branches overhead as well. Their alertness only grew when they approached the Nissayan capital. The rough wooden shacks of the city’s outer reaches, glimpsed through the wide trunks and bushy ferns of the rainforest trees, caused a surge of anticipation to work through the Syzran ranks.
Without warning, the Nissayan arrows descended. For all the vigilant attention of the Syzran archers, they hadn’t seen the Nissayans pressed to the trunks, and now they opened fire, the arrows fizzing through the air, not one missing its target.
The Syzrans didn’t have a chance to fire a single arrow. The only time any of them were able to see one of the deadly Nissayan archers, he had taken aim and let loose an arrow, fletched with blue macaw feathers. Within minutes of the initial attack, the last of the Syzran warriors fell.
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ Not that there are any real charcters as such, but Kazin's mine.
Notes~ 15 minute fic, word 52. More serious characterising of Kazin, since every other thing I've done in Kazin has been comical. Kazin isn't a comical place, to be honest. They like killing each other for no apparent reason.
A severed head, spiked atop a crude wooden stake, clearly marks the border between the two warring Kazinian states. Bright blue macaw feathers hang despondently in a ring around the stake. It is a firm warning to any wanderers that crossing the bridge into Nissaya means certain death.
The Syzrans of the northern coast of the lake know well the dangers of crossing the Nissayan bridge. They wouldn’t dare walk straight into the trap that doubtless lay not far beyond the trees on the southern side. It was common knowledge that Nissayan archers perched in the trees, protected by the large leaves, so that while they had a clear view of approaching Syzrans, the Syzrans would have no knowledge as to their whereabouts until the arrows began falling from the sky.
The vast lake to the west lies silent, shrouded in tropical mist that dulls even the careless splash of a fish’s tail, let alone the cautious lap of Syzran oars. The canoes glided effortlessly through the water, well-hidden in the morning mist that wouldn’t clear for a number of hours yet. The Nissayans wouldn’t see them unless they fell over them.
Without a word, the Syzrans slid their canoes up the sandy beach and into the trees, where they abandoned them and instead armed themselves with bows and arrows. Swords never fared well in tropical Kazin; even if it never rained on them, the humidity meant the steel blades required near-constant attention so they wouldn’t rust.
The stealthy invaders kept their bows at the ready as the wormed through the trees, keeping their eyes not only at ground level, but scanning the branches overhead as well. Their alertness only grew when they approached the Nissayan capital. The rough wooden shacks of the city’s outer reaches, glimpsed through the wide trunks and bushy ferns of the rainforest trees, caused a surge of anticipation to work through the Syzran ranks.
Without warning, the Nissayan arrows descended. For all the vigilant attention of the Syzran archers, they hadn’t seen the Nissayans pressed to the trunks, and now they opened fire, the arrows fizzing through the air, not one missing its target.
The Syzrans didn’t have a chance to fire a single arrow. The only time any of them were able to see one of the deadly Nissayan archers, he had taken aim and let loose an arrow, fletched with blue macaw feathers. Within minutes of the initial attack, the last of the Syzran warriors fell.