Read Online Unicorns' Opal by Richard S. Tuttle - Free Book Online Page B

up, Tedi lobbed the next acorn at Arik. This time the acorn connected with Arik’s arm and he subconsciously rubbed his arm before rolling over and peering at Tedi. Tedi signaled danger to both of them and threw an acorn at Tanya, while Alex gently shook Jenneva. Another acorn hit Fredrik on the top of his head as Tanya and Arik reached for their sheaths and grabbed their bows. Fredrik simply nodded as he rose and picked up his staff and throwing knives. Two acorns failed to wake Niki and Tedi paused to arm himself. Everyone moved quietly but swiftly as they gathered all of their weapons and prepared for an attack.
    Tedi crept over and gently woke Niki with a hand over her mouth to keep the young redhead from screaming. Niki looked around frightened as she saw everyone preparing for battle. The Rangers tensed as the alarm went off and everyone pivoted towards the sound. The thrashing in the woods indicated that someone was charging the campsite and the Rangers nocked arrows and waited.
    Suddenly, a large buck came dashing through the woods and veered as he spied the people in the clearing. Running off at a tangent, the deer leaped and bounded out of sight and triggered the alarm again as he crossed the perimeter of the campsite. The Rangers eased their stance slightly and Alex walked softly over to Tedi.
    “Was it the alarm you heard or something else?” Alex whispered.
    Tedi nodded as he continued to scan the black forest. “The alarm. I heard it twice,” Tedi whispered back. “But it wasn’t as loud as the last time.”
    Alex frowned as he thought about the layout of the alarm wire he had put up. It was fairly circular and shouldn’t sound any louder or softer no matter what sector of it was triggered. He knew Tedi’s hearing was far greater than anyone else’s and he wondered if Tedi might have heard something more distant. Alex had tuned himself to the alarm and the noise hadn’t wakened him as it should have.
    “A deer?” Niki shouted as she stormed over to Tedi. “You woke us up for a deer? I can’t believe it. We trek from before dawn to after dark every day and when we finally get some time to sleep, you have to wake everybody up because a deer is nearby. I ought to...“
    Niki’s mouth continued to move, but no sounds came out. Frantically, she tried to scream, but couldn’t. Worse, the shouts she did hear didn’t come from the Rangers. In a blur, everyone started moving, taking up defensive positions as they had been taught. The distant sounds increased as bodies thrashed through the forest in a hurry and the Rangers knew they were in for an attack.
    Arik and Tanya swiftly extended a knee high rope across the edge of the clearing nearest the approaching sounds and secured it to trees. Just as quickly, they retreated away from it and took up positions with their bows ready and arrows nocked. Jenneva pulled a blubbering Niki away from the smoldering campfire and got her out of the path of the Rangers’ arrows. Tedi swung himself up into an oak tree and found a large limb to perch on before nocking an arrow. Fredrik grabbed his bow and positioned himself in front of Jenneva and Niki. Alex disappeared into the woods.
    The goblins charged the clearing, screaming and yelling some guttural sounds that the Rangers did not understand. Everyone held their fire until the first of the goblins hit the knee high rope and tumbled into the clearing. The following goblins tried to halt their charge as the first of them fell to the rope, but the Rangers opened fire and arrows skewered into the misshapen beasts. Jenneva hurled a Tree Mine into a sturdy oak deeper into the forest and the mighty tree splintered in an explosion of deadly slivers which lanced into the rear ranks of the attacking goblins. Another round of arrows from the Rangers soared into the goblins before the three who had tripped over the rope managed to get to their feet. Fredrik dropped his bow and produced a throwing knife in each hand. With