Blood Requiem

by Christopher Husberg

  Her stomach churned. Cinzia willed herself not to vomit. Instead, she pleaded with her Goddess. You have imbued me with your power before. There is no better time than now to do it again.

  And yet Cinzia felt nothing as she rushed forward. Her muscles moved slowly, achingly, and she felt no sense of strength or speed as she had before, when saving her sister from assassins, or when battling Wyle’s cotir.

  Any communication with one of the Nine is an abomination, and all those who interact in any way with the Nine are lost.

  She was unworthy. The Goddess could not, or would not, communicate with Cinzia now that she had spoken to one of the Nine Daemons.

  She could only watch in horror as the Outsiders laid into the panicked Odenites, and blood and carnage erupted into the once peaceful night.

  * * *

  Astrid had been at the edge of camp when she’d first heard the screams, and by the time she reached the center, the Outsiders were already wreaking havoc among the unprotected Odenites.

  Fortunately, it was night, and these Outsiders would face a very different vampire.

  A tumult of emotions clamored within her as she sprinted forward, her entire frame faster and stronger, affected by the power that overcame her at night. Her hands were claws, her teeth long fangs, and her eyes glowed green. She focused on the closest Outsider, roaring near the central bonfire as it stomped forward, looking for prey. She did not have Knot’s sword, but she could make do with her claws. They were sharper and stronger than any blade.

  And Astrid was angry. She was angry at the Odenites for being so helpless. She was angry at whoever caused more Outsiders to attack their camp. She was angry at Cinzia and especially at Jane for forming this stupid movement to begin with, for attracting evil the way they did. And, most of all, she blamed herself. She had not been here when these people needed her. She had not been here to protect them.

  But she would bloody well make up for that now.

  Astrid leapt into the air and landed on the creature’s back. The thing roared, but Astrid held on tightly, her claws digging into its thick hide. She scrambled forward and wrapped her legs around its neck, slashing wildly with her claws. Hot blood burst outward, spraying her face and arms, but she raked at the beast for as long as she could until the Outsider reached one of its own huge claws upwards, dislodging her from her already precarious position.

  Astrid rolled, but the Outsider’s clawed foot stomped down onto her leg. She heard her own bones snap, and she screamed in pain.

  Astrid could not stop. If she stopped, she would die, and if she died, so would all of the people around her. There were two more Outsiders, and Knot and Eward’s warriors could not possibly hope to fight two of them.

  She was their only hope.

  The Outsider lifted its clawed foot again, ready to crush Astrid under it, but she rolled away just in time. She leapt up, placing weight tentatively on the leg that had been smashed, but knew immediately it was useless. The bone was shattered. That would take some time for even her to heal, a few days at least.

  She would have to make do with what she had.

  The monster’s claw swiped towards her, and Astrid let herself be taken by it, the force of the impact dizzying and sending waves of pain shooting through her injured leg.

  The Outsider raised Astrid upward towards its gaping maw. Hot breath rushed down onto her, but Astrid smelled nothing. No rotting flesh. Nothing at all. Just uncomfortable heat.

  And, of course, the fear of being snapped in half by the thing’s jagged teeth.

  Astrid gripped one of the larger fangs on the Outsider’s lower jaw. She braced herself, pushing with all her might, barely stopping the thing from shoving her into its mouth.

  The beast shook her in frustration, but she held onto its fang. Finally, the beast let go of her, but Astrid kept her grip on the fang and lifted her feet up to brace against the monster’s jaw. Pain shot through her crushed leg, but her good leg held strong, and Astrid pulled with every bit of strength she had.

  With a sickening crack, the Outsider’s fang broke off in her hands, and Astrid tumbled to the ground.

  The monster roared in pain, but Astrid did not waste time. She lifted herself onto all fours, finding it easier to crawl than to walk, and picked up the fang lying next to her. Then, she scrambled to the side where the creature’s nearest foot was planted on the ground, and slammed the thing’s own fang into its ankle again and again, warm blood gushing from the wounds.

  The creature buckled, tottering for a moment, and Astrid scrambled away just in time for the creature to topple to the ground behind her. She crawled towards its head as quickly as she could—the beast was already trying to push itself back up onto its feet—and wrapped her hands around two more fangs as the Outsider tried to stand. She used all of her enhanced strength to keep it from standing. The monster growled down at her, its dead, black eyes gaping, but Astrid held firm.

  With a mighty twist, she yanked the thing back to the ground, almost flipping it over. The earth shook, but Astrid did not stop. She kept her grip on the Outsider’s fangs and pulled, bracing her legs against the ground. She fell to one knee, her left leg screaming in pain, the muscles tearing. Astrid pulled through it. The Outsider roared, the sound rushing over Astrid like a hurricane.

  Then the resistance ceased. Astrid fell backwards onto the ground, and the jaw came with her. The Outsider’s roar faded into a low groan.

  Astrid threw the jaw off of her to see the creature writhing on the ground.

  “Shit,” she breathed.

  Her leg screamed in pain, but she had to be sure. A short distance away, she saw the loose fang. She crawled to it, and then made her way to the monster’s head. Its writhing had calmed, now, but it still twitched every few seconds. Astrid made her way to the bloody remains of its head, where one eye stared upwards, blackness into blackness. She raised the fang and drove it down into the creature’s eye.

  The twitching stopped.

  Astrid still heard screams and roaring. There were still two Outsiders. She took a deep breath. The night was not over.

  * * *

  “Again!”

  The few Prelates Knot had managed to gather fired another volley of arrows into the Outsider they faced. The thing roared, but was otherwise unfazed. The arrows wouldn’t be enough, but at least they were distracting the beast from attacking more Odenites.

  Knot had rushed to the center of the camp in time to see three Outsiders drop from three separate dark rips in the air. Fortunately, he’d spotted Eward quickly, whom he’d ordered to find some spears. Arrows would not be enough to take this thing down, and getting close enough to use swords would be all but impossible for Eward’s soldiers.

  “Knot!”

  Knot turned to see Eward running towards him, a bundle of spears in both hands, and half a dozen more soldiers with him, each also carrying as many spears as they could manage. They dropped the weapons at Knot’s feet.

  “Grab a spear,” Knot said to Eward and the soldiers who approached him. He turned to the archers, and pulled seven from their rank, telling them each to grab spears as well. That left ten archers; Knot deliberately left the most skilled. That should be enough to cause a distraction when he needed one.

  “Form up around me,” Knot said to his spearmen. “We charge as one. Get one of your spears stuck in that thing’s hide—and pull it out, too, if you can. Cause more damage that way. If we lose momentum, we retreat to get new spears while the archers provide cover fire. Then, we charge again.”

  Around him, the Prelates nodded. All of them were afraid. None of them expressed doubt in his orders.

  He hoped this would work.

  He hefted the spear he’d chosen—a wooden shaft longer than he was tall, with a wicked-looking steel barb on one end. Around them, the injured moaned, and panicked Odenites fled in all directions, screaming. His vision was limited to the dozen fires in the camp, and the center fire, which had spread to a few of the nearby tents
, burned more brightly. Everything he saw alternated between shadow and flickering orange light. Knot heard another Outsider roar in the distance, the sound reverberating in his chest.

  He waited for the roar to subside, then he let out his own. “Charge!”

  He rushed forward, Eward and the others with him, all of them shouting. The Outsider turned to face them, and did not hesitate to press its own attack. A massive black claw slammed into their line, knocking a few of the soldiers aside. But the rest of them charged forward, Knot in the lead, and he thrust his spear up into the monster’s ribcage. When he felt the point penetrate the creature’s hide, he yanked it out, but the barb broke from the shaft, still embedded in the Outsider.

  Cheap Goddess-damned spear.

  A few of the others managed to stab their weapons into the Outsider, and one or two even ripped them out as well. But the monster had already lifted one screaming Prelate up with its claw, raising the woman towards its gaping jaw. There was nothing Knot could do for her now. Another soldier, a young man, lay screaming on the ground, one or both of his legs injured in the charge. Knot knelt and was about to pick up the man, when Eward was there.

  “I’ll take this side,” Eward said, sliding under the injured man’s left arm.

  Knot immediately took the other, following suit on the right.

  “Archers!” Knot shouted, and immediately a volley of arrows whipped above them and into the Outsider.

  He ordered the retreat as he and Eward made their way back, the injured lad between them.

  The archers continued firing volley after volley at the Outsider, but the beast had turned its head to them now, and Knot swore the thing was looking directly at him.

  “Time for one more charge. Spears!”

  He and the remaining soldiers each grabbed spears from the pile. Knot grabbed two for himself, hefting one in each hand.

  With a roar, the Outsider rushed towards them.

  Goddess, he wished he knew where Astrid was right now.

  “Charge!” he shouted, leading the soldiers once more. Almost immediately they met with the Outsider, and Knot muscled one spear into the thing’s leg, but didn’t have time to pull it out before he had to maneuver away to avoid getting trampled. Some of Eward’s soldiers were not so quick, and fell amidst screams and moans.

  Knot immediately turned, lifting his other spear. His archers had managed to get one more volley off, but the Outsider was already among them, swiping with its massive claws. A half-dozen spears and more than two dozen arrows protruded from its hide. Blood poured from multiple open wounds, dripping to the ground. A lot of blood, Knot realized. The grass was slick with the substance. And Knot was surprised the thing hadn’t—

  The Outsider took one more swipe, this time connecting with Eward, sending the man flying, and then collapsed to the ground with a crash that shook the dirt beneath Knot’s feet.

  Knot rushed forward and slammed his spear into the Outsider’s skull. The shaft broke as the spear blade pierced skin, but glanced off the thick bone.

  Knot cursed, but before he could turn to look for another spear, a Prelate handed him one of the pair she carried. He thrust the spear into the beast’s eye, while she stabbed her own through its throat.

  Then the Outsider was still.

  Knot took a moment to breathe, the air moving raggedly through his lungs.

  “Regroup!” he shouted to the remaining soldiers, many of whom lay injured on the ground. He saw only one other Outsider, towards the edge of camp, wreaking havoc among unprotected Odenites. He could barely see the other’s massive form, lying still near the center of camp.

  Perhaps the girl had come through, after all. Knot could not imagine anyone else taking down the beast at the center of camp.

  “Gather the wounded. Find Eward if you can. We need to stop the last Outsider.”

  They had perhaps a dozen spears left, and as many soldiers, unless they could pick up more on their way to the final Outsider.

  Knot did not know whether they could defeat it, but they would sure as Oblivion try.

  * * *

  Cinzia could not believe the carnage around her. People screamed, the wounded moaned, the dead lay silent in the grass. Blood everywhere.

  She had tried to help the Odenites flee, and many of them had, but many had died, too. She had sent Jane away, but for all she knew Jane was dead. Or her parents, or her brothers and sisters. Looking back, she saw two Outsiders were down, which gave her a spark of hope. Perhaps Knot and Astrid were working together to kill them. But now a roar from ahead caught her attention. The third beast prowled not a dozen paces from where she stood. The sun began to rise, bathing the thing in soft light.

  Cinzia had been encouraging people to flee, but now she began to make her way towards the Outsider. She did not know why she was moving towards the beast. She was unworthy of Canta’s power, and had none of her own. There was nothing to stop it from devouring her completely. The light grew stronger behind Cinzia, and suddenly she realized something.

  The Outsiders had been attacking them for what seemed like an eternity, and yet it could not have been long. Certainly not past midnight. The sun could not possibly be rising yet.

  And as the light behind her grew in power, Cinzia saw it was not the pink, rosy tones of a sunrise. It was white, and pure, and harsh.

  Cinzia turned to see the light moving towards her, growing so bright she had to shield her eyes. Had the Goddess returned to the Sfaera to help them in their hour of need? But, almost as quickly, she remembered her battle against Wyle and the Nazaniin cotir, and the light she had seen then. The light that had come from her sister.

  “Jane!” Cinzia shouted. As the light drew closer, Cinzia could make out a figure within it, from which all the light emanated. Squinting through shielded eyes, she saw that it was, indeed, her sister.

  Jane walked right past Cinzia, the light going with her, and moved directly towards the Outsider. Slowly, she raised her arm.

  A beam of white light, brighter than the sun at noonday, brighter than anything Cinzia could imagine, shot from Jane’s palm and collided with the Outsider.

  The beast screamed, writhing, and the stench of burning flesh filled the air.

  The beam grew in circumference, until it engulfed the Outsider completely. The beast roared, its skin searing, and then Cinzia lost sight of it in the brightness.

  The light winked out.

  For a moment, Cinzia thought the light had blinded her. All she saw was darkness, no matter where she looked. But, slowly, her eyes began to readjust. She noticed the orange glow of a bonfire in the distance, first, and then shadows, and then those shadows gained texture and color.

  She turned around, disoriented, until she discerned Jane, collapsed on the ground. Cinzia rushed to her side. She could not see the Outsider anywhere.

  “Jane?”

  Her sister appeared unharmed, but was not moving. Cinzia bent down, placing her ear at her sister’s mouth. The faintest draw of breath.

  As Cinzia sat back up, her sister’s eyes opened.

  “Jane,” Cinzia said again, half sobbing. “Are you all right?”

  “I… I am fine,” she said. “Just… weak. The Outsider?”

  “Gone,” Cinzia said, looking up. “The light must have caused it to flee; I do not know where it went…”

  Then, Cinzia saw the ash that caked the ground where the Outsider had been when Jane had confronted it. Ash at least a hand’s thickness. She had not noticed it before, because her vision had been adjusting, and the ash was as black as the night around her. But now she saw it clearly.

  “You killed it,” Cinzia said, hardly believing what she said— hardly believing what she had seen.

  “With Canta’s power,” Jane said, attempting to sit up.

  Cinzia helped her. Slowly, Jane looked around.

  “The other two Outsiders?” she asked.

  “Dead, I think.”

  “Knot and Astrid?”

  “I�
�� I do not know.”

  Jane gripped Cinzia’s hand tightly. “Help me stand. We must find them. We must help the wounded.”

  “You can barely sit up,” Cinzia said, nevertheless returning her sister’s grip. “Please, rest here. I will go find the others.”

  “We can help.”

  Cinzia turned to see Ocrestia, Elessa and Baetrissa standing behind her. She felt the slightest release within her. “Goddess, you are all safe. I am so glad.”

  Jane attempted to stand again, but Cinzia gently restrained her. “You need to rest, sister.” She turned to the other disciples. “Elessa, stay with Jane. Help her. Ocrestia and Baetrissa, come with me.”

  Cinzia stood up as Elessa took her place at Jane’s side.

  “We need to help everyone else.”

  24

  Adimora

  IT WAS DARK BY the time Rorie came for Winter.

  “Come on, Commander,” she said, “the Cracked Spear is waitin’ for you.”

  Winter peered cautiously into the darkness of the gorge. “How exactly are we getting down?”

  “There are a few ways,” Rorie said. “We’ll be taking the stairs tonight. It’s the best way to get an understanding for the city.”

  “I don’t see any—”

  Rorie leapt from the cliffside before Winter could finish her sentence.

  Winter rushed forward. “Rorie,” she called into the darkness, somewhere between a shout and a whisper. “Rorie, where are you?”

  “It ain’t far, Commander,” Rorie said from below.

  “Light a bloody torch,” Winter said. “I’m not jumping into darkness.”

  Rorie laughed, but there was a sound of flint striking tinder, followed by a few sparks, and then a torch lit up a small pocket of the chasm beneath Winter.