Groundborn

by Scott Moore

  When she stopped the story, Nov wasn’t sure that it made a difference. Hamms had still condemned the city to death. No better than the council. Bad things happened in life; a man had to make the best of it.

  The rest of the ride no sound aside from the woman’s occasional sob filled the air. Nov stared forward, a soldier, not a counselor he reminded himself. He didn’t know the first step to making someone feel better. All he knew was death.

  When the cart stopped, Nov said nothing as he exited the carriage. He didn’t turn back as he shut the door and when the cart started up again, he was just happy to see the barracks before him.

  Nov walked into a devoid room. There weren’t as many recruits piling in to become saviors of the city these days. Not that there had ever been an overwhelming amount. It mostly fell to the middle tier of society, but with the top tier dying out; it left room for the middle to move up in ranks.

  That meant most were clamoring for titles and money; leaving no one to fend for the city walls, or streets. The poor didn’t have the ability to step up into the ranks of soldiers. They didn’t have a copper for a mug of water, and so they withered in the sewers and back alleys.

  All the while, the city’s guard went to complete and utter shit. But, no one gave a damn. He knew already—from today—that those in charge didn’t care.

  Nov moved around the empty halls and worked his way into the eating area. The only crowded room in the barracks. Young men stood everywhere, socializing and gathering their fill on the limited array of food.

  Nov wasn’t hungry, but he needed something to take his mind off the day’s failings. He meandered down the line, making eye contact with no one.

  A hand grabbed him around the wrist, he stopped and noticed the woman from the battlefield sitting alone at a table near the front of the line. No one seemed to want to be near her. She was still damp with mud and water. She must have come from the same downpour as Nov.

  “Sit,” she said and motioned toward the empty bench across from her.

  Nov didn’t argue. He moved around, not paying attention to the stares of the other men.

  “It is a no go,” Nov said.

  She looked at him for a minute. Her eyes were hard and cold. Then, she nodded, as if she had expected this outcome.

  “It is not surprising. The question now is how much do you want to save this city, Nov?”

  Her voice calm and even did not sound like a voice used to being told no. Nov thought on her question a moment. Why had he joined the soldiers? Was it because his father had been a soldier? He hated his father for dying so young and leaving his mother to fend for them all. His mother had hated the soldiers, not because of what they stood for, but because they took young men’s lives and never gave them enough in return.

  Nov had joined to have a purpose. To make sure no family ended up like his own.

  “I believe Earl would want me to see it through to the end,” he answered.

  The woman knew the answer before asking, Nov assumed. Nov hadn’t noticed before, but something about her eyes didn’t seem right.

  “Earl isn’t here, how much does Nov want to save this city?” she asked again.

  How much? He had just done as told for so long now. Train the morning, practice in the afternoon, patrol during the evening, kill the Groundborn; all engraved into who he was.

  “What else can we do?” Nov asked.

  “There is one last thing for us to do, Nov, but I am not sure you will like it.”

  Her cherries were gone, but she still bled.

  10

  Miles needed seclusion. He needed away from the loud drunks at the bar. He needed away from his own thoughts that crawled through his head.

  “Do you come here often?” Miles broke away from the kiss and asked.

  The woman looked bored but interested in something Miles could give to her.

  “I am a regular,” she replied. Her eyes darted over to the bar keep. Like she asked permission.

  By regular the woman meant prostitute. She sold her body for coin and men used her to get themselves off. Miles wasn’t a damn saint though, so he didn’t give two shits about her choices. This could be the last time he ever got the chance to lay with a woman. The last opportunity of a dead man. His last meal so to say. He fished in his pocket and hefted his coin purse between his fingers. Still half full, which meant he had coin to spend. Soon it would be worthless anyhow. Soon people would hear the spread of rumors. He had fought with the rebels against the king’s own army. They would hear how he had committed treason. He would be hunted. How much would his reward be? Would it even matter with those fucking creatures following him? Miles pushed it all out, he would use the coin, he would get his jollies off with this wench then he could worry about other problems.

  “Do you have a place?” Miles asked.

  The woman nodded and grabbed his hand. Her hands were nice and soft; they had to be with her profession, nobody wanted calloused hands. She led him toward the stairs, he wondered if they would hold both their weights. They did, but creaked with every movement and made him nervous as they ascended. At the top of the landing, he gave out a sigh, broken back, or no broken back he was fucking this prostitute, but having made it without a hitch made things easier.

  The woman opened a door at the top of the stairs and Miles peered into an old dusty room. It contained nothing but cobwebs, dust, and one old rickety bed. A bed that Miles imagined hundreds of men had been put on their backs in. Hundreds of men with their sweaty ass checks pressed into the mattress, their cocks thrusting in and out of this old worn out whore. Their semen forever crusted into the depths of the cotton fiber. Miles thought these thoughts and then the woman took off her shirt and Miles’ other head started thinking.

  Miles leaned forward, mouth touching the woman. His mind electrified. There was nothing like this, it felt like the first bite of a grand feast; it left the body wanting more. His tongue flicked over her.

  The woman wasted little time. She pushed him backwards toward the bed and lost her pants in the same movement. Miles bit his lip impressed by her talent. His own shirt came up over his shoulders and off his head. Then she pushed him backwards onto the lumpy mattress. Miles watched a dust cloud float off into the air but didn’t focus on it long, as the woman’s hands started to fondle on his draw strings. Her fingers were nimble, and she had the strings undone in a matter of seconds. Very seasoned veteran, Miles thought.

  Miles had almost forgotten what it felt like to be touched softly. He had fought for so long. Seen so much bloodshed, heard the clang of too many swords, and watched too many men die. He had forgotten a lot of things about the world during that time. But the woman’s breath on his manhood reminded him of a simple time. Miles fought against himself not to ruin the moment too soon. Tried to think of something else aside from the woman’s warm mouth. He tried not to watch her lips wrap around him; it took everything he had not to unload, but he held off.

  He held at least until she jumped up and positioned her hips over his. She thrust herself down and he felt himself enter her deep. It didn’t take long, maybe a movement or two of her hips. Miles continued to think of something else, but thinking of something else while having sex was a practice best left to a stronger man. So, he filled her up. She felt the spasm of his body as he started to cum and grabbed his hand pressing it hard into her chest. He didn’t need extra help, but he appreciated the effort. As his body relaxed, she wasted no time in removing herself from him and going to retrieve her pants. All business. No cuddling from this woman.

  Spent, Miles lay back, but he still watched her wiggle back into her pants. He almost thought about a second round, but before he could, everything went to utter shit. The claws reached up through the floor and wrapped around her neck. She didn’t have time to scream. Miles wanted to scream for her and for him both, he didn’t feel ashamed that he wanted to scream, but no noise would pass from his mouth. His throat had swelled shut.

  The claws dug i
nto the woman’s neck and blood gushed over its claws. The bastards were everywhere. He couldn’t escape them. He pushed himself up. The creature came through the floor fully now and ripped the woman’s spine from her back, as if she were a twig from a tree. Her body crumpled to the floor. Miles closed his eyes; he could still hear the beast. Real growls emitted, not a figment of his imagination. Miles would have rather been crazy.

  He opened his eyes and saw the creature turn its attention to him. Miles looked for his sword. It was on his damn pants and his damn pants were on the damn floor. The creature moved to jump toward Miles, but Miles rolled onto the ground with a thud. His mind raced. He complained a lot about life, but he didn’t want to die. He didn’t know what he had to live for, but he was damn sure willing to find out. He pushed himself to his knees and crawled toward his pants. He heard the monster repositioning itself on the bed. The bed creaked, a lot louder than during his escapade; what a damn time to be self-conscious. Miles pushed himself harder, he had to move faster if he wanted to survive this shit again.

  The creature rolled off the bed and landed on its feet. Miles could hear it getting ready for another leap, this time it would mean the end of Miles Tiro, famous asshole. Miles reached his fingers out and touched the cuff of his pants. He pulled them close and heard the beast lift off from the floor. It happened quick after that. Miles turned with his sword in hand and the beast skewered itself over the tip. Miles felt the blood flood his face and mouth. He spit it out, it tasted horrible, but it was worth it. He lived, and he had won again. Not sure how he had won again, but it didn’t matter he was alive.

  Miles couldn’t have been happier. A sigh of relief passed over his opening throat. He had showed that bastard who was boss. His head plopped back onto the wooden floor, alive and well. At least until the damn creature dissipated into thin air; leaving Miles with the mutilated body of a local whore.

  11

  How much did Nov want to save the city? Alti asked him the hardest question to answer. Nov waved to a group of soldiers who were too busy chatting to be doing any real work. Could there be a solution that didn’t include involving Alti? He barely knew her. How much could he trust her? Nov blew out a sigh.

  “Good morning,” said a soldier at the lift.

  Nov drew out of his thoughts and weakly smiled his greeting. He looked around for Alti. No sign of her yet.

  “Anyone strange been by here?” Nov asked.

  The soldier looked up at the wall. “Everyone is strange here,” he laughed.

  Nov couldn’t muster up the energy to laugh. Not after everything that he had gone through over the last few days.

  “A woman?” Nov urged.

  The soldier shook his head. “Not any reason a woman would come here.”

  Normally that would be the truth, but Alti had made it a point to make their meeting here on the wall. There had to be a reason for it.

  “No one else has asked to go up on the lift?”

  “Nope, well the shift change about three hours ago. Other than that, I haven’t seen anyone.”

  Nov nodded. Did she stand him up? He tried to remember exactly what she had said.

  “Be at the top of the wall by the morning and I will show you what is at stake.” She hadn’t said to wait for her, but she hadn’t been here yet either.

  Nov stomped his boot into the ground, kicking a pebble away. Impatience settled over him. He had things he could be doing. There were plenty of things that were messed up that needed fixing. He didn’t have the time to wait around.

  “Can I ask you a question, sir?”

  Questions, Nov had a lot of those.

  “What is it?” Nov said with a little more hostility than he had meant.

  “It is just that everyone is talking about Earl having gone missing. Some say he may be…” the soldier paused. Nov nodded him on. “Well they say he may be dead.”

  The rumors were rampant. He had been the one to miss them with his other problems. They were still rumors though. No one had gone to confirm the story. No one would. They didn’t really care.

  “Call someone to help you,” Nov said, gesturing to the elevator. “I will inspect the wall while I am here.”

  The soldier had been waiting for an answer, but Nov didn’t have one to give. Nov waved the man on. The soldier saluted, harboring a new kind of spurn for Nov. Nov had been second in command for such a long time it was easy to give commands. Knowing he would be first in line still flipped his stomach. He returned the salute without any vigor. The soldier didn’t notice, too busy already formulating a new rumor.

  Nov stepped onto the platform and felt the elevator jerk into motion. At least he could get a view of the forest and see if anyone else had witnessed the Groundborn rallying. More voices would make the council listen.

  ***

  One hundred years, her mother had told her. A hundred years since these walls had been expanded and erected high enough to protect the citizens of Sera. Alti was shocked they had lasted ten. No one bothered to cut back the tree line. Vines separated the stones in some places as much as a foot. Given another hundred years, sections of the wall would fall under its own weight. Given another fifty and even the height wouldn’t be an advantage as the gremory could climb the vines to the top. Alti scoffed at the ill repair and the lack of concern. She needed Nov to follow through with her plan. The only way to make the people of Sera understand what her mother had ground into her all those years would be for them to see it.

  Alti turned her attention to watch Nov. She shifted the hood, pulling it from her forehead. The wind atop the wall whipped around her, pushing the cloth over her eyes constantly. She had arrived hours ago using her own methods of travel to get to the top of the feeble protective wall. She needed to see what methods Sera used to stop the Groundborn.

  What she found aside from the ill repair of the wall were soldiers too aloof. None of them noticed her walking amongst them. Even though she used the shadows to mask her, they should have been able to notice her presence. Not a single one of them spared a second glance. They were too busy napping, playing games, and stuffing their faces. Without Earl or Nov, the soldiers were a sorry class.

  Alti spared another glance to the elevator. It moved Nov up at a crawling speed.

  Alti turned back toward the outside wall. She looked for the patchwork her mother had mentioned during her stories. The first years after the slaughters men and women had cared. That is what her mother said. Sure enough, Alti could see the small discolored portions of the wall. Some time ago the men and women wanted to live for more than their own concerns.

  A hundred years ago there had been more cities than Sera on this world. They were prospering. Her mother had told her that. A pang of guilt spread over Alti. The thought of her mother made her feel like a failure. So many cities lost and so many lives still left to lose. What if she couldn’t help? Alti took a breath.

  The elevator climbed more than halfway up the wall by now. She would wait for him and hope that he became the man she needed him to be.

  Alti’s mind wandered back to the wars. A hundred years ago the gremory fought and slaughtered every city. Forcing the men and women to retreat to Sera. At the time, no one knew that the city would be the last of its kind. For decades they had fought against the creatures from the ground. They had been pushed to the brink of extinction. Alti didn’t remember the wars. Her mother had. Alti remembered the sorrow that masked her mother’s voice during the telling of those stories.

  Alti pushed the hood back again. The elevator creaked to a halt at the top of the wall. Nov stepped off not seeing her. She stepped from the shadow she had been hiding in.

  ***

  Nov’s eyes narrowed. Did the sun play tricks on him? Alti stood on the top of the wall and had appeared out of nothing it seemed. The soldier below had promised that no one else had used the lift since the shift change. Nov took two steps and stood in front of Alti.

  “How did you get up here?”

  Sh
e shook her head. “Nevermind that.” Alti reached out and grabbed Nov’s hand. “Let’s get on with what we are here to do.”

  Nov should have put up an effort and demanded she tell him what was going on. Instead, he let her pull him along the wall. The soldiers that had been previously sleeping, or playing games, stood to attention. Nov could still see the evidence of red eyes and dice littering the ground. They would have to talk more about the proper behavior of a soldier at a later time.

  Alti stopped and held a hand up to prevent Nov from running into her.

  “Look out there,” she said.

  Nov followed her finger and investigated the forest that surrounded a majority of Sera’s walls. The trees had grown close to the walls in many spots over the last hundred years. The history books detailed roads that used to connect cities together. Now no one traveled beyond the city gates unless Earl herded them together and forced them out on patrols.

  “Trees?”

  Alti cut her eyes at him. “Look again.”

  Nov turned to the trees again. He saw the tops swaying in the wind. He looked at the glares of the sun’s light coming up over the horizon and bouncing from the leaves. Then he saw it. Clusters of dirt surrounding the small gaps where trees hadn’t taken over. There were hundreds of them. They reminded him of ant hills that he would sometimes find on the soldier alleyways. They hadn’t always been there, but they weren’t alarming either. Animals still roamed the outside walls, or at least everyone assumed they did.

  “What am I looking at?”

  Alti smiled. He saw what she wanted him to see. It reminded him of how Earl would smile when Nov used to understand a concept, he was teaching him. Nov pushed Earl from his mind. Not a good time to think about the captain.

  “Nests,” Alti said. “That is where the Groundborn are coming up from. It is different here near Sera than it is anywhere else. Here the Groundborn have to be nested. In other worlds they can’t just be without effort. It is because…” Alti paused.