The Last Citadel

by Kevin Ashman

  ‘As far as I know, he had the same basic structure as us,’ said De-gill, ‘though I cannot comment on his internal organs. We can only assume, they are in the same place but if in doubt, pierce the head.’

  ‘Right,’ said Helzac, ‘no point in putting it off any longer, let’s go.’ Without further ado, the men left the barracks and made their way toward the main stairway leading to the top of the tower.

  ----

  Kenzo ran back to his own house as quickly as possible, though it took longer than expected due to the amount of detours needed to avoid the trouble. Fires had been set everywhere and more than once they had to use their enveloping blanket of smoke to shake off some of Petit’s henchmen. All around people were screaming and groups of armed men herded families at sword point toward the city perimeter. Finally, he saw the street with the familiar red doors and seeing no intruders, he ran as fast as he could to burst into his home. All around, the furniture was smashed and everything of value was gone.

  ‘Amber,’ he shouted, ‘where are you?’ He heard a noise in the back room and tried the door without success. ‘Amber, are you in there?’

  The sound of furniture being dragged out of the way preceded the door being opened and Amber ran into Kenzo’s arms.

  ‘Where have you been?’ asked Amber, ‘you were ages.’

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ said Kenzo. ‘Gather your things, we have to go. Where’s Braille?’

  ‘Oh, Kenzo, it was awful,’ said Amber. ‘When we got here, they were already in our house. Braille called them some names and there was a terrible fight. He managed to kill two of them, but one had a lance and they stabbed him through the side.’

  ‘Is he dead?’ asked Kenzo.

  ‘I don’t think so, they all jumped on him and tied him up. I was hiding over there in the alley and when they took him away, I came in here and barricaded the door. Do you think he is all right?’

  ‘Braille is as tough as they come,’ said Kenzo, ‘it’ll take more than a mere scratch to take him down. This is Petra and this young man is Lenny. Petra is the Governess of the Courtesans and she is taking us to her tower while all this mess gets sorted out.’

  ‘What about Leona? Was there any sign of her?’

  ‘Nothing,’ sighed Kenzo, ‘but to be honest, she could be anywhere. Anyway, throw some stuff in a bag, I’ll see if there is any food left in the box but be quick, those men could come back any minute. ‘

  ‘Come on,’ said Petra, ‘I’ll help you pack.’

  ----

  A few minutes later, they were making their way toward one of the main gates of the city. As they neared the perimeter the crowds grew and soon they were part of a much bigger crowd, all fleeing the attention of the Brotherhood’s thugs. In the distance, they could hear the sound of beating drums over the screams of individuals, as the approaching gangs forced them from the centre of the city. The four fugitives ran with the crowd until they finally shuffled under the archway and out onto the causeway leading to the Pleasure-tower.

  ‘There are hundreds of people here,’ said Petra, ‘there’s no way we can take them all in the tower. There’s hardly any room as it is.’

  The sound of the drums got closer and the crowd packed further along the causeway, distraught that they had nowhere else to go. In the distance, similar crowds were appearing on the other causeways as indeed they were at the far end of the city. Through the gates, the crowd could see a large squad of armed men holding lances before them with a line of drummers behind, all advancing toward the gate, driving the stragglers before them.

  ‘Oh my God,’ said Amber, ‘what are they doing? Surely they don’t mean to kill us all?’ Before Kenzo could answer, the soldiers came to a halt just inside the gate and the drumming stopped, but rather than advance onto the causeway, they did something completely unexpected. They slammed the gate. A murmur crept around the crowd, everyone unsure as to what was happening.

  ‘What are they doing?’ asked Amber again. ‘They can’t just leave us out here, surely?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Kenzo, ‘not even Petit is that sick.’

  Gradually the pressure from the crowd eased, as they spread throughout the available space on the causeway, with some going back up to the locked gate in confusion, while others took the opportunity to stare at the uncovered city below them. Kenzo and Amber followed Petra as she made her way to the gates of her own tower, but all three stayed back as they watched people banging on the gates without effect.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Petra, ‘there’s always someone on gate duty.’

  ‘Petra,’ said Kenzo, ‘how many of your people were in the Citadel for the celebrations.’

  ‘Most, if not all of them,’ said Petra, and her eyes widened as she realised the implications. ‘Oh, my God, Kenzo, you don’t think…?’

  ‘I don’t think anything,’ said Kenzo, ‘it’s pointless panicking. For all we know, they could be spread out all around the city on any of the other causeways.’

  ‘But all those poor people murdered in the keep,’ she said, ‘how do I know my girls are not amongst them?’

  ‘I suspect we will find out soon enough,’ said Kenzo, ‘but in the meantime, we have a bigger problem on our hands.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘How do we get in there?’ said Kenzo, indicating the tower looming above him. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out in the crowd.

  ‘Kenzo!’

  The young man spun to face the familiar voice and his face lit up when he saw his old friend barging his way through the crowd toward him.

  ‘Braille,’ shouted Kenzo, ‘where have you been?’

  ‘Had myself a bit of an argument with some of our old mates,’ said Braille.

  ‘An argument?’ said Kenzo, staring at the bruises, ‘by the look of your face, it was a bit more than an argument.’

  ‘Yeah, but you should’ve seen the other guys.’

  ‘I can well believe it,’ said Kenzo, ‘how did you get away?’

  ‘Had to buy my way out,’ said Braille, ‘cost me a bleeding fortune.’

  ‘How much?’

  ‘A bloody star stone,’ said Braille.

  ‘You have got to be kidding me.’

  ‘Nope, it was either that, or end up as fish food, mind you, I did manage to negotiate somebody else’s release as well.’

  ‘Who?’

  Before Braille could answer, another voice rang out along the causeway, this time female.

  ‘Kenzo!’

  ‘Leona,’ gasped Kenzo in astonishment and the couple ran into each other’s arms.

  ‘I have missed you so much,’ said Kenzo. ‘How are you? Where have you been?’

  ‘Oh, Kenzo,’ she said, tears flowing down her face, ‘when you didn’t come back, I thought you were dead. I tried to tell Pelosus but there was so much going on in the city, he decided he couldn’t help. I tried coming myself, Kenzo, honest I did, but I couldn’t get myself to go into the sewers. Oh, Kenzo, I am so sorry.’ She broke down into floods of tears and Kenzo held her once more.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said, ‘we’re here now and I’ll never leave you again.’

  ‘Kenzo, look,’ interrupted Amber, and pointed up to the Citadel walls.

  All along the castelades, soldiers were leaning over and lowering bundled tarpaulins into the city far below the causeways. The crowds were fascinated and all sorts of theories were bandied around about the contents of the giant parcels. The questions aimed up at the soldiers went unanswered, but eventually they finished their task and the people once again returned to quiet confusion. Finally, the gates opened and a cordon of guards advanced onto the causeway, their spears levelled to drive the people back from the gate. Behind them, another group of men dragged a large box out of the gate and retreated quickly, closely followed by the soldiers. Up above the gates, another figure appeared high on the castelades and Kenzo recognised Petit, obviously waiting for the noise to die down so he could address the people b
elow.

  ‘Citizens of Bastion,’ shouted Petit, ‘I am a representative of the Brotherhood of the Sark and I am here to offer you a choice. What you have witnessed these past two days is unfortunate, but necessary in the greater scheme of things. However, it is time we bring the killings and the destruction to a close. You have just seen my men lowering parcels into the city below. These parcels contain food, water and clothing. Over the next few days, there will be many more such parcels and this will continue everyday going forward. We don’t want anyone else to die, but I have done everything I can and your lives are now in your hands. Before you, is a box containing everything you need to continue living with your families.’

  ‘Open the gates,’ shouted a man, ‘let us back in to the city.’

  ‘The gates will not be opened,’ said Petit, ‘and you will no longer be allowed back within these walls. You can stay there if you want to and though tonight will be very cold, I have no doubt you will survive. But ask yourselves this, how many nights will you survive without food and water? I have done everything I can, the rest is up to you.’

  Petit disappeared from view and group of people surrounded the box, prying open the lid. Kenzo forced his way to the front and waited in anticipation.

  ‘What is it?’ asked a man near him.

  ‘I have no idea,’ said another. ‘It looks like a box of plaited weed.’

  ‘It’s a ladder,’ said Kenzo, having seen similar training aids in the barracks, ‘I think he expects us all to move into the city below.’

  ----

  Chapter 32

  Helzac and the rest of the council stood in Pelosus’s room, staring at the carnage. The furniture was trashed and all around, flesh and bone had been strewn everywhere in what was obviously a frenzied attack.

  ‘Oh my God,’ said Helzac, ‘what happened here?’

  ‘I think that is obvious,’ said Razor and brushed past him to enter the room. Within minutes, he confirmed that the rest of the chambers were empty and they returned to the corridor.

  ‘What now?’ asked Kelly.

  ‘He is still in this building somewhere,’ said Razor, ‘and we are not going to waste this opportunity, come on, he can’t be far.’

  ‘Look,’ said Rimmer, pointing to a row of bloody claw prints on the floor.

  ‘Come on,’ said Razor, ‘it’s pointless waiting any longer, we have a job to do.’ They returned to the stairwell and after a few moments, found the faintest bloodstain on the stairs leading upwards.

  ‘He must have gone up to the castelades,’ said Helzac, ‘and if he has, there’s no way out.’

  ‘Then what are we waiting for?’ said Razor, ‘we’ve got him cornered, let’s get this done.’ He led the way up the stairs, and slung the door outwards into the open air, spear held low before him.

  ----

  The crowd on the causeway was a throng of opinion and argument. Half of the people were for descending into the lower city, whilst the other half were adamant they should be let back in to Bastion. Many tried banging on the sealed gates of both towers to no avail and finally a strong willed man called for order.

  ‘Listen,’ he shouted, ‘enough of this argument. Nobody here can tell his neighbour what should and shouldn’t be done, but let me say this. Night falls in a few hours and we could all be stuck up here to face the elements. I am all for fighting but we can’t get near our enemy and our hands are tied. I have my family with me and they are cold and hungry but below us, there are empty houses, bags of food and bundles of fireweed. I know it is not ideal but perhaps it is better to take this opportunity for tonight at least and re-gather our strategies in the morning. Look to the other causeways either side of us, for they have obviously been given the same choices as us and have already deployed their ladders.’

  Sure enough, the people could see that below the other causeways, some people had already reached the city floor, and were spreading out to retrieve the food bundles.

  ‘If we continue to argue,’ said the man, ‘we will be at risk of not only losing the food parcels below, but also the choice of the better accommodation. I for one will wait no longer and will take my family down to the city. Argue as much as you want, but without me.’

  He jumped down from the wall and started to pull out the ladder. A few seconds passed before other men stepped forward to help him. Within ten minutes, the ladder had been secured and a group of men had already started down, their aim to secure the parcels before any of the other groups reached them. Up above, the remainder busied themselves with organising how the women and babies in particular were going to descend.

  ‘Looks like they anticipated this,’ said a voice and withdrew a woven basket and a single length of rope from the box, ‘all we need to do is secure the children in the basket and lower them down.’

  Within the hour, there were people swarming throughout the city below and queues of people above patiently waiting their turn.

  ‘Are we going down?’ asked Amber, looking up at Kenzo.

  ‘I don’t see any other option,’ said Kenzo. ‘We can’t stay up here forever. I suppose there’s no difference living down there as living in the Citadel.’

  ‘Kenzo, can I speak to you alone?’ interjected Petra.

  Kenzo nodded and walked a few yards away, out of earshot.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked.

  ‘Kenzo, there is something you should know, something that was only revealed to the council this morning. Those people have been forced down there for a reason.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘There is no way out of that city, Kenzo. They will be secured for the rest of their lives within those walls, relying on those above for food and water.’

  ‘Like a prison?’

  ‘I suppose so, yes, but it is worse than that. Apparently, they will be expected to provide these Sark, or whatever they are called, with human sacrifices as payment.’

  ‘What,’ gasped Kenzo, ‘surely you are mistaken?’

  ‘I’m afraid not, Kenzo, I know it is hard to believe but apparently it used to be the accepted way of life many generations ago, right up until the seas rose and breached the outer walls.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘As sure as I can be,’ said Petra.

  ‘That’s horrible,’ said Kenzo, ‘we need to tell them.’

  ‘Wait,’ said Petra, grabbing his arm, ‘to what end? All that would do is create fear and panic. They have suffered enough these past few days.’

  ‘But they have to know,’ said Kenzo.

  ‘They will find out soon enough, I suspect,’ said Petra, ‘at least allow them this brief respite.’

  Kenzo looked around at Leona, Amber and Lenny. All three were smiling as they watched Braille trying to entice an obviously uninterested lady.

  ‘What about us?’ said Kenzo, eventually.

  ‘I see no other option,’ said Petra, ‘we will have to join them sooner or later but the queue moves very slowly. It would seem we will be spending at least one night on this bridge, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.’

  Kenzo nodded grimly.

  ‘Don’t tell the others yet,’ he said, ‘it will be hard enough to sleep tonight without the extra worry.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Petra and returned to the rest of the group.

  ----

  Up on the central tower of the keep, the creature heard the door open behind him and turned to face the men emerging from the stairwell. A low rumbling noise from the depths of his throat vibrated through the very masonry of the tower, clearly audible to the frightened men opposite. All seven trade Governors lined up side by side, each with a hunting spear held parallel to the floor and each silent in awe, as the full horror of the beast finally became evident before their eyes.

  ‘Keep your nerve,’ said a sweating Razor, ‘and spread out.’ All the men moved forward, forming a semi-circle around the beast.

  Arial’s mouth opened in a vicious snarl, the uneven teeth still bloody with bits of flesh
, and tried to advance toward them before being forced back by the points of the men’s weapons. His clawed hands swung uselessly at the spears and slowly he was forced back across the tower floor before being forced up onto the castelades.

  ‘That’s it,’ shouted Helzac, ‘we have him, keep going, force him over.’

  With renewed confidence, they surged forward but before they could drive him over the edge, he did something completely unexpected, he turned and jumped.

  For a second, the councillors were amazed but then all ran forward to witness the creature plummet to his death.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ said Helzac and they all stared uncomprehendingly as the creature extended his arms and stretched out two flaps of skin before gliding across the courtyard to land against one of the opposite walls. As he reached the surface, he extended his clawed hands and feet to grip onto the masonry, before turning to face the floor and scurrying down the vertical stonework to the courtyard below.

  ‘Oh my God,’ whispered Kelly, ‘what on earth is it?’

  Before anyone could answer, the door behind them burst open again and two dozen men ran onto the tower, each brandishing their own spears. Fatman followed them out and addressed the councillors.

  ‘Throw down your weapons,’ he said, ‘or you will die where you stand.’

  After a few moments of hesitation, the cornered men threw down the useless ceremonial spears and Helzac stepped forward.

  ‘I am Helzac,’ he said, ‘and I am the Governor of the Citadel, I demand to speak to Petit.’

  ‘You gave up your right to demand anything the minute you decided to return here to kill Arial,’ spat Fatman.

  ‘Nevertheless, I want to speak to the person in charge.’

  ‘You are speaking to him,’ said Fatman, ‘now, hurry up for I am getting bored.’

  ‘Right,’ said Helzac, ‘in that case, I demand, sorry, request that you take us out of here and release us into the Citadel.’

  ‘Release you? Oh, I don’t think so, Helzac, far too late for that. No, you are more trouble than it’s worth. Now get down on your knees.’