by S T Branton
“Yeah. I’m not following your ass anywhere else, lady. We had it made in this place.”
“You can’t bust in, take our drinks away, and kill people outta nowhere. Where the hell have you been, anyway?”
“Hey!” Veronica shouted. “Let the woman talk, will you? She’s on our side. I swear it.” She nudged me in the ribs as if to tell me to get on with it.
“Okay, look.” I held up my hands, one of which still held the sword. “I understand that this looks bad. And I understand that you’re probably super angry at me for ruining something that looked like a great thing. I wish it was, guys. I wish we could have ridden this whole thing out in this base and been perfectly safe. But the general wanted to kill us all.”
It took a few minutes simply to make myself heard over the clamor that erupted after my last statement. What was supposed to be a joyous feast had turned into an impromptu town hall, where I was the elected official, and they were the loud, opinionated public.
They barely stopped short of throwing things at my head, but I could tell that some of them wanted to. I could hardly blame them, considering they didn’t know the whole story. Eventually, I was able to explain everything to them, and Veronica convinced them to believe me. The survivors’ rage at me turned slowly to the general instead, and to the gods he had meant to serve through his grand sacrifice.
“For now,” I said, “we can stay here, and we will.” A resounding cheer went up, and it felt like a two-ton boulder was lifted from my chest. “My team and I will defend this place from whatever comes our way. If we play our cards right, maybe we can get reinforcements and make this a real settlement. Until then, it’s up to us to make sure this place keeps running smoothly. Can we do that?”
Another cheer sounded. “Yeah!”
“Good job, Vic,” Veronica said, grinning. “You were on pretty thin ice there for a minute, but you pulled it off.”
“Hey, why don’t we rename the fort?” suggested a teenage kid near the front. “The general’s not runnin’ it anymore, so it makes sense, right? Fresh start, clean slate, all of that. It’s our place now.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Veronica. “What should we call it?”
I shrugged. “I’m only one person. I think it should be up to them.”
“How about Fort Victory?” the youngster asked. “That’s like, your name, isn’t it? Vic for Victory?”
I laughed. “That’s not really how it works, but you know what? Sure, I’ll take it.”
I wholeheartedly support this notion, Marcus agreed. It is quite a magnanimous gesture after the contention which you faced. I admit I am somewhat surprised.
“Hey, man, people can be pretty great,” I told him. “And kids think swords are cool.”
This has been a fact since the days of the Roman Empire.
“To Fort Victory!” A third cheer went up.
Frank pushed to the front of the crowd with a glass in his hand. “I’ll drink ta that,” he yelled, placing the cup to his lips.
The cheer turned to a cacophony of terrified screaming.
“Frank!” I suppressed the urge to laugh. “You can’t do shit like that.”
His shoulders slumped. “None of you can take a damn joke.” Then he looked at the glass, sniffed it, and drank anyway. The survivors who saw him held their breath until they realized he was fine, and then they broke into laughter.
“Don’t do this,” he warned. “Don’t any of you do this. I can do it because I’m already frickin’ dead.” Their laughter ceased. “Inside,” he added quickly. “I’m dead inside. Aren’t we all? Haha!”
Veronica sighed.
I said, “Dude, don’t quit your day job.”
The mobster threw his hands up. “I just—I’m tryin’, all right? Ol’ Frank is tryin’ his best.”
After that, it seemed easier to breathe again. We cleared the broken doors away and dumped anything from the tables that might have been poisoned.
“Let’s figure out a way to test the food in the kitchen,” I said. “If it’s good, there’s no reason not to have the feast now.”
“Good call,” Jules said. “Everyone’s probably hungry anyway. It’ll be a good way to defuse tension.” She and Veronica headed into the back. A moment later, they reappeared. “Bad news,” Jules informed me. “No one actually cooked anything. It seems the general didn’t expect anyone to make it that far.”
“Wow. What a total jackass.” I rubbed my face. “Okay. Should we adjourn, then?”
“I mean, we could still cook,” she said. “We’ll need some help, but we can definitely pull it together.”
“I’ll put out a call. I bet they’ll be willing.” I stepped to the front of the mess hall. The general’s body no longer lay where he had fallen behind the table, which I was glad to see. I cleared my throat, and a hush coursed through the group. As I was about to speak, a familiar voice interrupted me.
“We’ve got a problem.” Maya stood in the open doorway, dripping wet, with Luis at her side. They were both out of breath. “A huge problem.”
“Maya!” Two people cried her name out in unison. One of them was Frank, and to my surprise, the other was Steph. Deacon raised an eyebrow.
They both said, “I love you,” still in concert. Deacon raised the other eyebrow. The two immediately turned to stare at each other in horror.
“Thanks,” Maya said. “There’s no time for that right now. The gods are coming.”
“Oh, fuck. Of course, they are.” I hurried to pull Veronica and Jules out of the kitchen. “Change of plans. It’s fight time.” They followed me, and I grabbed Deacon. “Come on. We have to distribute some weapons. Where’s Brax?”
“Here.” He stood by the exit, so quiet that I’d almost walked right by him. “Tell me I can kick some ass since you didn’t save anything for the rest of us.”
“It was only one guy. Or two, I guess.” I shook my head. “Whatever. Yes, you will get to kick ass, but first, I need you to get Dan and help him with the guns he confiscated. We might need them all.” He looked doubtful, but he agreed and slipped past Maya and Luis. I turned to them next. “Did you see them? What are we up against?” I held my hand up. “Wait, don’t tell me. Cats, right?
“Cats?” Luis looked at me like I’d grown another head. “I don’t know man, but she’s no joke,” he answered. “She’s got a whole army behind her. I’m talking waves.”
“It’s true,” Maya confirmed. “She must be a real god. There’s no other way she could control so many. They’re still a good way out, but they’re moving fast as hell. We got back here as fast as we could. I don’t know how much time we’ve got before they arrive. Not much.”
“She?” I asked. “Is it Tahn?” Thoughts of a rematch danced in my mind.
Maya shook her head. “I don’t think so. It didn’t look like her. It’s someone new.”
I nodded. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough. Deacon, come with me. Maya, Veronica, Luis, Jules, help everyone else get ready. See if anyone will join the fight. We’ll need as much help as we can get. Everyone else needs to stay in the fort, no matter what.”
“Roger,” Luis said. He and the three women moved past me into the mass of refugees that was once again awash with confusion.
“Where are we going?” Deacon asked.
“The general’s study,” I said. “He hid the lockbox with all our shit in there. I’m willing to bet he has a secret stash, too.”
But we had to move fast. Time was already running out.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The fort came alive again. Deacon and I ran for the commander’s office as everyone else streamed out of the mess hall behind us. The rush of people was loud and chaotic, but the tone had changed. They were scared, of course, but also determined and hopeful. We were no longer a herd of victims. We were rising up against a common enemy to fight for our new home.
Their courage inspired me.
The door to the corridor still lay in pieces where
I’d broken through it. Deacon saw it and chuckled. “If I ever need to find you, all I gotta do is follow the trail of destruction.”
I shrugged. “I was a lot more subtle before I got my hands on a sword that cuts through everything in the universe. Besides, it was a gift. It’d be rude not to use it.”
“That sword still blows my mind,” he said. “I can’t believe someone gave that to you, but I’m so glad they did. You’re the best person for that thing.”
I stepped across the splintered wreckage. “It’s worked out so far, more or less,” I said. “I’m making it up as I go, but I think we all are. You get good at improvising when it’s your only choice.”
The door to the study was open as I’d left it, and so was the bookcase with the lockbox. The first thing we did was shovel out the rest of the weapons. Deacon slipped his guns back on and smiled. “That’s better.”
I nodded. “I know the feeling. Now, let’s make sure he wasn’t hiding a special secret in here. He seemed like the type of guy who’d have something up his sleeve just in case.”
We tore that room apart quickly. I dumped the desk drawers on the floor and scoured every inch of the frame for any other secret switches. No luck there.
Deacon pulled down everything he could reach from the walls and knocked the shelves clean. He found nothing except a few colonies of dust bunnies—until his fingers hit a groove as he slid them across the room’s longest wall.
“Wait,” he called. “Here.” The panel was almost five feet tall and as heavy as shit. It took both of us to roll it back. A light went on in the exposed compartment. We looked at each other.
“What’d I tell you?” I asked triumphantly. “Look at that thing.”
“Talk about a contingency plan.” Deacon planted his foot on the compartment ledge and undid the metal clamps holding the RPG in place. He hefted it to his shoulder, testing the weight. “Yeah, that’ll leave a dent.”
A black case lay in an alcove in the floor of the hidden compartment. I took it out and found four pristine rockets laying in a thickly cushioned base. “Good enough,” I said. “Time to get this show on the road.”
Deacon slung the launcher onto his back, and we beat it out of there as fast as our legs could carry us. It wasn’t quite the treasure trove I’d hoped for but having a rocket launcher was better than not having one. Worst-case scenario, a few rockets could do a lot of damage to an incoming horde.
Hopefully, Dan or his people knew how to handle the thing.
A truly monstrous machine, Marcus commented. I suppose in some ways, we are fortunate that the gods waited so long to attack. The technology of war has developed in frightening ways.
“We’re fighting bullshit with fire, my friend,” I said.
The scene outside remained largely unchanged, aside from the fact that no more families were running around the halls. The fort belonged to fighters now, and the big mess hall stood empty. I spotted my team rejoining with Dan and Brax near the front entrance, divvying up a big pile of guns between them. Some of those rifles looked pretty damn lethal.
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered. “That’s where all his good weapons went. He was expecting a much bigger fight, wasn’t he?”
Alas, foiled by the element of surprise.
“Thank God.” I shuddered to think about what a bloodbath it would have been otherwise.”
“Hey, there’s our fearless leader,” Maya quipped as Deacon and I drew closer to the group. “I finished bringing everyone up to speed. We’re almost ready to move out.”
“Civvies are in position,” Steph announced. She very pointedly did not look at either Maya or Frank. “They’re waiting on a go word.”
“We don’t have enough,” Brax cut in. “Not by a long shot. We’re damned if we do this.”
I gave him a look. “You’re damned as it is, so what’s the difference? And we can do this.”
Uncharacteristic surprise softened his face, and he shrugged. “Fair enough.”
“What about the guards we stuck in the dungeon?” Jules asked, loading her gun with impressive deftness. She had really adapted well to the situations she’d been thrown into head-first. “There are a lot of them. If we let them help us, we might break even.”
The suggestion made everyone skeptical. “How can we trust those pricks?” Luis demanded. “They already murdered a shit ton of people. How do we know they won’t turn on us once we let them out?”
I had no good response to that, and I could see the others came up empty too. Deacon was the one who spoke as the voice of reason. “Well, maybe this is reckless, but under these specific circumstances, I think we can put some faith in them. You guys saw how fast the vast majority gave up after Vic took the General out. They were basically brainwashed. Plus, they know that if the fort is overrun, they’ll be slaughtered.”
True. I would be very surprised if the gods planned to honor whatever deal the general believes he made, said Marcus. I do not think these men will curry any more favor than anyone else on the battlefield.
I nodded. “Settled. Dan, I know I asked you to lock them up, but can you—”
“We’re on it.” The soldier selected a handful of his men and sent them off to the dungeon. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to stay for the rest of the briefing.”
“Not at all.” I arched my eyebrows at him and Brax. “How’s the internal militia coming?”
They looked at each other. For once, the silent exchange didn’t feel outright belligerent. “With the new recruits, I think we’ve figured it out,” the demon said. His tone was as flat as ever, but at least there was no apparent disgust in his voice.
I motioned to Deacon, who presented the rocket launcher and its ammo. “Maybe this will help.”
Dan whistled. “You’re damn right it will. I got a guy who’s gonna love that shit.”
I laughed. “That’s good because I’d rather not get blown up by our own artillery.”
He gave me the hugest shit-eating grin. “We ain’t gonna live forever, but this might help us live till tomorrow.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Make every shot count. Get moving, soldier.”
He did as he was told, heading off to the wall surrounding the fort. After he’d gone, the dusky evening air filled with an ominous sound—marching. And it was coming our way.
Steph sighed. “Well, that doesn’t sound great.”
“Jeezum Crow,” Frank muttered. “You poor guys must be flyin’ completely blind. I’ve got super-vision, and I can’t see a damned thing out there.”
“We can fix that.” Luis glanced at Maya. “Let’s light ʼem up.” He nodded toward the watchtowers standing silent guard over the gates.
“Hey, yeah! Don’t worry, Vic. We got this covered.” Maya took off at a dead sprint, and the kid raced in the other direction. Seeing them working so well as a team lifted my spirits. That was the kind of mutual support we would need if we wanted to survive.
Luis and Maya made it to the guard towers, and the giant searchlights snapped on, blazing huge swaths of light down onto the area in front of the garrison. I expected to see shapes in the distance, but they were right up close to the first gate and in perfect formation, stopping for nothing.
The lights panned across ranks and files of staring, baleful faces. Each set of eyes flashed back a distinct yellow-gold. They were tall and lithe, and they looked as lethal as anything I’d ever seen before. It didn’t take an expert to know they would move incredibly fast.
Next to me, Deacon chuckled nervously. “Man, I’m glad this is happening here instead of our shitty camp in the woods. We’d have been dead as dog shit.”
I agreed, but I was too busy searching for the god among the army to respond.
She was maybe four rows back and moving forward rapidly. I had no doubt she was the goddess leading the charge because she towered over her underlings, and her gaze had focused immediately on the Gladius Solis. Her eyes gleamed a deeper, more potent gold than those of her f
ollowers, and even from that distance, I could see her narrow, malevolent pupils. They were like Tahn’s, in a way, but it definitely wasn’t my previous adversary.
I had no idea who she was, though. She moved with a grace that was beautiful and eerie. It marked her unquestionably as a creature not from this world. Had I not known at a glance what she really was, I might have been transfixed by her beauty. She sang no siren song, but she really didn’t need to.
“Oh, shit.” Frank mopped his forehead with the remains of his sleeve. “That’s one hell of a broad.” Steph shot him a dirty look. He held up his hands. “We were all thinkin’ it.”
The goddess reached the front of her army and stopped, halting them behind her without a word. Dan’s soldiers rejoined us with the general’s formerly imprisoned men, and she watched them take position intently. Her mouth dropped open, and she hissed a command. The word, in some unrecognizable tongue, sliced through the air. In less than a second, the humanoid figures amassed in front of us had transformed into hundreds of big, feral cats. Their eyes bored through the darkness. Doubtless, they could see us with perfect clarity.
“Uh, Marcus?” I asked. The cats released a piercing, unearthly scream. Their razor-sharp fangs stood out in brutal relief. Every one of them was a deep, inky black that made it almost impossible to pick them out from each other or from the lengthening shadows around them. They swarmed at the first fence, a living, writhing mass. We watched them scale it like it barely even existed. They seemed to melt through the heavy links, and the razor wire on the top had no observable effect at all. Some of them simply made gaping tears in the bottom and squeezed their bodies beneath.
Cats? Marcus sounded perplexed. I suppose this must be Bastas. I have not laid eyes upon her in centuries.
I groaned. “Oh, good. We just won the shit lottery.”
“Speak for yourself,” Steph said, leveling her gun. “I fucking hate cats.”
Chapter Thirty
I had thought that the double fence would buy us a little time, but it was an insignificant hurdle to Bastas’s minions. The cats were up and over in no time, a sinewy flood with claws and teeth bared. They struck the ground with impossible lightness, sprang up, and transformed yet again. This time, they launched into the attack.
