Rogue Vanguard: Book One of the Eterialumen

by Peter Hall

Durandal looked down at the fallen knight. “He was a brave warrior, and my good friend. We were heading back to Greymoore when we were taken by surprise.” He looked around with a concerned expression and rubbed his chin. “It’s not safe in these parts. Where are you headed m’lady?”

  “I was headed north, to Asgard. I have seen these creatures before, in Asgard a long time ago. I was not sure if they still existed and I certainly did not know they had ventured this far south.” Bryn said.

  Durandal raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down. “Perhaps you would join our cause then? The Knights of Greymoore are sworn to protect these lands. Seems to me that you can handle yourself fairly well, maybe you can help us defeat this scourge.”

  Bryn narrowed her gaze and looked at Durandal. “Maybe you can help me, I think is more accurate.”

  The knight looked a little deflated. “Come,” he said ”if we take the bridge east and head through the highlands we can make it to the castle by nightfall. Will you join me?”

  “Alright, you lead the way.” Bryn said and mounted her horse. Perhaps these knights can be of some use, she thought.

  Durandal whistled and his horse trotted up. He mounted the armored steed and the two set off east towards Greymoore Castle. They rode all day into the evening and passed many burned out farms and villages on their journey. They urged any villagers they came across who were still alive to head south. The scale of the destruction was starting to sink in. By the time they had reached the castle, Bryn had lost count of how many dead she had seen on the way. This was an assault. An all out invasion.

  Greymoore Castle stood high on a cliff overlooking Siera and the Great Western Sea. It was a tall, ancient structure made of stone with long sharp turrets and two massive draw-bridges to the south-east and north-west leading into the gothic mountain fortress. It was an imposing building and the sharp edges and stretched appearance of the Castle gave it an ominous presence. As they made their way up the winding mountainside, they saw dark shapes hovering around the castle. As they got closer, Bryn realised what the shapes were. Bats. The castle was under siege. The draw-bridge on this side of the castle was raised. They both pulled up on their reins as they came to a rise, and the horses came to a screeching halt. Durandal looked over at Bryn with a look of disbelief and then looked ahead at the scene in front of them. Bryn was in just as much shock as she looked ahead. There were at least one hundred giant bats circling the castle, swooping down and lifting men up into the air, then dropping them to their deaths. Flaming arrows were shooting from the battlements and parts of the castle were being smashed in by the swooping terrors. Soldiers were falling to their deaths over the walls. It was chaos. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

  There was a huge canyon around the castle that was impossible to cross when the draw-bridge was raised. On this side of the canyon, directly in front of Bryn and Durandal was a horde of the white demons. There were thousands of them, bunched up and jostling around. They were making awful low, animal-like growls and high pitched screams as they gathered at the canyon watching the attack on the castle. Then Bryn noticed there were demons climbing along the sheer mountainside around the canyon to get to the castle. They’re going for the draw-bridge...

  Durandal gripped his sword and looked over at Bryn who was looking back at him shaking her head. There was a snapping sound that echoed through the mountains and the draw-bridge came crashing down with a thunderous noise that made their horses rear up. The demon horde charged over the bridge and flooded into the castle as they watched on in horror. Nothing could be done and they both knew it. Screams echoed through the mountains, the castle was burning, flames were shooting out of the windows. Bats were ripping men apart in the sky and blood was raining down across the cliffs.

  “Greymoore is lost! We need to go, now!” Bryn shouted to Durandal as he stared at the besieged castle. He turned his horse and joined her.

  “We need to head to the city of Galadon, it’s not far from here, we must warn them!” Durandal said. “This way!” He kicked his heels and they fled back down the mountain as the castle burned behind them.

  They rode all night without stopping and reached Galadon the following evening. It was a large city built on a mountainside with grand high white walls and golden domed battlements with soldiers patrolling along the perimeter. There was a modest castle in the centre of the city with golden domes and white walls. The western side was full of small houses, there was a river running through the centre of the city and a market on the southern side. The city was bustling with activity when they pulled up at the stables outside the southern gate, the horses were sweating and breathing heavily from the long ride. They dismounted and Durandal walked over to Bryn.

  “We need to seek out the Captain of the Guard, we need to warn them.” he said, as the stable boy led the horses into the stables.

  “Alright lead the way.”

  As they approached the huge city gates, a guard approached them. He was wearing heavy steel armor and a green and white tunic with a symbol of a lion upon it. He was holding a large halberd and a green shield.

  “Halt! Who goes there!” the guard said.

  “Durandal of Greymoore and Brynhildr of the North.” Durandal replied.

  “What business have you here in Galadon?”

  “We seek the Captain of the Guard,” Durandal said, “we come bearing news of an army approaching from the west, we must warn the steward immediately.”

  The guard looked at Durandal with a puzzled look on his face and then started laughing. “Ha! Army? From the west? You don’t know what youre talkin’ about matey! Haven’t you seen what’s goin’ on up on the northern front? Ha! Where did you say you're from? Greymoore? You mean that castle near the sea full of drunks and thieves? Ha!”

  Durandal grabbed the guard’s cuirass near the neck, put his foot behind his leg and pushed him over. The guard crashed onto his back and Durandal stood on his chest. Durandal’s eyes flashed and he gritted his teeth. “Greymoore has fallen, it's overrun with thousands of demons and they are headed this way! Get the Captain of the Guard!” he said, staring into the guards eyes.

  Durandal lifted his foot and the guard scrambled to his feet then ran inside the city gates. Bryn sat down and rested against a tree near the stables, there was a lantern hanging from a post lighting up the area as the daylight started to fade. Bryn watched the sky change from bright pink to deep purple as the stars began to appear and Durandal paced back and forth, waiting for the guard to return. Finally a group of soldiers walked through the gates. They were led by a man wearing a shiny, light gold cuirass and a green cape. Durandal walked up and met them in the middle of the road. The group stopped and the man in the gold cuirass spoke. “My name is Steig. I am the Captain of the Galadon Guard. My man says that you have some information regarding the demon army.”

  Durandal gripped the hilt of his sword. “My companion and I just rode all night and day without respite from Greymoore Castle. It was overrun with an army of thousands.”

  “Companion?” Bryn called out.

  Durandal cleared his throat and turned to Steig. He could see fear in his eyes.

  “Thousands?” Steig said.

  “Yes. White demons and winged beasts. We must prepare to defend Galadon. We are in grave danger.” Durandal said.

  Steig nodded and gestured for them to come. “Follow me.”

  The group entered the throne room and the steward was waiting. He stood up from his seat and walked towards them. He was an old man with long grey hair and a long grey beard, he wore a green velvet robe and a gold crown. As they approached the steward Steig stepped forward and bowed. The old man looked confused.

  “What is the meaning of this?” The steward said, bewildered by the sudden activity in the huge empty throne room.

  “My lord forgive me, we have an emergency.” Steig said, staring at the ground.

  “Emergency?! What the Hades are you talking about, boy!”

  “Castle Greym
oore has fallen to a demon army my lord.”

  The steward’s eyes widened and he reeled back. “Demon army?! Greymoore?! What is this nonsense boy! Why do you come to me at this late hour with this, this, drivel!”

  Durandal stepped forward and eyeballed the old man and spoke calmly. “Listen you old fool. There are a thousand bloodthirsty demons about to overrun your precious city. Gather your forces and sound the city bells or I will cut your head off where you stand and do it myself.”

  The steward was shocked. He stared at Durandal and he saw the seriousness in his eyes. Steig drew his sword and held it to the back of Durandal’s neck. The steward lifted his hand, still staring at Durandal. “Put it down boy. This man has the look of a killer. I believe I will take him on his word.” The steward looked at Steig. “Sound the bells, boy.”

  Steig led Bryn and Durandal to the guard barracks as the city bells rang and the citizens of Galadon locked themselves in their homes. Bryn moved up and walked beside Steig and looked at him. He was a young man of no more than twenty years of age, he had scruffy brown hair and a scar running down the left side of his face.

  “Steig, How many people live in this city?” Bryn asked.

  “About two thousand.” he said looking at Bryn as he opened the door to the barracks.

  “And how many soldiers?” Bryn asked.

  “Well, most of our troops are stationed north but all up we have around five hundred.”

  Bryn grabbed his shoulder. “How many here?”

  Steig cleared his throat “Maybe, one hundred.”

  Bryn looked at Durandal and he shook his head.

  She felt a wave of panic and her heart started pounding. Steig lit a torch in the middle of the room. He grabbed a cuirass and walked over to Bryn, handing it to her. “Here, take this.” he said and walked over to a weapon rack on the far wall.

  The cuirass was made of steel and shaped in a female form. It had an ornate leaf pattern around the edges and was of fine craftsmanship. Goddess! Steig came back with a royal blue shirt of fine silk and pants neatly folded with a blue and red cape, a pair of fine black leather boots and a sturdy steel gauntlet. He handed the pile of clothes to Bryn.

  “Here put this on, you look like hades. It’s a ceremonial set of armor that used to belong to the queen of Galadon many years ago. I have to go and rally the troops, arm yourselves and come outside when you are ready.” Steig said and left the room.

  Bryn threw the pile of clothes on the ground, lifted her shirt over her head and then pulled her boots and her pants off. Durandal’s eyes widened as Bryn stood there looking at him completely naked, her statuesque body covered in scars and tribal tattoos. He quickly turned around and looked at the wall. Bryn smiled to herself and put the fresh set of armor on.

  “You can turn around now.” Bryn said and Durandal slowly turned back toward her and coughed.

  Bryn pulled on her new boots. “We’re about to be swarmed with a thousand demons you realise? But thank you for turning around, very chivalrous.”

  Durandal’s face went red. “Yes, well... a knight lives by a certain code.”

  Bryn looked at him and raised her eyebrow. They both started laughing. For a moment they forgot about the impending doom they were about to face. She walked over to the weapon rack on the wall, grabbed a belt and tied it around her waist, then she grabbed a steel longsword and sheathed it at her side. She walked up a little further and took a quiver full of arrows and threw it on her back along with a fine wooden hunting bow. “Alright let’s do this.” She opened the door and they walked outside, ready for whatever hell may come.

  The city was quiet except for the ringing of the bells echoing through the streets. The citizens were locked in their houses and the city gates were closed. The only way in was through one of two gates or over the walls. The western wall was built on a sheer cliff that was inaccessible and the eastern side was built next to a huge mountain that rose high above the city. Steig had stationed around forty archers along the western wall and around twenty soldiers behind both northern and southern gates. Five royal guards were in the castle protecting the steward and Steig, Bryn and Durandal were standing on the wall above the southern gate.

  “If we get overrun,” Steig said, staring into the distance, “we sound the horns and garrison in the castle.”

  Bryn looked at him, confused. “What about the villagers? They will be slaughtered!”

  He kept watching the road. “I know.” he said and turned to Bryn. “So let’s not get overrun.”

  Bryn grabbed his arm. “You need to garrison the villagers in the castle now!”

  Steig pulled his arm away. “The steward won’t allow it.”

  “What? Why not!” Bryn shouted.

  “He thinks the walls will hold, I tried to reason with him but he won't listen. He’s old and stubborn… and stupid.”

  Durandal unsheathed his mighty silver broadsword known as Nightclaw and looked over at them. “It’s too late, they’re here.”

  Then they heard it. The rumbling and screeching in the distance, like a storm on the horizon. Bryn equipped her bow and grabbed an arrow out of the quiver.

  Steig unsheathed his longsword and looked over at Bryn. “Hold the gate.” He said and then turned around and headed over to the archers on the western wall. “Hold the walls!” he shouted as he walked past the soldiers. “This is it! Ready weapons! Archers! On my mark!”.

  The thunderous flapping and screeching was getting louder and louder. A soldier on a battlement blew a horn and the wind suddenly picked up. Bryn aimed her bow and the swarm of monstrous bats swooped out of the darkness in a flurry of claws and wings. I’m not going to die here.

  “Fire!” Steig Shouted, raising his sword.

  Bryn shot her arrow and it hit an incoming bat directly between the eyes, then she ducked down behind the wall and took cover as the bat flew past and crashed into the ground below. The sound of screaming and general chaos was deafening. Bryn looked up and saw hundreds of the flying terrors above her. Durandal swung his sword and hacked the wing off of an incoming bat. The creature screeched and spiralled into the ground as black blood sprayed in Bryns face. The terrible creatures were grabbing the archers in their claws and lifting them into the darkness, screaming. Their claws were smashing into the walls as they swooped and chunks of stone were blowing up all around as the remaining few archers kept firing on the beasts. Steig was standing his ground on the western wall, hacking the creatures out of the sky with his sword. Durandal smashed another bat out of the sky in a spray of black mist and Bryn grabbed an arrow and stood up. The demons were charging towards the gate. She fired her arrow, it sailed a hundred feet and landed in a demon’s skull, blasting it backwards into the crowd.

  “Incoming!” She screamed and started firing arrows into the horde rushing towards the gate.

  Durandal crunched another bat mid air and its putrid black blood sprayed across the wall. The demons reached the gate and started immediately climbing up. It was a sea of white ghosts in the night, Bryn could hear the growling and screeching horde as she kept firing her arrows. She slung her bow across her back and unsheathed her sword as a demon came up over the gate in front of her. She swung her sword and decapitated it in a spray of black mist as Durandal stabbed another incoming bat. Another two demons crawled over and Bryn stabbed the first one in the face and kicked the second one off the wall. Durandal turned and decapitated a demon as it crawled up when a bat swooped and knocked him off the rampart to the ground below. He fell down behind a group of soldiers that were defending the gate, stabbing the demons with spears as they piled up outside. Durandal!

  More demons were crawling over the gate and Bryn was stabbing and slashing them as they came up. Everything was covered in demon blood and she started to feel dizzy. She looked out beyond the gate and saw a sea of endless demons, thousands of them surging forward. She looked to her right and saw the demons pouring over the western wall. We are overrun… Another demon crawled up an
d she cut its head off. She heard a horn blow and then she heard screaming, it was women and children screaming. Bryn stabbed another demon in the face as it crawled over the wall and she dropped her sword and rubbed her eyes. A bat swooped past and knocked her over. The demons were crawling over and dropping down onto the soldiers below.

  She heard screams and looked up and saw a demon hissing and coming towards her. No… She grabbed her sword from the rampart and stood up. She swung the sword as it lunged and smashed its head mid flight. She turned and dropped down to the ground behind the gate. There were three soldiers left stabbing the demons with spears through the gate and Durandal was fighting the growing number of demons behind them. He cleaved a demon’s head off and looked up just as Bryn came flying down from the wall and landed on a demon, her knee crushing it’s head as she landed. She got up and smashed another demon's head to pieces with a powerful swing of her blade. Durandal ran over to her and grabbed her arm.

  “We need to get to the castle, now! Run!” He shouted and stabbed an oncoming demon in the gut.

  Bryn got behind her sword and charged forward, stabbing and slashing the demons in her wake. Durandal ran behind her and they headed towards the castle. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the last three soldiers getting ripped apart at the gate as the demons poured over the walls. They sprinted through the smoke and bodies, the terrifying monsters flying all around and swooping them with their giant talons, the horde of white demons closing in on them from behind. Bryn saw the castle up ahead and Steig was fighting off demons at the entrance doors with two other guards. They ran for the door and Steig waved them over. “Get inside!”

  They were closing the doors as they got there and Steig gestured for them to get in. Bryn looked to her left and saw a small child walking down the road in the distance, surrounded by bodies and demons were all around killing the villagers. “No!” She screamed.

  Durandal grabbed her and dragged her inside the huge wooden reinforced doors to Galedon Castle. The soldiers locked the doors behind them and Bryn pulled away from Durandal. She dropped to her knees, dropped her sword and started crying into her hands. The demons were thumping on the doors, bats smashing into them trying to break through. Durandal walked over to Steig who had his hands on his knees catching his breath.