Salt of The Earth: The Fall of Barcelona

by Vlada Asta

  There was something strange about this choice of warriors, some feeling of despair. It was as if they were allowed to survive only if the village didn’t have any Hente at all. But if more than two predators were lurking out there, they might have some trouble.

  Sebastian chased those thoughts away: they brought uncertainty, and that was a dangerous thing during a battle. He didn’t want to become a commander, but the Cardinal was right: this war had no place for loners. He had to work with other soldiers, whether he liked it or not.

  They left the car by the entrance to the village, Julian even parked it so that they could leave urgently if necessary. Moving on it any further was dangerous: the old streets were very narrow, easy to trap the armored vehicle.

  Sebastian was leading the group, with Clode and Maximilian following him and Richard and Julian guarding their back. He appointed that order based on his instructions: an experienced warrior should always remain by a weaker one. He caught himself thinking that he didn’t feel as confident about being a commander as he was on the battlefield. Being responsible for someone’s life turned out to be so difficult…

  “I don’t think there’s any sense in searching for survivors,” Clode noted.

  That was pretty obvious. Tracks on the ground, lines left by claws on the walls… The pack marched through the village openly, but the city didn’t receive any warning about it. That meant the local guardians were slaughtered fast… Ten more lives to the general number of losses.

  It wasn’t the best time to think about it. They came here not for digging graves, but in search of the route that brought the pack to the peninsula. That was important for the future, while those deaths were part of the past.

  They reached the central square where a large fountain used to be and had to stop there. A couple of streets were leading here, but none of them had the tracks of Hente. Those beasts couldn’t have fallen from the sky! It was possible they moved through a couple of streets simultaneously.

  “We need to spread,” Julian said confidently. “Two teams will search through this hole much faster!”

  While all warriors didn’t like Sebastian as their commander, Julian was the only one who tried to openly act as their leader. He enjoyed that kind of attention as well as the chance to give orders. Sebastian noticed it at once, but he was calm about such provocations.

  He knew that nothing was more humiliating than losing his cool.

  “No,” he said. “We’ll continue moving together.”

  “Why? There’s no-one here!”

  “Julian is right,” Clode supported him. “If Hente were still here, they’d show their ugly mugs by now! We can’t stay here all day!”

  “We are staying together.”

  Their words only proved how poor their knowledge of the enemy was. In spite of their appearance, the Slayers were as intelligent as humans, they just acted differently. They could set a trap easily, and the squad dividing would be a true present to them!

  To a certain extent, Julian was right though. Checking the whole village as a single team would make them stay here till the dark, which was also bad, since Hente became more active at night.

  Feeling his anxiety rising, Sebastian made a deep breath. If the Cardinal wanted to punish him through this assignment, he succeeded! Too much depended on his decision, and that was pure torture for him.

  “Had any battles taken place in this village?” he asked.

  “Not big ones,” Maximilian replied. The freshman had studied everything about Point 36. “People left the village on their own accord. It was too expensive to install a hydrosystem here, and they didn’t want to live without decent protection.”

  “And after it was abandoned? Any serious collisions between us and Hente?”

  “No, not here. Up to this moment the point was considered safe and strategically unimportant. Why are you asking, Sir?”

  It was impossible to teach the kid not to use that “Sir”. Maximilian seemed to be filled with the admiration new warriors felt for their older comrades. And that was something Sebastian wanted even less than becoming a commander!

  “The houses on that street collapsed,” he pointed at the temple. “The ruins appear to be fresh, since there isn’t a single plant growing on them.”

  “So what?” Richard was surprised.

  “Hente came to demolish some houses!” Julian smirked.

  “We’re looking for something that shouldn’t be here,” Sebastian reminded them. “There was no reason for these houses to collapse, and we need to know why that happened.”

  “Then let’s go, why waste our time here!”

  “No,” Sebastian let his voice sound a bit stricter. He could ignore their jokes and puns, not disobedience. Sure, he broke an order too, but under different circumstance. “If the Hente are still here, those ruins would make a perfect place for an ambush.”

  “What shall we do then?”

  “We’ll study them from above.”

  “How? By asking the birdies for help?”

  Julian was fooling around, but the other warriors understood his plan. They looked at the cathedral rising ahead of them.

  The building was in perfect condition, it was easy to tell someone took care of it. The squad living here must’ve used it as their base… and was killed there by the pack. Sebastian couldn’t see any damage from outside though, even the doors were in one piece. That confused him.

  “Stay focused,” he warned his companions. “I’ll go first, cover each other’s backs, if they’re here, they can be anywhere.”

  In places like that it was important for all warriors to trust each other, and lack of sympathy in their group could become a burden. But they couldn’t change it right now, so they had to accept it.

  The cathedral was empty and quiet now, though it was easy to tell a fight happened here not too long ago. The wooden benches were piled by the walls, some of them broken, and stone columns had deep gashes on them – tracks of claws and swords. One of the three massive chandeliers decorating the hall was on the floor now, surrounded by broken crystals that looked a lot like tears.

  And there was blood. A lot of it – stains on the floor, lines on the walls and windows, some splashes even reached the ceiling. A broken sword was lying in the corner. Nothing else was left to remind about the missing squad.

  That discovery shocked them, no matter how hard they tried to prepare for it. But it influenced Maximilian the most; Sebastian, who stood next to him, could see the freshman trembling.

  “So there was a fight here after all…” Maximilian whispered. “Why didn’t they warn the city?”

  “That was probably a very quick fight,” Sebastian shook his head. “Hente are smart, they know what radio is. They didn’t let them reach it.”

  There wasn’t a slightest movement here now. The cathedral was filled with sunlight and looked as glorious as ever, as if it didn’t witness the massacre. No warriors would probably ever return to this place…

  All the swords were out not, even without any danger in sight.

  “I don’t get it…” Clode pointed at a huge stain on the floor. “It looks like they were trying to wipe it… But why? It’s obvious what happened here, what’s the use of those attempts?”

  Sebastian didn’t want to answer that. He knew that his subordinates didn’t know much about Hente, and they could be shaken by the truth. But his position as the commander didn’t allow him to stay silent.

  “They weren’t trying to clean anything, they were just licking the blood from the floor. When they have time for it, Hente normally eat the whole body of their victim and drink their blood. And these subspecies, the Slayers, are extremely bloodthirsty.”

  Clode nodded nervously and didn’t ask any further questions. Maximilian became pale and clenched his hands around the sword. That didn’t help: the blade was shaking.

  “We need to get to the tower,” Sebastian informed them. “Come on. They left this place, we can relax now!”

&n
bsp; The cathedral was topped with two sharp towers; a winding staircase led to each of them. Sebastian stopped by the door to that staircase.

  “It’s not safe for all of us to go there. Brother Julian and Brother Clode will stay here for cover. Brother Maximilian and Brother Richard will go with me.”

  He doubted any Hente could be waiting up there and he could easily go alone. But he didn’t want to let Maximilian out of sight, the freshman was too scared, and Richard could actually help him if necessary.

  There wasn’t any blood on the staircase. Furthermore, a layer of dust covering the stones signaled that no-one rose up there for years. A narrow, poorly lit staircase led them to the belfry that opened a spectacular view of the village.

  But Sebastian wasn’t interested in the scenery. He could see the street with the ruined houses from here perfectly, just as he expected. And it was quite a sight…

  The houses, in perfect condition, made of bricks and not looking shabby at all, were not in pieces. The outline of the destroyed area wasn’t chaotic, like it would be from a missile hit, but rather of circular shape. As if a hole suddenly opened in the middle of the village…

  He wasn’t the only one to notice this strange feature, the others were frowning as well.

  “Like a crater suddenly appeared there,” Richard commented. “What could’ve caused this?”

  “Controlled explosion?” Maximilian assumed.

  “Unlikely,” Sebastian objected. “An explosion would damage the houses differently, at least part of them would be thrown outside the circle. But this… it’s as if this area simply fell underground. Besides, Hente don’t use weapons.”

  “You don’t know if they did it!”

  “Who else? First of all, they don’t work with humans, even different subspecies don’t get along too well. Second, look out there,” Sebastian pointed at the horizon. “What do you see?”

  “Nothing…”

  “Exactly. And now look at the other side of the village.”

  They understood what he was trying to say quickly. They could see the tracks of the pack they had observed before from here. But there were no such tracks on any other road, including the one that led to the border.

  That didn’t make any sense. Could the Hente have been moving carefully from the border to this village, and then stopped hiding their tracks all of a sudden? It wasn’t their style. Everything pointed that they started their journey here – which was by all means impossible.

  “Do you think it’s a mine or something?” Richard asked.

  “Could be… But I don’t like the size of it, and the perfect contour. And I’m not even mentioning the fact the Slayers weren’t too interested in digging tunnels before.”

  “Then what’s the meaning of this?” Maximilian looked totally lost.

  “We were sent here to find out. We need to study that crater.”

  “On our own?”

  Their fear was understandable. If it was truly the tunnel the Hente used, they could be attacked by a new pack, larger than before! It was the kind of risk they couldn’t avoid though: they didn’t have the time to wait for backup if the city was under threat.

  “We’ll study the outer part of it,” Sebastian decided. “If there’s no visible tunnel down there, we have nothing to worry about. We’ll report to Cardinal Jeremiah about it, and he’ll send a new squad here.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Richard nodded. “But we need to get down to it immediately. If we start now, we’ll finish by dusk and can go home without staying here for the night.”

  “Agreed.”

  The plan was simple and effective – but they never got a chance to follow it. When they were about to descend from the tower, they heard someone screaming. At first it sounded only in the tower, carried by echo, and then it spread to the street. Leaning over the railing, they saw Julian running desperately across the square. He was followed closely by two Hente chasing him.

  It wasn’t the Slayers’ normal speed. If they wanted to attack him, they’d do it by now. It seemed like they were letting the horrified human escape. They knew he would try to get to the transport, and they wanted to know where the car was.

  “Damn it!” Sebastian hit his fist on the railing. “They’re dividing us!”

  “What do we do now?” Maximilian asked, barely above a whisper.

  “We get down, and fast. We’re trapped here!”

  The screaming in the cathedral didn’t die down; that meant Clode was still alive. But for how long could he hold them back alone? Basically, Julian left him – the more experienced warrior turned out to be more cowardly as well. If they had stayed together, they could’ve fought the Hente off until the others returned. But a lone warrior didn’t stand a chance…

  And yet, he was alive! They could save him… Maybe the Hente decided there were only two warriors in the village?

  Sebastian had never moved so fast before. He didn’t care how narrow or dark this place was, he wasn’t afraid to fall. Only one thing mattered to him now: his squad was under attack, and he had to save the man whose life was his responsibility!

  But when he got back to the door, he understood it was nothing but a trap.

  They didn’t kill Clode, they made him scream, because they knew it would attract his comrades. By the time Sebastian and the others returned, the warrior’s wounds were already too severe to survive. The floor was covered in fresh blood… Black jaws were lying by the wall, proving that Clode managed to kill one of those freaks after all. But seven more surrounded him, and his sword was pushed into a stone wall to the hilt.

  Despite the pain and his wounds, Clode managed to look at his squad. It was hard for him to talk, blood streaming over his chin in rivulets, but he tried.

  “Commander… one of them… is different…”

  They didn’t let him finish. The Slayer standing next to him opened its huge mouth, and Clode was just gone. His head and shoulders disappeared in the black jaws; the Slayer threw the rest of the body to its pack.

  Sebastian managed to understand the dying soldier after all. There was a leader here! That was very rare, because normally Hente didn’t obey anyone, they were guided by some invisible force humans couldn’t comprehend. But one of the Slayers acted differently now. It preferred to stay on its legs instead of falling on all fours, as if trying to equal humans. Its eyes were black, but with an unusual red light to them. Sebastian didn’t know whether than Hente had any special powers or not.

  But he had seen one of those creatures before – fifteen years ago. Remembering those days and seeing the blood on the floor filled his heart with rage. These freaks shouldn’t win, they have no right to win! If his squad died here… what if another pack would head for Barcelona? What if it would never stop? And they, the warriors who perished here, wouldn’t be able to change anything!

  They had to get out and warn everyone. But how could they do it with just the three of them left alive – and only one of them actually having the combat experience? With seven beasts inside, there were more than two for each human… Not to mention the intelligent leader on their side!

  Richard and Maximilian tried to look confident, but even Sebastian could tell how scared they were. And the Hente sensed it! That made the situation worse… almost hopeless.

  He shouldn’t think that way! He was made their commander for a reason, it wasn’t just a punishment for his mistake. The Cardinal entrusted him with this work, because he believed in Sebastian, believed that he could bring those soldiers home. Wasn’t that what he had been training for?...

  He wasn’t worried about his own death. He was thinking only about getting the other two out of here. He had to – he was the strongest of them!

  “We can’t kill all of them,” Sebastian lowered his voice to make sure only Richard and Maximilian heard him. “We need to run and warn the city. They expect us to move to the door, but there’s a large window in the opposite wall. I’ll distract them, and you make a run for it. Move b
y the wall and watch your back – the Slayers love attacking from behind. Once you get to the window, break it and head for the car. Take the narrowest street, so they can’t attack you all at once.”

  “What about you, Sir?”

  “I’ll cover you. Don’t think of me, think about getting to the car.”

  If there still was a car waiting – anything could happen because of Julian! But they were in no position to think about it now.

  He didn’t ask if they were ready or not. If he let them analyze the situation, their fear would only grow. Sebastian simply acted first, that strategy always worked for him.

  He made a step forward and threw two knives at the creatures. One of them hit the target, and the Hente was gone in a cloud of ashes. The other knife missed the leader, hit the column and fell to the floor with a melodic clink.

  Now the creatures’ attention was concentrated on Sebastian; that was exactly what he was aiming for. Only one thing bothered him: his intuition that normally told him he wasn’t going to die was silent now. Sebastian didn’t let that stop him. Even if he died and the others lived, that would be his victory.

  His comrades didn’t fail him. In the corner of his eye Sebastian could see them leaving the staircase and moving along the wall, just like he had told them to. That filled him with strength, and he sped the fight up. Three knives cut the air, none of them hitting the predators, but he didn’t expect it. He wasn’t doing this to win, he was just distracting the monsters, they should focus on him and forget about the other humans. He had to become their only goal!

  One of the predators went for a desperate move. It fell on four paws, jaws down, and tried crawling closer to the human to break his legs. Sebastian made the other Hente pull back with a long stroke of his sword, let the crawling one get closer and stabbed it with a dagger, three blades opening like a fan inside the creature’s head.

  Now there were five of them – with no additional loses among humans. It made Sebastian feel hopeful; inspired by that success, he felt this unique thrill that only came to him during battles. He was no longer helpless, he could oppose them, and there was no clear winner in this fight!