Salt of The Earth: The Fall of Barcelona

by Vlada Asta

  That was why Sebastian continued to fight. Not for himself – he had already lived through his best moments. He was fighting so that others could make those small steps too and learn the happiness one day could bring.

  He knew that couldn’t last forever. He stood in a cloud of black smoke – the ashes of his enemies. He didn’t feel tired, and his deeply cut arm didn’t hurt somehow. He was ready to give this battle all the energy he had left, because there would be no tomorrow for him.

  But apart from his luck and decisions, there were other factors that influenced the battle. And weapons became the main one of them.

  First he ran out of throwing knives. Each of them served him well, but picking them up was useless – the salt load in them was designed for one kill. Then the dagger drained itself. The salt cartridge was empty, and Sebastian had nothing to replace it with.

  His sword served him the longest. Sebastian took a couple of additional cartridges for it, and he was replacing them swiftly, he didn’t slow down for a second. But everything ended… He understood that his death was near when the wounds left by his blade stopped falling into ashes.

  He didn’t know how much time had passed since everything started, how many Hente he had killed and if there were any civilians left in the city. He had done everything he could and he was ready to meet his fate.

  One of Tsiara’s creations finally managed to pull the sword out of his tired hands. Sebastian expected a direct attack, but he was pushed from behind. Long claws cut through his skin and muscles, broke his ribs and damaged his lung. The pain went through his entire body like a spasm, hazed his mind, and Sebastian didn’t remember if he was screaming at this moment or not. It was getting hard for him to breathe, and he felt his mouth fill with hot blood.

  But he was still alive! His wound was painful, but not lethal. He didn’t know why. And then he understood…

  Aeterni stood on the same street, just a couple of feet away from him. She was covered in black blood, but not wounded – she got here through this hell, destroying numerous Hente on her way. She could continue fighting, she was a serious opponent, and other Hente didn’t dare to approach her.

  But now she stopped moving. Because the Hente behind Sebastian was pressing its claws to the warrior’s throat.

  She returned to him. At the moment Sebastian least expected that.

  “What happens now?” Aeterni asked calmly. “What do you want?”

  She wasn’t talking to Sebastian, but he still replied to her:

  “Don’t let them blackmail you… They’ll kill me anyway, even if you do what they say… I’m already wounded…”

  “This wound can be healed,” Aeterni looked into his eyes and smiled. “You will live. That’s all that matters to me.”

  “Don’t do this!”

  “I want to do this. My Clan develops, and it won’t disappear until my Mother is alive. You know, I returned to the wild lands and understood I don’t need it. I no longer need anything without you.”

  They both knew what the Hente would demand. Sebastian didn’t want this! He tried to move forward – to cut his own throat and take the only trump card away from those creatures. They would never defeat Aeterni without him! But the Hente was too smart, it held the hostage securely.

  “What must I do for you to release him?” Aeterni asked. “Come on, Goar, say it… I know the goal, but I want to hear the means.”

  “Take a step back,” the Hente behind Sebastian hissed.

  “It must be hard for you, right? You want to kill me with your own hands, but you can’t. Due to my Clan’s unique anatomy you can’t see the life core in me, and you don’t know any other way to do it.”

  “Move back!”

  “Okay. But I’m doing it only so you let him go. I will die, but my Clan stays. And if you don’t keep your word and Sebastian gets hurt, my Clan will hunt you – and only you. My warriors will come to your territory to destroy your original body. They’ll kill it and all of your children, Goar, and you’ll have nowhere to go. If needed, we will make a pact with Ginevra, she has already offered that to us. All for destroying you. Don’t push it that far, one man’s life is not a reason enough to lose everything for you.”

  Aeterni continued to move back while she was talking – without looking where she was going at all. The Hente that surrounded her could attack at any moment, but they weren’t doing it, keeping their distance.

  Sebastian had no idea what would happen next. He didn’t want this! Aeterni’s possible death scared him more than his own demise. What if she actually died because of him? How could he live with that? He could’ve fought better, longer, if he had known she was coming!

  But he was weak, and now both of them were trapped.

  “You knew I’d come here, didn’t you?” Aeterni inquired.

  “I knew you had a weakness,” sounded the voice behind Sebastian. “You created that weakness. So foolish…”

  “Happiness is not foolish.”

  “Menace to survival! Survival means everything.”

  “If you simply survive, it’s no fun. There’s a higher level of existence we must try to achieve. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. You won’t understand me anyway.”

  She reached a small square with fountains. It used to be a beautiful place… But now the view was spoiled with ruined buildings and red puddles of blood all over the pavement. Sebastian couldn’t see any corpses though, the Hente had already taken their prey away.

  The ground under their feet was shaking, and all the Hente hurried to hide in the houses that surrounded the street. It was a bad sign!

  “Get out of here!” Sebastian screamed. “She’ll deceive you!”

  But Aeterni didn’t move from the spot, she just kept smiling. She felt the earth trembling – everyone did. But she looked only at Sebastian, and her face reflected nothing but confidence and… acceptance.

  “I love you,” she said. “I hope you know it.”

  He didn’t have the time to answer. The worm broke out of the ground again, destroying everything in its way. Its jaws were right under Aeterni, the attack had been schemed perfectly. Powerful fangs closed over their victim, black blood splashed to all sides, it hit Sebastian’s face in a burning wave.

  And then it was over. Aeterni was dead, and the worm returned to the ground.

  Chapter 17

  Lucas had no idea how he managed to survive. He went from the observation tower to the control point where evacuation was organized. He saw so many of his comrades die on those streets… He saved some of them, but had to watch the others being devoured. That filled him with rage and desire for vengeance.

  “Brother Lucas, you’d better leave! Protect the civilians!”

  The warrior talking to him looked at his hastily bandaged leg with concern. The wound wasn’t too deep, but it wouldn’t stop bleeding, and the bandages were already soaked through.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Lucas objected. “Only two warriors will accompany the civilians, and they should be the best!”

  “Isn’t it more logical to leave the best in Toulouse?”

  “No. The city will fall. We must save people, not buildings!”

  Lucas wasn’t being pessimistic about it. The situation had already become obvious.

  The Hente occupied more than half of the city. The protection system still wasn’t working. Soldiers were suffering heavy losses, and the monsters kept moving ahead. Both sides of the river were lost, and the only island of peace in this chaos was the square where the citizens were gathered and the streets around it.

  The authorities of Barcelona confirmed that they had already sent a couple of squads to help Toulouse. But what was the use? Those soldiers would get here in a couple of hours at their best speed, and only if they were provided with helicopters. By that time everything would be over for the city, and the backup would have to concentrate on saving the civilians.

  Lucas knew how he was going to end his life. He joined the last squ
ad of warriors guarding the command center. They had to hold the Hente back for as long as they could… at any cost.

  He heard the last soldiers screaming around him. He saw drains overfilled with red blood. He didn’t feel sorry for his comrades, because he knew he would join them soon.

  There was only one thing that still concerned him: the predators were moving forward at disturbing speed. Part of them spread through the city, hunting down the remaining humans, while the rest kept pushing the guardians of Toulouse back. At this rate they would catch up with the refugees, and nobody would survive!

  That thought kept Lucas going, but… he was exhausted. The cuts left by the Hente ached, and his hands were barely holding the sword. He had a couple of throwing knives left, and a few salt cartridges, but his physical strength was running out, the world in front of his eyes was turning dark, and the despair in his heart was growing.

  The creatures surrounded him, forcing him to press his back against the nearest building. There were humans on this street, Lucas could hear their voices. But they weren’t trying to help him, and he didn’t call them. Why? The fate of all humans left in the city was sealed. If his time had come, he had to accept it…

  Nevertheless, he didn’t put his sword down. He wanted to die with honor. It was all he had left, and he wanted to keep it till the end.

  He looked at his opponents attentively, trying to guess which of them would jump at him first. That was the only way things could unwrap, he was certain of it. So Lucas was shocked to see a large Hente split into halves – literally.

  It wasn’t caused by a blade or a bullet. The massive body was cut by a hand, and that hand was tiny, thin, but as solid as metal. The other Hente never knew what hit them until it was too late. The creature that attacked them had a human body, but it was really small… After taking a second look at it Lucas realized it was a little girl. She was slender, wearing a school uniform, as if she had just left her house…

  Her movements weren’t childish at all. She knew what she had to do, and she was perfect at killing Hente. The predators who were two times bigger than her tried to escape! But it was no use. The girl was faster than a hawk, she caught up with them, and it always took her only one blow to kill each enemy. When they were trying to fight back, she was avoiding them so smoothly that she looked like a phantom, not a living person.

  She needed less than two minutes to destroy the crowd that had been surrounding him. The girl looked around, shrugged and started cleaning the ashes off her skirt. After that her solid eyes were locked on Lucas.

  He didn’t know what to do. She helped him, but… too many strange things had already happened today! His tired mind refused to trust her, and he was still holding his sword ready, even though his hands shook badly.

  “Hide that thing already,” the girl chuckled. “You wouldn’t have been able to kill me even in your best health. I am Maya, Teresa’s second strongest warrior.”

  He still couldn’t believe his eyes. Even the power concentrated in Aeterni’s fragile frame was unbelievable. But… this was just a kid!

  Meanwhile, the girl wasn’t trying to talk to him. She took two ribbons out of her skirt pocket and combed her long blond hair.

  “That’s better!” she nodded, looking content. “There’s still a whole lot of work to do here!”

  “Did Aeterni send you?” Lucas finally managed to control his voice.

  “Whoa, you can talk after all! I thought you swallowed your tongue in horror. Yes, you may say so.”

  “Are you planning to defeat that pack alone?!”

  “First of all, I’m not alone,” Maya answered. “Secondly, no, there are too many of them here even for me. Honestly, I don’t know why I’m here, it wasn’t my idea. I’ll just stay here for as long as it’s not too bothersome, I’ll kill a bunch of snacks and help you escape. But that won’t save your city.”

  “Do you know where Aeterni is?”

  “Somewhere here!” the girl pointed her hand at the street. “Trying to find her lover.”

  “Her… lover?!”

  Lucas hoped he was hearing things because of exhaustion. Sure, there were different rumors circulating around Sebastian and Aeterni, and Sebastian had been gloomier than ever after coming here. But he couldn’t have broken the rules so sinfully… or could he?

  “The human she loves,” Maya explained. “Looks like I’ve just revealed some big secret to you…”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m not getting out of here alive anyway.”

  The memory of this balanced his shock. Was the connection between Sebastian and Aeterni truly that important? Maybe they were more right in their actions than he in his blind loyalty to the Church! It was not for him to decide, soon they’d all face the higher court that would determine the ultimate truth…

  But Maya was less dramatic about it:

  “You won’t die if you stop talking nonsense. What’s your name?”

  “Brother Lucas…”

  “I don’t know whose brother you are, but not mine. I’ll call you Lucas. I can see what condition your body is in. You’re almost at your limit, you may defeat a Hente or two and that’s it. And there are hundreds of them here! But if you stay with me, I’ll get you out of the city.”

  “I can’t… I must protect the refugees…”

  “Haven’t you heard me? You can’t protect anyone, including yourself. If you come with me, you can show me the streets that are strategically important to you, humans. Then I’ll do you a favor and start a fight there.”

  He wasn’t sure if he could trust her, but he had no other options. The risk wasn’t too great – he and Toulouse were doomed anyway…

  On the other hand, if Maya was as strong as Aeterni, she could be truly useful. The Church approved the cooperation with Teresa’s Clan, so he could legally try it.

  Lucas put his sword back into the sheath. The seduction to just drop the heavy weapon was great, but he would never dare to do it.

  “Let’s go,” he called her. “I’ll show you the important crossroads… If we can hold back the Hente there, the refugees will have enough time to leave!”

  “We can,” Maya assured him. “If the wormy doesn’t show up… But it’s not moving to us now… I wonder where it’s headed? Well, not my problem. Remember: I’ll fight there a bit, and then I’ll leave. It’s better if you follow me. If you survive, you’ll be more useful to your species than if you become someone’s dinner.”

  Lucas nodded briefly. He couldn’t believe that was happening to him – he was suddenly in Sebastian’s place, becoming a Hente’s partner! And he was protected by a little girl…

  But if it was God’s will to leave thousands of lives in a child’s hands, Lucas had to respect it.

  Maya seemed to have guessed his thoughts. She turned to him and warned him:

  “By the way… If you treat me like a little girl, I’ll break your neck. Don’t try to judge me by human standards. My body was created twenty nine years ago.”

  ***

  Sebastian knew he would be killed here. He even wanted this! He was absolutely convinced that Goar wouldn’t keep her word. That was for the better… If Aeterni was gone, there was no sense for him to exist either.

  Just as he expected, the Hente moved her hand back a bit, aiming for that final blow – which didn’t come. Instead, Sebastian heard that inimitable sound that only a warrior could recognize: the specific sound of a blade cutting through flesh. The predator yelped briefly and grew quiet, turning into a cloud of ashes. Without it holding Sebastian, he finally fell to the ground.

  He turned around quickly to see who saved him – and froze on the spot. Not only because he saw Karim, who was supposed to guard Barcelona now. The strangest thing was, Karim had eyes! They were inky black, just like they were in all Hente, and they were watching the human with total indifference.

  Karim was holding a thin sword, and judging by the size of it, he used to hide it in his cane. The blade was one-sided and untypica
lly light, but it was enough to kill the child of Goar without touching Sebastian.

  The Hente offered his hand to the warrior.

  “Come on. We need to do something about your wound.”

  “That freak killed Aeterni…”

  “I know, I saw it.”

  “If you were here, why didn’t you help her?!”

  “I couldn’t,” Karim explained. “In order to save you, we had to distract Goar somehow. It was Aeterni’s decision, not mine.”

  “But why?”

  “Now is not the time to talk about it. You’ll understand everything yourself, hopefully. She came here because she wanted you to live. Don’t make her sacrifice useless.”

  Sebastian followed him, but only because he didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t want to live. He couldn’t believe it had actually happened… He didn’t have the time to ask for her forgiveness, he didn’t say he loved her – and now no-one was left to hear it.

  The Hente were attacking them only in groups, none of them dared to approach Karim alone. But it wasn’t a problem. It didn’t matter to him how many Hente attacked him – five, seven or ten at once. He killed them on the go without even breaking his pace.

  Aeterni had mentioned that he was the best warrior in Teresa’s Clan. But Sebastian couldn’t have imagined it meant such talent! Karim got his sword out of the cane, made one perfect slash and put the weapon back so fast human eye could barely track it. Only new piles of ashes around him identified he was constantly killing his enemies. His sword was an average blade without any salt in it, which meant Karim was aiming precisely for the life cores – and he never missed.

  Apart from admiration, Sebastian could feel bitterness. If that Hente was so proficient and fast, why didn’t he help Aeterni? Why didn’t he save her when he had a chance for it?