by P. G. Thomas
With time moving slowly through the congested streets, the lightning and thunder above did little to calm their stressed out nerves. Taking six hours to navigate to the far end of the fort, they eventually saw a log wall—what they hoped was the west wall. Working their way back to a less crowded street, Lauren found a small alley between two buildings. Letting the four enter first, she then pulled Eric into the entrance, blocking it to anybody else. Several times over the next few hours, when a number of soldiers tried to force themselves into the dry alley, Eric would simply grunt at them. With the sky so dark, Lauren realized that black clouds would obscure the first sunrise, as the black-clad now obscured their path to freedom.
With the storm overhead intensifying, its dark powers concealed the sunrise, but they began to notice a new shade of gray, signaling that somewhere a sun was rising. Heading west, working their way back towards the main street, they spotted the heavily guarded gate, and beyond it, a makeshift shantytown; most likely desperate people hoping for table scraps to be tossed to them. The six clad as the enemy inched their way closer to the large guarded gate, scanning the crowd on the other side for Alron, but nobody could see him. As they waited, a door burst open from the building behind them, and when several soldiers staggered out, one of them bounced off Eric. When the drunk attempted to pick a fight, he pushed him into the mud, and Lauren quickly pulled Eric to the other side of the street, hoping it would eliminate any altercations. Looking towards the gate, cursing under her breath, she noticed the guards checking paperwork.
As the storm grew angrier, large pellets of hail slammed into the ground. Thunder, louder than Lauren had ever heard, exploded overhead, and a brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the whole fort for several seconds. Feeling somebody tapping her shoulder, she turned to see Eric pointing to the far end of a long building. From it, men were carrying out odd sacks, which contained an equal volume at both ends, including the middle, which they loaded onto a wagon. From one, she saw a small arm hanging out. When a second carriage arrived, a guard pulled somebody out by a chain, which was attached to a second person, then a third. Another bolt of lightning struck a building, its light almost blinding, and in that brief second, she saw the entire chain gang of young girls dragged into the building.
“NO! Bastards. That’s wrong. NO!” Lauren barely heard his reply, as an explosion of thunder wrapped around them, seeing him head towards the building. While she tried to call to him, the thunder drowned out her commands. She watched him walk over to the building, as they dragged the final member of the chain gang inside, and once there, he entered. She was trying to understand the scene that had just played out before her eyes, but the rain, hail, thunder, and lightning were making it difficult to concentrate. After a few minutes, the door opened again, and she saw the blood splatter: on both the door and Eric.
Walking back, he yelled above the noise of the storm, “Get them out safely. I will distract guards.” Then he walked to one at the front gate. “You, raise the alarm. Intruders are amongst us.”
With the thunder exploding overhead, the guard fought to hear the words, but he should have fought harder to understand. Eric’s sword came from behind in one single motion, splitting the guard in two, and when other soldiers rushed him, they met the same fate. Punching towards the sky, his left arm produced the hidden shield. Smacking his hands together, the gauntlets were now spiked, and when he flexed his shoulders, the final spikes projected out. Then he laughed, but it was hollow and vicious sounding.
Lauren cursed under her breath. Damn it, Fury is out!
Looking for a quick victory, black-clad soldiers rushed Eric, finding only a swift death. As such, he kept moving forward to find more room to stack the dead. Looking into the building, Lauren saw the frightened girls, and with the gate now abandoned by the guards, she called to the rest. “John, Ryan, Logan, Mirtza. Get these girls out of here. Now!” The four quickly entered the small building, covering the girls in blankets, before leading them to the gate where they fled into the night. She looked back at Eric and Tranquil Fury, hoping that one of them knew what they were doing.
After the small group that Logan had helped disappeared into the dark, he walked out towards Eric. “Father Born, how are you this night?” In the darkness, Eric never saw Logan’s eyes, which were now two large dark orbs.
“Sister Chosen, welcome. The terror screams. Music long waited for.”
“Many evil call this place home, and too much time you take. Would you like my help?” Then Logan began rubbing his forearms.
“No, just getting started. Do not interfere.” Eric was dropping black-clad soldiers like a grandmother dropped nickels into a slot machine, “Long did I wait. Enjoy I shall.”
Lauren watched in disbelief at the growing path of carnage, but even odder, Logan followed like he was sharing a casual walk in the park.
“The girls are out. What do we do?” asked John.
“Nothing, it’s in their hands now,” replied Lauren.
At that moment, a wolf ran past them, changing mid-stride into an enormous white bear, which dove into the army of soldiers, ripping black-clad flesh from white bones.
Lauren turned to Ryan, “Find those damned elves and dwarves. Now!” Looking down the street, she noticed that he had moved to an intersection, allowing soldiers to attack from three different fronts.
Eric smiled at Logan, “Father, a gift he left. Mountain top, deliver it he did. Said I should share.” When he lifted his sword to his front, lightning erupted from the end, ripping through the soldiers, which filled the street with more corpses. Turning to the side streets, he repeated his actions. When the congestion was gone, he proceeded deeper into the horde of advancing soldiers. Defying all odds: the storm grew more intense, the lightning brighter, the thunder louder. However, above it all, she heard the laughter of Eric. Raising the massive sword to the sky, a bolt of lightning went straight up, and at the far end of the fort, four buildings exploded, as bolts of lightning from the sky slammed into them. Shielding his eyes from the intense explosion, Logan heard Eric announce, “Father’s gift, his rage. Absent he may be. His anger now mine,” and to the clouds overhead, he screamed, “THANK YOU, FATHER.” When he raised the sword again, more lightning rained down from the angry storm above. More enraged enemy soldiers advanced on Eric, making him laugh louder, “Fighters with spirit. Good. Dead spirits, better.” Lifting his sword, lightning exploded forward, killing the last wave. “Sister Chosen, some light.”
“Dose Father Born ask for my help?”
“Too congested it is. Many want to join. Space fast enough I cannot make. Earth Daughter, soon she will complain.”
“If you ask, then gladly I will help Father Born.” After Logan had cupped his hands together, tiny balls of fire formed inside, which launched from his hands. Growing in size, they smashed into the wet timber buildings. With the flames being so hot, the wet wood easily caught on fire. Soon, numerous structures had erupted in flames, and the fires spread quickly to the east, leaping from one building to the next, causing roofs and walls to collapse.
John had always wondered what Hell would look like. Panning the scene, orange flames licked up into the black night sky, as shadows danced on the corpse covered streets, and inhaling the smell of burnt death, he realized that only the smells of sulfur and brimstone were missing.
Alron and Panry walked up beside Lauren and John, trying to protect their eyes from the fire, which gorged on the buildings to the east. Its appetite being so intense, it also consumed the darkness. The orange glow cast strange shadows into the street, but brilliant flashes of lightning would temporarily vanquish them back into the darkness. Never had they seen so many dead in such a small area. Like a mystical creature, they watched Logan launch flames from his hands, and behind him, a white frost bear, now red, tore into those who failed to die correctly. Standing in the center, Eric with his armor glistening in blood, reflected the dancing lights as he moved forward, unleashing the prophecy. Even f
rom so far away, they all could hear him laughing, crying out, “Father! Glorious this night! Join me you should.”
“Who is Father?” asked John.
“I don’t know,” began Lauren, “Mother never told me about him.”
“I expect with me she shall be angry,” advised Alron.
“Earth Daughter, what has happened here this night?” asked Aaro.
“Tranquil Fury has awakened.”
Eric looked up to the angry storm clouds, “Father’s rage, should any flee, please bid them farewell.”
Then the storm began to move to the east, discharging lightning. With the rain declaring its victory over the fire, which had consumed most of the buildings in the center of the fort, only smoke and steam drifted up to the dark skies. Turning, Eric started to walk back up the corpse-filled street to the west, followed by Logan, and Zack, the red polar bear. When they approached the gate, the bear headed to Ryan, retrieving his clothing.
Eric walked past the group, heading towards the tavern where the fight had almost started. “Brothers, tonight we celebrate. Drinks are on me.” He kicked the tavern door open, walked behind the bar, and filling a mug with cold beer, he drained it. “Too long my wait. My thirst like this drink. Too quick it ends.” Having followed him into the bar, they were still in disbelief of the unleashed prophecy that they had witnessed.
“Are you drunk with blood lust,” began Bor. “Celebrate we cannot. Headed this way reinforcements could be.”
“Brother, worry not. More I would welcome. Spoils of war. Ours to enjoy,” and then Eric pushed a mug of beer towards him.
Aaro climbed up on the bar, “Stay here we cannot. Stay bad. Leave good.” He was hoping the shorter sentences might get through to Eric.
Bor looked at the boxes and kegs stacked behind the bar. “Can we take them? Brother is right, spoils of war, left here spoil they will. Wrong that would be.”
“Mirtza, your wagon, can we borrow it?” asked Aaro.
“Celebrate later, it works.” Eric had filled several mugs with ale, which Mirtza, Aaro, and Bor accepted, before rushing outside to deploy the magic wagon.
“What the hell did you do?” demanded Lauren.
“Earth Daughter proclaimed wrong. Wrongs we stopped.” Eric’s voice was hollow, “Your command, we followed.”
“NO, you deceived me. You knew I would react to that image of those girls in chains. You made sure I saw exactly what was happening.”
“You taught me deception. I showed you truth. Wrongs are no more.”
“Logan, what do you have to say?” asked Lauren.
“I’m not sure what happened. My forearms, they started to itch like crazy. Sorry, I don’t think Sister liked what she saw, and maybe she wanted to extend her protection to all of Mother’s girls.”
Knowing it would be impossible to win a war of words with either of them, she was concerned that Tranquil Fury was getting smarter. Leaving the bar, she walked out into the smoldering ruins, as the intense rain had put out the fires before moving to the east. Somebody’s bound to notice this. I think we just went all in, and I’ve no idea what I’m holding. Seeing Mirtza and borrowing his pipe, she sat down on the wet steps, and inhaling, let the smoke ease the tension from her body. “Alron, we’ll need new mounts. Could you kindly arrange transportation? We’ll need horses for the wagon also. I don’t imagine that six-legged oxen or eight-legged horses are common here. I don’t know where we’re going or how long it’ll take to get there, but if I have to walk…”
“Yes, Earth Daughter,” then he whistled for the Earth Guards and Ironhouse brothers, directing them to re-enter the fort in search of mounts.
As they waited for the elves and dwarves to return, the seven stripped off their black-clad uniforms. The kegs looked small to Lauren, only being twenty inches round by twenty-four inches high, yet Bor and Aaro were unable to budge them, even with their incredible dwarven strength. Eric easily lifted the seventy-five-gallon kegs, which were twice his weight, loading them into the wagon, as Tranquil Fury had bestowed strength to the champion for what waited.
It took an hour to find sufficient horses and saddles, and much to the joy of the dwarves, Eric did leave a few black-clad leftovers. When the others brought the horses to the gate, they had finished loading the wagon with the kegs and wooden boxes. While Aaro had found a team of four mules that he hitched to the wagon, Fen was pulling a handcart piled high with saddles. The stench of death in the air caused distress with the four-legged beasts, which refused to accept the saddles, and instead, they had to walk the animals through the now empty shantytown, as all of the occupants had fled long ago, seeking shelter from both storms. At the edge of the abandoned town, when the horses were calm, they accepted the saddles, and as the last of the storm clouds blew to the east, the twenty headed west.
To nobody in particular, Lauren asked, “Did anybody happen to inquire about the nearest town? A few hours ago, there were several thousand here who knew that answer.”
“Over fifty thousand,” Eric said with a grin.
“During your interactions with them, did you happen to inquire where we might find lodgings?”
“No, it never came up.”
“So, Eric, you are neither able to take nor get directions. Just live for the moment do you?”
“I did. They didn’t.”
“Should we arrive at a crossroads, which way should we go?” Lauren had to wait two hours before she could repeat her question. “I see the Dawnfalcons waiting for us ahead. Why would they wait, and what’s that in front of them? Is that a crossroads? We have three different ways to choose. Eric, which direction leads to the nearest town?”
Everybody except Lauren turned to look at him, “West, Earth Daughter,” he confidently announced, but at the same time, he shrugged his shoulders, which was evident when she heard the shoulder spikes project out and quickly retract.
“Dawnfalcons, Mirtza,” began Lauren, “please continue our journey west. Should we return to these crossroads, well, Eric, let’s just hope that doesn’t happen.”
The last sun was low in the sky when they saw a large town appear in the distance, as smoke from chimneys slowly drifted up into the calm air. Approaching, they could see a huge western-style fort, having its outer walls constructed of large logs. The road terminated at the front gate, which was both guarded and illuminated with torches.
“We are all full,” came from one of the guards, “No one is allowed entry.”
Alron was already at the front, “Friend, we do not seek accommodations. We hear that you have done a fine job. Worthy of a reward your efforts are.” He signaled to Mirtza, who pulled the partially burnt tarp back to expose the kegs, “If you would open your gate, we shall deposit your reward inside.”
“Two!” Someone shouted from the wall.
The guard on the ground looked up, “What?”
“Two kegs!”
“Well, I guess my captain is willing to accept your generous gift, which he apparently has doubled.”
Alron looked at him, “I agree.”
“What is in the boxes?”
“Cider with spices,” replied Alron.
“Taxes!”
The lower guards again looked up, “What?”
“Transaction taxes,” the guard captain hollered back.
“Okay, it seems I forgot the taxes. The sum being one of those wooden crates.”
“Accepted,” announced Alron, “Open your gates, and we shall deposit both inside for you.”
After Mirtza had driven the wagon into the town, dismounting, Eric removed the selected items from the back.
“Check them!”
Walking over to the first barrel, the guard removed the cork, plunged his finger in, which he tasted. “It’s full and fresh!” Cracking open the box to expose a dozen bottles, he pulled one out, extracted the cork, and took a mouthful. “It’s the good stuff.”
From the top of the wall, the captain signaled okay. “Citizens, my thank
s for your consideration to the night watch.”
As they started to pull ahead, Lauren looked up to the captain on the wall, “Should we need accommodations, where is the best place in town.”
“Third street down, make a right. It’s the only inn on it.”
Lauren looked ahead, “See, it’s really not all that hard.”
As they went down the main road, the partially lit street was too dark to get a feel for the town, and at the third intersection, they turned to the right. Halfway down they saw a large building, and Mirtza pointed out the sign announcing the inn. Pulling the wagon up to the hitching rail, Alron instructed the Earth Guard to keep watch while he and Aaro went in to inspect the place, telling the rest to wait on the street.
The front door was open, and after waiting a few minutes, a portly middle-aged man came from the back, “How can I help you?”
“Your finest as I am parched.”
With the innkeeper answering in dwarf, words that were thick, deep sounding greeted Aaro, “sorry, we are sold out, so dry you will stay.”
“Sold out, how can you that be?”
“Slow crops grow, land cleared enough not there is. Barons of beer, they cannot meet the demand.”
“Water then?” asked Aaro.
“Serve you I can, one silver first.”
