Preparing to lunge at the old woman, and tackle her to the ground in order to subdue her, Sara was shocked when the lady attacked.
Screaming like a mad woman with her arms raised like claws, Sara nearly laughed at the granny before leaping towards her and grabbing her face. With her momentum she drove the old wretch to the ground and snapped her neck. That’ll take a few minutes to heal.
Picking the old woman up, who barely felt like a feather to Sara now, she carried her up to the awaiting mechanism and dropped her in. Pausing a moment, she looked upon the woman’s face and was shocked by what she saw. Where earlier had been a sunken wrinkled face, filled with lines and mottled with age spots, now appeared a woman of perhaps her forties. It was the same woman, of that Sara was certain. Her eyes and clothes were the same. But the change had transformed the woman, erasing years. All Sara could guess was that aging was basically your body breaking down a little at a time, and the change simply put it all back together.
“A pity you won’t get to enjoy it,” Sara said, slipping the loops of chains around the elbows, wrists, knees, ankles, and neck. Then, slamming the great lid closed, she secured the clamps that held it shut and turned the knobs to tighten the chains within, turning each until she heard the snap. After all, if all her joints were broken, she couldn’t struggle to get out, and with the chains remaining she wouldn’t heal either. Then using her more than adequate strength, Sara pushed the incredibly heavy device over, burying the knobs and clamps beneath it. Now, no one without a blessing would be able to release the woman.
With the old woman secured, all that was left to do was wait for those within the temple to rise. Sara did not intend to wait around for that to happen, so instead she ripped the door from its hinges, assuring herself that none would bar it once more, blocking Valdadore’s only hope to defeat Sigrant inside. Looking over her handiwork to be sure she didn’t miss anything, Sara turned and ran back the way she had come earlier. Only this time she ran even faster than before.
* * * * *
Seth stood upon the wall, waiting for his pair of feline sisters to make the climb. His brother had tried to kill the pair, overriding Seth’s order to hold. He could not help but wonder if Garret had seen who they had been. Something in his brother had changed.
He watched Sara dash through the city with his god vision, at the same time he watched his brother stalk away and the feline girls climb up the wall. He smirked, imagining where and what the teenage girls had been up to. As they crested the wall, Seth gave the girls his best fatherly stern face, pointing to them both.
“You two should not just wander off on your own. Especially with all the fighting that has been going on.”
The pair just looked at him with their luminous eyes, each jutting out a pouty bottom lip that just did not look right on their feral feline faces. Then without warning they crawled to his side and clung to his legs like frightened children, rubbing the sides of their heads and necks upon his leg armor.
“It’s good to see you girls too, but if you hadn’t noticed, we sort of have a lot going on.”
“We know,” said the older of the two girls,
“That’s why we came,” said the younger.
“So you came to fight, or for entertainment?” Seth asked, assuming the latter.
“No we came to let you know that…” the older began.
“Another army marches towards the city,” the younger finished.
“What army and from where?” Seth asked quickly. The city could not withstand another enemy.
“But, master, you said you are busy so we will go,” the older girl said, and both of them made as if to leave.
“I am busy, but I still need the answer,” Seth said, perhaps a bit too harshly. “Apologies, girls, it’s just that I really don’t have time for distractions right now.”
He realized all too soon that the words he had chosen were all wrong. Though nearly as much feline as they were human, from their neck to their naval they remained nearly completely unchanged, their small, young, perky breasts still very much intact and completely visible. Upon hearing Seth’s plea, the girls clung to one another, rubbing and pinching and licking one another in every inappropriate way imaginable.
“That is enough, girls.” Seth half coughed the words, as troops from further down the wall began to gather for the show.
“But, master…” the older sister began
“You said that…,” the younger added.
“We were a distraction!” they said together, giggling.
“OK, OK… So please will you now just tell me what army marches for Valdadore?”
“Stinky dwarfs,” one replied.
“With puuurrrrty armor,” added the other.
The dwarves were coming to their aid! Seth sighed in relief, feeling as if a weight had been removed from his chest.
“How many?” he asked, praying for high numbers.
“Many.”
“Many, many.”
“Lots,” they said together again.
“Can you give me an idea of how many?” Seth asked.
“More than him.” The older girl pointed towards Sigrant’s camp.
“Many, many more,” the younger added.
“Do you know when they’ll get here?” Seth asked again, already hearing the whispers down the line that aid was coming.
“Soon.”
“Very soon.”
“Tomorrow,” they said as one.
He would need to hold out until tomorrow and then they would have reinforcements of more than fifty thousand men, if the girls were correct. Finally something was going in his favor.
“You are sure that more than fifty thousand dwarves will be here tomorrow?”
“Not if the…” the older started.
“Giants ate them,” the younger sister completed, licking her hand and then rubbing it down the side of her face.
“What giants?” Seth asked exasperated.
“Big ones.”
“Big, big ones.”
“Are the giants coming this way too?” Seth asked, beginning to feel like he was running in circles.
“Not unless they…”
“Are chasing the dwarves.”
That was enough for Seth, and out of courtesy he sent a runner to tell his brother of the news. Turning his attention from the feline girls, which was more than he could say about those men nearest him, Seth watched as the trailing edge of the sun vanished over the horizon. Within the hour the battle would begin.
“Borrik,” Seth said, looking over to his friend and guardian down the wall. “Set the fires.”
With a nod Borrik turned, as the order was relayed multiple times. Watching down the line he saw as all of his soldiers, both wolf and rat alike, alongside their human counterparts, began taking buckets of oil from the now refilled, great cauldrons upon the wall and carefully began pouring them over the sides of the castle to coat as much as was possible. When they were done, the oil would be ignited, and the gleaming white city would become a beacon of light in the middle of the darkened plains.
* * * * *
Waiting until darkness fell was like a cruel torture designed especially for King Sigrant. He passed the time trying to keep his mind busy calculating and counting things. One of his favorites was counting the eyelashes of the beauties in his harem as they blinked. Sadly, the task only took him about a minute for all of them, and then he was forced to move on to other amusements.
Sigrant was smart, calculating, and cunning beyond measure. So when the time came to prepare his attack, he did not simply unleash his vampire horde. He understood what would happen if those high in his vampire hierarchy were killed. Those below them would revert to human form and be much less valuable. As such, he decided to send them in waves. The newest, youngest, and weakest of them would form the first wave, a full half of his army. The rest would form two smaller waves behind, each stronger and faster than the previous.
As darkness fell, Sigrant strode
through the camp, ripping away the tents that housed his first wave of troops. Then, as means of giving a command, he simply stood still and pointed at the city across the field from them. Speaking to them was useless.
Tent by tent his minions were freed and set upon the city. Like a pack of starved animals they rushed headlong towards its white walls when suddenly the entire city, spanning miles, went up in flames.
Unfortunate, really. Now he would have to wait endless more eternities for the damned flames to go out.
* * * * *
Seth stood upon the wall, watching across the field. Sara had rejoined him just moments ago, assuring him all was in order. Time now was a commodity they needed to buy as much of as possible. The more time they had, the stronger Sara would grow. If they could hold out until tomorrow, Dwarven allies would hopefully arrive and help them remove the detested invaders.
For now it was a game of chance, a roll of the dice. All they could do was wait, and hope, and hold off the enemy as best they were able. “All life is precious,” Seth reminded himself. Even those of our enemy.
Just moments later and the world succumbed to darkness, the last burning rim of the sun vanishing. And the monsters were unleashed.
Seth watched them come across the field in large groups, like packs of wild dogs. They rushed across the field as fast as their bodies would carry them, but before they could reach the wall, Seth gave the command.
“Now,” he said to Borrik.
Down the wall the call went out, and torches were brought to the whitewashed stone of all four sides of the castle. Within seconds the city was enveloped. Defenders were forced to fall back from the flames, the heat singeing their hair and burning their throats. Thick clouds of black smoke rose from the flames, the thick, greasy oil proving impure.
Seth watched with the vision only he had, and was pleased when the enemy reached the wall and stopped dead in their tracks. They could not climb the walls, and if any were able to jump them, they could not see beyond the flames so were unsure if it was safe to do so. The fire was working better than planned, the only problem being that the oil would burn quickly, and there was not enough to keep the walls burning more than a few hours. Then the defenders would be forced to fight. Seth watched and waited, those dearest to him at his side. Minus of course, the brother who was not really his brother at all.
* * * * *
Garret got Seth’s message and literally shouted in triumph. Fifty thousand dwarves should do the trick! But more importantly, it meant that Linaya and Zorbin were returning. What he wouldn’t give to have them at his side. One in battle and the other in bed. There would be no more delay, they would need to be married at once.
With his high spirits restored, Garret raced to the eastern wall as fast as he was able. Though the majority of the fighting would likely be on the west wall, the dwarves would be marching from the east.
Reaching his destination, he scanned the fields surrounding the city’s eastern side to no avail. There were as yet no dwarves to be seen. Disappointed, he remained for many long minutes thinking that if he waited just a little longer they would come. So afraid to miss the dwarves approach was the king, he did not realize how quickly the darkness would be upon them. He feared that the moment he left the eastern wall was the moment the dwarves would arrive, Linaya in tow. So, engrossed in his visual search, he completely missed when the order was given to ignite the walls.
Flames sprang up before Garret’s face, and suddenly returned to reality, he sighed loudly, his mouth forming a straight line, before he turned and stalked back the way he had come.
Chapter Eleven
Two hours had passed since the walls had been ignited, and already Sara had proof that their plan was working. Apparently many of the new young vampires linked to her had arisen, and began to hunt and feed. Power began to come to her sporadically at first, and then increasingly more regularly. Now it trickled in nearly constantly. Though the influx of power felt so good, eliciting completely inappropriate responses to an impending battle, she felt disgusted by the process. It was a necessity, not a desire.
Sometime near the three hour mark, Seth’s cat girls bounded away from the wall defenses, saying something about a mouse hunt, to which several of her husband’s newest troops looked uneasy. Sara couldn’t help but to grin a little, Seth giving her as stern a look as he could manage in response.
By four hours the fire upon the walls was running on fumes, and Sara was feeling amazing. Another generation was already awakening and now the power came to her quickly, gaining momentum by the moment. It was not long before she began to really see the effects of gaining so much power, as the world and people around her began to slow. It was an odd thing, the sounds around her growing deeper, the movements surreal, as if she had struck her head.
This early in the process, she tried to imagine what the world would be like in a few more hours as her kind multiplied faster and faster. She wondered too if it would be enough to face Sigrant. Seth was afraid of him. And if Seth was afraid, Sara knew the man was powerful. But there was only one way to know what the outcome was going to be, and that was to see it through. Just one more collision of lives, and a huge one at that.
Watching through the dying veil of flames, she could see them below the walls, pacing hungrily outside the city. She knew it was only a matter of time before they got in.
“Just give me another hour,” she begged the night.
* * * * *
Linaya raced alongside Zorbin, their mounted allies fanned out to either side, creating a wall of fur, fangs, and armor. The padded feet of their mounts pounded the ground in a constant tumbling rhythm that sounded like a waterfall in the distance. Linaya could only imagine what the defenders of Valdadore would think upon seeing them, though really she was simply excited to see her home again.
Though darkness had come already, she felt secure that they would reach the city by morning. Already the foothills of the mountains grew flatter, and less populated by trees and shrubs. It wasn’t until nearly two hours after sunset that Linaya felt any reason for alarm.
As the sky grew ever darker she soon realized that something was amiss. For in the distance, in the direction of her home city, darkness did not claim the land. Instead, a great dome of light seemed to emanate from where she knew the city was, though the city itself was not yet visible. The great orange and yellow flickering light hinted of fire, but Linaya could not believe that Valdadore could have fallen already. Perhaps it was simply besieged and had lit fires around the city for light and defense. In any case, she knew that it could not bode well for those she cared for.
“Zorbin, we must pick up the pace,” she shouted over the constant drumming of wolven paws.
“Aye, m’lady. I see it too,” the Dwarven knight of Valdadore replied.
Without even giving a command to his mount, Linaya watched as Xanth propelled forward at an increased rate, and began driving her heels to the flanks of her warhorse to try and keep pace.
Without so much as a bark or howl, the entire line followed suit and the thunderous crescendo thrummed on, seemingly louder than before.
* * * * *
Seth heaved a sigh, his chest rising and falling with the laborious breath. He had done much damage over the last few months. Most of which for personal reasons. The consequences were not intentional, but consequences never really were, he supposed. Many had died, not only at his hands, but as a result of his actions and decisions as well. Even the blood of those killed by his creations was on his hands. It seemed a relentless pattern of events that led him to again and again to make decisions under duress. But even so, every action was birthed of a decision, and only he could take responsibility for the decisions that he had made.
Looking down the wall, he could see the direct proof of his decisions both good and bad. Sara stood nearest him, her claim to life growing with every measurable moment. Even graceful and beautiful by any standards, Seth had made of her a monster designed to end li
fe. Worse than that, his ignorance had created of her an infectious breed that even now the spread was both their curse and their only likely avenue of escape. Few beloved by Seth had not been directly affected by his alteration of Sara. Even Borrik’s aura bore witness to Sara’s deeds.
Though a powerful beast of a man in his own right, Seth’s most trusted ally had become tainted by his bride in an effort to save the once-man’s life. A single bite Sara had administered to Borrik, after the fall from the wall surrounding the palace complex. The fall that had brought to justice Sara’s would-be assassin. And though the bite had not been enough to taint Borrik’s massive aura enough to give him the thirst, the alteration was there. Like Sara, Borrik was infected with the alteration, only to a much lesser degree. But it allowed the beast of a man the ability to heal unnaturally fast. Seth wondered what would become of a man bitten by Borrik that was allowed to live.
With a shudder coursing down his spine, he looked beyond Sara and Borrik at his newest creations. They were not huge monstrous creatures designed for slaughtering multitudes of enemies. No. These were different. Whereas wolves, like the brethren of Borrik and his remaining men were predators, rats were quite the opposite. Yes, they could fight. Yes, they could kill. Yes, when backed into a corner rats could become ferocious, but that is not why Seth created his newest troops. He needed them. Sure. Valdadore needed them in answer to the vampire horde knocking at the west gate. But that still was not what had led him to make beasts of children. Instead it was their most inherent quality, a quality that humans detested, that led him to the action. Rats were survivors.
Seth decided to create his newest troops as a means to keep them alive. Rats were designed to avoid predators. They could jump amazing distances, climb vertical surfaces, chew through just about any material, and were agile beyond measure. They were designed to survive cats and humans and every predator in between, and none had yet managed to eradicate them. They needed no light, could sustain themselves off of just about any food source, and could breed faster than nearly any creature upon Thurr. If humanity ceased to exist because of his actions in the days to come, there was hope that a portion of humanity could live on, inside these once-humans, and they could escape and repopulate.
Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) Page 134
