by Owen Elgie
I took a calming breath and blew out as much frustration as I could. Keep it together for crying out loud.
“What I’d like, is an explanation of the details of the accusation. By your actions here it appears that The Elder has been planning a coup d’état. Not even our troops are this good.” I gestured my arms openly to the soldiers around us.
“And I believe that I have at least the right to be accused by my equal rather than just a functionary like you. Is that correct, Messenger?”
“It is Anthony. You are the power here and will be spoken to in the correct way.” Em was breathing hard and her suit was showing the effects of her fight with Andrea, dents and cracks wound around her with a casual abandon.
“Isn’t that correct Miss Thomich?”
Andrea joined her and crossed her arms across her chest.
“It is Messenger.”
Her voice was a frozen surety, showing clearly her resolute heart. Her own armour was pitted and spoiled following the fracas with Em but both of them looked to have at the very worse, put it behind them. At best they’d just be pretending it hadn’t happened. Andrea showed no sign of the fight on her but her skin was a much brighter white than usual and her eyes were clearly the grey of her Dragon form. She was turning as well, her power being twisted as mine was. Whoever was pulling at the strings of power which were wound round The Circle was clearly having a very strong effect on us. The fight between Andrea and Em had erupted in an instant and it would appear had died away in the same fashion.
Regardless of the cause, two people who had been otherwise occupied when Leatherpants had made his move were now back in the frame.
The soldiers around us shuffled ever so slightly as the two women set themselves ready for the exchange, placing Leatherpants squarely in the cross fire between us. Leatherpants made no show of any fear or concern but his guards let their masks of certainty drop for that fraction of a second. It was the tiniest movement but it explained so much. These troops were loyal to The Circle first and foremost, meaning there was no malice or underhand dealing in what they were doing. Whatever was happening was being done under the banner of the greater good rather than being a private action from The Elder and Leatherpants.
The downside to this, though, was that I now couldn’t just obliterate everything around me to get us out of trouble. These troops were doing what they had been ordered to by their superior for the good of The Circle so they were still on my side, even if it didn’t really feel like it.
“The Elder has given order that she will no longer speak to that,” he pointed out at me, as if there was any chance of confusion.
“I have been instructed to speak for my lady on this matter.”
“Mr. Ward, this is unconventional at best but if The Elder has given this order to you, we must accept it.” Resignation hung on Andrea’s words as she nodded her acceptance of the situation, again gripped by what the laws of time demanded of her. The Elder remained unmoved from her vantage point, just looking on and taking in all of the details as they played out. Her attention was fierce but aloof.
Leatherpants smiled and bowed to Andrea. He knew he was back in the driving seat of the exchange, knew that he was able to use all of the shared laws of protocol to his advantage, and despite there being a flashing beacon of concern above it, no-one else did anything about it.
I swapped glances with Mike and he was just as non-plussed, shrugging his resignation at where we were. He knew the rules as well and knew that Leatherpants was getting up a head of steam.
I growled my frustration, mainly to myself, but I could feel that my inner beast was close to breaking free. Purely by instinctual accident did the sound come out but it was clear that all of the gathered members of our team that, despite holding the moral high ground, the thought of facing one of their Guardians in a fight was far from their desired plan for the day.
Leatherpants just raised his eyebrows on his too tight face and raised his arm.
“This is a clear demonstration that our latest Guardian is nothing more than a beast, given a charge but who is unwilling to consider anything but his most base instincts. He would threaten all of the gathered members of our most sacred order, simply compounding his actions as a Lothario.”
“Get to the point Leatherpants. Facts please, not you grandstanding.” I had to keep him on topic and do my best to regain my control. I was growling through the sentences in a far more Dragon tone now. It was all I could do to keep my body human and not burst the armour, any more than that was just a bridge too far. It didn’t matter that I was being manipulated by an unseen hand, the swords all remained as constant threats. I swear some moved even closer to my throat.
“As you command my lord.” Leatherpants grinned and bowed in my direction, adding a flourish of arm sweep to sell the point. He was pushing me and I could feel the adrenaline climbing through my every fibre as I held as tightly as I could to the animal inside me. His every action was just making me want, need, to let go.
“You have deflowered Miss Thomich, have you not?”
For a terrifying instant, the world just stopped. Everything became blasted in the horrifying glare of a truth exposed. I didn’t understand how he could have known but that almost seemed irrelevant now. He had known and he’d just made sure that everyone here knew as well.
The intake of breath from a handful of locations amongst the soldiery highlighted exactly what everyone else there thought about the revelation. By the looks of things I had just been accused of the crime beyond all others. My face burned red and from behind Leatherpants I could see Andrea going through the same although any colour on her porcelain features stood out starkly. She dropped her eyes to the ground and only dared tiny flicked glances around as she checked to see who was looking at her.
The Elder remained motionless, her face blank of any kind of emotion at what her servant had just done. Soldiers I could see just looked stunned. They all gripped onto the job at hand by way of holding onto any stable base as their collective world tilted wildly. Em narrowed her eyes and frowned, tilting her head in that questioning manner of hers, no hint of violence forthcoming.
The silence just stretched on.
And on.
I just didn’t know how to respond.
“So?” Marks voice startled everyone, including me, and all eyes turned to him.
Silence resumed.
My heart was crashing in my chest, adrenaline coursing and my inner animal almost free.
“So what if my two leaders have indulged in what you say? Why is that a bad thing?” He spoke slowly and with a real question in his voice. He didn’t understand and was asking for an answer to justify what was happening. It wasn’t a massive question but in the context of who he was and what he was doing, it was an atom bomb.
Soldiers turned to Leatherpants for a response. He, in turn, straightened his jacket and aimlessly stroked over his tie before responding.
“Why is this bad? Your question is the reason why it’s bad. We all have a duty to behave within a set of laws as a part of who we all are. This thug has belittled us all by not being able to do what he should and that influence is spreading and growing like a cancer.”
He paused and scanned the crowd, still adjusting his dress, as if his suit suddenly wasn’t as fitted as it needed to be.
Was he nervous?
There was no time to find out.
From the enveloping blackness of this subterranean world, the unseen attack swooped in from all sides before another word could be uttered.
28
The Tayne warriors swept in on us without any warning in my head. They were already crashing in on the nearest soldiers to them and were clawing and biting against the armour, some of our troops being picked up and hurled against any rocky area available. Searing screams and shrieks came from the invading hoard, each a battle cry meant to unnerve and disturb. In that instant, all previous accusations of wrong doing were forgotten as the more pressing matter of ou
r survival took precedence.
"How many of them are there? Where are the coming from?” Mike shouted into the mayhem swarming all around us as he slammed on his helmet and began drawing power into his balled fists to start his defence. His voice was high with fear. Already I could make out that his wasn't the only one. There were strangled calls in response but no-one could really give a definitive answer. It was only now that my danger warning system kicked in and started to spin. Better late than never but we'd been taken utterly by surprise and The Tayne were now ripping into us.
From everywhere there came the swishing and hacking sounds of swords fighting back but The Tayne were just battering on regardless, an apparent utter disregard for the health and safety of any of their number highlighting that they just wanted their prizes. Em, Mark and a few others had added their magic to our defence and were blasting at anything and everything which came their way while I made a bee line for the construct holding Maria. Hairy was still crouched over her, swatting away at anything that came near him but so far, they were both being left pretty much alone. Andrea joined me as we readied ourselves for the fight, our Dragon powers rising in readiness, potential risk to ourselves forgotten.
But the fight never came.
The Tayne just aimed directly at Leatherpants, bypassing what should have been the more prized targets of the Guardians and moving with an almost blurring oneness and balletic violence. Thinking about what was happening when the attack had taken place, they must have seen him as being the one in charge of us all and in classic military strategy, had aimed to cut the head from their enemy.
He was a prick but I’ll give him his due, he was delivering a masterful display of defensive magic, burning through any and everything that came near him. His hands moved with an almost liquid grace of their own, blurring through casting after casting as he actually did something worthwhile.
The Tayne didn’t let go of their attack. Their shrieking changed and a hooting replaced it. In an instant, more and more of the leathery monsters flooded over Leatherpants. The weight of that new attack began to change the balance of power.
Leatherpants started to grimace, that too tight face of his looking oddly stretched and misshapen as he did. His blasts continued to rip down attacker after attacker but now, some were getting through. The first sign was the long slice which appeared over his left cheek. Then one which opened up across his forehead. His flesh sagged limply from his face but there was no blood accompanying the wound. Instead, amidst the melee of the fight, I could see a dark second skin underneath. Whatever he was, Leatherpants wasn’t human. At least that explained the remarkably long lifespan.
My instinct took over.
Leaping through the air at the mass of flapping horrors spread all over a member of The Circle, I just started swinging my arms and roaring. I smashed into the mess of bodies and let my beast go wild as much as I dare. Hooting Tayne were crushed and shredded, pulverized as I did my best to free Leatherpants from the bottom of the pile. The syrupy blood spattered in every direction as I continued until I eventually reached him.
I may have been coming to his rescue but that didn’t mean I was going to be that careful about it. Taking a firm grip on one leg, I heaved him up and launched him back to where we had set up a defence of Maria. He landed on the dusty ground hard and slid past the readied form of Andrea, who was now standing with a fierce cold energy gathered in her hands. Next to her stood Em, Mark, Mike, Hairy and a handful of the soldiers. With Leatherpants clear and me heaving my armoured shape back towards them, they all opened up with as much magical violence as they could muster. All manner of wound was inflicted as the Tayne just took what was being thrown at them. And they started to move forward against it anyway.
The Tayne followed after the conniving Head of House and by sheer weight of numbers blasted past the attacks which were mustered. The hooting continued as they descended on Leatherpants again.
Power poured into that pile of flesh from every angle as the remaining members of the party attacked but it proved to be useless. There was a single scream from the bottom of the pile, a sound beyond humanity, one that came from the clarity of the animal part of a person. It was clear that Leatherpants was succumbing to an awful death at the hands of these maddened monsters. Even if we had been able to break him free he would have most likely perished anyway.
Didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try.
I snorted out black smoke and spat a flaming gob of saliva away and headed in. Mike did the same from the opposite side of the melee. I had absolutely no feeling of bonding with Leatherpants of any kind but underneath all of the layers of expectation, of protocol, he was a member of The Circle and as such was under my protection. Besides, after all of his showboating and general attempts at undermining me since this whole mess had started to unravel, I wasn’t going to let him die without having the chance to expose him in front of my peers. We were almost at the mound of flesh when a greasy ring of power appeared around the group. That same corrupted ring of energy I’d seen on the battlefield was here. Ozone filled our nostrils as an eerie haze of yellow illuminated everything. Andrea was quickly at my side, as were the others of our group, prepared for whatever was about to come crashing out at us. Even Hairy was stood shoulder to shoulder in the line. But nothing further happened and in a second more, the ring collapsed under its own weight and detonated a howling maelstrom of energy as it did. It left me with a slight feeling of disorientation but I shook it away as the ring finally winked out of existence.
Most of the pile of Tayne went with it. As did what must have been left of Leatherpants.
All forward momentum had been momentarily stolen from us as we adjusted to what had just taken place. My eyes struggled to clear against the amorphous shape which was now hovering at the centre of my vision, the brightness of the enemy’s bridge rendering me temporarily blind. My hearing though, hadn’t been affected in the same way, and I could still recognize the scratching, scrabbling sounds of the Tayne stragglers who hadn’t escaped through the construct.
We each smashed down on a remaining Tayne and held it in place and looked around to survey the wreckage as our eyes adjusted. There were bodies strewn all over the area. The vast majority of our assembled force was now gone, leaving behind a small band of frightened fighters. The creature I had pinned flapped its broken wings in a vain attempt to break free and its jaws reflexively bit out at me. I'd been up close and personal with more than my fair share of the winged beasties during the last couple of months but this one was very different to any of them I'd seen before. It was huge.
The creatures I'd seen each time The Hive had attacked the site in Argentina had been wispy and thin. They had been practically see through and hadn’t ever been anywhere near as nasty as this thing was. A wingspan of at least twenty feet allowed the hulking body to fly. Whereas they had been the relative weaklings of the worlds I was discovering, these were much higher up the food chain. Its lumpy and distended form continued to struggle against my grip, still snapping out at me, spattering gobs of sticky hot saliva as it did.
What the hell had happened to these things and why had they just attacked us with that kind of ferocity? I knew it had been too easy getting here.
The Elder remained stood where she had been, still utterly unmoved by what was happening, her face still that blank emptiness. She just didn’t care. My Dragon power was up and I wanted to know if she was happy with what she’d just made happen.
I was going to make her speak.
It was only then that Andrea called out something which made me stop in my tracks.
"They took the child."
Tightening my grip on the Tayne beneath me, I scanned round the area as best I could, hoping, that I'd be able to pick her out but Andrea was right. Maria's tiny casket of power was missing. It could only have been taken when we were all trying to protect Leatherpants.
"WHERE IS SHE?" I roared at the stricken Tayne, my armour creaking in protest as my body b
egan to warp as my fury came closer to the surface again, threatening to break free. The Tayne’s eyes just bulged in protest at the grip I held on it, its jaw still working but now as a clamoring, rasping for air.
I held that violence directed at it for a further heartbeat, allowing it to feel all the fear I could muster but also to give me the chance to control myself. I leaned down to it and repeated the question, this time with more white hot fury than I knew I could place on words.
The silence settled down on all of us and the tension continued to build. There were no other Tayne coming to attack us, the look on this one’s face showed that clearly. It was terrified. It had to now understand that it was beaten. What it had to decide now was if it wanted to risk keeping its mouth shut.
"You have taken something from us today, beast." Andrea was stood behind me and loomed over the creature. She was imposing to me so I could only imagine what The Tayne was thinking.
I tightened my grip just to help it focus. It worked.
"You have invaded our lands and destroyed so much of who we are." Its voice came out in a constricted wheeze, placing emphasis on the wrong parts of the words as it spoke, forcing them out over teeth that seemed to be too large for it. But it spoke.
I released some pressure on its neck and beckoned for it to continue.
"Why would I help such a barbaric group as The Circle?"
Despite the horror of its form, its voice was a cultured velvet. Hearing without seeing its owner would have brought to mind a very different image of what was speaking.
Andrea responded.
"You have been attacking us in earnest for the last two months yet you call us the barbarians? How many of our people have your race killed? The Hive wish nothing but conquest and you speak of us as the murderers?" I could feel the freezing hatred in her words before I felt the temperature climbing behind me. She was angry and was struggling to control her own inner beast.
"We are not a part of The Hive. We have seen what the war between your factions has been doing and we have remained far from joining any side." Its own anger rose in response, an indignant belligerence spitting the words back.
