“The wagon is prepared for your escape,” the lead golem said. Its voice had a feminine quality to it, and when Edda looked down, she saw the golem’s face was carved into a woman’s. “There are no more survivors within the area to rescue . We will provide escort.”
Without waiting, Egveny spurred the horses on, pushing them to their limits. The three golems jogged next to them, keeping up with no difficulty. As they rode through the noble district, Edda saw large, shadowy forms moving through yards, and heard soft, muted crashes as homes were attacked. Whatever Gustav and Titus had had planned, it appeared to be happening now.
A loud, guttural howl from behind them shattered the night air. Two more howls, similar in sound but of different timbres rose to answer it. More howls from within the city proper, distant and faint answered those. Far more brazen than the howls they had heard the previous night at the warehouses. Edda felt her stomach drop at the sound.
“I think this city is royally piked,” Edda mumbled.
“It is certainly looking that way,” Egveny said, his voice ragged. “What do we do now?”
Edda took a deep breath. “Take us back to the inn, or near enough anyways,” she said. “If the path is clear, we’ll link up with Clyde and the others and we’ll all leave together.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“Then we’re on our own, buddy,” she replied. Edda turned to look at the pitiful number of people they had managed to save. Seven people, counting the two Forn. All of them looked equal parts terrified and exhausted. Would Nerthus had been able to save more of them? That stone cold bitch would have kept her head better than she had, of that she was certain. She probably wouldn’t have frozen up when that piker Gustav ran his mouth. Maybe she’d have gutted him then and there. Gods, she hated calling the shots. She much preferred to be the wisecracking, better looking sidekick. All of the fun, way less responsibility.
“Where the hells are you, Nert?” she whispered, leaning her head against the wagon frame as they sped down the road, back into the city.
Chapter Twenty-One
The Outriders made it back to their horses with no further attacks, though Toma and Ryker swore that there were still more of the monsters out there, just beyond the range of their lights. Even the Underking, riding in front of Garm with his hands bound, seemed cowed into meek submission at the threat looming in the darkness around them. All of them kept their swords drawn as they rode through the darkened streets of the Craftsman District. None of them spoke until they were back in a lit portion of Bellkeep. And even then, none of them could help but look over their shoulders.
The Outriders had just made it back to one of the main thoroughfares when they heard it. A deep, resounding howl that came from no human throat. It was distant, but it still filled their heads with images of deformed monsters leaping from the shadows.
“Gods above,” Ryker said, “I wonder-” he never got to finish his thought. More howls rose in the air to answer the first. Some were more distant, others were closer. The loudest came from the Craftsmen District itself, less than a mile from where they currently were.
“I have no piking idea what is happening here,” Alek said, “but I think it’s time we got the hells out of here.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Johan said. He spurred his horse on at a gallop, with his men close behind him.
Bellkeep’s residents seemed not to know how to respond to the piercing howls. As they rode, the Outriders passed knots of people looking up in the sky, fear and agitation written on their faces. There were no signs of the City Watch, Johan noticed for the first time. Aside from the contingent they ran into at the gate earlier, they had seen no patrols, either mounted or on foot throughout the city. Vegard’s earlier comparisons of the Watch and those monsters echoed in his head.
At first the Outriders weren't prepared to appreciate the sheer scale of the chaos that had embraced Bellkeep. As inhuman howls echoed through the city, they rode as fast as they dared, their prisoner the Underking spurring them on. They were a few blocks from the gate they had entered the city from, the large outer wall of Bellkeep looming over them, when they came face to face with a large group of the horrific mutated citizens.
Two of the creatures were bent over a corpse, devouring it even as steam spurted from the body in the cool night air. Another was chasing a man out of sight, its long, split tongue lolling from its too-large mouth. Houses and storefronts all had doors or windows smashed in, with cries of terror and pleas for mercy coming from within. It was horrific. And all of the monstrous creatures the Outriders saw wore, in some manner, the sigil of the Bellkeep City Watch.
“Gods above,” Vegard breathed.
“Look!” Toma shouted, pointing to the city wall. “Those things are crawling all over it. They've got the gate under their control, no doubt.”
Johan looked around, his sword drawn. “We have to help these people!” he called to the others.
“Are you daft?” the Underking cried out, earning a punch in the back from Garm. But the sifar paid it no mind. “This city is lost, boy. Overrun from within. Get me out of here, and I swear by my blood I'll let you turn me in to any authority you wish. Just get us out of here.”
“He's right Joh,” Ryker said quietly. We can't fight all of this. Our mission was to get the Underking. Well, we got him. Mission complete. Now we need to live long enough to hand him over.”
“There are only six of us,” Alek said. “What can we possibly do, Commander?”
“Plenty,” Johan muttered, determination in his eyes. But he didn't charge forward. He again took stock of the bedlam unfolding around them. The monsters paid them no mind, so intent were they on their more helpless victims. “Alright,” Johan spat, frustration in his voice. “We need to find ourselves an exit. If this gate is closed to us, we find another.”
“Great idea,” Ryker said. “Where is the closest way through that wall?”
Everyone turned to the Underking, who met their gaze without flinching. “Finally some sense,” the sifar said. “If I'm not mistaken, this is the Eastern Gate,” he gestured towards the gate they had been riding towards. “Which means that the Garrison Gate and the Trader’s Entrance are the next closest?”
“What is the Garrison Gate?” Johan asked.
“Just what it sounds like,” the Underking replied. “It is the primary military entryway in Bellkeep. Their army's in-city garrison controls it.”
“Take us there,” Garm snapped.
“I only know it's north of here,” the Underking said. “I've never had cause to visit.”
“Well you're about to. That is where we are heading,” Johan said.
The Outriders rode as hard and fast as they could in a city devouring itself. Though the monsters only moved in small groups, their sudden appearance coupled with their savage ferocity allowed them to wreak havoc on Bellkeep's defenseless population.
Though it ate away at him, Johan ordered his men to avoid engaging the creatures wherever they could avoid it. Yet it didn't prevent them from helping where they could. On three occasions they encountered pairs of the monsters, and dispatched them in brief flurries of blades.
The biggest liability the Outriders had, they soon discovered, were their horses. Twice when it became necessary for them to dart into an alleyway or take cover to avoid detection, their horses caused such a commotion that they had to turn and fight the pursuing monsters.
The third time they were ambushed, the Outriders found themselves caught between rows of townhouses with little room to maneuver when a large group of the beasts burst out of the second floor windows of the surrounding houses.
The horses all reared up, with Ryker and Vegard getting thrown onto the hard packed dirt of the road. The creatures were on the rider less horses in an instant, shredding through saddle, kit, and flesh with brutal ease. Alek leaped off of his horse, sword in hand, and slashed his blade deep through the shoulder and into the navel one of the monsters as it ripped i
nto Ryker's horse. With a surge of strength, Alek twisted his wrist and pulled his blade out of the monster's side, tearing off half of its torso. Black ichor spurted everywhere as the silent creature went down.
Ryker and Vegard were on their backs for only an instant after being thrown, but two of the deformed monsters were on them almost immediately. Vegard, his sword knocked from his hand in the fall, did his best to fend off the slashing claws of the monster. The armor within his coat and gauntlets he wore saved him from the worst of it, yet the abomination's claws scored long wounds across Vegard's shoulders. Despite the injuries, Vegard was able to draw his legs up under his stomach and he pushed the monster off of him, buying him time to scoop up his sword and face his attacker on more equal terms. The creature showed no hint of strategy or subtlety as it rounded on him again, black spittle flying as it roared a silent challenge before charging. Vegard sidestepped backwards to avoid a wild swing of the monster's claws and in a two-handed upward swing of his own clove the jaw of the creature in two. The blade sunk into the bone of the creature's brow, still concealed in bandages. Vegard planted his back foot and thrust his blade forwards, splitting what was left of the creature's skull apart, and it collapsed to the ground.
Ryker, be it through his own luck or the influence of the Phaedra, managed to keep his grip on his sword as he hit the ground. He could see the abomination descending from above, two clawed hands and two rows of barred teeth glinting in the light of the burning city. It seemed to be happening much slower than it should, he thought. He sprang to his feet, thrusting his sword upward as he rose. His blade impaled the falling monster through its chest, but the weight of the creature, coupled with the speed it fell almost crushed Ryker and he went back down, pinned under its corpse.
Johan saw little else as he barely had time to move his horse out of the way of a leaping monster. He turned his horse and joined Toma in hacking at it from their horses. As the monster warded off the glittering blades with its long, spindly claws a new appendage burst from under its shrouds, a tentacle or a proboscis, and sunk deep within Toma's horse, just missing his thigh by inches.
As Toma and his horse went down, the monster turned its full attention to Johan, who was about to dismount when another of the creatures pulled him from his horse. Johan could feel the claws biting through his armor and into his flesh as he hit the ground. His horse neighed wildly, kicking at the creatures that were appearing before bolting down the nearest street. The violent departure of the horse was all the distraction Johan needed to hack at the deformed hands that held him, but the monster's flesh was tough and sinewy, as if made of thick, wet rope. The creature ignored Johan's sword and pulled him by the arm towards its mouth, wet and glistening with blood. Johan awkwardly swung now at the monster's face, his blade making loud thunks as it bit through tattered hood, rotten flesh, and deformed bone, but the abomination refused to slacken its grip. Finally, with its face in tatters, the creature let Johan go as it staggered backwards, its cut and gashed hands silently rubbing and pawing at its own face.
Johan was about to press the attack when a large halberd head scythed downwards from behind it, ripping through the creature's neck and shoulder. A second halberd head burst through the monster's chest before violently being pulled back through as the creature dropped to the ground. As the creature fell, Johan saw a handful of men in chainmail armor armed with halberds, spears, and short swords. A man standing among them, dressed in half-plate armor with a visor with the sigil of Bellkeep painted on his helmet in bright yellow gestured and the men rushed forwards, swarming the remaining creatures that were plaguing the Outriders. Johan, taking a second to catch his breath, turned and watched as the men fell into pairs and engaged the abominations with precision and discipline. Using their spears and halberds to keep their distance, the Bellkeep soldiers were able to hit and run, keeping the monsters off-balance and exposed for the brute force of Garm or Alek to smash them to the ground.
Within a minute it was over, but the price had been high. Three of their horses were dead, the rest had fled and would be dead soon after. All of the Outriders, even Alek and Garm, had visible wounds. Ryker looked the worse out of all of them, Johan saw, as Bellkeep soldiers helped him up from under the body of the monster he had slain. Surprisingly, Johan saw that the Underking had remained with them, dismounted but holding the reigns of Garm's horse in his good arm. The sifar had also shifted position slightly so the horse was between himself and the newly arrived soldiers.
“Are you all able to move?” the man in the half-plate asked, one of his hands holding open the visor on his helmet. He had a precise manner to his voice that Johan instantly recognized. Military officer.
“Yes sir,” Johan replied after giving his men a once over. He extended his hand. “Commander Johan Else, Tethis Outrider Legion. Glad to know you.”
“Sergeant Voll at your service,” the man replied, taking the offered hand. “Picked a poor time to visit our fair city. Sir,” he added, realizing suddenly that Johan outranked him.
“Couldn't agree more,” Johan said. “We're trying to get to the Garrison Gate to see if we can't make a break for it. You wouldn't be able to point us in the right direction, would you?”
“Can do better than that. We'll bring you there now. We need to regroup with the rest of our battalion, check in with the Captain.”
“You guys know how to handle yourselves,” Alek said, joining Johan and Voll.
Voll's grimace was visible even through his small visor. “I wish. There were twice as many of us when we set out from our watch post cross the city. These piking monsters are Goff's own devils. But come on, follow us. We don't have all that far to go, and we'll get you to the Garrison at least. Course, the Captain would love to have you with us. We're going to need all the muscle we can get to hold the city.”
“I'll see what I can do to help,” Johan said grimly, his eyes briefly going to the Underking. “Salvage as much from the horses as we can carry,” he said to the other Outriders, who were tending to their wounds and catching a moment's peace. “These fine gentlemen are going to get us out of here. The least we can do is not make them wait.”
Voll seemed to follow Johan's gaze, and saw the Underking desperately trying to avoid notice.
“Who's the sif?” he asked, an edge creeping into his tired voice.
“Uhh he's our cook,” Alek blurted out. “Took him with us for our little vacation here.”
“Your cook. Really.” Even with most of his face obscured by his helmet, Johan could tell Voll was skeptical. “Well, I won't tell you your business,” he said at last. “Just do us all a favor and keep a hood or something over his face. Some of the boys are vets of the border skirmishes. And they won't appreciate any sif here, cook or whatever he is.”
“Of course,” Johan replied, and he motioned to Garm, who marched over to the Underking and the two of them began to fashion some sort of head wrap out of the sifar's clothing. After they were done Garm looked back at his commander and nodded. Toma, Vegard, and Vegard had slung packs from the fallen horses over their shoulders, with Alek draping himself with saddlebags, leaving what they could. They all gave him weary thumbs up.
“Alright Sergeant,” Johan said, turning back towards Voll. “It's your show now. Lead the way.”
The massive outer wall of Bellkeep loomed over the Outriders and the soldiers as Voll led them through a series of back alleys and streets with the natural ease of a native son. All of them were tense, weapons drawn as they jogged, the metallic rattle of chain mail and the heavy clomps of boots on cobblestone their only companion. Soon they could make out the Garrison itself over the rooftops of nearby houses, a large stone fortress that looked like it had been shoved through the outer wall by the hands of giants. Johan felt a strange sense of unease the closer they got to it. They had encountered no more of the City Watch since hooking up with Voll. Which was odd to say the least. If the Garrison was truly a hardpoint of resistance within the city, shouldn't th
e monsters be hitting it the hardest?
Johan did his best to learn a little more about the situation from Sergeant Voll as they moved, but the Sergeant was exhausted, and didn't know much else of the big picture. Vegard's suspicions had apparently been correct, as Voll explained how almost all of the City Watch had begun assaulting the populace of the city. In the far western post Voll and his men had been stationed in, a group of “normal” humans from the City Watch had set fire to their barracks, hoping to pick the soldiers off as they ran from their building defenseless. However, Voll's Captain, a knight by the name of Garrey, had issued an order that soldiers remain armed and armored at all hours of the day, and to be ready for any mischief coming from the Watch. So when Voll and his men emerged from their barracks, they did so ready for action. They killed the Watchmen who had attacked them, but they found themselves quickly outnumbered so they fled. The City Watch and their monsters harrying them the entire way across the city. Not long after that, Voll saw the recall order from the Garrison, a bright blue flare launched into the night sky.
“That seems like an oddly specific order for your Captain to give,” Ryker commented as they jogged from alley to alley. “Seems like he was expecting trouble from the Watch.”
“You'd think so,” Voll gasped through his visor, his breath making metallic rasping sounds, “but the past few weeks have been pretty rough in the city between us.”
“Pissing contest between army and Watch?” Johan asked.
“Aye, something like that. I'll let the Captain explain it. We're nearly there.”
They rounded a corner, the Garrison and outer wall rising over them like a mountain, and they found themselves in a large courtyard, enclosed on either side by large, thick walls. There was a small fountain in the center, still trickling its water peacefully despite the world on edge around it. At the far side of the courtyard were large stone double doors, leading into the Garrison itself. Dotting the courtyard were hastily erected palisades of sharpened wood, large barrels and kegs, and wagons turned over to create a maze of obstacles for any assailant to overcome.
Chasing Down Glory: The Outrider Legion: Book Two Page 35
