Brandrir turned and was about to usher the men inside when Etheil noticed his eyes focus on something. Brandrir froze. As one, Etheil and the others turned around. Standing there, bathed in the glow of the moon, was a tall figure in an iron shroud. Snow fell all around it, and the wind blew, but it remained motionless, as if it could not be touched by such worldly things. In its hand gleamed a long, obsidian dagger.
“What is that thing?” asked Aries.
Brandrir focused on it like a lion ready for its meal. “I don’t know, but I mean to find out.”
With his one remaining arm Syrus took a saber from his back.
“Brandrir, we have injured.” said Etheil, warning in his voice. They both knew this was the same creature from the other night; they both knew it was quick and deadly, but they didn’t know what it wanted. Solastron had told him that it was something not of this world, and that the odor of death was hidden behind its reek of wet rust. Etheil suspected it was a revenant, like the creatures in the tales of the Iron Witch, and he didn’t want anybody in the way who was already injured.
“Braken, Aries, Syrus!” called Brandrir. “Inside! Make for the Grimwatch.”
“But boss,” protested Syrus.
“In! Now!” yelled Brandrir, leaving no room for argument.
Etheil threw off his cloak. Snow swirled up around him into a disc at his waist. He drew Firebrand and ignited it, the fiery blade lighting up the night and casting the snowfield in flickering reds and oranges. Behind him, Etheil heard Brandrir’s sword, Raze, ignite into its steady hum. Steel hissed from scabbards as the soldiers drew their arms. The being strode forward and the thirteen soldiers charged, shouting out, “For the King of the Grims!”
The creature bent forward at the waist and slithered on its feet into the ranks of soldiers. It wove its way between them, slashing and stabbing in flurries before any could so much as turn to face it. The men began working their swords defensively, but the being was too quick. At every opening it would stab through their armor and then slink to the side just in time to avoid being hit itself. Crimson began to paint the snow in dots and swashes as the soldiers fell to its blade.
Despite the soldiers’ proficiency in battle, Etheil could see that this being was beyond their skill and he refused to let any more harm come to them. He also wanted them out of his way so that he could engage it more effectively. With a flick of his wrist he caught the remaining soldiers in his aura and sent them spinning away harmlessly as he shot in at the being. Firebrand roared through the arctic air. The being flowed around strike after strike. Etheil spun just as the being lashed out with its dagger. He tried to catch it in his spiraling aura, but the being seemed completely immune. The obsidian dagger punctured his armor, right beneath his left arm, but Etheil turned and rolled before it could find his flesh.
And then Brandrir’s sword buzzed in. The being ducked and slid forward, coming up behind Brandrir. It slashed its dagger back and forth, but Brandrir was able to turn and dodge before its blade had time to do anything more than spark off his armor. Brandrir whirled his sword around in an upward strike. The creature flowed around it, and Brandrir brought the sword around his head and back down with all his momentum. The being slunk sideways, avoiding the strike, and grabbed Brandrir’s mechanical arm. Brandrir turned away, but the thing’s fingers were inhumanly strong and one of the plates tore off, revealing a dull, black piston beneath that sparkled with all the colors of the rainbow.
Etheil and Brandrir both had a sudden realization. “It’s after the Mard Grander!”
Etheil shot in, Firebrand sweeping up in an arc. The being wove to the side and lashed out with its dagger, ripping another hole in Etheil’s armor. Brandrir wheeled his sword around. The being ducked with lazy efficiency and slithered forward, coming up right inside Brandrir’s arms. As it stood, it hooked its dagger up and Brandrir only narrowly caught it by the wrist with his mechanical hand. Gears moaned as he tried to push the thing’s arm down. Just before the being got the better of him, Brandrir leapt backward and the creature swam at him, its dagger flashing in all directions.
Raze hummed through the air as Brandrir worked it up and down and to the sides, trying to make purchase on the thing. But no matter how fast he was, the being was always just a little faster and his sword did nothing but cut the arctic winds. Now it was at his side, slicing. Brandrir whipped his sword around, but the being slunk beneath it and came up on his other side, stabbing. Brandrir leapt back, sweeping his sword out, but again the thing wove around it and came for him.
The disc of swirling snow intensified around Etheil and he lifted off his feet and flew at the creature, Firebrand a roaring missile before him. Brandrir ducked and rolled to the side just as the being turned. It got its dagger up but Firebrand impacted its chest. Etheil felt the creature crumple around the tip of his blade. He came down atop the being but a portal opened beneath it and it vanished. Etheil turned right just as a portal opened and the being came out, its blade whipping back and forth.
“Get to the Grimwalk!” yelled Etheil, ducking one of its swipes. He came up on its side but the thing twisted away before he could get his sword around. “Don’t let it get the Mard Grander!”
Brandrir spat a curse and scrambled toward the Grimwalk’s door. Etheil was slightly surprised. Brandrir could be stubborn and foolhardy in battle, but at least he had sense to keep the Mard Grander safe. It was the one duty he took seriously.
Etheil tilted his head, the obsidian dagger grazing his ear. He ducked and rolled, but as he came up on his feet the creature was already in front of him. Crack! Crack! Crack! The dagger punched its way through Etheil’s armor. Before the stinging pain could even register in his abdomen the dagger ripped a gash across his chest. Etheil fell backwards into the snow, cursing from the pain.
The being fluttered back from him as the soldiers regrouped and came upon it. It bent forward and slithered in at them, its dagger whipping in every direction. The sound of armor being punctured echoed off the side of the mountain. Men screamed as they fell. One of the soldiers jumped in at it, his sword swinging. The being slunk to the side and glided behind him, its dagger tearing a gash across his throat. The being turned to face the last three soldiers. They all backed away from it.
Etheil groaned as he struggled to his feet. The armor on his chest was torn open, but the blade had only grazed his flesh. His right side, however, had blood trickling through the holes in his armor and he knew the dagger had bit him deeply. How his vital organs had been missed was something of a miracle. With a scream of rage and pain, Etheil held out Firebrand. Like the breath of a dragon flames poured out, but before they could wash over the creature it stepped through a dark portal and vanished.
“Get to Brandrir!” Etheil screamed at the three remaining soldiers. Holding his side, Etheil bolted for the Grimwalk, each step an agonizing chore that left a trail of blood.
Inside, the being had already engaged Brandrir. The corridor was too narrow to fight effectively in teams. The soldiers held back as Brandrir flourished his sword, trying to keep the thing from slinking its way into his space. Each time one of the soldiers thought they could move in on the thing from behind, the creature would spin, whipping its blade back and forth, and then slither back at Brandrir with its dagger out.
Etheil pushed his way past the soldiers, his boots clanking on the grated, iron floor. Raze thrummed as the creature wove away from each of Brandrir’s strikes, trying to come up on his left side where his mechanical arm was. Behind Brandrir, Syrus, Aries and Braken stood, trying to get their own attacks in, but there was no room in the cavern to move past his sides.
Brandrir ignited the energy shield in his mechanical arm, filling the corridor with the smell of ozone. The creature dashed in, its dagger working back and forth, sparking against the shield. It relented for a moment and Brandrir whipped his sword around, but the creature ducked and slunk beneath the att
ack. It was now inside Brandrir’s space, but Brandrir moved his left arm up and the shield crackled upon the being’s iron shroud. Fingers of blue and yellow energy crawled up and down the figure but didn’t seem to harm it at all.
Crack! Crack! Crack! The obsidian dagger plunged into Brandrir’s chest, right shoulder and then his stomach. Each stab left a hole in his armor, the blade flinging blood as it withdrew.
Brandrir screamed as he stumbled backward, dropping Raze as his hands went to the bloody holes in his armor. The being moved in on him and grabbed at his mechanical arm. Brandrir tried to pull away, but the thing held tight. Behind Brandrir, Syrus and Aries both used their remaining arms to hold Brandrir, trying to wrestle him away from the thing.
Brandrir roared and gears and pistons whirred and moaned as the being wrenched his arm back and forth. Etheil heard bone pop and crack; heard steel pistons shearing away from flesh. The flexible, metal tube that connected Brandrir’s mechanical arm to the brass tank on his back tore off, spraying clouds of hot steam into the cold tunnel. The being yanked and twisted again, and Syrus and Aries fell backward, Brandrir on top of them, howling as his arm came off into the being’s clutches.
The being turned to face Etheil. It held Brandrir’s mechanical arm in one hand, flaps of flesh and strings of tendon and muscle still attached at the shoulder. Etheil moved forward with his sword blazing, but the being stepped through a portal and vanished.
Etheil turned his eyes to Brandrir and almost had to look away. His arm had been ripped right off his shoulder. At the stump, sharp fragments of collarbone protruded from bloodied, mangled flesh. Like a purple worm an artery dangled, ejaculating blood.
Aries and Syrus struggled to their feet as Braken pushed past them. Brandrir screamed in pain as Braken tried to lift Brandrir on his feet. Brandrir writhed out of the large man’s hands and fell back onto the grated floor, clutching at his ruined shoulder. Aries and Syrus tried to get him up, but Brandrir thrashed and kicked at them. “It took the gun! It took the gun!” he snarled.
Etheil ran to Brandrir’s side and knelt, but Brandrir kicked Etheil away and pointed with his only remaining hand, allowing more blood to spray from the exposed artery. “Get the gun!”
At last Etheil understood what Brandrir was trying to tell them. He stood and turned around. The boulder was rising up, sealing the Grimwalk. Outside, he saw the being fire Brandrir’s flare gun into the air. Then, just before the boulder rose too high for Etheil to see, the being stepped through a black portal and vanished with Brandrir’s arm.
“It fired the flare. The Grimwatch will seal this tunnel.” said Etheil, turning back to Brandrir. Brandrir was clutching at his shoulder, his eyes clenched shut and his breaths hissing. Sweat poured from his brow, his face red and twisted in agony. Etheil knelt beside him and started inspecting the stab wounds on his body, not yet ready to face that mangled shoulder.
“I’m here, old friend. Just stay with me.” Etheil wiped a pool of oozing blood from the puncture in Brandrir’s stomach, and it smeared across the smooth armor. He frowned. It was impossible to say how bad the wounds were with his armor on.
Aries looked down at Brandrir for the first time, her eyes going wide as the severity of his wounds dawned on her.
Etheil threw off his gauntlets. “Braken, hold him steady.” Brandrir grunted something about not having time, but Etheil ignored him. He took in a deep breath and then grabbed the artery with his fingers. Brandrir screamed and cursed as Etheil pulled it and tied it off.
Aries flinched away. Behind her, Syrus clanked his broken arm against hers. “This is not a good day for arms.” he said. He looked down at Brandrir. “My King, be strong and we will see you through this.”
“No time!” grunted Brandrir, arcing his back as he lay on the floor. His face was red, the arteries in his neck bulging. Sweat ran down his forehead. He heaved a few breaths, as if trying to work up some courage, and then barked, “Get me up!”
“No.” said Etheil, firmly. He placed his hand on Brandrir’s chest, holding him down. “You three, open the Grimwalk,” ordered Etheil of the three soldiers. He looked up at Braken, Syrus and Aries. “Help me carry Brandrir. If the Grimwatch hits the button to seal this tunnel while we’re in it, we’re doomed.”
Etheil hissed as he stood, nearly collapsing himself. Braken’s ruby eyes stared at his wounds. “We’ll take Brandrir. You just worry about yourself.”
Etheil nodded. He looked down the corridor at the soldiers. “Open that door already!”
At the exitway, one of the soldiers threw down the lever to open it. Beneath the floor there were a few loud clanks and gears began to work. The boulder sank a couple inches, but then there was a loud boom and the boulder stopped. Beneath the grated floor other mechanisms began to clack and then the sound of rusty valves opening echoed throughout the chamber. The boulder rose back up with a bang as it sealed.
“Um, I am thinking the door has broken.” said Syrus, looking at the stopped door and the confused soldiers there. They moved the lever up and down, but nothing happened. From beneath the grated floor rose a mild, metallic odor and a wave of warmth.
Etheil cursed. The door had not broken. The Grimwatch was sealing the Grimwalk. He turned and knelt beside Brandrir. “Get his armor off!”
“I thought we were getting out of here first?” asked Aries, holding Brandrir’s head in her large hand as Syrus and Braken struggled to unfasten his breastplate. Brandrir thrashed and struggled, screaming something about not having time.
“We can’t. They’re sealing the Grimwalk.” said Etheil, taking out his medical pack. Before him, Brandrir had his eyes closed, breathing heavily against the pain, nearly foaming at the mouth. “Quickly, we have to staunch his wounds now.” Behind him, the soldiers returned and Etheil took one of their cloaks. He immediately began ripping it into lengths as Syrus and Braken helped steady the cursing Brandrir. Brandrir kicked and spat, snarling about ‘no time’ again.
“I am thinking we are in trouble.” said Syrus, pointing down the tunnel.
Etheil looked over his shoulder. Through the grated floor at the foot of the boulder a fiery, yellow light began to glow. Etheil looked down. About ten-feet beneath the grated floor iron nozzles began to throb with heat. He looked up the slight grade of the corridor. Through the darkness, like candles coming to life, more nozzles beneath the floor began to glow. Shit.
He turned back to Brandrir. Braken and Syrus had gotten his breastplate off. His shoulder aside, there were nasty stab wounds in his chest, stomach and other shoulder. The one in his stomach emitted a nasty, septic odor. “I’m going to have to—”
Brandrir thrashed his head out of Aries’s hand. He grabbed Etheil’s wrist. “There’s no time!” he growled between clenched teeth.
“I have to stop the bleeding.” said Etheil.
“There’s—” Brandrir coughed and blood gushed out from every wound. He groaned and then his body relaxed as his eyes rolled backward in his skull. Braken began gently slapping at his face.
“Stay with me,” said Etheil, hastily dumping a bottle of clear liquid all over the wounds. Pink foam bubbled from each. Etheil tossed the bottle and ordered one of the soldiers to wipe off the wounds as he pulled out a needle and thread.
Brandrir’s head rolled as he began to come to. He gasped and his head suddenly tilted up, looking around wildly. With the last of his energy he sat up, grabbing the hand Etheil held the threaded needle with. His eyes were wide, his brow dripping with sweat. He panted a few times against the pain and then said, “There’s no time! Cauterize them!”
Beneath him Etheil felt an uncomfortable heat. From the nozzles molten metal began to bubble out, flowing down the grade of the floor.
“I don’t want to alarm anybody,” said Syrus. “But now we are in big trouble.”
Etheil turned. At the foot of the boulder, pulsing, molten steel flowed up thr
ough the grates in the floor and began pooling. Even now it was evident that it was starting to rise and move upward toward them.
“Cauterize the wounds!” growled Brandrir. He clenched his eyes, cursing. “Cauterize them, Etheil!” He turned his head away.
Syrus, Braken and Aries held Brandrir’s body up as he sat. Etheil ignited Firebrand. “Hold him steady.”
Brandrir’s jaw clenched as tightly as his eyes. Veins popped from his neck.
Slowly, Etheil pressed the tip of his flaming sword to Brandrir’s belly. Flesh seared and Brandrir wailed, his fist pounding on the floor, rattling it. Etheil removed his sword, burnt flakes of flesh floating off. He pressed it to Brandrir’s chest and then his right shoulder. Finally, he turned it to Brandrir’s ruined left shoulder. Flesh hissed and smoked and Brandrir screamed as Etheil slowly turned the blade around the entire circumference of the wound. Aries coughed at the stench and turned her head. At last Etheil removed his sword and inspected the bubbling flesh. It would have to do.
Brandrir collapsed into Braken’s arms, his body going limp. With a large finger, Aries gently stroked at Brandrir’s cheek. A tear fell from her eye and Syrus hugged her close. Etheil looked behind him, to the exitway. Molten steel was steadily rising against the boulder and creeping up the corridor. Beneath them, a river of fiery slag flowed and already their armor was becoming unbearably hot.
“My Lord,” said one of the soldiers, moving from foot to foot against the rising heat in his boots. “We have to flee!”
Etheil hissed and clutched at his side as he stood up. His own wounds would have to wait. He turned to the soldiers. “Carry Brandrir. Let’s move, quickly!”
Two of the soldiers picked Brandrir up by the waist and the other picked up his feet. At this point Brandrir was fully unconscious. Etheil made Syrus lead the way, followed by Aries and then Braken. Etheil had the soldiers carry Brandrir ahead of him. Etheil picked Raze up off the floor and chased after the others as quickly as he could.
Here Shines the Sun Page 43
