Wrath of the Risen God: Arcane Renaissance Book Three

by Tim Paulson

  Daniel.

  You fool, she thought. You forgot about him, about the necklace. Not that it would have helped. Her hands had been tied.

  “Let's go,” Vex said.

  She was being held in the arms of a corpse, carried. They were going somewhere. Up three sets of stairs. Men and women were screaming in the distance. Celia's eyes kept losing focus. The pain was so great it was clouding her perception.

  Dead bodies walked all around them, attacking people, tearing them apart. Guns were being fired but the sounds of muskets were... so far away.

  Daniel was walking to her right, his skull tilted in her direction, red eyes pointing at her. He had a tentacle on her hand. Was he concerned for her?

  “Daniel, smash that wall for me,” Vex said.

  Daniel wasted no time. He lowered his horned skull and rammed right through the brick.

  “Now take Celia,” Vex said, jumping from her chest.

  As Daniel's tentacles gently wrapped her body she looked down.

  Vex was staring up at five animated corpses, each with red eyes, staring at him.

  “Go back, kill as many of the men running this place as you can, then free the people contained in the cells. Do you understand?” Vex asked.

  Five corpses nodded and turned away, running back into the building.

  “Good. Daniel, let's go,” Vex said jumping on to an offered tentacle.

  Outside they found Kev waiting.

  “What happened?!” he asked. “ People started screaming and running out of the building. I knew it had to be you.”

  “It's time for us to go,” Vex said. “But we'll be back. I cannot allow places like this to exist.”

  “What's happened to Celia?” Kev asked.

  “She's put herself in jeopardy for me... again,” Vex replied. “And she will be rewarded.”

  Despite the pain and horror of it all, Celia smiled.

  Chapter 15

  "Cannons are God's drums and I am his composer."

  -Ganex Artillery Commander Rupprecht Hegeler, 1614

  With the weaselman and Giselle clasped carefully in Wen's goliath hands, Mia had him running to the west. They'd come out of the forest quickly and were currently traversing the rolling foothills that ran like uneven stairs from castle Aeyrdfeld and its surrounding city, down to the more open areas to the east used by the baron's goliath corps for training.

  Mia knew these hills well. She'd spent many a day and night ranging with Zeus and the others of her unit, learning the terrain, imagining how the Ganex would come. If it hadn't been for the sight of the castle in flames, she might even have felt at home.

  Not that Aeyrdfeld had ever really been her home. Or had it? She'd lived there a long time, even longer than she'd spent with master Benario. In spite of herself, she cared for the Haletts.

  Baron Marcus Halett had always treated her well. He'd been a good man, and a good ruler as well. Now that she'd remembered the truth about him and his family it was even harder to banish him from her memory and move on.

  Aaron too, whom she'd fought in his unfortunate stone state. She hoped very much it was possible to reverse what had been done to him. If only Harald hadn't left with Christine, perhaps he could have done it.

  She couldn't forget Giselle, who'd been an exuberant toddler the first time Mia set eyes on her almost two decades ago. Mia had entered the hall to find the little girl running around and babbling like she'd swallowed a flock of geese, full of life even then. Currently, she was cupped in Wen's capable goliath hands, still upset, and she had every right to be.

  Even Liam, Marcus's spitting image. The boy had always been rambunctious and physically talented, but also rash and arrogant, though heaven only knew where he'd gone after burning his mother's hidden sorcery room. He might never return.

  A warm feeling came into her mind from her goliath. Wen let her know that he felt she'd been through a lot.

  Mia smiled. She had, but for the first time in her life... she felt like she had a purpose. She would find Adem, firstly. She'd promised herself she'd take care of him, no matter what happened and she meant it.

  Then she would try to bring the rest of them back together. It was worth doing, she felt it in her heart.

  Wen agreed. Mia saw images of the older woman they'd buried in the forest. She'd been a goliath knight for twenty years, fighting furiously to maintain her position given she had no rich titled relatives to bolster her claim. There were three children waiting for her return back in her small knightdom in the northwest of Ganex.

  Wen felt sad for her and her children but he also felt angry about what had been done to her, the attack, how it had come from nowhere. They'd just spotted the enemy at a distance and were turning to inform the formation when Wen's own stone had suddenly impaled his rider through her heart. She hadn't even had time to speak.

  That sorcerer was a monster. Vex had been bad enough, but this creature was a hundred times worse. He thought nothing of murder. To him, the rest of humanity were nothing but ants, to brush aside or burn at his leisure.

  However, Mia didn't think his stone trick would work on her. Her new ability, the one that had prevented Harald's sorcery, may well protect her.

  Maybe.

  Wen was skeptical.

  Mia was too. It would be better to avoid the sorcerer entirely, if possible.

  Looking through Wen's eyes she could see little on the field. Goliath tracks had dug deep furrows in the snow here and there but scattered. The Ganex had fled in groups and fanned out to hide their precise direction. It was a risky decision that spoke to the commander's mind. Smaller groups were more vulnerable if overtaken, more likely to be destroyed completely. However, split up as they were, it was harder for the enemy to hunt them all down. The Ganex situation must have been dire to consider sacrificing whole units in order to escape.

  Still, Mia had to connect with them somehow. She needed to find Commander Bartold. If he were even still alive. Soldiers on horses weren't exactly the best protected on the battlefield, not with goliaths and horrors about.

  There!

  It was Wen, he'd noticed movement in a stand of trees to their left.

  Instantly Mia bade him drop to one knee, which he did, smoothly, precisely. Wen was well trained. No wonder the Ganex knight had survived for so long.

  They laid the weaselman and Giselle down on the ground and waved, pointing at the tree line where a small flock of birds had been startled into flight. Wen noticed just in time the javelin arcing toward them and rolled to the left. The veil tipped metal spear just missed, burying a third of itself in the hill behind them.

  Mia wondered if Wen had any experience training with a javelin.

  The goliath's response felt like laughter.

  Right. Light goliath, they almost always carried them.

  “Let's do this then,” she said.

  Wen agreed. In one smooth motion, he spun around and snatched the weapon from the hill. Bringing the weapon up in front of himself he began to sprint toward the far set of trees, taking steps of varying size, weaving back and forth to prevent javelins or cannon from getting a bead on him. He truly was impressive.

  More than that though, Mia could tell Wen felt powerful, at ease. She didn't particularly know why. Did it have to do with her? Had Marian felt this? No... Mia hadn't been as strong then as she was now.

  It made her wonder.

  Wonder what? Wen piped up in her mind.

  “Never you mind, first, we close in,” she said aloud.

  Wen was happy to comply, dodging once to the left before switching back to circle the tree line to the right. Just as he did a second javelin flew past.

  Goliaths who carried more than one javelin were exceedingly rare in the north. The Pyrolians fought like that, but few others. That meant there were two, at least.

  “Come on out paisans,” Mia said to them. “Let's dance.”

  Only a second later three goliaths burst from the edge of the wood. Two lights and one
medium, all fast, all brandishing thin piercing veil swords with small shields. Though they were painted in purple like the new republican army they were a part of, all of their eyes still glowed blue like they always had in Faustland. The sight of blue-eyed goliaths arrayed on the field against her almost gave Mia pause, almost.

  All she had to think about was the man behind them. That sniveling coward Buckley, hiding back in his headquarters, and her resolve firmed.

  The enemies moved to surround her. As they did, she watched them. They moved as normal. There seemed nothing special about these goliaths, nothing enhanced in any way. That was refreshing. She'd started to expect every encounter with Buckley's people to bring with it an escalated threat of some sort. Even the Ganex had been using the red veil powder.

  Her enemies moved slowly. They seemed surprised she hadn't tried to run.

  Wen bolted left, then right, jabbing the javelin's tip at the larger of the three enemies, purposely giving him an easy opportunity to parry the thrust with his shield.

  That's what Mia wanted.

  Wen was skeptical of the idea that formed in her mind but executed it anyway, throwing himself into a slide just as she'd imagined. They cut the left leg out from under their enemy, causing him to topple toward his companions. Then they rolled out of the maneuver and turned around just in time to dance away from a thrust while planting the javelin's head into the center of the larger enemy. The goliath's blue eyes died.

  The other light goliath was circling around the inert form of his larger companion while the first thrust his sword at them once again. Wen backed away instead of closing. Mia disapproved, but she hadn't suggested an alternative so it was hard to blame the goliath. She realized she was too used to Marian's uncanny ability to do the right thing, the aggressive thing, at every turn. It was obvious Wen had learned to be very good at staying out of harm's way.

  It was time to do some damage though.

  Mia grinned.

  She imagined a scenario where they would jab twice at the nearest enemy, forcing the shield to come up and immediately followed it with a rush where they swung the javelin around, aiming the back of the weapon at the enemy's head.

  Wen responded. He jabbed twice but refused to close. Instead, he stepped back. He felt uncertain that her plan would work.

  Mia sighed.

  “We have to do something,” she said. “The other will be behind us in only a second.”

  They ought to run. Wen's response was immediate.

  “No, Wen,” Mia replied. “We can't do that. We'll be pursued, they'll know where we are. Our job here is not to stay alive and report. It's to win!”

  Wen didn't like it. It wasn't possible.

  The enemies had nearly surrounded them now. The one behind was about to jab at them as was the enemy to their front.

  “That's it... we're throwing the javelin!” she said as she pushed all her frustration into her right arm. Hoping it would work just as it did with her veil sword and it did. The veil tip of the steel javelin began to glowing brighter until it exploded with flames.

  This caught both republican goliaths by surprise.

  “Now!” she said.

  Wen too felt disbelief., yet he did as she bade him, quickly spinning around to whip the javelin straight through the center of the goliath to their rear. The goliath's blue eyes didn't die but its fighting spirit evaporated. Sword and shield dropped to the ground as it took three steps back, quivering. They'd killed or incapacitated the knight.

  “Quickly, the sword,” Mia shouted.

  Wen moved to obey. He was quick but held the sword poorly, his guard far too low.

  No matter, she thought with a smile as she pushed her power out through Wen's arm, lighting the entire sword aflame.

  Mia had no idea what the effect would be when the flaming veil blade met the enemy's but she didn't have a chance to find out because the final goliath fled, heading for the woods.

  Wen was relieved.

  “No!” Mia said. “He can't be allowed to leave. Run after him!”

  Wen categorically refused to do so, digging his heels in.

  “Wen!” she said.

  Mia shook her head, allowing the flame on her sword to sizzle out. If only she could have Marian back, even Zeus. Why Zeus would... actually he'd been hesitant as well. She'd tried to force him to obey and it had cost them both.

  “It's fine, let's head back to...” Mia was shocked into silence.

  Wen had already turned around to return to Giselle and the weaselman. They were still where she'd left them, near a pair of low bushes, only now they were surrounded by horses. Men had dismounted and were talking to them. Not far away, stacked together like so much firewood, were the corpses of three horrors.

  “This can't be good,” she said.

  Wen approached, still holding the thin veil sword. Cavalry was no match for a goliath, even a light one like Wen. Mia hoped she wouldn't be forced to prove it.

  The soldiers waved to them.

  Wen waved back but followed it by making a hand sign with his two-fingered stone hand. Mia wasn't familiar with it.

  Tells them we're friends, Wen told her.

  Mia nodded, this was better. “I'm supposed to be meeting with Ganex cavalry. I hope these are the right ones.”

  Two of the horses took on her friends and they rode off to the north.

  Mia and Wen followed.

  * * *

  Thira knocked on the captain's door a second time, wincing only a little. The splinters had finally been removed the previous night and her hands were already feeling much better thanks to Wilhelm's careful extractions and a salve Rosa kept in her bag.

  Behind her stood three of the Marlinists with their tall hats and long black cloaks. At their head was the older man with the gray beard and hard eyes. She could feel those eyes boring into the fur on the back of her neck.

  “What is it? I've just gotten to sleep!” Robert called back from his cabin.”

  “No, you haven't,” Thira replied. “You've been in there all night and the sun is now high. Come out!”

  “Where's Cemu?” Robert inquired. Thira could hear him shuffling to pull on his breeches and boots.

  “He's sworn them off,” Thira replied.

  “Good sir, I pray thee wouldst address our concerns post haste,” the lead Marlinist said. Though Thira could tell from his elevated pulse that he was angry, his voice did not betray his feelings. He sounded calm. This kind of control was rare among humans, only seen in those with extensive training, usually in combat. The man was likely a war veteran but which war and which side? With humans, these were important details.

  “I'll address your bloody concerns you dolt,” Robert grumbled to himself as he approached the door. The other humans would not have heard it, but Thira did.

  The latch clicked and the door opened revealing a still disheveled Robert.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “We wish to know what evils thou hast brought upon our fair voyage!” said a female Marlinist to the older man's right. She wore a thick black dress with a flat white lace collar and a bonnet that completely covered her hair.

  The older man held up a hand. “Be silent,” he said to her, without even turning.

  Robert raised his eyebrows. “Is that it?”

  The man in front did not reply immediately. Instead he eyed Robert, up and down.

  “If you don't care to ask me anything more, I'll be back to my bed then!” Robert said and moved to close the door.

  A black booted foot, stomped into the doorway, preventing the door from budging even an inch.

  “I beg of thee, goodly captain of this fair ship. Do tell me why one of your crew nearly knocked one of our number overboard last night?” the bearded man asked. His words were polite but his tone was not.

  “I'm sure it must have been a terrible accident,” Robert said. “I'll speak with my men on it...” he yawned, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, “...immediat
ely.”

  “Ensure it is not repeated. Though we are godly folk, good captain, who swear oaths to use our weapons for the extermination of the minions of the dark one, such covenants do not preclude self-defense,” the man said.

  “So you have weapons among you then?” Robert asked.

  “Many.”

  “I see... Is that it then?”

  “No.”

  Robert sighed. “Yes?”

  “Pray tell me, why were we fired upon in the day prior?”

  “It was... terrible, truly. Pirates from Calacia. Always a risk this time of year. I'm sure you know the Calacians and their lax dock laws. Why I-”

  “That ship was flying the flag of the republic. I witnessed it with my own eyes,” The bearded man replied.

  “Of course you did... But you can't count on that, can you? Pirates fly all kinds of flags to catch a ship off guard. The point is, my dear sir, we are no longer being pursued,” Robert replied.

  “I see. And... finally. If you would indulge my curiosity. Why, if we are bound for Ardenton, as you stated to us when we left Valendam, are we currently headed on a course to the west?”

  “We are not,” Robert replied, shaking his head.

  “Yes, by God, we are sir. I have eyes. Even from the lower decks I can see where the sun has risen and how our course is in the opposite direction. Do not take me for a fool.”

  Robert grimaced. “Yes... well, it was regrettably unavoidable. The storm you see. The wind has forced us to take a... minor detour...”

  “To where?”

  Robert hesitated. “To... Pyrolia.”

  The man did not respond. He did not even blink. Thira was shocked. Instead, he turned and walked away. The rest of the Marlinists glared at them both before following. One of them was wearing a hood, however, and could not be seen. He had a smell though, a familiar one.

  “Keep your people away from mine, good captain,” the man called back. “Or thou wilt find you have fewer of them.”

  “Whatever... old coot,” Robert said. Now it was just Robert and Thira standing at the door to his cabin. Suddenly she felt uncomfortable.

  “Would you fancy some rum?” Robert asked.