Path of Ruin

by Tim Paulson

  “A big troll?”

  “Maybe. But the walls will hold. I put metal on them,” Henri said as he closed the grated metal door which like the box itself had multiple veil stones embedded in it, then he clicked the lock shut.

  “To keep out the trolls?” Adem said with a yawn.

  “Right,” Henri said, reaching in to pat his son's head. The boy looked all right. He would pull the metal from the forge and put it aside. Instead they would have some warm stew.

  Henri pulled the curtain over. It kept anyone who might be browsing the shop from seeing the cage in the back. Uncomfortable questions were something he wished to avoid, not invite. Then he grabbed his tongs and slid the metal bar out of the forge, laying it on an anvil to cool slowly.

  He was trying to remember where he'd put the bag of root vegetables he'd bought when he heard a clattering noise from up front. The old woman was in the front of the shop. A set of iron pans he'd made that were hanging on display by the door had been bumped.

  “I'm sorry,” the old woman apologized holding up a gnarled hand. “It's this old shawl. I don't know how it tangled but it did.”

  Who was this woman? That she'd come to buy pans seemed unlikely. He hadn't seen her before today and there seemed something off about her, something wrong. The woman watched him intently like she was studying a captive animal. Worse, she clearly had some special interest in Adem.

  Not good.

  “Can I get you something?”

  “Oh no, no. I'm just... just browsing,” She shuffled over to his front display table. “Lovely metal work. Finely done.” Her eyes were still locked on his face as if watching for some hidden clue. Henri had seen that look before. It made him uneasy.

  “Thank you,” he said. Henri would have to ask Adem what this woman had been talking to him about. He'd been so wrapped up getting the boy warm he'd forgotten. If she was a church woman and she surely had that air of fervent intensity about her, he could guess what she'd been asking.

  There were some thuds in the distance that cause the metal around the shop to vibrate. No troll was big enough to do that. It could only be goliaths. Why would they be this far away from Aeyrdfeld? Henri realized he ought to find his veil spectacles, just in case. He didn't have time for conversations with unknown strangers.

  His eyes shot daggers at the old woman. “Look, if it's just the same to you I was about to make some stew for my son. If you're not here to buy, I'll go ahead and close up.”

  “Don't see many men who look like you up here in the Northern woods. You're a transplant from a long way away, yet skilled enough to do quite well for yourself. Interesting. You're more than just a blacksmith I think,” she said in her low raspy voice as if he had said nothing.

  Did she know?

  “I don't know what you're talking about. Please leave now. I'm closed.”

  “You'd kick an old woman out into the rain?” She said with a smile far too wide to be real.

  “The rain is over,” he said gesturing with a calloused hand toward to door.

  “Oh you're wrong about that,” said the woman, “It's just getting started.” At that, she left.

  Henri sighed, shaking his head. He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath. He walked up to the front door and reached out to pull it closed when he heard the splashing of running feet.

  He stuck his head out, wondering if the old woman was somehow sprinting but all he saw was Emily, skirts hiked up above her knees to keep them out of the mud.

  “Henri! I'm to ask you to come to the North wall. All those who can fight are requested,” she said, panting.

  “Why? What's happened?”

  “The monster from the other day is back but it has friends. Lyssa said they're trying to climb the walls!”

  Damn! If any of them got inside he knew exactly where they'd come.

  “Alright. Come inside. I can't leave Adem here alone. Will you stay with him?”

  “Can I take him back to my place? It smells like smoke and dirt in here. You boys need a woman's touch.”

  “No, he must stay here...” Henri hesitated, could he trust her? Did he have any choice? “He's locked up in a box in the back.”

  “You lock your son in a box?!”

  “It's for his protection. Please trust me. I beg you,” he entreated, producing the key from a pocket and placing it in her hand. “Take this, but please do not let him out until the danger has passed. It's important.”

  “I don't know if I like this Henri!” Despite a sharp tone, her eyes were still soft. She was concerned, perhaps scared, but not angry.

  “I know how it seems. When I come back I'll tell you everything.” He told her as he opened a chest at the back of the shop. From within he removed a long item wrapped in oiled linen.

  “You promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Henri unwrapped the cloth from the blade of his two handed veil sword. Like all veil infused weapons, the metal had been folded in the karnassas pattern, incorporating powdered veil crystals that gave the metal its characteristic tiger striping. Even un-powered, the edge was still sharp enough to cut a horror in half. He'd made sure of that.

  “And... when you get back. Perhaps you could think about my offer?” Emily said.

  He ran a thick calloused hand over his face and forehead.

  “If everything works out... I'll think about it.”

  He hefted the sword over his shoulder and grabbed the thick wool lined brown leather hunting coat as he walked out the door.

  She called after him. “What do you mean if?”

  * * *

  The topmost branches of the younger trees sounded like a hundred children scraping slates with their fingernails as they rubbed along the sides and bottom of Zeus's metal clad body. The forest had slowed their advance, enough that she'd lost sight of the fleeing enemy goliaths. All that remained were well trodden paths through the wood where the largest trees had been cut or pushed out of the way leaving only smaller more bendable saplings to scrape them as they passed.

  Mia was starting to feel uneasy about the whole thing. She could have ordered her part of the line to move through in single file as it would have sped them up but that felt decidedly imprudent given the size of the enemy force. Instead she'd ordered them to fan out and advance more slowly even if that meant many of them were forced to weave around ancient elms and oaks.

  The sound of branches scraping and tree trunks popping could be heard all down the line, giving anyone ahead a very good indication of the speed and direction of their approach. Also, it seemed the clouds had come down after the rain to meet with the trees and share gossip. Wisps of white filled the wood making it impossible to see anything but more trees. That feeling in her gut kept growing, like a pit in the center of her that sucked all her confidence and sense away. The feeling must have somehow passed through the veil tethers that connected her with Zeus because the great golem shuddered.

  “I'm sure it's nothing,” she said.

  That was when the trees finally ended after a last push through a stand of closely packed conifers. Beyond was a great open field, much larger than the creek bed where they'd fought before. Though still somewhat shrouded in mist Mia could see easily that the field was full of enemy goliaths.

  Lines upon lines of them were stacked together like one great wall stretching as far to the left and right as Zeus could see. She could feel Zeus's surprise and fright as his head swiveled frantically trying to absorb the enormity of the forces arrayed against them. The entire imperial army was here before her. They'd been waiting here. This was a trap and it would become a massacre if she didn't do something about it.

  Cannons roared from the opposite field, belching smoke as they fired monstrous cannon balls the size of a goliath's head. Several of her goliaths were torn to pieces as they struggled to exit the forest. A steel arm, torn from its unfortunate master, spun through the air in from of them, its hand still holding a light veil shield. One of the balls whizzed just
past Zeus's right shoulder. Mia heard the sound of it through the right side air hole in her goliath's chest as it tore through the air above them. She had Zeus raise his sword high and spin it around his head to the left. Wheel left, that was her order. She only hoped they could execute it in time, before the enemy charged.

  “This is bad but we can handle it,” she said aloud.

  Mia patted a hand against the inner wall of the cramped riding chamber. She was determined to drive her sword through at least ten more imperials. Immediately she had Zeus take off at a run, gigantic feet pounding the grass of the rain soaked field flat.

  They turned left, running along the front of the enemy's lines. Daring them to break ranks and attack. A quick glance behind showed those under her command had overcome their fear and were falling into line behind her.

  If they could only draw the attention of the enemy formations away from the center it would help. If they didn't take the bait and try to stop her, they'd continue to move left and flank them. Either way they would win, she thought, with a smile.

  The sound of another round of cannons firing shattered the sky. They had to keep running left, there was no time to duck.

  That was a mistake.

  A gigantic cannon ball tore straight through the metal plate shielding Zeus's chest knocking him completely off his feet. The two of them slammed into the muddy ground sliding quite a ways before coming to rest at the foot of a large Elm that stood alone in the center of the field. Zeus was shaken by the blow, she could feel it and Mia's ears were ringing from the sound of the impact, but she willed herself to continue. One hit would not take her down.

  Zeus rolled over, using his arms to raise to hands and knees. A quick glance behind showed that their sword and shield had been dropped back where they'd been hit. Zeus looked down to see a huge gaping hole in the left side of his chest. Both cannons embedded there had been destroyed.

  The sight of a hole in what appeared to be her own torso as seen through Zeus's eyes was jarring to say the least. The damage had been only a few feet from her own compartment. Again, they'd been lucky.

  They had to get up, fast.

  Zeus raised his head and pulled one massive steel foot forward, clutching his knee with a metal palm caked in mud and clods of grass. There was a blue eyed goliath in front of them.

  Someone had come to help!

  Expecting a hand up, Zeus outstretched his other hand. A hand came out in response, but not to help. Instead it put pressure on Zeus's shoulder, keeping him down.

  Then her compartment lit up with bright blue as a sword was thrust through Zeus from behind barely missing her and the heart, passing just below them. Zeus looked down at the bright blue blade protruding from his chest.

  “NO!” Mia screamed.

  The blade from behind withdrew as another from the front came down from above. Zeus was too stunned to do anything but act on instinct and raised his right arm hoping to shield against the blow. The sword cleaved his arm clean off at the elbow and bit into his shoulder and chest.

  Another stab came from behind them but this time farther to the side. Mia had to duck to avoid having her head removed as the blue blade lanced through her compartment.

  They were specifically trying to kill her!

  Mia cursed them and ordered Zeus to look up. She had to know who they were so she could kill them later.

  Zeus hesitated. Waves of terror were pulsing into to her from her mount.

  “Damn it Zeus! Do as I say!” She pounded her fists against the stone around her.

  Zeus wanted to, she could feel it, but he was frozen. He didn't know how. He hated this place. He just wanted to go home.

  Home?

  There was a tearing sound as Zeus's front leg was severed at the knee. Again they toppled.

  Mia begged him to look up, to try to turn over, to do anything, but he refused. All she heard in her head was a throbbing hum that felt like sobbing.

  Once more blue light lanced through the cabin, straight through the heart of her goliath.

  Chapter 5

  “They've claws as long as swords and teeth like knives. If you want to keep your arms, stay clear of the cages.”

  -Ganex Grausmeister training manual, 1572

  Henri brought his great-sword down like a hammer. The blade caught the horror in the center of its back just behind the neck and tore through a third of its body before lodging in the middle of a thick spinal vertebrae. A quick jerk from both hands and the now lifeless corpse, tongue lolling from its gaping mouth dropped over the side of the town barricade. He tried to catch it before it fell but failed and the broken creature joined the pile of its profane brethren at the foot of the wall.

  “Damn,” he said.

  There were too many to just let them drop. They ought to be pulling the corpses in, not letting them build up. That only made it easier for them to claw their way up and it was already too easy. Despite their thickness and the bars of iron he'd added, the walls were being shredded. They would have been fine against a few but there had been more than twenty so far. The beasts kept coming out of the trees in waves and the waves were getting larger.

  More troubling, the sounds of cannon fire and the distant clangs of metal against metal that could only be the battling of goliaths, had been getting louder and more frequent. Something must have happened.

  Twenty damned years of peace. Of course it would be now, just after he'd moved his son to a village on the frontier, when the Ganex and the Faustlanders would renew their conflict. Henri shook his head and sighed. East. They should have gone East. Even two months aboard ship to a colony would have been preferable to this.

  “Another, to your right!” Lyssa said before firing her musket.

  Blue flame erupted from the gun's muzzle. The shot caught the horror scrabbling over the side right in the center of one of its largest black eyes. The musket ball exited the back of the head with a wide spray of red blood and thick black ooze. The creature didn't even flinch.

  Henri charged at it. He swung his sword horizontally, aiming to decapitate the beast, but it regained its footing too quickly and easily ducked under his attack.

  These were the largest horrors Henri had ever seen yet they were so fast. What new nightmare had those inhuman creatures who called themselves men concocted?

  He jumped back, narrowly avoiding a swipe of claws that would have emptied his guts on the planks of the barricade. Another musket report rang out causing a second explosion of black tinged blood from the side of the creature's head. It shrieked and turned to face Lyssa who was handing the used musket, barrel smoking, to Hyram her portly assistant. The man looked terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought but took it none the less and handed her a fresh one.

  Lyssa didn't have time to raise it however because Henri used the distraction to chop down on the creature's head from above, nearly severing it. Black and red gushed from the hacked stump and the horror finally collapsed, shivering with spasms.

  He hacked at it one more time, finishing the decapitation, just to be sure. Henri then rolled the creature's body over the inner side of the barricade and pushed it off so that it fell down into the village. A chorus of screams from below revealed that a crowd of children and several adults had been watching the commotion above as if it were a stage play.

  “Get out of here! Are you all fools?” Henri bellowed at them. Had they no idea how close they were to death?

  A chortled scream from behind caused him to swing around expecting to see yet another horror atop the wall. Instead, one of the guardsmen had fallen to his knees. Blood gushed from his eyes and ears, bathing the hands that clawed at the skin of his own face. It was as Henri feared. He approached and raised his sword.

  “What the hell are you doing? Get away from my man!” Lyssa said as she ran forward from her firing position on the raised platform by the gate.

  “I must!” Henri said as the man screamed again. Blood was now spraying from his nose and mouth.

/>   Her gloved hand gripped his wrist, stopping him from swinging.

  “What's happening?” she said, childlike, all her confidence and assurance wiped away in an instant by something beyond her understanding.

  The screaming ended as the man's skin began to bulge. Fabric tore, a belt snapped and boots dropped as his body, no longer recognizable as human, began to rise into the air.

  “My God! My God! What's happening to him?” Lyssa said, her voice cracking.

  Hyram had already fled.

  “He's becoming one of them,” Henri said, wrenching his arm with some difficulty from her grasp. He then chopped at the hanging orb of tangled limbs and steaming flesh until black and red blood flooded forth onto the planks of the barricade and the lump suddenly dropped as if the invisible strings that held it aloft had been snipped. The remnants of what had been a man only moments before, hit the wood with a wet thud.

  Lyssa held her head in her hands, eyes staring ahead. “Such things, such abominable things.”

  Henri grabbed her head with both hands and pulled her face to his.

  “Come back here! The village needs you!” he said and let her go.

  Lyssa stumbled, rubbing her hands on her face. She sobbed once but then seemed to swallow it. When she looked at him again her eyes were clear.

  “Yes... I'm here.”

  “Evacuate who you can from the village. The battle is to our North. Take them South and quickly. These walls can't protect anyone from that,” he said gesturing to the mass of steaming flesh at their feet. “I know it hurts, but leave any animals in the village, they'll buy you time. They usually go for whatever is closest.”

  She nodded, “What about you? Your son...”

  “He's at home. He's safe. I'll stay here and kill a few more of them but then I'm taking Adem and we're leaving.”

  “Alright.”

  “Go!” he yelled as the sound of claws scrabbling against the wood announced the arrival of another horror at the top of the barricade.