Steel and Fangs

by Sami Dougish

  I turned my attention back to the fleeing prisoners, and found Oktai waiting behind for me, I didn’t know why as he had seemed scared of me just moments ago, which I still saw and smelled traces of, but he was smiling now instead, and said in a much more serious tone, “Let us flee together Zatara, it is my honor to have fought besides one as fearsome as you!”

  I eyed him suspiciously, I needed to ask him what that meant, but for now, I just nodded and together we followed the last of the prisoners into the street. What waited for us outside was a hectic scene, a large crowd looked to have been gathered to try and see what was going on, but when they saw a large group, of humans and dwarves, all armed, and charging towards them, they began to scatter.

  We didn’t slow though and I threw people unceremoniously out of the way if they were still in my way. My adrenaline was still up, but I knew what with the fighting, and running I was now doing, I would be bone tired once things started to slow down. Still, I could worry about that later, for now I needed to get out of this damn town first.

  Despite our group being large, we made good time as we raced through the town streets, we encountered several guards, but after they took a look at our numbers, they did the sensible thing and ran the way they had come. I did constantly hear loud alarms horns blaring form the direction of the keep. Seemed the lord was putting the alert out. We would be long gone though before they were able to organize a proper response. It wasn’t until we reached the north gate that we met resistance. It wasn’t much of one though. The gate guards had dutifully manned the gates while the fighting had gone on in the garrison and had even raised the small drawbridge that spanned the trench dug on the opposite side of the town.

  It didn’t matter though, as they had only a garrison of around forty men, and we had the numbers, and Brazkin’s magic. They attempted to put up a fight, but before I was even able to join the fray, all of the men had been slaughtered. I took a moment to rest as we waited for some of Orizmad’s men to run up to the winch that would lower the drawbridge.

  It seemed this crazy plan had worked after all. The forest wasn’t far from the gate, and once there, the guards and most likely even the regulars wouldn’t bother to try and follow us in there with the head start we had. I pushed my way to the front of prisoners, which didn’t prove too difficult as they all hurriedly moved away from me, I came up behind Orizmad and the others from the original strike team, but before I could say anything, the drawbridge was activated, and the large wooden platform fell with a crash.

  That was when the war horns sounded

  My eyes widened at what I saw before me. What looked to be a full company of heavily armed and armored men were charging towards the gate, which we had conveniently just opened for them. I recognized the emblem on their banners, I had seen it thousands of times as a slave. It was the emblem of the king’s regulars. They must have been a patrol returning, that heard the sound of the keep’s alarms, and now that they saw us, they spurred their horses on to charge full tilt at us.

  Orizmad looked horrified as well, and he quickly turned around and bellowed, “Retreat, get to the house!”

  We all knew he meant the mansion he owned, and everyone immediately bolted! We had a slight lead on the regulars, but we had already run from the garrison, and spent time fighting. We were tired, and the regulars were all on horseback, they would plow straight through us if they caught up. So that was why I turned and ran like the devil after the dwarves.

  Despite being bone tired, I was still nearly double the size of the dwarves, and I easily caught up to the front of the group, as much as I wanted to just leave them behind, and get myself out of here, I needed them alive to get my promised mount, and I also had no idea where the secret passage out of the city was.

  I glanced back over my shoulder, and saw the regulars storming over the bridge, still blasting their horns, and waving long swords in our direction. They had lessened the gap between us, and I knew in less than a minute, they would reach the tail end of our group, right where the dwarf I was working for happened to be!

  “Fuck!” I growled, as I turned around and ran back to Orizmad.

  Micah saw me running towards them, and the fool actually drew his sword, and made to block my path, what did he think I was doing attacking them?! I didn’t have time to confront the idiot about it though, and instead yelled, “We need to distract them, or they will run right through us!”

  Orizmad looked wary of me, but still nodded, and yelled back, “Any ideas?!

  I pointed in the direction we were heading. The streets became narrower with the addition of homes and would make the best area to try and slow the cavalry down.

  “We need to bottle them up, their horses will be less effective in the narrow streets, can you get that mage of yours to throw some fire at them when they begin to bunch up?! I will guard him from any melee combatants!”

  Orizmad nodded and shouted to Brazkin as we ran. Brazkin nodded hastily in return, pumped his little legs even harder to pace me. Oktai ran up next to us and yelled, “I still have a few arrows left as well Zatara, allow me to stay behind to cause more mayhem!”

  I looked at the man, and shrugged, if he wanted to risk his neck as well, no reason to argue. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adarossa step forward, as well as Primus, they both silently raised their weapons to show they would act as a rear guard as well.

  I stole another glance behind us and saw that the gap was half of what it had been half a minute ago. We were close to the residential area and would need to turn and face them in a hurry.

  “I need a bonus for this Orizmad!” I yelled as I prepared to turn and fight.

  Orizmad actually laughed in between his gasps for air, and shouted back, “Deal you mad bastard!”

  “Also grab my bag when you get back and bring it with you!”

  Orizmad didn’t reply this time, and I hoped he heard me. No time to worry about that now though, I needed to survive this fight before I could to worry about that.

  “On my mark!” I bellowed so the rearguard could hear me.

  We passed into the residential area, and the gap between the streets immediately began to shrink. I waited another ten seconds and then bellowed, “NOW!”

  I did my best to stop my mad dash as quickly as possible and spun around to face the enemy. My injured leg screamed in protest, but it held. Oktai, Adarossa, and Primus followed suit. Brazkin unfortunately, tripped, and fell face first into the ground.

  “Fuck!” We needed the stuck-up bastards magic to disrupt the charge! The horsemen were now only twenty meters from us and would be on us in seconds. They had slowed slightly, as they adjusted to the new confines of these streets, but they were still coming on hard!

  I spun around, and wrenched the mage to his feet, and shout, “Use your magic!”

  I shoved the mage in front of the group, and thankfully he didn’t bother complaining about me tossing him around. Instead I saw his face scrunch up in concentration, and a moment later his hands started to glow. I couldn’t help but look back at the charging horsemen, who were now seconds away from running right over us!

  I gripped my Naginata, prepared to try and leap away, and try to push my way into one of the buildings, when at last, Brazkin shouted a word I couldn’t understand, and a blazing wall of fire shot from his fingertips! The sudden heat so close to me, made my eyes water, and I had to squint against the sudden flare of light from the flames!

  The horse that suddenly were met with a wall of flames, screamed, and came to a stumbling halt, and reared up in fear and protest. Most of the riders maintained their seats, but the horses were neighing wildly, and kicking, trying to get away from the flames now surrounding them, and blocking their path forward! There were a handful of unlucky cavalrymen who couldn’t keep their seats, and fell into the flames, and began to scream, before they were trampled by the panicked horsemen!

  I watched in satisfaction as the men and horses began to burn in the front. The cavalry behind t
hem, had trouble slowing their charge in the confined area, and many horses crashed into their fellows who had balked at the flames, creating a tight disorganized bunch of troops and horses.

  The pressure though, forced a number of them forward, despite the area of flames that impeded their path. These is just what the rest of us had been waiting for. I saw Brazkin, collapse to one knee in apparent exhaustion, but I paid him no mind, he had done his part, and now it was our turn.

  Steeling myself against the heat of the roaring flames, I gave another battle cry, and led the assault against the confused and disorganized regulars. I dropped my Naginata, and instead drew my hammer and mace. This fight would be a lot more up close and personal.

  When we reached the mass of troops who were haphazardly spilling out of the flames, I immediately swung, and brained the first soldier in reach. He went down immediately without a sound, well besides the sound of metal crushing flesh, and alerted the men that we had attacked.

  Besides me, Primus let out a bellow, and I felt his short spear fly past my head, as He threw it at the nearest enemy. The spear took a man straight in the chest, and punched through his armor, getting lodged in his ribs. Primus followed up, by rushing with me, and hacking at the disorganized group with his sword. Right behind him was Adarossa, who was using her axe to cleave arms, and rent armor. The soldiers did their best to put up a fight, but what with the flames burning them from behind, and a group of angry mercenaries in front of them, they had little chance to form any effective defense.

  I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but from behind, I heard Brazkin weakly call out, “The flames only have another minute or so! We bought all the time we can, we need to move!”

  As much fun as I was having slaughtering these regulars, I knew the mage was right, “Lets get out of here!” I shouted to the people fighting with me. I didn’t need to tell them twice, and they immediately turned and ran. I wasn’t far behind, and I quickly bent down and grabbed my naginata from the ground as I ran. I quickly caught up to the party, and I saw that Brazkin was falling behind, what with his short legs, and the mana he just channeled, the dwarf looked spent.

  I really didn’t want to do this for the dwarf, but I knew I had a better chance of getting a better bonus from Orizmad if this dwarf survived. So, as I passed, I reached down with one arm, and threw the dwarf over my shoulder. He was surprisingly heavy, but I hefted the weight easily enough, and kept running. I stole a glance behind me and saw that even though there were several men left alive on this side of the fire, they didn’t seem willing to chase us. I did notice that the rest of the column had pulled back and seemed to be waiting for the flames to disappear. I knew the moment the flames did; they would be out for blood. So, I turned back around, and sprinted down the street towards Orizmad’s house.

  What with the extra weight of the dwarf, and my already tired state, I couldn’t catch back up to the group ahead of me, but I still made fast enough time to reach the front door of the house, I was limping heavily on my leg at this point though. I rushed inside, and slammed the door behind me, and saw a board next to the door that I assume was a lock bar. I grabbed it, and slammed it home in the metal catches in front of the door. I breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned against the wall, the exhaustion of the fight, and the then retreat had me bone tired

  Brazkin took that moment to remind me I was still carrying him over my shoulder.

  “Put me down now, you overgrown savage!”

  I growled instinctively at him, and the mage flinched back in surprise. Damn, I shouldn’t have done that, there aren’t many races that can make an animalistic growl like that. To try and cover the slip up, I dumped the dwarf on the ground without any sort of warning.

  Before Brazkin could respond angrily, we both heard the war horns from outside, the regulars hadn’t been far behind, and most likely had no difficulty seeing where we had ducked into.

  “Get off your ass mage and show me where the passage is!”

  Brazkin glared at me but decided to just hurry and do as I said, rather than argue. A smart choice seeing as the regulars were right outside. Brazkin picked himself up, and gestured for me to follow, just as we were leaving the room, we heard a series of hard bangs at the front door, hopefully it would hold long enough for us to get into the smuggles tunnel.

  Brazkin lead me in the opposite direction of where he and Orizmad had eaten before we left, and through a few small rooms. Eventually we came to a stairway, that led down to what I assumed was a cellar. We rand down the steps, and came to, as I had suspected a basement that looked to be a larder. Sacks upon sacks of food were stored down here, and the shelves that surrounded the walls, had an assortments of other foods as well, how it all stayed fresh, I had no idea, and had no time to ask.

  Brazkin moved over to one of the shelves filled with food, and pushed aside, a jar filled with some fruit preserve or something along those lines. He pushed his arm over the shelf, and fumbled around for a few seconds, “Come on you bastard!” I heard him mutter to himself.

  I heard a loud crash from above us, and muffled shouting. The regulars had broken in! I was getting ready to make a last stand, when I heard a satisfying CLICK from behind me, and Brazkin stepped back as the shelf popped forward. Hinges that hadn’t been there before seemed to appear out of nowhere, and I rushed forward to help the dwarf pull it open. Behind the shelf was a pitch-black tunnel.

  I didn’t care that I my eyes couldn’t pierce the dark tunnel, it was a way out, and the pair of us immediately ducked in. Brazkin motioned for me to help him pull the cabinet back into place, and I reached over, and the both of us gave a hard pull, and the cabinet swung into place followed by the same satisfying click the door had made when Brazkin first opened it.

  We both let out involuntary sighs of relief. My heart was still pounding against my chest, and I was breathing hard, but I doubted the men searching the house would be able to find this passage way any time soon. I couldn’t see anything though and would have a hard time walking through the tunnel blind. That was when I heard Brazkin mutter something, and instantly, a globe of fire appeared in his hand. Without saying anything to me, he brushed past me, and made his way down the tunnel.

  Ignoring the dwarf’s attitude, I followed him, eager to get out of this damn city, and back into the relative safety of the forest. From the fire in the mages hand, I was able to see the walls of the passage we were walking down. It was surprisingly larger than I would have expected. After the entrance, it widened out to about Ten yards wide, and half that tall. Then again, I shouldn’t have been to surprised, having a larger passage, would allow for more goods to pass through here if dragged by wagons. Still it must have taken a lot of time and effort to carve out and maintain a stable underground passage like this. I knew from my times in the mines before I was a gladiator that digging and keeping the tunnels stable was no easy task.

  Though Orizmad was apparently one of the largest smugglers in this continent, so I assumed he would have the money and manpower to pull it off. The two of us walked in silence, never saying a word to each other. I could smell and taste his scent. It was a mixture of wariness, tinged with fear. I had a feeling that he had guessed who what I was after I had growled at him.

  “If you are worried about him knowing that you are a half breed, why not just kill him? Say that he died in the fighting, and by the time they find out otherwise we will be long gone.”

  I couldn’t lie, I had considered doing just that, though I had saved him, I had no affection for him whatsoever, and wouldn’t bat an eye if I had to kill him, in fact I would enjoy it, he was a mage, and in my experience, mages always ended up causing more trouble than they were worth. Sure, he had been key to buying us time to escape, but if I had really wanted to escape, I could have left the dwarves to their fate, and circled back around to get lost in the confusion.

  Eventually I decided against it though, “I would like too, but when Orizmad does find out, I assume he will want some revenge,
and having to worry about some powerful and rich smuggler trying to have me killed is something I could live without.”

  “Well that is true, assuming he doesn’t try to kill you if the mage tells him what you are, having to worry about assassin, is preferable to having being killed here and now.”

  “You have a point.”

  Still my gut told me I shouldn’t kill him and instead, I continue to follow him closely, but I made sure my hammers were loose, and that I kept a steady grip on my naginata, if I had to fight, I would need to be ready.

  We walked for quite a while, and I wasn’t sure how much distance we had covered, but we had been moving for at least an hour. I knew the others had passed through here, as the scent of all the prisoners were fresh and all mixed together. They had a head start on us though, so I wasn’t too surprised. Neither of us spoke the entire walk, but I could feel the tension in the air. It was similar to when you knew a storm was coming, but it hadn’t quite reached you yet. I knew that when we found the others, there would be a reckoning.

  Finally, I saw a lightening of the tunnel ahead of us, and I knew we must have been reaching the end. Brazkin extinguished his light, and shot a wary look at me, as he continued to move through the tunnel. This would be my last chance to kill the mage, in an attempt to preserve my secret. I had a feeling that Orizmad had left people to see if we made it out safely, and I wouldn’t be able to kill the mage in front of them, especially if it was a substantial force left to wait for us.

  My thoughts were interrupted, when I heard raised voices from the end of the tunnel, my sensative ears picked them up before Brazkin, but from what I could make out, it sounded like several male voices, and a females. It was probably Primus, Adarossa, Oktai, and Orizmad. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it sounded heated.