by RG Long
Hopefully, the elf could keep up.
There was an abandoned wagon in front of her that she could hide behind. If she could just get there before the big demons got too curious in the pair running the opposite way of everyone else.
Isol was still in full retreat. There was still enough time to make it five more steps. Four. Three.
An explosion rocked the ground just in front of her feet. The air assaulted her face as a wave of blue energy rocked her. Her arms flew up in front of her face as her back hit something that grunted and then screamed.
The both of them hit the ground hard. Silverwolf felt the wind knocked out of her, but it would take more than that to keep her down. More out of instinct than anything else, she rolled herself away from where she thought the blast came from and got to her hands and feet.
Her head was spinning, the world was blurry, but she was not going to go down on her back that easily. A rumbling filled her ears after the high pitched hum died away. She tried to follow her senses to feel where it was coming from.
A large shape that was engulfed in purple came up from another blur that Silverwolf thought might be the wagon. When it also started to turn purple, she knew it had caught fire and that there was only a small window of opportunity.
Reaching for one of her swords, she stood to her feet and began to slowly walk backward. There wasn’t much she could do to defeat this beast alone. She knew that full well from the times she had seen them attack. They were powerful demons that could rend houses in two with one swing of their blade.
Her vision was returning to her just enough to see that large purple shape raise a portion of itself into the air.
“Jump!” she shouted, hoping the elf could hear her and that she wasn’t still laying on the ground where they had landed. The demon’s blade came down with a crash, and the ground quivered beneath the force of it.
She rolled again, this time being more in control of herself and keeping her sword away from her body. Taking the first chance she got, she spun herself around hard and slashed with her blade. A terrifying, gut-clenching scream emerged from the air, which told her she had at least hit the thing. She didn’t know where. And she didn’t care.
She ran.
And much to her surprise, Serinde was right beside her.
“I think you took its foot off!” she shouted as she overtook Silverwolf and leaped onto a pile of rocks, then onto a pile of rubble that the Isolian cannons had created. The assassin wasn’t too far behind the elf. Her vision was returning just enough so that she could get her footing and leap from the pile of rubble onto the wall of the city.
Well, a hole in the wall, but nonetheless, they were moments from being inside.
“Intruders! Invaders! Protect our city!”
“Ugh,” Silverwolf groaned, before throwing herself flat against the rubble and dodging the first of many arrows that came shooting towards them.
“We can’t get in this way!” Serinde shouted from behind a stone that served as her shield against the barrage of missiles.
A demon scream filled their ears as the arrows stopped just long enough for the archers below to reload and cover their faces in terror. The beast was coming closer.
“I’m not risking my life with that thing out there!” Silverwolf shouted back.
“We’re risking our lives everywhere!” Serinde replied, just as loudly and with nearly as much frustration as Silverwolf felt. They were so close.
“Fine!” she said, before putting her sword into its sheath and picking up rocks. “These are the only weapons that’ll work at the moment unless you have a better idea.”
She didn’t want Serinde to have a better idea. She wanted her to be as stuck as she was. Unless, of course, it meant they got into the city with more ease. To her surprise, Serinde ran back to the wall’s outer edge and began to wave her arms.
“Over here you big ugly brute!” she shouted.
“Are you insane!?” Silverwolf began to shout.
But the roar that followed must have drowned her out. Serinde turned back and shoved Silverwolf in the other direction, running through the opposite end of the hole and jumping out of it as quickly as they could. It was a good thing too. The hole collapsed as soon as they were clear of it.
The archers below were no longer concerned with two females coming at them. Instead, they directed their aim at the giant demon clambering over the wall, blade swinging and purple flames pouring out of its upturned hand.
Silverwolf looked back just in time to see that it was one of the demons who had a helmet covering its face, a large plate of otherworldly looking metal covering its chest, and a sword the size of a horse.
She didn’t dare look for long as the demon had a giant wound on its leg and was furious about it. She and Serinde ran down an alley, into the streets of Prommus, and away from the wall that had kept an army out.
Prommus was open to them.
Silverwolf was not going to waste this opportunity.
13: Ice Cold
Serinde doubted very much that Holve would have actually sent them into Prommus. He wanted Blume’s amulet back. And, if they could manage it, the other items that Yada held within her grasp as well. The old woman had stolen much from them, and they needed to get it back.
Why would Holve send them on some errand into Prommus? And why would he keep it a secret from her, as well?
It didn’t make sense to her. But she wanted to see what Silverwolf was up to and had no real reason not to trust her.
Other than the fact that she was an assassin and a murderer and generally a spiteful person.
So the only thing Serinde really knew was not to cross Silverwolf, but to try to help her. In so doing, she may get more out of the bargain than she could have hoped for. Someone to have her back again.
It had been a difficult year without her sister. Indeed, for Serinde it was one of the hardest things she had ever experienced, even worse than losing her father.
She had never known how much she valued the companionship of Erilas until she was gone. So for now, all she had was Silverwolf. And that was almost like not having a traveling companion at all.
“This way,” the assassin ordered as they made a turn and ran up a different alley in the large city of Prommus. Serinde would have liked to spend time observing the place. She had seen so much of the world traveling with this group. More than she ever thought possible. But there was no time. The city was still acting as if it were under siege.
Men ran this way and that, carrying pails of water to put out fires, stretchers that ferried the wounded from the front to the medics and tents of healing further into the city, and bundles of arrows to archers waiting along the walls. Cries of the injured filled the streets.
The city was both familiar and foreign to Serinde. She had spent a little time in it during their attempt to rescue Holve. The area they were currently in, however, was not one she had been through before.
For that reason alone, she trusted Silverwolf’s commands to turn, go straight, and then take a detour through what appeared to be a bakery. The assassin paused at the front of the store, looking out to the street beyond. A cloth covered a wide window save for one slit down the middle that allowed her to glimpse the outside. Serinde moved so that she could see as well.
This area of town was quieter than where they had come from. More than likely this was due to its distance from the wall and the castle towards the back of the city. Soldiers were at the walls. The civilians must have gathered as far away from it as possible.
Silverwolf turned and nodded as if her glance into the empty street answered any questions she may have had.
“Alright, it shouldn’t take a long time,” she muttered. Since she wasn’t making eye contact, Serinde understood she was muttering to herself. But she wasn’t going to just let it go.
“What shouldn’t?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips. If she was going to risk her life for an errand of Silverwolf’s, she at least wan
ted to know why.
Silverwolf turned, narrowed her eyes at her, and nodded.
“To find the high priest,” she said.
Serinde cocked her head. That was not the answer she was expecting. To get some coins, sure. To kill a bounty she had become aware of, maybe. But to find the high priest? That didn’t seem like the cold-blooded assassin she had known Silverwolf to be.
Unless...
“Did you say that the high priest was your,” she began to say.
“Yes, I did,” Silverwolf answered quickly. “And he should be somewhere between here and the temple if I remember enough about Theocracy’s siege strategies and the place priests and prophets fit into it.”
“Why do you need to find him?” Serinde asked, a confusion of emotions assaulting her at once. She remembered their attempt to rescue Holve and what Silverwolf had said to the man who had ordered his execution. She had called him her father. She had also shot an arrow at him in what looked like a great effort to kill him.
Had she missed? Or had Silverwolf pulled her shot on purpose?
And why did she want to see the High Priest now?
“Holve said...”
“I seriously doubt Holve said anything about this,” Serinde cut in. “We’re supposed to be getting back the amulet from Yada. Along with the rest of our things. How is this more important than what Holve sent us to do?”
“Holve sent me,” Silverwolf said, turning and swelling up her chest. “I seem to remember you offering to come along.”
Serinde could see that she was no longer dealing with someone thinking rationally. Silverwolf was a skilled killer. That wasn’t someone she wanted to get into a fight with if she could avoid it. But she also wanted the truth. Serinde sighed.
“I’ll go with you,” she said. “But I want you to at least admit that being in Prommus right now has nothing to do with the task Holve sent us here for.”
A group of shouting men came running up the street from what Serinde guessed was the city walls. It was hard to determine if the shouts were panicked or jubilant. Whichever they were, they were certainly loud.
Silverwolf had her sword out and ready as the voices came closer. Serinde didn’t see any reason why she should question Silverwolf more at this point. But there were still things she wanted to know.
The men were now so close that they could hear some of their conversations.
“...the bleeding things can fight on our side anytime they want!”
This was undoubtedly the loudest and most boisterous voice of the group. Some mild cheers followed this statement. Serinde felt sick. Were they cheering on the demons? Didn’t they see how much death they brought with them? And how they didn’t care who they killed?
“But did you see the one that destroyed the western tower? I thought that was going to make it through the battle until the brute tackled it.”
This voice seemed a little more restrained. Wiser. The boisterous one responded.
“Whatever drives Isol back into the hole they came from is alright with me. They probably had those things angered with all of their sorcery and magic.”
“So what now?”
“The captain says we’ll be leaving to chase the Isolians out into the plains and run them down. Every man is to bring a week’s supply of food on their backs before they can set up the caravans for us. Let’s get going!”
The voices passed the bakery quickly, and Serinde let out a sigh of relief. If they were going to sneak around the city and find the high priest, the very last thing they wanted was to draw attention to themselves by getting into fights at every corner.
“This road leads up to the temple,” Silverwolf said, not looking at Serinde, but out the curtains. “We follow this and see what they’re up to. More than likely, the high priest won’t travel with them. But he may offer up a blessing of the troops before they go. He may even send some of his guards to assist.”
“The female guards?” Serinde asked.
Silverwolf didn’t respond. Instead, she threw herself out of the curtains, barely making them rustle as she leaped through them. Serinde let out a quick huff of frustration before jumping out after her.
“No, wait!” Silverwolf began to say.
It was too late.
Serinde had already gone through the curtains and saw what the assassin must have known as soon as she entered the street.
“It’s an elf, boys!” the boisterous voiced man shouted. “Just like they said at the wall! Get them!”
Silverwolf turned to give Serinde a look that made the elf’s skin crawl and the breeze that blew through the street as cold as ice.
“You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
14: Uneasy Retreat
“Are you sure!?” the captain was shouting over the commotion of soldiers running in all directions. “A full retreat?”
“Her Holiness didn’t misspeak!” General Cern shouted back. “Order your troops to the eastern rendezvous point and regroup there! If the demons assail you, continue until you reach the shores.”
“Yes sir!” came the general reply as captains scattered to obey the orders.
Oberon turned to Cas and Rallet. The look she gave them told Cas that this was not a time to ask questions or second guess any order he was given. The demons had assaulted them far from the castle of Prommus.
Cas could still see the mountain range they had spent the last day running from. It loomed out ahead of them. In front of the castle, massive explosions still issued forth every so often, though not as many as during their frenzied retreat.
He had thought the army would fall back, regroup, and then continue with their assault of Prommus. They had been so close. The city walls could have only withstood a few more direct shots from the cannons of their Speakers.
Why had Yada commanded them to pull back now?
There wasn’t any time to consider the alternatives, Cas knew. It was time to obey Oberon’s orders or be left behind. He and Rallet tailed behind her as she strode swiftly through the ranks of soldiers who were scrambling to hear their captains.
They were not so bothered. Oberon had gathered her troops just as soon as she turned away from the general.
“Alright, scabs,” she began in her usual encouraging tone. “We’re being ordered east towards the shore of Ladis. Just keep your eyes in front and behind. I don’t want any of those cursed demons on our tail as we make our way back to land.”
She huffed once, not even taking the time to see who had shown up to her quick briefing. Cas turned to Rallet and shrugged.
“I guess there’s not much else is there?” he asked, looking down at his remaining tent mate.
“I heard another soldier saying that Yada herself stayed behind to keep the demons at bay,” the rounder man said. “Can you believe it? Her Holiness against those terrible beasts?”
Cas had a hard time believing it. Rallet often shared such wild stories. And only a few of them were true. Then again, there were some pretty large explosions behind them. Maybe some Speakers did stay behind with the cannons to ensure the army escape?
“Stop standing around and get moving!” Oberon ordered.
Cas realized he and Rallet had been looking back in the direction they had come while the rest of the army had begun to move east. A trumpet sounded, and the retreat was in full force. He and Rallet got in line. Their packs were long gone. The last things they had were on their bodies. Cas had a spear and a shield to his name. Rallet had only a sword, and it wasn’t even his. Cas had let him use it since he had lost his own in the battle.
“Do you think we’ll win?” Rallet asked as they fell into line within their company. The number of soldiers who marched alongside them had significantly diminished. The demons were relentless and had taken many of their number when they attacked without warning.
Isol had yet to see such a loss since coming onto the shores of Ladis from their island of exile.
Cas let out a deep breath.
“I
don’t know, Rallet. The captains keep talking about the southern forces marching up to help us. But I don't know if they sent for them in time. It’s a long journey. And who knows if this is the only place the demons have attacked? What if they are down south too?”
“Aw don’t say that, Cas,” Rallet said, adjusting his slightly too small breastplate. “We can’t lose after all we’ve done. This was supposed to be our great conquest. Right? Revenge for all the Theocracy has done to us?”
Cas shook his head.
All around them, the sky was darkening. Night would fall soon, but Cas doubted that would stop them from their retreat. They would march through the night and most of the next day. To regroup an army would take time. And every moment they spent falling back was time for Ladis to defend themselves against another attack. Could they discover a way to repel their invaders? They had been triumphant up to this moment. Now Cas felt like he had tripped and was falling unexpectedly.
Other soldiers must have felt the same way. The atmosphere around was gloomy. All of the faces he saw were somber. Captains, soldiers, speakers and all seemed like they had been punched in the gut. That’s how Cas felt, at least.
He looked over his shoulder and saw a final, faint blue burst of light. Then the last sun dipped below the horizon, and the sky became darker still.
“I don’t, Rallet,” he said wearily. “I don’t know.”
15: Miracle
Miss Rivius had never before laid her eyes on such a pitiful creature as the one she was helping to carry over the walls of Meris. And she had worked with children who had been raised in the gutters and stables of Juttis.
This furry, filth covered animal seemed to be well mannered, but whatever she thought of his temperament or demeanor he smelled awful. She knew it shouldn’t matter to her, and that she should treat the poor thing well. But it was hard to concentrate when the smell of years of neglect and imprisonment had undoubtedly seemed to embed itself into its skin.