by Vlada Asta
However, his triumph was short-lived. The leader wasn’t going to surrender, it left its pack to keep Sebastian busy, while it went after the two remaining humans. There was a chance for them to pass it, break the window and run… but they didn’t use it. When Richard saw the Slayer coming at him, its jaws crimson with Clode’s blood, he lost it. He bolted for the open door – which was, naturally, a trap.
The leader caught up with him in one jump. Richard was dragging the sword along with him senselessly, he wasn’t ready for an attack and he didn’t look around; that doomed him. The Hente fell on him from above, pressing him to the floor, and its jaws closed. The sound of the human’s spine breaking was followed by a blood-chilling scream that made the old cathedral shudder.
Sebastian swore quietly and went for a dangerous maneuver in order to break the circle around him. His trick worked: his feint fooled them, while his next strike cut the nearest Hente in two. The salt on the blade finished it off, and soon there were even more ashes in the air.
Using that moment, Sebastian made a run for the wall, to the place where Maximilian was standing. The boy was paralyzed with fear, he seemed to have stopped understanding where he was and what was happening around him.
“Pull yourself together,” Sebastian commanded.
“It’s no use…”
“There are four of them left, while there were seven originally, and we lost only one man!”
“But you killed those three, Sir… I can’t…”
“I’ll kill the remaining four and get you out of here. I promise! Just stay calm. Nothing is over yet!”
Maximilian was far from calm, but he felt better, his eyes were alive and sane again. He believed Sebastian, because he had already accepted him as some sort of role model. He held to his words, they were his last hope, and he wanted to think that warriors of this level didn’t make mistakes. Sebastian knew it wasn’t right, but they could talk about it later. He really wanted to get the freshman out of here, it was the only victory he could have over the Hente.
He had a few cartridges left and two throwing knives. It wasn’t too bad – enough for these four. Sebastian didn’t feel cornered, and the Hente sensed his confidence. The remaining predators didn’t dare to attack, they stayed close, but further than his sword could reach.
The newbie remained behind his back all the time. The boy held his sword in front of him, but it was easy to tell he was in no condition to fight. He saw the respect his commander inspired in those beasts and that kept his panic at bay. Maximilian blocked his terror with his faith in another warrior, and that was saving him.
They had to make it. They moved slowly and carefully to the window – it wasn’t victory yet, but it was an important step to it. If the Hente were hoping to play with helpless victims, they were in for a big surprise!
But the reality turned out to be much crueler than they expected. They were standing by the window, ready to break it – when it broke on its own. The glass was shattered by two Hente that jumped into the cathedral from the street. Those were most likely the creatures that chased Julian – judging by the blood on their fangs.
One of them tried to attack Sebastian, but that was a mistake. The warrior’s instincts were lightning fast, his sword drew a circle in the air, and a moment later the predator’s paw fell to the floor turning into ashes. That made Sebastian jump to the right – it was a subconscious movement necessary for survival, he didn’t have the time to analyze it. He realized he had left the freshman without protection two seconds later.
It wasn’t his mistake, because Maximilian actually had more weapons than him. The problem was that the boy wasn’t ready to fight, he depended on his commander completely, and when he was left one on one with the predators, he couldn’t even move.
Two creatures jumped at him at once, they grabbed him by the hands and lifted him into the air. The boy was trying to break free, screaming, but it was no use – it never helped anyone. In the last moment before his death he suddenly became quiet and looked straight into his commander’s eyes; Sebastian felt that he was never going to forget that gaze. It was one of those memories that burned into one’s soul like acid, leaving an ugly scar in their place.
The Hente pulled their victim in opposite directions, tearing his body apart. They probably wanted him to suffer, but they underestimated their strength, and his death was very fast. A hot wave of blood splashed over Sebastian’s face. His fingers lost all strength, and his sword fell to the floor with a pitiful sound, as if crying for the fate of its master. The last human in the cathedral went down to his knees slowly, watching the Hente eat his comrades.
He wasn’t wounded and he could still fight. He just didn’t see any sense in it. He lost all people whose lives he was entrusted with. It didn’t matter that they were warriors capable of protecting themselves. Sebastian got used to relying only on himself, so he was the only one to blame.
He felt the presence behind his back and knew it was the leader. He could tell that even without seeing. This freak must be ecstatic about winning so easily… To hell with it. Any battle should end sooner or later.
Sebastian was waiting for a punishing blow that would shatter his bones and tear his flesh, but instead he got hit to his temple – the creature was using only a small part of its colossal strength, being careful not to kill him. It was enough to bring a flash of sharp pain flowing through his entire body; the world in front of him grew dim, and the sounds seemed distant and muffled. Somehow he managed to stay awake, but lost control over his body for a while.
He could feel the beasts lifting him and dragging him somewhere. It was as if he got stuck in a cocoon, far away from the world of the living. He couldn’t even dream about fighting them in such state. Even the new excruciating pain wasn’t enough to bring him back to his senses. He was aware that it was coming from his hands, but he couldn’t tell anything else so far.
When his mind finally cleared up, he was surprised to be alive. It was so weird… When the pain in his hands overwhelmed him, he thought the Hente started eating him…
But they didn’t harm him – not lethally, at least. They went further in their vengeance: they put him on a cross.
The big wooden cross was installed behind the altar. They tore the statue of the Savior from it and used it to hang Sebastian there. They stabbed his palms with two pieces of a metal pipe, but since that wasn’t enough to hold his weight, they used metallic wire to tie him to the wood.
And now six Hente stood around him, watching him attentively. Five were mesmerized by the sight of his blood slowly dripping to the floor, creating an elaborate pattern under the cross. The leader didn’t care about it, he froze in front of Sebastian and looked at his face.
They knew exactly what they were doing. It wasn’t an accidental choice of the means to restrain him, they understood that for him, a warrior of the Church, it was a holy symbol, and they used it to mock and humiliate him. It wasn’t the behavior of animals in search for food – and Sebastian used to think it was their only goal. Now he could see the hatred for humans in them, accompanied by the desire to cause as much pain as they could.
But then something happened – something that had never happened before. The Hente talked.
“You… good warrior… Punished… for killing us.”
It was obviously hard for the creature to say it, its vocal cords weren’t designed for such complicated sounds, and the words were barely recognizable because of its jaws. But Sebastian could understand it, this monster was as developed as a human being!
“What are you?” Sebastian asked through clenched teeth.
He couldn’t feel any pain at this point, his soul burning with anger. These creatures weren’t satisfied with the destruction they had already brought, they wanted to demonstrate their supremacy.
And he… he failed those who believed in him. Maximilian’s eyes, filled with pain, horror and despair, were burning in his memory, refusing to go away. It turned out that everything
that inspired him to become a warrior was useless. When he finished the Seminary, he pictured a different future for himself… and now he was about to die here, entertaining the worst creatures to walk the face of the Earth with his final moments!
The leader ignored his question, it continued talking:
“Good warrior… Bad commander! You want save everyone… Weak ones… Weak ones cannot live… You are stupid. You can win alone! You will not win.”
Sad as it may have sounded, part of Sebastian knew the bastard was right. From the strategical point of view, he made a monstrous mistake. He should’ve sacrificed Maximilian and Richard at once in order to save himself. His speed and strength were enough to escape – but only alone. He had to do it to warn everyone else about the upcoming danger, but through leaving two humans for inevitable death. Sebastian wasn’t ready to do it.
That made him a bad commander indeed. But he didn’t regret it. He was to die with his conscience clear, he would join his comrades, and that would save him from the feeling of guilt.
Meanwhile, the Hente became alert, turning to the broken window. Sebastian didn’t hear anything, but he knew their hearing was sharper. Could someone have come for him?... The only option was Julian, since it was too early for any other team to arrive here.
Julian shouldn’t have returned, it wasn’t in his character. Besides, even if he survived, he was wounded – there was blood on the fangs of his pursuers. Any attempt to help Sebastian would seal his fate.
“Julian, get out of here! Tell Cardinal about what happened, Point 36 must be isolated!” Sebastian screamed.
He didn’t believe Julian could hear him, but he had to try.
Three Hente obeyed their leader’s silent order, going for the broken window. It seemed that Sebastian’s words surprised them, making them doubtful about killing all humans.
But that didn’t change anything for Sebastian. He didn’t stand a chance against the remaining three in his current condition. He was tied, his wounded hands were going numb, and the blood didn’t stop for a moment. There was probably a couple of hours of life left in him at this rate, not more, and only if the predators allowed it.
They weren’t going to make it easy for him. He killed their brothers, angered them, and they wanted their revenge. They killed Richard and Maximilian fast because they didn’t consider those humans a threat. Sebastian wasn’t another victim to them, he was an enemy – just like Clode, but to a greater extent. They punished their enemies with suffering.
Sebastian was surprised with his own serenity. He didn’t expect Julian or anyone else to help him, he knew he was going to die here. But that tranquility was the only thing left to him. The Hente expected him to trash, scream and beg for mercy, while he was looking their leader in the eye calmly.
“Afraid?” the hoarse voice proved Sebastian right.
“You’re going to follow me soon enough. So no, I’m not.”
The leader slashed Sebastian across his chest. Its claws cut through skin and flesh, and blood splashed over the creature’s hungry mouth. Sebastian cringed in pain, but didn’t make a sound. He had to tolerate it with dignity – for the last time in his life.
His reaction was clearly unnerving the Hente. The leader was losing its patience, and the other two could barely hold back. There were dead bodies on the floor, but they needed fresh blood and new screams of death, senseless and petrifying, the feeling of someone’s life ending on their fangs…
Still, they knew only the leader could kill that human. And it had already pulled its hand back, preparing for a new strike. The creature was probably planning to break through the human’s chest bone, reaching inside… The very image of it made Sebastian’s blood run cold, and still he didn’t say a word. It would be over soon enough!
He was looking only into the leader’s eyes, completely ignoring the world around them. It was his last privilege and a form of vengeance. Nothing else mattered.
But the world reminded him about itself with a bloody edge of the sword that appeared out of the leader’s open mouth. The weapon, thrown from another part of the hall, cut through the creature, forcing all salt from the cartridge into its blood system. The leader died on the spot, without even having the time to turn around – or deliver that final punishing blow. It didn’t see the man who became its killer.
But Sebastian did, and he didn’t expect to observe anyone like that. It wasn’t Julian. A stranger stood by the stairway, and he was much lower and thinner than Julian. His clothes were weird: heavy boots made of black leather, black military trousers, normally worn by the soldiers from the North, thick leather jacket with multiple belts on it – part of the uniform belonging to the knights from the islands, and a hood covering his face, like that of a church warrior. And while he could’ve found the hood here, where could he get the other articles, belonging to different armies?
That question was far from the mind of the remaining Hente. They froze for a second and then attacked the stranger; they could fight without their leader, they always did, and its death only fueled their hatred.
The human wasn’t standing still either, it took off its hooded coat and threw it at the approaching creature, blinding it effectively. Now Sebastian could see the warrior’s skin, porcelain white, and black hair, cut unevenly at the shoulders. But most importantly, the black fabric no longer hid the gentle face and the curves of the body, and Sebastian was shocked to discover he was saved by a woman.
But that was impossible! There were no female soldiers in New Vatican, and the countries that practiced this were too far from here! No woman could learn to fight like this on the peninsula, she simply wouldn’t be allowed to.
Yet the stranger had just proved him wrong. She was fast and graceful, and each of her movements served a defined purpose. After blinding her opponent, she grabbed a knife from the floor, the one Sebastian aimed at the leader, and threw it at the second Hente. She got it, killing it on the spot. That didn’t distract her from her only remaining opponent, she took her amazing success for granted.
The Hente managed to tear the fabric apart by then – but it didn’t charge at the woman. It was impossible to read something on its twisted face, yet it seemed to Sebastian that the creature was afraid of her. But that couldn’t be true… Hente didn’t know what fear was!
However, there was no other way to explain why the predator was slowly moving back from the rival who was half its size. The creature’s rage was gone, and it was nothing but a scared animal. The woman stomped her foot at it, as if mocking it, and the monster that had just torn a male warrior into pieces tried to run!
She didn’t let it go. The woman jumped onto the creature like one would ride a horse and broke its scull with her hand. Sebastian believed she was wearing something like a special glove for it, because she couldn’t do it with her bare fingers. But that didn’t make the scene before him any less impressive.
The Hente was dead, and the woman rose to her feet as if nothing extraordinary had happened, cleaning her clothes from the ashes.
“Be careful,” Sebastian warned her. “Three more have left the building, they may return any minute now!”
He didn’t know who she was, but it was enough for him that she was human.
“I know,” she answered imperturbably. “I met them. They won’t bother us anymore.”
She had finally turned to him, letting him get a good look at her face. She was young and appeared foreign. Her features were sharp and her complexion was very pale. But another thing stunned Sebastian the most: her eyes. They were huge and completely black, no visible iris or pupil on them… typical eyes of a Hente. When her beautiful full lips opened in a smile, he could see the small black fangs they were hiding.
A Hente stood before him. A type he had never met before.
“I’m here to help you, don’t be afraid.”
She came closer. Sebastian tried to break free instinctively, forgetting about his position; that brought nothing but new pain to his wo
unded hands.
“Stay away from me, freak!” he ordered.
“Look who’s talking…”
She was upset, and that emotion was entirely human. Hente had never behaved that way!
“Who are you?” Sebastian whispered.
“What, can’t you tell?”
“Are you... a Hente?”
“Yep.”
She went around the cross and ended up behind Sebastian’s back. She pulled the pieces of pipe out of his hands; he couldn’t hold back a scream, and the bleeding became stronger.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Hold on, I’ll get you down.”
He watched her fingers turn into black claws that cut through the metal wire easily. He would’ve fallen down if the woman hadn’t supported him.
“Who are you?” he repeated.
“What’s the use of explaining? You’ve lost a lot of blood and you’re about to pass out. You won’t remember it anyway. If you survive and recover, I’ll answer your questions.”
“Get away from me, you monster!”
“How rude… Puh-leez!”
She actually let him go, but that only caused Sebastian to fall down from the cross – right into the puddle of his own blood.
He didn’t have any energy left in him to get up. His body took too much damage, and his mind was fading away. The pain was gone, replaced by numbness spreading through his body. Sebastian had no idea if he would ever wake up, but he couldn’t fight the darkness any longer.
***
“Alms! Give alms!”
Gabriella passed the old woman by without giving her a second look. The beggar wrapped in dirty rags was always sitting at the same crossroad and saying the same thing. Some people threw her coins, while others just tried to walk faster.
Usually Gabriella didn’t mind giving something to the old woman. She didn’t support her lifestyle, but she felt sorry for the skinny little boy that sat by the beggar’s side. He would remain silent, keeping his head low, while his grandmother asked for money. A sad picture of this new world…