The beast spun around like an enraged dog as it realised it was encircled, thrashing its long limbs, knocking the soldiers over, sending them hurtling away.
The bony spikes along its back rattled in a sickening symphony, like the crack of breaking wooden sticks.
The beast slashed at an attacking soldier, ripping his face off in one swift motion. The man fell to his knees, spitting up blood and torn bits of flesh. His face was nothing more than a dripping red chasm.
Tomas was hit by the beast’s hindleg and was flung hard into the snow, landing violently on his back. His body still ached after his fight with Ref and Styna, and the strike did little to help his pain.
Rilan and Landry, still on their feet, stepped back to avoid the violent lashing.
Everything around Tomas began to spin. His ears were ringing. Muffled screams and shuffling. Swords clashing.
A soldier charged, screaming at the top of his lungs. His sword went straight through the bottom of the beast’s monstrous hand.
Black blood flowed from the wound.
The monster did not hesitate to react. It grabbed the attacking soldier with its free clawed hand before biting down on his upper body and taking it off in one swift movement.
The soldier was torn in two. Bits of blood and dangling skin hung from the severed legs as a wave of blood splattered into the air before what was left of him fell like a deadweight.
An arrow flew through the air, striking the beast in its underbelly. It howled, glaring at Landry, bow in hand with another arrow already nocked. The squire fired again, the second arrow ricocheting off the thick hide.
These things were tough.
Tomas could only watch for a moment. His head was aching, his nose was bleeding, and everything was still a blur. He struggled to breath- his chest felt as though it weighed a tonne.
With Britus beside him, Gharland waited for an opportunity to strike, spears in hand.
It pounced on another soldier before ripping his arm clean out from the socket like it was nothing and tossing it away.
With the creature’s back turned to the Captain and the Lieutenant, the two men charged with their spears held out before them. The spears impaled deep into the beast’s back before they twisted the shafts.
It let out a chilling shriek.
Suddenly, the bone spikes on the creature’s rear vibrated before some of them fired out from the hide on its back, like bolts from crossbows.
Several of the smooth, white spikes hit Lieutenant Britus directly, skewering him through the front of his body and shooting out from his rear. One spike went straight through the man’s open mouth, shattering his teeth, and flying out the back of his head with a cascade of broken skull fragments and brain matter.
Britus’s eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. Blood seeped from the three-inch-wide, jagged holes strewn across his body.
Captain Gharland took a spike to the collar bone which sent him falling, writhing in agony.
Tomas, still struggling to get to his feet, watched in terror at the scene unfolding.
The holes in the hide on the beast’s back where the spikes had launched from began to weep black blood before more bony white growths started pushing out from within, like weeds breaking through topsoil.
What the fuck is this thing?
Tomas rubbed the back of his head to attempt to quell the ache he suffered from his rough landing. He looked back at his hand- it was smeared with blood.
Tomas heard more shouting as the men once again charged to attack.
Landry grabbed the injured captain under the arms, pulling him away from the creature with the spike still embedded in his upper body.
Rilan came to help Tomas up from his fall. “You’re alright, you’re alright. Time to get up now, Tomas,” Rilan said, trying to reassure Tomas.
After getting Tomas to his feet, Rilan spotted Hemish lying in the snow. He ran over to his injured comrade without a second thought, pulling him away from the fight.
The beast flailed about chaotically and unpredictably as it was encircled.
Tomas heard a rumble from his rear. He turned, facing the trunk of the old fallen pine tree. He gasped as he saw huge, talon-like claws atop the trunk above him.
Another beast clambered up from behind the fallen tree. Tomas realised they had forgotten all about the second creature stalking them, as all their focus was on the one that had already attacked.
Fuck.
The hideous beast atop the trunk crouched, ready to launch itself.
Rilan, to Tomas’s side, was facing the first creature, unaware of the danger behind him.
The creature leapt from the trunk.
“Rilan!” Tomas turned to his friend and ran.
The beast crashed atop Rilan and the injured Hemish, sending snow and dirt cascading into the air with a crash. Its immense weight crushed the injured old man in an instant, with the ease of splattering an insect beneath a rock.
Tomas sprinted as fast as his legs could manage as the monster grabbed Rilan in its mouth, thrashing him around. Its jagged teeth dug themselves into his side, tearing out flesh as Rilan screamed for help.
Tomas put aside all his fear, all his pain, sprinting straight for the abomination that was mauling his friend without an ounce of doubt. He raised his sword arm and struck the beast in the side, slicing a deep gash down its body. The wound forced the beast to drop Rilan, before launching itself at Tomas.
Tomas leapt to his side to dodge the attack, landing prone in the bloody snow. He got himself up to his feet, clutching his sword desperately as the beast swung back around for a second assault.
Hemish had been right- in the heat of battle, the sword felt so heavy. He had not yet gotten his muscles strong enough. Tomas wished he had practiced more.
He sliced again as hard as he could, bringing the sword down on the creature’s forehead. It was like striking solid rock- the sword sliced the creature’s mangled ear clean off and buried itself deep in its scalp, but not deep enough to kill.
The beast howled, swiping at its face to try and remove the embedded sword.
Landry suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, sword and shield in hand. He shielded Tomas from the menacing beast as it wildly spun around.
What do I do?
Tomas looked around for something, anything, to help.
Behind him, the first beast leapt onto Ref like a pouncing cat. Styna charged the creature, smashing it in the face with a rock so hard that it knocked it over.
Landry held his shield up, bracing against the second beast’s crazed movements, and stabbing at every chance he got.
Tomas’s eyes scoured the campsite. Bedrolls, rocks, waterskins, firepit.
Firepit!
Without hesitating, Tomas leapt for the nearest campfire. He stuck his hand into the smouldering pit, grabbing a burning log. The fiery coals seared the skin on his hand, but he pushed through the hot pain before rushing the beast that was attacking Landry.
Tomas aimed and struck the fiery hot log directly into the eye of the creature, pushing as deep as he possibly could. The eye simply popped as a hideous hiss of steam puffed from the beast’s burning socket. It shrieked and wailed in agony, before backing away from Tomas and Landry, defeated.
“Fire!” Tomas called to the rest of the soldiers, still battling the second monster. “Use fire! They don’t like fire!”
Gharland, who had been pulled to safety due to his injury, shouted from where he lay. “Grab some fire, men! Kill these fuckers!”
The men clambered to the campfires, taking burning logs, torches, and sticks. They mobbed around the remaining beast, sticking its hide with their red-hot weapons. Its skin seared and burned as it howled like a hurt animal, striking back and forth in a fit of rage.
Tomas and Landry joined the mob, cursing at the creature to back off as they continually stabbed and prodded.
The stench of burning flesh spread through the air.
Eventually, the creatur
e gave up, cowering back and whimpering away into the dark woods with burns adorning its pale skin.
Tomas waited until he was certain it was gone before dropping the smouldering log from his aching hand. His fingers spasmed, his nerves screamed. Much of the skin on his palm was glowing bright pink.
Landry took a waterskin on the ground and poured its liquid contents onto Tomas’s hand. It stung like mad but felt so refreshing. He grimaced in unbelievable pain, feeling his heartbeat pumping through the burns.
The men fell quiet, crashing hard from the adrenaline coursing through their veins. A few dropped to the ground in exhaustion, some screamed in pain, others rushed to help those who were injured.
Tomas took a deep breath of the cool air- he needed every ounce of strength he could get.
Rilan.
He needed to help Rilan, realising he had left him while trying to help Landry. He turned back to where Rilan had been attacked by the second creature.
What he saw made him erupt.
He wailed, sprinting.
Kneeling over Rilan was a hooded figure, wielding a bloody hunting knife in his bony hand. The figure stuck Rilan straight in the side of the throat with the knife, pushing all the way down to the hilt.
Rilan coughed up blood and spasmed, too weak to fight back after being mauled by the beast. The figure ripped the knife out, a line of arterial spray following in a brilliant arc.
Rilan’s pale body fell motionless in the muck and blood-stained snow.
“No!”
Tomas tackled the hooded figure, throwing him off of Rilan. The hunting knife went flying away into the dark. Tomas pinned the man down on the ground and turned him over.
Eyes, hollow and empty.
Dirt-smeared skin and unkempt facial hair.
A wicked smile, revealing black, chipped teeth.
The man spoke with a cold, rough voice. “Told him he’d regret it!”
It was Ref.
“NO!”
Tomas lost all control.
He punched the brute square in the jaw with all his might, so hard it felt as though it broke his knuckle. He hit him again, and again. Harder, and harder.
Ref chuckled to himself as he coughed up blood and broken teeth. Each strike threw his head back and forth viciously, the back of his head slamming against the ground.
His skin broke, bled and puffed up.
Everything felt like it was in slow motion.
Tomas kept beating Ref. He heard his comrades shouting for him to stop. But he didn’t. He couldn’t.
He hit Ref in the cheek with his right fist, splitting his skin open. He struck him again with the left, shattering his nose in two.
Hands from behind ripped Tomas off Ref. He flailed about, trying desperately to escape their clutches.
“Get off him!”
“Enough!”
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?!”
Tomas just cried, from the deepest, coldest place within him. Screaming to kill Ref, to save Rilan.
Rilan’s eyes stared blankly to the sky above.
His skin was white. His chest had stopped expanding.
Chapter 24 - The Dagger
Trish stormed in to Edrick’s candlelit quarters in the lower levels of Castle Bower, slamming the door behind her and bolting it shut. It was an area of the castle she had become familiar with once again since returning to Ravenrock.
Her golden hair was a mess, and her makeup was running down her face.
“That bitch,” Trish cursed with clenched fists. “That self-obsessed bitch.”
Edrick sat up from his bed, surprised to see the handmaiden. “I thought you weren’t going to be able to visit tonight?”
“Yeah, well things change, don’t they?”
“What’s wrong?”
Trish faced Edrick with hate-filled eyes. “After everything I’ve done for her. Everything I’ve been put through. All the things we are doing to help her!”
Edrick pulled Trish over with a gentle tug on her arm, sitting her down on the edge of the bed. He began massaging her shoulders to comfort her.
“What happened?”
Trish scoffed. “Katryna found out about her betrothal with the prince from Ember. She called me cheap and compared me to a brothel whore!”
Edrick sighed. “Don’t take it personally. She must be quite shocked with finding out,” he said, trying to reassure the young woman.
“I feel like I want to hit something. She’s a self-entitled brat.”
“You can hit me if you like,” Edrick said with a smirk.
Trish faced Edrick, gently caressing her hand across his cheek, before slapping him rather firmly. The two smiled.
“You are no cheap handmaiden, or a whore,” Edrick said. “You are beautiful and smart, and together we can do anything.”
Trish wiped away the last of her smudged makeup with the back of her hand, nodding.
“They think us inferior, and that is why we are stronger than they.”
“You’re right,” Trish said. “You’re right. I’m just so mad that we do what we do for Katryna and she treats me like an insect beneath a boot.”
“When the princess discovers all that we have done in her name, then she will be grateful,” Edrick said.
“She better. I lost everything because of her family. I was taken from my home, humiliated, beaten, forced to become their servant. And this is how she treats me in return?”
“Don’t beat yourself up, Trish.” Edrick leant beside the bed and took something from underneath, before hiding it behind his back. “I, uh… I got you something.”
Trish’s face instantly lit up. “Well, well, well, not just a pretty face after all,” Trish laughed, patting Edrick’s face before crossing her legs on his bed. “What is it?”
“Guess.”
Trish rolled her eyes. “Umm, a horseshoe?”
Edrick chuckled. “No.”
“An apple?”
“Better.”
Edrick revealed a shining, ornate, steel dagger. She gasped at its beauty. The weapon was dual bladed, each with a slight curve. The blades had a long fuller depression down their midline, and the handle had ridges along it with a glowing red jewel embedded at the base.
Trish was breathless. “Wha… Where did you…?”
“I stole it from a trader who was drinking at a tavern in Stonesilt Harbour. He and I were gambling and drinking. He told me all about it before losing it. The steel was forged across the Emerald Sea,” Edrick explained, watching Trish as she studied the dagger.
Trish ran her fingers across the razor-sharp blade, drawing a prick of blood.
“It’s…”
Edrick beamed. “I knew you’d like it.”
“It’s incredible.”
“I was going to present it to you after the king dies. But I thought you could use some cheering up now. A reminder of our mission.”
Trish embraced Edrick, breathing in his intoxicating scent and pressing her lips against his with appreciation. The two fell back as they kissed, hands all over each other’s bodies.
Edrick caressed Trish’s soft face, running a finger down the ugly old scar across her cheek. It had never bothered him- when they were young, he used to always tell her it made her look unique, like a tattoo.
Trish, sitting atop Edrick, slid the blade playfully across his throat. She imagined sticking it in him, the blood pumping out, the feeling of resistance and ecstasy of joy she would receive as she plunged it deep into someone’s body.
Edrick was not nervous, however. He knew it got Trish excited. He began undoing Trish’s laces, pulling off her dress to reveal her slender, smooth form. He held his breath at her beauty.
Trish smirked as she watched him study her body hypnotically. She felt his firmness beneath her hips as he ran his soft fingers down her naked body.
Edrick played with one nipple before grabbing her firm breasts with both hands. He kissed her neck as his strong hands squeezed the tende
rness of her chest.
Trish breathed in Edrick’s ear as their hearts raced and bodies began to sweat, melding into one. She gripped the dagger tightly within her hand.
Trish took of his pants as he grabbed her rear. She whispered into Edrick’s ear as she moaned.
“It’s time we step things up.”
With Trish still on top of him, Edrick entered her in one forceful thrust. She gasped in pleasure, rubbing the smooth yet sharp dagger against his unshaven stubble as he began to repeatedly push into her.
She pricked his skin with the tip of the dagger, drawing a spot of blood.
“I’ll do whatever you ask,” Edrick said, his eyes rolling around in his head as he firmly held on to her hips, feeling their bodies move in unison.
“Tonight,” she said. “Tonight, we finish what we started.”
The pair kissed passionately once again as two became one under the candlelight.
End of Act II
Interludes II
Interlude - Nomad
Paku’s catamaran danced over the crystal waves of the Emerald Sea, shooting magnificent splashes of warm seawater up into the air. Paku’s hands were slippery, and his face dripped with the mist as he held on tight to the steering oar at the rear of the catamaran.
It was a great honour for him to be in control of the catamaran, second only to receiving his first piercing. The position was usually held for the older boys and those with more experience.
Paku had turned fourteen only the day before, and Bya-Iam thought it was time that he got a feel for taking the second oar. The excitement still had not worn off, but he did not let it skew his focus.
Paku did not want to disappoint on his first day. The ocean meant everything to his people. Ever since the Great Flood, when the two moons had collided, Paku’s ancestors had lived upon the sea. Helping steer was a great honour to the Tekawa.
He could not disappoint!
Paku stared up at the crimson star, red as a deep-sea squid, sailing across the sky.
Starfall (The Fables of Chaos Book 1) Page 28