Mended Throne

by Jamie Davis

  “I understand,” Elaine said, deflating a bit at the news.

  “Don’t lose hope. If anyone can catch up to Winnie and give her a hand, it’s Victor. But we have to keep pressing, keep the enemy occupied.”

  Elaine looked around at the monitoring screens and laughed. “I think you managed that much. We have to be facing all of Kane’s available forces by now.”

  Maria pointed at two separate spots on-screen. “We’ve lost the most people in those two areas. That was where the chimeras attacked. We lost almost fifty troopers putting the first one down. Your elites were lucky with the other one.”

  “I don’t think Kane has that many to spare,” Elaine said. “They’re spread out into the countryside, fighting the dragons.”

  Maria said, “If we could call the dragons back here while the chimeras are away, we could overwhelm Kane’s defenses.”

  “What if … ” Elaine tapped her chin. “What if we concentrated everything we have, here at the center of our line. We pushed forward, folding the line back like a spring until it formed an arrow. Wouldn’t that give us a chance to break through and drive towards downtown?”

  “Hmmm,” Maria mused, looking over the screen and thinking about the proposal. “That might work. It’s risky, though. If they realize what we’re doing and counterattack against either of the two arms of the arrow, they could get behind the lead attack group and hit them from their rear.”

  “Well, then, we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Elaine said. “Look, I can put my remaining chanter elites here and here,” Elaine pointed to the overhead view. From there, they can support the flanks in case of attack while we push forward at the center. Nothing will break through and I’ll stay close by to bolster anything that needs assistance.”

  “I can’t think of anything else to do,” Maria said. “I’m about out of tricks on my end. Give me a half hour to put a few things in place at the center of the line then we’ll start the attack. It’s so crazy, they might not expect it at all. They’ve got us pretty well outnumbered right now. I figure their commander is expecting us to fold at any minute.”

  “A half hour it is,” Elaine said, checking her watch. “I’ll be ready when you give the signal.”

  Maria called for her runners. She gave each one a written order for a specific part of the line on both sides of the center. By the time the last one left, there were fifteen minutes left before the attack.

  “I’m going to the center of the line,” Maria told a group of comm techs. “Close shop here and join me there once we start moving. Stay close so we don’t leave anyone behind. We can’t come back for anyone.”

  Maria gave one last look around and then headed for the front. It was time to give the B-Team one last boost while they found Winnie and brought her back.

  She prayed that they made it in time.

  CHAPTER 33

  Winnie had stopped trying to free herself. The barbs bound her to the net. Movement was an exercise in searing pain across her body. She’d need a blade to free herself, but the sword on her back was as trapped as she was.

  She opened her eyes and looked at her captors from where they’d left her trussed up on the ground. The tiny creatures were about three feet tall with long sinuous tails. They were covered in fur but stood on hind legs like a person and looked like a cross between a short man and a sewer rat. Maybe that was what they were. Kane’s Fell magic had transformed so many people into beasts, why not beasts into people?

  The rat creatures had taken the netting down and carried her away. She hadn’t seen much on the journey but remembered a long rough passage carved in the earth and supported by timbers.

  The dirt passage opened up after a while into finished concrete tunnels—a subway or sewer. Water was rushing nearby. And the stench was almost worse than the pain, so a sewer was likely.

  They brought her into a room that flickered with firelight. The walls were lined with rags and bedding. This must be their lair.

  Winnie tried again to draw in some magic, but one of the rats raised a club and clouted her over the head. The blow made her stars. She nearly blacked out. And lost all contact with the flows she’d been drawing into herself.

  Opening her eyes again, Winnie stared at the rat. It met her gaze, then surprised her by speaking in a guttural growl. “No magic.”

  She wondered how they had known. Could they see and use magic, too?

  “Please, let me go, I didn’t mean to intrude on your property.”

  “No. You ours,” said the rat beast.

  “I’m not yours,” Winnie said.

  “Others gave you to us. Others chased you into trap.” The rat pointed his club at the ceiling.

  “I’m just trying to get downtown. I have something important for Director Kane.”

  The rat people became agitated. They started speaking and growling, muttering as they pointed makeshift spears and clubs at Winnie.

  Several advanced, poking her with their weapons.

  Winnie could swear that she heard the word Kane in their grumbles.

  The club wielding rat asked raised his weapon. “You friend of Kane?”

  She swallowed hard and rolled the dice on honesty. “I am Kane’s sworn enemy, Winnie Durham. We will battle this day to end our war in the lands above.”

  “You lie,” said the rat. “Kane control everything above. We control below.”

  He raised his club to strike her.

  “I swear I’m not lying,” Winnie said, her voice a trembling whisper, right at the bleeding edge of frantic. “I must fight Kane to win the lands above. He called me to fight him.”

  Another round of discussion twittered among the rats. More of their strange language. More of their threatening gestures.

  The club-wielding rat pushed them back away from her, yelling.

  The other rats fell silent, then the whole group walked away and formed a circle around the fire. The club-wielder continued to stand.

  Some were nodding along with his arguments. Many others continued to gesture at Winnie, shouting what sounded like threats to her human ears.

  The arguments volleyed a while. At one point, her captor’s arguments paused while they prepared a meal, then feasted. What they cooked, she didn’t know. Nor did she want to, despite her watering mouth.

  Eventually, she dozed off. Her sleep was fitful.

  Then she was jolted awake by more shouting.

  Her body jerked as she tried to break free again, waking up unsure of her surroundings. The barbs in her skin reminded her and she forced herself to lie still.

  The rat people had finished their meal and were back to discussing her. Again, several were pointing.

  After a few more minutes of guttural exchanges, the leader nodded and walked back over to Winnie. “We decide. We take you. Offer sacrifice to Kane’s pit.”

  “No. You have to let me go. I will fight Kane for you.”

  The leader gestured around with his club. “This already belong to us. We need no more. We give you to Kane’s pit. Kane decide.”

  Winnie winced as the other rats piled around her and lifted her up.

  More pain. They carried her off to another passage dug into the lair’s concrete wall. She wondered where Seelie was and whether she’d managed to find anyone who could help her.

  But probably not.

  Because how would anyone know where to look?

  CHAPTER 34

  Victor’s thighs were burning, but still he crouched, and pushed himself through the tunnel. The passage from the trap above had thinned so much that the five of them were now single file.

  It was hardest on Bullock and Garraldi. Half the time they had to turn sideways just to get their shoulders through.

  Bullock cursed and grunted behind him, bumping his head on the ceiling again. “We’re almost to the end,” Victor said. “The passage opens ahead.”

  “I need to get out of here,” Garraldi said. “This place is a coffin.”

 
“Hang in there big guy,” Frannie said from the front. “We’re almost there.”

  Frannie wasn’t wrong. The tunnel yawned into a large concrete-lined sewer chamber.

  Victor stepped out and stood to his full height, then looked around. The chamber was clearly being used by someone—or maybe a group of people or creatures—as a camp.

  “Winnie was definitely here,” Frannie called from across the room.

  Victor followed the pool of glittering motes. Now there was a cluster, all in one place but heading in two directions. One went back to the passage. The other led to a small tunnel in the opposite wall.

  “What do you think?” Victor asked.

  “That they’re carrying or leading her and she sat or was laid down here for a while.” Garraldi pointed to the motes.

  “Then where is she?” Danny was frantic.

  Danny couldn’t see the trail. Before Victor could answer, he heard a familiar voice from across the room.

  “They took her as a sacrifice to Kane,” Seelie said.

  The fairy appeared in front of the new tunnel.

  “Seelie … ” Victor said. “You’ve seen Winnie?”

  She nodded. “It hasn’t been that long since they left. I escaped, but Winnie was caught. I’ve been following in secret since they took her.”

  “How long ago?” Danny spun around to face the team. “We have to catch them.”

  “We’ll get to her, Danny. But we can’t rush in without knowing what we’re going to face. We’ll never rescue her if we all die trying to get there.”

  “Garraldi’s right,” Victor said. “Let’s listen to Seelie, take whatever she can tell us about her captors, and plan an intelligent rescue.

  Danny shoulders sank. He nodded but his eyes kept drifting to the chamber’s open mouth.

  Seelie fluttered over to Victor and started spilling her words so fast that he couldn’t make sense of a thing. She told him about sewer rats changing to rat men. She told them about Winnie getting trapped. She told them about the plan to take her to the Fell chasm via an underground route to sacrifice her.

  “Slow down,” Victor said, raising his hands, palms out. “Tell me how many there are and what kind of weapons they have.”

  “There are about thirty,” Seelie said, out of breath. “They have sharp sticks and rusty knives.”

  “It’s enough to kill Winnie,” Garraldi said. “We need an open space. If we catch them in a narrow passage, we won’t be able to fire without a risk to Winnie.”

  “Bullock,” Victor said, “Can you mask us all if you’re the first one down the passage? Make it look like the tunnel is empty while we sneak up behind them?”

  Bullock thought, then slowly nodded.

  “Alright,” Victor said. “Bullock will take the lead with Seelie. She can fly as a scout without being seen. Then me, Garraldi, Danny and Frannie. You two at the back will need to make sure none of these rat-things sneak up from behind. Got that?”

  Frannie grinned. “I can leave a few surprises along our back trail to catch any pursuers by surprise.”

  “Good,” Victor said. “Danny, you watch her back. Make sure she has whatever she needs to keep us alive.”

  Danny didn’t answer. He seemed distracted, staring at the new hole as if it were home.

  “Danny, did you hear me? You have to cover Frannie, watch her—”

  “Yeah, what? Sorry. I was thinking about Winnie. Yeah, cover Frannie. I got it.”

  Victor fixed Danny with a stare. Something was wrong, and he wasn’t just “thinking about Winnie.” But he couldn’t deal with that now. He held the stare one second longer, then turned to the team.

  “Let’s get moving,” he said.

  Bullock jogged across the chamber and crouched to enter the tunnel. He waved his hands to enact the masking spell, then awkwardly moved his bulky form forward, hunched as he shuffled forward and out of sight.

  Seelie squirmed by to scout ahead.

  Victor stooped over and ducked into the low-ceilinged passage. Garraldi grunted, cursing under his breath as he bent himself in half to follow.

  The going was slow, like passing melons through a hose. Victor could only hope the need to carry Winnie was slowing the rat men as well.

  It had been thirty minutes of molasses when Seelie returned. Bullock turned his bulky frame in the tunnel to allow room for Victor see past him to the fairy.

  Seelie said, “They’re not too far ahead. Almost to the opening. I sense fresher air flowing in from somewhere ahead.”

  “We’ll have to move fast,” Victor whispered. “Bullock, you’re the lead, so you’ll need to reach Winnie first. Frannie will help you. Keep Winnie shielded while Danny works to free her. Garraldi and I will engage the rat men once we’re clear of the tunnel.”

  Victor started walking and the rest of them followed behind. He perked his ears for any telltale sound, but his own group was making too much noise.

  Daylight glowed ahead—they were nearing the end of the tunnel. Guttural growling drifted down the passage in almost a chant. The rat men were around the final bend.

  Bullock moved faster, surprisingly agile in the confined space, then turned the corner and shouted in surprise.

  Victor pushed himself forward, wanting to see what Bullock had already seen, scraping his head and shoulders on the rocky roof before finally bursting out onto a broad ledge. It was about a hundred yards long, with an immense open chasm on one side and a jagged cliff face rising up on the other.

  Bullock charged a group of rat men, bowling them over as he ran.

  Victor leveled his weapon and opened fire on another tightly packed group.

  He hit a few. The rest scattered and charged with bellows of rage.

  A spear bounced off of Victor’s body armor, tearing his tunic.

  Garraldi joined him, and the pair opened fire on the surge.

  The rat men kept running, dodging and weaving until Victor’s and Garraldi’s rifles were empty.

  Garraldi pushed out with both hands—shouting as he did—and turned the shimmering air into flames. Then he pushed the burning wall forward, swallowing a group of advancing rat men who cried out as their fur caught fire.

  Victor fired through the flames, felling another few. He glanced over his shoulder—Danny was hunched over something on the ground. It had to be Winnie. Frannie and Bullock were there as well, barely holding a smaller group of rat men at bay.

  Victor turned to Garraldi. “Can you hold the main group here?”

  “I got it,” he said. “Go help the others.”

  Victor nodded then ran toward Winnie. He found her with Frannie and Bullock standing guard, cursing as Danny pulled the barbs from her body.

  “Slow down, dammit! You’re ripping open my skin.”

  Danny ignored her, and kept pulling.

  Victor reloaded, took down a few more rat men, and looked around. Bullock dropped one of the beasts onto the ground, throttled with his bare hands.

  The creatures on this side of Garraldi’s wall were all gone. But there were still more on the other side, chucking spears through the flames, aimed at the caster.

  “Help Garraldi! Run the rest of those things off!” Victor ordered. Then he kneeled down to help Danny with the tricky work of freeing Winnie.

  She was covered in cuts by the time they managed to free her. She stood, drew Excalibur, and turned toward the rat men, fury in her eyes. Victor rushed to stand in her way.

  “The others can handle this, Winnie. We need to dress your wounds.”

  “I’m fine, Victor,” Winnie said, pushing past him. “But they won’t be!”

  Victor looked behind him. Garraldi, Bullock, and Frannie were nudging the remaining attackers back towards their tunnel entrance.

  “It’s over, Winnie. You need to let us check you over,” Victor said, offering her his canteen. “Sit down and have some water.”

  Winnie tilted her head back and gulped without pause. She sank to her knees, then backward
onto her butt. Her head fell forward.

  Danny pulled her sobbing body close, holding her close while the emotion of her rescue and near death spilled from her pores.

  Victor turned away then checked on the others.

  Garraldi was watching the tunnel entrance with Bullock, making sure that the rat men wouldn’t be returning while Frannie tended a gash on his shoulder.

  “We got her,” Garraldi said.

  “Now we need to figure out what’s next.” Victor pointed down the tunnel. “Do you think they’ll come back?”

  “I doubt it,” Frannie said. “They were running hard once they broke ranks. It’ll be a while if they do.”

  “Finish patching Garraldi up while Bullock watches the entrance,” Victor said. “Danny is tending to Winnie right now. Once we’re all patched up enough to assess the situation, we’ll contact the others.”

  Bullock nodded.

  Winnie was rescued, but they were still miles from safe.

  CHAPTER 35

  Winnie took another deep breath and tried to regain control of herself.

  The whole ordeal with the rat men had been overwhelming and she was ashamed of her teary reaction in front of Danny, Victor, and the others.

  “I’m supposed to be a hero, and here I am blubbering like a fool.”

  Danny said nothing. So she looked up and saw him staring blankly out at the far wall. She shoved him hard.

  “You care enough to find me, but not enough to hear me, is that it?”

  Danny looked shocked. “I’m sorry, Win. I’ve been feeling sort of strange for the last several hours. I’m glad that we found you, but now we need to get you out of here. Coming here alone was crazy.”

  “It’s not crazy, Danny. It’s what I have to do. We can’t fight a war of attrition with Kane. He can always summon more creatures. I’ve called all the dragons. There are no more once these are gone. I have to face Kane and defeat him. We’ll never be stronger than we are right now.” Winnie gestured to the rest of their rescue party. “We have a better chance with all five us hitting him now than I ever did alone.”