Sonja was in no means a strong swimmer. The waters around Holtur were almost exclusively icy cold; a sun hot enough to make someone want to jump in came merely a few times a year. Those hot suns also stirred the beasts, wyverns, and other nasties around Holtur, meaning a busy—and sweaty—sun of slaying. So right now, amidst the insides of the sorbguamis, she felt herself sinking. At least it was a lot warmer than ice-cold water!
Her feet finally stopped falling, finding purchase on the creature’s lower carapace. She tried to swing her hammer through the filth, but the resistance of internal organs severely impeded her blow. She exhaled glugging bubbles that sought the breathable air above—air she was growing more in need of herself.
The base of the tongue was pulsing and spasming, probably trying to retract what was no longer attached. Sonja pushed the hammer’s anvil into it, the shaft facing upwards, and then placed both hands over the butt of the shaft. She kicked off with her feet, while pushing with her hands, in an attempt to leap up out of the hole she had made atop the sorbguamis—or at least high enough to steal a breath of air.
Released from the muck, she reached for the cracked armour above. Her finger scraped part of the shell, but it crumbled under her grip. She took in a deep breath of precious air, finding it somewhat sweet despite how rank it actually was, and began sinking back into the shit.
“Sonja!” Volk called.
Sonja then heard a hammer pounding into the side of the thing. She slid into the muck and the hammer struck again. She felt herself being sucked towards the source of the breaking carapace. Along with indistinguishable bits of guts, Sonja found herself ejected from the sorbguamis’ shell and out onto the familiar grass—and cold—outside.
“You’re not supposed to jump inside, Captain,” Volk said with a smirk. He outstretched his hand to help her up.
“Just felt like a swim,” she responded through a cough. “Thanks Red.” Even though Volk managed to crack through his sorbguamis’ back without falling through, the ginger was now as grey and gooey as herself.
“They’re stinky bastards,” Volk said, flicking slime from himself. “I wonder if they taste worse than slater beasts?”
“My guess is on par, but I’ll let you do the taste testing.” Sonja slid her hands down her arms, trying to wipe off as much goo as possible. “Well that’s two down,” she said, turning to Bevan’s location. “Oh shit!”
The six other sorbguamises were cautiously dancing around the lone slayer, the junior. Sonja couldn’t tell if the kid had already become one of the insect’s lunch, but the slayers on the wall were doing the best to confuse them. Hopefully it was good enough.
“The grabion, they’re not touching the kuhvi!” Kaarm, called out. Along with some other slayers, the large red-head just returned from the west. He grunted and set his eyes upon Volk. Two Altkrugan Aesterus-worshippers was apparently one too many for the Holtur slayers. They could never see eye-to-eye.
“We need to save the junior!” Sonja said. She glanced back and smiled upon noticing Rak was part of Kaarm’s group. They were all wielding blades, and Sonja had misplaced her hammer inside the sorbguamis, so they’d need new weapons. “Deploy more hammers around the Junior!” Sonja yelled up to the wall, hoping someone would hear her call.
The volley of arrows sprinkling the grounds around Bevan thinned out upon their approach. It appeared the sorbguamises had began to ignore the tapping vibrations given off by the decoy arrows. Bevan was still alive, but the creatures were homing in on his position.
Sonja saw a tongue lash out towards Bevan. He managed to parry the attack, wedging the blade into the flesh, but he lost the blade as the sorbguamis retracted its appendage. The movements gave away his position and the creatures moved in on him. Unarmed, Bevan put his fists up and moved into a classic Proeli fist-fighting stance. The junior practiced Proeli huh? Too bad it wouldn’t help him now, but the sheer determination of the kid was a powerful trait—even if it would get him killed!
From atop the wall, several hammers were flung towards Bevan’s position. Some of the slayers had thrown the heavy weapons quite far given the weight of them, while others barely avoided scraping the wall. One of the large hammers managed to crack into the side of one of the sorbguamises, smashing some carapace and causing a leak. That particular sorbguamis staggered about on wobbly legs, screeching and clicking in contempt. Heavy thuds dented the earth, stealing the attention of the other sorbguamises from Bevan.
A shadow blocked out the sun for a moment, then a blast of air swept up the backs of the advancing slayers. Raithia swooped down in front of them, releasing her grasp of Rahlman and sending him softly rolling along the ground. Tequidi waved a solute as she glided past.
“Burn the fuckers!” Sonja roared at the wyvern pilot, hoping she would hear the command.
The words may not have been audible, but Tequidi—and Raithia—understood the situation. Raithia, Reizexus, and the eleven juvies, all roared, then spewed forth fire into one of the sorbguamises. The slayers—including Bevan—collected hammers, noticing something change in the creatures. An air of fear perhaps? The roar had prompted the sorbguamises to burrow, chewing into the earth with one jaw, while regurgitating dirt, rock, and grass back out their other one.
“Insects know their place on the food chain,” Rak said dryly.
“Doubt it,” Sonja said, swinging her hammer to rest on her shoulder. “Otherwise they wouldn’t have attacked us!”
“Ha!” Rak grunted.
Sonja began advancing on the fleeing sorbguamises. “Might as well break them open, could be good for something!”
Rak ran alongside Sonja. He inhaled deeply and responded, “Not eating.”
Bevan was the first to crack into one of the fleeing sorbguamises, he slammed the hammer straight into its jaw, then got sprayed with rock, earth, and blood. It stopped digging and its tongue crept out, only to be pounded back in with a follow up slam.
The wyverns broke off their attack, separating through the sky. The single sorbguamis they had attacked was now glowing bright white. Sonja looked at it for a moment, ready to shield her face in case it was about to burst apart from the intense heat. It didn’t. Instead, its tongue—now pink—burst from its maw, the tip opened up, then released a stream of fire towards her.
“Shit!” Sonja managed to leap out of the way, barely. Behind her, some of the other slayers hadn’t been so fortunate; they rolled on the ground trying to put out the fire that consumed their bodies. The wyverns had spiralled through the air and were returning for another attack.
“Don’t burn the fuckers!” Sonja screamed, waving her hands into the air. Her display was too late. The wyverns were scorching the creatures that were attempting to escape. The white sorbguamis was now a bright red, but had its tongue snaking towards Sonja. “Oh shit!”
Dropping the hammer with a thud, the sorbguamis blasted the earth where it landed. Sonja began to move away from the attack and the sorbguamis chased her, faster than the previous one had been, unleashing beams of fire that she barely managed to avoid. The assault abruptly halted with a shriek and a sharp click. Sonja turned back to see Volk—who had ditched his hammer—dashing past with his black hook swords ablaze. The thing’s tongue had been severed and flailing about spewing fire in place of blood.
Being an Aesterus worshipper, Volk had a higher than usual tolerance to heat and fire, but that didn’t mean he was immune. He clanked the flat of the blades together, forcing the fire to dissipate from his weapons; it had become obvious that fire only grants these over-sized insects some kind of power.
The sorbguamis—now a dull crimson—retracted what was left of its tongue. Clicking and complaining, it began to dig into the dirt.
“No you don’t!” Volk roared. He sheathed his blades, dashed towards a hammer between him and the creature, then swung it around into the sorbguamis’ side. It fell over, flailing limbs clawing helplessly as it rolled towards the readied slayers. It spewed forth fire from both mout
hs until its colour faded, then the group of slayers fell upon it with a flurry of hammers.
The moment of victory was short lived. An eruption from the ground revealed the tongues of the five remaining sorbguamises. Long streaks of fire, along with bits of molten rock and earth, shot forth from the pharyngeal jaws in random directions. Slayers scattered about in confusion. The two Aesterus worshippers, Kaarm and Volk, dashed towards the flailing tentacles with hook swords outstretched and readied.
The vibrations of their feet brought the attention of sorbguamis tongues to their position, forcing them to jump, sidestep, and leap away from the attacks. Splashes of the flame licked at their bodies, causing singes to skin, leather, and fur alike. The Altkrugans roared, whirling through the garden of tentacles, forcing the tongues to plume with flaming blood as they cut them down.
After the assault, Volk and Kaarm glared at each other, steaming from the hot blood that covered their bodies. Glowing white sorbguamises emerged around them. With eyes, fuelled with animosity, locked onto each other, they didn’t seem to notice the threat.
“Move!” Sonja tackled Volk away from the clicking jaws of a sorbguamis. “What’s wrong with you two?”
With the stare-off broken, Kaarm regained his wits and leapt away moments before receiving a slime-infused fire bath.
Raithia and Reizexus roared, announcing their return to the battle. The juvies were nowhere to be seen. Sonja had come to terms with the fact wyverns—flame wyverns in particular—were relatively intelligent, but she hadn’t thought they would employ their awareness to hide their young.
The sorbguamises honed in on the roars, blasting fire back at the creatures that imbued them with the energy. Raithia and Reizexus flowed elegantly—appearing carefree—swirling around the attacks, but being careful not to touch them. How odd, Sonja had thought that flame wyverns would be completely immune to fire given that they happily nest within volcanoes. Perhaps it was something else—something in the bile or rock—they feared from the attacks.
Another heavy hammer had found its way into Sonja’s grip. She charged the distracted sorbguamises, as did the other slayers. Two of the creatures had their carapace crunch and crack under the piercing talons of the wyverns. A gush of fiery blood splashed from the wounds as the wyverns repeated the attacks on other sections of their round bodies.
Sonja stopped her advance. “Halt!” she called out. If they shatter the sorbguamises before they lose their colour, the heated blood would surely cause them a world of pain. “Don’t strike unless they’re black!”
The advance ceased, and the three remaining sorbguamises, now red with severed tongues, turned to face Sonja. They belched fire, more a broad spray than a direct and concentrated beam. Sonja held her ground as the attack landed a few metres before her. She threw her hammer towards a patch of grass where no slayers stood. Three globs of flaming mucus raced for the decoy weapon, leaving it a smoldering mess.
Each time they spat, their colour faded a little closer to black. They were a dark red now, probably only holding two or three more flaming attacks each. Spindly legs brought the sorbguamises closer to her, close enough to hit her with a spray of blazing phlegm; running was no longer a survivable option.
Her claymore was on her back, but Sonja really didn’t want to sacrifice her favourite weapon to the corrosive spit. They were getting closer now. Almost upon her. She unsheathed her beloved blade, looked to Volk, then mocked a throwing motion.
He understood. With a wild spin, Volk launched the hammer into the air. The anvil struck the earth hard on the other side of the sorbguamises. Seamlessly, flame burst from the sorbguamises’ reverse maws; as though their focus had been on that direction the entire time.
They were so close to black now, Sonja was sure they would only have a single fire attack left in them. Sonja eyed Rak, nodding her head and repeating the motion. He understood and swung the hammer away with little effort. The sorbguamises blasted the hammer as it landed. They were now black.
“Attack!” Sonja roared. She scanned for another nearby hammer but couldn’t see one. It wasn’t an issue, plenty of slayers were dashing in for the kill and she had confidence these things were beat. Volk and Rak realised the same thing and walked to Sonja’s side, but still kept their eyes on the creatures.
“That was interesting,” Rak confessed. “Never seen those bastards before.”
“Certainly not one to fight with fire,” Volk added. “Wyvern or no wyvern!”
“My brother has spoken of these creatures,” Sonja said. “Apparently native to the Kuka Desert. Never told me anything about them absorbing fire though.”
They watched the hammer wielding slayers charge at the helpless sorbguamises. Their drained bodies had commenced trying to dig. They didn’t get very far before the slayers—with the assistance of Raithia and Reizexus’ talons and teeth—tore them apart. Bevan furiously hacked into one, enjoying his opportunity to be the aggressor.
“Haha,” Volk laughed. “Look at Junior go!”
“Interesting kid,” Sonja said. He was swinging his hammer around and around, repeatedly striking at the sorbguamis. “Did you see him put up his guard before? I think he was ready to punch on with the six that surrounded him!”
“Idiot!” Volk snickered.
Rak spat. “Gonna get himself killed.”
“Keep an eye one him,” Sonja said. “He could become useful.”
“If you say so,” Rak said.
“Damn, sorbguamises…” Sonja breathed a sigh of relief. “This will make the Bristrunstium—especially my brother—really excited.”
“Your brother!” Volk smirked. “You reckon it would excite him as much as the kehrip that Vivian obtained for him?”
“Anything is possible!” Sonja exclaimed. “Let’s harvest these corpses quickly. I smell worse than a slater beast! All I want is a bath and an ale!”
Chapter 9: Brothers of Eternity
Another sun revealed its first rays over Holtur and all Sonja could smell was the rancid stench of insect guts. A full set of moons had passed since those foul, gooey insides had swamped her body. She bathed multiple times, while drinking multiple ales, but the stinking, sorbguamis insides trailed her every step. At least Kallum found it amusing. His excitement over the corpses was phenomenal. Hopefully Eltra hasn’t grown jealous! Sonja felt that—despite her quirkiness—Eltra was good for Kallum. Now was not the time to worry about smells or relationships, she was almost back at the north gate; if her stink would repel monsters from the town, so be it!
A new sun also meant that the men Tequidi worried about would be closer to Holtur. Sonja was still unsure how the whole event would unfold. She was sick and tired of waiting for these bastards to arrive. She had also caught wind that leeches had also struck during the moons. Such matters were hard to ignore when frantic screams called out to Sonja during her—usually relaxing—walk to work. Leeches weren’t her primary concern though, not right now. Still, she’d dispatch some men to go search for the filthy creatures, not that they ever succeeded in capturing them. Leeches always vanished after they claimed their prey, well, before anyone ever found the victims. Perhaps the horrors remained close by until the wails of people discovering the drained corpses scared them off?
The moons were growing considerably colder and a veil of snow covered the inner courtyard. There was a large melted patch, displaying the grey, cobbled stone below. Atop that dry patch, the family of flame wyverns huddled together. Tequidi and Volk were already there, discussing something or other—flame wyvern stuff, no doubt. Before Sonja had made her way to the top of the north wall, she saw something that pleased her greatly: Commander Maver.
“Ah, Captain Bluwahlt, I’ve heard you filled my role perfectly in my absence!” His light blue eyes were something she had longed to see back on the wall.
“I wouldn’t say perfectly,” she said with a smile. “I’m glad you didn’t witness me last sun when I was swimming in sorbguamis guts! It’s good to see you
well again.”
“Yes, those fire bugs. You dealt with them well, as to be expected! I heard you were in dire need of a bath afterwards!” Fin rubbed his smooth chin. “I must confess, I also was not expecting to see flame wyverns in the courtyard upon my return…”
Sonja turned to the wyverns and pointed them out. “Reizexus is the big one, Raithia is his mate. Tequidi came to warn us of a group of men approaching. She flew in with Raithia. Reizexus and the smaller ones came in from the north, they would have been slain if it wasn’t for Tequidi. But you know of this already, yes?”
“Somewhat. Bernard came to visit. He filled me in about that first wyvern, but I knew not of the others!” Fin tilted his head towards the west end of the wall walk, where Bernard stood, watching the western road. “He also shared the extent of the approaching threat. Said we should give them whatever they request.”
Sonja folded her arms. “What do you think of the whole situation?” It had been on her mind a lot, increasingly so since last sun, but she still had no plan. At least the decisions no longer fell upon herself alone.
“Well, our job is to protect Holtur from those who wish to harm us.” Fin sighed. “I never thought that would mean fighting against fellow man. If we can give them whatever it is they seek, and hold the peace, I would much rather play it that way. If they intend to harm our people, well, I hold the Holtur people’s lives above any others.”
“Fin, Fin!” Bevan sprinted up the stairs and across the wall walk, flailing his limbs wildly as he moved. “Fin!”
“Commander Maver,” Sonja corrected the young slayer.
“Commander Maver!” Bevan huffed, then took in a deep breath. His brows raised to a worried slant.
Fin couldn’t help giving Sonja a smirk before turning to address the boy. “What seems to be the problem?”
The Holtur Curse (The Holtur Trilogy Book 2) Page 10