“Agreed.” Tellan said and as he placed a hand upon Reya’s back, he spun her to make their escape.
But as soon as Tellan and Jenko both turned, an arrow screamed through the air like the battle cry of a Valkyrie and thudded home into the joint of Tellan’s shoulder, staggering him with a grunt.
“Tellan!” Reya shrieked and reached out reflexively for him.
But Tellan was still resolute in his duty and as he flung an arm protectively in front of his niece, he crouched with a hiss through gritted teeth. “Fall back!” He rapped as another arrow screamed from the sky, narrowly missing him by inches.
Jenko gathered Reya and made to flee, but when two figures leapt from the scaffolding above, he was forced to push her away and brandished his throwing knives. Twin shrieks scalded the air as Jenko’s knives claimed their targets and as Reya spun in confusion, Tellan’s bastard sword met the downwards blow of another figure that had launched from above. Jenko gripped Reya’s upper arm without consideration of whether or not he hurt her, but as he spun once more to make their escape the way they had come, another arrow thudded into the ground inches from his feet.
“Shit!” He hissed as he pushed Reya behind his body and with the roar of an oncoming attacker from the side, Jenko unsheathed his sabres with a snarl of anger.
He cut the aggressor down with a pivoting slash and as his eyes flashed up at the sound of screamed challenges, he saw the onrush of armed men and women that penned them in.
“Tellan!” He cried as he hopped back with Reya bundled protectively under his arm, “We’ve been cut off!”
Tellan grasped a handful of his attacker’s coat and hauled the hapless man into a devastating headbutt before he threw him clattering into his sister nearby. “Push through!” He shouted.
“I can’t!” Jenko yelled as he roughly spun a shrieking Reya clear of the screaming descent of another arrow, “Not with whoever the fuck it is firing those bloody arrows!”
With a final thrust of his bastard sword that claimed the lives of the piled aggressors, Tellan snarled and shouted, “Lose them in the buildings!”
Jenko pushed Reya onwards and with the appearance of another thug from the hidden corner of a dipped roof at the rabbit warren’s mouth, he flung a throwing knife with devastating accuracy. The woman collapsed sprawling onto the tiles before she slid lifelessly to the ground below and as Tellan spun to cover Jenko’s back, he slashed defensively at the line of thugs that had caught up with their retreat.
Tellan glared up at the skyline as he snapped the shaft of the arrow within his shoulder and at the sight of a white haired figure that stood with eerie grace from a well protected dormer, a fragment of conversation from The Cauldron speared his heart with its remembrance. This is the man Reya saw before…He realised with a chill in his flesh and with the flash of silver eyes that scalded across the distance, Tellan readied his bastard sword once more with a hissed curse. He slashed at the arrow that raced lightning fast for his chest, thwarting its passage with a splintering of wood. But when the figure began his approach with ominous purpose, Tellan hopped backwards with a grunt.
He snarled at the eyes of the three thugs that approached him with sneering aggression, for the taint of Belial was clear within their clouded pupils and Tellan rebuked himself for allowing his vigilance to slacken so badly. The first ran forward with a roar and as Tellan swept unharmed beneath the hasty overhead swing that sought his head, he spun a slashing score across the second’s stomach. Even before the first had turned around, Tellan rose with his dagger in his off–hand and as he buried the blade deeply into the third aggressor’s chest, he met the first’s oncoming rush with a spearing of his bastard sword.
With arrows biting viciously at his heels, Tellan sped along behind Jenko’s path, ever watchful of the figure above as he streaked along in an echo of his journey. And as he ducked underneath the swinging leap from another unseen aggressor, Tellan’s bastard sword rose with a shout.
“Jenko! Archer above!”
Jenko spun with Reya in his grip and as he flashed his eyes upward, he glared at the figure that raised a deadly, blackened bow, crouched low in the cover of a broken pipe. It was a race then between Jenko’s thrown knife and the man’s rapid draw, for Jenko had spied the broken slate beneath the guttering the archer hid behind. The knife clattered off the slate’s edge, shearing it in half and with the barest downwards glance, the white haired man tumbled as the entire row of tiles cascaded like rainfall down a broken gutter.
Tellan reached up for another figure that leapt at him from the shadows of an archway and as he threw the woman unceremoniously onto the ground, he gasped at how perilous their situation had become. He realised they had been too well herded, stuck in this corner with nowhere to go except the bottleneck ahead and even then, there was no way of knowing how many lurked in hiding. He watched as the white haired archer clattered awkwardly down the roof tiles, only barely grasping the edge of his perch with a flailing hand. Tellan knew then, that in spite of how precariously the archer dangled over the building’s edge, they only had moments to spare now…
The rattling commotion of horses’ hooves and juddering wheels exploded into echoing solidity throughout the dockyard then, and as Tellan glanced up at the wagon that careened haphazardly towards them, he gasped in relief.
“Tellan!” Vella shouted with a desperate snap of the horses’ reins, her hair and travelling poncho blowing freely from the sheer speed she forced the beasts on.
Tellan swept to the side as Vella hauled on the reins with gritted teeth and brought the wagon to such a rocking stop beside him that it nearly toppled over. She then stood with swift determination, a murderous crossbow held in her hands and upon the freeing of the bolt already eager for flight, it thundered home into the back of a thug that had crept upon Jenko’s blindside.
“It’s about fucking time!!” Jenko roared as he slashed and thrust through the two thugs that opposed him.
“Quit your bloody wailing and get in!!” Vella screamed back as she hastily reloaded her crossbow.
“Vella!” Reya gasped as Tellan all but threw her into the driver’s bench of the wagon beside her, “Oh! I am so happy to see you!”
“Reya?!” Vella exclaimed incredulously and with a fierce scowl that burned upon Jenko, she cried accusingly, “What the fuck have you gone and done now, Jenko?”
Tellan leapt onto the top of the wagon bed with his eyes ever pierced upon the bowman and as Jenko joined him with a grunt, Tellan shouted, “Go, Vella!”
Vella immediately shoved her crossbow into Reya’s stunned hands and seized the horses’ reins. “You don’t have to tell me!” She retorted and with a final scream of encouragement, the horses rocketed onward.
But as they sped along the rat’s maze of warehouses, Reya pointed at the figures that gathered ominously along the roof tops like an honour guard of the damned, every pair of eyes upon the speeding wagon with a unified predatory stare.
“Look out!” She yelled in warning.
“Shit!” Vella hissed when her eyes seized the cluster of bodies that followed their route at a fearless run over the roofs and scaffolding above. She then thrust the reins into Reya’s trembling hands in exchange for her crossbow and said, “Here, kid.”
“I–I don’t know how to drive!” Reya protested as she stared aghast at Vella’s insistence.
“I hope you’re a quick learner, then!” Vella replied as she desperately fumbled a bolt into the crossbow’s flight groove and shot to her feet.
Reya gasped in nervous fright as she fought to control the maddened horses and as soon as Vella set her bolt loose into a leaping figure, another landed onto the wagon behind her. Vella kicked him somewhat ungracefully in the groin before she whipped a devastating strike with the stock of her crossbow and as she joined Tellan and Jenko’s own struggles, she fumbled for another bolt.
Two more thugs leapt onto the wagon as Reya determinedly sped the horses through the dockyard and as Tellan’s bastard swor
d cleaved the life from them, the wagon collided into the side of a warehouse with the cracking of timber. Vella fell calamitously and was nearly over the side, were it not for Jenko’s quick reflexes that caught her by the wrist. She nodded her thanks as he pulled her back onto the relative safety of the jostling wagon, but once again the wagon screamed a clattering journey through a narrow alleyway and exploded into the port proper like a cork shot from a bottle.
Vella, Tellan and Jenko staggered wildly as the wagon slammed into and through a stall full of crockery and amid the explosion of ceramic and raging oaths of the merchant and public alike, Jenko screamed, “Fucking hell, Reya! Be careful!”
“I told you I don’t know how to do this! You try driving through a busy port!” Reya screamed back as she fought to right the horses’ path and upon the thundering of arrows fired from above, she hauled the reins to the side with a shocked gasp.
The horses screeched wildly as they were forced along the promenade of the main port, scattering people and merchants alike with screams of fright and anger at such a display of uncouth barbarism. Suddenly Jenko stumbled with a shout of agony and as he clutched at the arrow that bit deeply into his hamstring, he fell heavily onto one knee.
“Jenko!” Vella yelled.
“I’m fine.” He hissed. He then glared up at the bowman that still tirelessly sped along above, grudgingly impressed with how lithely the bastard moved through the skyline after them. “That white haired son of a bitch is still on us, Tellan!” He snarled through gritted teeth.
Tellan stumbled forward and gripped Vella by the shoulders, “Vella take him down! Don’t let him on this wagon!”
“You’ve got it!” Vella replied as she crouched for better accuracy, her crossbow sights lifted and already searing into the bowman’s chest.
Tellan then vaulted into the driver’s bench and as he took the reins from Reya’s hands, he ordered urgently, “Jenko’s been hit, take care of it!”
“I–I’m not a nurse, I don’t know what to do!” Reya protested through a thrill of anxiety that thrummed sickeningly within her stomach.
“If something’s bleeding then make it stop! Please, Reya!”
Reya’s hair whipped like golden fire as she climbed atop the wagon and upon the seizing of the arrow embedded in Jenko’s leg, she grimaced at the blood that stained her hands. “Oh my God, Jenko–” She muttered under her breath, her displaced mind shocked at how hot his blood felt on her bare skin.
“Just snap it off halfway, Reya.” Jenko hissed through gritted teeth and as Reya did as she was told, he grunted loudly at the extra pressure the wagon’s jolting journey placed upon her hand.
Shrill whistles then shrieked through the air like the sharpening of knives and as Reya glanced up from Jenko’s wound, she cried hopelessly, “That’s the watch alerted too!”
“Oh great, that’s all we need.” Jenko grumbled and as he staggered upright with the aid of Reya, he called, “Time’s running out, Tellan!”
“I know!” Tellan barked through a rictus of effort as he hauled the reins away from the imminent path of an ironmonger’s stall. He hissed in frustration when the wagon slammed against the more solid roadblock of a parked wagon laden with enormous barrels and, with a terrible ripping of wood, the horses sped on.
Reya gasped from under Jenko’s arm when an arrow thudded into the top of the wagon barely inches from her foot and as Jenko spun her defensively, he screamed, “Vella take him down! Now!!”
“I’m trying!” Vella shouted back as she reloaded her crossbow; he was a slippery bastard this one, but she needed a better line of sight if she had any chance of striking her mark. She then grinned triumphantly and readied her crossbow once more, for the archer’s journey was soon to be cut short by the end of the block.
“Reya! Are you alright?” Tellan called.
“I’m okay!” Reya replied as she made her way back into the driver’s bench.
“Holy–!” Vella shouted when the bowman launched himself fearlessly into the sky, his arms and legs wheeling for as much stability and distance as he could garner. He’s killed himself! She though incredulously, but when he rolled upon the ground and sprinted after them in an astonishingly seamless transition, Vella’s mouth fell open dumbly. She then gathered herself with a shake of her head and lifted her crossbow to finally claim her elusive target, awaiting the moment the bowman tumbled heavily to the ground in a cloud of churning dust.
“Got you.” She murmured triumphantly under her breath, but when she saw the man vault onto his feet once more, heedless of the crossbow bolt that speared his chest, she gasped incredulously and whipped around.
“Tellan, he’s still coming!” She cried forebodingly, suddenly fearful of how determined their opponent was in his relentless pursuit. No man should survive where he’s been hit…She thought in chilling horror as she watched him sprint towards them, how is he still standing?
“That’s not all.” Jenko said as he regained his sabres and, favouring his damaged leg, he turned darkly towards the hooves that galloped rapidly for them, “Here comes the watch.”
“Oh no! Uncle Tellan, what do we do?” Reya gasped in fear at the sight of the plumed horses and men that sped inexorably to thwart their escape, each mouth open in shout beneath their helms.
“Damn it!” Tellan barked as the wagon smashed through a cluster of barrels, “Reya can you take the reins?”
“Y–yes, I think so.” She gasped, but in spite of how much her hands trembled, she accepted the reins from Tellan’s insistent push.
“Sheathe your weapons!” Tellan ordered as he clambered back onto the wagon top beside Vella and Jenko, all of them swaying from the wagon’s chaotic journey.
“But–”
“They don’t know any better, Jenko! We can’t kill them!”
Jenko snarled as he sheathed his sabres with great reluctance, “Very well, Lord.”
“‘Lord’?” Vella asked incredulously.
Jenko’s face twisted a little at how dubiously Vella looked at him. “I’ll tell you later.” He murmured self–consciously.
Wind whipped against the three as they stood in wait of the horses that sped to meet them, the watchmen’s whistles blaring a call to arms against the careening wagon that had ripped so calamitously through the once peaceful dock.
“Stop! In the name of the law, you must stop!” A plumed helm shouted from near level as his horse galloped rapidly close by.
“Go fuck yourself!” Jenko retorted with an enthusiastic, two armed gesture.
In spite of how boisterously Vella’s laughter erupted from her, Tellan admonished hotly, “Jenko!”
“Oh come on, do you seriously think they’ll just let us go after we’ve ploughed our way through the docks?”
“This is your last warning!!” The watchman bellowed indignantly, “Stop or we shall take force!!”
But in spite of his aggressive challenge, Reya took matters into her own hands when, without warning to the others, she steered the horses sharply into the watchman’s path. The watchman’s horse screamed as it threw its rider off its back and with a chorus of enraged whistles from the other horsemen that clustered around the speeding wagon, Reya made for the distant archway that led towards Dahlia’s outskirts. Tellan and the others swayed alarmingly from the sudden change in course and the watchmen retaliated in their pursuit with the whistling screech of crossbows.
“Can I kill them now, Tellan?” Jenko growled dangerously as he swiftly dodged a nearly accurate bolt with a snarl of anger, spearing the man that had shot at him with a threatening glare.
“No!”
Jenko’s glower was then replaced with a wicked grin when he spotted a parked wagon full of fresh fruit and upon the unleashing of a throwing knife, he nodded in satisfaction as the cargo spilled erratically across the ground. Horses screamed as they tumbled calamitously, mingled with the shouts from both injured watchmen and the hapless merchant. But from the other side, the horses had approached ev
en closer and with the admittedly heroic leap of a watchman that collided into the side of the wagon, the now severely rickety frame rocked precariously.
“P–please, madam!” The bold watchman said as he pulled himself up, his cautious eyes uncertain as he looked at Vella’s looming approach, “I don’t want to harm you–”
Vella’s fist smashed into his jaw with devastating power and as he was knocked cleanly off the wagon with a wicked kick that punched deeply into his stomach, Jenko laughed uproariously. “That’s my girl, Vella!” He cheered.
“Take them!” Came the roar from the other guards and as they swarmed around the careening wagon like angered wasps, Tellan and Jenko crouched defensively.
But when the wagon clattered heavily against the stonework of the city archway, one watchmen was catapulted into the air by his frightened horse and the other approaching watchmen were forced to haul on their reins for fear of becoming squashed by the wagon’s bulk. Two watchmen successfully snaked through the calamity however and they leapt onto the wagon with aggressive force, brandishing their batons threateningly. Tellan surged forward on the inside of his enemy’s swing and with a hand firmly grasped on the offending wrist, he drove a devastating elbow straight into the watchman’s ribcage. Tellan disarmed the watchman without fuss and as he tossed the baton dismissively behind his shoulder, Vella streaked in with a powerful side kick that thrust the watchman from the wagon entirely. Jenko’s own attacker was now hunched over the angel’s back, knocked senseless from the devastating headbutt that had left him seeing stars and without ceremony, Jenko tossed him over the side like a sack of coal.
A scream of angered retribution scalded from behind them and as the three looked back at the last watchman that galloped madly beside the wagon, Tellan hissed at the sight of the white haired archer not far behind. Somehow he had kept chase even after Vella’s bolt had claimed his chest, but the horse upon which he rode was a twin to the watchman’s.
“He’s a tenacious son of a bitch, I’ll give him that.” Jenko observed dryly.
“Kill him…now.” Tellan growled as he glared at the man’s approach, unusual as he was in what was clearly damaged armour. He then unsheathed his bastard sword once more and brought the blade before him, ready to offer what protection he could from such skilful draws.
The Fallen Page 29