by Y W Lumaris
This was, as he’d thought before, a march to the death.
Hopefully it would be the god’s, not his army.
Soon, Hawk joined him and turned on the rover’s engine, lights flaring on and casting shadows into the trees. It maneuvered easy enough, but was far more limiting than the bikes. The cargo vans remained behind with a small force to guard them.
Finally, they were to begin this dreadful fight.
Ladon ordered his army to split; the terrain demanded it. As each captain took control of their unit, fanning out but advancing in the same direction, Fen and Hawk remained in Ladon’s unit. He gave the order, voice hoarse and echoing into the chilly morning air. Footfall sounded like thunder as thousands of armored men marched forth.
The rover kept behind Ladon, who carried his gun at the ready.
“We better not be too tired when we reach them fuckers,” Hawk growled.
Ladon agreed. He didn’t carry conversation; if the enemy knew they were there, then it wouldn’t be long before they met them. Fen closed his eyes after a few minutes, and Ladon was sure he was asleep. Fuckin’ bastard. How could he sleep right now!
Several long minutes stretched into an hour, and Ladon’s thoughts were confirmed. He could hear the snarls in the distance, sense the magic building up.
“Fen!” he barked. “They’re here!”
Fen scrambled up, cloak barely hanging on his shoulders as he stood and clutched the cage frame. He blinked, dazed, then focused.
“Shields or offense?” he asked. Ladon glanced up at him. The mage’s stone-cold face guarded his emotions.
“Defense!”
He gave a nod and stretched a hand out. In an instant, the trees bent as the shield flickered into existence. It turned white as boulders of rock and snow pummeled it. Fen winced.
“We need to go after them fast and quickly if we’re to reach the temple in time,” Fen hissed through his teeth.
“Well, what was the plan? Barrel in, go to the temple?” Hawk called out over the din of soldiers preparing their guns. Fen nodded. They glanced at Ladon.
“Cover us!”
Ladon gave the order and the shields dropped. Ashinari lined the front lines, but Ladon could smell the damned Accursed. They had trained for this. He raised his gun, shouting the orders. His soldiers roared into action.
Gunshots sounded in the crisp air as the forces collided. The rover wove through the throng, picking up speed. Fen cast spell after concussive spell, pushing away enemies and bringing up temporary shields to assist their way and help any they spotted. Soon, he could see the temple. However, between them and the temple were thousands of Accursed.
Dread filled him.
Ladon could see the rover slowing to a stop as they waited for him to catch up. His men were slower, more encumbered with the onslaught of monsters. Ladon hoped they would simply trust that the rest of the forces would converge at their designated position. They could win this. If only it meant killing the damn monsters.
* * *
Fen clutched the cage as Hawk gassed the rover and they headed straight for the throng of monsters hissing at them. Fen threw out his arm, casting a shield with an ugly yell, wincing from the pain overuse tolled on him. He gritted his teeth, tasting blood the deeper they drove through the madness.
Hawk yelled over the blood-gushing screams around them.
The rover hit a rock and flung up, ejecting both of them directly into the mass of monsters.
Chapter Fifteen
Fen landed, hitting his shoulder into the dirt before tumbling over. Winded, he huffed and gasped until he could breathe. In an instant, hearing the snarls of the monsters diving at him and Hawk, he brought a shield up and around them – a dome only tall enough for them to sit up in.
“Hawk!” he coughed, body aching. He relaxed a little, seeing the man pulling himself up onto all fours and shaking his head. Blood oozed from under his hairline, but he seemed conscious.
Ophelia?
I’m all right. You two need to hurry – the hoard moving in on you is growing.
He gritted his teeth and scooted over to Hawk, grabbing his arm. “This is the second time you’ve run into something!” He bit back the scold as Hawk groaned. “Are you all right?”
“Fine – where’s my gun!” he grunted, grabbing the machine, then propping it under his arm. He looked around them, teeth gritted. “This doesn’t look too good.”
“I can expand the shield, throw them back. If you think you can shoot into them and knock a few back – we might be able to keep advancing,” Fen explained. Hawk nodded, huffing as he loaded and readied the rifle. They stood to their feet, Hawk’s head tossing left and right as he scanned their surroundings.
“On your orders, sir.” Fen swallowed, throat dry.
He took a breath, then spread his arms, the shield around expanding and growing in height – shoving back the monsters piling against it. As he did, Hawk pushed off the ground and began firing. Fen dropped the shield and ran forth toward the steps of the temple. He heard rapid fire behind him and Hawk following. Just before pulling up another shield to give the man time to reload, he grinned.
Ladon and his company had reached them, and were mowing through the horde. Ladon’s eyes seemed green in the distance, his mouth open in a rage as he fired into the madness. Fen’s relief turned into horror as he noticed how crowded they were as they fought. Soon, the gun would be useless.
He didn’t have much time.
“Fen, keep moving! They will keep fighting until we finish this – Fen!”
The harpy bolted past Hawk, pulling the shield’s magic along and twisting it into an offense. He crouched, skidding into a stance that grounded him, before throwing the magic into the cluster of beasts in a concussive force. It blasted them off their feet, confusing those beyond them. It gave Ladon and his men just enough of an advantage to regroup.
“Save your energy for Cernuin, Fen! Get back up there!” the general yelled. Fen swallowed and turned.
Not even a thank you!? Ophelia chuckled nervously in response, only to quiet. Fen, Hawk needs your attention!
Hawk was alone.
“Shit!” He ran back, only to get smacked in the side by an Accursed. He fell and jaws snatched his left arm. He screamed, the world turning into a blur of motion as his body left the ground, useless.
The sheer pain lagged behind the suddenness of the attack.
I got you! The spider grew huge, grabbing and ripping Fen from the clutches the monster. She carried him over the rancid monsters, to the cathedral. Pain seared through the lame arm, and the mage wasn’t sure he could use it. Barely able to hear above the pounding of his heart, Fen made out Hawk’s voice.
“The hell!”
“I’m his spider-friend, human! Come with me!”
Fen’s head pounded, and his arm felt hot and cold all at once. The din of the battle muffled when he heard the opening then closing of doors. Ophelia set him down on cold stone floors, and he opened his eyes enough to see they were inside the temple – grays and blues in the interior greeted him in dusty mosaics and broken windows high above them. His eyes fell to Hawk, who panted and stared at him and then the spider.
“What the...” Hawk barely breathed.
Fen sat up, then hissed in pain, clutching his arm. It felt useless. “Fuck, this is bad.” Daring a look, he noted the sleeve of his shirt absolutely torn and what was left a matted mess and sodden with blood. He could feel the blood dripping down and coating his fingers. So much mess, he couldn’t tell where exactly the pain was coming from. The socket his arm was pulled from? The tears in his bicep? Or the teeth wounds clear between the elbow and upper arm?
Fen’s sight began to fade, and he swooned.
“Whoa there, stay with us!” Ophelia hushed, shaking him awake. Fen blinked and looked up. Ophelia turned. “Hawk, is it?”
Hawk nodded mutely, still stunned. Blue blood stained part of his armor, his jacket abandoned in the fray of the battle. It
was difficult to be cold with their adrenaline on high. His eyes darted to Fen and back to the spider when she spoke again.
“Help bind his arm to stop the bleeding, and I will pull his arm back into the socket. He needs a medic, but that’ll have to wait.”
Fen listened, unable to form a coherent word as he sorted through the pain. Slowly his brain picked up on what had happened, what still needed to happen. Hawk did, too.
“He can’t possibly face Cernuin like this!”
“Watch me!” Fen hissed through his teeth. “We’ve made it this far!” Hawk hesitated and moved near, pushing aside his gun. Fen leaned against one of Ophelia’s legs as the captain reached over to help rip the rest of the harpy’s torn sleeve off. Hesitating to touch him, Hawk looked at the wounds with a tight frown, and began tying up his arm.
“Don’t worry, he won’t succumb to the Accursed,” Ophelia assured him.
Hawk’s eyes darted to the spider and then apprehensively to Fen. “What do you mean?”
Fen looked away. “Are you done binding it up? We don’t have time to chat. Where are we, anyway?” He glanced up to note vaulted ceilings and cracked columns, motifs crawling along the molding. His gut dropped as he sensed a powerful magic within. He didn’t even have to try. It instantly brought him back to the Tower in Aklon, where the pulsing of magic was strewn about by hundreds of mages.
This, however, came from a single source.
Cernuin.
Hawk didn’t seem aware. Only the magicborn could sense magic so strongly. Ophelia snapped Fen’s attention back.
“Hold still, my dear, and try not to scream.” Growing larger, her hairy foot wrapped around Fen’s injured arm, the other pushing back against his opposite shoulder. Fen tensed, feeling the easily adhesive hairs dig into the material, fastening to him so he couldn’t pull away even if he wanted to. She was stronger than any creature he knew, and though he trusted she would make quick work of his arm, it didn’t halt his dread in the slightest.
The spider yanked his arm while holding his torso back, and the harpy choked on a cry. Eyes burning, Fen ducked his head and bit his lip as he fought another scream when the spider continued to pull. Time seemed to crawl just for this moment especially! How he’d curse it if he could.
Then, with a sickening pop, he felt his arm snap into place and relief hit him. The pain remained, but his arm twitched and shook with a tingling sensation. He could move it, but damn did it hurt. Ophelia pulled him to his feet and shrank her size to be waist-high. Hawk regarded him.
“It’s gonna hurt still. Are you sure you can do this?” He was doubtful. Of course he’d be doubtful.
Fen bent his arm and flexed his fingers, the claws glinting against a reddish light pouring through stained-glass windows overhead. The muscles in his arm burned, but he could summon enough magic to ebb it away. He couldn’t prevent it fully – that was magic he’d never attempted to try, and right now wasn’t the time for experiments. But dulling it enough to use his arm was all he needed.
“We don’t have a choice,” he stated, looking back. Then he glanced at their surroundings again. “Cernuin’s in here. I can feel the intensity of his magic.”
“Ya. He is a god.” Hawk pulled his rifle out. “Shouldn’t we wait for Ladon?”
Fen thought about it. “No, we need to take advantage now. You can go back, Hawk. I can handle this part.” Ophelia muttered doubtfully behind him. Hawk snorted.
“Sure, ya pansy dainty ass could handle yourself. Sure. We got a job to do, and you’ll need my gun.”
Fen shrugged. He couldn’t turn away help. He started to walk across the hall, through spots of light, where dust specks glittered lazily through. It was woefully empty inside the cathedral – half the windows smashed, with graffiti covering the far walls and signs of robbers looting the place of its former brilliance. What gold may have trimmed the borders was broken off, what statues of metal were there, now lay broken apart or gone. They climbed a staircase, Fen following his sense of the waves of energy.
“So what do ya know about Cernuin, exactly?” Hawk asked, head snapping left and right as they walked.
“God of the Wildlands. Or nature, some say. He’s...the eldest of gods.”
“So saying he’s the strongest may not be too far a stretch?”
“Maybe not.”
Hawk grimaced. “Odds don’t sound good. We should’a waited for the other captains and Ladon.”
“Cernuin is mortal, Hawk. And I said it before, I don’t need your guns at this point.” Fen frowned as he spoke, wincing from the throb in his arm. “Keep back if you want to survive this, Hawk.”
“I’ll do what’s needed, dammit,” Hawk growled.
Fen scoffed, but didn’t argue further. He looked up, then turned. “Cernuin is toward the back hall.”
* * *
Outside, Ladon fired into the crowd of beasts. He yanked one of his soldiers back and out of reach of the maws of an Accursed, before taking aim and blasting its skull off. Fragments of bone and flesh exploded around them, blue blood oozing out. The smell, rancid. By now, it had become familiar. Expected.
The crowded fighting left many to fall unexpectedly. The ashinari may have been the most brutish of fiends, but the Accursed were the ones dropping their numbers fast. Ladon had received a scratch and inhaled blood several times. By now, he should have been dead.
And like instinct, Ladon’s eyes darted about in search for that harpy, whose blood didn’t just save his life before – it saved it now. He’s made me immune, damn it. He had to thank him someday, but only if they could survive this wild battle. Frequently, he’d switch between the dagger and his gun; any time he could afford the range attack, he’d take it. Half the time he was in too close of quarters to be of any use with a rifle.
Hardly able to see how the rest of his army was faring, he felt the strain of battle seeping into his muscles. Fatigue threatened after what seemed like an hour straight of heavy fighting. Finally, he managed a reprieve as the soldiers behind him laid waste to the last ashinari unit.
He looked around, with no sight of Hawk and Fen. Neither could he see the rest of his small army. Where the hell are the other units!
No sooner had the thought occurred, than the sound of massive fire and the wails of creatures falling by the dozen erupted from afar. The other side of the cathedral.
“Fall into formation and follow me!” he yelled over his shoulder, and his soldiers assembled, passing the order. They jogged through the carnage, stomping through the fallen creatures, heedless of the flesh and mess sticking to their tarnished armor. Red soldiers against a monotonous background of mucky trees, with skeletal limbs reaching around a colossal cathedral.
Ladon had to pause as they were rounding the side of the massive structure, pushing through uneven terrain and more scattered bodies. His breath caught in his chest and he felt a definite pull from within, his vision flashing behind his mind as he saw something else.
A dark hall, with light falling through shattered windows. The concentration of magic behind a giant set of ornate doors. He heard Fen’s halting breathing.
“Fen?” Ladon barely breathed, seeing a hunched mage, blue-and-purple robes stained and torn, with a clear injury to his arm. Fen’s pink hair fell into his face as he turned his head, hazel eyes locking with his.
Then the vision was gone, and Ladon heard the clatter of war once again, his soldiers reaching him. What felt like several seconds only lasted one, if that. He carried on the job – utterly confused. What just happened?
Was Fen in danger? Clearly, he’d been hurt. He remembered Fen trying to make a break to assist him early on— what happened between that moment and the chaos between? He shook his head; he has the best captain I know with him.
Gritting his teeth, jaw clenched, the general hefted his gun, reloading it quickly.
“Line up and fire!” he yelled, dropping to a knee to get a good aim at the distracted line of fiends. His soldiers caught up, followi
ng suit. Wave after wave of bullets tore through the monsters – surprising them.
The surprise gave Ladon and his soldiers an edge, and now the last piece of the enemy’s throes focused on them. Behind them, Ladon hoped the rest of the units could recollect and refocus.
* * *
Fen stared at the space between cracked pillars and the foot of a broken statue. Did he just see Ladon? He sensed him, certainly. That was me, Fen. You two are connected enough through magic that I can send imagery between you – a bit blurry depending on magic, but his is tuned to yours, intimately so.
Fen blushed, looking at Ophelia briefly. The dust specks glowing softly in the light was the only gentle presence around them. Outside, he could hear the battle raging.
“Why’d you do that?” he asked curtly, defensively. Hawk grunted.
“Huh?”
Ophelia’s fangs quivered. Just in case he’s close by. I think, if anything, he may come handy to get Hawk out of here. Should the need arise, of course.
Fen sighed. She was right, and it was futile to argue anyway. At Hawk’s look, he shrugged. “Sorry, was thinking. Steel yourself, Captain. Cernuin is this way.” He nodded at the large doors down the hall.
The closer they got, the more Fen realized they weren’t dark from being shadowed, but were rather made of obsidian. The motifs decorating the door illustrated a woven pattern of leaves and branches. This was a chamber dedicated to Cernuin, and from it, he could sense heavy magic.
It almost hurt, the strength it emitted. He felt it in his very bones. Stopping in their tracks, Fen’s mouth dried. “Ophelia, shrink and stay with Hawk so I know you will be safe.”
Ophelia huffed. “I will be fine, sir!”
Hawk grunted, giving a sudden wary look. “So. Cernuin’s in there?” At Fen’s nod, he checked his gun’s ammo cartridge. “Well. This is it then.” The harpy narrowed his eyes.
“Hawk, stay here. Ophelia, you too.”
Hawk tightened his grip on the gun. “I’m here to give you additional cover. Allow me—”