CRY HAVOC (Jack Frey Book 1)

by Mike Morris

  Jack pulled a knife out his left hand and punched it into the face of another guard. He left it there as the man dropped to the deck. He stepped over the dead body to thrust his sword through the stomach of the next guard. The force of the blow lifted his opponent off his feet. Jack jerked the blade free as blood sprayed from the corpse.

  He ducked as an arrow flew by. It thudded into the deck. The archer stood up from cover to shoot again and Jack grabbed a fallen spear. He threw it and saw it strike the archer squarely in the chest. Perhaps God was with them.

  In every direction, ships swarmed with Black Dogs fighting their way through the Nostros guard. The early morning sun glinted off the array of weapons as steel clashed against steel and pistols barked.

  A guard came roaring at Robert from his left side but before he could turn to deal with him but Lin was there. Her silver sword sliced down into the guard's collarbone and into his heart. Lin watched as he slid off the blade onto the deck.

  "Thanks for the help," said Robert. Around him lay the bodies of more guards. Blood dripped from his hammer and covered half his face. He was still smiling. "I'm starting to feel happy you joined us."

  "Any of that blood yours?" replied Lin.

  But Robert's grin just broadened. "There's not a man alive who can cut me. Hopefully not a demon either."

  There was a loud thud from starboard. Some guards threw grappling hooks to pull their ship closer. More archers gathered on another. They would soon be having company. Lots of it. They took cover behind the wheel as more arrows rained down on them.

  "Not exactly going to plan," said Jack.

  Robert shrugged. "These things never do."

  "What do we do?" asked Lin, her eyes wide.

  Robert delved into his backpack. He placed grenades on the deck between them. "A small wager on who has the strongest arm?"

  "You know I don't gamble," said Jack as he removed his flints. He struck them quickly together against a small taper.

  The taper caught a spark.

  A wisp of smoke followed.

  He held it out to Robert who touched a short fuse to it.

  The fuse leapt to life.

  Robert stood and hurled the grenade towards the archers' ship. A trail of grey smoke was left in its wake. The troops stared at it for a moment as it clattered on the deck between them before scattering in every direction. None of them were fast enough as the dynamite exploded, ripping the deck into a shower of splinters. Bodies flew amid dying screams.

  Robert hurled the next grenade, his booming laugh accompanying it. Jack followed suit, picking the boarders' galleon. The sounds of the explosions rocked the air around them. Smoke and flame choked the air.

  "Let's get off this ship bloody quick!" shouted Robert over the cacophony of destruction. "Can't ask for anymore cover than this!" He lit another fuse and threw the explosive into a galleon on their starboard side. It bounced off the main mast before landing on the deck. The explosion tore everything apart. The mast collapsed, its midsection gone, and crashed into the rigging of its neighbor. Flames ran across its length and through the furled sails, lapping greedily at the canvas. Men ran everywhere, shouting orders, screaming in distress and confusion.

  Other explosions joined the cacophony. From the center of the harbor, three galleons blew apart. The shockwaves rocked every ship in the harbor. The noise was deafening. One ship listed starboard, crashing into another as water rushed to fill its hold, dragging it down. More explosions followed throughout the moored ships.

  "Looks like Eden and his men," shouted Jack, a manic grin across his face. No matter what else happened, they’d destroy the fleet. Abios would be safe. After everything that had gone wrong before, it felt exhilarating to see the enemy ships burn. It wouldn't bring Brendan back but at least his death hadn’t been in vain.

  "Let's not hang around to watch," replied Robert, wiping the sweat from his eyes. "There are still plenty of these fuckers to kill or get killed by."

  "Still time for one more?" Jack held out the taper.

  "Ah, always save the best for last, brother." Robert held the last grenade to the flame. With Jack and Lin covering him, he ran in a crouch to the center of the deck, lifted a hatch and slung the explosive in. Jack lost sight of him for a moment as dark grey plumes of smoke swept the deck. The big man sprinted through the smoke towards them. "Move!" he screamed.

  Together, they ran towards the front of the galleon as the deck beneath their feet blew apart.

  The force of the explosion lifted them off their feet. It threw them against the gunwale. Jack took most of the impact on his back and shoulder but it knocked the wind out of him. He curled into a ball as wood clattered around him. Dying from a stray shard of wood was no way to go after everything they’d been through.

  Lin lay flat on the deck but Jack could see her arms moving as she tried to push herself upright.

  Robert was on his hands and knees next to him, coughing and retching.

  "Are you hurt?" Jack shouted. But Robert merely started laughing. By God, did the man find everything funny? "Are you hurt?" he asked again.

  "I think next time we use a slightly longer fuse!" Robert slapped Jack on the shoulder as he struggled to his feet. His face was covered in a thousand scratches. The deck shifted this way and that underneath them. It wouldn't be long before it sank.

  They helped Lin to her feet. She looked untouched. "Can we get off the boat before you do that again?" she said.

  "Humans!"

  A Nostros emerged from below. His shriek of fury shook Jack to the core. He froze as he watched the monster stride out onto the deck. Flames burned his skin, licking around the edges of his armor, intensifying as the demon stepped out into the early morning sunlight. A five-foot broadsword was in one hand.

  "Shit," said Robert, hefting his hammer into both hands.

  The demon leapt the twenty feet that separated them in one. Jack barely managed to get his sword up to deflect the blow. He rolled away from the demon's blade as it came down once more.

  Robert swung his hammer but the demon caught Robert's arm in his burning hand. The priest screamed as his flesh seared. The demon smashed Robert in the face with his sword's pommel once, twice, three times.

  Jack pulled his pistol free but couldn't get a clear shot. He re-holstered the weapon and charged with his sword. He screamed to fill himself with courage. The deck lurched, sending his aim astray.

  The demon, more flame than beast, swung a backhanded blow that sent Jack sprawling. His vision swam, the demon and Robert blurring.

  The demon lifted Robert with both hands above his head. The flames spread to Robert as the Nostros smashed Robert against his rising knee. Even over the chaos around them, Jack heard the crack of bone. Robert hung like a rag doll in the demon's grip.

  Jack climbed to his feet and charged once more. The demon hurled Robert over the rail into the water as Jack buried his sword between the demon's shoulders.

  The demon screamed in pain but Jack pushed down onto his blade with all his weight. The demon's armor scorched his skin but still he held on. He could feel his own skin burning. The demon tried to dislodge him as they staggered around the deck.

  Savagely, Jack twisted the blade inside the demon.

  It was enough. The Nostros jerked and then his legs collapsed from under him.

  Jack yanked his sword free as flames engulfed the demon's body.

  He rushed to the rail, looking for his companion but there was no sign of Robert amongst the burning debris. The priest was gone.

  "Jack!" screamed Lin as she rushed to join him.

  "I'm okay," he managed to say but his body told him otherwise.

  "Robert, is he...?"

  "He's gone." Another name for the monument. Another friend gone. He shook the thoughts from his mind. "Come on. We've still got a job to do."

  They started forward but stopped once more in their tracks. Jack pushed Lin behind him, covering her with his body.

  Despite the
flames and the destruction, more enemy troops had boarded the ship.

  "He's killed a Master!" one cried.

  Jack reached for his pistol, aimed and shot the nearest guard in the chest. He threw the pistol to the deck and brought his sword up.

  Around him the armada burned so his duty was done. Time to join Brendan in Heaven. And time enough to send a few more of these traitorous humans to hell in the process.

  "Make for the castle. Save your friends," he shouted at Lin. "I'll hold these men here."

  "No! I'm not leaving you," she replied, brandishing her own blade.

  "Go! I can't protect you and fight all them. Don't let it all be for nothing." Jack didn't look at her as he spoke. His eyes were fixed on the oncoming threat. The guards approached slowly, spreading out as they tried to encircle Jack and Lin. "Go before it's too late."

  Lin hesitated. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw her dart away to the front of the ship. A guard tried following. Jack cut him down before the man had taken three steps.

  The enemy came at Jack en masse. Jack split one man's skull. The blade got stuck between the shoulders so he left it. He pulled his last two knives free. He kicked a man to his right, felt the knee go as he stabbed another through the eye.

  A club caught him across the back but Jack managed to stay on his feet. He turned to face his attacker. He plunged both blades into the man's neck, watched the blood gurgle from his mouth.

  A sword gashed his right arm. He kicked backwards, catching a groin. He stabbed backwards. The blade sunk into flesh. There were no individual targets now, just a mass of bodies to fight. He thrust frantically in every direction but the assault was relentless. A club slammed into the back of his head, smashing his teeth together. Blood filled his mouth. Someone punched him across the face.

  Jack tried stabbing someone but he found his hands no longer held any knives. He couldn't remember dropping them. A knee slammed into his stomach, taking what breath was left in his lungs.

  "Tie him up, lads," a voice said. "He's not ours to kill."

  Jack wasn't going to be anyone's prisoner. He screamed with every bit of anger stored deep within him. He screamed for Brendan, for Robert, for himself. Screamed and pushed himself off the deck. His hands wrapped around the throat of a guard, carrying them both away from the crush. Someone swung another club but Jack kept moving.

  He felt resistance briefly as the guard hit the rail but then they were falling.

  They hit the water hard.

  The guard took the brunt of the impact.

  The cold water shocked Jack as they went under,

  down into the darkness.

  37

  713 PN

  The battle raged on the quayside. The Black Dogs were outnumbered and only their skill held the enemy at bay. However, more of the enemy emerged the cavern mouth by the minute.

  Lin sheltered behind some debris as she saw Nial jump from a ship onto the dock. He threw himself into the thick of the fighting without hesitation. He pushed into the main body of men, shouting and cursing all before him. He shoulder barged an Nostros shield and stabbed the man holding it. His men surged behind him, reenergized by his presence. Swords hacked overhead and blood sprayed all around. It was mayhem and carnage.

  Nial almost slipped as his foot caught on a corpse beneath him but he righted himself just in time. He deflected a spear thrust with his sword's guard and headbutted the wielder.

  Foot by foot, they edged further into the interior, into the darkness. Space opened up around them. One priest fought with a sword in each hand, whirling the blades in every direction. He brought both weapons down in unison to carve one opponent across neck and chest, then reversed the left hand blade to stab backward at a guard running up behind him. The right blade swept in an arc into the neck of a third man.

  Another fired his pistol point blank into an Nostros guard's face. It exploded in a spray of blood and brains. A priest near Nial stabbed a guard through the heart but fell to a spear thrown from the rear. The enemy were dying in far greater numbers but, even if ten fell for each Dog's life, it was obvious to Lin that Nial didn't have the numbers to carry on fighting the way they were.

  For a heartbeat, the enemy fell back, allowing the Black Dogs to catch their breath. More of the priests joined them as fire and explosions tore the ships apart in the harbor. The arrival of the additional men broke the spell of the stand off. The opposing forces hurled themselves into each other once again but, this time, the priests had the momentum. Lin could see the resolve in the guards' faces crumbling before them. They were used to fighting opponents that fought back.

  Bodies pressed together made it hard to distinguish friend from foe. Uniforms merged in the tangle of limbs. Swords plunged into bodies. Guns fired. Fists flew. But, one by one, the enemy fell.

  A smile started to spread across Lin's face. Despite the calamitous start, the Black Dogs were winning.

  Smoke drifted across the cave mouth. Lin watched it fade into the darkness where something caught her eye. A glint of metal.

  Through the smoke, Lin could see the wicked glint of their weapons. A chill spread through her stomach. Her throat tightened.

  The Nostros, safe inside he cavern from the sun’s light, marched to join the battle. Thirty of them. Beating their swords against their shields. Monstrous axes and giant swords clenched in metal gauntlets. Horned helmets roared their outrage at the Dogs' invasion.

  And the tide turned once more.

  "Form up around me!" Nial screamed, standing strong in the midst of the storm. "Stay together. Stay strong! Reload your pistols. If you've got grenades, get them ready."

  The Masters' Children scampered at the Nostros's feet. Ten Turned humans ran along on hands and feet. Some scuttled along the walls like twisted spiders. Their feral eyes were red from the flames. The red haired woman led the pack.

  The Dogs shuffled their feet as they waited. They were good men. Hard men. Flexing grips on weapons, their eyes were wide and bright as they watched the enemy approach.

  The Masters' Children, clambering over debris, raced towards them.

  "Shoot at will," commanded Nial.

  Guns fired. A few bullets hit home but most missed the Masters' Children. They launched themselves into the priests. Sword and knife against tooth and claw. They met with a bone-crushing impact that made Lin wince. Blades rose and fell. Blood and guts flew through the air as friend and foe alike died. The scrum ebbed and flowed as Lin tried to see which side had the advantage.

  The red haired woman was a fury in their midst, ripping asunder with her bare hands any who stood before her.

  The Nostros continued to beat their swords against their armor as they marched. The relentless rhythm shook Lin to the bone.

  "Stand your ground," Nial shouted, for himself as much as for the men. He hacked one of the Masters' Children through the neck before being knocked sideways by another. He pulled himself back onto his feet and shot his attacker in the eye.

  It was then the Nostros charged.

  The Masters decimated the Black Dogs. Their attack was ferocious. The priests attempted to defend themselves and failed. The Masters decimated the Black Dogs.

  Lin watched in horror as a Master split a young priest in two with a casual swipe of his blade. He reached back and grasped another Dog's neck, snapping it with a flick of his wrist. Nial ran at him, screaming a battle cry for all his worth. The Master punched him in the face and Nial went down instantly. Lin could not tell if he was dead or just unconscious.

  It was the same everywhere in the battle. Thirty Masters and their Children were far too much for a hundred priests.

  It was over in minutes.

  Corpses lay strewn everywhere amongst the debris.

  Tears ran down Lin's face as she watched from her hiding place, gripping her stolen sword in shaking hands. She looked at it and realized how useless it was.

  First Jack had fallen, now the rest of the outlanders.

  Only she
remained.

  The Black Dogs seemed so invincible back in Abios. She didn't think they could fail, not with all their guns and weapons, with all their numbers. Seeing the Masters brought back all the fear she had grown up with, all the terror from the hunt. What could she do for her people now? Why had she been so stupid?

  She peeked from cover as the Masters dragged a dozen of the surviving priests off, including Nial. They'd be taken into the depths of Grosnar. Thrown down into the hole never to be seen again. The priests will wish they’d died in battle before too long.

  Out in the harbor, a mast fell down on to its deck, sending flames and sparks skyward. In the distance, through the smoke, she could see the sea wall she helped build. Past that, the Great Hope waited. She couldn't imagine the men from that ship attempting a rescue. She was truly alone.

  Long minutes passed as she crouched in the darkness, her back pressed against the rough stone, too scared to move.

  She risked another glance. The Masters were gone. Only a few Grunts milled around, looking shocked themselves at the carnage and destruction. It wouldn't take them long to sort themselves out. Whatever Lin was going to do, she had to do it soon.

  She took three quick breaths, closing her eyes while she did so. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.

  She could do this.

  She pushed herself to her feet, keeping low.

  She squeezed the hilt of the sword, feeling some reassurance once more in the cold steel in her hand and then she was off. She sprinted as hard as she could towards the western wall of the cavern.

  At any moment, Lin expected an arrow to stop her in her tracks. She skidded to a halt when she reached the worn path up into Grosnor she knew so well. She swung around to check if anyone was following but there was no sign of pursuit. She continued down to the large oak doors that led to her former home.

  The doors moved inward with little pressure and only the slightest groan from their hinges. Torches lit the way but she could have made her way blind-folded. She moved quickly, praying she’d not be seen, only stopping when she reached