by M B Reid
I turned and made for the door. As I was stepping out into the night, he called out to me.
“And don’t come back wearing that ridiculous outfit.”
His bellowing laughter echoed in my ears as I strode away into the night. It seemed that the old blacksmith had no love for the guard. Were I playing my normal rogue like character I couldn’t have agreed with him more. But there was something about the guardsmen here. Even though I’d been conscripted into it, there was something familial about being in the guard. A sense of purpose perhaps. I wasn’t entirely sure whether I wanted to stay a guardsman, or whether I would try to buy out my contract as soon as we got back.
Either way, that was a problem for after I survived this mission.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
I was one of the last guards to return to the barracks. The air was buzzing with pent up energy. These were men preparing to go to war, and the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. I got approving nods from many of the guards as I made my way toward where Rudy had given his last speech. Just being near these men was making me nervous. There was a high probability of death ahead, and everyone felt it.
Rudy was leaning against a wall, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He held a scroll of fresh parchment in his hands, and his lips moved slightly as he read it. I took a seat on the ground. That earned me a few strange looks from some, and approving nods from others. It seemed like I was the only one here that was capable of sitting still.
“Everybody here?” Rudy asked without looking up from his page.
“Aye sir” Duncan announced. He was standing stiffly at the front of the courtyard, facing the men. Everything about his stance screamed that he was there so that he could look down his long nose at the assembled guards. It also told me that he would not be marching with us. Duncan was too much of a coward for that.
Rudy stepped away from the wall and rolled up the scroll.
“I hope you are all prepared. Duncan here will be standing in for me in my absence. Those of you remaining in town will treat him as you would me. Everyone else, get moving.” Rudy handed the scroll to Duncan, who accepted it greedily. No doubt he was dying to see what was so important. The other guards were already picking up their things and moving toward the church. The rustle of movement drowned out whatever words were exchanged between Rudy and Duncan, but I saw Duncan’s eyes widen in surprise. Rudy clapped him on the shoulder, then joined the men streaming toward the church. I got up and did the same.
We arrived at the church in a large mob, the front of which parted to let Rudy take his rightful place in the lead. The guards by the steps joined the back of our ranks as we entered the church. Rudy came to a halt before the altar and turned to face us. Perhaps he was a religious man, for he refused to ascend the steps onto the stage, even though it would have made it easier for the gathered guards to see him.
“Pair up. We’ll be moving in groups of four, but you can break apart as needed. Don’t let your partner out of your sight. Azoth, get up here, you’re with me again.” As with last time the guards formed their groups with astounding efficiency. I threaded through the throng of people to stand at the front. Rudy gave me a brief nod.
“We don’t know what we’re up against. Keep close together if you can. Each group needs one repeater. Figure out who that’ll be before you get in the tunnel. Lets go” With those brief instructions Rudy turned on his heel and marched toward the door. I fell into step behind him, wondering what exactly a repeater did. The other guards hadn’t voiced any confusion though, so it must have been a normal term.
I suddenly felt very out of place. I didn’t have any of the training these men had. What if I was just going to hinder them? I considered bringing it up with Rudy, but he was marching with a look of sheer determination etched into his face. It was the kind of look that discouraged any discussion. I followed him into the basement in silence.
The guards by the tunnel entrance handed out torches as we passed them, one to each guard, though only one in each pair was lit. Rudy took the burning torch, leaving me with the unlit one. As we started walking into the tunnel he beckoned me forward. I paced directly beside him. The tunnel was just wide enough that we would be able to squeeze another man beside us if we all bunched up. I could hear two other guards close behind us. The next guards were a distance back, keeping a dozen meters of empty tunnel between each group of four.
Side by side with Rudy, I led the guards into the darkness.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
The tunnel was long and narrow, all the while leading us deeper into the earth. When we paused to look behind us the torches held by each pair seemed to curve slightly, and there were fewer than there should have been. That could only mean that the tunnel was curving slightly, enough that it couldn’t easily be noticed while walking. Perhaps we were cork-screwing down into the ground. Or maybe the tunnel was imbued with magic, and could thereby defy physics. It didn’t make much of a difference to me.
We encountered one corpse on our path. The creature was soaked with blood, and had been stripped of its belongings.
“Probably one of them succumbed to a bleeding wound” Rudy said, giving it little thought.
I nodded in agreement, even though I had no idea. It stood to reason that a damage over time effect could have killed off one of the fleeing ratkin. Though it struck me as strange that they would have stopped to loot their dead companion. Perhaps they had realised we weren’t giving chase. Though if that were the case wouldn’t they have been able to staunch the bleeding? Maybe the ratkin were less intelligent than I’d first thought, they might be incapable of medical skills.
We were about half an hour from the start of the tunnel when the landscape finally changed. The path ahead opened out wide and tall, forming a cylindrical cavern. In the middle of the room a campfire burned. Sleeping mats were arrayed haphazardly around it, about twenty in total. There were bones, the remains of an old feast, but nothing living. Despite the lack of an immediate threat, Rudy called us to a halt.
We stopped in silence, and behind us I could hear the other groups coming to a halt as well, murmuring quietly amongst themselves. I stretched out my shoulders and strained my senses. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t hear anything moving in the room ahead, nor could I see anything beyond the flicker of the fire.
Rudy gave me a curt nod and then stepped forward into the room. I followed, half a step behind him. He made his way around the right hand side of the fire, and the pair of guards behind us went left. Nothing leapt from a hidden crevice behind the entrance. The room was silent but for the crackling of the flames, and our own footsteps. Now that I didn’t have to look past the fire to see the far side of the room I could see two tunnels leading away from us. One was directly opposite the entrance we’d come through, and the other was closer to my side of the fire. The distant tunnel appeared to slope upwards slightly, whilst the nearer one sloped downward sharply. So sharply that I could barely see more than ten meters before the roof of the tunnel blotted out my view.
I completed my path around the fire, meeting Rudy on the far side. He clearly hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what constituted ordinary in a secret tunnel built beneath a virtual city. Rudy waved to the other guards, and the procession began to file into the room. The guards gathered around the fire, waiting for our leader to speak.
“A quarter of you stay here. Make sure nothing comes from that tunnel -” he pointed to the tunnel that sloped upwards, opposite the one we’d come from.
“- and keep our escape route clear. The rest of us go deeper.” He stood up and watched as a contingent of the guard separated itself from the main body. It continued to astound me how self organising these men were. Rudy rarely had to give a direct order, the guards just seemed to do the right thing with whatever vague instructions they had.
“Everyone ready?” Rudy asked. Most people nodded. I gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up,
trying to inject some cheer into the moment. We’d been walking in boring silence for so long I almost wanted something to leap out and try to kill us. At least that would give us something to do.
Rudy gave me a disapproving look, but didn’t say anything. He made his way to the tunnel, and I resumed my position next to him. We were only a few steps into the tunnel when we heard our first signs of life. Drifting up from the deep was a rhythmic chattering. Almost like a song. Perhaps an incantation.
That thought stuck a knife of ice cold fear into my stomach. We might be marching into some sort of magical ritual, and I knew exactly nothing about magic. I’d paid no attention to Logan when he’d been performing his skeleton summoning. If his beginner magic could restore life to a corpse, what could a gathering of ratkin achieve?
I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
As we descended through the tunnel the rhythmic chattering grew louder, setting my teeth on edge. Below us I could see a faint light. Rudy held his now flickering torch out to me, indicating that I should use it to ignite my own. I did as he bid, even though it was clear we were going to be walking into a well lit room.
The chattering was incessant here, with several groups of voices overlaid like the singers in a choir. Two torches burnt at either side of the entrance to the room. There didn’t seem to be any guards though. It was almost as if every single ratkin was involved in the chanting and none had thought to watch their backs for intruders. Perhaps they felt safe so far beneath the ground.
As we neared the end of the tunnel Rudy broke into a jog, leading a swift charge through the final length. Apparently he wasn’t interested in scouting ahead to determine what we were up against. We were going to hit with surprise, and if we were doing that we’d better hit damn hard.
I shuffled the torch awkwardly into my left hand so that I could draw my scimitar with my right. I wouldn’t be able to use my shield very effectively this way, but I felt more comfortable with my trusty weapon in hand. Besides, I had every intention of throwing my torch into the face of whatever creature happened to see me first.
We burst out of the tunnel into an impossibly large room. Like the tunnels, the walls and roof were perfectly smooth, forming a large dome above us. Tunnels like the one we’d come through snaked out in all directions. I counted a total of eight large tunnels, and at least half as many smaller ones.
There were half a dozen or so ratkin packed close together in the centre of the room. This mass of bodies seemed to be leading the chanting. The rest of them were spread out in concentric circles around the central group. Each circle of ratkin looked to be moving in a distinct pattern. Like a sort of dance that didn’t involve any footwork. The guards behind me cursed as they emerged from the tunnel.
A small group of ratkin took notice of us. They had been standing in a loose group separate to the circles, and didn’t seem to be participating. As we burst into the room they flew into motion, skittering on all fours towards us. They moved with frightening speed, quickly covering the distance.
As planned, I threw my torch at the closest one. The only problem was that I could count on my fingers the number of times I’d tried to throw something with my left hand. The torch sailed through the air with all the grace of a brick, and hit an oncoming ratkin with the handle end. The flames flickered near enough to singe its fur but did no damage.
The creature chattered something high pitched that sounded suspiciously like a laugh as it leapt at me. It didn’t carry a weapon, but flew through the air with its large mouth spread wide. I brought my shield up between us and there was a satisfying crunch as we collided. The force of the impact knocked me back a few steps. I activated Shield Bash to lurch forward again. The creature moaned as I knocked it aside. Blood spurted from its broken nose and stars began to dance around its head.
I slashed with the scimitar, burying the sharpened blade in the back of the creatures neck. It went still instantly. I was already twisting to engage the next creature, which was coming at me from the side. Over the ear splitting noise of the chanting I could just make out the battle cries and screams of pain from the other guards. I focused on the monster fighting me.
This one had a short sword in each hand, and a look of madness in its eyes.
I took two quick steps towards it, fainting a slash with my scimitar. The creature hopped to one side, still holding both swords at attention. We circled each other for a while, following the steps of our deadly dance. Twice I blocked its attacks with my shield, but I only scored a single hit against it. My left arm was screaming in protest at me holding the shield so high for so long, but I couldn’t lower it. This damnable rat had the eyes of a hawk, I had no doubt it would take advantage of any weakness I showed.
I attacked, and it dodged. I held my ground when it counterattacked, then pushed towards it again. With each push I was driving it closer and closer to the wall. If I could keep this up for another minute it would have nowhere to go.
Something clubbed me from behind, sending me sprawling. The dual-sworded ratkin lunged.
I parried one blade with my own, but the other poked between my ribs. If I’d needed my heart it could have been a killing blow. Another perk of being undead. My left fist crunched against the creatures pointed nose. In the moment of reprieve I spun to face my new assailant.
My jaw dropped.
The ratkin stood at least a foot taller than me and its entire body rippled with muscle. In one hand it held an enormous wooden club. Its other hand was a mangled claw. It had only a single clawed finger, and a small stumpy thumb opposite. The creature roared, a long deep bellow, and lumbered towards me.
I ran.
The giant ratkin was behind me to my right, the dual wielding beast to my left. I ran toward the tunnel we’d come from, where the bulk of the guards were fighting. Against these two assailants I definitely needed to take a strength in numbers approach. My health was flashing at just fifty percent after those two hits.
I could hear the shrieking of the dual-wielder as he gave chase. The giant, if it was following me, couldn’t be heard over the chanting and noise of battle. There was no way I was going to look backwards, not with everything going on ahead. The guards had barely made it out of the tunnel. They were grouped in a rough semi circle - forced into a defencive position by the onslaught of ratkin. For every furry beast that fell another came to take its place.
The replacement creatures were breaking away from the outermost circle, abandoning their chanting and dancing to join the fight. Those that remained in the circle screamed louder than ever to make up for their missing numbers. The inner circles remained unchanged, almost as if they were unaware of the fight breaking out.
I activated Shield Charge and flattened two ratkin that had their back to me as they fought a single guard. The guard finished them off with precise stabs in a second, killing one before it even hit the ground. I spun to stand beside him, facing the direction I’d come. The dual-bladed ratkin was hot on my tail, but managed to slow enough to come to a halt just out of our range. It paced from side to side, eyeing me with its beady madness-ridden eyes.
Behind it, the giant ratkin was lumbering towards us on two feet. Logan’s description of his assailant rang in my mind. That was the creature that had come through the seal into the dungeon. It was the monster that had attacked my friend, that had shattered his resolve as well as his skull.
My vision went red as hot anger settled over me.
I wanted revenge.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Time was running out.
The giant ratkin was closing in on us. There was no way we could fight both it and the dual wielding ratkin at the same time. The guard beside me had dispatched the last few ratkin with controlled precision, but everyone else was busy.
“Get him!” I yelled, and pointed my scimitar at the dual wielder. The guard beside me grunted something, but I couldn’t quite make it out over the cacophony of noise. I hoped it was a
greement. A second later the guard lunged at the dual wielder, who easily parried him.
In that moment of distraction I activated Chameleon Cloak and shimmered out of view. The spell was quickly burning through my Mana so I needed to act fast. I moved behind the duel wielder as its mad eyes darted between the guard that was assaulting it and the place where I’d been standing.
Putting all of my strength into it, I thrust my scimitar through the creatures back. The blade burst out of its chest and I popped back into view, the attack having shattered my spell. The ratkin flailed as it staggered forward, the awkward motion wrenching my scimitar out of my hand. My shield suddenly seemed to weigh twice as much as the strength buff from the scimitar deserted me. The other guard hacked at the ratkin, knocking aside its flailing swords and spraying more blood.
The giant ratkin was almost upon us now, its enormous club raised above its head as it charged. It was making a beeline for the guard, and I knew he’d have no way of blocking that attack. With my strength buff suddenly gone, I wasn’t entirely sure I could stop it either.
Instead, I activated Bull Horns and used the speed boost to rush the creature before it was ready to swing. I hit it at full pace. It was still lumbering forward as fast as its brutish legs could carry it. My horns pierced its guts, and the resulting impact sent a shudder down my spine. My health dropped another ten percent, leaving me with just forty percent left.
The giant ratkin was utterly unprepared for the attack. It was knocked off balance, forcing it to windmill its arms for balance rather than swinging its club. I was already backpedaling, trying to get out of the giant ratkin’s range. His long arms combined with the enormous club gave him a reach that even the spear-wielding guards would struggle to compete with.
I tracked to the right of the beast as I retreated. The guard crossed behind me and moved around to the left. We would be able to flank it if I could just find my damn scimitar again. I only risked quick glances at the ground, not wanting to take my eyes off the lumbering brute for too long. The floor was littered with corpses, making each step a balancing act. One misstep would trip me, and I had no doubt the giant would turn me into a pancake a moment later.