“It’s not running away. You get to live to fight another day,” Cassie said. “Look, your bragging about being Martial the Great, Martial the… I can’t remember all the titles you gave yourself. I don’t think they’re true, but I know that you’re someone special.”
“Special?” Martial’s lips twitched.
“You play this drunken fool most of the time, but it’s not fooling anyone, Martial,” Cassie said.
“It’s not?”
Cassie shook her head. She didn’t know why it took her so long to see it. He dropped plenty clues along the way, from his stories about Satan, about God, to him knowing about cars, the thing humans used hundreds of years ago to move around, knowing demon customs. He didn’t even pretend to not have ever ridden a Hell Horse.
And how many places could you ride a Hell Horse?
Hell.
That was where you could ride a Hell Horse.
“I think you’re a first-generation Legacy,” Cassie said. “I think you might have even known Alex?”
“Maybe,” Martial said, his response guarded.
“What was he like?”
“A bit uptight,” Martial replied. “I’m not leaving, Cassie. I’ve been around a long time and… this seems like a fitting way to go out,” he muttered.
Cassie opened her mouth to argue, but there was a sudden clanging noise in the distance. Both Martial and Cassie turned an ear towards where the sound had come from, straining to hear it over the chaos that was war.
“The town bells,” Cassie said.
“Fuck,” came Martial’s response.
Chapter 41
Michelle sat at the top of a building to the south of the town. At six floors high, it wasn’t the tallest building in town. But it did have a spire that rose another thirty feet. A spire not many would wish to climb or sit on.
But that was where she was, perched at the top of the spire, an arm slung around the stone. From her vantage point, she could see the whole town, including the front walls, where battle had begun.
She could hear too, the cries of war, of death.
Michelle wanted to be there, on the wall, in the midst of the fighting. She was a Legacy. And she was an archer, something not many Legacies chose as their main weapon. She would have been invaluable at the wall, firing at the demons as they approached, picking them off one by one, she could have done serious damage.
But Martial wanted her here, at the top of this spire to keep an eye out for any demon portals opening up in the town.
She understood the reason.
Martial’s entire plan rested on keeping the demons outside the town long enough for help to arrive, or at least, making a last stand behind walls that offered some protection against an onslaught. What with portals opening up in the surrounding areas, it was entirely possible one could open up in the town.
If it did, and if it were left unchecked, the demons could attack from behind and open the gates. The town would fall instantly.
Her task here was important, but Michelle hated it.
Sitting here, being able to see the wall full of demons and humans slashing at each other, hearing the sounds of battle, she wanted to be there. This was exactly what every apprentice dreamed of. At least, new apprentices did, ones that were still somewhat idealist, before they became corrupted by money, power, strength, and worse of all, longevity.
It was longevity that made most Legacies assholes. Living for hundreds of years, they became bored, saw normal humans as less, used and abused them.
She knew when Martial came to their town that he was different, one of the good ones. She’d been right too. And she knew that he was right again when he told her to sit here. Still, it wasn’t easy. She had an itch. Her free hand reached back and rubbed the tip of an arrow.
She didn’t know how much more of this she could take, sitting it out when everyone else was fighting for their lives, for the lives of everyone in town.
And then it happened.
The ground began to shake. Michelle stood upright, her eyes scanned the town, looking for the source. She spotted it immediately. The rising dust and collapsing debris as the terraced houses fell was an easy giveaway. As Michelle watched in horror, the houses sunk completely, and in their place, lava poured out from the ground.
She knew what was going to happen next, but Michelle didn’t waste time to watch. She turned and faced the bell tower near the centre of the town. Wrapping her legs around the spire, she leaned against it, bow in hand, she withdrew an arrow from the quiver.
It wasn’t an easy position to hold with her legs, and it was harder even to fire a shot from this position. But Michelle let loose, and the arrow flew across the town and struck the golden bell.
A second later, the woman at the bell tower pulled on the rope, and the bell began to ring out across the town. How far the sound would travel, if it would be heard at the wall over the cries of battle, Michelle didn’t know.
But she had done her bit.
As she turned to look back towards where the portal had opened, dozens of demons had already emerged from the portal. But they weren’t alone. They had brought along something Michelle had never seen before, something she couldn’t even imagine.
But something she knew instantly could only truly belong in Hell.
It was a beast that stood twice the height of the demons around it. It had four heads, on where a head should be, attached to a long neck, two more heads that sprouted out from the neck, and a final head that was buried in the stomach.
These heads were human heads.
But they were deformed.
Foreheads bulging, some showed cracks, two of the heads were missing an eye each, another head had no lips. They had been removed to show her teeth bared constantly. The skin was a dark purple, as if the heads had been dead for a weak.
But they weren’t dead.
Even from where she was perched, Michelle could hear the screams emitting from the mouths on the beast. It sent a chill down her spine.
Chapter 42
Though the demons hadn’t been able to land inside the town and breach the gates, the battle on the town walls was far from over. Martial was exhausted. His entire body ached from before the battle had even begun. Every time a demon managed to catch him, the pain was amplified a hundred times. His head felt like it was going to explode to the point that, his vision was constantly blurred.
Martial managed to catch two minutes of breath on the wall with Cassie, though the girl blabbered on about him fleeing.
Like Martial was ever going to flee from a battle.
They still had a chance of winning this. The demons that had jumped from their horses and straight up onto the wall, they weren’t the majority. They were a minority amongst the demons.
The rest of the demons weren’t as strong or powerful. Right now, those demons were on the other side of the wall, using a battering ram to breach the gates.
On the wall, Kevin’s former Legacy apprentices were doing a good job. And the humans weren’t too bad either. Whilst they weren’t exactly winning, they weren’t losing either. There was hope.
And then, the bells rang.
And just like that, hope turned to despair.
Demons were already in the town. If they made a beeline for the gates, an attack from behind would be devastating.
Despite how he was feeling, Martial leapt down from the wall. There was a demon on the ground, a great big ugly fucker with an enormous horn in the centre of his head. He carried two enormous axes, one in each hand, and he spun them around, slashing at the humans that were trying to put him down, but failing miserably.
Martial ran towards the demon, skidded underneath the axes and struck hard with his sword, hitting the demon above the waist. As he climbed to his feet, the demon dropped to one knee as an axe fell from his hand. Blood dripped from his waist as the demon pressed a hand against it. Martial turned and sliced at the demon’s neck.
He didn’t wait for the head to f
all. He turned and walked down the main road, heading away from the front gates that shuddered as the demons hammered away at it, away from the walls still full of demons and humans battling.
“Where are you going?” Cassie asked, as she fell in line beside him.
“Towards the demons already in the town.”
“Aren’t there others that can do that? We need you here.”
“There aren’t any others. We didn’t have any troops to spare. The plan always was for me and a couple of Legacies to hold back any demons that might emerge from a new portal opened up in the town. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
“What about the battle here? Do you think they can hold on without you?”
Martial had a plan for that. Any moment now, he thought, as he stared ahead at the deserted road. It was a strange moment as he walked away from the front gate. Behind him was complete chaos. In front of him, complete silence, all the humans in hiding, not a single soul or sound about.
And then, from around the corner, a beautiful black stallion appeared.
It was Martial’s horse, and riding on the back of it was Katie.
She was dressed in her armour, black metal plates around her chest, more around her waist. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and her sword hung by her side. As she came up to them, she jumped off the horse and landed beside Martial, holding the reins for him.
“Where are the demons?” Martial asked.
“South of the city. I think Michelle might already be there.”
“By herself?” Cassie asked.
“She’ll be fine,” Martial said. “She’s a smart and capable girl, and an archer. She’ll keep her distance and pick them off.” Martial jumped onto his horse and groaned as he landed on the saddle. Turned out even his bottom was fucking sore. “You coming?” Martial asked, holding a hand down to Cassie.
She took his hand and jumped up behind him, her body pressed against his.
“You’re in charge here,” Martial said to Katie. “Your fellow apprentices fight well. Whatever happens, don’t let them breach the gates.”
Katie nodded, and then, pulling her sword out, she charged towards the gates.
Martial tugged on the reins. His black stallion was a powerful beast, and it set off at a thunderous pace. The roads were clear, the streets silent, they made good progress, riding towards the south of the town.
“Look,” Cassie pointed up.
Martial had spotted it, the smoke rising up, forming a mini cloud of darkness. He heard the noises soon after. Human screams, demon growls.
“Be ready,” Martial said.
His hand reached for his sword as they turned the corner. His horse came to an abrupt stop, almost throwing him off.
“…what the fuck?” Cassie mumbled.
Martial was having one of those moments too.
The street in front of them resembled the worst he had seen in any war before him. Demons were breaking down doors, dragging out the hiding humans onto the street, and then slaughtering them. Old men, women, children, none were spared. The road was covered with their blood.
There were almost a hundred demons on the street, ravaging through it. Martial couldn’t understand how there were so many demons here. The portals were supposed to be small, only a dozen or two demons were supposed to emerge from it. Not hundreds.
But that wasn’t even the most terrifying thing before them.
The demons had brought a beast with them. It stood twice as tall as any other demon, its legs were like those you found on a Hell Horse, its body was muscular, like a demon on steroids. And it had four heads. One in the stomach, two on its neck, and the fourth where heads were supposed to be.
“What is that?” Cassie asked.
He sensed it in her voice.
Fear.
Guilt.
“It’s a Soul Stealer,” Martial said.
“S-Soul Stealer?”?”
“It steals souls. Makes any human near it feel guilt. That guilt drags the soul to Hell for eternal damnation,” Martial said, his voice grim.
The attack at the front gates was a diversion. It kept all the town’s troops tied up while these demons went from house to house, street to street, killing all the humans. And the Soul Stealer would make sure all the humans’ souls would sink into the ground.
“We need to kill the Soul Stealer,” Martial said.
“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Cassie said.
“You got a plan?”
“Yes. Ride your stallion towards the beast. We’ll cut down any demons that get in our way. Simples.”
“Simples,” Martial repeated, though he knew it was anything but.
The Soul Stealer wasn’t an easy demon to kill. It had skin that was hard as armour, the kind they used on machines built for war back when the world was a simpler place, back when large numbers of the population were doubting they even existed.
But, with no other idea, and tired as fuck, Martial set his horse in motion, his sword drawn out.
They made it past three demons, slicing them down with ease, when out of nowhere, a large blue demon with a horn on his head the size of those found in rhinos slammed into his horse. The horn buried itself into the flank and sent them flying into the air.
Martial crashed into the wall first before hitting the ground. His head ringing, he slowly climbed to his feet. He didn’t get much chance to recover. A demon came at him roaring. Martial punched it in the face and sent the beast flying back.
He leaned against the wall, his weakened body begging for rest. In front of him, a demon came out of a house dragging a girl by the hair as she kicked and screamed.
Mustering up his strength, Martial walked towards the demon, his sword in hand, the tip dragged along the road, leaving a scraped line over the pebbles. There was a time when his sword would have cut through the stone, so sharp was it, and so strong was he.
That time was a long time ago, so long ago, it seemed more like a foggy dream than a memory.
The demon grabbed the girl by her blouse and picked her up off the floor. Her blouse tore and she hit the ground, crying in pain. The demon roared in laughter, and Martial sliced his head off.
“Run,” Martial said to the girl. “Get out of here.”
She didn’t need telling twice. She jumped to her feet and bolted.
Martial didn’t get to see where she went, if she made it. He heard the demon approach, heard the change in wind as the demon raised the weapon in its hand. He could have slammed his sword back and killed the demon.
But Martial was tired.
He’d fought for so long, fought so hard. And after all this time, things hadn’t improved the in the slightest.
Demons were literally pouring out of the ground at will, raping and murdering as they pleased. For a second, a brief second, Martial wondered if humans deserved it. They were really shitty sometimes. A truce with demons that had lasted almost a hundred years, and what do the humans do? What do the Immortals and Legacies do? Create personal fiefdoms.
And then, the demon’s weapon came crashing down on his head.
Naturally, Martial’s body hit the ground. But he didn’t feel the pain. He felt numb, felt a coldness wash over him as he lay there on the pebbled path. He was going to die. Finally, he was going to die. Martial began to feel regret.
He was being selfish, dying. He should have tried harder to stay alive, to help the people of the town instead of taking the easy way out, instead of dying.
Martial knew what was happening.
The Soul Stealer.
It was making him feel guilt.
Martial’s lips spread into a bitter smile. He was going to die, and he was going to Hell.
With effort, he turned around to face the demon that had felled him. But the demon no longer stood above him.
“Cassie?”
“Who else would it be?” she asked. “What are you doing?”
“Thought I was dying.”
“What?” Cassie asked,
alarm in her voice. “Don’t do that!”
“Okay, fine, I won’t,” Martial muttered. “What happened?”
“You haven’t missed much. For some reason, you let that demon strike you on the head,” she pointed at the demon on the ground, now dead, a stab wound in his back. “Come on, get up! We need to kill the Soul Stealer!”
“We and what army?” Martial muttered as he climbed to his feet for the umpteenth time that day.
“That army,” Cassie pointed behind her.
Martial followed her hand to see a crowd of humans had gathered at the end of the road, mostly men, some women too. Most of them seemed to be armed with table legs.
“That’s not an army,” Martial said. “That is so not an army. Why are they walking towards us? They need to be going the other way!”
“We’ve got the numbers on our side,” Cassie said. She pointed to a rooftop to their left. Sitting on the black slates was Michelle, bow in hand, arrow nocked, she let loose, felling a demon, repeating the process. “We can do it.”
Martial took another glance at the slowly advancing humans. They were nervous, and it showed as they inched forward. They lacked in weapons, but they made up for it in numbers. There were hundreds of them, all armed in some fashion.
“Fine,” Martial said. “Let’s give this another try.”
With Cassie by his side and Michelle assisting from the rooftops, Martial charged into battle once more. He was exhausted, tired beyond belief, but he fought anyway. The demons before them began to fall, and then, from behind, the humans seeing their progress, they charged.
As battle raged around him, Martial made a beeline for the Soul Stealer, killing three demons in his way, he leapt off the ground, flying over a dozen more demons, he landed before the beast, before the Soul Stealer.
“Fuck, you’re ugly!”
The Soul Stealer turned to face him, all four faces. “You’re going to die, human. This time, it’s going to be final!”
“Okay, whatever the fuck that means,” Martial said.
Legacies Page 26