Crumbling Walls

Despite our initial concerns life on the wall wasn't all that bad. As we had expected, the lack of disciplined soldiers guarding the defences meant that we had more freedom to enjoy ourselves. Those still left there weren't keen on whipping us into sturdy war machines, they were just grateful that we were there in the first place. We did, of course, try our best to leave a good impression. The reputation and legacy of old Toff's band were on the line, and we all had work to. We shared the barracks with the veteran guardsmen. The conditions there were decent enough, and I honestly expected much worse after my first impressions of the wall itself.
Walking on those ancient crumbling stones made me paranoid. It felt as if a single step on the wrong brick could cause everything to collapse around me. I wasn't the only one worried about being buried in bricks, even the commander himself expressed his concerns. On the bright side, the wall wasn't as unimpressive as I had first thought. It turned out that the earth on our side was higher up, meaning that it looked shorter from here. On the other side, however, the enemy would have to get over a wall the length of a large two-story inn. Still not quite as impressive as the stories had claimed, but adequate for the job.
I sat on top of a stubby barrel, looking over at the desolate and unclaimed landscape. Jagged stones, rough boulders, cliffs, and dangerous slopes all in the cover of the mountains' shadows. Only a few sparse patches of grass and dirt stood out from the rest. From what I remembered of the old legends, the first attempt to block off the Central Pass wanted to include this wasteland within the country's borders, but that attempt had failed. I wasn't sure why they had attempted to claim everything here, maybe there were riches underneath the stone, but even so, getting men and supplies so far would have caused problems.
From where I sat, I could see only a handful of men. There must have been over a hundred of us in the barracks, but we were all scattered over a large section of the wall. It had taken me nearly an hour and a half to get to my position. Taff was nearby, talking to some of the proper soldiers here. Joakim was also close, continually moving around and keeping himself distracted from the boredom.
He slowly walked up to me, always looking over his shoulder and making sure that he wouldn't miss anything. "How's it going?" he said, crouching beside me.
"Not much," I shrugged. "Same as always."
He nodded and looked through the machicolations. "Have you ever had coffee?" he asked with a small crack in his voice. "I could really use some right now."
"I think I've heard about it," I replied. "That's the black stuff, right?"
He looked back at me and gave a nod. "Yeah, yeah..." his voice waned, and he froze.
Unsure of what was going on, I followed his example and remained quiet. The other guards in the distance were still going about their usual business, but Joakim remained quiet. As time went by, countless thoughts circulated in my head. Did he hear or see something? Was there something on the other side of the wall? An attack now would have been disastrous. We weren't ready, but we still had our sacred duty to defend our homes and families.
I wrapped my fingers around the spear and slowly looked around. "Did you hear something?" I whispered.
He quietly nudged himself away from the machicolations. "Sorry," he stuttered. "I thought I heard something..."
"From the other side?"
"I think I just heard it in my head." He stood back up. "This is why I need that coffee. These night shifts are the worst."
I nodded back and stood up, stretching my cold and tired legs. "When are they assigning us back to the day shift?"
He looked back at the nearby camp with the warm, inviting fire. "Let's go ask old Taff there," Joakim looked at the other soldiers around us. "And while we're at it, let's get a bite to eat."
Following Joakim's lead, I kept my eyes on the Central Pass and the machicolations themselves. The stairs were a few minutes walk away from where we had been sitting, next to two of the wall's veterans. For a moment, I considered the option of just jumping down, but knowing myself, I opted to take the long route instead. The guards who we were approaching had slept near me in the barracks. One of them had a deep rough scar that went from the top of his left brow, all the way down to the chin. His deep sunken eye was still fine, and despite his appearance, he seemed like a nice guy. I didn't know much about the other one other than the fact that he was over fifty and that he was missing an ear.
The earless one noticed us first and scoffed. "Off for a break?" he said condescendingly in his gravelly tone.
"Just for a few minutes" Joakim replied.
"Once you get back, cover this part while we eat." the grumpy one demanded.
I nodded and moved for the stairs. "Sounds reasonable."
"We'll be back in a few minutes." Joakim added.
As I stepped on the frozen earth, I looked back to see if they were doing their part and looking after our section of the wall. The friendlier man was making his way there, upholding their end of the deal. After I had turned my attention to finding Taff, who had likely gone inside the small storage shed, the sound of a violent crack and a thud rang out from above. Screams of agony and a cry for help followed.
"Argh, fuck my leg!" the guard screamed as he dropped the ground.
We both looked up, and Joakim pulled out his sword. Without a word, we moved back up the stairs. I rushed in front, shield up and speartip covering my advance. Before we could reach the top, the other guard shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Attack!" I heard him gather his breath. "Abearti!" he yelled again.
Just as my eyes had levelled out with the base of the battlements, I saw something reach out through the machicolation. A long jagged appendage ripped through the guard's calf. He tried screaming out in pain, but another sharp arm pierced through his skull and cut it in half. After focusing on his exposed brain, I tried getting a better look at the creature. It's back was covered with thick dark grey plates, but the maroon underbelly seemed soft. Before I could take in more information, the aberati lunged at me.
Joakim pulled me back, accidentally tripping both of us down the stairs. Our padded garments served to soften the landing, but as we scuffled back on our feet, the monstrous aberration lunged again. Its additional pair of limps that protruded from the shoulders came crashing down on us. I raised my shield and felt the impact. The tips of those appendages had pierced through, just barely missing my arm. Before it could follow up with another attack, Joakim lowered down and stabbed the beast in the underbelly.
It crackled and made strange clicking sounds as it tried to back off. I took the opportunity to thrust my spear into it, but before the tip could land in its maroon flesh, the aberati pulled the shield aside, throwing me off balance.
Joakim landed a powerful kick against its side, forcing it on the ground and ripping it out of my shield. "Fuck off!" he yelled as he chopped into the closest shoulder-arm.
The sword cut through the lighter shell, forcing yellowish blood to burst out. The aberati retaliated, swinging the other appendage at Joakim. He moved his sword to intercept the attack, but he'd been too slow. The sharp and serrated blade barely even touched him, but the razor-sharp tip slashed through the gambeson and his shoulder. As he tripped and whimpered in pain on the ground, I pulled out my knife jumped on the bastard. His appendages couldn't hit me, and I jammed my knife into a narrow gap between the plates that covered its head. The creature shrieked and twisted, but after holding the knife in and twisting it for a few seconds, it went quiet.
"Ah, shit..." Joakim whimpered as he tried to get back up. "Is it dead?"
I gathered my breath and pulled the knife out of the skull. "Seems so."
Further away, I noticed that we weren't the only group that had run into them. Taff and some of the guards had killed two, the group north-east of us was finishing off another one. As serious as the ramifications of the attack had been, I instead focused on taking care of Joakim.
"Could you help me get this off," he gestured at his gambeson, "I'd like to see if it hurts worse than it looks."
Despite what we saw the aberati capable of, Joakim had gotten lucky. His wound didn't seem all that serious. Nothing that couldn't be stitched up and bandaged. That was assuming that we still had enough supplies to patch our soldiers up correctly.
"You'll live," I told him. "Let's get you to the storage shed. There's probably something there that could help stop the bleeding."
As we approached the shed, we met up with Taff on the way. The old veteran's bright blue gambeson and the mail over it were smeared with blood both red and yellow. Just looking at his face, I could sense what he was feeling for those thoughts were rushing back into my head.
They had returned. Our homes, families and loved ones, perhaps even our entire country, they were all at risk.

---

After the attack, Taff and the senior officers of the Olok's Wall garrison had a long meeting. Joakim, I, and the other militiamen waited for new orders in the barracks. Dozens of messengers had already been sent out to the Lords of Enlitica, but we all knew that we still had a part to play. Even they brought in more reinforcements, we all feared the possibility that the next attack would come before their arrival. From what we could tell, there was either a nest of those oversized bugs somewhere close, or the much more terrifying option that the attack had just served to probe our defences.
The others' tried keeping their minds off the situation by playing veltaffen and other games. Their constant chatter just made me more nervous, and I decided to step out of the barracks. Taking in the cold air, thoughts of my family and Grete returned to me. I had joined the militia on a whim, thinking that some time away from home would be good for me. I guess a part of me had also hoped that I could gather my courage out here, but it seemed like now I had an even greater thing to worry about.
The door to the officer's hall slammed open. From within came a volley of shouts and jeers. A man clad in proper plate came storming out, his face as red as his boiling blood.
"You imbeciles!" he shouted at someone inside and then turned back to face them. "Your plan is suicidal! Just keep your men on the walls and wait for the backup."
Taff walked outside as calm as the afternoon wind. "We're likely dealing with a small nest," he said with a smug grin across his face. "If we deal with it now, your reinforcements won't be necessary."
"I'm not giving you any of my men!" he declared.
Taff responded with a light shrug. "They won't be necessary," he explained. "A small group of my men can take care of a small bug infestation."
Tired of arguing, the heavily armoured officer walked off. Taff had noticed me standing there looking and overhearing the conversation. His warm smile was betraying the reality of what had happened just a day before and what we may all face soon. In one hand he held a small scrap of parchment while in the other, a clean and polished sallet. As he looked over the note, I walked up to him, curious to hear what his plans were.
"Good day, sir!" I started the conversation. "I overheard something about a plan?"
He smiled. "Yes, yes," Taff passed me the note, likely assuming that I was literate or just messing with me. "You can wipe your ass with that. I came up with a better plan that should keep both the wall and our southern shores safe."
"I guess you want us to find whatever hole they are hiding in?" I said, trying to make it sound like I came to the conclusion on my own.
He nodded. "Find 'em and make sure they all stay dead," he pushed the helmet into my hands. "Ocolo will lead the mission. I know he ain't the brightest fellow, but even a meathead like him should be able to follow an order as simple as this." Before I could comment on the situation, he continued. "If he somehow gets himself killed, then I trust that the rest of you should be able to select a new leader amongst yourselves."
"Sounds reasonable enough," I responded. "Who else is coming?"
Taff shrugged. "Whoever feels up for volunteering," he gestured toward the barracks. "Let's find out who's up for the task."
I followed him back through the double doors and down the corridor. As we walked past some of our fellow militiamen, they stopped their chatter and accompanied us to the main cafeteria where most of us had gathered. Everyone looked at Taff in anticipation. No more running away from the reality of the situation with games and fun, now had come the hour to take action.
Taff loitered in front of everyone and looked over his men. "Lads," he paused for a moment. "Y'all know what happened, what might happen, and I'm sure you're all smart enough to know what had happened in the distant past. The dark days that this land has witnessed under the old rule must never return!" A few cheers of agreement followed, but overall, the room was mostly quiet.
He pointed seemingly randomly at one of the soldiers, a middle-aged fellow whom I heard had been a slave several decades ago. "You," he then pointed at another. "And you, what say you to an opportunity of a lifetime? The chance to put out the aberati spark before it may engulf the world in flames." His eyes scanned everyone in the room, looking out for those suited for the task. "The plan is simple," he then stated. "A small group of you hardy sons of bitches will go and find whatever shithole they crawled out of and you'll tear 'em limb from limb, making sure that those fuckers will stay dead for once."
Those words seemed to resonate with the crowd. People started talking and discussing wheater they should join. Before anyone could make up their mind, Taff went on with his speech. "So if any of you think that you've got what it takes, then stand up and get your ass over here."
A few men came straight away, older veterans of the band whose combat prowess would be valuable in the Central Pass. A few others seemingly wanted to come, but their friends had held them back and talked them out of it. A few more joined us, but the enthusiasm started dying down.
"Do we have enough men?" I asked the commander.
He took a good look at the volunteers. "These lads will make short work of the enemy," he proudly claimed. "I would have loved to have that boy with the good eyes and ears on the team, but you'll have to go on without him."
The infection in Joakim's arm had, unfortunately forced him out of action until his full recovery. Having a keen-eyed man like him around could save lives, but he wouldn't survive the journey in the state that he was in.
"When are we moving out?" asked one of the volunteers.
Taff gave a smile and sighed. "In a few hours," he looked over at the helmet that I was holding. "Grab your gear. If you need any other tools, arms, or armour then ask or even better, just go and take whatever you want. I'm sure the other's won't mind."

---

The sun descended behind the distant mountains, yet we were still out in unknown territory. Our weary legs had carried us north-east, past several stone arches, colossal boulders, dangerous jagged stone, and what seemed like someone's tombstone. If we hadn't been in a hurry, I'd have taken a better look at it, but Ocolo couldn't care less about the lost relics of this desolate land. We still had a task to complete, even if we were somewhat lost.
All we had was a small lantern. Ocolo wanted to keep the light to a minimum, although he seemed somewhat unsure about that decision. Perhaps a part of him wanted our party to be more visible as a way of drawing the enemy. As the sun kept fading behind the mountains, so did our faith in the mission.
"Do we even know where we are or what we're even looking for?" demanded to know a lean man with baggy eyes.
"I know the way back," said another. "The landmarks that we've passed looked pretty unique and memorable."
Ocolo remained silent, unwilling to address the concerns of his men. His reputation had been put on the line, yet he didn't seem sure how to solve our predicament. As we approached a series of half crescent stalagmites that all tapered to a fine point, I swore that I saw something at the corner of my eye. The other's kept moving on at the same pace, but I slowed down and looked around. Ocolo noticed me and stopped the rest, moving up to me with the lantern.
"What is it?" he asked bluntly.
The warm glow of the lantern revealed a small gap between a boulder and the ground. I readied my spear and with the shield held out covering me, I advanced closer. The close I got, the stronger and more apparent the scent of putrid flesh and rot became. I stepped back as the rations that I had eaten throughout the day tried rushing back out.
"I think we found," I said still trying to avoid vomiting. "They can probably get through the gap here."
Ocolo scratched his bald head. "Push the boulder on the hole!" he commanded. "And look for more gaps. We'll force them to starve in their own homes."
The plan seemed reasonable, but there were some troubling unknowns. We weren't entirely sure about the strength of the creatures. Kicking one aside was simple enough, but in large numbers, they could potentially push the rock aside enough for a few of them to escape. There was also the possibility that they could burrow through the ground, but that seemed less of a problem as the ground here was mostly just stone and if they were capable of doing that, then not a single wall or castle in Lethea could stand up to the aberati.
Perhaps the greatest problem of Ocolo's plan was the fact that we couldn't confirm whether or not they died there or if there was anything there in the first place. If we missed an entrance, then everything we would have done would have been for nought. Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with a better option and no one else was saying anything.
The boulder was around the width of a few round tables, and its top was an arm's length higher than me. I stood on guard as the rest of the militiamen moved around it. Together with all their strength combined, they pushed hard against the cold hard surface. Their attempts had seemed futile at first, but they tried again and again. Each time pressing against it with all of their might. Some of them jammed the bottoms of their spears beneath it and used it as leverage. On the fourth great push, the boulder finally nudged and scraped against the stone ground below. The men stretched their arms and legs, preparing for another push, but before they could continue, a screech echoed from below.
I readied my spear and shield, holding it close to the gap. The rest were silent at first, stunned by the realisation that we had awoken them. Ocolo got in position to push against the rock and looked back at the rest.
"Push!" he shouted, snapping the men out of the confused daze.
Half a second before they could ram against the boulder, an aberati reared it's ugly mag, snapping its long and sharp teeth in a pitiful attempt to take a bite out of me. With its mouth exposed, I jammed my spear deep into its mouth, the steel pint striking against the backplates after penetrating through much of its body. The creature twitched and turned on the shaft as if I had made shashlik out of a live pig. As my fury mixed with fear had dissipated, so had the fighting spirit of the aberati, but not before it could scatch and leave toothmarks in the wood.
The hole had been covered, all we could hope for was that it had been the only entrance to their putrid lair. The others ran around the boulder, swords and spears in hand, but the job had been done.
Ocolo crackled and sighed a breath of relief. "Well, that confirms it," he nodded. "At least we can sleep easy tonight knowing that we covered the right hole."
"Just to be safe," I added. "We should stick around here for a bit longer, making sure that nothing else crawls out to threaten us."
He waved the thought aside. "We'll be fine," Ocolo's gaze returned to the rest of the men. "Why waste any more time in the darkness."
Most of the men, exhausted from the long march through the rough terrain, agreed with him. Heavily outnumbered, I followed their lead, even if the thought of continual danger still lurked deep in my thoughts.

---

Far in the distance the sky was beginning to turn red. It had been a pleasant sight after a long night of walking in the dark on hard ground. We were all tired and sleepless. Ocolo must have felt it too. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten a ten-minute break near the curved arches. From what we could all remember, the wall was either an hour or thirty minutes away.
Our job had made me realise several important things, even at the state of exhaustion that I had been in. Ocolo, a man who seemingly only served to bash skulls in, now appeared far more of an average person. He was still a boastful ass, but an ass with a purpose. What we had gone through also made me think about the old stories a bit more. About the Invasion and the aberati themselves. Where they as dangerous as the stories had claimed, or were they just animals like the rest, threatened by mankind's relentless drive to rule over all.
As we reached a relatively flat area of land that lacked all the boulders, cliffs, and other rock formations that obstructed our vision, I saw the Walls of Olok shine as the morning sun brought the light of dawn to the desolate landscape.
"Just a bit more," said one of the militiamen as he gathered his breath. "Can't wait to get a good six to eight hours of sleep."
Ocolo just nodded, the dark circles under his baggy eyes seemingly in agreement with the volunteer's thoughts. My legs felt itchy and tired, the bottom of my feet ached, if it weren't for our proximity to the wall, I'd have inevitably asked for a break.
"Arghh!" screamed out one of the volunteers as he crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
Everyone looked around, weapons out. I tossed the lantern on the ground and readied the shield. It didn't seem as if anything had attacked us, but something had happened.
"Your leg," said Ocolo, moving in to inspect. "Did you trip?"
Tears rolling from his eyes, the militiaman shook his head. "No, I don't know," he wailed in agony, trying to move, but the pain held him to the ground. "What's wrong with it."
Ocolo took a good look at it as I moved in closer to see it for my self. A deep cut, rough and vicious, halfway severing the bone connecting the foot to the rest of the leg. After a second, I realised something that sent shivers down my spine. I had seen something similar like that before. Not too long ago, on the wall. The guard, the grumpy one, his leg was ripped apart in a similar way. It was then when I noticed the small crack in the earth. Far too small for a human or aberati, but adequate enough for those appendages they use as their primary weapons. The deadly claws that leave such brutal wounds.
"Stay away from that gap!" I yelled out. "It must have sliced you through there." I gestured towards the point of danger with the tip of my spear.
Ocolo, without a second thought, grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him away. "Damn bastards, are there more holes that need covering?"
Another man's curiosity overtook his senses. He moved close to the gap and crouched in front of it. His grip on his sword was firm, and his muscles bursting under the tension. Slowly, he carefully moved the sword around in the hole, trying to find or to feel something with the sword's blade. Concerned for his wellbeing, I nudged his shoulder, and as I was about to tell him to step away, two narrow claws lunged from the gap.
Their sharp points landed straight in his chest, smashing through the ribcage. In an instant, his face turned cold and lifeless, only carrying with it the mild expression of shock and panic. As soon as I could, I brought down my spear on the appendages, chopping the losest with the blade of my spear. The cut was small. My spear's edges too dull to cut through adequately. Ocolo dropped the wounded man and unscabbarded his blade. With a firm downwards swing, he slashed the upper quarter of the claw before it could retreat back to whence it came.
The rest were all unsure of what to do. They all just stood there, quivering and looking around. Before I could usher a word, Ocolo unceremoniously kicked the dead man's body over the gap. It wasn't going to stop them, they could probably tear through the body eventually, but at least it served as a temporary way of marking the dangerous location. As disrespectful it may have seemed, I'm sure someone who served in our band and signed up for this crazy mission would be happy to know that he could be useful in death. As I stared at the dead man, blood leaking out of his chest and the sleeves, tried remembering the words that the kirijksus had said when Freibert, an old shepherd back home, had died.
"Abrea, Lady of the Lake, guide this man to his next great journey." I then improvised. "Hillen, great warrior saint and defender of mankind, this man has died fighting the enemy, may he and his family be blessed for his sacrif..."
An aberati came crashing down on me with a great leap from far away. Its claws slamming into the stone right above me. The frantic sounds of screams and wails followed while I pulled out my knife. Ocolo kicked it off of me, but before I could get up and help, the attacker's appendage had found its way into Ocolo's skull. With a quick twist and a snap, it pulled the head from the rest. His massive corpse hit the floor with a loud thud.
It wasn't the only one. Three other aberati butchered through the rest of us. By the time I had figured out what was going on, Only three of us were still standing. I jumped on the foul monster, hoping to repeat what had done the first time. It tried what it could to shake me off, but my mass forced it to the ground. With fury and determination, I slammed the tip of my knife into the gap between the neck plates. It screeched and tried dashing forward, to no avail.
When I was confident that it had died, I looked around for more of them. The other militiamen were on the run, trying desperately to reach the wall, but their predators were close behind. I picked up all that I had dropped in the chaos and pursued the others.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw even more of the plated bugs assembling for an attack. Their numbers were in the hundreds, enough to overwhelm a section of the wall. Enough to kill and destroy everything from the wall all the way to home.

---

At some point on my way back, I had lost track of the other two men and the fiends pursuing them, but I finally reached the reinforced metal door that led back on our side of the wall. Someone on the wall saw me and rushed forward, no doubt wondering what had happened to the rest.
"Taff's man?" he shouted from the top of the battlements, looking at me through the machicolation. "Where are the rest?"
I looked behind, making sure that my surroundings were safe. "All dead except for two other men who I lost while running back here and me," I explained. "Now get me the key!"
"Stay there, I need to fetch it from the shed." the guard ran down the stairs, and his footsteps faded into the distance.
I turned my nack on the door, covered myself with the shield, and readied the spear to stab would-be attackers. As the seconds turned to minutes, all I could do was to think of home. They had few weapons there; maybe a few spears and pitchforks, but nothing substantial. How easily could just a small swarm of these wicked aberrations overwhelm an otherwise calm and peaceful village?
I had to get home. The wall wouldn't last long against their onslaught. The best option, perhaps the only one that could save all who I cared about, would be to talk my family into fleeing south. All the soldiers were guarding the southern coast and the only threat there were the Stunthi pirates, but that's what the troops were there for. My main concerns were my father and Grete. Would my father abandon the farm he worked so hard for, and would Grete or her family leave behind what's theirs? There wasn't much use in speculating. I wasn't even sure how I'd survive on Olok's Wall. Desertion, even from a rough militia band like ours, was a severe crime. We had been hired to serve and protect the people of Enlitica, and I still had a job to do.

---

Taff was standing outside the barracks next to a round table. Beside him stood Joakim, his arm still bandaged but spirit as full of life as ever. Approaching them, they turned and looked at me, with eyes wide open. My gambeson and helmet were decorated with flicks of blood, both red and yellow. I must have stenched of sweat for it kept pouring down my face. My nose had grown somewhat accustomed to all the foul odour that my clothes had gathered on the mission, but they could undoubtedly smell it even from a tall pine's length away.
"Heinrik..." Taff said before noticing the blood on my gear. "Shit."
Joakim turned from me back to Taff. "Well at least someone survived," he tried telling the commander and then looked back at me. "What happened?"
I sat on the table, my legs burning with exhaustion. "We found a hole, there were aberati inside, but we covered it with a massive boulder."
"That's good!" the young man commented.
"On the way back, one of our men suddenly had his foot nearly sliced off," I continued. "He had walked next to a small crack in the stone, the enemy's strange shoulder claws were narrow enough to slip through it."
"And how did they all die?" Taff muttered. "I suppose while we were messing with the small gap, more of them managed to flank us," Their expressions turned even sourer, but I kept on explaining. "Ocolo had saved me by kicking one off of me, but he then died. When I had properly taken in the surroundings, only two other men still stood. They ran towards the wall with the aberati in doe. I lost track of them on my way here, but if they haven't arrived here by now..."
"They're dead," Taff intersected. "And we'll soon join them if we keep sitting on our asses here."
He was right of course, but I wasn't sure on our chances of victory even if we prepared our defences. All we had were swords, spears, shields, and a few men with longbows, all perfectly good weapons, but without enough men here to stand on the walls, they could pick us off at ease. I got off the table and stretched. Rest and food would have been great, but too much was on the line, and the aberati were ready.
"Any orders for me?" I asked, barely holding back a yawn.
He grabbed me by the shoulders with both hands and looked me straight in the eye. "Go rest, son. Your legs are burning, and your head is drowsy, if I send you on the wall, you'll fall off."
"They'll be here soon," I explained. "Over hundreds of them."
"And we'll alert you when they arrive," he smiled. "Now get your filthy ass to bed!"
The other militiamen and the few regular guards who were in the barracks all stared at me as I stumbled my way to my bed. Fear had engulfed their hearts as much as it had taken over mine. They stayed quiet, but my mere presence had drained the life out of them. Everyone now realised the severity of our situation. They knew that we were to fight or die for our homeland.

---

The old and crumbling walls of Olok were cast into shadow as a terrible dark wave of clouds moved in and covered the sun. The wind had picked up as well, the chill of it burning my exposed face. Even with all that had happened, I managed to sleep well, collapsing on the floor as soon as I was in the right room. Thankfully the aberati hadn't attacked us yet, but that just meant they were still gathering their numbers. Their levels of intelligence in comparison to us humans had remained unclear, but a dumb swarm could still wreak havoc and overwhelm armies.
With even fewer men on the wall than before, we had to space out everyone. From where I stood, both Joakim and one of the ordinary soldiers were close enough for me to yell at them, but that could change depending on how loud the wind gets. The days when we could sit on a barrel and wait until our shifts were over were gone. Both Taff and the garrison commander kept a close eye on all of us, making sure that we were keeping our eyes out for the enemy. Standing there as stiff as a stick and ever so slightly leaning on my spear, I looked at the machicolation, thinking back on the first encounter.
Vivid flashed of the attack had burned themselves in my mind's eye. The scene of how the dark appendage had pushed through the gap and torn apart that man's leg. I was concerned for my own mind and whether I'd be able to tell the difference between a memory and a real aberati.
"Aberati spotted further to the east!" a young messenger tapped me on the shoulder, running further along the battlements to inform the others.
A reminder to stand and fight.
I stood there, waiting and thinking. My eyes were focused on the job at hand, but my mind wandered. A loud horn broke me out of the daze and then, at last, I acknowledged what my eyes had been staring at for nearly half a minute.
The swarm of the small aberrations all stood in the distance, perched on cliffs, boulders, ready to rush in. They had formed up in a thin line that stretched beyond the confines of my vision. From where they were, they looked like tiny insignificant bugs, but those bugs were on the move. Their line moved forward at a relatively slow pace at first, but just by looking at them one thing had been made clear; those monsters weren't as mindless and unorganised as we may have expected. Something controlled them, be it a leader or their collective instincts.
Loose arrows whirled through the air, striking their hard plates as their line drew near. In reaction to our lacklustre volleys, around a quarter of their forces rushed against us with all the speed they could muster. The others halted their advance and carefully looked over our defences. More horns were blown, and it felt as if the mere sound of their splendour rumbled the stone foundations.
I kept my shield out in front of me to block incoming claw attacks. My sweaty grip held on tight to the spear, its tip focused on the gap on the floor, making sure they couldn't repeat what they had done before. They were getting close. The tapping and scratching that their legs made as they rushed forward was overwhelming. With my eyes closed, I sensed for them, carefully picking out the closest by paying attention to the sounds of their movement. As I opened my eyes, I pushed out my spear arm.
The steel landed firmly in the belly of the beast as it tried climbing over. The other flesh offered some resistance, but as the spear made its way through, the inner organs found themselves skewered. With a pathetic screech, the aberati began to descend, but instead, it pushed me against the battlements. The spearhead had trouble escaping the creature's bones and flesh. Before I could figure something out, another one jumped over the wall. With no other options, I let go of the spear, allowing it to drop down with the corpse. After taking several steps back, I unsheathed the knife.
It gracefully moved away from me at first, but the aberati know no fear. It was taunting me. Hoping that I would attack so that it could strike against my neck as I exposed myself. After a bit, it changed tactic. Ever so slowly, it crawled closer, forcing me to take steps back. Behind the aberati, there were even more of them where Joakim was supposed to on guard. I took a quick look over my shoulder and expecting a sudden lunge; I moved the shield in to intercept.
It remained where it had been — playing with me like a cat playing with a mouse before inevitably eating it. From my quick over the shoulder look, the wall seemed clear, no aberati, but also no guardsmen. He should have been standing near the staircase, but either he died or fled.
Perhaps this was the time. It seemed like a terrible and shameful thing to do, but it could save more people in the long run. But first, the aberati had to die quickly. No matter the speed of my legs, I wouldn't be able to outrun it. Well, maybe I could, but then there's always the possibility that it could just follow me home. The time had come. It was now or never. If I failed to kill it fast enough, then more of them would come and chase me down.
By taking a few steps forward, I must have confused or perhaps even excited the foul abomination. It seemed taken back at first but then lunged as I had hoped. As its claws slammed and penetrated through the wooden boards of my trusty shield, I pulled my hand out of the shield straps. With both my hands-free and its primary weapon buried in a large shield, I manoeuvred around, lowered myself and stabbed beneath the plates. Aware of my plan, the aberati lowered itself and shifted its back toward the direction of the attack. My knife hit it, but as it had landed against the chitinous shell, it did little to affect my chances of escape.
As it tore apart my shield, ripping it apart and freeing its appendages, a hand jumped out and grabbed the hindleg. With a squeal, the creature collapsed and found itself dragged down. I rushed to observe the situation. Joakim was still alive and well, a blood-soaked in yellow blood firm at hand, it's blade halfway in the aberati's neck.
He looked around, his eyes quickly scanning all they could before looking up at me. "More are coming!" he claimed, gesturing towards the overrun part of the wall that he had to guard. "They're focusing on certain points!"
I jumped down, landing with a sharp pain striking through the left knee. "Let's go then!"
"Do you any idea where we should go?" he asked as both of us dashed towards the nearby shed.
I opened the door and peeked inside, quickly checking the place for survivors or weapons. "My home is close," I noticed a sword on the table, it's metal surface recently oiled. "A few days south of here."
Joakim grabbed as many spears as he could. "We better hurry then! Who knows how fast their swarm can spread."
The rest of the shed was mostly empty save for a few more spears, some hatchets, and firewood. I grabbed the hatchet so that we could get our own firewood. As I had closed the door, Joakim tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at the wall.
"The rest of the line is coming, you can hear them from here!" he yelled out before making a run for the nearby hills.
I followed, dashing from tree to tree, making sure that both of us moved fast and stayed out of sight. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw them skittering around, holding the wall as if they were the new guardians of it now. With our resistance crushed and in retreat, they could have pursued, but instead, they scoured the area and stood all high and mighty on top the walls. Jogging further away, I kept thinking, trying to predict their next move. Were they waiting for reinforcements? If so, the entire country had to be warned about the impending invasion.

---

We went down the road that followed the river. The calm flow was relaxing, and the water itself proved useful whenever our throats dried up. Joakim didn't seem alright. His face pale, the whites of his eyes turning redder with each passing hour. I wasn't sure if he was sick or just malnourished, but something else seemed wrong. The once cheerful and talkative kid had kept his mouth shut, only uttering a sentence or two whenever he had no other choice.
With all that had happened, the sight and stench of death and the experience of surviving the whole ordeal must have weighed heavily on his joyful spirit. Perhaps the weight of it had utterly crushed all that once was, turning him into a broken, cynical lad, forever haunted by the screams of the deceased.
The weight of it still bore down on me as well. Flashes of Ocolo, the two guards on the wall, the idiot who went looking at the gap, those images were all burnt in my head like a slave's mark only less evident to onlookers. Unlike Joakim, I may have wavered, but I still had faith. I had something to live for: a loving family and a girl worth dying for.
As I was looking around, taking in the crisp air, I noticed a broken sign next to an old oak. The great trees trunk and branches cast the surrounding area into shadow and protected my eyes from the brightness of the early morning sun.
"The old oak..." Joakim said, his voice barely audible. "We're between Halvatt and Retervaal."
I looked at him, his back hunched and legs wobbly. "You've been here before?" I asked puzzled.
He gave a slight nod. "Before we had recruited you," he then looked over at me. "Our previous job was to hunt down a runaway slave."
I slowed my pace, allowing him to catch up. "Oh? Did you get him?"
Joakim shook his head. "The tree got him..." he said solemnly, his voice unsteady.
It had occurred to me then that I knew little of Joakim's past and what he was planning on doing. On the wall, he'd seemed like a normal lad who you could meet in most small villages; hard-working and humorous, but some things about him had hinted at something more significant. When in the presence of Taff and the other authorities on the wall, Joakim had always followed orders properly and never caused trouble. Not a trait I'd typically associate with peasant jokesters, but I hadn't thought much about it at the time. There was, however, something far, stranger.
While most of us liked to pretend that we could read the letters and documents that we were ordered to deliver, Joakim had looked at them as if he understood everything. One such letter had caused him to chuckle, and another had done much worse.
I couldn't tell whether he was a noble or just the son of a literate man with enough time on his hands, but that didn't matter anymore. He was broken and seemed completely uninterested in pursuing his own interests. Perhaps his family was far away or maybe even dead. That would have explained why he was content following me. Whatever his concerns or problems were, I wanted to help. It hurt me seeing him in that near-dead state.
"Do you need a break?" I asked him in hopes that a brief rest could help him recover his strength. "You look like you could use a rest."
He shook his head and kept moving. "I'll be fine," he before breaking out into a cough. "The sooner we get to your village, the better."
Letting him move on seemed stupid. Joakim was coughing, and his face had turned snow-pale. With how quickly his health had been deteriorating, I wasn't even sure if he'd survive the journey. Even if he managed to push his limits and make it to Retervaal, what then? He barely had the strength to carry his supplies. Swinging a sword and dodging claws seemed beyond him. I wasn't sure wheater a break would fix anything, perhaps I was trying to get information out of him. Was that even a bad thing? Maybe he held the keys to our salvation, a snippet of knowledge that we could use to save people. It seemed a bit far-fetched, but I was out of ideas.
I grabbed him by the right shoulder from behind. "Joakim, friend, just rest," I ordered with authority. "I know you want to move on, but please remember; I need you alive. At this rate, you won't be able to hold a sword properly, let alone a shield. A shambling half-dead shell of a man will only serve as a momentary distraction for our enemy. You deserve a better fate than that."
He tried to object and to brush my hand off his shoulder, but before the words could leave his lips, I pushed him down. He landed on the grass, dropping some of the supplies that he was carrying.
"See!" I shouted. "My push was weak. A strong gust of wind could've done the same to you."
He tried lifting his head but lacked the strength to do so. With a long sigh, he closed his eyes and took in the fresh air. He seemed a bit more relaxed, limbs limp and unmoving, Even as I stood next to him, perhaps only a few feet away, I could hear the heavy breathing. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, taking in all he could.
I sat down on the cold ground beside him. "You know..." I searched for the correct words. "I don't really know much about you. Why are you following me?"
He sighed. "You're my friend," he explained. "For all I know, you could be the only other survivor from Taff's band."
"If we managed to escape then I'm sure others could have escaped as well," I tried telling him, hoping that my words could remind him of his former optimism. "And that still doesn't explain everything. Don't you have another place you could go to?"
"I suppose I could go see my sister, but she's further away."
"Will she be safe from the aberati?" I asked.
"Oh, she'll be fine," he waved that notion aside. "my sister is the Countess of Alin. Unless the overwhelming majority of her men have moved south, she should be fine. Her castle's walls are tall and sturdy. I doubt those critters have the strength to scale 'em."
Hearing about his family ties got my head spinning with ideas. Perhaps we could use his influence to rally a small force — a new militia of sorts.
"So you're a Lord as well?" I asked for confirmation, hoping that he wasn't some abandoned bastard, kicked out and sent to die in a militia company.
"Yes," he answered, seemingly unsure of himself. "I was in line to inherit my father's lands, but I was disinherited a year prior to my father's death."
"What happened?" I raised a brow.
"To my father or the inheritance?"
"Both?"
He lifted his torso, resting it against the trunk of a pine tree. "Well... my father and I, the main trait we shared was our clumsiness. According to the servant who had been with him at the time, he had tripped on his own feet and stumbled down the staircase."
"Oh by God, sorry to hear that," I interrupted. "That sounds like an unfortunate way to go."
"Around thirteen months before that, I had an unfortunate accident," he said, lowering his head. "It injured me in a way that left my parent's no other choice. They made my sister the heir and freed me from my former obligations."
It seemed inappropriate to bring the idea up, but his position could help us solve our problems. "Say, could your position in society help us out?" I asked. "Maybe you could get some lads together. Order them to fight back against the aberati to safeguard their homes and families."
He let out a sickly crackle. "Do you really think that an average peasant would listen to the orders of a random nobleman from a different county? I have no power over anyone around here."
No. Of course not. Most were malcontent with their own landlords; none would follow a lord wheater they were local or not. Only those with enough love or their homeland and a strong sense of duty would accept the call to arms. A person like that wouldn't care whether they were following a fellow peasant, a count, or even the king.
All that mattered was the enemy that threatened their homes.

---

Over the river we saw another small village, it's people looked relaxed as they pulled their nets from the riverbed. There wasn't a bridge or a shallow part we could cross, but thankfully the fishermen had boats.
"That's Nilskaen," claimed the oldest of our recruits. "The folk there are pleasant enough, I'm sure some of them would be willing to join us, Heinrik."
I acknowledged his comment with a nod and looked over at the boats. "Will they let us use the boats?" I then asked the man.
He shrugged. "They have ferried me over the river before."
We moved to the water's edge, waving and shouting, trying all we could to catch the fishers' attention. They seemed focused on their nets, but one of them, a young boy by the looks of it, noticed us as he was moving supplies around. He tapped one of the fishermen on his shoulder and pointed across the water at us. Without wasting any time, the fishermen jumped on their boats and started rowing over to us.
From afar, one of them shouted in a grizzly and ragged voice. "Who goes there?"
Before the older recruit could answer, I stepped forward and replied. "I'm Heinrik of Retervaal, and I have some news that I'm sure Nilskaen needs to hear."
A few seconds passed as they kept getting ever closer to the shoreline. "And what's with the posse?" he replied. "Does the travelling preacher need spare hands for anything," his eyes glossed over some of our weapons. "And spare spears..."
"The news we bring ain't good," I told him. "It's why we are armed."
The fishermen jumped off as their boats touched the wet and muddy earth. There were four of them all on separate boats. The one I had been talking to wore a lofty bludgeon on his belt and a greasy handlebar on his rosy face. His hair had gone grey with only a few dark strands holding on to their colour. The other three were all younger; two of them were young men, possibly in their late-twenties, and the other one was a linen-haired lass who looked around the same age as my older sister, Thea.
"Just tell the news here," one of the younger men replied. "Then you can just move on to other villages."
One of my previous recruits, a young rascal from a nearby farm, stepped forth. "Our country is under attack!"
"Yes, yes, we all know that," one of the fishers interrupted.
"Not the raiders," I explained. "The wall has fallen."
They all fell silent with the realisation of what that had meant for all of them. Just like all of us and our families and friends, they and all they cared for were in danger. I hoped that the fear could drive them to action. That it would force them to take up arms and join us rather than flee and abandon their homesteads.
The young woman broke the silence after it had dragged on and made everyone itch with discomfort. "Are these recruits from other villages?" she asked me. "Is that what you're here for?"
"Joakim and I are from a militia band that was stationed on the wall," I gestured toward my friend. "But yes, the rest are fresh recruits. Men willing to do all they can to protect our country and its people from aberati tyranny."
She responded with a nod. "I can respect that," turning to face her fellow fishermen, she continued. "I'll join them."
"My knees might give up on me, but I won't be giving up on my home anytime soon." He looked me in the eyes. "Give me an hour t gather up my lazy sons and my axe. We'll show those things what we're capable of!"
One of the younger men raised his hand. "I guess I'll join as well!"
The fisher next to him looked at him and then back at me. "If my brother is joining, then so am I!"
Even if they had joined because of peer pressure, it didn't matter to me. As long as they were willing to stand and fight, that was all that mattered. They helped me, Joakim, and everyone else they could fit on to the boats. As the eldest fisher grasped the rows, he looked over to the rest who had been left on dry land.
"We'll be back for you," and then he turned his attention back to his passengers. "Don't tilt the boat!"
The waters were relatively calm and of no threat to the villagers' well-made boats. Their village of Nilskaen stood on top of a small hill, basking in the distant sun's light. The houses there were small, only a few wooden buildings and a single stone structure stood out. The rest were small houses dug into the earth with roofs built from hay, shingles, wood, and whatever else they could find. Such basic and quick to construct buildings had existed back in Retervaal, but most were replaced with newer wattle and doab houses and log cabins.
As we reached the fishers' pier, the locals helped us off the boats, preventing us from receiving a wet welcome. I followed the older man into the village. The other fishermen jumped back on their boats to retrieve the rest of my recruits.
"So what's the great plan?" the fisherman asked as we passed what looked like a workshop of sorts. "How do we fight back?"
I had to take a moment to mull over my words and thoughts. We hadn't figured that part out properly. I wanted to move further south down the river to Retervaal, but what then? Talking my family and Grete into fleeing didn't seem like an option now that I had all these brave men and that one courageous woman following me. Recruiting from my own village was also an idea that sent chills down my spine. If we were to fight, then we would no doubt suffer losses. Losing a recruit from a different settlement was terrible enough, but the death of a person I would have known for most of my life would have been something that I'd never forget, especially since I would have been responsible for telling them to fight back in the first place.
"We will go further south," I then said. "Over to Retervaal."
The fisher raised a brow. "For more recruits?" he asked.
I nodded. "There are a few more small villages and farm on the road," I continued. "By the time we get there, we should have a sizable force."
"You're not planning on leading a peasants' revolt are you?" he chuckled.
I returned a smile. "Once our group is large enough, we will have to figure out what the aberati are up to. We will go wherever we are needed and ambush then if we have the opportunity."
"Delay them from ravaging the countryside until a proper army comes over to deal with the problem?"
"That's the hope..."

---

Home was close by. I recognised the idyllic land around me. The gentle breeze swaying the leafless apple trees along the path, the yellow-chested East Enlitic Aperbirds chirping away on the branches. Beyond the trees were fields and farms no doubt owned by the kind and protective stock that we have around in these parts. The nature around us would look magnificent in the light of the summer sun when delicious red apples would decorate the green of the trees. More greenery, many more adorable birds were singing their days away, and just pure joy and happiness in everyone's hearts.
The rest seemed less enthusiastic about our surroundings. Some of them just laughed and talked while others marched on somberly. Helia, the fisherwoman who had volunteered, went off the path, scouting ahead and keeping an eye out for our enemy. I had hoped that she would report back within an hour or so, but something must have caught her attention.
Joakim walked to my right; his mind focused on the plans we had discussed earlier. "How long do you think it'll take someone to send a decent army north?" he then asked.
"I'm not entirely sure how long the messengers will take to get anywhere," I admitted. "All we can do now is to hope for the best and to prepare ourselves for the worst."
He scratched his chin, running his fingers through the scruffy beard that he had grown. "I don't think anyone will survive the absolute worst-case scenario," he claimed. "But if they keep the bulk of their forces on the wall and only use a handful of aberati to harass the countryside, then we might have a solid chance at doing what we're here to do."
Mere seconds after Joakim had finished his sentence, Helia came running from atop a nearby hill.
"They're here!" she shouted and sprinted down the slope. "Heinrik, there is a small swarm that seems to be moving in the direction of Retervaal."
I jogged up to meet her halfway, and the others followed. "How many?"
"Perhaps around fifteen?" she explained, gasping for air. "Around half of our numbers. A few of them detached from the group. I think they spotted me and those might be coming after us."
I gave a nod and looked around. Nearly everyone, including myself, was filled with anxiety and a degree of fear. But while my men feared to lose their lives, I was worried about my family, about Grete, and the life of every poor sod who I dragged into this fight with me. Even if we were to succeed and drive them off, I'd still have to live with the knowledge that they would have lived if only I hadn't stumbled across their village or farm.
"Alright lads, the time has come. The bulk of their force here is going in the direction of Retervaal, but a few will come after us first."
"Perfect!" One of the militiamen shouted. "We can pick 'em apart piece by piece!"
I returned a hesitant nod. "True, but if the enemy delays us too much, the village will be defenceless against the rest."
"We shouldn't wait around then," Joakim said as he looked over his gear. "Let's hunt down the small pact and get to the village!"
With our spears, axes, clubs, and swords in one hand and our shields in the other, we marched up the hill. As we reached the top, I saw my home village in the far distance — a peaceful settlement next to the river. I also saw the aberati, both the ones headed for us and the main group. They were closer to us than I had expected, perhaps only a minutes sprint away. We had to take action.
"Here they come!" I shouted, looking over my shoulder at the rest.
They rushed forward, shield in front, and prepared to brace the aberati charge's impact.
I unscabbarded my sword and looked as they approached. "Watch out for the shoulder, appendages," I warned them. "Their backs are hard. If you can, stab them in the underbelly."
Four maroon-bellied aberrations, their mouths drooling with saliva, rushed forward. Two of them leapt, their claws busting through the shields of a few of my men. One of the shield bearers panicked. He exposed his left shoulder for all but a moment and a third aberati used it to its advantage. The monsters appendage claw pierced his shoulder, tearing flesh and opening a devastating wound.
"Surround and crush them with your shields!" I ordered. "Impede their movement!"
A few of the men reacted immediately by moving around the flanks, encircling the enemy. The fourth aberati lashed out against a man near me. Before it could harm him, I lunged out, piercing through the underbelly. The screeching beast crashed to the ground between its intended victim and me, dragging my arm with it. Before I could move on, I stepped on it and pulled out the sword. The aberati had been encircled.
With them held to the ground, trying their hardest to break free and stab at our men, I looked over at Retervaal. The way seemed clear, nothing in the way of us and our duty to protect the settlement.
"Lads, hold them down," I told the men distracted with the aberati and then looked over at a few other men. "Stab 'em through the gaps! The rest of you, follow me and let's go save people!"

---

We hadn't arrived in time to warn them. The aberati had swarmed into the village, murdering a few of the inhabitants. Karl, Erika, Ezinacci, their bodies were in the mud, massive gashes opening their innards to the sun. By the time we had arrived on the scene, most people had gotten indoors, their predators scratching and tearing apart the wooden doors. Together with Joakim, Helia, and a handful of men, we ran past a few of the threatened household, making our way toward my parent's farm. The rest of our ragtag band of militiamen tried what they could to pick off smaller aberati groups, relieving the villagers and rallying them to fight back.
As we ran around a corner, we saw more villagers running off to their homes. They were pursued by two of the aberati, jumping over crates and swiftly manoeuvring through the maze of carriages and wheelbarrows that the village folk were trying to block an entrance with.
"Oi!" Joakim shouted, hoping to catch the enemies' attention. "Look at our tender and fulfilling flesh, aren't we more of an appetising dinner that them?"
Wheater or not the creatures understood what he had said; it certainly got their interest. They all turned to face us, biting the air and snarling closer. Both me and Joakim had shields; the rest were less well equipped. Helia had a pretty thick coat on and an axe for felling trees, but the others just wore their cotton shirts and vests.
"Joakim and I will take their hits," I told them what I was thinking. "While they leap, strike them in the underbelly."
They nodded and moved to our sides. Joakim and I walked up first, hoping that they would catch the bait as our companions followed us from a distance on our flanks. One of the aberati, already scarred from a previous fight its appendage claw severed and a severe wound across its face moved up eagerly. The other seemed less hasty, opting to keep its eyes on the poorly armed village recruits instead of us.
Suddenly, as if provoked by some unknown entity, the twitchy aberati stopped its lurking and transitioned over to a full sprint in nearly an instant. When it lunged, I stood up and held the shield up to intercept. Helia took the opportunity to attack. She swung her axe, but before the head could crash into the beasts coloured stomach, the quiet one leapt out and attacked her from what seemed like an impossible distance.
Helia's axe slashed into the aberrations side, clashing against the outer shell and sending the flying beast spinning in the air until it could land on its back, weak and exposed. She reacted quickly to the attack targeting her, jumping back and bringing the axe around for another lofty swing, but before she could recover, the aberati's claws shot out, reaching for her collar.
One of our men blocked one of them with a well-placed thrust in between them, but the other side was left unprotected. The tip landed just under the collar, but it failed to penetrate far. As I finished off the foul wretch before me, Joakim moved around and chopped into the appendages from behind. The attack didn't do much, only cutting a slight bit into the hard surfaces. I followed up with an uppercut against the claw holding onto her chest. The attack was risky, an unexpected jolt of movement and I could have sliced through her arm instead, but thankfully my sword landed where it was supposed to, and the edge alignment was spot on.
The appendage came clean off, and Helia fell back, pulling the claw out of her as she tripped over and landed on her back. Joakim continued up with a mighty kick against its side, exposing the softer side for only a moment. The spearman who had blocked the attack before used the moment to his advantage, with a strong thrust, the spearhead went straight through the body, clinking against the shell on the back.
With both of them dead on the ground, I looked to Helia. "Are you alright?"
She grabbed ahold of my arm and pulled herself back up. "I've felt better." She admitted.
Before I could ask more, the sound of a low pipe echoed throughout the village. Reinforcements had arrived. There was no other explanation. Who else would be here blowing on horns if not for the soldiers of Enlitica?
"Now what?" Joakim asked while looking for the direction of the horn.
I moved on, running ahead towards home. "Follow me!"
As we approached the house, I noticed the open shutters and the ajar door. They weren't there. The house wasn't ready to be barricaded, but perhaps they chose to stay in a safer building. The carpenters building was probably the safest. It didn't have windows on the ground floor, and there would have been plenty of supplies around there. It was also at the centre of the settlement and the home to the girl I admired.
"They must be hauled up in the carpenter's," I explained. "It's the safest place I can think of."
We ran as fast as we could. Helia couldn't keep up, but I couldn't leave her behind on her own. I hoped that the one spearman could keep him safe. It was just me, Joakim, and some quiet guy with a club. Arriving on the scene, I saw from the upper windows that there were people there, people who weren't in no way related to the carpenter. Chances were good that my folks were there as well.
Just one aberati was knawing on the barricaded door. It was far larger than the other ones, but everything else about it seemed the same — a freak among freaks, but an intimidating one at that.
The three of us moving further away from each other. Joakim and the clubman were covering my flanks, and they moved in faster than I. My hope was that we could trap the bastard between us and the building. The club-wielding man didn't exactly seem up for the task. I could see his unsteady legs and shaky hands from a distance and keeping him in the fight seemed like a sure way to get him killed.
"Pull a bit further back!" I ordered him, but the command just made him more nervous, and he just stood there.
The aberati watched him closely. Again, I wasn't sure wheater it could understand what I was saying or if it had just sensed the fear as I had. Joakim seemed to notice both the shaken soldier and the distracted aberati. He used the opportunity to take a few steps closer without drawing attention to himself. I tried doing the same, but being more in its field of view, it took notice of my movements.
"Surrender, and we will spare you here!" I demanded.
After saying what I did, I felt immense stupidity. There was no evidence that they could understand me. They were probably just some drone serving a greater purpose, incapable of surrendering and forever hellbent on purging humanity.
Joakim tried taking a few more steps forward, but this time, the aberati had noticed. It turned to face him, exposing his back for a moment to the clubman who saw it as his best opportunity. He dashed forward, ready to swing down hard on the creature, but before it could reach it, the aberati reacted. It turned in nearly an instant and lunged. Joakim and I made a charged at it to save the man, but its claws were already ripping through the club-wielders flesh as we reached the two.
I took another upward swing with my sword aimed at the claw, but the bastard pulled back the appendage, leading my blade's tip to scratch the shell. The move had left me exposed, and that had been its plan. I moved the shield in to cover me, but the lunge was far quicker. It smashed into my shoulder, the tip penetrating by a nail's length.
"Hands off him!" Joakim yelled as he jumped on top of the aberati.
With his blade aimed for the gaps, the aberati knew that it had to get him off. As it pulled the claw back, tearing the tip from me, I retaliated by slashing into it. The cut hadn't been deep, but it certainly made it wince. The tip of Joakim's blade was trying to force its way through, but the aberration made a run for it, seemingly discarding Joakim and tossing him off as if he had been but a light feather on top of its head.
Without a moment's rest, it jumped straight at me. I toppled to the ground, one hand holding back the claw and another holding the sword that I had held close to my body and pointed at the aberati. As I pushed it off of me, I saw my sword, from the tip to handle, all covered in its blood. Without even noticing, I had stabbed the foul monster in what was essentially an accident. Joakim helped me back up, and we just stared.
It was dead, the last screeches of pain stopping as it shrivelled up before me.
They were safe, my family, my love, all safe inside. There was no more room in my heart for moral cowardice. With life being as short and valuable as it is, there wasn't a point of holding back what I felt.
Once the mess was taken care of, my only concern was whether she felt the same.