The Green Thief: The Land in the Void, page 31
The glow of the fire from the gate illuminated them well enough that even the dark clothes they wore could not hide them. Edo first saw the one with the enormous axe marching forward, unflinching and uncaring as the arrows rained down on them. On the other side of the battering ram were two others, those carrying the shield bearing the same face that had been painted on the cave wall. Even on something as small as a shield, it looked like it was staring back at Edo.
“Them again,” Edo said out loud.
“We’ll have to kill them better this time, as well,” the Shade added.
“Agreed,” Edo said.
As if on cue to reveal himself when the others were discovered, another shape suddenly appeared in Edo’s peripheral. It was the Order member who wore a full mask over his face, sporting the same black outfit and the same spikes on his shoulders. Somehow he had climbed up the wall with seemingly just his hands, and vaulted over the top of it to land where the archers were standing. Several of them were taken by surprise, and that moment was enough for their attacker.
The man in black slashed in two directions with the claws lining his gauntlets, punching one of them out of his way, and then continued to the next archer he could reach. He leapt again, slashing down with both hands into the man’s neck, and then kicking him backward, all in one move. That archer crashed into several others as the chaos caused a chain reaction on the wall. Some of them turned their bows to try to hit the man, but realized they didn’t have a proper shot. They drew swords to try to fight him off, which only led to their attacks being swiftly countered, and then receiving the same wounds via precisely aimed slashes or stabs.
Edo looked down in front of the gate. The battering ram was closing the distance fast. The arrows, no matter how many of them found a mark, were not enough to slow it or disperse those charging. Edo looked back to the wall, where the fight was continuing. The Dead Dragon was too fast, and too perfectly equipped to disrupt the close-quarters formation of the soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder on the wall. Edo quickly judged how far away he was, and the angle from the top of the turret he was in, to the top of the wall. That was as far as he thought before his hand went to his leg and drew a throwing knife. Edo stood at the edge of the tower overlooking the wall, and threw the blade as hard as he could.
The knife spun in the air several times as it came down, and then planted itself squarely between the attackers shoulders. He turned and first looked behind him, where two more soldiers were waiting with swords drawn, but not making the first move. Then he looked up, and saw Edo in the tower. The black cloth mask covering the entire face blankly stared back at Edo as the figure reached and plucked the knife from its back with one forceful pull. A soldier ran up behind him to attack, but was promptly knocked backward by a well-placed kick, without the black mask even looking.
There was a great crash as impact rumbled throughout the walls and all the way up the tower. The battering ram had made contact with the gate. Edo looked back down at the wall, just as the figure threw the knife at one of the soldiers and then darted forward again. The soldier raised his arms just in time to catch the knife in his wrist, while the thrower leapt. With footing and balance that Edo thought he would have needed his magic to accomplish, the figure began to run along the battlements, stepping from one to the next and avoiding the soldiers lining the walls completely. When he was close enough he leapt again, attaching himself to the wall like a spider and beginning to climb upward.
Edo drew his sword as he heard the metal claws raking their way up the stone walls of the turret. He waited behind the parapet, ready to strike, and as soon as a black shape was visible he took a swing. The figure blocked it with the metal gauntlet at his wrist, and then flipped the lower half of his body over the ledge and up onto the tower. Edo swung again, just missing the figure’s neck as he dodged his head backward. Edo turned the momentum from that slash into a spin and another strike, but that move was blocked by the figure raising both arms and catching the blade in the jagged claws that ran up the gauntlets. A hop dodged as the man’s feet kicked at Edo’s, but he was then promptly pushed back. A second crash was heard from the gate below.
The figure leapt again, catching Edo off guard as he slashed at his chest. The claws raked down the front of Edo’s armor, making a horrible scraping noise but doing no damage. Before Edo could regain his footing, the figure grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against the parapet on the opposite side of the tower. Breath failed to enter Edo’s lungs as the vice-like grip held him tight. He tried to break the hold by striking the elbow, but it did nothing. When he tried to raise his sword to stab, a slash from the figure’s other fist caught Edo’s arm, knocking it free. That hand then reached back, and Edo watched as he made a fist, which aligned the claws on his gauntlets so that each one was pointing at Edo’s face.
*thuck*
The sickening sound overshadowed even the commotion below the gate as the figure’s head lurched to the side. A black wooden shaft had sunk in through the eye socket and was jabbing out clean on the other side, the outline only showing by the light of the fires burning below. The figure’s hand shook, and then reached up, groping for the arrow. Edo’s eyes quickly glanced in the direction the arrow was pointing. It had not come from the wall, but from somewhere in the courtyard below. Someone was shooting up, and presumably with either fantastic luck or fantastic skill.
Edo pushed the figure back as he tried to grasp the arrow with both hands. When Edo snatched his sword from the ground, the figure pulled the arrow outwards, yanking it from the front of his face. It was reeling in place, looking disoriented but miraculously not dead. Edo swung his sword sideways in a heavy swing, just as the figure raised his hand to stop him. This time, the luck was on Edo’s side. The blade caught the figure’s hand right between the ridges of his gauntlet, and the entire top half was sliced off in one clean motion. Edo used his momentum to spin, and then planted a sideways kick at the figure’s chest, causing him to stumble backwards and then fall over the side of the parapet. The figure dropped out of sight instantly, and Edo hurried to look over just in time to see him tumbling to the ground below.
Just as he saw the impact, Edo’s eyes were drawn to the gate. The battering ram was pushed forward a third time, the momentum generated from the crowd being enough for the pointed nose to begin to pierce through. It was not yet open, but Edo saw the entire frame starting to give. That was when he saw it. At the front of the column, pushing the battering ram forward from one of the handles added into it, was Kaland. The sword was already drawn, and Edo could see the C’rux at the base of it. It was time to act quickly.
After sheathing his sword, Edo reached back into his cloak and withdrew the climbing spikes gifted from Argus. They slipped easily over his gloves as he stepped to the other side of the turret. The courtyard was below him, and Edo saw the Royalist guards in formation and ready. They were pushed back because of the fire, but the visible damage to the gate had spurned them to close in. Most of the buildings in the courtyard were now being consumed. The entire area was aglow from the flames, and the fire was spreading in a slow circle throughout the marketplace. Directly below the tower, Edo saw that one building had thankfully not yet caught on fire. That roof had a body laying on it, one of the guards from the wall.
Edo put both hands on the edge of the turret, and then flipped his body over. His cloak wafted up in the air as he began to slide down, dragging the spikes into the stones to control his descent. When he was halfway down, Edo kicked off of the turret and jumped backwards, landing on the roof. After running over to the guard laying there, he found the man dead. Although that was expected, the main thing Edo was concerned with was the bow the man still had hooked around his shoulder, along with the quiver still holding several arrows that hadn’t spilled out. Edo snatched both from the dead body, and then turned to face the gate.
The timing was impeccable. Right as Edo turned toward the gate again, the battering ram burst through it. The great wooden spike knocked the now-charred cross beams loose and opened the entire gate several feet. Enormous chunks of the wooden gate fell to the ground, creating columns of embers that floated up into the air. A cry was heard over the roar of the flames from the other side, and the ram continued pushing forward until the gates were forced open, helped along by a train of Pinemire soldiers pressing shields against it, and the soldiers behind them pushing shields into their backs. It was as if they were uprooting a mighty tree by shoving it as hard as they could. The gates slowly groaned as the flaming wood above their heads was pushed open wide enough for the rebels to start streaming in.
Before they could, something else broke through. Kaland had run over the top of the battering ram, yelling wildly as he passed through the gates and then leapt down onto the cobblestones below. He was alone while his soldiers struggled to make an opening the rest of the way through the gates, but he didn’t seem to care. He held his sword with both hands and charged forward, the golden eagle on his armor glinting in the flames.
“LOCK!” shouted a voice from the line of Royalist soldiers.
Their shields clattered in a hurried crescendo of wood crashing against wood as the soldiers squeezed together. Protruding from the line of shields was another line of spears. If there were one hundred men charging at them it would make for a devastating defense, but Kaland was only one. Edo hastily drew an arrow from the quiver and nocked it into the bow, but by the time he had drawn he was too late. Kaland threw himself into the line of soldiers. Spears angled to try to stop him in mid-air, but Kaland was too fast.
He spun and swiped, severing the head from one spear and knocking another away. He then reached out with his sword arm as his body came crashing into the shield. At the same time the impact from his weight rammed into one of the shield-bearers, Kaland thrust his sword down into the one next to him. The blade sank into the man’s shoulder as the other staggered back. Before his feet could even touch the ground, Kaland lifted them up and kicked off the shield he had just run into. He sailed backward through the air several feet, flipping backward before landing perfectly with his sword in both hands.
Edo drew the arrow and aimed with one eye, not hesitating to send it straight at Kaland’s chest. It felt like the arrow was in the air for less than a second. The narrow shaft disappeared from his view, but Edo knew the shot was going directly to its target. Then, as if by reflex, Kaland slashed his sword upward and held it in front of his chest. The head of the arrow clanged into the blade and then flopped limply into the air, all momentum now redirected. Edo growled under his mask and set another arrow. As he drew the bow back, a stream of Kaland’s soldiers began to pour through the gate. Pinemire soldiers charged in, mixed alongside the peasant soldiers, and suddenly all was chaos.
Another shot was fired, but Kaland ducked the arrow before attacking the line of soldiers himself. His fighters caught up to him quickly, crashing against the line and forcing its defensive stance to buckle. The Pinemire troops were too heavily armored to be repelled by the line of spears, and with the added element of Kaland’s lightly armored men charging in and striking with more agility, the defensive line began to give in. The archers on the walls were raining arrows down in front of and behind the walls now. Soldiers were dropping as they tried to run through the gate, or just charging through the courtyard. Edo’s attention was drawn to the wall as a wave of fire washed over it again, setting a score of archers aflame and knocking them off. Edo gritted his teeth, drawing another arrow and realizing he had no chance of hitting Kaland in all the mess.
“He’s too strong. We need to do something,” the Shade said.
“You’re right,” Edo tossed the bow aside, and reached down to draw his sword.
“Am I with you?!” the Shade asked.
Edo did not answer as he ran to the edge of the roof and rolled off it. He hit the cobblestones of the street below, rolling again and then springing to his feet to continue running. He entered the fray from the side, seeing both sides fight as all formation began to melt away. Parts of the Royalist line had pushed back the attackers due to superior numbers, but Kaland was pushing a force further forward by cutting down the center of the line. Edo honed in on Kaland, as if he could smell him. As if there was a noise that only he heard that was coming directly from him. One of Kaland’s soldiers attempted to swing an axe at Edo, but was quickly blocked and countered with one slash of Edo’s sword to his hand. Another tried to charge at him from a short distance, but his knee soon became the new home of one of Edo’s throwing knives. Kaland was soon in sight.
The sword seemed to glow in its own way, even as the courtyard was lit by the flames on the buildings surrounding it. Kaland struck down at a Royalist soldier's shield, sending splinters flying into the air, and then struck a second time to kill the man before the wooden pieces had even hit the ground. Another charged at him, shield raised and sword at the ready. Kaland kicked at the shield and sent the man staggering back, before side stepping him and stabbing him in the hipo with a reverse grip of the sword. Edo closed in as Kaland straightened up, looking around for another target.
Kaland suddenly hunched over in the middle of everything, grabbing his head with both hands. The sword stayed in his grip, the C’rux glowing to Edo’s eyes, swirling with black and green. Kaland’s free hand pounded at his head, and he tightly shut his eyes as he opened his mouth to scream, forgetting to actually make the sound. Then he shot up, eyes wide as he breathed heavily.
Edo grabbed another knife from his pouch and threw it at Kaland with all the strength he could summon. Without looking, Kaland raised his free hand. The blade sank into his palm, even as Kaland’s fingers closed around it. He did not flinch as his head turned, and only then did he notice the knife in his hand. Blood began to run down his palm and into his sleeve, and Kaland whipped his arm down at the ground, sending the knife clattering to the stones below.
“You’re really starting to become an annoyance, Emerald Doe,” Kaland said as he looked up to Edo.
Edo had no words, just the grip he had on his sword. Kaland stared at him, unmoving for one moment. Then, his eye began to twitch, and he suddenly shook as if a chill had overtaken him.
“That jewel is creeping into your mind, isn’t it?” Edo called. “You’re hearing something that wasn't there before?”
“Like you do?!” Kaland’s face cracked into an accusing sneer.
“Yes! I know what kind of things you are hearing. I know where they’re from! And I know they don’t care about you!”
“Pharroth said you would say that,” Kaland snarled. “Anything to try to steal power that you didn’t earn!”
“He’s using you! The voices you’re hearing because of that thing, they’re using you!” Edo shouted.
Kaland didn’t answer. He raised the sword with one hand, looking at it as he gripped the hilt tightly. His wrist rotated to allow him to stare directly at the C’rux. Then his eyes turned back up to Edo.
“Good.”
Chapter 17:
The Calling
“The most powerful nightmares are the ones that can’t be explained.”
-Ilvrashe, Elven Singer
Edo felt out of breath. He panted, trying to calm himself. It didn’t work. Puffs of breath came in through his mask, and spread a moist warmth across the fabric on the exhale, but the heat was felt throughout his entire head. His hands tightened their grip on his sword, shaking a little.
“He’s too far gone,” the Shade said behind him.
“You’re right,” Edo whispered, grinding his teeth behind his mask.
“Kill him,” the Shade urged into Edo’s ear.
“Yes,” Edo said grimly.
“Kill him!” Kaland shouted as he pointed at Edo with one hand.
Edo heard a shout from behind, and turned to see three Pinemire soldiers charging at him. Whatever hesitation Edo had about fighting, or hurting anyone, was vacant from his mind at this moment. If no one chose to listen to him regarding things that were dangerous for the entire world, so be it. They would face the consequences of their choices, and that now pertained to anyone that followed them as well.
One of Edo’s hands raised to his side, drawing green from the air before he threw it at his own chest. He leapt to the side, leaving behind the illusion of himself in the same place, and stared at the men closing the short gap between them. When they were one step away, Edo snatched another knife from his leg and whipped it with one motion. The knife caught one of the soldiers in the hip right below the bottom of his breastplate, causing his next step to fail and pull him to the ground.
The other two stepped closer. One of them swung his sword down at Edo, overextending the strike. The blade made contact with nothing, dispelling the illusion, but the man was too late to correct for that. His swinging at the air sent him staggering forward as Edo stepped behind the second attacker, now frozen in his tracks and unsure of what to do next. He didn’t see Edo approach, drop down low, and slash both of the man’s legs from behind. He dropped to the ground with a cry, as the other one turned back around and saw Edo. He raised his sword and shield again, ready to charge.
*thuck*
Just as before in the tower, a black arrow suddenly appeared as if from nothing. This one was also perfectly placed, finding the opening of the attacker’s armor where the breastplate met the pauldrons, having sailed perfectly over the top of his shield. The man’s arm went limp, and he dropped his shield to the ground as he lost all balance and stumbled to his knees. A clatter of metal hit the cobblestones below. Edo looked in the direction the arrow had come from, but once again there was no one in sight who could have sent that shot. The fighting was still raging in every direction nearby, and the fire had enveloped most of the buildings in the courtyard.
Kaland was not yet out of sight, having moved forward and continued to press the attack. There was another wave of Royalist troops moving forward, and Kaland had charged directly at them by himself. Edo ran to pursue, not wanting to lose sight of him. The fighting was beginning to spill out in every direction, with the rebels charging into and throughout the city, and the Royalist soldiers spreading out to stop their advance. Side streets were beginning to fill up, and Edo had to dodge combatants from both sides. One of the dangers of looking like you didn’t belong to either side was that both could attack you. As he passed by an alleyway, this potential issue became real, as a Royalist soldier came at Edo with a sword drawn.
