The captain frowned, but abandoned the conversation. Dax spun again, hacking a lumbering attacker's sword arm at the elbow in a shower of gore before sliding forward to deflect another blow from the red-haired man.
The guard captain pressed the attack, a series of high and low thrusts and feints driving his opponent back step by step. Each attack was blocked effortlessly, but still he gave ground, Dax surging forward with each given step.
Dax hacked in with a brutal overhand attack, knocking his opponent's blade away and into the mud. In the blink of an eye the man snapped his pistol up from his belt, leveling it. Dax had a moment as he realized the danger, throwing himself to one side as the trigger was yanked back. The gun barked, a flash of brilliance in the darkness.
The bullet caught Dax above one eyebrow, tearing out the back of his skull in a spray of hair and gore. Her scream of rage joined with Daron's as the captain collapsed lifelessly. The red-haired man snapped his blade up from the ground, and saluted the lifeless form of the captain.
Shock washed through her, numbing her hand and slowing her flurry of attacks. Her eyes locked on Dax's lifeless stare. Another good man had fallen. How much blood would the gods demand before they'd be sated?
Emboldened by this new attacker and the death of Dax, the invaders pushed forward as one, gaining a few feet. Then a few more. She gritted her teeth as she moved back a step, tears streaming down her face, two attackers pressing in close to her and Daron. He swept low, going for a unsubtle hack across the midsection while she thrust high. The man couldn't dodge both blades and crumpled to the ground with a scream.
His white blade was a beacon in the midst of the melee. The red haired man immediately picked it out of the crowd, and shuffled forward, spinning his blade ahead of him and felling men left and right, or smacking aside thrusts or faces with the barrel of his gun. His eyes burned with unabashed glee at the massacre about him. Leah felt a stab of fear. The man had cut Dax down. Daron would have no chance at all.
The man thrust low at Daron's back, but Leah stepped in, batting his steel away. She placed herself squarely against Daron, back to back, and eyed the attacker, hoping her skills were a match. He was taller than she was, nearly a head with Daron, but built with much thicker muscles that coiled and bunched with each swipe of his blade. He leered at her openly. Leah suppressed a shudder.
Leah began to withdraw with each blocked sword stroke. They couldn't outlast this onslaught. Each moment more poured over the wall, swelling their numbers and replacing each fallen attacker with another two. Glancing around, the truth could not be ignored. They were losing. She took a few quick steps back and to the side, hoping no one was close behind her. The red-haired man grinned and pushed forward, but more of his own men surged into the gap left by her absence.
"We have to pull back somewhere more defensible," Leah shouted behind her to Daron, trying desperately to be heard above the roar of combat.
"If we retreat, they'll cut us down as we run," he said.
"They're killing us where we stand now," she snapped. "If we don't withdraw to somewhere more defensible, we won't last more than a handful of minutes. With Dax fallen, we're losing coherency."
"We'd lose this whole quarter of the city!"
"That can't be helped now," Leah shouted. "We can't possibly push them back. We either lose part of the city, or fall here and lose it all. Take control, Daron!"
Daron glanced around, quickly surveying the battle and swore. With a curt not, he bellowed an order for a fighting retreat. It would be slow going, but if they simply turned their backs and fled, the invaders would crash over them in moments.
"The Nolis bridge," Daron said through gritted teeth. "It's pretty wide, but can only be attacked from one direction. We could hold them there until help arrives. Get the rest of our fighters there. We'll buy you some time."
"I'm not leaving you to this alone," she countered. Daron deflected a sword and responded in kind, dropping another attacker. He snapped livid eyes on her.
"No arguing!" he roared. "Regroup at the bridge. All I need to do is stall them for a few moments and you can get away."
He gave her no chance to respond. Daron pushed forward, attempting to cleave a way through the fray towards the red-haired leader, leaving her standing behind the line of skirmish. She watched after him for a moment, cursed and gathered everyone not immediately engaged. Her heart sank as she saw just how few that number was.
Just over two hundred defenders joined her in a retreat. Less than half that had started with them. Daron, true to his word, held the line as best he could with just a few score defenders, likely trading their lives to give the others a chance. As they withdrew, she glanced back to the battle, watching the white sword flash through the night air. She hesitated, and almost returned to the fight, but Brynn slid up beside her and urged them on.
Leaning most of his weight on her, she supported Martin as they withdrew. He looked ashen gray, nearly as pale as the corpses they'd been fighting earlier. He gave her a wan smile as they followed behind the last of the defenders. The sounds of battle grew distant as they dashed through empty and hollow streets.
The bridge loomed out of the darkness ahead. It would take nearly a score of people side by side to defend it, but it would serve as a good choke point. The bedraggled men and women poured onto the bridge and waited anxiously for the fight to come back to them.
"How is he?" Leah asked of Brynn. Near by, leaning against the whitewashed stone of the bridge, Martin sat, eyes unfocused and unseeing.
"He needs some rest," Brynn whispered. "He might have a few tricks left to him, but he'd have to pull strength from the defenders, and he's loathe to do that."
Leah nodded, and bent her head to listen for the sounds of battle of the footfalls that would announce a renewing of the fight. She was met only by the heavy breathing and anxious mutterings of exhausted guards.
Electric streetlamps filled the corners of the empty roads with pale yellow light, humming lightly in the night. The lack of people was unsettling. Dax had been adamant about not evacuating the city, but once word had spread, citizens scrambled deeper into the city anyway. She hated to think the citizens were simply holed up within, waiting for death to come marching in.
It was like looking at a corpse of a city, the arteries that normally flowed with the life blood of traffic now dormant. Carts had been left abandoned, their wares toppled into the muck that caked the road. A chill wind wound through the buildings, not strong but carrying the razor sharp edge of cold with it.
What would happened if Daron was overrun, and the invaders didn't come to the bridge to continue the fight? What if they started looting the city? It would mean more time for the damnable mercenaries to arrive, but at what cost?
Perhaps she was mistaken in her thoughts of withdrawing. Might the city not have fared better if they'd held to the last man and woman at the wall, even if they were all felled? If they could have held for just another hour there, perhaps there would be a city left to save. She glanced at the remaining guards, tired and afraid, waiting for the inevitable.
Footsteps rang out of the darkness. The ragged defenders struggled into a tighter formation, weapons drawn and ready. Anxiety flushed through the waiting crowd as the sound grew louder, the sharp echoing staccato of dozens of feet pounding towards them.
Daron came into view, and Leah felt herself smile with exhilaration. Behind him a score of wounded fighters scrambled to keep up with him. No one followed behind them. Twenty, out of nearly the eighty he'd stayed back with. By the gods, they were down so many good souls.
She stepped forward and all but tackled him in an embrace, barely mindful of the swords they held. She felt him tense, and then relax and return the hug in earnest. They stood that way for a long moment before she awkwardly stepped back. Brynn flashed her an impish grin, and she felt herself blushing.
"If you ever do that again, I'll flay the skin off your bones and fashion a new jacket," Leah said, narrowing her eyes. Daron laughed, clapping her on the shoulder.
"They didn't follow?" she continued, leaning to stare past him at the empty streets.
"They're coming," he assured her. "I managed to stall them for a few moments."
"You?" Brynn questioned. "You managed to stall an entire army by yourself?"
"Same as I did with Aiden in my test," he replied, a little smug. "The grass was already wet from the rain. It didn't take much to get it to freeze over. While they were busy trying to keep their footing, we pulled away." He frowned. "I'd never managed that much ice before. It was dozens of feet wide. It seems the gods are with me tonight."
"Where are they, and then?" Leah asked.
"Regrouping. I heard their leader bark orders to form up again." He looked at the assembled crowd and lowered his voice, leaning in so only Leah and Brynn could hear. "They're bringing in more supplies, I think. More gunpowder, at the very least. When they get here, they won't even have to charge us. They'll just gun us down where we stand."
"So we don't give them anything to shoot at," Leah said.
"I like this plan already," Daron said. "Though I'm interested in hearing how you plan to accomplish this."
Leah pointed to a few carts left abandoned by shops near by, their owners fled to the inner city and the sanctuary it provided. Clothes lay strewn about the street, whipped off lines by the driving wind, trampled and muddy.
"Clog the bridge with those. They won't get clean shots at us, and they'll have to move them or come over them to get at us."
Daron glanced at the carts and grinned. Grabbing a dozen of the guards, they set to work at dragging the carts up to the bridge. Without horses the work was agonizingly slow, and Leah kept careful watch down the empty streets, waiting for the attack to come.
They dumped six merchant carts onto their sides, their contents strewn about on the fine stonework of the bridge. It wasn't quite enough to block the entire bridge from edge to edge, but enough that they'd have to come through one or two at a time.
As the last cart was heaved up onto its side, slamming down with a cracking of wood that echoed through the buildings, the slow and steady march of feet drifted to them on the wind. The defenders crouched down below the makeshift barricade. Leah stood at the front, just behind a toppled cart, Daron at her side, watching.
The rows weren't neat and orderly as they marched, but hundreds of battle-worn invaders trudged into view from around a corner a few blocks away. The front rows were all armed with pistols. Leah crouched a little lower, and prayed that the wood would stop the hail of bullets about to be loosed.
The army arrayed itself a few dozen yards from the choke point on the bridge, filling the hollow street from building to building, a sea of flesh and sharpened metal. From the back pushed the red-haired leader, who loped ahead of the army and stood, defiant. Leah wished her uncle's training had included some basic marksmanship. It might not end the fight, but cutting the head from the snake certainly might help.
"I would speak to the leader of this little band," he called.
Leah looked at Daron, and saw indecision on his face. She grabbed a handful of his jacket and hauled back on him.
"You can't seriously be thinking about going out there?" she hissed.
"The longer we stall this, the better our chances are," he said with a shrug. "It can't hurt."
"Of course it could hurt, you idiot," she snapped. "They could just be inviting you out there to kill our leadership."
"A chance I'm willing to take, if it buys you more time," he said gently. "I'll see you soon. Keep everything together for me." She released his shirt, and he gently squeezed her shoulder as he stepped through the narrow gap between the toppled carts, sword in its sheath. It wasn't something she'd ever really done, but she prayed the gods keep watch over him. Then muttered a curse after him as an afterthought. Damnable fool.
Daron strolled out across the end of the bridge and met the man where it merged into the road. They were too distant for her to hear any words exchanged, and if Daron was nervous, he wasn't showing it. Their leader stood casually, almost mockingly exposed, arms crossed as he spoke.
They exchanged words for long, agonizing minutes. Brynn struggled through the group to lean on the cart beside her, Martin close at hand. He looked exhausted, but gave her another smile, though he leaned heavily against the side of the cart for support.
She watched the opposing forces for any sign of betrayal, but to her surprise, no one moved. After another handful of terse minutes Daron nodded and backed away, never taking his eyes off of their leader. His opponent did likewise, until he vanished into the mass of assembled forces there.
Daron slid through the gap, and then collapsed back against the cart with a nervous laugh.
"Oh gods, that was frightening," he admitted, just loudly enough for their small assembled group to hear. "It was all I could do not to turn and sprint as fast as I could back here."
"What did he say?" Brynn snapped. Leah narrowed her eyes. The other woman had been far too snide with Daron of late. Did she understand the stress he was under with this? Likely not. She made a note to have a little friendly chat when they got out of this. She glanced at Martin, who hovered close to Brynn. The Justice needed to make up her damnable mind, and the choice should have been clear.
"Offered us a chance to leave," Daron admitted. "To simply throw down arms and exit the city."
"Naturally," Martin said, "you did not take his offer." His voice was shaky and as frail as he looked, but he was at least standing under his own power. She wished she could find some more time with the enigmatic man. He seemed to have some very useful knowledge crammed into his skull.
"Thought about it," Daron said, shrugging. "We're in this only until reinforcements arrive. If I thought I could get us all out of here without any further loss, I'd do it quick as lightning."
"You don't expect him to honor the agreement," Leah pointed out.
"Oh, I think he probably would," Daron said. "They know we have a good position here. They'll take it from us, inevitably, but they'll pay for it dearly. They have to hold the city once they've claimed it, though. The Order will be here eventually, and they'll need every man for that."
"So, why don't we take the offer?" Brynn said.
"I said 'us all'," Daron said quietly. "I don't just mean the defenders. I'm not leaving this city to the sort of filth that binds corpses to their will." He pushed himself up to his feet and gazed out towards the restless waiting army. "I will not leave the defenseless citizens to their kind of abomination."
Leah nodded, looking at the other faces with a look of challenge. It was the only right decision, after all. What type of man would he be to leave the city to be ravaged for the safety of his own life? She regarded him as he stood resolute, staring down overwhelming odds. He certainly didn't look the part. Maybe a cloak. Cloaks weren't in style, but he'd look horrible in a long coat.
"Then we fight," Brynn said.
"Damn well we fight," Martin muttered.
"What about you?" Daron asked Leah gently.
She met his gaze and gave him a fierce grin. "I'll fight, but I get first shot at their leader there."
"Help is on the way," Daron said, raising his voice to address the last of the defenders, "but it may already be too late for us." At the foot of the bridge the invaders worked themselves up into a frenzy, their howls and cries for battle nearly drowning Daron out. A few fired shots off into the night sky.
"We don't stand here to protect our own lives," he continued. His gaze swept the crowd, and she could almost feel the fear that wove through the gathered hearts before them. They weren't trained soldiers. They were peacekeepers, not professional makers of war. A day before, the worst they'd have to worry about is a drunken bar fight or a duel that got out of hand.
"We are the shield that covers the people of this city. We are the sword to strike back at those that would take our livelihoods. We are the voices that scream defiance in the face of evil."
He took a shuddering breath, and looked almost ready to collapse. She shifted forward and helped prop him up. His skin was clammy and fevered to the touch. The wound on his shoulder, she realized with a growing feeling of nausea. He'd never had it tended to.
Brynn was there by her side in a blink, concern evident on her face. She grabbed the torn edges of cloth and yanked, widening the gash in the cloth. The wound was a deep pulsating purple, with veins of dark red spider-webbing up his arm and down into his back.
"I've had so much energy up until now," Daron muttered, shaking his head to clear it. "It just all vanished." His words were thick and slow, almost feverish. Martin regarded him critically, keen eyes assessing and analyzing.
The Justice slapped her hands onto the wound, drawing a wince and a sharp intake of breath from Daron. A faint white light twinkled from between her splayed out fingers, and a moment later she pulled back. The wound was still a raged seam of shredded flesh, though slightly less dark. The tendrils of disease that had spread through his body had receded a bit, but were still bright scarlet and evident across his pale skin.
"That's all I can do for now," Brynn said with a shake of her head. "I'm not terribly gifted at healing."
"Then it will suffice," Daron said, rolling the shoulder and wincing. "Thank you. I feel a bit better."
Leah grabbed Brynn forcefully by one elbow and yanked her to the edge of the bridge. Daron turned and drew his blade, facing the oncoming storm. The rest of the defenders pushed forward behind him, set for a charge.
"How bad is it? One of those abominations raked his shoulder," Leah whispered.
Brynn didn't hide her concern. She glanced over her shoulder at Daron, shaking her head. "Bad. Likely those things have all sorts of diseases and filth. A better healer could surely take care of it, but my skills are limited here. If it hits his heart..." She trailed off, tears glistening in her eyes.
Leah felt a moment of panic clutch at her throat. With another battle looming, he'd be in the thick of it. His heart would be pumping furiously. Would that speed the poison along? She wasn't sure, but it seemed quite likely.
"He won't leave the battle," Leah said. "He's stubborn to a fault."
"Tel might have the skill to heal him," Brynn admitted. "He's holding the eastern gate. Jarod certainly would, but we've seen no sign of Kerris yet."
"Then I have to get him to the eastern gate," Leah said with a nod. "I will not let him die foolishly."
"Dead from poison, dead from a bullet," Brynn shrugged, resigned. "It seems unlikely we'll get out of this anyway."
"If someone you loved were in mortal danger, and could be saved by removing him from this battle, wouldn't you?"
"Someone is," Brynn snarled. She paused, and then continued in a quieter tone. "My oaths come first and foremost. So do Daron's. We knew what this was when we signed on." She flicked her Oathblade up for emphasis.
"There is where we differ," Leah said. The two regarded each other for a moment, and then turned to the battle. What more was there to say?
Chapter 24.
They didn't lead with gunfire this time, Daron noted. That was something at least. The hastily cobbled together barrier was good for something. Of course, it wasn't a terribly tall barrier. Once they clambered on top of the toppled carts, they'd have no hard time gunning them all down.
The ground seemed to shake as the enemy roared and charged, bloodthirsty cries mingling with the pounding of hundreds of feet. Daron glanced quickly behind him to see if everyone was ready. As ready as they could be, in any case. How long had they been battling? How long until Arix arrived? If they even arrived. Whether they did or didn't, they still had to hold out as long as they could.
Runners broke away from the stampeding army, drawing ahead of the mass, eager for the first kills. Gunners took aim and picked off the first ones onto the bridge, using up their precious supply of powder and bullets. His opponents didn't even blink. As a handful of charging men toppled, trampled by dozens more.