The Kahn watched us with dark eyes, his head tilted in amusent.
Beneath him, his mount advanced slowly, unhurried. I could see the sick gleam in the gold eyes. A predator that had cornered its prey.
“You must forgive my Outrider his manners,” said the Firebrand. His voice was deep but unexpectedly clear - as if common was his native tongue.
“It is.. distasteful to allow our mounts to indulge in the consumption of flesh. Once they get a taste they are easily addicted and harder to control.”
Behind him, the Outrider dipped his head and yanked the reigns of his mount causing the creature to reluctantly prance backward.
My n and I stood back to back, shields raised and weapons bristling. My pulse thudded in my ears. Any mont now, I expected death to co. But the Firebrand seed in no hurry.
From beside him, Orks ca from the shadows. Their ranks blocked any hope of escape for those who might want to try their luck fleeing around the Outriders.
There was truly no way out. The Orks jeered, many of them making vulgar or obscene gestures. Urksol seed unmoved as he listened to his people chant and growl.
“They wish for to make you my slave,” he said, leaning back in his saddle with a clink of armor.
“To tie you behind my mount and make you crawl in the sand like a dog.”
He made a grunting sound in his throat, half laughter and disgust.
“I won’t bow to you,” I growled. “You claim yourself a warrior and yet you sit upon your saddle in that fancy armor and watch as real n do your work. I na you coward, Firebrand.”
Hade shifted beside , scared eyes sliding from to the Khan.
“What are you doing?” Hissed Draxus but I ignored him.
Urksol seed unimpressed.
“Why do dying n always spout such drivel and call it wisdom? I care for conquest, boy. Not personal glory. Pride is the bane of power.”
“Ironic,” I muttered and Kato snorted loudly enough to be heard.
The Firebrand waved an armored hand and the Orks lapsed into reluctant silence.
“Have you no response?” He asked, amused. I grit my teeth even as my eyes swept the rooftops, looking for any sign of movent.
I had to keep him talking.
“You speak of the pitfalls of pride and yet your warriors call you Firebrand? You are a brute playing king and your power is false. Look around you right now and tell there is an Ork among your host that you trust with your life.”
Urksol didn’t bother to look. I watched the dark eyes through the slits of his helt narrow minutely in thought. A flicker of movent caught the corner of my eye and I forced myself not to look.
There was soone on the rooftops.
“And what of your leaders?” He asked, at last, gesturing grandly around him.
“Your Governor cowers inside his walls like a frightened rabbit, terrified of the fate that awaits him. How easily he spends the lives of his loyal n and how willingly you march to your deaths.”
He sighed, shifting forward. I was too slow to react, too slow to call out as the firebrand raised his hand palm outward and pointed it at the roof. The archers that had been gathered there had no warning.
There was a sound like a snake's hiss and the the world went Orange. Fla blood from his palm fountaining towards the archers who were now huddled on the roof preparing to launch their ambush. The fla engulfed them and n scread as the armor lted.
The air was filled with acrid smoke that made my eyes water. Two charred corpses slumped forward, tumbling off the roof and into the street below. The sight made my stomach roil. The soldier's helt had been fused to his skull. His face was lted and charred, his eyes had burst in the heat.
His mouth was open, twisted in a rictus of agony. The Firebrand lowered his hand even as n scread and flailed. One fiery figure threw himself from the rooftop in an attempt to escape his fate, only to break his legs with a grisly crunch.
“Throne above,” muttered Hade. I could see the skin around his eyes pale. Sweat slicked my own palms, as much from the heat as with a newfound sense of dread.
The red Skin around Urksol’s eyes crinkled in calm amusent. Did he enjoy this? Or was it all a show for the Host that followed him?
I didn’t know, and right now I didn’t care.
“Cover ,” I whispered to Draxus. The soldier shifted slightly beside , dark brows drawing together.
“Will, listen to . She said it was a last resort. We don’t know-“
“I know,” I said, trying to assuage his fears. “But what choice do we have?” Draxus's eyes darted around at the corpses on the ground and to the Host that now barred our path. The still smoldering flas cast the ominous shadows of the horned beasts that would be our end.
He clenched his jaw so hard I thought his teeth might crack. Then he nodded.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Do it,” he said.
The Firebrand sighed, head tilted back towards the heavens as he breathed in the sll of burnt flesh.
“Oh, how you rail against your fates, toy soldiers.” He said mockingly.
“Why don’t you understand how futile it all is? Your Governor has what we want. We’ve co to claim it. You could have simply handed it over and none of this,” he gestured to the corpses now smoking on the ground. To the half-charred man with broken legs now crawling across the stone on his elbows.
“Need have happened. Humanity always seems to relish the hard way. Truly, it is a sha.”
Urksol leaned his great horned head downwards and barked an order. Then he raised his voice for us to hear.
“Kill them, and take the Knight prisoner. I will make him crawl behind my Drake. And when the heat of the plains finally defeats him and he begs on his knees for water, I will give him the water of my loins.”
Urksol slapped at his codpiece and the Orks howled in bloodthirsty amusent. Tusks and teeth glead in the knight as they readied themselves. Our death had co. I swallowed my fear and gripped Draxus by the shoulder as I ducked behind the shield wall.
“Give a minute,” I said. “I only need one.”
Draxus grunted and began shouting orders. His own sword was held ready, still crusted with the dried blood of his foes. I would need to trust my n now more than ever.
“See how he runs!” Shouted Urksol into the night. Shouldered through the press of n, trying to make room.
It was tight, but sohow I found the room to take a knee. I fumbled with the latch of my visor even as I heard the sounds of howling Orks surging towards us. Finally, the latch ca free and I lifted my visor, exposing my face to the Smokey air.
It slled of burned at and smoke. I knelt in the middle of my n, surrounded by all sides by a sea of enemies. From my inventory, I grabbed the small blue bottle in my gauntlet. The ranks of n around surged and for one heart-stopping mont I almost lost my grip on the bottle.
The liquid inside the vial was electric blue.
Item: consumable - Mana stimulant
SYSTEM WARNING: approaching mana fatigue. Consuming Mana stimulant may cause injury or heart failure. Chance of lethality: 67%
Gritting my teeth I swiped the system warning from my HUD and uncorked the bottle.
My n shouted all around . Blood sprayed, as blades t flesh. There was no other option.
“I’m sorry Joanna,” I said as I threw back my head and tilted the vial contents down my throat. The taste was at once acidic and sickly sweet. It raced down my throat and into my stomach, burning like spirits all the way down. The sounds of battle faded away.
I was aware of each breath in and out of my chest. Aware of the sound of my own blood as it moved through my body. Then the burning began. It started at my core and spread through my veins like wildfire.
My chest spasd, muscles pulling taught as I opened my mouth to scream. No sound ca out. I began to tremble as my limbs grew cold. I could feel the stimulant burning its way through my veins, a pain like any other.
I was on my knees now, head pressed against the cobblestones as I willed the pain to end. Was I dying? Dear god was I dying?
My heart beca sluggish in my chest and then stopped. I coughed violently, speckles of blood littering the stone before . It was all over and I was a fucking fool.
Absurdly I thought of Joanna as my vision grew dark around the edges.
Her grip on my wrist as she t my gaze. The hesitance on her face when she pressed the vial into my palm.
“Use it only if you must,” she’d said. “Will, you promise . You must understand the cost.”
Another cough wracked my body, and my shoulders slumped as my head grew light. I fell unwilling into darkness.
There was nothing but void. There was no sound, no sll. Only darkness.
As I drifted downwards I wondered what it all ant. Was this truly all I had? Would I die on my knees before a hated enemy? The thought filled with sadness.. and.. inevitably.. with fury.
I blinked.
I knelt atop a pool of water so dark that I could see nothing in its black depths. The water was cold, lapping at my trousers, and before , I saw my own reflection.
It was at once , and not . A man with short dark hair and hard eyes. My jaw was firm and my brows thick. Even as I stared that image shifted. Eyes are sotis black, sotis gold.
“Who are you?” I asked the reflection. My words echoed in the darkness, mocking as they rebounded back.
The figure in the reflection smiled. Goosebumps erupted down my arms. I tried to jerk away, to move, but I was held in place by so invisible force.
There was sothing in the water. Glowing golden threads that spread out from my reflection like spiderwebs in the dark water. Threads of fate.
The words of the God of the Autumn Winds rang in my mind.
“You and I have yet to et, but we will et in the future. And when we do, you will ask to tell you two things.”
In the future… in..
“Shit,” I said as I stared around . My reflection stared back, unperturbed.
“Damn you,” I growled. “Answer . Who are you? What are you?”
But my ti was up. I could sense the lightness in my body as I began to rise back out of the darkness. The strange paralysis was gone, as was the sense of cold numbness. I could feel it again. Feel the hard stone on my knees, feel the burning in my veins.
I felt the kick in my chest as my heart restarted and went into overdrive.
I slamd back into myself with the force of a hurricane. My heart cantered in my chest, pumping with it blood and pure adrenaline.
“Will!” Ca the distant shout. Kato was kneeling beside . There was true fear in his eyes.
“I thought we lost you.”
I blinked, shaking my head.
“How long was I out?” I shouted over the sounds of battle. Kato frowned.
“Seconds,” he said. “Why? What did-“
“Later.”
I rose to my feet, feeling the surge of strength coursing through my veins.
Iron Blooded activated
Bastion activated
My soldiers were pressed from all sides. They fought valiantly, standing on their own in a sea of enemies. I could see the desperation, and taste the bitterness of defeat as another soldier fell to the mad Host.
My sword was in my hand before I registered drawing it. I stepped forward, shoving through the press of armored bodies to take my place at the front.
Orders spilled from my lips. I told my n to hold firm. I told them that I stood with them and that I wouldn’t let us fail. Not now, and not ever.
I hacked at anything before , my blade glowing red with the increased damage. Enemies were indistinguishable to my eyes. My heart thumped in my ears, Orks died to my blade, and I knew nothing else but the song of war.
And then, there was nothing left to kill. Hade slumped on his spear beside , chest heaving wildly as he struggled for breath.
The n turned, eyes still wide and terrified. Ork bodies lay torn and mangled before us. We had survived the first wave. My triumph died the second I heard his laugh.
Urksol the firebrand titled back his horned head and bellowed into the air. The sound was one of pure mirth as he regarded us with cold eyes.
“Very good,” he said, clapping his gauntlets together. The sound echoed off the walls, mocking and hollow.
“Another pointless display, but impressive nonetheless.”
He tugged on the reigns of his restless Sand Drake and it shifted enough to allow him a clearer view.
“Tell you what,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “I will give you sothing you do not deserve. A rcy, or a chance at it. But you Ser Knight,” and he pointed at . “Must choose this fate. Either I slaughter your n to get at you, or I can end you all with the rcy of a fiery death. It will be glorious, no?”
And he bellowed a laugh again. Was he mad? All around the remaining Orks shared their leader's mirth. So many had fallen to our blades, and yet many more had taken their places.
It felt hopeless, but I knew better than to waste my ti with despair.
“Fuck your choice,” I said and spat on the ground between us.
Reviews
All reviews (0)