Four Horsemen: Chapter 9 Part 1 of 3

Chapter 9:

Petor held onto his reins, trying to get small as boulders and fire pots smashed into buildings around them.

“This way!” Mya turned down a street, her mount’s horseshoes sparking on the cobbles. Turning away from a sea of fire that covered their path.

“Doesn’t seem the smartest to be running towards the wall under that!” Valter yelled.

“Left!” Mya turned, a boulder crashing through a building, the lanterns breaking and flaring inside.

Petor tore his eyes away a boulder striking the ground, tearing up the stones and leaving a dirt groove in the ground as it shattered and came to rest in dozens of broken fragments.

He rode over the remains, hearing Sorelli’s catapults firing.

A fire pot crashed into one, those manning it screaming, two jumped from the catapult mounting, falling the ten meters to the ground, one’s scream’s mercifully ending, the others in terrible moans.

A boulders smashed through a wall, spraying stone across the broken landscape beyond the wall.

Guards, priests and adventurers streamed in from across the city.

Mya guided them to a stone covered stable, dropping down as she came to a stop. Petor slipped off of his mount, patting her side as he looped her reins over the wooden railing.

Valter tapped Petor and drew out a spear, it was made of steel with runes down its length.

“Say the runes are decorative, if you pour essence through it, then it will heat up the edge of the blade so hot it can cut through steel.”

“Thank you. I don’t know.”

“I’ll get you a spear that works well with your powers when I get enough time. Try not to break this one,” Valter grinned and drew a sword and shield, running after Mya.

Petor followed them, Desari pulling up the rear.

Archers fired over the walls, young boys running with bundles of arrows to fill the baskets behind them. Cranes lifted ammunition for the catapults as men cranked on wheels to bring the catapults back down for firing.

“You lot go there,” a guard captain yelled, waving at Mya and pointing to a section of wall infront of him.

Lightning struck down from above, hitting the walls, arcing between fighters and blowing out a section of the wall, melting the stone it touched.

“Shit their gods got back their power!” the guard captain cursed under his breath. Petor looked over the wall. Orbs of light rose to show the enemy advancing across the churned up farmers fields beyond. Infantry carrying swords and battering rams charged ahead of siege towers that wobbled over the fields.

Mya pulled out a spy glass. “Looks like they opened the portals. They’re advancing their artillery under barriers.”

Petor  could barely see the blue shimmering outlines of the portals.

“Where is the head chancellor?” the guard captain asked in a low voice. Petor kept watching ahead, listening.

“He’s, indisposed.” The priest said awkwardly.

“There’s four fucking gods and their heretic hosts attacking us, what the hell is more important?”

“The Inquisition took him in for questioning, Berox ordered it.” The priest snapped.

“What the hell? He’s the strongest caster we have. What are the inquisition doing taking him in?”

“I suggest you change your tone, you don’t know who is listening.” The priest hissed.

“We need everyone we can get to help us fight off these bastards and their gods recovered faster than Jorai, unless you can call on something?”

“No I’m still cut off from his benevolence.”

“Shit.”

Living shadows shot out of the seams between the wall’s stone, tearing them apart as it formed into a humanoid beast ten meters tall.

It’s hand turned into a scythe aimed at Desari. She jumped out of the way, the scythe-hand leaving a glass smooth cut in the stone. Shadow and flame ran up Petor’s borrowed spear as he drove it into the beast’s side.

It let out a roar as Petor inhaled power, flooding his veins with essence.

The beast backed up, torn shadows pulled in toward’s Petor’s spear.

The beast bellowed, shadow flames shot out, smashing into Petor and along the wall.

Fighters screamed under the flames. Petor yelled out, the essence he’d consumed repairing his body as fast as the flames tore through him.

Valter swung his sword, its edge glowing as it cut into the shadow’s leg, the shadows bubbled and smoked as it fell to one knee.

Petor grunted against the pain, pushing himself upright, his clothes tatters, wounds dripping blood, his essence nearly empty.

Those around him hadn’t been as lucky, their armor melted, their bodies burnt.

“Hey fucker!” Mya had pulled out a blunderbuss, firing the tuba-like weapon. The blast of light partially blinded.

He blinked against the volcano of light. Shadows rushed to fill the void in the middle of the beast, gathering around a black gem.

Desari’s sword took off the beast’s arm. It lashed out at Mya, Valter reached her first, the blow ringing off of his shield and pushing him back.

Petor stumbled forward, raising his spear.

“Petor!” Mya used Valter as a spring board, leaping at the shadow beast. It was too slow as she slashed out with her sword, hitting the black gem free towards Petor. One eye closed against his blood Petor stabbed at the gem.

Instead of being hard it was soft.

Essence ran down through  his spear and into his body, consumed by the demon ravelled around his spear.

His injuries faded away as his essence channels filled, it was more than his channels could hold. He compressed it into his core, feeling it expand, it turned from light stretch to hard stretch and pain.

Valter rose up grunting. Petor touched him on the shoulder.

Valter’s eyes turned red for a half second as he sucked up all the essence Petor could give him.

The gem like object turned to dust and fell off Petor’s spear.

Guards and fighters stared at one another and then their group.

“Those of you with medical training, check on the dead,” Petor yelled.

“You five,” Desari pointed at guild members. “You move to the left, everyone keep shooting arrows! If you don’t have arrows then get stones and ready your axes.”

With some solid orders they started getting organized again.

“There’s more of those shadow beasts,” Valter pointed with his axe.

“Looks like they’re focusing on the gates, kill those around it to make it easier for the reinforcements coming up behind,” Mya cleaned and reloaded her blunder buss.

“Those siege towers are going to be a pain, but the worst are those ladders, there are even some carrying rams,” Valter said. “We’re only ten meters up, easy for the ladders. The rams.” He shrugged. “They might get through the outer wooden doors but the inner porticullis’ are going to be hard to break with just a ram.”

Massive stone hands reached out of the ground and pulled a stone head up, the humanoid stone shook dirt off like a human might shake off water.

“What are those?”

Desari leaned over the wall to get a clear look. “Stone golems, great.” She drew and arrow and fired.

Mya finished reloading her blunder buss and moved to the wall with a rifle, a spyglass looking contraption ontop.

Valter braced himself against a crenellation firing his automated bow, replacing the cannister underneath once it was finished.

Petor pulled out his slingshot and reached for the box of mysetery shots.

He brought it across his body and released it, the shot landing ahead of the enemy’s front line. A part of the ground turned a glassy black.

“Need to wait for them to get into range.”