Valkyrie's Shadow

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 5, Chapter 12

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 5, Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A hulking form filled the alley, its fur matted by the cold drops pattering off of the walls and slick clay. Liam crouched on a windowsill above, dagger clutched in his right hand.

He held his breath. The striped form passed below, footpads squelching over the mud. A click came with its next step.

The Beastman stopped. A heartbeat later, it fell forward and lay still.

Liam released his breath. A nearby door opened. Two men came out with hesitant steps. One cautiously toed the Beastman on the ground. The other knelt to pull a ten-centimetre-long steel dart from the massive body, tossing the bloody projectile further into the alley. Another man retrieved it and the trap was reset.

Scraping filled the air as the dead Beastman was dragged into the door. One of the men reappeared with a bucket of water, washing away the most evident traces of the corpse’s passage.

“Damn stuff’s wasted on ‘em,” Pon said from the window across the alley.

“It is?”

“Hell, yeah,” the Ninja looked across at him. “You know how expensive Gigant Basilisk Venom is? I don’t even know how the hell that Zahradnik has so much. We got Wyvern and Purple Worm, too. They’re all strong enough to use on Adamantite-rank Adventurers.”

“Because it’s not enough to just kill them,” a low voice came from above. “They need to die and not blow our operation. These citizens don’t stand a chance if things go to shit.”

Liam and Pon looked up to see Tira on the roof. She gestured for them to follow.

Pon leapt from his windowsill to join her. Liam reached up to test the eave above before pulling himself up. A dozen other Ninjas were waiting. Tira raised a hand beside her head.

–they’re set up here. It’s go time.

Pon and Ilen led their groups over the rooftops towards the Wharf Gate. Tira and Liam followed, dropping down into the alley where they had entered the ‘Human quarter’. The alley was filled with men from the two ‘families’ that had volunteered to help secure Helama. Tira looked up from the mouth of the alley.

“The wall team’s starting,” Tira said. “Anyone not know what they’re doing? Good.”

The grandmaster of Ijaniya adjusted her mask and drew a long black dagger that pulsed with an evil light. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. She opened them again, revealing the cold glint in her coral eyes. Liam backed away. By the time he realised that he had moved, she was gone.

“Wh-what the hell was that?” Aykut breathed.

“Let’s go,” Liam said. “Keep the torches in the back.”

The men in the alley drew curved daggers and hefted clubs. A few had quarterstaves and wooden mallets. They left the alley and entered the street along the wall. Liam went over to the nearest Beastman, kneeling to inspect it.

“Move them out of sight,” he said.

Aykut came over and prodded the Beastman with his boot.

“It’s dead? But when?”

“When Tira came through,” Liam grabbed the Beastman’s leg and tugged. “Help me out here.”

They dragged the Beastman’s corpse away, dumping it into the alley. Since they weren’t clearing the wall in both directions at once, they had to remove anything that might be seen from the uncleared side. Once the street curved out of sight of the gate, they left the bodies where they were and picked up their pace.

“Have you done something like this before?” Aykut asked.

“No.”

“You seem pretty collected, in that case.”

Liam couldn’t see why he said that. What was so hard about moving bodies out of sight? They hadn’t even fought anything yet.

“I thought I heard someone say you fought Beastmen in your city,” Liam said.

“We did, but not like this. Our city…the Beastmen stayed outside. We killed the ones that came too far into the city with traps. Or we isolated and outnumbered them.”

That seemed fine to him. If you had to kill something stronger than you, anything went.

They went past a tower and stopped to move the bodies away from the street leading to the southwest gate. The other side was cleared as well. The groups split up. Liam stopped at the entrance to the next alley. He poked Aykut in the arm and tapped his scroll case.

The man fished out several scrolls. Liam pointed to the one marked with dark grey paint. His mouth fell open as Aykut unfurled the scroll and used it before moving out of sight. A burst of azure flame lit the surroundings.

Liam pulled his dagger. He turned and drove it into the skull of the nearest sleeping Beastman. The rest of the men pounced on the others in the alley, stabbing, hacking and bludgeoning their victims with wild abandon. Liam looked ahead to see if anyone further in had noticed Aykut’s blunder.

Within the range of his darkvision, it didn’t appear to be the case. He made an urgent gesture for Aykut to follow: they had to clear the alley before the Silence effect on him expired. The tinge of blood rose into the stale air as they worked their way further in.

?Hold. Two Beastmen awake five metres down the right corner.?

They froze at the unexpected voice of Lady Zahradnik. Liam crept toward the corner. The low sound of conversation drifted over him.

“So how many are they letting in here?”

“It’s just us. They’re sending people out tomorrow to bring in food.”

“Like that will…do you smell that?”

Liam tensed.

“…yeah. Don’t hear anything, though. Did someone come back from a fight?”

“Maybe a Human tried to fight back.”

“No worries, then.”

“Come on, let’s check, just in case.”

?They’re walking in your direction. Five seconds to the corner.?

He pressed his back into the wall, dipping the tip of his dagger in a vial of Gigant Basilisk Venom. The other men backed away.

What the hell?

Liam gestured furiously for them to come forward. They didn’t. The first Beastman came around the corner.

“What the–”

The Beastman lunged towards the backpedalling men. Liam drove his dagger into the side of the second Beastman as it dashed by to join the first. It staggered and fell face-first into the mud, taking his dagger with it.

He pulled his second dagger, running forward to drive it into the back of the first Beastman. It let out a yowl and twisted around. Liam caught its huge paw against his bracer. He went flying. His right shoulder slammed into the alley wall.

A shout from one of the men echoed down the alley as he smashed his mallet into the back of the Beastman’s skull. Liam straightened himself from the wall and levelled a glare at him.

“Are you trying to wake everyth–”

?Too noisy. Three more Beastman heading your way.?

With a silent curse, Liam went to retrieve his dagger. He ducked into a nearby alcove with Aykut, applying another dose of venom to his blade.

“Silence scroll,” Liam whispered.

The man fumbled for his scroll case. The three new Beastmen turned the corner. Aykut activated the Silence scroll. Azure light filled their alcove. Three pairs of predatory eyes fixed on them.

This fucking–!

He didn’t have time to finish the thought. They dove out of the alcove as one of the Beastmen pounced. Liam rolled through the mud. The clawed feet of another Beastman barely missed his head. He stabbed it in the calf. It tensed and toppled on top of him.

Several men set upon the Beastman in the alcove. The remaining Beastman’s gaze went over the gathered men, the light of the distant torch reflecting from its golden eyes. It backed away, disappearing around the corner.

Shit! Shit, shit, shit…

Liam squirmed out from under the dead Beastman. He dashed around the corner. The third Beastman was lying face-down two metres away, an arrow with black fletching sticking out from between its shoulder blades.

?You’re clear. Get that Beastman out of sight.?

They pulled the third Beastman back around the corner. Liam leaned back against the wall to catch his breath. He held his vial of Basilisk Venom in front of his face.

Three…two? Three uses left.

He still had the Wyvern and Purple Worm Venom, but they probably wouldn’t work as well as the Gigant Basilisk Venom. The Basilisk Venom inflicted paralysis. Wyvern Venom ruined vitality; if the target was weak enough, it would result in instant death. Beastmen were supposed to be robust, so he wasn’t so sure that it would work well even with the ‘civilians’ that they were fighting. Purple Worm Venom withered a target’s strength. Much like with the Wyvern Venom, he wasn’t sure that the physically powerful Beastmen would be completely overwhelmed by it.

A group of men came around the corner. The men with Liam started and raised their weapons defensively.

“Jumpy, aren’t we?”

The familiar voice came from above. It was one of the Ninjas, Kai.

“Section’s clear,” Kai said. “Wall team’s halfway done. We’ve got some catching up to do.”

“Do the Beastmen know what’s going on yet?” Liam asked.

“We had some, uh…interesting things happen, but we’re still good. Our eye in the sky is making this extra easy.”

Liam looked up at the slice of sky above the alley. With the weather as it was, there was no light at all. Lady Zahradnik probably had a powerful darkvision item that let her out-range the Beastmen’s senses.

“How is Zahradnik talking to us?” Aykut came forward.

“She’s some sort of Commander,” Kai answered. “Going by the way she carries herself, something like an imperial Captain.”

“I didn’t know Commanders could do that…”

Kai walked past them. He stopped at a pair of injured men kneeling in the alley.

“The hell you just bleeding there for? Use your damn items.”

“But–”

“They’re expensive? Half of you are gonna die because you’re so damn stingy. You don’t get to keep them after this op’s done, by the way.”

The Ninja went out into the street. Bursts of blue flame lit the alley as the two men used scrolls to heal their wounds. Liam picked up his pace to catch up to Kai.

–are we going to be okay like this? These guys screwed up so many times.

Kai’s gaze flickered to Liam. His left hand moved by his thigh.

–dragging them around is part of the job. We don’t get to question.

Liam looked up to the sky again.

This country is built on loyalty, service and sacrifice. The people need something to stand on coming out of this.

Lady Zahradnik thought of some weird things. It wasn’t that Liam didn’t like it, but it wasn’t something people usually thought about or could afford to.

?Good work with that quarter. The southwest gate is now sealed. Tira’s team has cleared the southern wall and the southeast entrance is secure.?

They walked through the street littered with Beastman corpses, splitting up again when they reached the street leading to the southeast gate. One of the group leaders from the Suna family came forward when they approached one of the alleys to the next quarter, Silence scroll in hand. He glanced at Aykut with a smug look on his face.

?That alley leads to a small courtyard. Tira confirmed two Beastman Lords. A dozen followers.?

The man’s smug look vanished. He cast an uncertain gaze at the alley. Liam held out his hand.

“What?” The man said.

“We have to silence the courtyard,” Liam replied.

“But how? If I just run in there…”

Liam motioned impatiently with his fingers. The man dropped the scroll into his palm.

“You don’t have to target yourself,” Liam said.

“So you’re using it on the Beastman?”

“No,” Liam shook his head. “A scroll casts at the lowest power that its spell can be cast at. The chance to resist is too high.”

He pulled a kunai out from under his right bracer.

“The Silence spell goes onto this. I throw it at one of the Beastman Lords in the courtyard. Then we go in and kill everyone.”

Liam pulled out his vial of Purple Worm Venom. He looked up at the Suna man.

“Pick your best throwing arm,” Liam said. “We’ll hit both Lords at once.”

The man turned around, jerking his head at a thin guy in the back.

“Do you know how to envenom your weapon?” Liam asked.

In response, the thin guy pulled out a vial of Gigant Basilisk venom. Liam looked down to coat his kunai. When he looked back up again, the thin guy was on the ground.

Seriously?

People without the right training could accidentally get themselves with their own venom, but did it happen that easily?

A few people moved the thin guy to the side. One of them used a Cure Poison scroll on him, but it only removed the venom and not its effect. He was lucky that Basilisk Venom only inflicted paralysis. Liam envenomed the next guy’s weapon for him, then crept into the alley to look around the corner into the courtyard.

The two Beastman Lords were there as reported: both of the cougar-type. One was near the middle speaking to two other Beastmen. The second Lord was leaning on a wall on the far side. Most of the Beastmen that Liam could see were sleeping. He came back out to the street again.

“Only a few of them look awake,” Liam said. “Once we throw our weapons, everyone has to run in and fight. They won’t hear you coming, so move as fast as you can.”

He gestured for them to follow. Before they reached the corner, he crouched and activated the Silence scroll behind a pile of refuse. Liam gestured to the second thrower and pointed to the opposite wall. The man returned a blank look.

I should have said something about that first…

With the Silence effect active, Liam had no time to explain. He peeked around the corner again before coming out and cocking his throwing arm.

The kunai whipped out and buried itself in Beastman Lord’s lower back. It fell to its hands and knees. The second Beastman Lord came forward as the other active Beastmen looked around in confusion.

Liam pulled out a second kunai and whipped it at the approaching Beastman Lord. The three-metre-tall Demihuman dodged to the side to avoid it. A throwing knife sprouted from its shoulder.

“Go!” Liam said.

Men rushed forward as the second Beastman Lord fell stiffly to the mud. Liam drew his dagger and followed. The world went quiet as he crossed the threshold of the Silence spell.

He stepped over a man with a torn, blood-soaked coat. Three others pushed into a nearby Beastman, punching their long knives repeatedly into its body. Liam stopped to stab a stirring Beastman in the neck. Its emerald eyes fixed on him and its maw pulled back in a snarl. Liam twisted his wrist and pulled on his blade, ripping open its throat.

The men continued swarming over the courtyard, attacking sleeping and wakeful Beastmen alike. Several were pummelling the Beastman Lord, who was effectively incapacitated by the Purple Worm Venom. By the time the Silence spell expired, every Beastman lay still.

A roar sounded from nearby. Liam turned his head at the source.

Not here?

One of the windows overlooking the courtyard opened. A Cougar Beastman poked its head out. Liam flicked a kunai at it, but it merely glanced off the Beastman’s head.

“Get in that house!” He said.

The men nearby opened the door. Fortunately, the Beastman left it unlocked. Or did they know it could lock? They supposedly lived outside in the trees.

A commotion rose from within the house. The windows of several other homes opened.

?Clear those houses! Don’t let any escape to the other quarters!?

Two other groups of men came running in through the alleys. Liam opened the nearest door. He leaned over to check the inside from the doorframe. Five Beastmen were sleeping inside.

He buried his dagger in the temple of the closest one. The Beastman across the room snorted and stirred. Liam ran over and stabbed it three times in the back. It let out a piercing yowl and the others jerked awake.

Liam turned and drove his weapon into the eye of the rousing Beastman to his right. The other two finished pushing themselves up to their feet.

“You damn monkey,” one of them growled, “I’m going to drag your guts all over the room!”

His other dagger came out and he lowered himself into a defensive stance. The Beastman stepped forward.

Gods, he’s huge!

The house was made for Humans and it felt like the Beastman could reach the entire room with its huge paws. Claws like knives unsheathed and the Beastman bared its long fangs at him.

A swipe came from the left. Liam’s shoulder popped and he was sent into the wall. The wattle and daub panel broke apart. He rolled into another house where more Beastmen were stirring from their slumber.

“He’s mine!”

His attacker roared and lunged into the broken panel. Liam scurried back and opened the door, running into the courtyard. The Beastman sprinted out after him.

?Dodge!?

Liam’s body moved of its own accord. He threw himself to the right. The pouncing Beastman shot by, bowling over a man coming out of a different house. Four more men came out after him, clubbing and stabbing at the back of the Beastman.

This is chaos…

It was nothing like his methodical training. Everyone was just attacking what they could. No one was thinking about what their actions would lead to. The group that was assigned to him didn’t even follow him into the house and he had no idea where they had gone.

Liam used a scroll of Light Cure Wounds on himself. His arm returned to normal. He looked around himself before squatting beside a man bleeding out in the mud. Liam flipped the ashen figure over and searched for the case with his healing scrolls. After using two of them, the man’s complexion returned to normal. He struggled to sit up.

“Thanks,” the man grunted and winced. “I can take care of myself, now.”

All around the courtyard, men lay injured and unmoving. Liam shifted over to the nearest one, using his scrolls to heal him.

“Help me get the rest of these people up,” Liam said. “Why isn’t anyone taking care of their teams?”

A burst of azure flame flickered in front of the first man he had healed.

“Because that’s a Priest’s job,” he said.

“What?” Liam frowned, “So you’d just let people sit around with their guts ripped out like this?”

“No!” The man snapped, “No…that’s not what I meant. We’re not used to having all this stuff. When a man goes down in a fight, we have to keep fighting. There are no scrolls; no potions. When the fight’s done, we carry the wounded to the Temples for healing. We’ve never fought with so many magic items. What you gave each of us to use is enough to feed a family for their entire lives.”

Liam helped another person up and went to the next, biting his lip. The man was right. If someone was stabbed in Fassett Town, they didn’t just pull out a scroll or potion to heal themselves. They couldn’t even afford one. Chances were that they died before they could even drag themselves out of whatever alley they were attacked in. Even if they made it out into the street, people would likely look the other way.

The sounds of fighting receded and the men from the Draconic Kingdom came back out of the buildings smeared with sweat, grime and blood.

?More Beastmen coming from the next quarter. Crossing the street to the northeast. Let them come into the alleys. Don’t let any retreat.?

“Hey,” Aykut appeared beside him. “Where did you go?”

“Where did I go?” Liam was incredulous, “I went into the house when Lady Zahradnik’s orders came down to clear the buildings.”

“…we didn’t see which house you went into,” Aykut said, “so we entered another. These animals are much easier to kill when they’re sleeping, eh?”

Liam stared at the man.

?Beastmen from the northwest. Groups on that side get ready to ambush them.?

He cursed and went into a nearby house. This time, Aykut and the rest of his group followed. The original plan had them clearing the outdoors first, then going from building to building to get rid of the remaining Beastmen.

“How many do you think are coming?” Aykut’s voice wavered.

“I don’t know,” Liam said. “Each building out there will probably have as many Beastmen as the buildings around us.”

Aykut’s men exchanged nervous glances. One of them wiped his knife and presented it to Liam.

“Help me get this venom on,” he fished a vial out of his bandolier.

The rest of the men did the same. Once Liam was finished, he applied Purple Worm Venom to both his daggers and one of his kunai. They waited in the darkness as the sound of padded feet squished in the mud outside.

Something started sniffing nearby. A leg appeared in the doorway. Liam stabbed it. A spotted Beastman fell forward into the entrance. Another stepped over it and Liam stabbed it with the kunai in his left hand. He retreated deeper into the house, flicking his kunai at the next Beastman coming through and drawing his other dagger.

The kunai glanced off of the Beastman’s hip. Liam clicked his tongue. The venom on the weapon had been spent. Without a sneak attack, he could barely do anything against the Demihuman’s tough hide and layers of muscle.

He kept backing away. The Jaguar Beastman filled the living room with its low growl as it stalked after him. Liam led it past a wooden shelf. Aykut came out from behind the shelf and stabbed it in the back. The last of their opponents collapsed and the men came forward to finish them off.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Aykut said.

Another Jaguar Beastman appeared, pouncing from the doorway and crashing into Aykut. The man shrieked. Liam drove his remaining envenomed dagger into the back of the Beastman’s head.

“Something’s not right,” Liam said. “Why are they just charging after people like this?”

“The cats are like that,” Aykut let out a sigh of relief and crawled out from under the Beastman. “They fix themselves on one person at a time. If many people attack at once, they become confused. Those that come into the cities to hunt are easily lured into traps and ambushes because of this.”

“That would’ve been nice to know before we started,” Liam frowned.

“Sorry, you people operate so smoothly that I thought you knew all that there was to know. Oh, this usually doesn’t work against their warriors, but a Beastman warrior is all sorts of worries on top of that.”

Liam re-envenomed his weapons. At this rate, he would be out in two or three more fights. He retrieved his kunai and checked the courtyard from the shadows of the house. Several men were already standing outside.

“It looks safe.” Aykut said, “Lady Zahradnik would say something if it wasn’t and she saw them just standing there.”

“She can’t see everything at once,” Liam said. “Let’s just wait. If Beastmen jump them, be ready to help.”

Though the amount of chaotic, noisy fighting that they did felt like it would wake the entire city, it probably hadn’t. Helama was larger than E-Rantel and the sound of a brawl in the streets of Fassett Town didn’t carry much more than a block or two. With the rain, probably less. The biggest risk was someone reporting it to the Lords in the central keep instead of coming to see what the noise was about out of curiosity.

The sound of another fight rose somewhere nearby. It died down shortly after.

?Looks like we’re clear for now. The southeast gate is sealed. Let’s keep going.?

They left the house and filed out of the alley leading to the southwest gate. He stopped to empty the bandolier of the man who had paralysed himself before moving on. A figure vanished from a window across the street. Liam raised his hand.

“Wait. Something saw us.”

He padded over to stand under the window. A voice drifted through the curtains.

“Mama, where are you going?”

“Shh…mother has to do something, so be a good girl and wait here. Be quiet and don’t peek outside until the sun is out.”

Liam exchanged a look with Aykut. To his surprise, the man motioned for the group to go around to the back of the house. They caught the Beastman mother as she came out into the alley, leaving her dead two metres from the door. Four of the men went inside while Liam and Aykut watched the alley.

“You don’t like it,” Aykut said in a low voice.

“What?”

“Your face,” the man told him. “Guilt is written all over it. You heard what this Beastman said; now you’re guilty about the men killing a mother and her child.”

Did it look like that? Liam pointedly gazed down one of the alleyways.

“This is what it’s like here,” Aykut said. “These people come to eat us every week. In villages; towns; cities. Adults; children – they all see us as food. All we can do when they come is hurt them as much as we can.”

The men came out again. They left the alley, jogging to catch up to the rest. Halfway there, Lady Zahradnik’s voice sounded in their heads.

?Movement in the keep. Finish up what you’re doing and stand by. Seal the Wharf and Ferry Gates.?

“But we’re not done yet,” Aykut complained.

“I don’t think they care about that,” Liam replied.

“Humour,” the man grinned. “When life is grim, it is best to keep one’s spirits up, yes?”

?They’re sending people to the previous quarter. Keep clearing.?

They resumed their jog. How many Beastmen did they have left to kill? With so many people working with them, they should have gotten at least half.

“What if they go after our people?” Aykut asked.

“That’s why we put traps everywhere? Lady Zahradnik is up in the sky somewhere, so she should see it if it happens.”

A group of Beastmen appeared from the street leading to the southeast gate. A roar filled the air.

“Found them!”

“Uh oh.”

More Beastmen poured out of an alley nearby. Didn’t they just come out of the keep? They were stupid fast.

The Demihumans slowed as they closed on them. Maybe they were wary because of all of the bodies. Liam downed his enhancement potions and drew his daggers, eyes searching for a way out.

“The tower?”

“If we run,” Aykut swallowed, “they will chase. They are faster than we.”

Liam crouched defensively as the Beastmen closed. They should have used their Fly scrolls right away.

A figure landed in front of them, mantle settling around a tall, slender form. The Beastmen took a step back at her sudden appearance.

“A…a Human Lord?”

“What’s a Human Lord doing here?!”

Though it sounded strange, Liam supposed that Lady Zahradnik was, in fact, a Human Lord.

A long glaive appeared in her hand. Its softly-glowing blade cut an arc through the rain.

“What’s wrong?” Lady Zahradnik said, “I thought you all sought worthy opponents to test your mettle.”

Her bold demeanour gave the gathering Beastmen pause. Many looked to the larger Beastmen scattered amongst them. A huge Cougar Beastman joined the encirclement.

“Who the hell are you?!” He roared.

“Baroness Ludmila Zahradnik.”

The newcomer seemed taken aback at her straightforward response.

“Count Arana con Kuarana,” he replied.

“Good morning, Count Arana con Kuarana,” Lady Zahradnik inclined her head slightly. “By order of Draudillon Oriculus, the Black Scale Dragon Lord and Queen of the Draconic Kingdom, you and your people are to be purged from her domain. You may choose how you wish to die.”

“A mere Human Baroness wishes to challenge me?” The Beastman Lord stormed forward, “Bravado has its lim–”

Count Arana con Kuarana fell in two halves on the street. Lady Zahradnik flicked the blood off of her blade.

“Next,” she said.

“What are you waiting for?” A tall Tiger Beastman shouted from the rear of the encirclement, “Bury her!”

As one, the Beastmen lunged at Lady Zahradnik.

?Keep them from running up that tower.?

Three Beastmen fell in three strokes as the Baroness stepped to her left. She cut her way forward and Liam dashed through the opening. They passed Lady Zahradnik as she turned to face the charging Demihumans. Roars reverberated off of the nearby wall as he made his way to the nearby tower.

“Madness,” Aykut’s breath heaved as he entered the stairwell with the rest. “What the hell is she?!”

“Uh…she’s Baroness Zahradnik? I don’t know how else to put it.”

Liam looked out from the tower door. It didn’t look like any Beastmen were coming their way. They were just making a bloody pile in front of Lady Zahradnik.

“That’s not normal,” Aykut said. “She’s like an Adventurer!”

?The rest of you can join in anytime…?

Two dozen black figures appeared from the shadows, cutting down Beastmen all around them. A chorus of shouts rose from the other side of the battle as the Rogues clearing the quarters came to help. Aykut and his men raised a shout of their own as they ran from the tower, weapons brandished. Liam remained at the base of the tower.

Not ten minutes later, thousands of Beastman corpses carpeted the street. Liam finally came out to join the jubilant Human victors. Lady Zahradnik turned and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks for listening,” she smiled.

Liam nodded, letting out a relieved sigh. He looked up at the lightening skies, then pulled out his watch. It hadn’t even been two hours since they started.

“A strategic victory,” Lady Zahradnik murmured, “but a tactical failure…”

“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Tira strolled over to stand beside the Baroness. “Or maybe you were too ambitious.”

“Maybe. Hopefully, the next city won’t be so chaotic. We’re still short one Jaguar-type Clanlord…”

“I got him on the way here from the Ferry Gate. He was back with all the mystics.”

“Did you get all the mystics too?”

“Of course!” Tira grinned, “You gathered up all those Beastmen pretty good. They came this way like ants to honey.”

“It seems that all of the locals I spoke to weren’t exaggerating,” Lady Zahradnik said. “A ‘Human Lord’ is an irresistible target.”

20th Day, Upper Wind Month, 1 CE, 0900 Hours

Il-Engoarhr nar Yular’s wet footsteps squished over the muddy shore of the Vinael River. He shook his coat, soaked through from the crossing. The cold damp, however, was no match for the fury that rose within him over being forced to swim across the estuary.

That damn il-Enarana. If he’s trying to keep us from Helama now…

When the clans from the north arrived at the shores of the river, they found the ferries missing. All he could assume was that il-Enarana, who controlled the river crossing, abandoned the other clans to preserve their supplies and themselves.

Several dozen of il-Engaorhr’s closest vassals accompanied him as he stormed up the road to the city entrance. Unsurprisingly, the gate was closed. He scanned the walls, which were absent of sentries.

Those cowards can’t even look us in the eye…

“Il-Enarana!” He shouted up at the battlements, “What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

It was hardly the time for the clans to turn on one another. A massive army of the Undead was coming and they needed all of their strength to survive.

“Il-Enarana! Come out and face me, you coward!”

A sphere of flame streaked out from one of the arrow slits, exploding at il-Engoarhr’s feet. Searing pain overwhelmed his senses. He collapsed amidst the charred remains of his vassals.

As his awareness faded, the voice of a Human male called down to il-Engoarhr.

“City’s closed, kitty cat. Get fucked!”

Higher resolution map here.