The Northern Approach (30 page)

When the first soldier attacked, Raeln leaned away from the blade, caught the man’s inner elbow with his hand, and pulled the soldier toward him as he brought his knee up into the weak spot of the man’s armor, below his armpit. The impact staggered the man and could well have broken his ribs, given how he collapsed and dropped his weapon, but Raeln no longer cared about him. There were three more to deal with. So long as these undead behaved like living men and fell like them, he would continue to push his attack.

Spinning and using his forearm to catch the cross guard of the next man’s sword, Raeln bowed sharply into the man, slamming his forehead into the soldier’s helmet. With a grunt, the man fell in a heap. A blood spray let Raeln know he had been living.

Dancing and moving, Raeln kept up his pace, tearing at the remaining two living soldiers with his off-hand’s claws as he tried to get an opportunity to cripple them. Gradually, they backed off as blood loss and fear diminished their willingness to continue. Putting them on the defensive only continued to aid Raeln, and he pushed his attack, catching one of the men by the throat and holding him, locking his claws into the unarmored flesh on either side of his neck.

The other man tried to free his companion and Raeln kicked up and knocked the soldier’s weapon away. Before the man could recover, Raeln released the first man and punched the second in the face, shattering his nose and dropping him to his knees. With his other hand, he brought up his sword and skewered the man in the throat.

“How do they know we’re here?” Raeln demanded as he grabbed the one standing man by the throat again, though he noted several of the zombies near his feet were starting to get back up, still steaming from the flames used on them. “Tell me and I’ll show you the same mercy they showed my family. You have my promise.”

“Geraine,” the man gasped, his gloves sliding off Raeln’s hand as he struggled to free himself. “He sold you out. The whole guard is being dispatched. A thousand men.”

“Thank you,” Raeln told the man and then clamped his fingers together, tearing deeply into the man’s arteries and throat. He released the soldier, letting him fall to the ground, wheezing and choking on his own blood. “Consider my promise upheld.”

Raeln turned and saw the robed wizard had run, leaving On’esquin standing alone at the far end of the alley, holding the spear in the air challengingly. The weapon smoked like it had been through a fire, but On’esquin appeared unharmed.

“Are we clear to go?” asked Estin, leaning out of the house’s doorway and looking both directions in the alley. “We have to grab supplies or we wouldn’t get far. Are you hurt?”

“No,” Raeln told him gruffly and hid his blood-drenched hand. He idly noted that he had small cuts all around his shirt where he had gotten closer to the soldiers’ weapons than he had thought. He was slower than he liked from lack of practice, not something he really wanted others to know about. “Not really. I’ll check myself once we’re outside the city. Get them moving, Estin.”

The group came out in a hurry. Estin led the way and Thomin, Ira, and then Yoska followed. They ran past Raeln, with Thomin giving Estin directions as they went. A second later, On’esquin seemed to notice they were leaving and turned and ran toward Raeln, waving him on.

Raeln nodded to the orc and ran along the main group, trying to take the lead. As he neared Estin, the smaller man’s tail darted across the alley to stop him. Estin looked over at Raeln, giving him a firm stare that brooked no argument. “I can do this,” he warned without stopping. “Cover me, but stop trying to lead. I need this right now. Keep an eye out for the fox…I think we lost her.”

Somewhat surprised at the change in the man as he took charge, Raeln fell back beside Ira and Thomin, trying to position himself within the alley to protect them if necessary. The tight confines of the back streets at least provided them with far fewer angles they needed to protect from, though Raeln occasionally glanced up at the rooftops above them, wondering how long before archers would arrive.

“Take the next right,” Thomin told them as they ran toward the end of the alley and a well-lit street beyond. “Quarter mile down that and take a left. We’ll be at old oracle pavilion in no time. It’s been abandoned and might give us some time to breathe.”

Estin continued running but took the sharp turn as indicated. He disappeared from Raeln’s sight for a second, and it was then that Raeln saw more soldiers coming down the alley toward them. They would reach the middle of his group before they had all reached the turn Estin had taken.

Slowing his pace, Raeln let the three humans pass him and duck into the next alley behind Estin. The soldiers were getting close quickly and On’esquin was still far behind. Raeln knew dividing the group was risky, but he was not going to let On’esquin get cut off. Estin would have to protect the others.

Farther back behind On’esquin, Raeln could see more soldiers, many of whom appeared to be undead. He and On’esquin were trapped if they lost access to the alley where the others had gone.

“I’m good. Run!” On’esquin shouted as he got closer. Almost as an afterthought as he faced Raeln, On’esquin swept his spear around over his shoulder, skewering one of the undead in the face. “Run!”

Raeln hesitated a little longer to ensure On’esquin would only be a few steps behind him, before turning to face the soldiers coming from the main street that were about to cut him and On’esquin off from the rest of their group. Rushing at them with a bellowing roar, Raeln brought the group to a halt, all of them hunkering down and raising their shields.

With the charge of the soldiers broken, Raeln then turned and headed down the alley after the others. The group had been separated by almost thirty feet of open space, with the others visible far down near the next corner. Raeln motioned for them to go on, but they waited, watching him nervously.

Metal on metal rang behind Raeln, and he turned to see On’esquin backing into the alley behind him with four soldiers shoulder-to-shoulder in front of him. They were attacking as fast as they could, trying to get around the man’s weapon, but On’esquin kept them from landing so much as a scratch on his armor, twirling the spear as elegantly as any elf Raeln had ever seen. Despite his bulky build and heavy armor, the man was agile beyond Raeln’s expectations, fighting in much the same way Raeln did, using speed and anticipation to overcome a foe, rather than pure strength. His spear darted and slashed even in the narrow alley, tearing at the soldiers’ armor and leaving trails of blood on their clothing as they tried to use their shields to keep On’esquin off them. When an undead soldier tried to push forward, On’esquin used the butt of his spear to drive the man back, using him to slow the others.

“Keep going,” On’esquin insisted, spinning to give Raeln a grin before coming back around in time to block a soldier’s sword. “I can hold these whelps for hours if needed. Isn’t that right, boys? Put your backs in it or don’t bother trying. Bet you wished you covered your shoulder now, eh? I’ve been doing this longer than your masters.”

Raeln tried to ignore the urge to laugh at the absurdity of their situation. They were within minutes of being overrun, while On’esquin was having fun playing with the soldiers. In another city and time, he would have loved to watch the man spar, but this was not the time or place for that. Here, Raeln wanted to disappear before they were found out by much larger forces.

Turning to head up the alley in the hope that On’esquin would get the hint and follow, Raeln saw they had already taken too long. Four soldiers had diverted through a home and ran into the alley through a side door like the one that had led into Thomin and Ira’s home, filing into the space between Raeln and Yoska, who was trailing the lead group. Those soldiers took up defensive stances, clearly intending to hold their ground as long as they could until more troops could arrive. Unlike the previous group, these appeared to all be living men, though Raeln could see in their eyes that this was one of their first fights. They were terrified.

Drafted soldiers…that, Raeln could deal with. Their morale would be easily broken.

Raeln advanced on the nearest two soldiers, who dropped to one knee and raised their shields and swords. Their placement within the alley gave him little chance of getting past their defenses, but he could see fearful eyes watching him from the lip of their metal helms. The soldiers behind them leveled spears at him, apparently trying to convince him it would be too dangerous to keep coming.

“I was the last man standing in Lantonne when it fell,” Raeln told them, coming up to the limit of the spears’ reach. “Do you think the four of you can stop me? Lower your weapons and run. You either die here or you die if you are found to be cowards by the undead that rule here…pick one. The latter gives you a chance to lie convincingly or flee the city.”

Behind the soldiers, Raeln saw Yoska start heading his way to help.

The men hunkered down farther, holding their position, though Raeln could tell they desperately wanted to run. Two more soldiers stepped out of the house, cutting off Yoska’s attempt to come back to Raeln. Those men looked back at Raeln nervously, letting him know they had heard as well.

“Your general will execute you if he finds out you ran,” Raeln went on, listening to On’esquin’s approach behind him. He had a few more seconds before the alley needed to be clear. “I will break your arms and legs and throw you into the street to be spat upon by your fellow soldiers. In the end your general will still execute you and turn you into undead. Running now, you can keep your limbs and maybe get out of punishment if you are clever.”

The nearest of the soldiers took a swing at Raeln with his sword, which Raeln had expected once they reached their breaking point. He grabbed the weapon near its hilt midswing and yanked it away, shoving it into his own belt. That gave him two weapons, which was somewhat comforting.

The front row of soldiers gave each other nervous looks and then ran through the door beside them, leaving the other four behind—two spearmen and the two soldiers facing Yoska. Those men realized they were alone and shifted swiftly, putting their backs together so one faced Raeln and the other Yoska, while the spearmen pulled back their weapons to shorten them and get better maneuverability in the alley.

“Enough of this. We have somewhere else to be,” Raeln told the spearman who stood before him. Pushing aside the spear as it was thrust at him, he lunged. Raeln feinted high before kicking the man’s knee, buckling it backward. He grabbed the man’s helmet and twisted sharply, breaking his neck, and let the man fall to the ground with a clatter. The second spearman immediately dropped his weapon and ran through the open door.

Before Raeln could clear the body of the man he had just killed, the other two soldiers fell slowly to their knees and collapsed sideways. Both had wide gashes across their throats that poured out blood.

Yoska quickly knelt beside them, wiping down his knife on one of the soldiers’ shirts. “Talking is only faster when you do not have a knife,” Yoska noted, grinning up at Raeln. “Get moving. I help magic green man embarrass the others. You keep Estin from being dead when I return, yes?”

Nodding, Raeln stepped over the corpses and ran to catch up with Estin, Ira, and Thomin, who were still waiting at the corner, watching him.

Estin stood ready, his swords drawn and tail flicking angrily back and forth over his head, while the humans with him looked around nervously. None of them had expected this kind of resistance from what Raeln could see.

“I changed my mind,” Estin told him as he reached the group. “You can lead after what I’ve seen you do the last few minutes. You’re far better at this.”

Raeln laughed and walked past Estin and straight up to Ira. “Which way out of here?” he asked her.

Ira pointed toward a building at one end of the alley that rose far above many others in the area. “The oracles’ temple,” she explained, glancing past Raeln when the sound of weapons clattering echoed through the narrow alley. “They were taken weeks ago, so that building should be empty. It sits on three exits from the city walls. We go in, hide, and go out the far side. This has been our plan for a while, but with only three of us…”

“Understood,” Raeln replied, heading up the alley.

He ran north toward the temple, keeping his ears focused on the people behind him to be sure he did not get too far ahead. Soon they reached the edge of a street, with the high columns of the temple sitting on the far side. Splayed across the street, Raeln could see nearly a hundred undead soldiers, set up and ready to prevent entry. They had built up barricades in a hurry, which Raeln knew would not slow him, but the others would have to climb over. There was no way through that crowd without losing at least half of the people that followed him.