The spire’s lights seemed to shine brighter than usual, bathing the ruins of Islop in a nightmarish red glare. Galfin tried to ignore his pumping heart as he hid amongst the rubble of the manor, feeling the dull thuds through the ground that marked the progress of the brute. It seemed to be moving away from him, but he was not sure if it would return. Carefully, he raised his head and looked around for signs of where Chelhem might be. He was fairly confident the boy hadn’t been caught. There would have been more of a commotion. That was an encouraging sign. Now, the question was where on earth he could be.
There was no sign of the boy in the immediate vicinity. Where on earth could he have gone to relieve himself? With luck, he was lying low, which was the smart thing to do, but it also made it harder for Galfin to find him. Now he was left wondering if he should go out to search the town with that brute patrolling or trust in the boy and wait until morning.
He cursed. It wasn’t much of a choice at all. He thought of all the places the boy could be and cursed again. Why couldn’t he have just gone in a corner of the cellar? Gods knew it was large enough that no one would notice. Then, a sudden thought crossed his mind, and he cursed a third time. His house on the edge of town. The boy couldn’t be that stupid, but there was nowhere else Galfin could think of that he might be.
The lumberjack poked his head up and when he saw the coast was clear, he kept to the shadows as he darted down the road in the direction of his house. In the back of his mind, he knew it was futile. The Enemy could see in the dark, but it made him feel a little safer. As he approached the edge of the town, he began to feel a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Initially, he assumed it was due to the light, but he soon realized that the rumbling underfoot had stopped. Had the brute stopped moving?
Galfin froze and looked around, amazed that he could lose track of such a huge creature when not a thing around him stood higher than his waist. It took him a moment to find the brute. It was standing at the end of the street where Galfin’s house once stood. The creature was motionless, and the lumberjack had initially thought it was an oddly shaped piece of rubble. Then, it’s ears twitched. The creature threw its head back and let out a series of barks and grunts.
Moments later, Galfin saw movement coming from the rubble to his right and dove over the remains of a wall to his right. He poked his head up to see four of the child sized creatures he had fought back in Helurid bounding up the road on all fours towards the brute. The larger creature growled at them, and they charged forward in the direction of Galfin’s home.
Had they caught the boy’s scent? What else could it be? What should he do now? The smaller creatures he could take, but a brute? There was little chance he could slay it on his own.
“You look troubled.”
Galfin jumped when he heard his partner’s voice suddenly in his ear. He whirled around and saw Aeldra giving him an accusatory look.
“Thought you could slip out without me noticing?”
“Did you notice the boy leaving?” he demanded when he had recovered his composure.
“The boy is light on his feet,” she admitted. “And you were talking to me at the time…”
“Fine,” Galfin sighed. “Any ideas?”
“Let them tear the boy apart and hope he doesn’t lead them back to us?” she suggested.
Galfin shot her a look. “That isn’t funny.”
Aeldra shrugged. “It was a stupid question. We fight. What else is there to do?”
“Find him and bring him back to the cellar without them realizing?” Galfin suggested.
“Maybe if the wizard was with us…” she began before shaking her head. “Her loud mouth would have alerted those beasts long ago.”
The elf scowled and glanced at the spire. “Never mind these beasts, they could probably hear her from there.”
Galfin raised an eyebrow. “All the same, I’m surprised you didn’t bring her.”
“What would the point be?” she snapped. “She made it abundantly clear she needed rest before she could be relied upon.”
Aeldra then turned her gaze to the brute. “So, do you want to deal with them before they tear the boy to shreds?”
Galfin nodded and slowly got to his feet.
“I could play with the big one while you deal with the smaller ones,” Aeldra suggested.
Galfin shook his head. “We don’t know how many of them are lurking out there, and we certainly don’t want to risk them alerting the tower. We need to deal with them quietly.”
The elf shrugged. “Then we take the large one down first.”
Galfin nodded and unslung his axe.
“Let’s hope the boy is good at hiding,” Aeldra murmured.
The creature’s back was turned to the pair, and Galfin scarcely dared to breathe as he broke out of cover and padded towards it. When he was roughly thirty paces away, the creature cocked its head to the side, causing him to freeze in place. What could have caught its attention? Galfin was sure his approach had been silent.
It seemed to notice something to its right and turned abruptly, causing the ground to rumble underfoot. As it turned, Galfin came into its field of view. The brute opened its fang lined mouth to let out a roar, but all that came out was a gurgle when an arrow struck it in the throat. The creature raised an arm to protect its head from a hail of arrows, and Galfin charged forward. The lumberjack swung his axe, striking the creature in the knee. It was like felling a tree. The brute began to teeter before falling and as it fell, Galfin buried his axe into its head.
The brute crashed into a heap with a loud thud, which attracted the attention of the smaller creatures. One poked its head out of the rubble inquisitively before quickly falling over dead with an arrow in its eye. Another three leapt onto the road and charged. Galfin ignored the closest two and set his eyes on the third.
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The first two fell to Aeldra’s arrows before they could reach the lumberjack. The third lunged, and the Galfin’s axe flashed, cutting the creature in half. Galfin knew two more remained. His concern for Chelhem grew, and he began running down the street towards the ruins of his house. As he ran past, a creature leapt from the rubble to his right, catching Galfin off guard. He only had time to raise his arm to prevent the creature from tearing his throat out before its bulk struck him, knocking him to the ground.
Gritting his teeth against the pain as the creature’s fangs sank into his arm, Galfin tried to claw at his assailant’s eyes as it shook its head violently. Then, the creature shuddered and was still. Galfin heaved the weight off his body and raised his head to see Aeldra with a fresh arrow ready in her bow, scanning their surroundings for any other threats. Another of the smaller creatures lay dead at her feet.
“Sorry about that,” Galfin offered sheepishly and gasped from the pain when he tried to move his arm.
“How bad is it?” she asked. “Can you fight?”
Galfin tried to move his arm and winced.
“It’s my right arm,” he managed through gritted teeth. His carelessness had cost him dearly, and he knew it. “I’m afraid I won’t be much good for a while.”
“Let’s find the boy and get back to the cellar so we can get it treated,” she said, giving his arm a concerned look. They had seen many of these types of wounds before and both knew he would almost certainly lose the limb if he didn’t get proper treatment promptly. Treatment neither had the expertise nor supplies to provide.
Galfin nodded and put his wound to the back of his mind. He looked over to his partner and asked. “Any more of them out there?”
The elf paused to look around before shaking her head slowly. “I don’t sense any but that doesn’t mean…”
“Chelhem?” Galfin called out softly. “It’s us, Galfin and Aeldra. You can come out. It’s safe for now.”
A loose stone was knocked over behind them. Aeldra whirled around with her bow raised and relaxed when she saw that it was the boy. His face was drawn, and his eyes wide with fear.
“Are they gone?” his voice was tiny, and Galfin’s heart ached when he heard it.
“Yes, they’re gone,” he said, picking his axe up with his left hand. “We should get back to the others.”
“Your arm… I couldn’t help but hear, it’s injured?” Chelhem asked.
“It’s just a scratch,” Galfin said with false bravado. “Nothing for you to worry about.”
The boy’s face fell. “I’m sorry, I just…”
He held up a small doll for Galfin to see. It was a wooden knight holding a sword. Its limbs were made from wood and attached to a torso with string. Tears welled in Galfin’s eyes. His son had begged him to make him one, and it had taken the lumberjack almost a year to finish. He had been so happy…
“I wasn’t sure if it was the right house,” Chelhem began.
“If you’re quite done,” Aeldra interjected tersely. “The longer we linger out here, the higher the chance we’ll be seen.”
Without thinking, Galfin attempted to take the doll with his free right hand but winced when he tried to raise it. Seeing the look of concern on Chelhem’s face, he forced a smile. “Help me carry it back, will you?”
“Want me to carry your axe?” Aeldra offered.
“Thank you,” he breathed and handed her the weapon.
Their pace was slow as they trudged down the ruined streets. Aeldra kept an arrow ready in her bow, and her head was on a swivel, looking back and forth for any signs of the Enemy as she walked. By the time they returned to the town’s main street where the mayor’s house was, Galfin was sweating profusely, and it felt like he was burning up. His breathing was heavy, and he felt like every step was a struggle.
Chelhem was the first to notice his plight and rushed to his side. “Here, let me help.”
Galfin yelped in pain when the boy inadvertently brushed against his wounded arm.
“I’m sorry!” the boy cried.
“Quiet, both of you!” Aeldra hissed.
“It was my fault!” the boy whispered.
“You shouldn’t be so hard…” Galfin began.
“Quiet!” Aeldra repeated, more urgently this time.
Galfin obeyed and heard a low moan. At first, he thought it was the sound of the wind. Then, he noticed the spire’s red light had intensified. Shadows appeared on the ground. Galfin looked to the sky and saw them, birds circling overhead.
“I haven’t seen birds since the sky burned,” Chelhem said with wonder in his voice.
Aeldra stared at the birds for a moment before running to Galfin’s side. “Those aren’t birds. We need to hide.”
“They’re new, aren’t they?” he said weakly.
Aeldra’s reply was terse. “I’ve not seen them before.”
With Aeldra supporting Galfin from the left, they into the ruins of a nearby building and hid behind the remains of a stone chimney. The pain in his arm was intense, and it felt as though it took all of the man’s strength to not flop onto the ground and curl up into a ball. Aeldra peered out from behind the chimney and cursed.
“They’re coming this way.”
The pain in his arm initially made their peril seem little more than a minor inconvenience, but the man forced himself to gather his wits and assess their situation.
“Nothing let out an alarm,” Galfin murmured. “At least nothing that could be heard from the spire.”
“Perhaps the Enemy has other methods of knowing something is awry,” Aeldra remarked. “We can’t stay here. They will find us too easily. Is there another cellar nearby?”
Galfin shook his head. “We can trace a path through the ruins and remain in relative cover.”
Aeldra looked up and bit her lip. “I don’t know the way.”
“I’ll show the way,” he croaked weakly.
Aeldra hesitated and Galfin forced a weak small. “Look, we don’t have many options here.”
The elf helped him to his feet, and he led the way through the ruins. They didn’t get far when he realized Chelhem was lagging behind. He gritted his teeth and forced Aeldra to stop.
“Don’t worry about them, look at me,” he said.
The boy’s face was white as a sheet. He nodded and scurried after them.
“No more mistakes, boy,” Aeldra hissed. “You’ve cost us enough tonight.”
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
They kept low as they moved, darting from cover to cover. The birds were approaching quickly. Galfin didn’t know how good their eyesight was, but as far as he could tell, they hadn’t been spotted yet.
“We need to be quicker,” Galfin gasped and gritted his teeth when his right arm brushed against a ruined wardrobe.
“Can you manage it?” Aeldra asked, furrowing her brow with concern.
“I’ll have to,” he said.
Aeldra attempted to quicken the pace, but the pain caused Galfin to almost pass out, forcing the elf to drag him to his feet.
“Next right and we’re there,” Galfin’s voice was scarcely a whisper.
Aeldra turned the corner and came to an abrupt halt. Her eyes widened in wonder when she found they were standing on the edge of the crater with the door on the opposite side of the pool of murky water.
“How did you plan on us getting back into the cellar?” she asked caustically.
“Jump,” he replied weakly.
Using his remaining strength, Galfin pulled himself free of Aeldra’s grasp and fell rather than jumped into the pool of water. The water was freezing cold and felt like death. Galfin attempted to kick his way up but was far too weak. As he struggled to reach the surface, he felt an arm around his waist attempt to push him up.
“You weigh a ton!” Aeldra gasped when their heads broke the surface.
“The boy!” Galfin cried. “Where is he?”
“Here I am!” Chelham said as he struggled to help keep Galfin afloat as he swam.
“There’s one problem with your plan,” Aeldra remarked as they swam for the door.
Galfin looked up and his heart sank. The door was three feet above the water level and the birds were far too close now for them to climb the sides of the crater and search for the hatch. He’d killed them all. The water was cold. So cold that it numbed his limbs, making them feel leaden, but not cold enough to quench the fire that seemed to burn in his wounded arm. Maybe he was destined to die here in the town where his family met their ends. The world began to slip.
As his eyes glazed, the door to the cellar miraculously swung open, and Findel’s face popped out. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw them.
“I thought I heard your voices!” he gasped. “Odd time for a swim!”
A smile crept across the man’s face. At least his companions would survive. At the end of his rope mentally and physically, Galfin allowed himself to succumb to the black.
