Jarod had to watch his step to avoid sections of the bridge which had been blasted away and planks of wood supported by nothing. Every other step seemed to make the straining structure groan underfoot, but he put the notion of peril out of his mind to focus on the approaching grey-furred monsters.

  Compared to Jarod’s careful footing, the monsters charged onward with no care or concern for the bridge’s imminent collapse. They ran pell-mell towards Jarod and Filgrin, tripping over themselves without stopping, using their arms to fling themselves forward when necessary. The strange throaty language the creatures spoke issued forth from their mouths nonstop now, a barrage of incomprehensible words that sounded at once like baby talk and a warrior’s battle cry.

  Another arrow whizzed over Jarod’s shoulder and struck one of the creatures in its forearm. It spun around, clutching its arm in pain, but managed to continue the charge. Each of the creatures brandished oversized swords, taken from fallen surveyors whose corpses now littered the bridge, staining the dark wood with crimson.

  In another instant, Jarod was toe to toe with the first creature. It was the monster who had already lost its partner, jibbering madly in that monstrous tongue. It swung its sword in a wide arc, gathering momentum until it brought it crashing down towards Jarod.

  Luckily, this front creature was the one Filgrin had managed to hit, and its aim was off thanks to the injured limb. The sword crashed down wide of Jarod as he lunged forward himself, drawing in close to the small creaturing, and stabbing downward to slash at its uncovered head.

  Roll to hit

  Kitchen knife: [6]+1

  Hit for [2] damage

  The thin blade found its mark just above the creature’s ear. It stabbed through the tattered cloth cap and buried itself up to the hilt. The monster’s legs ran forward, spinning without purchase, as its body pushed itself further forward against Jarod’s pressure. Jarod felt the knife snap in his hand, the blade still embedded in the thing’s skull. The counterpressure suddenly gone, the monster tumbled forward, and collapsed on the ground.

  One down, two to go. Jarod tossed the remaining hilt of the knife at the two approaching creatures, and had just enough time to pull the longsword from the dead creature’s clutches before the next two were upon him.

  Roll for initiative

  [2]

  Lose initiative

  Jarod brought the heavier blade up just in time to meet the first blow. He might not have any formal sword training, but as a blacksmith, he at least knew the proper stance to defend himself in. The wild swing of the monster’s attack slammed heavily into Jarod’s blade. It was enough to turn away the first attack, but the momentum had left him open to an attack from the second monster who was already mid-swing.

  Hit for [3] damage.

  Health: 1/5

  Grievous injury

  A searing pain, hot and wet, flashed in a line across Jarod’s leg. He felt his own flesh pull apart as the blade thudded in, and then drew itself out. He stumbled back in pain. A cry escaped his lips, as automatic responses took over control of his body. He could tell the injury was bad, grave enough to take him out of the fight once the adrenaline dumped from his body, or to outright kill him if it had hit an artery.

  Jarod had no spare moment to assess the lethality of the slash, because the monsters kept running forward, pressing their advantage. A stray thought in the back of his head noticed the creatures had two thumbs on each hand, as he slashed out with his longsword on instinct, trying to chop their hands off.

  Roll to hit

  Longsword: [6]+1-2

  Hit for [3] damage

  The heavy blow from the monster had left Jarod shaky, but his sword flashed out just the same in a desperate attempt to fend them off. As he stumbled backwards, he just managed to get his good leg planted behind him adding some power and speed that took his target off guard. The blade bit into the creature’s left hand, encountering surprisingly little resistance as it sliced clean through, and then drew a ferocious pale blue slice up the creature’s midsection and chest.

  Another arrow flew past Jarod, this time flying just wide of its flailing target. Jarod heard the off-rhythm thud of footsteps behind him that assured him Filgrin was close behind at least.

  “We have to finish them,” Filgrin called. “The others have noticed, they’ll start coming any second.”

  They’d known that was a possibility going in, that the other creatures might be hot on their tail in a moment’s time. Jarod had hoped that, somehow, things would just work out, and they’d be too distracted looting the surveyors that they wouldn’t hear the noise coming from the bridge. They were nearly finished with them at least. Down to just two, and one of them was already injured.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Jarod took a step forward, forgetting for a moment the massive injury on his leg, and nearly fell to the ground in pain. He could feel the damaged muscle threatening to rip itself further apart with every step, but he’d have to fight through it. They were dead if he didn’t.

  Roll for initiative

  [6] - 1

  Win initiative

  The creature now missing a hand had taken a step back and hunched over, trying to stem the flow of blue blood from their new stump. Tending to their wound, the creature had dropped its sword, leaving it open for Jarod’s next attack.

  Roll to hit

  Longsword: [2]+1

  Hit for [2] damage

  Thrusting forward with his sword, Jarod stabbed into flesh once more, leaving a clean hole in the front of the monster’s chest. Its shoulders tensed up, then it fell neatly backwards, its remaining hand still clutching the stump.

  Filgrin’s next arrow was aimed well, and it sank into the creature’s hip. It hobbled backwards, clutching at the arrow with one hand while dragging the sword with the other. It never took its eyes off the attacking duo, still ready to defend itself.

  Jarod was getting ready for another swing at it, when the monster suddenly leapt sideways, grabbed onto one of the remaining handrails on the bridge, and disappeared underneath. He could hear scuttling as it crawled directly underneath him, and then past Filgrin to join an approaching regiment of a half-dozen of the things.

  Filgrin pulled alongside him. “No time to stop, we have to get across this bridge.”

  “There’s nothing over there for us. It’s just more of the creatures and the surveyors,” said Jarod, but he allowed Filgrin to support him and drag him onward.

  “Better than here,” the older man muttered under his breath.

  That was true at least. They’d been able to win their encounter with the first four creatures, but only because they had the element of surprise and some distance for Filgrin to shoot from the back. Now that Jarod was seriously wounded, and another three pairs of monsters were fast approaching, there was no way they would win another head-on fight with them.

  Jarod gritted his teeth and hobbled as fast as his legs could take him. The pain was becoming more poignant now that the fervor of the fight was wearing off. Stabbing pains shot through his leg every time he stepped, like heated daggers plunging into the exposed inside of his muscle. He relied more and more on Filgrin to support the weight on his right side, kicking as hard as he could with his good left side to counteract as best he could. They’d have to hope for some friendly faces at the end of the bridge.

  Willpower Check (4)

  [11]

  Success

  Jarod risked a glance back when he noticed the message and saw the six creatures nearly a quarter bridge length behind them still. Despite his injury, they were still able to outpace the short creatures without too much difficulty. Now they just had to hope some of the villagers would be waiting in their defense once they crossed the bridge.

  It looked as though only one of the carriages had made it all the way across. It was the lead carriage that he’d seen Avery ride off in that first night. He hoped that particular surveyor was condemned to one of the already-destroyed carriages today.

  Although he could see all of the villagers had run out of the streets by now, it seemed the other side of the bridge had survived comparatively unscathed. None of the telltale pillars of smoke or blasted open doorways marked the presence of the monsters. Filgrin and he would at least not be running into another attack across the bridge, but it didn’t seem as though there were any villagers ready to come to their defense either.

  “Hey!” Jarod yelled out. “Anyone there, help! It’s Jarod.”

  He kept screaming as they closed the last 100 feet across the bridge. Filgrin was starting to tire alongside him from the extra weight, and the bowyer’s breathing had grown heavy and ragged. Another glance back told him the monsters were beginning to close the distance. They wouldn’t have any time to look for another open doorway to dash into before the monsters were upon them. They could at least make it to the carriage in the middle of the road. Maybe they could hide in there.

  That was Jarod’s thought as they approached, but as he continued calling out for help, he began to think their run towards the carriage might not have been the smartest idea. The windows on the carriage had their curtains drawn still, but he saw the carriage shift around, and a head peered out from around the corner. It was the leader of the surveyors, Nikolao.

  To rescue Wilfurd, they’d thrown themselves into danger, charging onto the bridge and attacking the monsters. Now, on the run from those terrible creatures, they’d run right back to Jarod’s captors. The very captor who had sentenced him to prison in the first place. He had to hope that the enemy of their enemy was indeed their friend.

  “They’re right on us,” Jarod called out. “Quick, we need your help.” He hoped direct instructions and a call for help would tide over the surveyor from thinking about their situation too closely for now.

  Nikolao’s eyes went wide when he saw them, and wider still when he saw the creatures chasing them. He quickly disappeared around the corner again, and the carriage shifted around once more.

  It was just their luck that the only people close enough to do anything were the surveyors. From the conversation Jarod had had with him in the mayor’s cellar, it didn’t seem like he was much of a brave one, so he certainly couldn’t be counted on to come to their aid. Maybe if they could force the door open and climb into the carriage, the surveyors would be forced to help them. It seemed more likely than their odds of making it to one of the houses before the monsters caught up with them.

  They were only a handful of paces from the edge of the bridge when the weight of the carriage shifted around once more. Emerging first not from around the corner, but from over the top of the carriage, was a black cloak. Jarod recognized him immediately as the unnaturally tall driver he’d seen atop the carriage earlier.

  The man in the black cloak swept around the corner with one elongated pace, and then turned and walked towards the bridge with a second. He stood well over 20 feet tall, with long legs and even longer arms that drooped down all the way to his knees. His left arm, still hidden behind the carriage for a moment longer, whipped around, revealing a long glaive, the staff nearly 10 feet long itself, with a blade another 2 feet beyond that. Jarod couldn’t tell where the pitch black eyes looked, beyond that they gazed in his direction.

  The motion of the blade continued, drawing out an arc as the man brought the blade spinning over the top of him, and pointed forwards. Without moving from his position by the carriage, the man thrusted forth, stabbing out over 20 feet, all the way to the bridge.

  Jarod felt the wind of the blade as it passed just outside his injured leg, stabbing into one of the creatures that was just making a lunge at his feet with one of the surveyor’s longswords. It was stopped dead in its tracks, as the gigantic man prepared another thrust, stabbing between Jarod and Filgrin close enough that they flinched apart. Jarod pitched forward as all his weight was suddenly placed on his injured leg, but before he could even hit the ground, he saw the spray of blue blood as the man’s glaive was pulled back out of another creature.

  Jarod hit the ground and spun around, bringing the weapon up in front of him in a vain attempt to defend himself from another attack by the monsters, but all he could focus on was the long glaive, flicking in and out of one body after another.