Chapter 15

‘Blocked too...’ the slender woman passed silently between the houses, carefully looking for an opening in the enemy lines. ‘There are just too many...’ she though as she held her breath, nearly alerting one of the beasts standing around a corner. She sneaked back to their shelter in a cellar of a massive building they cleared out before. The distance was only a hundred meters but she needed over half an hour to reach it, dodging the slowly moving creatures all around her, now knowing the distance they could feel her suppressed power or hear her silent steps.

Emerging silently from the door, Linda shook her head at the questioning glances of her companions. Nobody had died in the past four weeks but their goal seemed more and more unachievable. “There has to be a way...” Alice muttered as she looked at the map before her, several spots left blank. “Are you sure this is the way?” she looked at Lucien who was absorbed in a book he had found in the cellar. “YES! The more I read and understand the more I am sure this is the way!” he said excitedly before a hand covered his mouth. Peter only lifted a finger to his mouth before releasing him again. “Sorry, sorry...” Lucien had an apologetic look on his face as he looked at the bulk of a man before him.

“We only have to get up there, I’m sure we’re very close.” he continued in a whisper. If it wasn’t for his expertise in understanding patterns, maps and history that he proved and proved again they would’ve started to doubt this whole endeavor a long time ago. “There are too many, the steps are full of them.” Linda whispered and marked his map on the relevant spots. “Is it the only way up?” Matt asked “The only passable ones….except you wish to climb.” Linda said, then thinking about it she marked two spots on the map. “These would be the best bets to actually make a climb but once we’re up there...” she looked towards Alice “..we’re not going down again.” Alice finished.

The noise of the climbing and falling ice would alert many of the beasts below and once they were up, it would be swarming below and thus sealing their way back. “What about your magic?” Selena asked Alice who thought about it but ultimately shook her head “Twenty five people is too many, I could maybe do three people including myself.”

“Then we just split up. You take me and Selena first, we find a shelter and wait for you to take the others. It will take days if not weeks but honestly what else but time do we have at this point?” Selmar made his point and nobody argued. It was the safest option they had. Linda went out again to scout the two possible points of ascent, leaving in but a whisper of wind. “Wouldn’t it be better for Linda and Matt to go first?” Josh asked “They could scout out whatever is up there already.” Selmar thought about it but ultimately declined “They’re the ones that could get us out if the beasts make an unexpected move. We two might be able to avoid them without Linda’s help but the twenty two of you likely wouldn’t. So it’s a safer choice to keep them with the bigger group. They’ll come up once there are less people down here.”

Josh nodded and so they waited. Trying to occupy themselves surrounded by the untiring monsters they’d been fighting for months now. “What do you think they are?” Peter broke the silence with a whispered question, asking nobody in particular. The room stayed silent for a minute before Matt answered “There are no skulls...no skeletons.” he stated. “What do you mean?” Erica asked. “We haven’t found a single skeleton. There must’ve been thousands living in this place. No idea how they did it in such a climate but there was definitely something living here. And now they’re not anymore. No skulls though, no skeletons.” the room was silent again.

“So either they all left everything they had behind...” Peter said “...or they’re still here.” Matt finished. An eerie atmosphere filled the room. “What are we gonna do once we find this...source?” Erica asked Lucien who didn’t answer for a while. “I don’t know. I’m still not sure what exactly it is. All the books and documents I’ve studied so far have been talking about it rather mysteriously. I need more information, military or government information. Even if the people thought of it as some sort of godly thing there must’ve been people who knew more, handled it or communicated with it. I do believe it was the reason these people could live in such a climate...or the climate just wasn’t the same back then.” he thought for a while before continuing.

“There is little mention of grass or flowers in the things I’ve read though so I’m assuming it was always cold up here. I can’t say for certain though. As I said, I need more info, I’m sorry.” he looked down on the ground. “What are you sorry for?” Selena asked “Without you we’d still be fighting these things in some village kilometers from here.” Their conversation got broken up as a stumbling Linda returned, immediately making Josh move towards her while whispering “Mother of light, lend me power. Let thy touch fill my hands with your blessing.” he reached Linda and touched her on the wound on her shoulder and right thigh.

They sat down as the others approached and watched as Josh’s energy fought against the poison that tried to consume her. It took ten minutes for both his energy and the poison to fade. Linda breathed out a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Sorry, I was careless….thank you” they let her rest for a while before waking her up again. Josh closed her wounds before that. They didn’t even want to think about Josh not being there, only some of the guards having healing abilities, only for their own bodies though.

Linda explained the situation after recovering. She first scratched through one of the points of ascent “That one’s impossible. There is a building in the cliff itself and I saw movement in there. They’d catch us as we climbed.” so she pointed to the other point she marked before. “This is it, we can leave whenever you’re ready. We still have some daylight left so I advise leaving now.” Selmar looked towards Alice and Selena who both nodded their agreement. “Let’s be on our way then.” they didn’t question Linda’s capability to return so fast after being injured, knowing each other’s abilities well after the three years they spent together.

“If nobody returns wait at least a week or two before making any moves. George you have the lead from our side.” Selmar said as he nodded towards one of the guards. Everybody said their goodbyes, knowing fully that this could be the last time they saw their companions.

Stalking through the streets Selmar, Selena and Alice followed Linda as they closed in on what she scouted as a good spot to climb. They reached it after twenty minutes of sneaking, having to stop several times to avoid prowling monsters. Linda signaled that this was the spot and nodded towards each of them before disappearing again into the shadows. Selmar tried to spot her again but failed. Impressed again by the rogue of the Rising Moon they started their climb. It was a slow ascent, Alice having to use her power to stop ice from falling or cracking many times over.

Grabbing the edge of the cliff Selmar lifted himself up before helping the other two. Selena sat down as they looked over the sight before them. “A valley...” Selmar whispered “this city is as big as Dunewatch...” he remarked, looking at the overgrown buildings, the sun reflected on the lake that covered a third of the valley on its right side. “Beautiful...” Selena said. A quiet reverence lay over the city. “We’ll have to find shelter for the night, Alice you return so you can get two more up here tomorrow.” Selmar said as he scanned the immediate surroundings. They were standing on a cliff overlooking the city before them, descending wouldn’t be an issue, doing so unnoticed was a different thing “I’ll get you down there before I leave.” Alice said as he felt a small amount of magic flare around her.

Selmar pointed towards a big building a couple hundred meters away on the left edge of the city “That’s where we’ll be staying.” he said before pointing to two different buildings “And those are backup if we can’t enter or stay at the first one for whatever reason.” Alice only nodded before they descended. Reaching the ground in complete silence Alice nodded before going back up.

Selmar looked at Selena before silently sneaking towards their destination. They stepped lightly as they closed in to the building they set as their goal. A loud ringing resounded in the silent valley as Selena blocked a claw with her two curved swords, her power flaring up to its maximum. She stepped backwards as she could feel magic surge next to her. They had to be quiet, killing one of those beasts was rarely quiet though. Selena blocked again before Selmar’s greatsword removed one of the beast’s arms. Selena dodged below its other arm before removing it. He finished it with a blow to its torso, cutting deeply.

They stood there and waited for a minute before they were sure no others were alerted. No more of the beasts attacked them on their careful way to the building. The doors were barred and no opening could be seen. Selmar motioned upwards and they climbed the two story structure, trees breaking the stone here and there. On top they were illuminated by the now already low sun. “There’s an opening here” Selena whispered and pointed towards it. “The sun will be down in another fifteen minutes.” he looked towards the opening. “What do you think?” he looked at Selena “The other places are just as uncertain, the cold out here would be dangerous in the night though. We should risk it.”

He nodded as he threw a rock into the opening. Nothing moved. “Second floor clear then.” he said as he descended into the darkness. Selena following close behind the air around them wavered as their magic filled the room, ready for their foes. The second floor was indeed clear. They could see reasonably well in the dark as the sunlight still shined through the cracks in the wall. Nonetheless Selmar removed a torch from his small pack. Sparks lit up his face as the torch caught fire.

They silently checked the room before descending the stairs. The floor was darker than the one above, the windows barred completely and no trees growing into it. They silently checked the room they found themselves in when a clanking resounded. Selmar glanced at Selena who had an apologetic look on her face, carefully moving away her foot from the rusty bucked she accidentally touched.

Sounds filled the room as the clacking of claws against stone floor resounded. Selmar put the torch down on the ground and readied his greatsword and staff as Selena moved to his back and readied her swords. They waited back to back before several monsters burst through the open doors around them. There were five of them. Magic surged as a lance of lightning burned through one of the beasts, staggering it. Selena blocked and dodged as best she could, trying not to get hit, claws filling her vision. Selmar blocked with his greatsword as his staff filled with magic once more.

The room was illuminated as another one of the beasts was pierced by electricity, joining its dead companion on the ground. Selena couldn’t evade one of the claws as a burst of energy surged through her. She tackled the best before her and broke through the wall, rolling with the monster in the debris. One of the beasts followed them out as Selmar found himself facing a single one. He evaded several times before cutting off one of its arms. They circled each other, the monster having turned around, using two claws again to attack.

He was hard pressed, trying to keep up with the flurry of attacks before an opening finally showed. His blade filled with electricity as he pierced through the monster’s torso, killing it instantly. Not resting in his victory Selmar jumped through the newly created hole in the wall. Taking in the scene before him Selena was cut deeply in her right arm before she returned the favor, ending one of her adversaries. Selmar could only watch, his mana too low to send out lightning, as the monster behind his friend slashed at her back with its claws.

Selmar didn’t dare screaming, knowing it would spell his doom as well. A dull sound could be heard as the blade cut through its target’s body. The spear pierced and killed the monster instantly, leaving it to slide down the pole. A figure landed next to the monster, grabbing the spear and yanking it out of the corpse in a spray of blood. Selmar was still processing the situation as the figure approached the kneeling Selena. “The corruption is spreading fast, the cut is deep.” The halberd blurred as the woman covered Selena’s mouth with her hand, the bloody arm falling to the snow covered ground with a tud.