Devourer

Chapter 98: The Fall Part 10

Captain Barlow grimaced as he stood next to the window of this large mansion they were hiding in. This place has been abandoned long before they arrived. When he first scrambled in, the first thing he noticed was that every damn door was locked. As the survivors searched the mansion they found most of the valuables gone and all of the food had gone off. Judging by the mould on the bread Barlow estimated that the original inhabitants have been gone for at least a week. Barlow’s best guess was that the nobles in this estate must have fled the capital a week before the siege began. 

“See anything?” Barlow heard his long time friend and colleague say. He turned to see Lieutenant Aria, the platoon commander of a group of war archers. She was attached to his company and they have served together for many years. 

“Nothing, quiet as any peaceful night. You could almost forget that we are facing annihilation.” Barlow mused.

“There is a good chance we won’t see the next sunset.” Aria said.

“Let’s try to get to sunrise first shall we, Lieutenant?” Barlow replied with a wry smile as he turned to face her. Aria let out a small chuckle at his little jest.

“As you say sir.” Aria said with a nod.

“We’ve come a long way haven’t we?” Barlow asked as he looked back out the window.

“Seems like just yesterday we were at the academy, now we are fighting for the very fate of our nation and culture. If the Great Beast wins all we were, all we ever will be, all of it will be lost to darkness.” Aria muttered in response.

Barlow winced as he heard another of those damned orbs explode overhead. This one was across the street and he saw the spines rake the roof tiles on the massion. The tiles shattered and clouds of dust were kicked up from the strike. 

“At least the Great Beast just wants to keep us in place. They don’t want any attempt to retake the walls.” Barlow said.

“Well jokes on that monster, we were never planning to retake the walls. We are just the bait, when they try to storm this area they will get hammered by our comrades on the wall.” Aria replied.

“If we somehow survive this we need to get a drink together. It’s been forever since we had a night out together.” Barlow said as he turned to look at Aria.

“Well we are both busy, an officer's life is always busy. Besides, we knew the risks when we signed up for this. On the topic of drinks…” Aria said and a cheeky smile crossed her lips. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a bottle. 

“The rich shit that lived here left this behind.” Aria said as she handed the bottle to Barlow.

“Elysian Brandy 25 years… damn… this is expensive stuff.” Barlow said as he read the label on the bottle.

“Shall we have a drink?” Aria said as she took out a pair of metal cups. It was the same kind that soldiers carried around.

“Sure why not.” Barlow replied with a grin as he uncorked the bottle before pouring her a cup and the one for himself.

The two cups met with metallic clink and the two old friends took a swig from their cups.

“Ahhh… that’s good. Elysians sure know how to make liquor.” Aria said as she smacked her lips.

“That they do.” Barlow said as he refilled their cups.

“What was it our old commander used to say?” Aria said wistfully as she looked out the window.

“You mean in training?” Barlow asked.

“Yeah… What was his name? The guy with the fucking ginger beard.” Aria said as she snapped her fingers trying to recall his name.

“Ah Sir Gibral, the bald cunt.” Barlow replied with a laugh that was joined by Aria.

“That’s the one, you remember we would joke about someone cracking an egg on his head when he was really pissed and seeing if it would cook?” Barlow asked.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that.” Aria replied with a giggle.

“Ah that’s it… now I remember what he said…” Aria said suddenly as her gaze grew wistful.

“What?” Barlow asked as he looked up from his cup and saw Aria looking back out the window.

“There is no greater honour than to sacrifice for your country…” Aria said.

“Yeah that was it… he was in the Elysian invasion force… I guess he got his honourable discharge.” Barlow muttered.

“I suppose he did… an ageing old soldier meeting his end on the battlefield. A fitting end.” Aria replied.

“To Sir Gibral.” Barlow said as he raised his cup and Aria turned to look at him with a small smile on her lips.

“And his bald head.” Aria said as their cups clinked once more and they downed what was left in their cups. Barlow chuckled as his mind flashed with old memories. He refilled their cups and he looked up to see Aria looking back out the window.

“He really was a cunt…” Aria said with a hint of sadness before she once again brought the cup to her lips

“That he was…” Barlow replied as he too took a sip. Then he saw Aria’s eyes widen and she spat her brandy all over the window.

Barlow instantly turned his head to the window and he saw a pair of archers climb onto the roof of the mansion across the street.

“What are they doing?” Aria hissed as she roughly put the cup on a nearby table and grabbed her bow, instantly going into battle mode, her eyes going from soft wistfulness to iron hard focus.

“I don’t know, they’re going to be slaughtered by those… those…” Barlow said but he faltered when he realised something.

“The orbs have stopped…” Barlow said in a hushed whisper. 

“SHIT!” Aria suddenly shouted as she threw the window open and took aim with her bow. 

Barlow turned to look out the window and he saw beasts emerging from tunnels in the streets below. Aria let loose a [Piercing Shot] at one of the beasts, skewering it through the head.

“NIGHT RAID!” Barlow screamed into the mansion and instantly the entire building came alive with shouts. Soldiers repeated the alarm as section leaders shouted at their soldiers to get ready for a fight.

“Aria as we discussed.” Barlow said and Aria nodded as she bolted off to enact their defence plan. 

The plan had already been laid out, staying on the ground level was a death sentence since the beasts had many vectors for entry. They couldn’t emerge from the floor completely without restriction since it would collapse the building and the beasts looked like they were limiting collateral damage. But still the ground level was still the easiest to breach.

The first thing Barlow did when he entered this building was to scope out the interior. He then devised a defence plan in the event of a raid. These big mansions all have this large entryway with this large staircase leading to the second floor. These areas were usually large and open, with balconies overlooking the entryways. These were perfect kill zones for a defender. As long as that position could be held, the largest entry point would be covered. That left the windows on the various floors. So Barlow had the men set up barricades at key choke points to keep the beasts back. If all that failed there was still his final card to play, but that was strictly a last resort…

It didn’t take long for it to begin, the first beasts emerged right out of the ground in the entryway, the archers made swift work of them but more soon emerged. Then some started charging through the main door. The archers cut them to pieces, the mages were holding back for now, they needed to conserve their power. The last thing they wanted was for their mages to be too exhausted during a crucial moment. 

Soon enough Barlow started to hear the sound of windows being broken all throughout the house, followed by beastial howls and the skittering sound of the beasts running through the mansion. Then the sounds of fighting breaking out in the corridors started to echo out throughout the building.

“Report!” Barlow barked at an officer that was running towards him. 

“All positions holding, the dining hall reports no enemies. Lieutenant Aria expresses concern about ammunition.” the officer said with a stiff salute.

“Tell her to make every shot count and keep me updated…” Barlow replied but he was interrupted by dust landing on his head from above. The two of them looked up to see cracks in the roof above them.

“ABOVE US!” Barlow shouted and some archers instantly began to organise themselves to cover potential breaches from above.

“GET GOING!” Barlow shouted at the officer in front of him and he bolted off without even a salute. Barlow didn’t care, only fools cared about decorum in a situation like this.

Then Barlow heard the sound of wood splintering and he looked up to see a white blade emerge in the ceiling. 

“GET READY!” Barlow shouted and in response he heard screams of pain. He looked around in shock and saw these humanoid shaped beasts with bladed arms had appeared on the balconies. They cut into the unprepared archers and warriors, cutting them down with ruthless precision. 

“Infiltrators!” one of his officers shouted and Barlow heard a commotion right behind him. He turned to see one of the humanoid beasts remove one of his soldier’s heads. While the other beasts behave like mindless monsters, these ones move like trained soldiers. Parrying blows and striking back with blinding speed and precision.

Barlow has heard that Hives often diversified their members for specialised roles, these must be the hives special forces. The humanoid beast turned its gaze to Barlow and it charged, blades raised. His blade knocked aside the beast's first attack and another soldier took a swing at the beast. The beast gracefully ducked under the strike, it spun its body and it slashed open the soldiers belly. As it did so, it took a glowing arrow from behind. It staggered forward before its blades flashed and it opened the throat of the disembowelled soldier who was kneeling on the ground howling as he clutched his exposed entrails.

Barlow took this moment to strike, he aimed his [Reaving Slash] at its domed head but it parried the blow as it shuffled backwards to get out of the rapidly closing encirclement. As it did so it took another enchanted arrow to the side and it staggered once again from the blow. But it was plainly obvious these attacks were not enough to disable it considering it immediately slashed open the chest of another soldier who tried to take advantage of the opening. 

Barlow was about to have another go at the beast when a large blade emerged from its chest with the shout of [Piercing Thrust] from behind it. The beast shuddered as its arms drooped, that attack clearly damaged it but instead of falling it just spun around suddenly and grabbed the soldier that had stabbed it. It opened its maw and bit down hard on the soldier’s shoulder.

Barlow rushed forward, sword raised and delivered another [Reaving Slash] on the creature’s back. The cut went in deep, splattering the ground with the beast’s blood. The beast’s body was tough; he could feel a lot of resistance even with the spell enhancement of the attack. A normal militia would find their attacks bouncing off.

However, instead of crumpling the beast instead bit down even harder before ripping the soldier’s shoulder off. Barlow caught a glimpse of the collar bone of the man as the beast tossed the mangled piece of flesh to the side in a final show of spite.

Two more soldiers pounced on the beast, now that the soldier was most assuredly dead they no longer had to worry about harming their fellow. One of the soldiers delivered a hard slash at the head of the beast, the sword sunk into its domed head and the beast fell to the ground twitching. 

Barlow turned around just in time to see the ceiling cave in behind him. He saw the beasts began swarming out of the slowly widening hole and a mage rushed forward letting off a stream of ether fire at the opening, hoping to plug the breach. But all she managed to do was to turn the beasts that were swarming in into flaming beasts that were still swarming in. 

Barlow knew this position was lost; he glanced at the doorway downstairs and saw the beasts were breaking through. The sounds of fighting in the corridors were also getting extremely close. It has only been about fifteen minutes and this major strong point was already collapsing around him. Barlow had no other choice but to pull back.

“PULL BACK!” Barlow shouted and the rest of the soldiers tried their best to retreat. It wasn’t going to be easy and Barlow estimated he was going to lose half his soldiers in this retreat but if they stayed here they were definitely dead.

Some of the mages bombarded the main entryway to buy some time but this valiant effort was not free. Barlow watched as one of the mages was tackled right off the railing and she fell screaming into the burning mass of howling beasts. 

“Barlow! Are we really going to do that thing?” Aria asked shakily as she ran up to him.

“If we do, it would be the best option we have.” Barlow replied gruffly as he jerked his head in the direction of the fall back position.

Aria nodded and ran off, Barlow looked on at the scene and felt a wrenching feeling in his gut. The exit path was on the right of the entryway. The entire left side looks like it was going to be cut off, some were just barely making it through but it looks like he was going to have abandon them.

“RETREAT! DO NOT HELP ANYONE!” Barlow roared and the soldiers instinctively started following his orders and started rushing. Ignoring embattled comrades as they rushed towards the door behind him.

Eventually he couldn’t stay there any longer, if he died then the command structure would be decapitated. He had no choice but to prioritise his own safety. He ran through the corridors and saw soldiers guarding it just in case any of the beasts somehow ended up here.

“Hold as long as you can but retreat when things get difficult, do not die in this corridor!” Barlow barked at the section leader who nodded, his expression grim but determined.

Barlow retreated into the dining hall and his eyes instantly began looking for a particular mage. Barlow found him soon enough scribbling frantically onto parchment with a pen. 

“Elai!” Barlow shouted as he approached, causing him to jump in shock.

“Captain, it’s almost done.” the mage Elai replied shakily.

“Good. Let me know when you’re done.” Barlow said as he turned to face an approaching Aria.

“We won’t hold this place for long. There may not be windows into this room but it’s easy to surround. The roof is also another attack path, the beasts could also potentially collapse the floor from under us.” Aria said grimly.

“Get the vests on to the soldiers.” Barlow said and Aria paused for a moment at those words.

“Now Aria…” Barlow said softly and Aria nodded stiffly as she turned away. 

Barlow watched as a wooden chest was opened revealing vests filled with ether crystals as well as this contraption with a melon sized ether crystal as the centrepiece. These were bombs, plain and simple. The orders came down with these vests and that contraption. If a unit was to be wiped out they were ordered to take as many of the enemy with them as possible. Hives needed flesh to recover, by blasting the defenders and the beasts into ash it would deny the hive resources after taking a defensive position.

One warrior grimly stripped off his chest plate and put on the vest. He calmly walked towards Barlow and he could see the resignation in the warrior's eyes.

“I’ll take the first watch in the corridor, Captain.” the warrior said calmly his face set but Barlow could see his eyes were wet with brimming tears.

“For Voleria.” Barlow said solemnly as he brought his fist over his heart in salute.

“For Voleria.” the warrior replied with a salute of his own.

Then without another word Barlow watched as he hurried over to the door leading to the corridor and went past it.

“Barlow, the mages are setting up the bomb now. So I suppose this is it then.” Aria said in resignation as she walked over a suicide vest in hand.

“Give me that.” Barlow said as he reached out to grab the vest, Aria gave him an odd look as he started to remove his chest plate.

“Barlow what are you doing? Aren’t you in charge of the bomb?” Aria asked in confusion.

“That I am, I have new orders for you Aria.” Barlow replied calmly as he braced for the impending explosion of emotions that was sure to come pouring out of his long time friend.

“What?” Aria asked cautiously, her eyes betraying her suspicion. 

“Elai!” Barlow shouted and he turned to see him stuffing the stack of parchment into a leather holder before putting it into a leather rucksack and rushing over.

“It’s ready captain.” Elai said shakily.

“Good, to your position.” Barlow said curtly and Elai nodded as he hurried off.

“What is that?” Aria asked as she furrowed her brow.

“Observations on our enemy, written by an expert. Junior Warmage Elai studied beastiary for a period. He was observing the enemy for some time in this room with an observation spell. We need to get this intel back to command.” Barlow said as he held the ruck sack out towards Aria.

“No, you can’t be serious, you want me to just leave my men and run back to the palace?” Aria shot back hotly.

“No, I want you to get this intelligence back to command. You know we barely have anything on this Hive. The contents of this bag could make the difference. If you want to die, die on the palace wall, or die defending the palace. But you must die AFTER you deliver this.”  Barlow ordered his voice hard and his jaw set.

Aria just bit her lip in response as she looked down, no doubt going through some kind of internal struggle.

“Aria, please. There is no one else I can trust with this.” Barlow half pleaded as he handed the bag to her.

“Take four men with you, if they have to die to buy you time then that's what they do. Got it?” Barlow said as he shoved the bag into her hands.

Aria nodded as she slung the bag over her shoulder. 

“Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, I didn’t think it would get to this point.” Barlow said and Aria looked back at him, her eyes wet with tears, although he sensed an inkling of a small smile on her lips.

“You always were idealistic and naive… I’ll meet you at the bar when I see you again.” Aria said softly, as she tried her best to blink back tears.

“Yeah, I’m buying. Now go on.” Barlow said as he gave her a strong smile.

“See you soon Barlow.” Aria said as she turned around.

“I better not see you soon, take as much time as you want!” Barlow shouted after her but Aria didn’t even stop or reply. But perhaps that was for the best.

Barlow turned around to look at the rest of his soldiers and he saw groups of the suicide troops lining up near the doors of the room. He could hear the sounds of battle in the corridor that led from the entryway. The other entry points were silent for now, that meant Aria had a good chance of sneaking out.

“BROTHERS AND SISTERS!” Barlow roared using the voice he always uses when he commands his soldiers.

Take a good look at your positions, this place is your grave

This is our last stand but we do not die today just for defiance 

As we speak Lieutenant Aria is delivering intelligence that will be invaluable to the final battle

Raise your heads high, for we are buying time for her

We do not die for nothing

We die for our families

For our nation

For all we hold dear

We die for the chance that Voleria will stand for another thousand years!

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Aria gingerly opened a window and poked her head out to see what was happening. She had turned off all the lights in the room to make them harder to spot. She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the hundreds of beasts swarming below and she could hear some of them crawling on the roofs above. From what she could tell her best chance was to climb along the walls of the buildings.

“We can’t use the roof…” Aria whispered to her four men who were looking at her intently.

“We need to use the walls, we wait for one of the explosions to go off and we jump to cover the sounds of our movement. There are twelve suicide vests and we just need to get past one building. We should be fine.” Aria said and the four nodded.

They silently waited for one of their brethren to make the ultimate sacrifice to at least cause a mild distraction. This sound masking tactic would only truly work once all of them were out the window. Each jump from the foothold to the balcony would make some noise so they needed those explosions to mask the sound.

Aria was standing next to the window with one leg on the ledge, just waiting to climb out. Then she heard the boom and the whole building shook. She moved forward but suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She looked down in shock and saw a long white blade had appeared in her chest. She felt her body being yanked backwards and she was tossed against a nearby wall, blood pouring from her chest.

Aria gasped as she felt blood bubble up from her throat. She gagged as she felt blood dribble from her lips and she looked around to see all her men were dead too. Her men had suffered the same fate and were all now dying with holes in their chests. As to why all of them were still alive she had no idea. But there was one thing she does know, not all the infiltrators revealed themselves during the initial battle…

Four of those infiltrators were now standing there in front of her with bloodied blades. She noticed the one that looked to have stabbed her had strange markings on the side of its head. Perhaps it was some kind of leader.

Then Aria felt another explosion rattle the building as if to spite her…

Then she noticed the humanoid shaped monster reached down and took the ruck sack off her limp body.

“No…” Aria gurgled as she tried to lift her arm to stop it. This was what these bastards were after, they didn’t want the information to leak. No one has ever managed to get a trained expert to observe a hive this closely before…

Then to her surprise the beast with the markings seemingly smiled, then it spoke…

“Foolish human…” the beast said in a warped bestial voice.

“Abandon hope, you never had a chance…” the beast said with a laugh. Aria grit her teeth as she lost feeling in her limbs, so the beasts just wanted to gloat…

“You will die for nothing, your friends will die for nothing, the king will remake your people according to his designs.” the beast said as it dropped the rucksack on the ground and Aria’s eyes widened when she saw a small fire ball appear in one of the beast’s hands. It was going to burn the intel…

“You humans fear when you do not understand, but you will never understand what we are…so die in ignorance…” the beast said as it tossed the fireball at its feet igniting the rucksack that held the intelligence her entire company died to obtain.

“This world will be ours…” the beast said as a parting remark before fading back into invisibility.

Aria could only watch the rucksack burn as she felt her head start to feel heavy. Her vision tunnelled and she knew death was fast approaching. She couldn’t move any part of her body anymore and she was starting to feel really tired. 

She let one last thought go through her mind before she allowed the sweet embrace of death to claim her.

I’m sorry Barlow…

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