Unbound, Part II
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2022 9:09 am
2nd Day of Ash, 122nd Year of the Age of Steel
Masagh’s blades moved through the air to take up similar high guards, one propelled through his will alone and the other held in his grasp. The fight still raged around the campsite and the other Knights fought half in shadow on the other side of the ring of firelight. Two soldiers, a man and woman, were charging towards him now. One had another spear and shield and the other was armed with a longsword held in a low back guard. An expert then.
Masagh let them come. Let them tire themselves out or trip, he would maintain the fire between them until the opportune moment. The spearman, knowing his role, rush him and thrust in a series of jabs. They were so quick that Masagh was forced to use both blades to deflect. It was a deadly scintillating of reflected firelight as the two tried to maim the other.
A lucky strike slipped through the spearman’s defenses and drew crimson on his shoulder. The blow drew out a gasp as he backed away a few steps. No more could be taken however, Masagh in his zeal had let the swordswoman edge around to stand at his flank. Now she pressed the advantage. The better skilled opponent, she struck low to split his attention even more. Her blade was met with a hastily thrust duplicate that deflected the blow half by luck.
Another thrust from the spearman had no warning and the dancing blade slid through the air to deflect it also. But not quick enough. Masagh felt the head of the weapon tear across his back, bringing a hot fire in its wake. He gnashed his teeth and roared in fury.
Instead of backing off from them both, Masagh shouldered his way through the swordswoman. Her blade still tangled up with his, she could not raise it enough to ward him off. Instead she caught the full weight of an undead shoulder in the face and Masagh felt a satisfying crunch as her head was thrown back and she with it. He stepped over her and continued his motion, spinning to face the spearman and rising his sword.
The man knew his business. He had stepped right after Masagh, heedless of his companion. The thrust of his spear was diverted by the dancing blade but the man simply pushed through it with his shield and moved past. His eagerness was his downfall. When he moved past the blade and charged, Masagh’s claymore rose to deflect and slide along the length of his spear. It was with a wet sickening sound that the claymore in his hands and the dancing blade both punctured the spearman’s torso from either side. They slid deep, stopping about halfway through him.
The soldier gave a gurgle and fell to his knees. Masagh’s blades ripped upwards out of him, bringing a font of blood with them. It was an iron rain in the darkness over him and his opponent. She had managed to rise, her nose broken and a trickle of blood running down her face. Wide eyed and ghostly white, she stared briefly at the mangled corpse as Masagh’s grisly blades rose into that familiar defense.
“Yield or die, redvein.” Masagh hissed at her. He could feel the laceration on his back sealing itself up and felt a sudden hunger for the corpse he had just felled, fresh and warm. Her eyes flickered from him to the river for some reason before she took a step back and bent her knees, readying herself.
Masagh turned briefly to look and his heart dropped. A stain of orange on the river, a torch. A ferry was crossing towards the camp. He growled and stepped into cross blades with her again. There would be no surrender for them now.
“Reinforcements come, Sabrione!” Masagh yelled as his blades snaked out at the swordswoman. “Look to the river!”
The dark form of a Knight crossed behind his foe towards the wagons. Masagh ignored it, the woman was his problem right now. She thrust forward and when he brought one blade down she stepped into a deflection and was able to keep her thrust on target. Masagh was forced back. He swung his dancing blade down in an arc at her and she simply ducked and stepped forward. When he maneuvered the dancing blade to attack from behind though, she did not ignore it in an attempt to strike him like her more inexperienced companion had.
She turned to face it. The sword in her had rose to meet it in a vicious arc. The longsword sent his pact blade tumbling towards the fire. Masagh saw the moment, he stepped forward to thrust at her. His blade was again diverted by a lightning quick reaction as she spun to block. It grated against her thigh instead of through her heart as he had intended. Masagh twisted viciously and she cried out. He felt her shift her weight, struggling.
Masagh freed his blade and brought it around hard at her other side, high. She lifted her longsword to block his attack. She stumbled down in the attempt though and Masagh brought his blade down hard again. Again she blocked the blade, but her leg finally collapsed and she cried out. The ghoul sunk the point into her neck and stepped over her. He moved away, scanning the camp for more enemies as she gurgled behind him. Lifting his hand, his dancing blade soared back to slowly revolve around him.
“Sabrione.” He barked into the dark. There was no more combat. Bodies lay strewn around the campsite, half in darkness. His sister stepped out of the darkness as he heard a rhythmic thumping. She walked over to him and they both turned to see Cleon hacking at the reinforced rear door of the prison wagon. “Do you see the ferry?” Masagh shoved a hand into his sister’s shoulder, pointing with his blade.
She gave him a preoccupied look and then the light on the river caught her eye. He saw first her focus, then her fear illuminated by the firelight. “Shit, we need to get out of here. Shit.” She rushed over to where Cleon was trying to open the door. “We’ve got more company, Cleon. Move the hells out of the way!” She yanked the burly Knight out of the way and fumbled with a keyring in her hand.
The ferry was well past halfway across the river now and judging by the distance they had only maybe two minutes. This had been the first wave of the retinue. Undoubtedly the rest carried more Imperium soldiers ready to add a few more ghouls to their roster of experiment subjects.
“We’ve got to be quicker, come on.” Masagh hissed, trepidation thundering in his gut as his sister tried the various keys.
There was a rasping click as Sabrione tried the lock again. She exclaimed with a colorful string of curses as she yanked the door free. A form poked a head out. It was a man with a scraggly beard and a pale, deathly face. Gaunt and afraid, he blinked out at them.
“You’re like- like me.” He stated. He blinked out at the three bloody and armored ghouls staring back at him, chests heaving with exertion. “I mean we’re both… Who are you?”
“I mean I’ve got a sword and tits, but yea.” Sabrione grabbed him and pulled him out. “How many you got in here.”
“Edgar? Don’t hurt him!” Another feminine voice said. A woman’s face appeared in the entrance. She was not decayed and gaunt. She gazed out at them with worry on her face. Had the ghoul taken a human wife? He eyed his sister briefly. They could take on any ghoul, but no living thing was welcome in the halls of Creth.
“Relax, this is a rescue not an execution.” Sabrione said, then glanced briefly at the corpses littered about. “Well, not yours. We’ve got to go, bring your runts.” She beckoned the woman down and stepped away from the wagon.
“She human?” Masagh asked Edgar, indicating his fellow captive with his chin. Edgar’s eyes roved over the blood soaking his garb and face then shook his head.
“She’s my wife, Ellen.” Edgar mumbled. “We’re both ghouls, like you. I just haven’t eaten, you know, in a while. The children.” He stumbled over the words and waved a vague hand at his now emerging family.
Outside the wagon Masagh could see that Ellen was beginning to show signs of a pregnancy. She held her belly protectively. The other hand was laced through the fingers of another child. A boy of about five. Another stood slightly behind her, staring at the bodies in horror. The older child was a girl, but Masagh could not tell the age. Young. Too young for this sort of scene.
“We’ve got to fuck off.” He said. “Weaponmaster, can you bring everyone back at once?”
Sabrione bit her lip while looking at them all. “Yes, these runts aren’t too big. Pair up.” She pulled Edgar towards Cleon. “Masagh, take the runts.” She herself moved to Ellen.
“No I want my children with me!” Ellen said, glancing between them scared.
“We won’t be separated, not now.” Edgar agreed, his voice shaky. Sabrione rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to give a snide response. Before she could Masagh found himself speaking.
“We aren’t separating. We’re using magic to go to safety.” He glanced at the now approaching ferry, only about half a minute away from making landfall. “We’re bringing you to our home, where you will be safe. We’re friends, I promise.” He let the duplicate disappear and sheathed his claymore. Holding his hands out he looked to Ellen expectantly.
“We don’t have time for this bullshit.” Sabrione said frustrated. She picked the smaller child up and placed it in Masagh’s arms, though not roughly. “You, with me.” She grabbed Ellen around the arm and tore a hole in reality.
Masagh gestured to the other child, the girl. She watched her mother disappear into the portal before tentatively reaching out and taking his hand. Masagh stepped with both children through the portal.
The unfamiliar and eerie space between spaces rushed past them. It was more awkward than the first time. Sabrione had been able to more readily guide them then. Now it was more of a crowd and she could only gesture. Masagh had to split his attention between the children in his charger and Sabrione. Behind him Cleon and Edgar floated through the Slipspace.
Eventually Sabrione lead them to another thinning barrier, another rip made. She and Ellen disappeared. He stepped out after them, bringing the children with him. They stumbled into the Entrance Hall of Creth Compound. Masagh immediately let go of the girls hand and she ran to her mother. The boy still had his face buried in Masagh’s shoulder fearfully. The father, Edgar, peeled the boy away when he appeared behind Masagh.
A sense of relief washed over the him as the familiar walls of home once again surrounded him. The three of them were still covered in blood, and now the boy child had it smeared across his face and clothes. There was a self-satisfied smirk on Sabrione’s face though, as she eyed the family. It had been a long time since they had brought new blood into the house. Longer still since it had felt so good, Masagh reflected. Saving children from the Imperium was not a feat common amongst the Knights of Creth.
“I’ll go get mother.” Sabrione said, flashing a quick smile and strolling off out of the Entrance Hall.
“She means the Lady Creth, Matriarch of House Creth and ruler of this place.” Cleon explained at the family’s blank stares.
“Where are we?” Edgar asked, his arms protectively around his family. They all clustered together, unsure of their surroundings.
“The secret Compound of House Creth, your new home.” Masagh answered, rubbing blood from his hands onto the thighs of his trousers. “We’re under Gel’Grandal.”
“What is House Creth? What do you want from us.” Ellen asked, pulling her son closer to her.
“House Creth is a family of ghouls, and what we want from you…” Masagh trailed off.
“We want you to be safe and secure. We want your children to grow up and survive.” Emerande Creth strolled out of the passage to the Grand Hall with the widest and most sincere smile Masagh had seen from her. “We want to preserve ghoul safety. You are welcome here.” Sabrione appeared at her side.
Emerande’s face fell slightly at the blood streaking the boy’s face and side. “Is your son hurt?”
“No, mother, its from my armor.” Masagh said quickly. She turned eyes upon him as if to inspect him for wounds. “Not me either.” He gave a quick smile.
“Ah good. We can get that cleaned up easily enough.” Emerande said, relaxing. “I am Emerande Creth, Lady of this house. You have met my children, Sabrione our Weaponmaster and Masagh a Knight. Cleon is also a Knight.”
The family stared. Edgar’s gaze briefly turned to his wife. “You offer us sanctuary, what do we need to do?”
Emerande waved a hand. “Nothing really, although you are welcome to work around the Compound. There is always more to do. We are here to safeguard ghouls when we can.” Emerande took a step closer. “We’re offering a safe home for you and your children. A place for them to grow up and be educated without the fear of the living coming to take you away again.”
Ellen seemed to relax a fraction, turning her gaze to rove over the bloody warriors around her and then to the skeletal statue of Quetharax. “Will we be expected to bloody ourselves for your cause? We’re not fighters.” Ellen said, laying a hand on Edgar’s shoulder.
Following the gaze, Emerande looked to her Knights briefly. “No, these people have sworn oaths to protect the House. You are not required to. That is always a personal choice.”
Emerande stepped forward. “Look, out there,” She gestured vaguely up. “We’re monsters. What we want here is a place where we can just be people. That’s what I’m offering you and your family, a place where you can just be people. Just be children.”
“I’m a logger…” Edgar spoke up. “If you need one, I’m a logger.”
“That should be helpful, here in the crypts under the city.” Sabrione said dryly. Emerande turned a burning fury on her daughter.
“It will indeed, we will find work for a strong man like you, no doubt.” The Matriarch said, composing her face and turning back to the family. “Why don’t we go get you settled. Unfortunately we don’t have any family sized quarters… but we could get you a pair of rooms next to each other… Come on, Cleon.” Emerande gestured for them to follow her. “We can give our new friends a tour.”
Cleon gave Sabrione a dark look, but followed.
Sabrione and Masagh watched them stroll off silently.
“My armor’s cut up.” Masagh said unprompted. “Spear across the back.”
Sabrione leaned back and inspected it, then shrugged. “Should have been quicker, brother.”
“You’re an ass.” Masagh said flatly. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up.”