Dusk crept in and spread long shadows across the Citadel of Gontiluna, with full dark close on its heels. Almost two weeks had passed since the mercenaries had left the capital and, unbeknownst to Jeshux and his small group huddled in the safety of the guilds entrance hallway, McAriicoys was leading a small force of a hundred men through the streets of the Citadel at that very moment.
Inside the hallway voices were tense and two topics of discussion were being fiercely debated. Topic one was about the coming night and Candlelite and Absinthe’s inevitable transformation. Over the past couple weeks, for some the past couple months, everyone had become more or less comfortable with the pair in their bestial forms. Usually, with the coming of night, they would slip off together and suffer the agony of metamorphosis in private, sparing the others the horror of being witness to the unnatural act. Tonight it was not looking as if they would be allowed the luxury of privacy, which led directly to the second topic.
“Look this hallway’s pretty big but within, maybe half an hour, it’s going to seem pretty cramped,” Candlelite said. “I mean Abbie alone will take up half of it and at that point she’ll only be able to retreat out. Those inner doors’ll be way too small to accommodate her.”
“You’re right, of course,” Jeshux conceded. “So do we head into the antechamber, forced to stay the night and cornered in the event of an attack or do we go outside press an attack of our own and hope for the best?”
“Are they still out there?” Absinthe asked.
“I haven’t heard anything for a while,” Max stood at the door and listened. He took a chance and cracked the door only to close it hastily as he heard an evil hiss and then a thump against the other side. “Whoa! Yeah they’re still out there,” he said.
“Max,” Jeshux glared at the little man. “Don’t do that again!”
Max pulled out his flask and raised it to his lips only to lower it again, a look of disgust on his face as he tipped it upside down and only a couple of drops dribbled out. “Anyone got a drink?” he asked hopefully. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy and he shook his head. “No? I didn’t think so.”
“Can we get back to the point here?” Candlelite asked. “We’re running out of time.”
“I agree,” Jeshux stated dryly.
“I think we should wait for dark and then go for it,” Absinthe’s voice was a little husky and a faint gleam had come into her eyes. No one seemed to notice but Candlelite looked at her strangely. “Me and Candlelite can leave first and clear a path for the rest of you.”
Candlelite started to sweat a little. It was close to full dark he could feel it in his bones, in his brain. He started to say something but found that he could not speak.
“I vote for retreat,” Sefu interjected from where she sat in the shadows of a corner.
Jeshux glared at her, “I didn’t realize you were such a coward, Sefu.” The sarcasm dripped like venom from his words.
The assassin made an obscene gesture at the mercenary commander but otherwise stayed quiet and sullen in her corner.
“I agree,” Max said calmly. He had stepped away from the door to stand next to Candlelite. “I say we retreat into the antechamber and wait for dawn. It’s a good chance that the zombies will wander off sometime during the night. After all they weren’t anywhere to be found when we first got here.”
“Max!” Absinthe said loudly. Her voice had gone even huskier but still no one seemed to notice. “I can’t believe you!”
“What?” Max raised his hands defensively.
Candlelite meanwhile had stepped back from the conversation. The young man sweated freely now, his nearly shoulder length hair hung lankly around his face. He again tried to say something, anything to alert his companions to his plight, but still he could not make a sound. His teeth were clenched and his eyes, blood red with the pupils dilated beyond the boundaries of his irises, bulged from their sockets. His hands opened and closed spasmodically. Candlelite noticed his fingernails had become long talons. The young man dropped to his knees.
“Uunnn!” he finally gasped.
Jeshux whipped his head in Candlelite’s direction. “Damnit!” he exclaimed. “I think our decision’s just been made for us.”
“Candlelite,” Absinthe called throatily and took a step towards her lover. “Ahhh!” she cried suddenly and fell to her knees and forearms with her forehead rested on the floor. The young woman began to convulse wildly and her clothing began to bulge as if huge boils were breaking out all over her body. She threw back her head and twisted her neck at a strange angle to the accompaniment of loud cracking and sick pops. Her eyes shone black as obsidian.
“Everyone get back!” Jeshux yelled and motioned everyone toward the antechamber, unable to tear his gaze from the disturbing spectacle before him.
Candlelite howled deeply and the sound reverberated throughout the hall. His back had hunched. He dropped his shoulders and pushed his head out in front of him. Ears elongated; cheeks, nose, and jaws stretched out away from his face and his already pointed canines grew longer and decidedly more wicked, the rest of his teeth fell out as the blunted grinders of an omnivore were supplanted by the slashing ripping daggers of a carnivorous hunter. He howled again.
Although intellectually knowing that these twisted creatures were still their friends and that they would come to no harm the primal instinct of their ancestors took hold and the group of men shrank closer to the doors at their backs. They were terrified by the horror in front of them yet incapable of looking away. Even Sefu, witness to and even perpetuator of countless unspeakable acts, could hardly stand the sights before her and was helpless to advert her gaze.
A low and terrible rumble began deep in Absinthe throat. It began softly at first until it grew to match the cacophony of Candlelite’s howls, a sound completely out of proportion to the still relative smallness of her body. But then as if triggered by her growls her body began to swell and expand and her clothes ripped as brown expanses of fur covered flesh broke free. Her legs and feet grew and reshaped themselves as she sloughed off her pants and boots to reveal more coarse brown fur. The same was happening to her arms and her hands stretched sickly until they were massive paws with wicked claws that matched the ones that had sprouted from her feet. All of this change was accompanied by the crunching and grating of her shifting bone structure as it reconfigured, and her muscles stretched and bulged wildly with wet sucking and popping sounds as they stretched to accommodate her growing mass. Soon the woman-bear-thing had grown so large that she was entirely blocking any view of the similar transformation being experienced by Candlelite.
Finally the huge bear turned and stared at the frightened bunch of humans, her head brushed the high ceiling of the hallway as she rose to her hind legs and roared.
Everyone clapped their hands over their ears.
“Damnit Absinthe!” Jeshux hollered back as he regained his courage. “Not so loud! I can barely hear as it is.”
Abashedly the big grizzly dropped back down on all fours and settled on her haunches.
Transformed Candlelite was by far the most horrible of the pair. While Absinthe more or less attained the size and shape of a grizzly bear the young man became a salivating monster. Stepping from behind Absinthe’s hulking form he stood erect like a man but unlike a man he was covered with silver streaked blue-gray fur with bits of his natural blonde interspersed throughout. He had grown in height by over two heads which put him from just shy of six feet to well over eight. His musculature had also expanded exponentially. As a man he was very fit and trim but now he was a raging hulk whose body rippled sinuously as he moved. His shoulders and arms were massive, leading to large long fingered hands tipped with scimitar sharp talons. His chest heaved mightily with every breath and his legs, backward at the knees, were heavily corded running machines that ended in huge paws that were also equipped with razor sharp claws. His head was like that of a timber wolf, lean, viscous with yellowed fangs dripping saliva under a wet black nose. Long, fur tufted ears twitched excitedly as they tested the air for every sound and his eyes were blood red with jet black pupils that were darker than any black hole.
The salivating werewolf walked over to Jeshux. He looked the mercenary commander dead in the eye, raised one hooked talon, and used it to carve the fine finish of the wood inlaid wall. “Sorry about that. So what’s next?” the scratching read.
“Well, Absinthe is definitely too big to make it any further into the guild,” Jeshux said after he read what Candlelite had scratched onto the wall. “So I guess, unless you want to wait out the night crammed in this hallway, our only option is to fight our way through the Zombies,” the word was unfamiliar on his lips. “get the horses and ride like hell.”
Both Candlelite and Absinthe rumbled their assent at this suggestion and moved their large heads up and down as they did so.
Jeshux looked to Max and Sefu. The scientist just raised his eyebrows and the assassin shrugged her shoulders, frowning unhappily. Tanner, of course, said and did nothing. He would follow his leader through the gates of hell if that was where he was going.
“It’s settled then,” Jeshux said. “We’re going to take the initiative and press the attack.” He rubbed his hands together. “Ok, this is what I want to do. Candlelite, you and Absinthe are going to lead the assault. You two go out first. We need you to clear the landing so that the rest of us can take position and lay down cover fire. After that I want you and Abbie to begin making your way down the stairs. Clear the way so that Sefu, Max, Tanner, and I can follow safely. After that you can provide cover for our rear.” Jeshux face became grave. “Now once we reach the street I want everyone to run like hell. The faster we reach the horses the faster we can get out of here to safety.” He turned to Tanner and Max. “After we get to the stables I need the two of you to go in and grab the horses. Sefu and I will help Absinthe and Candlelite keep the exit clear, grab the horses and then we can all ride the hell out of here. Understood?” Everyone nodded affirmatively.
“Are there any questions?” No one said anything.
“Alright then,” Jeshux shouldered his rifle and everyone else did the same. “No time like the present.”
Candlelite did not waste any time. He went straight to the doors and threw them open. With an ear shattering howl the massive werewolf hurdled through the portal right into a pack of the undead. Absinthe was right behind him. On all fours the bellowing she-bear bowled through the crowd, knocking the former mages flat and tearing through them with her nine inch claws. Between the two of them and the suddenness of their attack the landing was clear in a manner of seconds.
They started down the stairs.
As soon as the landing was clear Jeshux and the others rushed out to take up positions behind the pillars, shooting hot plasma as they went.
While the travelers had been holed up inside the hallway trying to decide what to do more of the zombies had congregated outside the guild hall. At the appearance of their quarry the creatures began to swarm up the stairs, eager to satisfy the lust for living flesh that had become their sole reason for existence. More and more of these twisted beings began to come out of the woodworks; from open doorways, alleys, and side streets they swarmed. They were drawn by the sounds of fighting and were furious at being left out of the fun of another supposedly easy meal. They were fast too, some of them so fast that while they appeared to move with little effort they still traveled almost too fast for the eye to follow.
Even with the aid of their allies Candlelite and Absinthe were hard pressed to keep the stairs clear enough for the others to follow them down. Bodies and pieces of bodies were strewn about all over the place like the abandoned toys of a petulant child. The two behemoths battled back and forth oblivious to the gore they splattered and the jellied remains that they trampled underfoot.
Jeshux began to wonder how they would ever win through and he kept an eye on the stairs in the hope of spotting an opening for advancement. It was about this time, as he directed the gunfire of his companions, that he dimly heard a shout from down the street.
“Je-shu-ux!”
Jeshux looked up from the stairs and was surprised to see what appeared to be his entire army being led by McAriicoys and fleeing a swarm of vampires.
“Reinforcements!” he shouted. “Give them cover!”
Reorienting themselves and redirecting their gunfire from the zombies to the vampires Sefu, Max and Tanner began to cut the flying vermin out of the sky by the dozens. Unfortunately there seemed to be no end to the flying horde that pursued their comrades.
The fleeing mercenaries drew closer as the battle on the stairs raged on, however Candlelite and Absinthe had both heard McAriicoys yell and wasted no time in pulling away from the Zombies to aid the approaching army. They flung brown robes in every direction as they battled their way down the stairs.
“It’s the Chosen Ones!” McAriicoys called out. He was dressed in full battle armor and wielded his plasma rifle like a wild man.
Just as the bestial couple reached the bottom of the stairs so did the mercenaries. Turning back to the horde of brown robed beings that had trailed after them down the stairs the werewolf and she-bear again began to tear into the hungry creatures. Although unsure because of their saviors wild appearances the mercenaries never hesitated in turning their weapons on this new menace and were quickly able to clear a path up the stairs.
Halfway up a pack of werewolves of the true variety joined the ascending fight.
Jeshux had seen the slobbering beasts hot on McAriicoys heels, running far ahead of a slower approaching group of goblins and humans, and a trail of them littered the street. Harmony! He thought while he shouted orders from on top of the landing as they continued to fire upon their enemies in what was now a three sided battle.
Not discriminating mercenaries from werewolves the brown robed zombies were attacking anyone who came within reach. Although most of them were in a distinct state of disrepair, with one or more limbs missing, eyes tore out or entrails trailing along as they moved about, none of these grievous injuries seemed to impair them in the least and some of them had even started to feast upon the fallen.
It did not take long for the rest of the humans and goblins to reach the stairs and that was when the three way battle began in earnest.
Candlelite and Absinthe were hard pressed to keep the stairs clear. Even with their friends on the landing and the mercenaries in their midst the odds were overwhelmingly against them.
The werewolves were by far their most fearsome opponents. Although the generic breeds were smaller than Candlelite and endowed with only above average intelligence for a canine or lupine animal they were still extremely strong and possessed a malicious capacity for inflicting pain and terror. Rampaging about the stairs the vicious animals tore through mercenaries and zombies alike with equal zeal.
On the other hand the zombies were the second most fierce of their enemies. Imbued with superhuman strength, speed and extremely hard if not nearly impossible to kill, they also had a seemingly insurmountable advantage in numbers. No matter their abnormal abilities, despite the fact that some of them did go down or paused to gorge on fresh flesh, the fact was that they just kept on coming from throughout the entire area and more appeared to converge on the stairs.
Candlelite heard Absinthe bellow in pain and rage and turned to see two werewolves on her back, slashing her with their great claws. She could not do anything to dislodge them either. Rising on her hind legs and thrashing about wildly the stubborn monsters continued to hold fast and the great bear was forced to drop back to all fours to confront a handful of goblins that were approaching menacingly with their gobline scimitars.
Rushing towards his besieged lover as she swept aside two goblins with one tremendous swipe of her paw Candlelite leapt through the air, tackling the two werewolves from her back and bore them to the ground. Landing with a thud and a crack one of the werewolves broke its back on one of the large risers while the other managed to roll free as Candlelite jumped to his feet. Facing off with each other the werewolf was dwarfed by the shape shifter by at least a foot and a half. Fearless in the face of the larger werewolf the snarling beast advanced. Candlelite calmly stood his ground and waited for his opportunity to strike. The only outward sign of his impatience was the steady clenching and unclenching of his claws.
Tensing his legs muscles in preparation to spring Candlelite’s eyes narrowed and his lips drew back from his fangs. Saliva dripped from his jaws and then the other werewolf made its move only to be impacted in mid-attack from the side by Absinthe. The hulking bear crushed the werewolf into the stairs and sank her massive jaws into its neck and tore out its throat with a great gush of blood.
The she-bear painted a gruesome picture, blood spattered and gray haired flesh hanging from her jaws, but at that moment Candlelite saw her with jaded eyes and he could not have loved her more.
There was no time for reflections of the heart though as the battle still raged around them. The mercenaries had valiantly fought their way to the landing at the top of the stairs and Candlelite and Absinthe were found suddenly alone, surrounded by enemies who wanted them dead. The vampires had been driven off and the rest of Harmony’s ‘men’ were being kept occupied by the zombies.
The undead creatures just kept coming. Thousands of them darted about the square in front of the guild hall hoping to get their share of the action. Some of them moved so fast that they were no more than a blur to the eye. With how empty Gontiluna had been it was unbelievable to think that so many of them could have been in the area, somewhere in hiding.
Seeing that the mercenaries had escaped the melee the werewolf and the she-bear began to bull their way up the stairs. Absinthe led the way forcibly making her way by bowling over goblins, humans, zombies, and werewolves like she would crash through brush. Candlelite was close behind her, picking through the scattered wreckage of her passage he kept anyone from stopping her.
As powerful as the two of them were though, it was unlikely that they would be able to battle their way back to their companions. Even with the retreat of the vampiric aerial support and the preoccupation of the rest of Harmony’s troops there were just too many zombies to contend with.
They were in danger of being drug down and consumed by the numerous gathering of undead when an organized concentration of plasma streaked into the crowd and cut through the enemy like butter. Scores of mercs stood on the landing with their rifles shouldered and dished out a fiery rain of death upon their foes. Harmony’s creatures and the zombies were cut up and fell to the ground until they resembled nothing more than a freshly timbered forest. The stench of burnt flesh was thick and choking.
The sudden rifle fire gave Candlelite and Absinthe the reprieve they needed. Expending the last of their flagging energy they put on an extra burst of speed and made the landing. Retreating before them, firing over their heads and around their sides, the mercenaries made the safety of the guild hall. Absinthe was in next, once more forced into the confines of the entry hall. Candlelite was close behind and he slammed the large doors shut as soon as he was clear.


TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT READ THE WHOLE STORY -IN HARMONY WE TRUST- BY RYAN MATTHEW HARKER

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 25.03.2012

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