Next Un

Yup, the saga continues

Death… 

Ten vaguely triangular silhouettes reaching high against the sky, contrasted by the silver coin-like face of the moon, presaged the meandering hordes of demons fronting the march.  Two trebuchet-like machines came side by side taking up the whole road in its width. Pushed and pulled by haggard, bent shapes, between the wheels, up front and behind them. The chest shredding wet coughs told Fenryr the demons had rounded up humans to move their siege weapons, even before they got close enough for him to see the ragged, torn and patched tunics and remnant scraps of clothing on the figures. 

Geth's walls proved impervious to the usual destruction magic and Fenryr understood the tactics used here, so typical of demons.

‘Frontal attacks won't work.. We'll never get through that mass of armored bodies.. Can't get directly at the machines from the sides either… What the heck are we gonna do with all these humans afterwards? Or do we just take them down too?’ 

The clanking of chains underscored the coughing and earth rumbling, low grumble of the man sized wheels pressing into and cracking, grinding the stones below. 

*

His unwieldy broadsword's weight grew into a pressure against his back and his torso flared with soreness dulled by the cool surface of the rock pressing into him from below. 

‘They'll camp here…there's no way those humans can push these things uphill right now..’

A faint smile shot across Fenryr's lips, for once the captain's predictions seemed accurate as the looming wooden contraptions halted at the forefront and the obscene, gurgling command of a demon echoed down the lines under the irritated creaking and screeching of wheels. 

‘Even so, once we get down there we've only got two directions to go in. South or over the cliffs on the other side of the road… the only time to hit them is now..’

His thoughts jolted to a halt at the blunt thumping of hammers, the rear most humans hammering in the wheel blocks.

The nearest siege machine stood some fifty paces from him, just at the first incline of the road, humans simply fell back against the log frames of their siege weapons, rushed, bulky chains gleaming in the moonlight. Most of them had been tied to the machines, a smaller group of twenty or so stood off to the side behind the last weapon, slimmer, curved forms and longer hair betrayed their role in the whole march. 

Fenryr's fists clenched tight, at the realization. 

‘Of course they'd keep food with themselves...’

*

Thumping hard against the stony ground, Fenryr regretted not moving while the machines’ racket would have masked the noise of his movements, his and that faint clacking of a stone chunk bouncing down the jagged rock ledges after him. 

Wasting no more time than a deep inhale, Fenryr took off running down the uneven ground behind the rock formations, the only barrier between him and certain death on the road just a stones throw across the rocks. 

***

“It's really bad..” Fenryr's breaths came in short, ragged lung piercing bursts, black spots still swimming in his vision, leaning forward, supporting his weight with hands dug in against his knee caps,

“They're using human slaves to move the machines.”

His comrades stood in a semicircle behind the captain facing him, swords naked, gleaming in the moonlight. 

“We're moving out.” the captain declared in an icy tone stepping back from Fenryr's panting form, “We'll set the humans free before destroying the machines, and then we move them Southwest. Division two should be there by now.”

*

Fenryr pulled Hyram back from the third position in the line, “If you die, the rest of us are damned too…” he explained, earning a partial grin from Hyram. 

“Thanks old man, but I can take care of myself.” Hyram returned to the third position, behind the Lieutenant's armored form. 

“Loose your magic restraints as soon as we arrive on scene. Spare no effort, speed is the only guarantee we can succeed” the captain's instructions sounded before the line with Fenryr in fourth position took off running. 

*

Author's Note

Yea, yea, yea. Whaddaya expect from the first iteration? A complete novel? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Reviews

[AYVID]

I sense disaster. The demons seemed more organized, better prepared for now. Going by Fenryr's state, I'm not sure they could overcome the marching evil.

Loved some of the descriptions here, the wet couging sound of the humans. That line about food....Were they actually using humans as food....horrifying!

I'm also curious about the machines and how they work. Overall, a great chapter. I think the fight will be a devastating one but who knows what the author has in mind?

Looking to the next turn if events.

[Dennis Wolf]

Disaster, yes 😁 humans for food? 🤔Hmm if I had some low but still marginally acceptable level of empathy, then I'd say no... But yes 😁😈 I'll say yes, mainly because where's the fun when no one gets hurt? And also because there exists the very slight possibility of me being a total nihilist sociopath nutcase 🤔🤔 ummm, we'll just redact that last portion. 🤔 And slap on the usual "don't try this at home" disclaimer, seriously, cannibalism is still probably illegal in most countries, despite us having already overpopulated a resource depleted planet and acting as a cancer in its final stages 🤔 ummm, yes, we'll just redact that too and simply say: Thank you for putting up with my crappy drafts and being so encouraging 😁 I really love the doses of external validation I gain by reading your wonderful reviews! 😁😇 So now you also have a little insight into what the author is thinking 🤣🤣

[AYVID]

Food is important and the demons must have a source lol but having said that, wouldn't it be making it cliched? When you mentioned cannibalism it struck me that are we humans really beyond all that now or that it's just a catastrophe away. (Was seeing a documentary on Congo yesterday. Human life can be so dispensable in the 'right' circumstances)

Having said all that, I'm really enjoying the drafts you have shared here. If I'm anything to go by, you have something really good and fascinating going with it.

And you are welcome. 😁

[Dennis Wolf]

Yeah, the world operates on the basis that life persists by consuming life. The sanctity of life idea is most often based on nothing more than the hot air it takes to articulate some of the words that justify this idea, by referencing unprovable ideas, concepts and nonexistent things as the reason.

I just think we all agreed to accept the idea, because barring those who kill themselves, everyone's personal interest is staying alive... And it's lots easier to do if we're all trying to do the same things. Aside from that, every individual will see their own lives as finite, depleting resource going away at an alarming rate, and therefore there's a perception that life is scarce, even though there's a ton of humans everywhere 🤣it's really funny.

[AYVID]

It's very very scary indeed. How we delude ourselves. Yes, it makes blood freeze.