Feral: Chapter 15

I reached into my satchel, ripping out the first of the three items I’d brought along for defense. As the men in armor rushed me, I threw the small bag on the ground, mentally activating the rune on it.

The bag, tied to rip open on impact, slammed onto the ground and released its contents. A rune of kenaz ignited and exploded the tiny amount of gunpowder inside the bag. The eruption sent shattered the vial in the bag, sending its contents outward in a cloud of vapor.

The men in steel armor charged into the cloud. Then they stopped. The wind was still, so I wasn’t getting a full dose. But I knew what they were feeling. The acidic feel of the vapor on their skin. The sudden realization as I watched their eyes widen. And finally, the smell. That horrendous, mind shattering smell.

“Skunk oil,” I explained to the paling pair of men. “Don’t leave home without it.”

Then the screaming started. They fell to the ground, clawing at their eyes and noses, trying to crawl away. The three men in leather stared at their friends in shock as they rolled on the ground.

I reached into my satchel, grabbing another item from it. The crossbow user, seeing me move, aimed his crossbow, but switched to grabbing a knife at his belt when he remembered he hadn’t reloaded. I had time to realize he was an elf with dark hair before a knife spun towards me. I ducked, feeling the blade fly above me, and quickly aimed my second tool.

A simple tube, attached to a handle with a massive lever jutting out of it. A variation on the gauntlet that I had killed Andrea with, the weapon was made of scavenged parts, and only in a brief window of time while making Katya’s armor. It would probably break after one use.

But I only needed one use.

I aimed roughly at the elf and fumbled for the lever. With a suddenness that surprised me, the lever pulled back.

The recoil of the weapon was followed by the sight of the elf yelping. He fell back, then screamed in horror when he saw the mess that had been his thigh. The single round that I’d fired had slammed into his right leg, turning the meat into something like a paste.

“Shit,” I stared at the now useless weapon in my hand. “Not much accuracy.”

On the inside, I was relieved. I hadn’t killed him.

I reached into my satchel again. The elf’s friends in leather armor stared at me in horror as I brought out my last tool.

A dagger. A simple, curved dagger. No runes, not even a particularly special one. Just something sharp that Richard had taught me how to fight with.

As adrenaline filled me, I glared at the last two. “There are two ways this can go. We fight, and I kill you,” with the growling dark tones of my voice, I could tell both men believed me, “or you run, and we never see each other again.”

Both men shared a look. Slowly as their friends screamed in pain on the floor, they took a step back. Then they looked behind me. The way they sighed in relief brought a cold feeling into the pit of my stomach.

I looked behind me. From the other end of the alley, ten more men were rushing. As I watched, two of them pointed crossbows at me.

“Oh come on,” I growled under my breath.

Then two bolts slammed into me, both in my right pectoral.. I shouted, taking a step back as pain once more blossomed in my chest. The men rushed towards me as the crossbowmen reloaded. One man swung at me with his longsword, his armor shining in the dim light.

In a quick move, I parried the blade with my large dagger, grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him close. He yelped before I lifted him up and threw him at his friends. I caught his blade as it fell, leaving me with a longsword in one hand and a dagger in the other. I roared at the men facing me. As my lungs and throat shook with the force of my voice them, their eyes widened. They backed away slowly, fear on their faces. At first, I wondered if they’d actually decided superior numbers and weaponry wasn’t enough.

Then I noticed the shadow at my feet lengthening thanks to a new source of light behind me. I turned around.

“Ugh,” falling to the ground, one of the two men that had been behind me fell. The other was already out.

Katya glowed with power. She glared at the men facing me. “You will not touch him.”

“Oh thank god,” I sighed in relief.

“The Child,” the man I’d thrown whispered.

“Get them!” A very suicidal man cried out. He charged forward, his friends rallying behind him.

Katya jumped upwards. Twin jets of flame erupted from her back, shooting her up higher as she cried out. For the first time I’d ever seen her in a fight, she seemed angry. Not giggling or smiling, but almost snarling.

On the apex of her leap, she drew out Stormcall. The sword, glowing with electricity, sliced as it came down. She landed on top of the suicidal man with a loud ‘crunch!’ As he fell under her, she rolled, dodging a slash, and came up to stab one man in the shoulder. Stormcall blazed, and the man screamed at the electricity pouring through him.

The man who’d slashed at her tried to attack her from behind. So I grabbed him by the back of his armor just as he stepped forward, lifted him up, and slammed him into the ground the way Richard had taught me. I spun and roared, by tusks flashing in the light. Katya cried out.

Somewhere behind us, I heard Mountain barking, and Richard and Jennifer yelling. Katya and I charged the group. One of the crossbowmen fired at Katya’s chest.

I felt a burst of pride when the bolt bounced off her armor, not even scratching the finish. Katya responded by creating a rope of Light and pulling the man in. She slashed into his thigh, sending him screaming to the ground as electricity flowed over him, and blood poured from his wound. 

I clumsily dealt with another attacker, blocking his blade with my purloined longsword, then simply tackling him. He took out a dagger and stabbed it into my leg before my massive weight slammed him into a wall.

Two men stepped towards Katya, trying to attack her as one. But they had none of the skill of any of the knights who had tried that before. Whereas Katya now had my armor strengthening and speeding up her body in every way, and Stormcall as well. In a few bursts of Light and electricity, the men were on the ground and whimpering.

Four men were left standing. The others were out. Two were lying on the ground soaked in concentrated skunk oil, knocked unconscious by the strong smell. One man was bleeding from a massive thigh wound cause by my weapon. Six had been directly knocked out by Katya, two by me.

I came up behind Katya as she flourished Stormcall. We both glared at the last four men. They took a step back.

I growled. Katya stepped forward.

They ran.

As they did, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned, thinking it was Mountain, Richard, and the others.

Instead, I saw men in city guard uniforms running towards us. About twenty men in all. One of them, apparently the officer in charge, stared around in shock at the groaning men, his face filling with disgust when he passed the spot my skunk oil bomb had exploded. Then he noticed me.

“D-Don’t move!”

At his shout, the other guards swung their blades to point at me. I stepped back, hands up in a placating gesture.

“What’s going on!?”Katya stepped around me to look at the group.

“Miss, step away from the orc before he kills you!” one of the guards yelled.

“He’s my friend!” Katya sheathed Stormcall, frowning. “Those men tried to kill him!”

“Lady Katya!” Behind the guards circling us, Richard, Jennifer, Hasha, Arthur, and Mountain ran up.

As the massive form of Mountain came up, a few of the guards panicked, pointing between orc and dog as they tried to decide which was more dangerous.

Richard came up to Katya, only for the officer in charge of guards to stop him. “Sir, I need you step back!”

“I am Richard Dedicat of Chapel of Valor, and I demand to know why you are pointing swords at the Prophesied Child!” Richard seemed ready to start cutting people apart, and the officer in charge flinched.

“T-The Child?” one of the guards said. They all stared at Katya, who frowned back. Unlike her usual pouts, there was something vicious in her appearance now.

“Sir, we need to take the orc into custody,” the officer gestured at the men on the ground. “If he attacked these men—”

“He didn’t attack them, they tried to kill him!” Katya protested. Mountain came up to her and glared at the guards.

“Were you there from the start?” the officer asked.

Katya blinked. “W-Well, no, but—”

“I was defending myself,” I cut in.

“Be that as it may sir, I still need to take you in for questioning. And a few of these men will need medical attention,” Katya frowned, and the officer hastened to continue. “T-THe Orcling as well of course. We'll get him patched up. We won’t charge him for anything, but we need to know what happened. If they did attack him, then we need to know why.”

“…Then you’re taking me in too.”

“What,” I said, staring at Katya. She nodded firmly.

“I was attacked as well, and I took out more of these men than Char did. You need to arrest me.”

The officer stared at her, as Richard’s eye twitched. I could see the others standing behind the line of guards, watching. Jennifer quirked an eyebrow at the way things were going. Arthur was clenching his fists, looking like he was half a second from simply attacking the guards. Hasha’s face showed no emotion whatsoever, but his eyes seemed to gleam in the light of Katya’s still glowing form.

“You cannot arrest the Prophesied Child!” Richard roared.

The officer’s eyes narrowed. “Sir, you may be a member of the Chapel, but I am a city guard officer. These two were involved in an altercation with twelve men who are in need of medical attention. I am required by law to take them all in for questioning. Now, I’ll have them treated well, as I would any other citizen, but I need to take them in.”

Richard looked like he was ready to yell again. But then he looked at Katya.

She stared into his eyes, unyielding. The look they shared was full of something I couldn’t define. When it was over, Richard nodded.

The officer breathed out in relief. He gestured, and two guards came up with chains. Katya held out her hands, and chains were placed more gently than should have been possible. Mine were put on with just as much respect, and we were guided to a carriage made of hard wood, with iron bars over the windows. Stormcall was taken by the officer. After a moment of hesitation, he handed the longsword to Richard, who took it without a word. Mountain whined, moving to follow us, only for Richard step in front of him. The dog gave Katya a heartbreaking look, then sat on his haunches, whining.

As I passed Arthur, Jennifer, and Hasha, I gave them a nod. Arthur closed his eyes, his fists tightening further. Hasha and Jennifer shared a glance.

Then Katya and I were in the carriage, sitting on roughly hewn benches. The officer followed with two guards. I heard someone yell outside, then felt the carriage shudder under us. I tried to get a last glimpse of the others, but only saw the massive form of Mountain. He reared his head back and howled towards the sky as we were taken away.