Chapter 11

  Casualties

  The trappings of the Estate (or at least what remained of them) grew more and more ornate as they approached the great hall, the ultimate barrier between them and the audience chamber. Shamil could hear her own heartbeat in the eerie, unnatural silence. She peered up into the darkness of the grand, vaulted ceilings, her eyes searching for any sign of movement in the rafters. She felt Elivera and Neyra shift uncomfortably around her as the Howdah swayed with Arv’s steps.

  “Swear there’s somethin’ watching me…” Hilda grumbled from behind them in the formation. “It’s makin’ me itch.”

  Shamil reflexively checked the bolt that was loaded in her crossbow. She was ready to shoot at a moment's notice. This entire room stank of an ambush waiting to happen.

  A hand signal flashed down the line. Movement. Be ready.

  Everyone came alert, stances changing to prepare for combat. Arv secured his footing and raised his shield. Elle readied an arrow on her bow. Neyra closed her eyes and whispered incantations under her breath, and Shamil pulled the butt stock of her weapon securely against her shoulder.

  As if on cue, half a dozen goblins in obsidian black armor leapt down from the rafters. Their bloodthirsty shrieks echoed and rang around the giant room as they landed, blocking the exit with their wicked formation. Their spears glinted, and they chattered excitedly in their guttural language as they advanced. But that wasn’t what had Shamil’s attention.

  The arched entryway of the audience chamber stood just mere paces away. Elwin had spoken before of the grand, oak doors that led to her father’s audience hall. But now only scraps and splinters remained. They had been blown apart by some obscene force. And recently, too. Some pieces still smoldered, producing little wisps of smoke. Three enormous figures stood in the haze, their tattoos glowing with an eerie light. The creature in the center slowly raised his demonic flail in challenge. And then it began.

  Shamil paid no mind to the goblins. She knew that Hilda and Cretin had that well in hand. Instead, she locked her sights on the center figure. Without another thought, she pulled the trigger. Her bolt shot forward just as Elle loosed her own arrow. They lanced ahead toward the same target. The bolt struck the hobgoblin in his chest, but glanced off of his armor with a loud ping. Elle’s arrow met a similar fate as it clattered off one of his pauldrons. Elle cursed and Shamil felt the Howdah shift slightly as she leapt out of it, her sword in hand. Shamil uttered a silent prayer for her friend as she charged ahead with Valdora, Kaida, and Riza.

  Neyra spoke and bright, fuscia bolts leapt from her fingers and streaked at the three hobgoblins. They snarled as each bolt struck them in their faces. Valdora took advantage of the distraction and lunged forward with his spear. He thrust deep into the armpit of the left hobgoblin. The beast roared out in fury and retaliated with his flail. Riza performed a similar thrust with her spear and stabbed the same commander in the thigh. Elwin screamed in fury as she and Elivera both leapt at the right hobgoblin in a coordinated attack. Their swords flashed, and they pulled back defensively after leaving their marks on the creature.

  Shamil loaded another bolt and sent it straight into the guts of the creature who fought Elivera and Elwin. The beast doubled over from the force of the shot, and Elle rushed inside the range of his flail to finish him. Her rapier stabbed repeatedly as the hobgoblin screamed and cursed. He still lived. Like the others, he seemed not to be hurting as much as he had the right to be. Neyra was right. Those tattoos of theirs offered some sort of supernatural protection. But that protection wasn’t enough to deflect Elwin’s decapitating strike. The swift cut wasn’t as clean as some of her others, the head was still attached with sinew and muscle at the neck, but it flopped back unnaturally like an open book. The glow of his inked body faded as he crumpled to the floor.

  The Howdah lurched while Shamil struggled to load another bolt. Arv was locked in combat with the center hobgoblin, who worked furiously to fend off Arv and Kaida’s concentrated attack. He had abandoned his flail in favor of two concealed short swords, which he wielded with deadly expertise. He was growing more infuriated with each passing second, and he screamed at them in an unfamiliar tongue.

  “The goblins!” Zarl yelled from somewhere up high. “Some bastards got through!”

  Shamil spared a glance up and found Zarl perched on the same rafters that the beasts leapt down from just moments before. He sent arrow after arrow, raining down on the smaller threats.

  “Arv!” Valdora roared as he leapt back from the now-downed hobgoblin. Only the center commander remained, “Help Cretin and Hilda!”

  Without question, Arv disengaged and Valdora took his place in the formation that pressed down on the final hobgoblin. Arv spun around and stepped into a lunge that speared a bloodied goblin on the end of his trident. He roared and prepared to strike again, lost in the thrill of combat. Shamil had no orders to disengage, so she returned her attention back to the hobgoblin. He was nearly feral with rage, his arms like a whirlwind as he struck out with reckless abandon.

  Neyra ducked down into the relative quiet of the Howdah as she prepared another spell. Shamil had no idea how she could focus during all of this, especially if spell casting was really as difficult as she made it sound. There was no telling when (or if) she could provide any more support fire. It was up to Shamil and Zarl, then. Her bolt now loaded, she raised her weapon to fire.

  And then there was a scream, horrible and hissing. Riza stumbled backward out of the line, her spear clattering to the floor. She desperately clutched at where her left hand should have been. There was nothing but a bloody stump. The hobgoblin finally had his opening. He surged into the break, focusing both of his blades on the injured Riza. The crazed look in his eyes told Shamil that he knew he was a dead man. He just wanted to be sure to take someone down with him. And he wanted it to be Riza.

  Kaida stepped back to protect Riza, but the hobgoblin aimed a kick at her chest, sending her flying backward. Valdora, Elwin, and Elle rushed to flank the commander, unable to sacrifice this crucial opportunity to take him down. Time slowed as the beast leapt at Riza. Her clawed feet slipped in the blood that fountained from her wrist and she stumbled to the ground. Shamil had one chance, and even if she made the shot, there was no telling if it would save her friend or not. She took her aim and fired.

  The bolt sank in between the hobgoblin’s eyes with a loud crunch. His war shouts stopped, and he froze, muscles locked in shock. Then he slumped lifelessly to the floor. His tattoos glowed and pulsed for one last moment, and then winked out. Shamil hurriedly slung her crossbow onto her back and leapt out of the Howdah. Elwin was busy slitting the throats of the other downed hobgoblins, ensuring they were truly dead, but the rest of the squad crowded around Riza. Kaida shouted at Elle to keep the pressure steady as she held her cloak on Riza’s arm stump. Valdora hurriedly wrapped a belt further up Riza’s forearm as Kaida continued to bark orders.

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  Shamil paled slightly as she took in the amount of blood on the floor. She was still paces away from Riza and already the pool seeped toward her toes. Her ears rang as she splashed through the red liquid until she came to Riza’s side.

  Kaida was removing a potion from her bag when she suddenly cursed and set it back on the ground. She got up on her knees and pounded on Riza’s chest, furiously pumping her arms in a steady rhythm.

  “No. No!” she said, huffing, her face red from exertion. Around her, the rest of the squadron stood silent. Neyra leapt from the Howdah and hurried up, with Arv, to stand behind Shamil. She raised a trembling hand to her mouth, shaking her head. Neyra looked as pale as Shamil felt.

  “Valdora!” Kaida barked, and the man rushed to take over the pumping motion. Kaida put practiced fingers at Riza’s neck, her brows furrowed as she desperately searched for a pulse. Her face fell, and she slumped backward into the pool of blood with a small splash. Valdora stopped, noting the look on his lieutenant’s face. She met his eyes and shook her head.

  Shamil’s tears made small ripples as they fell from her face and dripped into the pool of blood at her feet. Cretin roared in fury and he threw his mace to the ground. Hilda held her helm in gauntleted hands and bowed her head solemnly. Elwin just stared, an icy rage burning in her eyes. Elle let the bloody cloak fall from her hands and onto Riza’s chest. Then she put her hand on Kaida’s shoulder and the two of them looked down on their fallen companion.

  “No…” Neyra said, her voice breaking with sobs, “Riza…no…”

  Arv stepped forward to kneel next to Hilda, bowing his head just as she did. His face contorted with sorrow. Hilda turned to him and put a hand on his knee before looking down again. Zarl stepped up to fill in the space where Arv once stood, his footsteps quiet and cautious. He waited in silence between Shamil and Neyra. Then he tentatively put one hand on Shamil’s shoulder in a humble gesture of comfort. Slowly, almost afraid, he put the other on Neyra’s.

  Neyra immediately whipped around and buried her face into his scarf, melting into his touch. His eyes widened in surprise and he quickly took his hand away from Shamil’s shoulder to hold Neyra against his chest as she wept.

  Neyra was a hugger, and she would embrace anyone, especially if she was upset. A tiny part of Shami’s grief-addled brain hoped that Zarl wouldn’t read too much into this. Indeed, Neyra reached out and tugged Shamil into the embrace as soon as she was able, and she clutched onto both of them as she let the tears fall. Shamil wept. She couldn't keep it back, not when it was for Riza.

  This really was war, then. It was vile; it was wretched, and it was only just beginning. It pained her to know that this was probably just the first of many casualties to come. She would get used to it eventually, always losing anyone she cared about. She had to.

  Neyra finally broke away, wiping her tears with her gloved hands,

  “I-I’m sorry,” she choked as she looked up at Zarl with tear-filled eyes, “I don’t know what came over me.”

  He opened his mouth as if to say it was alright, but she walked away before he got the chance. His hand remained outstretched, as if to keep her from leaving. Neyra took reverent steps toward Riza’s corpse. She stopped and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Arcane words spilled from her lips and she waved her fingers in the air. A spectral, floating hand appeared in front of her face. Eyes still closed, Neyra whispered under her breath. The hand floated to the bloody cloak that Elle had used to staunch the bleeding. Reverently, it picked up the cloak and dropped it at Riza’s feet. Then it took the other end and carefully pulled it up over her whole body. It paused for a moment, and then it tenderly covered her face. Then the hand vanished in a small puff of mist.

  “Your sacrifice will be honored, and your spirit remembered, Riza Hess of the Lao Tribe,” Valdora intoned, his voice solemn. He crouched down and placed a hand on her shrouded face. He stood and regarded them each?.

  “Her death will mean nothing if we don’t accomplish what we came here to do. Let’s move.”

  Shamil inhaled sharply and slowly nodded her head. The others of her squad muttered their assent in a similar fashion. They all got to their feet and prepared to move out. They still had a job to do.

  ***

  Elle’s eyes burned from her spent tears, making it even harder for her to see in the dim light of the audience chamber. Arv stepped carefully across the threshold. A room that was surely once a grand reception area now laid in ruin. Bodies littered the floor. Some were the corpses of shadow soldiers, but many more wore Lord Nero’s colors. A noble effort was made here, and the blood of many valiant men trickled and pooled onto the smooth marble floors. The squadron’s footsteps clicked and echoed eerily as they pressed further into the grand room.

  “I knew about the tunnels in here, but I was never told exactly how to access them,” Elwin muttered as she hurried to the far end of the room. Beams of sunlight peeked through tall windows that were inlaid in the vaulted ceilings. That pale light broke through the gloom in small patches. Elwin passed through one on her way to a grand throne which stood (remarkably) unscathed on a raised dais at the end of the room. Leading up to the throne was a carpet that Elivera assumed would be luxurious were it not completely saturated with blood.

  “The entrance would be somewhere near his throne, surely…” Valdora said as he moved to search with Elwin, “Zarl! Try to find a trail. Everyone else, keep a keen eye. And listen for any sounds of a struggle!”

  Elle held her breath and strained her ears, trying desperately to pick up anything unusual. They needed to find him. They’d lost so much already. What more did they stand to lose if they couldn’t get to him in time? The thought made her stomach churn.

  She took a shuddering breath and tried to force herself to relax. The knots of ensign weighed heavily on her shoulders. It felt almost as if they would drag her to the ground.

  “Captain!” Zarl’s voice broke through the silence. “I’ve found something.”

  The Howdah jostled as Arv jogged to where Zarl crouched on the ground. The rest of the team crowded near him as he studied the floor with trained eyes.

  “Look,” Zarl said. He kept low to the ground as he led the team through the trail. “Someone was dragged here. They smeared the blood and painted a path clear to this wall.”

  Indeed, the unassuming smear ended abruptly just at the wall. Almost too abruptly. Elle felt stupid for not noticing until Zarl pointed it out. It seemed so obvious.

  “Yes!” Elwin said, rushing forward to run her fingers along the intricate wood paneling. “I can even feel a draft. Cretin! Arv! There’s no time to find the latch. Come help me pry this open…” she drew her sword and carefully wedged the blade into a nearly invisible seam in the wood.

  Without question, the two large men hurried over. Arv rammed his harpoon into the opening, and Cretin opted to use his massive, clawed fingers instead. Together they heaved. Elle heard the wood creak and groan before it cracked. The break allowed enough give for them to break down the rest of the hidden door.

  Pieces fell away in splinters, unleashing the icy breeze contained behind them. Soon, they all stood staring down the dimly lit entrance of a rough-hewn tunnel passage. Beams supported the ceilings, and flickering torches lined the walls. From somewhere in the shadowy depths, a man screamed.

  “Go!” Valdora roared as he sprinted after Elwin. She had leapt to action the very second the sound met their ears. The rest of the squad leapt to action behind the two of them. Elle’s breath caught as the Howdah lurched with Arv’s abrupt movement. She spared one last glance for her sister in the fading, and then they plunged down into the depths below.