Having survived the previous encounter, Kiur snuck through the areas with heightened caution.
Scouting from one of the higher areas, Kiur spotted fights raging near the market. Inhabitants fought against their assailants and were slowly getting overwhelmed.
A lot of magic was involved, but only visible from Kiur’s people. The invaders focused more on fighting at close range.
At first glance, they looked like a ragtag group of people. Awfully lean, with shambled and ragged clothes and rusty weapons in hand. Much like the one called Hessian, yet not as strong as he was.
“Kom i gang, kom i gang.”
Kiur ducked away when he heard heavy footsteps approaching. They belonged to a dwarf and another man with pale skin and foreign outfits made of leather, fur and metal with polished swords, axes and shields.
Kiur held his breath.
“Vi har arbeid å gjøre og får så mye vi kan få.”
“Get going. We have work to do and get as much as we can.” Translated Kiur while eavesdropping on the Reiszer. They looked different from the other attackers.
He wondered; did they belong together? He wasn’t familiar with their clothes or weapons.
“Whatever they are, they are armed and dangerous. We need to stay clear of them.” Kiur waited some more until the Reiszer were out of sight.
“Let’s cut through the barley fields,” suggested Kiur, signalling for the children to be quiet. “We need to go around the market, so we need to be quiet, ok?”
The siblings nodded, holding each other by the hand. “It will be alright… it will be alright,” Kiur whispered the last bit to himself. He always did that like it was a charm.
It kept his head sane from the gravity of the situation. “It will be alright.”
Knowing the fields like the back of his hand, Kiur outmanoeuvred any encounter with the Reiszer. He saw one group cutting through the field.
Hiding the children and distracting the group to search elsewhere, they continued their path.
Call it luck or tenacity, but it was working.
So far.
“We’re almost there,” said Kiur as they left the barley fields and arrived at the grape hills. “Here, eat some to calm your nerves.”
The ziggurat wasn’t far anymore, but Kiur grew wary the closer they came. Below the hills, chaos and fights were raging between the growing flames.
His people erected walls and redirected the blaze towards the attackers, but the Reiszer besieged them, regardless.
Those who were dressed similarly to Hessian appeared like slaves by the way they were thrown like cannon fodder or abused by the Reiszer soldiers when orders were refused—like throwing themselves into said fire.
It was a war of attrition.
Kiur spotted single wizard-robed Reiszer to fire destructive spells and capture with the help of the soldiers whoever they could get their hands on with nets and drag them away.
“This is madness,” said Kiur a bit too loudly.
“Stop! Who’s hiding there?”
Grabbed from behind, someone dragged Kiur out of his hiding spot. Fearing it was an enemy, he freed himself and raised his fists before realising who it was.
“Kiur, that you?” The one who dragged him out was a priestess named Tabira, his colleague from work. “Those children, no way,” and she was the surrogate mother for the fathers of Ninda and her brother Hazir. “Where are their parents?” she turned to Kiur and inspected the children. She hugged them close.
“They stayed behind to give us a chance to escape. I was over at their place when this… mess happened,” Kiur explained their situation and was relieved to see a familiar face. “Is the temple safe? We need to go there quickly.”
He heard sounds of awkward shuffling and whispering behind Tabira.
He hadn’t noticed them at first, but a group of people accompanied Tabira—mostly elderly and children—all in distress about what was happening to their city.
“We just came from there,” replied Tabira bitterly. “Gala Enlil and the other priests, alongside the stationed soldiers, are holding back a large group of those invaders. We escaped in the hopes of evacuating everyone to the underground area by making it through the market area.”
“Bad idea.” Kiur crossed his hands into an X. “The market is in total chaos. I am unsure how many there are, but it’s too dangerous.” Travelling with a large group like this would draw too much attention. Something they couldn’t risk. “We need to get to the ports in the lower areas through the bridges.”
“I agree; it’s unlikely they know about the passageways.” Tabira’s hand hovered over her mount. “It might be dangerous, but it’s all we got.”
Travelling in a large group wasn’t particularly wise. Many were non-combatants like Kiur, which lowered their fighting chances drastically. They needed a contingency plan.
Kiur proposed to split the groups into smaller sections, with the ones who couldn’t defend themselves putting them at the rear end.
They needed to spearhead if necessary—otherwise, they might get overwhelmed in an encounter.
When Tabira inquired if Kiur could fight as well, she was disappointed to hear his answer. He argued he needed to protect the children as he promised.
She accepted his decision to be placed at the rear while she took the responsibilities for the front.
It infuriated Kiur how she put in so much more effort than he did, despite her pregnancy. She had earned the right to be his replacement for Enlil’s successor. “Why do I have to be so pathetic? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be better?”
“Your leg is still bleeding.” Pointed out Ninda, waking Kiur up from his stupor. “You need someone to look at it.”
“It’s nothing.” Kiur held his poorly bandaged thigh, biting his lip from the pain. Bending down, Kiur straightened Ninda’s wild hair, giving her a comforting smile. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s focus on your brother, shall we?”
Ninda held her brother’s hand even tighter, worrying about him. “I miss my parents. Do you think they will be alright?”
“No, they won’t.” Was Kiur's first and most pessimistic thought. They were ordinary people, not fighters. A simple baker family and parents. “They will be, I’m sure of it,” lied Kiur once again. He had never lied so much in his life as in the past few years.
It made him sick.
Sick of lying to everyone, but he would keep at least Ninda and her brother safe, no matter what.
—☾—
“No one is here yet. Run to the other side; we’ll reach the ports in no time,” Tabira and the other priests guided the mass of people over the massive stone bridges.
The port was just underneath them with all the ships still docked in place.
They miraculously avoided all the fighting hotspots and haven’t encountered a single Reiszer.
But a question was nagging in the back of Kiur’s mind.
“Why were the bridges unguarded?”
They were one of the most important constructions in Nippur, connecting two sides over an artificial stream. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to access many of the living areas.
Yet the bridge remained shrouded in darkness, with no foreign soldiers stationed to guard it.
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“It’s too dark; someone cast a flame to light up the bridges.”
“Already on it.”
The situation didn’t sit right with Kiur. He was missing a crucial piece of information. Then he remembered a lecture from his brother about the times they walked over the bridges.
“In times of war, armies take bridges to capture fleeing troops and seize the city entirely. It’s a vital strategic point.”
Kiur watched the first flames ignite and inadvertently reveal their position to their enemies.
“Stop, put out the lights!” A therianthrope warned before Kiur could. “It’s a trap!”
But the warning came far too late.
Arrows and bolts rain down on the fire users the moment they lit the lights.
The Reiszer took them out without killing them.
It was all too clear how potent and prepared the Reiszer were. Just like hunters here for the big hunt, knowing full well where their prey would be and when to strike.
“Like rabbits running into a snare.” one of the Reiszer stood out from the rest with his onyx-coloured mantle and a raven tattoo on his neck. He laughed haughtily and drew his double-edged short sword.
“The name is Third Elite Macnaught, and I’ll make you never forget the suffering you will receive.” He whipped back his short blond hair to the side, revealing the clean-shaven other side. “Catch them!”
“Fight back!” Responded Tabira and stomped with her foot to erect a wall between them and the attackers. Despite the Reiszer’s fierce attacks, they couldn’t reach the walls protected by the fire and wind of the priests.
“Seriously? I’ll do it on my own.” Macnaught pulled his ornate and rune-lined sword back.
Swinging it from left to right, it was the crudest display of swordsmanship anyone had ever seen in their life. He clasped it with both hands and swung it in a wide arc, unleashing a crescent silver light that cut through the earth.
Pulling the sword to the side and back, the crescent light curved. It destroyed the wall and cut into their lines and whoever was nearby, like Kiur.
Just a single brush shook Kiur to his very core. He almost buckled over from the pain, his feet unstable and shaky. It was worse than when Hessian nicked him.
Several times worse.
“Ha, that showed them!” Macnaught fixed the strand of hair on his face when he had tripped during the attack. It was not obvious whether he was terrible at fighting or plain clumsy, but he was undeniably and terrifyingly strong in taking out groups of people.
Treated as nothing more than spoils of war, stripped from their accessories or other expensive possessions.
Kiur lost his jewellery but not the lion emblem that he hid underneath the shawl his mother gave him. It stung losing them, though it wasn’t worth risking his life over it.
“Third Elite Macnaught,” called a soldier. “We’ve rounded them up and did a preliminary inspection. However, no one fits the description so far.”
“Tch,” Macnaught clicked his tongue. “Guess this one was a small game, then. Regardless, get everyone ready to leave this city before they send the army—”
“Let go, you brat!”
“Stop pulling his arm!”
Kiur watched wide-eyed as Macnaught approached the commotion. A soldier trying to separate two siblings from one another.
Ninda protested desperately from letting her brother go and being taken away by the Reiszer.
“What’s going on over there?”
“This boy fits the description. He’s close to his awakened state, but this girl is persistent and won’t let go. What should I do?”
“And you call yourself a soldier? Just cut off her damn arm!” Pushing away the soldier, Macnaught grabbed Ninda’s arm. “Stay still, or there won’t be much more left of your arm.”
The sound of an unsheathing blade whirred in Kiur’s ears. He imagined the sight of blood spilling on the ground.
His head went haywire.
His vision blurred from the inability to move. The shadow of his delusions formed next to Ninda.
She was yelling at Kiur, inaudibly crying out to Kiur with gurgling words. Her hands went for the man’s neck in a futile attempt to stop him. She couldn’t touch him, but it didn’t stop her to keep trying.
It paralysed Kiur from fear, and he would have no one to blame but himself for what was about to happen.
The delusion disappeared and reappeared right before Kiur.
Her hands cupped his face, squeezing his cheeks tightly to bring some sense to him, but no matter how hard she tried, he couldn’t understand a single word.
“Save that girl!” Kiur and the delusion found themselves in a stupor. It was the cry of the people who freed themselves and created tremors with their earth magic to push back the enemy.
But it wasn’t enough to stop Macnaught to swing down with his sword.
Kiur knew he couldn’t do much, but he forced himself up. With hands tied to his back, he shot forward like a runner who failed the head start and crashed into the Reiszer’s side.
His next desperate move was to whirl up the sand with his foot and throw it straight at Macnaught’s face.
“Pah, I can’t see!” Macnaught cried out, rubbing the sand further into his eyes.
“Run, we will get out of here and—” An explosion tore through Kiur’s eardrums. Disorientated, he turned to watch the bridges crumble into the deep river below.
Their only escape way just disappeared. Hopelessness now truly seeped into their bones.
Call it adrenaline, boldness, foolishness or trying to face his fears, but Kiur refused to sink into despair. He shouted so loudly from the top of his lungs that the Reiszer shuddered backwards.
“Everyone, scatter! Escape to the passages to the lower city!”
—☽—
With the bridges now gone, the lower city was their only option, but they needed to cut their way through the market.
Some of the magic users stayed behind to buy time. Only a handful escaped into the passageways as they split up again at the market.
“So many captured, too many.”
“How much longer?” huffed Ninda, trying to keep up with running down the stairs without a break.
“Not much longer. Keep running.” Kiur was tired, his legs aching, but carrying Ninda’s brother on his back and with the others around, he couldn’t stop.
He didn’t want to stop.
“I don’t want to be a failure anymore. I have to keep running.”
Reaching the underground part of the city, Kiur found it unfamiliarly deserted.
There was no light or soul to be seen except for those Kiur escaped underground with and the invaders close behind.
“The port isn’t far anymore.” They didn’t have the time to worry about details. It was now or never, but when they entered the port area, a large group of Reiszer met them.
Having lied there in waiting.
“At least you’ve got tenacity, golden boy.” Kiur stared at the approaching Reiszer. It was the very same one who had attacked them not long ago.
“How did you survive? I thought you fell from the cliff?” asked Kiur, shocked to see Hessian alive.
Hessian rested his axe on his shoulder and grinned wickedly at Kiur. “I didn’t plan to die today. That’s how I survived.”
“Stop talking like you know each other. We have a mission to—” Without a warning, Hessian drove his axe into the throat of the yapping soldier.
Gurgling and sputtering blood, he succumbed to his wound—just like all the other soldiers killed by the Reiszer slaves not long after.
“What’s happening?” wondered someone in the false hope the slaves were switching sides and planning to help Kiur and the others.
Sadly, they were not.
“Don’t misunderstand. We just really hate those soldiers. After all, they don’t like us either.” Hessian threw his axe after Kiur, hitting the stone pillar right next to him. “My name is Hessian, and we will take you all prisoners here today.”
Hessian picked up the weapon of the deceased soldier, with the other slaves following suit and plundering their supposed comrades.
Kiur couldn’t explain why they killed their own.
Was it for the weapons? Hatred for the upper ranks? There seemed to be a discrepancy and inequality among them, but did it have to be resolved in killing?
Why take the chance now during a raid?
“You, golden boy.” Hessian pointed with his new sword at Kiur, making him stand out from his group as the leader. “Pick up the axe. I want to settle the score. Don’t worry about magic or us attacking you prematurely. I will beat you with skill alone.”
Kiur gulped, his throat parched and hands jittering. “What if I refuse?”
“Simple, you take an unnecessary risk of us attacking you.” Hessian twirled with the sword in his hand. “This is your only option to minimise losses as you are about to get surrounded. How much longer until the rest arrives? Macnaught isn’t the nicest of us. I promise to capture you without going overboard. That is, if you let me settle the score.”
Kiur didn’t want to take Hessian’s proposal, but as things were, he had no chance.
Pulling the sword out of the stone, Kiur regarded the weapon. He wasn’t a fighter, nor did he know how to swing an axe, but if he didn’t follow through with the request, he would regret it.
At least, that was what his delusion told him by standing right next to Hessian.
It was in order to keep the rest of them safe.
“I’ll allow you the first swing. Ready when you are.” Hessian gestured at Kiur but knew better than to take the bait.
All the time, Kiur wished to be more impulsive, but in this case, it would have been a critical mistake.
His hands shaking, Kiur dropped to his knees and put down the axe, surrendering.
Hessian sneered, and the slaves sighed disappointingly. “Suit yourself then, coward.” Hessian kicked Kiur against his chest to make him rattle for air. “Is that what you want? Giving up? Fine, I don’t care, die.”
Hessian held up his sword over Kiur’s neck. His sunstone-like eyes were blank, devoid of emotions towards Kiur.
Time slowed down when the blade came down. Kiur expected to be saved by his brother, by anyone, but no one came.
“Ah, it’s up to me,” thought Kiur when his hand instinctively went for the axe beside him and took the whole brunt of the sword as both blades stuck in one another.
The sudden glimmer in Hessian’s eyes sparked joy. “Now, that’s what I call tenacity, but that won’t be enough!” Hessian abandoned his sword and kicked Kiur away—their weapons fell into the nearby stream. “You tried, but it was not enough!” His fists were hard, like iron. Despite the state his body was in, he knew how to hurt others.
“That’s why you people lost today! You have lost your edge while we had to hone it!” Hessian grabbed Kiur by the hair, slamming the back of his head against the ground. An old wound opened. Kiur cried out in shock as Hessian brutalised him.
“You give up so easily, you lose so easily. Land of Equality? You are cowards who run away and discard your own people when you become afraid of them.”
Kiur was unaware of what was happening next, but he knew that his body was being dragged away, pulled by his hair. As the city burned, Kiur witnessed how the people he knew were being rounded up and put into cages.
“You lost today, and we won. Retribution is coming. The Reiszer will raze the world,” he whispered the last part into Kiur’s ear. “Survive and watch the world turn upside down.”