This story is being rewritten! The new version, A Price in Memory, can be found here.
I highly suggest you read the new version as this one won't be completed. Also, there has been a lot of changes so you won't be able to continue with the other where this one left off.
With a heavy heart, Y’rid made his way to the door and opened it. The sound of voices could be heard coming up from the tavern area below, though he could not make out the words.
The door across from him opened and a man stepped outside while strapping his sword belt to his waist. He recognised the man as one of the hunters he saw that evening. The man spared him a glance and gave him a curt nod as he strode towards the stairs.
Y’rid paused for a moment before following, deciding to see if he could gather any information on the situation.
Sounds of a heated argument reached his ears before the sources came into view, the voices becoming clearer as he headed towards the common area.
“-that’s why we should be on the wall! If the creatures break through its already too late,” a female voice spoke, the frustration in her voice clear as day.
“Like hell! I hired you to protect me and my merchandise, not to play at being a hero to the city!” Another voice refuted, this one male.
Y’rid scanned the area as the ground floor came into view. The large innkeeper was nowhere to be seen. In the corner of the room, one of the serving girls was comforting another whose eyes were wide and face pale.
Near the front door stood an armed woman next to six other people, all wearing similar armour which he remembered having seen that evening. A long scar ran across the woman’s face, stretching from her brow to the corner of her mouth, marring what would otherwise have been a pretty appearance.
Her expression was dark, giving one the impression about to draw the blade her hand rested on, as she stared down a man dressed in colourful clothing. The man, however, held her gaze without wavering which was quite impressive in its own right.
“I’m actually going agree with Mirik here, captain," one of the armed men next to the woman spoke up. "A few more hands on the wall won’t make much of a difference but there are always a few monsters that slip through the cracks.”
The woman's head turned towards the speaker, causing him to take half a step back under her gaze.
“I’d be happy to see a few more hands on the wall,” the hunter Y’rid saw said over his shoulder as he passed them. But before anyone could reply he had already exited the building and turned around the corner, disappearing into the city.
“Look. I’m paying you to get me to Lok. If you want to go then go, but don’t bother coming back.”
The colourfully clothed man, who he assumed to be Mirik, said. This caused the woman to focus her attention back on him, to the visible relief of the other man.
The sound of heavy footsteps drew Y’rid’s attention away from the argument and towards the other side of the room. From behind the counter, a large man appeared through a doorway leading towards the back. It was the innkeeper. He was carrying a massive wooden balk on his shoulder, clearly straining under its weight.
He walked to the door before putting the balk down against the wall with a heavy thud. Taking a moment to regain his breath he turned to address the people in the room.
“Anyone who wants to leave should do so now! Once this I close this door you can bet your ass it’s not opening until all this is over!”
The woman turned back towards the man she had been arguing with. She glowered at him for a few more moments before she spoke, never breaking eye contact.
“Dan, Torin, you two go to the stables and keep a watch on the d’yari. Make sure nothing spooks them, we’re going to need them if the wall’s breached.”
The man who had been in favour of guarding the merchant opened his mouth to say something before one of the others grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the door.
Giving one last look to the people in the room, the innkeeper lifted up the balk and dropped it into place onto the iron brackets beside the door, sealing the entrance.
“We do what we’re paid to, merchant. Nothing will happen to you or your precious wares.”
The woman’s words held more than a hint of derision, causing the man’s eyes to narrow before he turned away, making his way towards the stairs.
“I’ll make sure nothing happens to him,” one of the mercenaries who had been standing by said as he turned followed the man.
After a quick nod, the woman turned towards the innkeeper making his way to the counter.
“You have anything stronger than that vile mead you’ve been trying to kill us with?”
Glancing over his shoulder, the large man grunted in what seemed to be affirmation before he strode off with her and the other only other female mercenary following.
Y’rid looked around before heading over to the two remaining mercenaries that had taken a table near the fireplace, their backs turned towards the few glowing coals that were still giving off heat.
The men looked up as he approached but made no move to stop him as he sat down across from them.
“You’ve been in a lot of these… situations?” He asked.
There were a few moments of silence as the men looked him over before the one on the left gave a sigh and spoke.
“More than I’d have liked to.”
He looked to be in his late-forties, his short black hair beginning to grey at the sides.
“I don’t suppose you can say the same, huh lad?”
“I can’t say that I have, no. To be honest, waiting here doesn’t seem like the most productive thing to do.”
The man on the right chuckled. He was younger and more heavyset than his companion, one of his eyes a dull white indicating its lack of sight.
“That’s all you can do. Unless you want to help defend the wall, and I can guarantee that you don’t want that.”
Y’rid turned his attention towards the man.
“You’re speaking from experience?” He asked.
“I am. Trust me when I say it’s a horrible thing to watch death approach.”
The scene of the battlefield flashed in his mind before he pushed it to the side, though something must have shown on his face as the older man raised an eyebrow while watching him.
Just then the sounds of footsteps pulled his attention away. Y’rid looked up to see the serving girl who was distressed earlier. It seemed as though she had managed to calm down a bit even though her face still looked a bit pale.
“Um… the Sandri said to ask if you wanted anything, so…”
“Sure, bring us three mugs of mead,” he said, pulling out one of the silver coins he had.
The conversation had brought back something he would rather not have thought about, plus he still wanted to know a few things from the mercenaries so buying a round didn’t seem like a bad idea.
The girl nodded before she took the coin and walked off.
“Well, I’ll never say no to free drink, even if the swill they serve here can barely be called that,” the younger mercenary said.
“As if you can tell the difference,” the older one replied though he did nod approvingly at Y’rid before he continued.
“I’m Kaine, and this here is Dalton,” he said gesturing towards the other with a jerk of his head.
“Y’rid.”
“Old Tongue huh. Don’t see many with names like that in these parts,” Kaine said, bit surprised at his name.
“Old Tongue?” Y’rid asked.
The name was familiar but the boy whose body he had didn’t seem to have much knowledge about it other than knowing it was a different language.
“Yeah. An old language, that was supposedly widespread an age back. I don’t know of any that still speak it, though down south you’ll find people here and there whose names stem from it. Family names usually. Which raises the question as to why I know more about it than you,” Kaine said.
“My parents died a long time ago. I didn’t know it was a big deal,” Y’rid replied. It wasn’t a lie exactly, as the boy’s parents had indeed died a long time ago.
“It isn’t. I just travelled with a scholar once who talked too much.”
“Have you been a mercenary a long time?” Y’rid asked.
The serving girl arrived at the table holding three mugs which she placed before them. The two mercenaries immediately reached for theirs and took a sip and Y’rid following suit. The mead had cooled down during the night yet it hardly improved the taste. Kaine grimaced before taking another sip.
“I have to admit, Dalton guessed correctly when he called this swill.”
“Go screw a goat old man. I know my drink,” the man in question replied, causing Kaine to chuckle.
“To answer your question. I was a hunter for most of my life, only joined up with the Iron Core two terms ago. I’m old enough to be content with the number of beasts that want to eat me while we’re escorting people from city to city, without actually going out to look for more.”
“The Iron Core only does escort jobs?” Y’rid asked.
“Mostly.”
Something in the man's tone made it clear that was all he was going to say on the matter, so Y'rid decided to change the subject. There was something he really needed to know.
“You have travelled a lot during your time as a hunter, right?” Y’rid asked
“You could say that.”
“Have you seen any places without any of these... monsters?”
The man sighed and shook his head.
“There are no such places. Believe me, I’ve searched for them.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
His eyes gained a far-off look as he stared into the mug he held in his hand.
“I’ve been to the great jungles in the east and the beastmen that walk them. I’ve been south all the way to the Split and spoke to the seaborn people traverse it. I even met a few of the Anuneri Desert folk from the tip of the world… they were travelling this way, seeking escape from the sand-dwelling beasts that plague them there. Nowhere is safe. Not really.”
“Never heard you talking about those things old man," Dalton, who had been quietly drinking his mead, spoke up.
“Yeah well, it brings back memories I’d rather forget,” Kaine replied before taking another gulp from the mug.
Silence fell over the table as the sombre words reminded the mercenary of their current situation. Y’rid’s mind, however, was working to process the information.
It really is a different world.
He had hoped that maybe he was just trapped in some forgotten corner of the world he knew. That he would still be able to find his way back if he just knew the direction to take. But the flash of recognition he had hoped for when he listened to Kaine never came. If anything the world he was in just seemed stranger.
What now? If he couldn’t get back, would he ever reclaim his past? Would he ever truly know who he was?
He raised his mug and downed the rest of the mead, trying to drown out the emptiness he felt growing in his chest. It didn’t help.
He was just about to call the serving girl for another mug when a deafening roar tore through the air and caused a tremor to run through the ground. Y’rid froze as his mind went blank at the sound.
“What the fuck was that?” Dalton shouted, his eyes wide as he stared the direction it came from.
“Something you never want to see,” Kaine muttered before his head snapped towards the captain sitting at the counter along with another female mercenary, the glass forgot in her hand.
“Captain, we need to go. Now!” The mercenary shouted. She turned and stared at him for a moment before waking from her stunned state.
“Dalton! Go help Kale get the merchant and his bags down here. Kaine go find Torin and Dan and get the caravan to the front!” The woman ordered.
“Captain, there is no time to load the caravan, if behemoths are joining the wave then the wall is already as good as breached.”
As if to prove Kaine’s point, another roar, this one slightly higher pitched, could be heard coming to the far west of the city.
“Do as you’re ordered!”
The captain shouted as her hand dropped to the hilt of her sword. Dalton was already up and sprinting towards the stairs, not looking back.
“Yes captain,” he replied after a brief moment of hesitation.
“Take my advice and run, lad. Run as fast and as far as you can in the opposite direction.” Kaine said as he passed Y’rid who was still stunned by the roar.
The eastern wall was far away on the other side of the city, just imagining what kind of monster could produce such a noise at such a distance caused his heart to race.
Kaine’s last words only registered by the time the man had already lifted the wooden balk and was heading outside.
“Keep that door closed!” The innkeeper screamed, coming from the room in the back.
Neither Kaine nor the captain paid the man any attention as she urgently said something to the woman next to her before speeding up the stairs.
Deciding to take Kaine’s advice, Y’rid stood up and jogged over to the door. Even with the boy’s memories of the previous monster wave, he didn’t really see it as a threat, at least not until he heard that roar. He had absolutely no intention to meet the creature capable of such a feat, of that much he was certain.
Outside the streets were still relatively empty as most stayed behind their locked doors, hoping that the threat would soon pass. The thundering of hooves on cobles drew his attention towards his left as he saw a man riding a d’yar at breakneck speed down the street in his direction.
The man wore the typical armour of the city guards that Y’rid had seen, but unlike the others, his armour was stained with dark blood. Several long tears ran over the chest plate, exposing the bloody flesh beneath, though it couldn’t have been very deep as the man was still riding.
“The walls have been breached! Head to the west gate!”
Shouting as he rode down the street the man quickly passing him, repeating the words as he did so. Y’rid wasted no time and head off into the direction the man was going. He could hear the sounds coming from inside many of the homes, as people scrambled to escape in the wake of the dire news. It would seem Kaine was right in his prediction.
Behemoths huh?
He looked over his shoulder towards the eastern wall of the city, but the dark of the night obscured his sight, even with the full moon in the sky. He could still clearly hear the roars in his mind though, driving him to pick up the pace.
Quickly making his way through the streets, he relied on the memories of the boy to choose the quickest route. Along the way he could see more and more houses with open doors as men, women, and children came running out, clutching a few possessions they were unwilling to abandon. The news the rider carried must have reached them.
The quiet was quickly replaced by the distressed screams of adults and crying of children, creating a scene of chaos before him as he jogged.
He clenched his jaw as he saw the scene, yet he could not do anything other than shout a few words of encouragement as he passed them. Not that anyone paid him much mind.
Suddenly he was forced to a stop to avoid colliding with an armoured man as he rounded a corner as the street he was traveling along joined up with the main road. As he took a step back he saw a procession of impressive looking knights surrounding a few carriages as they jogged alongside them.
Their armour was blackened and their faces obscured by the full helms they wore. They looked especially fearsome in the moonlight, even though the clean state of the armour made it clear that they had not seen battle this night.
He recognized them as the city lord’s Blackguard. Their job was to protect the lord himself and deal with any intruders that trespassed in the keep grounds. The boy had only seen them a few times as they stuck to the richer areas in the city, but they had left an impression.
He fell in with the few people that were trailing them along with some that had come the from the same street he had.
They had barely gone a few dozen meters when one of the people at the back screamed something Y’rid couldn’t quite make out. Turning back, he saw a man pointing up into the sky with a fearful expression. He followed the man’s gaze to see three large shapes in the sky. Their dark form framed against the moonlit clouds behind them.
The Blackguard seemed to have seen them as well as three of them broke off from the formation following orders that were bellowed from one of the carriages. They drew their swords at their hips and stood at the back as the rest picked up their pace.
Something struck Y’rid as odd about the scene, but he quickly pressed it to the back of his mind as he moved forward. The rest of the civilians quickly ran towards them as the beasts started swooping down.
The woman in front had just reached the three them when one took a step forward and swung his sword. The sword whistled through the air cleaving it apart in a well-controlled arc of red.
The woman fell forward, her head tumbling from her shoulders as she did so.
For a moment everyone stopped and stared uncomprehendingly as the three raised their swords, looking not towards the beasts but at the civilians.
They’re… using us as shields.
Apprehension filled his mind as reality dawned on him. Confusion and disbelief showed among the faces of the group and, for a moment, silence filled the air. It was shattered almost immediately by a piercing screech.
Y’rid felt his vision swim as the sound invaded his head, echoing on the inside of his skull. His knees weakened and he sank to the ground clutching at his head, his hands pressed over his ears, but it did not help much. All around him the other people were doing the same.
Vaguely he saw two massive claws appear from the corner of his eye. They slammed into the chest of the figure beside him. cracking sounds reached him as he heard the man’s ribs breaking, he could feel the warm blood that splashed against his face. Then the figure was gone, lifted up into the air.
Slowly he regained control of himself as he shook his head and looked around him. A few feet away stood a massive from over the corpse of a young girl. Its wings resembled that of a bat, being clawed at the middle as it supported itself on their folded states and its hind legs. That was where the resemblance ended.
It was covered in patched pieces of dark fur. Its head was elongated into a snout that split in two as it stretched its long neck down and snapped its jaws shut onto the girl’s arm with a wet crunch. A long tail swivelled before spearing through a man that was rising to his feet beside it.
Y’rid stared in abject horror as the monster ripped the girl’s arm off her corpse before swallowing it whole. He quickly rose to his feet but froze as the creature’s head turned towards him, the girl’s blood leaking from the gaps in its teeth to drip on the ground. A low growl escaped it as its black eyes stared at him, almost causing his heart to stop.
He was just about to run for it when a whizzing noise reached his ears followed by a dull thud as an arrow embedded itself in the creature’s neck. It tried to scream in pain as it swung its neck but the arrow disrupted the sound forcing it into a hoarse croak as the creature flapped its wings and rose into the air.
Looking back he saw a bloodstained hunter holding a longbow as she pulled another arrow from the quiver on her back. She wasted no time in sending it flying through the air towards the rising monster. The arrow sank into its back yet failed to stop it as it gained altitude.
Y’rid scanned the area around him. Broken corpses were lying on the cobles and screams filled the air as people pulled themselves onto their feet while others were huddled down in fear. To the other side, two of the Blackguard were engaging in a losing battle against one of the creatures a few meters away from the corpse of the third knight.
He sped over to the fallen sword lying next to the dead knight. He had just reached it when another screech hit him. Once again he found fell to his knees as he grit his teeth against the pain in his head.
A hand suddenly grabbed onto his shoulder before he was tossed through the air. He hit the ground on his back knocking the air out of his lungs. A sharp cry of pain echoed through the air followed by a crash.
Regaining a bit of mobility after a moment, he pushed himself up onto his elbows as he stared at the fallen beast that was trying to stand up a few feet away from where he had stood only moments ago. Its left wing was hanging on by a few strips of flesh as dark blood pumped from the wound in spurts.
Striding towards the beast was a man lightly gripping a thin blade pulsating with a yellow light. Pale red eyes focused on the beast as he made his way next to it before swinging the sword. The yellow light swept through the struggling beast’s neck, seemingly effortlessly, as its head fell to the ground.
The death of one of its companions drew the ire of the beast that was still engaging the two knights. It roared as it charged towards the man, flapping its wings as it glided over the ground. The man calmly watched as the beast approached, waiting until the last moment before diving to the side with inhuman speed. He rolled to his feet as the beast passed him, yellow mixed with red as the sword in his hands sliced through its side. The tail of the creature whipped towards him as it passed, striking a glancing blow against his shoulder with enough force to throw him flat on the ground.
The man stood up with a grunt, his arm hanging limply at his side. He quickly moved to the dying beast and dispatched it with another swing of his blade. Y’rid could barely make out the movements at the speed at which the exchange took place.
Scanning the air for the last of the monsters, the man saw it just as the beast dove down and sunk its claws into the archer that had wounded it.
The woman cried out in pain before the monster’s jaws snapped shut around her head, silencing her forever. It yanked its neck to the side, ripping her head from her body.
The man sped over, his footsteps causing the creature’s head to snap towards him. But it was already too late as it only had time to register the threat before the blade stabbed through its skull.
“Follow me,” He said, looking towards the people who were still breathing. He didn’t wait for a reply as he pulled the blade from the corpse and strode down the road in the direction of the west gate.
Y’rid struggled to his feet and lurched over to the fallen sword he was trying to pick up before. He felt a piece of his mind calm down as his fingers closed around the black leather grip. Looking around he saw the few surviving civilians following the man. Their stride was unsteady like his own but fear drove them forward.
He was just about to do the same when he saw a small boy shaking the body of a man lying on the ground, seemingly oblivious of the fact that the lower part of the man’s body was missing.
“Get up! Get up!” The boy repeated as tears streamed down his face.
With wobbling steps, Y’rid made his way over. He reached out and clutched the boy’s shirt pulling him from the corpse.
“No!” The boy struggled as he tried to reach out toward the dead man.
“He's dead!” Y’rid shouted. Harsh, he knew, but they could not afford to waste time. Not now.
The boy fell silent as he heard the words, his hands hanging limply at his side. Y’rid turned and strode off after the rest of the people while pulling the boy along.
After a few steps, the lingering effects of the screeches began to wear off and the group began to increase their pace, the distant roars and screams driving to move faster.
A few more groups of people joined them as they made their way through the city, including a group of a bloodied city guards and hunters who took up the rear.
They reached their destination without further incident. The sight of the open gate causing a stir through the crowd as relief set in. Even though they weren’t safe yet, they could at least begin to believe that such a thing was possible.
Following in the footsteps of the red-eyed man they quickly passed the gate and headed towards the forest. Y’rid could see a crowd of people already gathered about a hundred meters away, waiting for something.
He kept his grip on the boy to force him to keep up while his other hand clutched the sword he had looted. The screams and roars were fading behind them now as they put distance between them and the hell that used to be the city.
As they joined up with the other group, the man who had led them here strode off towards three other people standing a bit away from the crowd. It only took a glance for Y’rid to distinguish the pale red eyes they all shared.
“Why are we waiting here? We need to go!” Someone shouted from the crowd, sounds of approval coming from many of the others.
“Shut the fuck up! There are still a lot of people in the city. Have a bit of empathy, coward!” One of the bloodstained guards replied, sparking an argument that quickly turned heated.
They quickly quieted down however when they saw another group of people coming from the city towards them, this was quickly followed by another, both led by red-eyed hunters.
As soon as they joined the crowd the two moved off towards the others.
“Let’s go,” one of the two women among them said.
“What about Jerick?” another asked.
“He didn’t make it.”
A look of pain flashed across the speakers face then disappeared as quickly as it had come.
The other sighed and started to move off into the woods.
“Hey! What about the rest of the people?” The guard who had spoken out earlier asked.
“They are already dead,” the woman replied. “Make no mistake. The only reason the monster wave isn’t here yet is that they are too busy feasting on those that remain in the city.”
Her words quickly doused the spirits of the people gathered here, as they thought of the friends and family they had lost.
The guard didn’t look satisfied but held his peace, his eyes laden with exhaustion. The crowd started heading down the dirt road leading through the forest, sticking close to each other and the illusion of safety that their numbers brought.
Y’rid gave one last glance over his shoulder toward the city, his hand tightening around the hilt of the sword, bringing him some small comfort. Then he pushed the boy forward to walk in front of him and followed the others into the forest.