Sanachi walked to their cruck. He was greeted by the bearded man.
“Number and identification code.”
“Lambda 1705” said the guy
“We’ll guard you the rest of the way.”
“Its an honor. “ Replied the bearded man
Sanachi swiveled his head. They’re coming back. It was merely a strategic retreat. The anima are not to be underestimated.
The anima came back this timenumbering more than before. Several large ones as well that weren’t fast enough to initially make it with the first wave.
Sanachi’s cruck took down cannons that fired at them. Several of the anima got blown apart. The shockwaves and booms echoed all over.
Soldiers aimed guns and shot at them as well. The anima climbed up and were fought by them several cries were heard. One climbed to sanachi but he swiftly dispatched it brandishing a short dark dagger from within his clothes.
He swung onto the back of a large one and with a spear that had a drill end drove it into its spine.
“Do not worry men.” he shouted. “They still have weak points just like humans and they can be killed.”
An agile anima clawed up the back of the large anima which was now on the brink of death. It leapt at Sanachi but suddenly the creature was sawed in half a terrible sawing grinding sound the anima shrieked but that was abruptly cut off as it was cut in half. He had a sword that had a rotating edge that cut through armor almost like it was butter.
He has lots of experience and he was given the sword by the king both as good will but also because he is better at using it than anyone else.
A tiger anima roared. Its ears pressed against its head. “Go ahead” shouted Sanachi at the bearded man's cruck. “We’ll hold it off.”
The city was within sight and loomed in the distance now only an hour or so away
Sanachi encouraged his men again and they fought. The tiger creature was left to him.
Itw was big as well and had vibrating spines on its back. It had drool like venom drifting down its giant fang like teeth . Its glowing green eyes.
It leapt at Sanachi but he ducked under it and tried to slice its stomach but it twisted its body avoiding it.
This would be a tough one. Most anima didn’t posses high levels of intellect and reasoning but certain ones are more advanced. It must have been controlling and organizing the other ones as well.
The anima perked up its ears before turning on the spot and leaping for Iota. Sanachi wrapped the wire/cable from before around it and it crashed into the cruck denting it almost.
It still leapt for Iota and was swiftly finished by Sanachci jumping onto it using this sword as his feet and driving it into it. It stopped moving. The fight was over and the parts of animals were kept so that they could be reused.
Iota stared up at Sanachi. He was bad news. They wouldn’t be able to do anything as long as he was there.
The city is built upon itself with a wall -while it wasn’t very high it was composed of multiple layers and the ground got progressively higher causing a natural barrier of sorts. The flat ground also allows it to be very visible and lots of incoming things to be seen.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The inhabitants could be described in a similar way as how scum clumps together on the surface of sewage water
It was built upon a thermal vent which provided most of the power and allowed the city to flourish and actually develop and It powered the city- at least parts of it.
Rusting buildings grew in concentration until they reached the center. The closer it got the taller the buildings got. Iota had heard much about Gargrim and the sight before him confirmed to himself that it was even worse in person. Marauders soldiers and the king and royal family dwelled in it.
Iota always stayed away from it. It was the den of thieves. Thievery and kidnappings were the bread and butter of its inhabitants.
There were several factions on the west side of the continent but Gargrim, which was the name of the city and the name of the country, was the biggest and most influential one.
Smoke and soot billowed out from factories that lined the city. The society was brutal and relied on slave labor to sustain itself.
The country was ruled with an iron fist by the savage king called Ulgath and his other family members.
The cruck drove up to the walls surrounding Gargrim Sanachi’s cruck slightly ahead leading the way. They made it to the gates and were swiftly let in.
They drove closer in going past run down buildings and shacks. Poverty and homelessness was rampant and there were lots of people in the streets
Iota and the other slaves were ushered from the back of the cruck into a long line that led into a building. The building had stairs that led down far below the surface into the bowels of the city.
The chains binding his hands were wrenched forward by a soldier into a cell with at least fifty other people and connected him to a wall.
They had barely gotten any food during their two day voyage and even though they were feed green moldy bread that would break the teeth of anyone foolish enough to bite it with an ounce of strength..
It wasn’t long before their was a commotion.
Guards shouted outside. “Anima, there’s anima inside.”
“They were with the crucks that came in. no that can’t be, it was Sanachi’s cruck .”
“No there was one other that came with it.”
It must have crawled underneath.
Anima streamed in.
The walls were a barrier but they spanned several hundred meters and were a general barrier. The anima were attacking a specific area which was the weak point of a wall like that.
Several slaves panicked and shouted. “Please don’t just leave us.”
Cried one of the slaves to the fleeing guards.
Iota edged backwards letting the slaves act as a human barrier for when the anima broke through. Panic was the accomplice of fear.
Iota scanned around he had to take advantage of the confusion a situation like this rarely happens. There was nothing he could use as an object.
The other slaves were panicking they probably wouldn’t notice thought Iota.
He put his right leg through the bars and using it a leverage cranked on the end. His entire bodyweight was leveraging against the bar and to add more force he pushed against the bars with his arms. The metal bent slowly at first but after it gave way a little it bent more easily for some distance. The gap created was big enough for Iota to crawl out of.
Iota rushed out. “You made it out too huh.” Said a familiar voice.
Noire was stretching his wrists in an attempt to ease the irritated skin and remove the cuffmarks left by the heavy and loose fitting handcuffs.
Iota ignored him and ran up.
The room above was the one they had come down in. A soldier stumbled in. He was bleeding heavily from a wound on his neck that ran down his black armour and soaked into his underlying clothes. He fell dead at Iota’s feet.
Iota grimaced and removed the armour. It was oversized on his near emaciated frame but it would do. He felt around in the soldier’s pockets. He felt cloth and metallic clinks. He withdrew the money bag and pocketed it. Lastly he put on the helmet.
Noire made it their too he put his hands on his thighs panting and gasping for breath.
Iota frowned.
“You seem to think we’re all buddy-buddy now. I am not naive enough to think that we’re friends.”
Without waiting for any sort of response Iota ran into the desecrated streets of Gargrim.
Rubbish and house parts littered the roads but that wasn’t anything new The anima seemed to have been by itself. It was unusual enough that it was there in the first place so far in from the walls.
The anima appeared small but fast.
Iota had grabbed something else as well from the soldier. The pistol. It fit like a well worn glove in his hand, he hadn’t been able to use one since he foolishly left it on his sled that he had lost.
He fires it but it dodges.
He runs and goes up then down stairs. It jumps after him and Iota hits it while its in the air. It explodes in a mass of small metal pieces and liquid. He couldn’t hit it because of its unpredictable movements but if it's in the air then he knew where it would be.
Over the next several days the anima were all caught. It caused major uproars, many deaths and destruction of buildings and usage of resources. Many people also left to other cities since they didn’t trust the safety of the place anymore.
Iota went into a restaurant It was recently opened again after the chaos.
“A rabbit leg and water” He said
He spent the money on food and slept in the streets.
When he was done eating he went out, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
It was sanachi.
“Soldier, what are you doing here. You shouldn’t be here when you’re on duty.