Ransom peered out through a slot in the barricade while Alice and Fiora huddled around a small fire floating upon a red glyph behind him. The fog was too thick to see more than a couple of meters; it gave the illusion of calm despite the terrors it shrouded.

A thud shook the café, rattling the cups and knocked over plates set upon the tables and shelves. Breaths were drawn and held in the tense silence that followed. Ransom shook his head and laughed to himself as Séverin hurriedly crept over to the barricade. While they were far from safe, it was unlikely they would be discovered, the café had a strong odor of coffee and mildew, it should be sufficient to mask his scent from that other Morlock.

He lifted a flap to cast an eye over the rooftops, the remains of the hotel still smoldered and burned. The fog had grown heavier, compounded by the smoke from the fires, leaving little to be seen outside.

Donough abruptly stood with an agitated groan. “Why are we huddled here in the dark like mice? These things are like weeds; we can cut through them and make our way back to the piers with ease!”

“I’ve already tried that.” Ransom replied, disinterested.

“Then you’re incompetent.” Donough spat.

Ransom ignored him and continued to peer out the window. The morlock knew their every move it seemed. He had tried several times to double back before they holed up in the café, but each turn he met was met with undead.

“We can’t stay here Ransom;” Alice chimed in, “we have to think of another plan.”

He rolled his eyes and closed the slit. While the two women never much cared for him, he would be damned if he was going to take lip from that aristocratic brat Alice. He also found it odd how she sided with the elves on nearly every decision, but did not wish to make anything of it.

“You can go out there if you want, but without me to guide, you’ll be running about aimlessly until the dead get you.”

“Then lead ye selfish coward!” Donough roared.

“What the fuck d’ya think I’ve been doing?” He pointed towards the street and the burning hotel. “I tried to lead them down a bottleneck and double back to the port, but there are just too many.”

Donough adjusted his gauntlet and drew his blade. “Then we try again. Staying here accomplishes nothing.”

Ransom laughed in disbelief. There were more than a hundred thousand undead plus whatever fresh hell was making the bellowing noises out in the city, and his grand plan was to try again. He was not sure how the Colby-Nau operated, though the more time he spent with them, the better of an idea he got; and such ideologies got men killed for no just reason more often than not.

“I don’t believe—”

The ground shook again, accompanied by the sorrowful wail what sounded like a foghorn. Ransom paused, waiting for another blast. When silence lingered, he opened his mouth to speak again.

“Well,”

The slow methodical thud of massive footsteps drew ever closer, accompanied by a shadowy silhouette hulking through the fog. Ransom stepped away from the window, as the horn sounded again, no longer a mystery as to its source.

“Perhaps it’s not a threat. I mean, no one expected these things capable of speech like that last one right?”

Alice’s question went unanswered as a towering beast smashed through the burning wreckage. It stood over three stories tall; its rippling muscles covered in shaggy fur, and three horns jutted from its bearlike head. Its eyes were like beady black coals with glowing embers as it expelled noxious black smoke from its nostrils. The creature had four arms that ended in three fingered hands with colossal talons. It raised its snout to the sky and let out a deep mournful howl.

The group cried out and covered their ears as the beast’s call shattered the glass around them. The creature sniffed at the air as it slowly approached the café.

“You think it knows we’re here?” Alice dismissed her fire with a wave of her hand.

The creature struck at the café with its massive claws, decimating the storefront and collapsing the roof as the group inside scurried towards the back to escape the falling debris. As the dust settled, the group coughed and sputtered as they pulled themselves and each other from the rubble, only to be met by the emotionless gaze of the behemoth before them. Maleah helped Emarosa to her feet and Séverin drew his blades, still unsure of how to attack this new foe.

“Did I tell you I fought a Minotaur?”

“What the fuck is a minotaur?” Séverin said breathily as he stared up at the beast in awe.

Taryn notched an arrow and subtly drew back her bow while Alice crafted an intricate double-layered rune of wind and ice.

Ransom raised his hand hissed an order for them to hold their attack as three more beasts lumbered over with complete disregard for the buildings in their path. The last thing he needed was for one of them to antagonize the beast that would have otherwise passed them over. The creature looked down at them with a curious tilt to its head. It sniffed as it regarded them with black eyes that seemed to hold the light of distant shimmering stars. It bellowed, and another that had just crashed through a row of apartments and shops returned its call.

The first creature raised its massive paw, and brought it crashing down next to Donough. He stared the beast in the eyes as an explosion of flames and debris billowed past, and remained rooted in the same spot. The creature opened its mouth in a bloodcurdling roar, revealing row upon row of dagger like teeth and a writhing tongue. When the flames subsided, he grinned and cracked his knuckles.

Ransom lowered his hand. “…Alright, it’s hostile.”

Donough had launched himself at the creature before the words had left his lips and hacked away at its leg, severing its Achilles tendon. The creature bellowed in pain and collapsed to one knee, and he hacked away at an arm it used to support itself. With an eardrum-shattering roar, the beast swung one of its arms, striking Donough squarely and sending him crashing into a storefront. Ransom swore and drew his own sword, a butter knife in comparison to Donough’s, and he optimistically possessed a third of the elf’s strength. He signaled for Emarosa to tend to the warrior, if he fell now their chances of getting out alive were effectively shot.

Alice let loose a barrage of three-foot icicles propelled by hurricane strength winds and arctic gales. The beast shielded its face from the wintry assault and the icicles shattered upon impacting its massive arms. Taryn let her arrow fly as Madden charged forward with a wild cry, and buried his axe in the wounded shin of the creature. It roared in pain and prepared to strike at him only to take a bolt of lightning to the face and topple backwards. Alice readied another spell as the other three monsters surrounded the group.

Several doors suddenly burst outwards into the street and a horde of undead townspeople spilled out onto the pavement. He swore to himself and dropped back into a nook to take stock of the situation. The horde slowly spilled onto the main street from the gaping holes created by the colossal creatures, and dragged themselves up from the bottleneck of piled bodies.

The only viable option was to flee north into the woods, though he was not certain it would be a much better alternative. If Port Romance were overrun like this, it would stand to reason that the tiny hamlets along the way were also viper pits.

He signaled for the group to follow him with a shrill whistle, and they made their way out into the street as the café crumbled behind them. The others likely would not go for abandoning the army so readily, but he did not care what they did so long as they got him out of this blighted city alive.

He took off down the street; glancing over his shoulder to be sure the others followed him. Maleah struck one of the undead with her lance and turned to make sure her brother was behind her, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Of course.” She said and dispatched an undead. “He always does this.”

“Gods damn it!” Ransom swore as he reluctantly doubled back.

They all seemed intent of a fighting retreat rather than the more logical recourse of hauling ass. Fiora dove right into the approaching horde while Alice engaged the other two beasts with layered lightning and wind spells. The spells did little more than singe their fur and occasionally knock them off balance as they steadily approached.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ransom picked off several zombies that managed to slip through, certain that his blade would do nothing to the towering monstrosities. Nearby, Madden continued to hack at the beast’s leg as if it were a tree, splattering his face with its blood as it roared in pain and annoyance.

The creature swatted at him with its claw and sent him crashing through the storefront of a bakery. It limped from the debris of the burning hotel and raked at the ground in anguish indiscriminately. Its rampage felled much of the swarming mass of reanimated townsfolk as Alice and Madden scampered away during its blind frenzy.

Ransom took cover in an entryway and searched for some way out. It was obvious that Séverin had discovered something, as he was nowhere to be seen. He swore again and ducked out after Taryn as she ran past, towards the monster. He slew several undead that rose up to meet her as she stood in between Madden and the creature he fled. She drew back on her bow and launched two arrows simultaneously into its snout and eye. The beast howled again and whacked her with its monkey-like tail.

Donough charged across the street and took Taryn's place. He hurled several flaming bricks at the beast to get its attention. It brought its claw down on him with swiftness and fury, but he managed to block the crushing strike with his sword. The blade dug into the monster’s palm as Donough began to buckle under the strain. Unable to prevail in the show of strength, he ducked down and propelled himself from under the creature's hand on a burst of flames. It smashed its bloody palm into the road, sending up a hail of dirt and stone.

Ransom had made some progress in cutting a path through the undead, ducking and dodging the fetid claws and gnashing teeth of dozens of townsfolk as he made his way towards the first creature. While he held no desire to be a hero, the thing bled and that was enough to at least warrant an attempt in his mind. He slowed as Donough barreled past and vaulted himself into the air on a pillar of fire. Ransom shielded himself from the flames as several undead gave out startled shrieks. He lowered his hands from his face just in time to see Donough impale the creature in the forehead with his sword and ride the carcass back to the ground.

As Ransom stood watching in awe and disbelief, Taryn stumbled over, still glowing as Emarosa imbued her with The Dawn, and fired an arrow into the eye of the second creature. She drew back and fired again, but was off and struck the beast harmlessly in its thick pelt. Overhead, Séverin leapt from a rooftop and landed on the head of the beast as it crashed through the rubble.

Upon gaining a steady footing, he proceeded to pierce its remaining eye with a lead pipe before leaping down as it swatted at him. He grabbed its talon in passing and swung like a gymnast to slow his descent. He flipped and crawled his way between fingers as he made his way to the creature’s wrist, using his blades as climbing hooks. He dug his dagger into the creature's hide as an anchor and frantically searched the fray below for his sister.

Upon spotting her, he let out a shrill whistle to catch her attention as the creature attempted to lose its unwanted passenger. Ransom watched, still not comprehending what he had just witnessed between Donough’s brute strength and Séverin’s gymnastics. His reverie was short lived however as the undead set their sights upon him once more. He struck down two undead and pulled Taryn away from the fray. He caught sight of Maleah in the midst of her graceful dance of death, slicing the townsfolk to fleshy red ribbons, unaware of her brother’s predicament. He whistled again, and finally caught her attention.

“What the hell are you doing up there?”

“Lend me your lance!”

Maleah stabbed one of the corpses and flung the body into a group of revenants that had surrounded Emarosa and the still dazed Taryn.

“Are you fucking crazy? I’m currently using it if you haven't noticed!” Maleah swung her weapon in a deadly pirouette, decapitating several corpses at once.

“Don’t you have a short sword?”

“A what?” Maleah kicked an undead that had become lodged onto her blade. “This is all I’ve got!”

Séverin swore and clung to the creature's shaggy fur as it swung its arm into a building. Ransom ducked and scurried away from the raining debris. He hid in a doorway to catch his breath and searched for the others. Across the street and halfway up the block, he spotted Alice doing battle with more undead.

He managed to dig his blade further into the beast’s flesh, with the other dagger, he frantically sawed at the tendons and veins. The creature slammed its forearm into another building. Severin let out a stream of Xanavien expletives and watched as his dagger was jostled from his hand to clatter uselessly on the pavement below.

“Damn it Maleah! Didn’t you learn to use and carry a sidearm?”

“Fine!” She spun her lance like a windmill of death and flashing steel. “Take it then! If I get killed it’ll be on your conscience.”

After slaying the immediate threats, she launched her lance into the air at her brother. He caught the weapon with bloodstained hands and plunged it into the hole he had made. He used the lance to prop himself up as the creature drew the injured arm to its body. After jerking the weapon free, he bound up the creature's arm towards its neck and shoved it into the creature’s jugular, drenching himself in with an eruption of steaming blood. The behemoth let out a gurgled roar and stumbled back, crashing into a residence. Séverin climbed and dropped his way down as the creature slumped over in its death throes. The row of homes collapsed under its weight and caused him to lose his footing. He let out a cry of surprise and fell two stories to the ground to land hard on a pile of debris. His sister’s lance was lost in the rubble.

* * *

“Damn it brother…”

Maleah shattered the jaw of an approaching corpse with a brick and shoved her boot through the chest of another before taking off after her brother and weapon. Seeing her plight, Fiora served as her sword and shield, fending off the hordes of townspeople as they made their way to the fallen beast together.

“Fiora!” Alice cried out.

Maleah looked back as she launched a row of icicles that shot out of the ground, exponentially increasing in height. A wall of undead were impaled upon the spikes or launched into the air, but others quickly took their place.

“Catch!”

Fiora slashed and decapitated one of the corpse’s before she raised her sword overhead. Alice hastily drew a lightning glyph and sent an arc of electricity to her friend’s blade to charge it with surging current. Fiora swung the sword and sent a wave of electricity rippling through the wall of undead before them, leaving charred husks in their place.

“When do you two come up with this?” Maleah gasped in awe.

“The path is clear, go to Séverin!”

After no more than a couple steps, Maleah was snatched up by the last of the lofty beasts. She swore as the beast squeezed; she possessed no way to free herself. She squirmed and writhed vainly in the beast’s grip, her recently mended ribcage strained under the pressure. She let out an animalistic howl of pain and frustration, as old wounds were reopened. She clawed and bit at the creature’s fingers in desperation, but it was to no avail.

As darkness filled her vision, her pendant pulsed as if responding to her cry, and floated up from under her jacket. The black jewel shined brightly, and white light pierced the blackness from within, like cream mixing with coffee. The white light quickly enveloped her, and slowly disintegrated the monster's hand. The remains of the creature’s limb floated away like ash in the breeze as the light continued to envelope her and expand. Still glowing brightly, the gem gently cradled Maleah in its light as it set her down softly on ground. The creature’s cries were quickly silenced as the light also disintegrated the rest of its body.

She gasped for breath and examined the once again black gem with trembling hands. The smoke within it swirled hypnotically, and she could have sworn she saw faces in the tendrils. She turned her attention back to the chaos of the streets, and found her lance jutting out of the debris.

With a pained groan, she clutched her sides as she dragged herself to her feet. Her vision was blurred and she could not tell if the ground was tilting or if she was. There was an incessant ring in her ears and her mouth filled with a metallic taste. All around her fires burned and the undead masses writhed and crawled about. The crack of lightning as a bolt zipped past her head shook her back to her senses momentarily, and she took off after her weapon.

She stumbled over rubble and bodily remains and passively began to search for her brother. Undead continued to trickle onto the main street and fall from balconies of second story windows, she wondered if they truly were endless. With her faculties ebbing away, she haphazardly shoved her way past several corpses as she stumbled over fallen rafters and support beams of a collapsed building. When she finally reached her weapon and wrenched it free, she paused momentarily to catch her breath and noticed her unconscious brother amidst the rubble. She scanned the carnage for Emarosa, but found that she along with Ransom had disappeared.

“You well?” Donough clenched a wound on his side.

Maleah spun around to face him and the act nearly toppled her. He grabbed her brusquely by the shoulder and propped her up. He snapped several times before her face and attempted to peer into her eyes. She swatted his hand away and attempted to stand on her own, but it did not feel like she had feet anymore.

“Ye got another concussion, did ya hit yer head?”

The gentle misting had since turned to a downpour with increasing intensity. She looked down to her brother then back to Donough with pleading eyes.

“I’ll get him,” He shook his red and orange tipped dreads from their broken binding, “where’s the woman?”

Maleah assumed he meant Emarosa and shrugged.

“Can ye stand?”

She wanted to tell him that she was standing, but a quick look down at her legs splayed besides her showed that she was in fact not. He hoisted Séverin over his shoulder and tucked her under the opposite arm. She glanced up as Madden charged over, leading Taryn by the hand.

“They dead?” he asked.

“Nae, just took a couple lumps to the head is all. Where are the girls?”

“Just up ahead, they’ve cleared a path. Where are the Bishop and Ransom?”

Donough grumbled and cast an angry glare across the lane. “I don’t know where that pasty bastard and the cleric ran off to.”

“We gotta get back to port somehow mate, Taryn’s tossin up blood and Miss Alice won’t last long at the rate she’s flinging spells around.”

“I’m sleepy…” Maleah whined. “I’m going to take a nap.”

“Ye do that, I’ma find Ransom an’ fuckin’ kill ‘em.”

Madden bent over at the waist and lifted maleah’s head up by her chin. “She hit ‘er head?”

Donough nodded and passed Séverin’s limp body to Madden. Maleah allowed herself to be cradled in his arms as the world went dark around her.

“You’re not s’possed to let ‘em sleep if they hit their heads.”

The last thing she saw was Donough as he glanced down at her, to her left Taryn began to puke.

“I’m sure that’s an old wives’ tale…”