Chapter 33 – Siege of the ruined city (3)

He had seen the light. He had seen what it was that he wanted. The back he protects was none other than Archie. Their new ‘Captain’ that appeared out of nowhere. Like a hero without a cape, the man came to their time of need. He knew that he was too afraid to act. He revered Archie for saving them, giving them the courage to aim the muzzle of their rifles back at the enemy.

It had been awhile since the Cattus took out the hand cannon men. Now they were only worried about the bombs that would be dropping. But he knew that as long as the troops of the men that came from the sky was down with them. They cannot recklessly drop their bombs at them anymore. This gives him a bit of relief, but that relief would vanish away as the bullets fly above him.

He had been ripping paper cartridges and firing his rifle. His teeth hurt, his gums seemed like it would swell. He was sweating cold sweat so much that his tunic was wet. Around him, the soldiers fought on while suppressing their fear. They all worked like some damned puppets that listen to the voice of reason that is Archie.

“Line two! Duck! Line one open fire!” his voice was stern but shaky. Most of the men that gathered knew that he was just some Proctor who reported to his officer who was now lying down on some street with his head smashed open. He wasn’t trained to command these struggling soldiers. He was just some village grunt yet here he was standing up for them.

“Line one! Switch! Line two reload now!” Archie shouted.

He looked at Archie as he reloaded his rifle and aimed at the grunt far from him. He smelled the smoke from the gun, his face crumpled as he coughs and takes another cartridge from his saddlebag. His mouth was filled with the taste of gunpowder. He was partly deaf like everyone else but oddly Archie’s shout was clear to them.

“Take cover!”

“Line up!”

“Daft bastards don’t freeze and fight for goodness sake!”

He was a man with words. And even though he was acting like that. How could they question him? How could they say ‘stop that’ and berate the guy that was commanding them? Like madmen and madwomen, the soldiers and stray guards kept their hearts silent.

He would smash someone’s head if they try to act cocky. He wasn’t that great. Back before all of this started, he was just drinking mead and cat whistling tavern girls. Now he was fighting like a man unchained and unhinged.

“Captain!” shouted a soldier suddenly. “Incoming!”

Most of them looked up. He looked up as he saw a flying galley approached them. His legs froze. “DAMN IT! DO NOT FREEZE! RUN LIKE HELL!”

Everyone started to scatter. He vaulted away from his cover and sprinted to the nearby houses like most of the soldiers. The enemy did not let them go, they fire at them. He was able to see the lad he was fighting with die just like that. He looked at the captain and the brunette haired girl that was with him. They ran across the merchant stalls. The guy that was with them, who was bantering had his back riddled with holes as he lay flat on the ground with his eyes blank.

Archie grimaced but he ran until he reached cover.

Meanwhile, he was able to take cover. He carefully maneuvered through until he reached the house where Archie and the brunette haired Cassia took cover. Archie looked at him oddly, his brows creased tightly. “Why did you fucking run here?”

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“I am here to help Captain!” said he.

“Fuck, I am not the Captain damn it!” shouted Archie.

The woman grinned. “You are now and will always be our captain!” she commented.

“Damn you all!” Archie cursed. “If we can only get rid of the balloons then we might not die here.”

“I can’t fly sadly,” she told Archie.

“How about stealing that, Captain?” he pointed at the air balloons that were descending down.

“What are those?” said Archie. “Are they bringing their ammunition down here too? And those are clearly cannons! They might be transporting them. Shit, maybe we can try?” He started to ponder.

“That’s too crazy even for us!” said Cassia. “How do we even get out there? No, in fact, how can we go there and not die the moment we appear at them? It may be a good plan but by the heavens, we will just fall to our deaths!”

“What choice do we have?” said Archie. “We can’t run from all of these bombs forever! This is a lost cause but even so might just be able to light some hope here!”

“This is absurd!” said Cassia.

He looked at them and said. “How about we retreat back to the stronghold? I am sure that the Cattus and the Lord Enforce can help us.”

“We can’t leave them here.” Archie shook his head. “Do you want to leave them here? These bastards can’t even get their shit together.”

“Leave them to me, captain,” someone crept up to them. He looked at the ragged soldier and narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”

“Just a bastard with a group of stray soldiers with him, leave the people here. Go and report what you thought to the warlord. It’s crazy but at this point, we need to be as crazy as well.”

Archie eyed the ragged soldier. “Are you sure?”

“No, I am not. I don’t even know how long we can hold the line here,” he wiped his forehead. “But by the Gods, we will let you escape back to the stronghold if we must. My boys will hold the line; you three go back and tell them the crazy idea you thought about.”

Cassia eyed Archie. He looked at her before nodding at the ragged soldier. “Hold the line brother, and may God bless you.”

“Go Captain. Make sure to head back to the stronghold. It’ll make this last stand of ours worth it.”

He looked at the ragged soldier. He just noticed that his stomach was practically hit. He must have been taking those painkillers but he was sure that the ragged soldier won’t last long if he bleeds that heavily.

“Thank you,” said Archie standing up. “Let’s go Cassia and you...let’s go.” he looked at him.

“Yeah, I’m with you Captain,” he said.

The ragged soldier looked at the three running away. He touched his forehead and shouted something to the group of men behind him. It was loud and they were deafened. But it was clear what the ragged soldier said to them.

Hold the line. That was all he wanted from them.