10

Goblin Invasion II

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“Please!” A terrifying shout echoed through the church. “Help me please!”

People inside bowed quietly. Countless teardrops fell to the stone floor as they could only bite their lips.

“Please, I don’t want to die!” The sorrowful scream felt heartbreaking. Yet nobody moved, not a single person dared to make a sound.

“Ah! Ah! NO!” multiple bangs echoed through the church as a sudden influx of cackles and hyena-like laughter overwhelmed her shouts. “Stay away!” Her voice lingered through the gruesome sounds that erupted.

The banging gradually stopped but the laughter heightened even more.

“No, No! Please have mercy!” Another voice sounded out. This one was male and didn’t have much strength left. The cycle continued. Person after person shouted in pain. Every single voice ended with the same terror until finally, the cackling laughter overwhelmed it.

Anger. Exhaustion. Repulsion. Horror. The tears continued falling but not a single person dared move or make a sound.

This was already the fourth time in merely two hours. The order that had been established inside the church was gradually breaking down. Most people were huddled together with blankets and candles. But close to the barricaded entrance stood people with gruesome expressions.

The last whimpers of those voices could only be heard by them before death overwhelmed them. It had become a slaughterhouse. Person after person was dragged in front of the church and ruthlessly murdered.

“They’re trying to draw us out.” Alphons, who had the most clarity, calmed Edward down.

“I know.”

“Get a hold of yourself,” Alphons ruthlessly remarked. The people outside were already marked with death. It wasn’t even certain they could survive, let alone risk everyone and try to save them.

Their grave expressions were visible even from afar. These hunters had become prey. But the prey had a single advantage, this was their home turf. However, they had no idea how long this would last.

“It seems they’re done for now.” Alphons coldly turned around with the rifle in his hand. “You did well in remaining quiet. Right now this is our only path to survival. Unless you want to join the dead outside.”

Alphons walked closer to the huddled-up people. This aged and grim man poured a cold bucket over the crying people. It was one thing to rashly commit an act of stupidity without knowing the consequences. Humans worked that way. While they are sentimental creatures, knowing instant death is waiting is enough to suppress most impulses. This however pushed much frustration from themselves onto Alphons. Edward couldn’t help but praise this man, even with his cold-blooded remarks.

“Now, onto our plan” Alphons nudged Edward as he pointed towards the map. They had been talking for two hours straight while assessing every possible scenario.

Alduin stared at the few adults remaining. When it came to matters of life and death a 19-year-old wasn’t fit to join the conversation. Even not after saving Jenny and her child’s life from the assault.

‘They’re breaking down.’ Alduin noticed the survivor's expressions turn more grave with every interval of tortures. It was to the point that even his resilience was being eroded.

“Are you alright?” A sharp voice asked him.

“I should be asking you that question.” Alduin turned with surprise.

“How’s your mother doing?” A woman with dark brown eyes and a sharp gaze stepped in front of him.

“She was quite upset, well, it was my fault,” Alduin said regretfully before patting the seat next to him. “She has calmed down now though, Gramps also talked with her”

“I see, that’s good,” The woman said. Her black hair, tied up in a ponytail, as well as her lean figure, made her look athletic. But her cold appearance made her unapproachable.

“I didn’t know you were home, when did you come back?”

Ise looked at Alduin as she once again ignored his question. Her eyes had already inspected her surroundings but her frown had only deepened. Ise cut to the chase. “They won’t come up with a plan. Judging by the exhaustion of the survivors we will die before long.”

“How many survivors do you think are out there?” Alduin asked.

Each torture they had to listen to after being plunged into silence lessened the chance of survival. Not to mention that it was night. The hunt had long since passed from whoever might be outside to the last survivors inside the church.

“Not many. I’m surprised there were enough survivors to keep going this long.” Ise acted as if it didn’t bother her but her eyes showed the opposite.

“You said that they broke windows right?” Alduin asked. “Did you notice anything strange?”

Ise frowned as she didn’t seem to understand. “What do you mean?”

“How did they react to the windows, were they familiar with them?” Alduin pondered before he continued, “They seemed rather intelligent, but did they react to windows only on their eyeline or second-story windows as well? Did they break all windows while breaking into homes or did they only break those with movement behind them?”

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Ise looked at Alduin with a curious expression, but her inflexible personality refrained her from answering questions. “Why are you asking?”

Alduin sighed as she found her hard to deal with.

“Look over there” Alduin pointed to the side.

“What’s that?” Ise looked perplexed but instantly realized. “That- No- I, I see.”

“You’re the first I’ve told. But you are the only person who came in contact with them the longest and are still capable to converse with,” Alduin said as he looked towards a group of women giving comfort to Jenny and the two other survivors.

“So, how are you doing Ise?” Alduin asked again.

Ise looked at him with a frown as she showed a small smile. “You are rather annoying for a kid, you know that right”

“First of all, I’m no longer the kid you used to babysit. And second, at least I reply to questions people ask me.” Alduin smiled back. “Now, considering that I gave you a hint, how about you help me out?”

The perpetual frown on this cold woman relaxed slightly. Ise even seemed amused now that she had been cornered. While she was difficult to talk to, she was quite inquisitive and curious as a person.

“Seems like you’re planning something?” She asked.

“Oh well, guess I should tell people you don’t feel good then.” Alduin reluctantly stood up as he patted her shoulders

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ise slightly panicked as she pushed him down again.

“Wanna tell me now?” Alduin smiled.

“Fine.” She had lost. With a slight fluster she glared at Alduin as she warned him. “I’ll beat you up again if you don’t keep it to yourself”

“Tell me and I will explain my plan.” Alduin was worried she had become traumatized as well.

Ise clenched her hands, a difficult expression showed when she recalled what happened. Her voice became noticeably softer as she said, “When I was running away. I don’t think I have ever been that scared.” She didn’t know how to explain it. “After I entered the church everything felt like a movie. It reminded me of one of those stories I read. It feels as if it didn’t happen to me but as if I was possessed.”

Alduin knew her quite well, albeit reluctantly, but their relationship was closer to siblings than friends. He was worried about her and wanted to make sure she was fine.

“I tend to overthink... As if I am walking in a daydream. But maybe that’s why I survived and arrived here.” Ise turned to look away. “Is that weird?” A small voice asked him.

Alduin followed the flow of the conversation, oddly enough, he had been thinking the same thing. “Well, we both survived so it’s alright to be a bit weird.”

“About the windows.” Ise shifted topics as her usual cold demeanor returned.

Ise looked at Alduin before falling into thought. Alduin in turn was also visibly pondering something.

“It was strange,” Ise continued. “I didn’t really think much of it, but now that you ask, they did behave rather strange.” Ise seemed to be formulating her thoughts.

“I know for certain they are familiar with glass,” Ise finally answered.

“Because of that?” Alduin pointed to Jenny’s feet, covered in bandages.

“Yes, I didn’t notice since it’s something natural, but they evaded places covered with shards of glass.” But then she started frowning. “I don’t really understand, I know for certain they did evade it, but there was one that ran over it as well.”

Alduin looked surprised, just knowing they were familiar with glass could help them but now she seemed to be contradicting herself. Alduin felt tense, his plan would rely on this information.

“Was it a different kind?”

“I can’t say for certain, but it might be one of those you saw. The one who ran over it was larger, and behind that one were a few smaller ones who I know for certain also avoided the glass shards.”

Alduin nodded but a frown was etched on his face. Only a moment passed before he asked another question, “How did they react to the windows themselves?”

“Well, I heard a lot of glass breaking so I can’t be certain. But I did notice more wooden doors were kicked in than glass windows.” Ise was lost in her thoughts as she reflected.

Alduin also nodded and eliminated possibilities in his mind. “And what about two-story buildings?”

“I don’t know, I can’t recall them paying much attention to the windows on the second floor. Are you saying they might climb buildings?” Ise nervously asked.

“No. I’m not.”

“Then what?”

Alduin had come full circle and said, “Our clerestory.”

“Is that why you pointed to them?” Ise looked back at the church windows.

“The windows here aren’t stained glass. They aren’t as clear as modern windows but it doesn’t hide our presence.” Alduin explained, “We’re currently showing our presence with all that light, but besides the frontal assault, they have left us alone. Now, if they aimed for glass, they could have broken inside a long time ago through those windows. They haven’t yet, they haven’t even broken them.”

Ise looked surprised as she asked back, “So they are familiar with glass and know it’s a weaker entrance, yet they don’t pay attention to a second-story window?”

“That’s my deduction at least, now, while I can’t be certain with your limited information, the current deduction does form two probable scenarios. The problem is, how far can we exclude our common sense in these deductions.” Alduin paused. “But looking at the current situation, our survival will rely on a gamble either way.”

Ise sat down and went over her experiences again and again, and together with Alduin, they tried finding every relevant piece of information. And each time they went over it, Alduin sank deeper and deeper into thought.

There was one thing for certain. From the limited encounter that Alduin had and the escape Ise had gone through, they both arrived at the same notion. Those few large ones defied all their realistic quantifications.

“What are you going to do now?” Ise had become even more nervous.

“I’ll have to talk to gramps now. We are already pushing our limits. If what we’re thinking is correct then we no longer have time to spare.” Alduin stood up and looked to his side. “what are you planning on doing?”

Ise looked at this young man with amazement. An extraordinary situation made him show strength even most adults in this church were incapable of.

“I’m coming with you, I really don’t want to die yet,” She said as she tied her hair in a new ponytail, this time, however, her hands were visibly shaking.

Alduin nodded and started walking with Ise in tow towards the burned-out group of men at the entrance.

“They’re coming,” Edward spoke up.

The half-hour mark had arrived. Cackling sounds once more rang out. Yet unlike before, there were no accompanying cries of sorrow that could be heard. It seemed there no longer were any survivors outside.

‘It’s not looking good,’ Alduin thought. The hunters would be changing strategy. Time was running out.