-children of maar-

image [https://i.imgur.com/fYoAQ0S.png]

An ominous darkness had fallen unexpectedly on the city of Axio some time ago.

The raging void-energies above drew especially curious glances from two scrawny children, a young boy desperately pulling his younger sister along in a frightful scurry.

Distracted by the sudden darkening and his overall state of panic, the boy walked into an armed figure around the corner of the tight alleyways.

The figure, an adult man clad in a mismatching assortment of leather armor and gear, scratched at his unkempt beard and swore at the boy.

“Which damned svoloch… paah, Andrej, you rotten brat, how many times I have to warn ya’—”

Ear-splitting explosions rang out from beyond the inner city walls, and the world shook. The armed group shakily held their ground, but both children fell to the ground.

The girl winced in pain, a nearly closed wound on her leg reopened as she fell onto the rough gravel.

Andrej rushed to his sister’s side, grimacing as fresh blood began to stain her already stained dress anew.

The boy looked up at the scraggly man and pleaded, “Please, Casimir—”

The man struck the boy with the back of his hand—not too hard as to render lasting damage, but enough to make the boy stumble.

“Address me without respect in front of my men again, and I’ll knock some teeth loose.” He spat on the ground, forcing the boy to recoil further away.

Andrej lowered his head and averted his gaze, choking on his words through a pained sob, “Lanze-Sergeant Casimir, please, let Nadia stay with you! I beg you… it's dangerous. It isn’t safe for her here.”

Casimir exhaled deeply, “It’s not safe anywhere. I told you both already, the Reds came back and they're repaying grudges three-fold. Your sister and you are better off hiding in the Creep.”

Andrej shuddered at the thought of crawling back into the recesses of the city. Nadia and he could’ve found refuge there weeks ago, maybe, but not anymore. Not with those… things… prowling around, he thought.

“Now, go,” Casimir waved the two children off, turning back to his group of soldiers once both of them were out of view.

“I think you’re the svoloch, Lanze-Sergeant.” one of the men jeered at Casimir, elbowing his side hard enough to cause discomfort before continuing, “How can you treat your family like that?”

“Sdohni.”

Casimir pushed past the man without even a glance. He believed there was nothing he could do to help them other than send them away.

Housing a young girl in the barracks? Unthinkable.

He knew the men under his command were nothing but mannerless hounds.

Not to mention his new orders…

They were set to sneak into Blue territory, unprepared and poorly supplied, under orders from the Council of Commons. Casimir truly thought it was a misguided effort, but the councilors were desperate to achieve anything to keep negotiations with the Reds favorable.

Orders were orders, and he had no choice but to take his men through the maze of sewage and utility tunnels under the city, affectionately called ‘the Creep’.

With no further words, Casimir and his squad descended into the foul underbelly of Axio.

----------------------------------------

Nadia rested uncomfortably on Andrej’s back, barely remaining in-place from his shaky arms and her loosely wrapped hold around his neck.

Terrifying snarls and howls echoed through the tunnels from many directions, disrupted by an occasional scream.

Nadia flinched at each of those horrible noises, causing Andrej to hurry his pace.

He knew it was a bad idea to enter the Creep as his brother had said, but they had no other options.

The Reds patrolled the streets above.

Casimir said they were capturing anyone they found roaming the streets. When the Blues had taken their parents, they never returned… Casimir said they were probably dead.

Being taken by the self-righteous imperialistic Reds would result in his and Nadia’s deaths too, Andrej believed.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

An unnatural creaking and rattling in the passage ahead forced Andrej to stop.

He carefully set his sister down and sneaked ahead.

Two undead shambled around a square chamber, barely lit from an open grate above. They were already in pretty bad condition, smashed or missing limbs—one was even without a head.

The rotten stench and sight of exposed viscera clawed at Andrej’s senses. He fought the urge to wretch and retreated back to his sister.

She begged him to find another path, but Andrej knew there was no better way through the Creep. His hearing wasn’t so great that he’d be willing to boast about it, but it was good enough that he knew those vicious demon-beasts were in every direction except this one.

Wherever this path led to, was the safest. Defeating two already-impaired ghouls was his best bet.

Andrej took a shoddy scrap-metal rod out from the worn pack he wore across his chest, leaving the bag with his sister.

“I’ll be back after I clear the path. Stay here and don’t follow after me. No matter what you hear, got it?”

Nadia’s expression twisted into a sour grimace, but she nodded in acknowledgment. She clutched her brother’s back tight against her chest as he stepped back and disappeared into the dark tunnels.

A short while later, her brother’s shouting echoed through the tunnel.

The cracking and splintering of bone soon followed.

And eventually, the scraping of feet as her brother emerged with a new limp.

The siblings exchanged wordless looks, full of guilt, pain, and fear.

Andrej strapped his bag across his front, and after a struggle, lifted Nadia onto his back. They continued their shuffle down the passage.

----------------------------------------

The soldier closest to Casimir was knocked back with a terrible force, his spear flying free through the air—landing in a pile of rubble nearby.

A weaselly looking man hid behind Casimir, shaking like a willow in a storm. He was the squad’s porter, Bogdan.

“Korporal Bogdan!” Casimir shouted, raising his shield in an attempt to deflect the massive claw bearing down on him, “If you don’t raise that spear I’ll gut you myself if we make it out alive.”

Bogdan scrambled to his feet and grabbed the spear.

The void-beast bearing down on Casimir’s squad rushed them once more, sweeping an arm at their heads.

With trembling hands, Bogdan stepped forward in a thrust—misjudging the distance and his own balance. With a sickening crunch, his body was sent rolling out of view.

Bogdan had been the last soldier in his squad alive, and now, completely on his own, Casimir decided to flee.

Casimir rushed through ruined buildings and debris-filled alleys, praying to whatever Gods who might be listening to save him.

He was running deeper into Blue territory, but he couldn’t bother to care about that. The shrieks and howls of the demonic monster grew quieter, so he continued to run.

Casimir found himself at a dead-end, a small market square with a greatly damaged marble fountain that was now devoid of water.

A metal rattling noise caught his attention. With his spear raised, he approached the fountain, expecting something dangerous. Instead, he found someone pushing a nearby sewage grate loose from underneath.

Muddy and bloodied, Andrej lifted his sister up past the opening and into the plaza above. As he strained to pull himself out of the hole, his face went white as he came face-to-face with his brother, Casimir.

“Ofiget… Why are you here, of all places? Go back in there and…” Casimir’s throat caught on itself as a void-beast tore its way through a building ahead of them—the opposite direction of the monster that had been pursuing him before.

Casimir gripped the two kids and led them back the way he’d come, but any hope of retreat was snuffed out as a second void-beast rounded the street.

“Take Nadia and run. I’ll draw their attention.”

“Casimir…”

The older brother pushed the younger one with a light tap, “Don’t bother worrying over a bastard like me.”

Wet streaks fell upon Andrej’s neck as his sister shifted awkwardly on his back, suppressing deep sobs.

“B-bro-t-ther!” she cried, her voice broken and weak.

“GO!” Casimir shouted at them, brandishing his spear at the void-beasts as he covered his sibling’s exit.

Andrej started to run, his legs already coming close to failing. The wound he suffered while fighting the ghouls in the Creep had begun to fester.

The boy didn’t make it far.

Not because of his injured leg, but because a third void-beast crept into view.

This one appeared wary, less on a hunt and more like it was being hunted.

Then, they showed up.

Something scarier than the demonic monstrosities prowling the under-city and more terrible than the grudge-holding undead in every dimly lit nook.

The Reds.

“Keep it on the defensive! Give no ground to these godless monsters! For Her Divinity, the Crimson Empress!”

The red-clad knights echoed their commander’s war-cry and descended on the void-beast. They overwhelmed it in the blink of an eye.

It quivered one last time before going quiet.

“Two more approaching ahead. Ready arms. Charge!”

The knights pressed their offensive past the children, now huddled together on the rough street on their knees, and dispatched the remaining monsters with the same ease.

“Got a dead soldier, not one of ours.” One of the knights called out from down the street, past the slain beasts, “Green overcoat with foreign insignia, probably Maarin.”

“And the kids?” Another knight called out, his voice carrying over the tired sobs of Andrej and Nadia.

The knight who’d been shouting from down the road approached the children, giving them a look over, “Haaah, man,” he sighed, “I’d say only the Celestials above would know. Look at these two, they have more grime on them than a pigsty.”

“Whadda’ we do with them?”

“Why’re you looking at me for? Ask the Lieutenant. I can’t handle crying kids.”