Pain exploded in Goslin’s thigh as the tentacle pierced his flesh. He screamed as he cut it off. Tomford was there in an instant to pull the slithering appendage out of Goslin’s leg and then heal his wound.

“Thank you, Tom,” Goslin grunted as he tried putting weight on the leg. It held.

Tomford nodded. “More coming!”

Kax moved among the dead rhinn soldiers, cutting them or the tentacles who controlled them in two with such ease he made it look like he was one of the blade dancers they’d both gone to see as children. Hart had been with them, then. Not anymore.

Goslin gritted his teeth and struck out with his shield to mangle a dead rhinn into pieces. Mourning would have to come later. He’d find his old friend in those woods and take his remains to his family. For now, he had to focus on staying alive, on keeping Sarien alive long enough for the mage to save Tyralien and the rest of Maydian.

Goslin cut the head of a dead rhinn clean off, then sidestepped a lazy swing from another and severed the tentacle controlling it. Heylien thrust Sarien’s spear into rhinn after rhinn, dropping them like flies, while Lana tripped and disabled the ones who tried coming at the group from behind.

Tomford let out a groan, and Goslin spun to see a tentacle coming out of his gut. “Tom!” he shouted and stepped around his friend to hack at the tentacle. Tomford went down to his knees when Goslin pulled the tentacle out. Blood spewed everywhere, but Tomford quickly healed himself enough that it wasn’t life threatening.

“Can you stand?” Goslin asked. He couldn’t put down his sword to offer a hand, not when the rhinn were pressing in tighter with each breath. Tomford didn’t reply. Instead, he pointed to the Xzxyth and to Sarien.

Sarien’s hand had disappeared inside the Xzxyth’s body. A tentacle had pierced through his arm and another through his leg. As Goslin watched, a third wrapped around him and started pulling Sarien into the Xzxyth’s gelatinous body.

“Heylien!” Goslin yelled. “Sarien!”

The two of them ran to Sarien and grabbed hold of Sarien’s tunic. The tentacles tugged Sarien deeper into the monster, and both men struggled to pull Sarien free.

“Can’t. Hold. On,” Heylien said, each word clipped short from the strain. Sarien was screaming from pain and Goslin joined in when one of the rhinn shambled up and struck his sword arm with a mace. The blow didn’t carry much force behind it, but it was enough to break Goslin’s grip.

“No!” he yelled as the fabric of Sarien’s shirt was pulled free of his grasp. The force was too strong for Heylien to hold on by himself, and Sarien disappeared into the Xzxyth. His scream cut off and Goslin cried out in frustration. He spun and smashed the rhinn’s face in with the shield then picked up his sword.

“What do we do?” Tomford asked, yelling to be heard over the din of battle. Somewhere off in the crowd, Kax’s joyous laughter rose as more dead rhinn were torn apart at his hand.

“There’s nothing we can do now,” Goslin said, walking up to the healer. “It’s up to Sarien now.”

“But those wounds!” Lana protested. She’d come back to help fight back against the increasing number of tentacles around them.

Goslin shook his head. “He’ll make it. I know he will.”

She glanced at the Xzxyth, her eyes full of doubt. “If you say so.”

The Xzxyth had turned so that two massive tentacles waved in the air above them, but the group was too close to its body to be within reach. “There’s no going back now,” Heylien said. “We’ll never escape those.”

Kax bounced into the small, cleared circle around the group. “I can cut them off for you!”

“No!” Goslin yelled. “We need you here or we’ll get overwhelmed. Sarien will do his part. We stay!”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Kax shouted. He was grinning like a madman, but at least that horrible color on his arms hadn’t spread any further.

They fought on with increasing desperation as an army of dead rhinn surrounded them. One or a few of them was barely a challenge, but they came on like bees looking to smother invading wasps in their hive.

The thought randomly made Goslin think of his mother and her love for beekeeping. It felt like it had been a lifetime since he saw her last.

His drifting thoughts made him lose focus , and he missed his next swing. He skidded in the mud and went down face first, dropping his sword. His shield thankfully stayed with him, and he spun desperately to catch the spear thrust. Lana glided past and severed the tentacle controlling the dead spearman, then continued on to the next in the receding space in their circle of defense.

To the side, Heylien took a blow to the head and crashed to the ground. Behind him, Goslin saw a blur race past and throw itself into the Xzxyth. Daisy? He shook his head and blinked, obviously dazed and confused.

Goslin got to his knees and then to his feet. “Heylien!” He grabbed the dropped sword and raced forward to save the archer from another blow. He slipped again, this time twisting his foot awkwardly. Pain shot up his leg and he went down, wincing. He glanced at the Xzxyth. Sarien would make it, wouldn’t he?

Heylien wasn’t moving, but Goslin could do nothing for him except flail wildly at the tentacles coming for his friend. “He’s not dead, damn you!” he shouted. Something sharp slid into his sword arm and he dropped the sword a third and final time. Goslin couldn’t close his fist, rendering the sword useless. He pulled back and rammed the shield into the rhinn who’d struck him, blowing him to pieces on impact.

Tomford swayed on his feet. He still fought, but his movements were slow with barely any force behind them. Goslin saw Lana fighting and running, with emphasis on the latter. She was quickly overwhelmed. The only one unaffected was Kax. He killed rhinn by the score despite bleeding from a number of cuts on his body. It was like he couldn’t even feel his wounds.

Goslin spun again, his limp arm flailing, and smashed his shield into another tentacle that was moving toward Heylien. It exploded in a shower of gore. Heylien wasn’t dead, but he soon would be. They all would be if they didn’t get out of there soon. Goslin thought of Emeryn. Her smile and her reassuring warmth, along with her impressive competence. He wondered if she was fine out there all on her own. Goslin longed for her embrace.

A dead rhinn soldier bumped into Goslin. It was enough to make him trip and fall backwards into the mud. The rhinn fell over him and another followed. They didn’t have any weapons, but their weight was too much in his exhausted state. Goslin struggled to push them off and couldn’t help but look into the face of the one who’d tripped him. There was no life there. No expression. Just those large dead eyes regarding him in silence. He heard Lana scream, but there was nothing he could do to free himself.

“Tom!” he shouted. “Kax! Someone get these poor souls off me!” There was no reply. “Lana!” he yelled.

The monumental weight on his chest was making it hard to breathe. A third rhinn added to the pile. It made Goslin cough involuntarily and then he found he couldn’t take a new breath. “Sarien,” he wheezed. “Now would be a good time.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The weight eased off him and Goslin drew breath, coughed, and then drew another. Sweet release. He turned to his side and struggled up, disoriented. It was gone. The Xzxyth had vanished. In the distance, Goslin saw rhinn soldiers looking back and forth in confusion. Among his friends, only Tomford and Kax stood. Lana was down on the ground, clutching her hand to her neck, red leaking through between her fingers. Her lips were turning blue.

“Tom!” Goslin yelled, but Tomford didn’t react. He ran up to the healer and shouted again. “Tom!” Tomford just stood there staring, his eyes glazed over. Goslin dropped his shield and slapped him across the face as hard as he could.

“Ow!” Tomford put his hand against his cheek and glared at Goslin, then saw Lana. He shuffled over quickly and put a hand over hers. He looked up at Goslin. “This might very well put me out of commission.” He glanced at Heylien, who still lay in the mud, but didn’t say anything.

“Do it.”

Lana’s wound closed up and she let her hand drop to her side as her breathing returned to normal.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Tomford said, swaying on his feet. “How is your arm?”

“Don’t mind that. Please check Heylien.”

Tomford nodded. “Very well.” Once by his side, Tomford put a hand on Heylien’s head and closed his eyes, then sat back into the mud. “He’ll be fine without healing for now.”

Goslin breathed a sigh of relief and looked around. “Kax, have you seen Sarien?”

Kax shook his head. “I don’t see him anywhere.”

“The Xzxyth is gone,” Lana said from back where she lay on the ground. “He obviously succeeded.”

“He’ll be back,” Goslin said. He believed it. “He returned to us last time. He’ll do so again.”

“He did it,” Tomford mumbled. “The broken little pyromancer actually did it.”

“Do you think they’ll include me in the songs?” Kax asked, his voice serious. “They better include me.”

Goslin sighed and was about to sit when he remembered Emeryn. “We have to go back and make sure Em is uninjured.” He picked up his shield and winced. “Tom, do you have enough to heal my arm and Kax’s cuts? He’s looking a little pale.”

He waved them closer. “I think so, but you’ll have to come to me.”

Goslin was exhausted and all he craved was a hot meal, a hotter bath, and rest, but he and the others had to report to the king and commander Syster first. They’d found Emeryn right where they’d left her, surrounded by dead rhinn, both the previously living kind and ones controlled by the Xzxyth. Emeryn herself was fine and hadn’t remembered anything about being attacked. Those around her bore teeth marks, as if mauled by some kind of animal.

“You actually did it,” Syster said. “The monster is gone and we’ve captured the few devils that remained.”

“Tyralien is free,” the king agreed. “Goslin. You may have your pick of my daughters, as promised.”

“I’m sorry, King Caelin,” Goslin said. “But I’m already married.” His face reddened, but he did not look away from the king. Kax snickered behind him. They’d all found it highly amusing when he proposed the moment Emeryn woke up. They’d dragged everyone to the keep’s magistrate before reporting to the king. Emeryn held his hand and looked up at the king on his throne with as much pride as Goslin felt.

“Is that so?” The king’s face tightened, but then he shrugged and leaned back. “Very well. You have our gratitude either way, and you’ll always have friends in Tyriu, young Goslin. Remember that when you get older.”

Bustling sounds came from outside the heavy door of the throne room, then the door slammed open with a gust of wind. Both doors were heavy and made to withstand attacks, but they flew open and crashed against the stone wall with a resounding clang.

“What the shit is going on here? What are you doing?” A spindly lad walked in on bare feet, waving his arms around. “What happened to the damn invaders? Someone better tell me right now!”

“Wade?” Lana asked.

Goslin turned to Lana. “This is your friend?”

“I like him already,” Kax whispered to Tomford.

“Lana!” Wade yelled, jogging up to the group. “Where have you been? I heard some defenders talking about a small surly girl in this Goslin fella’s party. Instantly knew it had to be you.”

She clenched her fists. “Don’t talk to me like that, you windswept sail blower!”

“Why don’t we all calm down a little,” Syster said.

“Don’t tell me what to do. I saved your whole city!” Wade barked.

“He did?” the king asked.

Syster shook her head. “He did help a little.”

“Little?” Wade asked, incredulous. He and Lana were close enough to throw fists, and from the looks on their faces, that was exactly what they both planned.

Then Lana broke out in laughter and threw her arms around the lad. “You stupid airhead. You silly little man. I’ve missed you, Wade.”

He chuckled, returning the embrace. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“Is there anything else?” King Caelin asked impatiently. Wade pointed up at the king. “You better watch it! Have you even told them?”

“Told us what?” Goslin asked.

“The bug-eyed bastards aren’t just here! Loft is under siege!”

Goslin’s eyes widened in surprise. “They’re in Loft too? We must hurry to their aid and rally support from Eldsprak. We’ll drive them back!”

Wade shook his head. “Oh, you beautiful bastard. Where do you think I went first?”

Heylien broke in. “What do you mean?”

“Eldsprak is just as bad as Loft. Worse! The council sent me to get help from Eldsprak and your pyromancers. Funny thing, though. When I got there, those same pyromancers were burning your city to the ground!”

Goslin gritted his teeth. “Those traitors. That’s why there were so few of them here. We have to leave immediately!”

“But we fought so many rhinn,” Emeryn protested. “How many more could there be left?”

“This was nothing,” Wade said. He looked at Goslin and the others. “Fyrie has already fallen. I’m sorry. Your king is dead, or captured, perhaps, if it makes a difference. Most of the army wasn’t even there to defend your capital!”

Ice ran through Goslin’s veins. “Fyrie has fallen?” His family. The Academy. How could his father have let this happen? “Where was the army?”

Wade shrugged, “Chasing shadows. I don’t know.”

Goslin spun to face the king. “And you knew of this!”

The king’s face reddened. “Don’t you take that tone with me!”

Syster looked at her feet, mumbling something that could have been, “I’m sorry.”

“What about Vatnbloet?” Tomford asked anxiously.

“Or Jordfaste?” Emeryn added.

“I don’t know,” Wade admitted. “I came here looking for Lana when I heard she joined your quest. Figured we could get these bastards,” he pointed at Syster and Caelin, “to send help back with us.” He shrugged. “Then I found those bug-eyed freaks here, too, and decided I’d help while I waited for you.”

“Why were you looking for me?” Lana asked.

Wade frowned. “You’re Asengian. I need you to help me rally Loftians so we can strike back. The entire council is likely obliterated by now. We need to find our people and strike back.”

Goslin kept his gaze on the king. “Will you send help?”

“We will need to regroup and rebuild first,” the king said. “Then we’ll evaluate our options.”

Wade made a not so polite gesture in the king’s direction. “That’s what he told me last night. Bastard.”

“Hey!” the king barked. “One more thing out of you and I’ll have you in chains!”

“Try it, you bastard!”

Goslin put a hand on Wade’s shoulder. “Let’s go talk.” He turned to the king. “We look forward to whatever aid you can provide us. Please excuse us.”

The king sighed. “You may leave.”

Tomford was the first to speak when the doors shut behind them. “I have to return home to Vatnbloet.”

“I understand,” Goslin said. “Will you come with me and travel through Eldsprak?”

“I’ll head north and find a ship to take me across Vanern. It’s the quickest route to Havet. I’m sorry to leave you like this, but I have to.”

Goslin would hate to see his friend go, but his decision was not unexpected. “I can’t fault you for wanting to see what has become of your homeland.”

Lana winced and nodded her head in Wade’s direction. “I guess I’ll have to follow this bastard for the time being, back to Loft.”

They were a group from all around Maydian. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that they would return home after their quest was completed. Even less so under the current circumstances. Goslin couldn’t help but think of his family. Fyrie had fallen. The thought was inconceivable. He turned to Emeryn. “And what of you, Em?”

She caressed his cheek with the back of her fingers. “I’ll stay here with you tonight. Tomorrow, I must leave for The Kinship of Jordfaste. They have, hopefully, been isolated from all this. If I can convince them to fight, they will make the pyromancers look like children playing with matches.”

He took her hand in his and nodded, then looked at Heylien. “Heylien, my friend. Could you accompany my wife on her journey? I’d sleep better knowing she wasn’t traveling alone.” Emeryn’s face darkened and Goslin turned back to her. “For company, of course. You don’t need protection!”

That made her soften. “I would be honored to show you the kinship,” she said to Heylien.

Heylien nodded. “The honor is mine.”

“Don’t worry, old pal,” Kax said, patting Goslin’s back. “I’ll tag along with you. Need to check in with my sister to make sure we don’t have rhinn crawling around the estate.”

“Thank you,” Goslin said. He looked around the corridor. “Tomorrow, we leave. Let’s make tonight count and swear we’ll see each other again and destroy these invaders together.”

“Together!” Wade yelled, raising his hand.

Lana sighed and nonchalantly punched him in the gut. “We’ll see each other again. I’m not going home to die. Once we’ve rallied the Loftians around us, we’ll free Vinden and then return to help you.”

“Agreed,” Tomford said.

Emeryn nodded. “Together.”

“That’s it then. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Where are you going?” Kax asked, grinning.

“I am in dire need of a bath,” Goslin said, wiping drying mud from his hair.

Emeryn took his hand, her cheeks glowing beautifully. “I think I’ll join you, husband.”