CHAPTER THREE

Hornet's Nest

Around fifty armed men stood in formation, being yelled at by their leaders in an unrecognizable language. Their faces were foreign, with sharp facial features, shaven heads, and built bodies.

Each one wore dark fatigues and some form of chest armour, with a host of trinkets attached to their bodies in places within arms' reach. The strange men were stood resolutely still, patiently listening to those yelling in front.

Several others unloaded different carcasses and cargo from weird open-top metal contraptions, some presenting minor injuries. The animals they brought back were monsters of all sorts, including goblins, kobolds, silver wolves, and several taurus legs – more than enough for two of the damned things!

Somehow, these lads took on two house-sized maddened bulls with skin as thick as a grown man's hand and come back with only minor injuries. Nullam could only shudder at the thought of facing one down, nevermind killing and skinning it.

More of the metal contraptions – ones with metal roofs – rolled forward, and it seemed their purpose was to ferry these guys around. Each one stopped in front of the formation of soldiers, their rears opening like doors as the men piled in. Nullam counted three of these covered metal carriages, with two other carriages staying behind.

The two metal carriages were different, though, and had a massive tube sticking out of its top half. The tube seemed to be a gun barrel upon closer inspection, whose implications absolutely horrified the group of investigators in their cliffside perch. If a gun could get that big, what kind of firepower would it have?

All in all, they counted three covered metal carriages, two massive gun barrels on wheels, and another two metal carriages with an open top. Around thirty of the men entered the metal carriages, with the rest piling onto the open-top carriages along with several crates and supplies. That totalled about fifty on the metal things, with another ten men scattered about, probably guards.

"What the hell is this?" muttered Nullam, eyes wide and mouth agape. "How is all of this even here?"

"We've gotta go. Best we could do is ask the Kingdom for help," answered Marvisk, ignoring his question. He turned to leave and gestured for the rest to follow. "If they're headed to town, we've gotta get through the gate first. The township militia can't handle this much firepower, even if it's just fifty-odd guys with rifles."

Nullam simply nodded and followed suit, with the rest trailing behind him. It was as they took their first few steps back that they would realize the true scale of what was to come.

A bright spotlight found them, and the camp's defenders sprung to action. Several voices began shouting in unintelligibly, barking orders at their comrades as several deafening shots raced across the forest hollows.

The twins yelled out "Shit, go!" and "Fucking run!" in near unison as shots kicked up dirt all around them, their deafening thumps thundering across the sparse forest undergrowth as tinnitus took its toll. Bullets whizzed past, shrill screams coming and going as more hit the ground next to them. The group ran like their lives depended on it, at this point it really did.

Nullam elected to just get rid of his shoes and run like hell.

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Heavy breathing took over their hearing as their ears rang, high pitched notes blocking out every sound around them save for their breathing and heartbeat. Marvisk was hit on the side of his chest, taking him off his balance and slumping onto a nearby tree. The twins rushed to his aid, Nullam and Saige covering the twins with meagre weapons.

Compared to the enemy force's firearms, Nullam's revolver and the elf's bow were vastly outmatched in volume and effect. Whereas the inspectors could only take down one at a time and had to aim before they took a shot, these men could simply keep firing in rapid succession. This quickly took overwhelmed the pair, as they no longer had the time to aim. They began firing blindly in the enemy's general direction, instead.

Berded went down first as his brother attempted to carry their injured leader to the cover of a nearby boulder. It wasn't until Birdur had brought Marvisk to safety that he screamed a string of choice expletives, cursing the attackers as the firefight raged on. Nullam and Saige were thoroughly suppressed at this point, and couldn't even peak for fear of getting their heads blown off.

"Marvisk! Can you run?" screamed Nullam over the gunfire, occasionally shooting around the boulder aimlessly.  

He grunted loudly before responding. "Aye, I can run!" 

"Alright, on my mark we run!" Nullam barked, chanting a spell as he twisted a growing fireball around on his hand. With a flick of his wrist, the fireball shot out over the rock and headed towards the ground in front of their foes."Stay in cover!"

The forest floor erupted in a cloud of smoke and fire as several pieces of jagged wood were flung from the blast. Several attackers were hit and sustained minor injuries, stunting the assault momentarily. 

"Go!"

The group ran as fast as they could, weaving through trees and jumping between branches. Gunfire continued as they made their way towards the town, hoping to make it before their adversaries could take it over. It was then that Nullam remembered Ami was still at home. 

"I'll be picking someone up, you three go on ahead to the gate!" he yelled to the rest, intending to get Ami to safety. "It's on the way to the town, I'll be breaking off when we get close!"

"Fucking hell man, we'll see you at the capital!" replied Berded, eyes focused on getting the hell out of dodge. His brother's death still weighed on him greatly, but he wouldn't risk dying out of grief. If anything, he would finish his task above all else.

"You better not die out there you cocky piece of–"

"Breaking off!" yelled Nullam, cutting Marvisk off before he could finish his sentence. Nullam broke off from the group, blasting through an enemy flank and taking a few grazes before barrelling home.

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He kept running, hopping in between branches as he dodged a seemingly endless number of bullets aiming for him. Hardly any of the bullets hit, as he moved far too quickly and erratically for his assailants to properly lead their shots. Every mage was trained to avoid gunfire, and this reminded him of those godforsaken exercises back at the academy.

He would answer their shots with his weak magic, flinging simple fireballs at his adversaries and causing fires in the sparse forest underbrush. In his and the inspectors' wake, several fires raged with billows of smoke polluting the air. If he could only get to Ami in time, they'd be marginally safer when they reached town. The militia must have been alerted to the ruckus at this point. 

Before he could get there, however, one of the two tube-wielding carriages took position between him and the house and fired. A deafening thump echoed through the woods, then two more, followed by an eerie relative silence.

Nullam conjured a very hasty earthen barrier – that is to say, he ducked into a small hole he made – and braced for impact.

...

Three distant explosions rang out in quick succession, a few seconds between each blast. The massive moving weapon quickly retreated and rushed towards the town, running over trees and every other obstacle with impunity.

It was only then that Nullam realized the massive gun wasn't aimed at him. It was aimed the other way. At his house.

He swore internally and rushed home, now with desperation flashing through his eyes.