Song of the Mirror Maker, Chapter Eleven
Theta grasped Rose’s hand and led her up the encircling staircase to the tower roof, explaining on the way that he needed to get a better view of the developing battle. Once at the top, they ran to the balustrade and peered over. The Overlord looked down on the ensuing battle, and cursed from his new vantage point. Admar’s troops were gaining ground fast, while his own men struggled to keep the surge from completely overrunning the front walls.
“We’re going to have to fall back,” Theta admitted angrily. “There’s just too many of them!”
Rose looked out onto the field, where an endless supply of fresh enemies seemed to churn like ocean waves breaking on the shore. Theta’s men were doing everything they could to stave the tide, but Admar’s side had already taken the barbican, and were beginning to surge over the outermost wall. Rose bit her lip when she saw an ominous clearing form in the main body of soldiers on the ground.
“Doctor, look!” she cried.
Theta looked down and swallowed hard as he saw the makings of a battering ram come crashing down on the front gate. Time was running out.
Admar watched the spectacle unfold from the back of the battlefield, reveling in every moment. He had never felt so powerful. He grinned gleefully at Kali, who averted her eyes quickly.
“What? No congratulations on my victory?” he prodded. “I thought you’d be enjoying this, Princess!”
Kali hung her head as her brother glared from the other side.
“You haven’t won yet,” Zeta said emphatically. “Victories celebrated too early portend they are not to come at all.”
Admar rolled his eyes. “Spoken like a true bore, your highness. If you’re so uncertain of the outcome, why don’t you make yourself useful?”
Zeta frowned but held his dignity in check. “And what would the holder of Saman’s ring command from me? Surely, you have enough men at the fore. The ancillary ranks are battering down the drawbridge as we speak, while the Gleissen rally from within. Tell me what militaristic pursuit is next my Lord, lest we miss an opportunity to exhibit our superiority.”
Admar laughed maniacally as Hjinn chuckled behind him.
“SOMEONE appreciates a fair fight!” the Inquisitor mocked. “I see your honor antecedes you, Zeta. You were more than willing to undercut Theta for the crown, but when it comes to taking it so efficiently, you balk at the means! Well, let me tell you something of war, that even a great strategist as yourself cannot understand. It is best done mightily, with no chance of the other side recouping. You crush your enemy so that he can never stand against you again. That’s ultimate victory, and one I intend to gain today. So, I’ll tell you what you can do for me, Other Lord. Summon the Hoard of Travesties, and sear my name into the heart and soul of every man, woman and child alive that would dare stand against me from this day forward!”
Kali gripped the reigns of her horse tightly, more frightened at the prospect of loosing those demons than anything Admar could invoke with the supreme power of the mirror.
“Lord, we dare not!” she protested. “Victory is one thing, but massacre is another!”
Zeta’s haunted eyes bespoke his own reservations. The Hoard was a last-resort that his family in all ten generations had never used more than once. It struck him then that he would never used them in all of his lifetime, unless absolutely forced. They belonged to the dark days.
The Could’ve Been King had sat beside them the whole time, eerily quiet, but now he stirred in his seat.
“The Hoard of Travesties,” he said in his ancient voice. “I’ve not seen their like since the Last Battle. Ferocious, heartless demons…how I admire them.”
Admar smiled thinly at the King’s unsettling words, as Kali concealed the shudder that racked her body. Still, the Inquisitor would not relent. He pulled his horse to Zeta’s side and marked the Lord of the south with measured impatience.
“Do this thing,” he hissed. “Or by the Founders, I’ll have your still-beating heart removed. Call them. Now.”
Zeta was left with no choice but to obey.
Theta’s league of generals and advisors had joined him on the roof, giving hurried reports from all sectors of the castle.
“The majority of the Gleissen have been subdued,” one of them shouted over the din of battle. “They’ve been locked in the dungeons until they’ve come to their senses.”
“If their senses return at all!” another General remarked disapprovingly. “Overlord, the drawbridge door holds. Admar’s men cannot get at their target over the moat, but they are felling trees to build a makeshift bridge.”
“Send fire arrows in its direction,” Theta replied. “And keep watch over the Gleissen. I can’t be comfortable with them in our midst, dungeons or no. What of the western wall?”
The oldest warrior stepped forward and shook his head decidedly.
“We must fall back and defend from the inner sanctum,” he said. “The western wall is taken.”
Theta stared hard at the wall in question. So many had fallen dead before it that they created a ramp, making it easier for the Inquisitor’s men to pass over. He cursed and slammed his fist down angrily.
“It’s all as I feared. Recall them,” he growled. “We’ll make for the second.”
At that moment, a strange noise began to vibrate through the air, just loud enough to set Rose’s teeth on edge. She cringed as it grew stronger and drew her attention to the horizon.
“What the hell is that?” she whispered to herself as Theta came to stand beside her.
He squinted into the dark mass moving like a thunderhead off to the south. Suddenly, he squeezed Rose’s hand so hard it hurt.
“Run. Run!” he shouted.
She stared at him in confusion, but he was already pulling her after him. The General League wasn’t short behind them.
“Sound the alarm!” Theta screamed in terror, illustrating the first sign of fear in the entirety of the battle.
“Sound the alarm!” one of the General’s echoed after him, alerting a young soldier in one of the watchtower’s.
Soon, a deep clanging bell resounded from on high, filling the hearts of Theta’s men with dread.
“The Hoard!” one of them cried. “The Hoard comes!”
Rose caught the word as she ran past, struggling to keep up with Theta as he pulled her through the mass of fighting soldiers. Although some continued to trade blows, many stopped and looked up at the sky with uncertain dread.
“What’s the Hoard?” Rose yelled at Theta’s back. “What does it mean?”
He pulled her close to him and hugged the wall as several hundred of his men streaked past from the other direction, brandishing bows and spears. He stared down significantly into her eyes.
“It means death!” he said candidly.
Before he could elaborate, the cloud was upon them, and a thousand writhing creatures descended from the sky like demonic rain. They looked like medieval gargoyles come to life, with gray, leathery wings about three feet in diameter and white, opaque eyes. As one swerved over its target and then turned to sniff the air, Rose realized the creatures were blind and relying on their sense of smell to hunt. Somehow, that thought made them all the more terrifying.
She shrank against Theta as one flew past, picking up one of the soldiers easily between its long, taloned feet. The victim screamed as he was lifted up to a dizzying height and dropped heartlessly to his death.
Rose hid her face in her hands, unable to watch the grisly outcome, but Theta was still trying his best to drag her behind him.
“We’ve got to get to the keep,” he said urgently. “It’s our only hope. The Hoard will never relent. They’re unstoppable!”
Rose ducked as two gargoyles flew over her head, snatching at her blonde hair as they went. Theta barely blinked before his sword was out, and connected viciously with one of the demons, severing its right wing and felling it to the earth. As he slayed the first and then a second flying beast, Rose lost her tendentious hold of the Overlord’s hand. At that very moment, the first wave of Theta’s soldiers came pouring past toward the safety of the keep.
In their panic, they barreled over one another, and knocked Rose to the ground in the process. She quickly rolled out of the way to avoid being crushed, but when she propped herself up again, she’d lost sight of Theta.
It was then that her body went completely numb. Rose blinked hard, unsure if she’d hit her head during her fall. A cold, seeping sensation was coming over her, as if something frigid was wrapping itself up in her arms, and squeezing down over her neck, although she couldn’t see anything attacking her. She could barely choke in response as the freezing sensation pressed against her lips, like a nightmarish kiss, and started to steal the very breath out of her body.
She struggled against the feeling, not sure of what was happening or if she could prevent it, but lost the fight as a curtain of black slammed down before her eyes. Nobody even noticed as she slumped back against the wall and passed out.
When Rose opened her eyes, she was in a pitch-black wind tunnel, far removed from the battlefield or anything she could readily identify. She groaned as an intense pain throbbed in the back of her head, and made sitting up an excruciating experience. As she leaned forward, a flash of white caught her attention as it streaked past. Startled, Rose cried out and reached for her swords, but they were gone.
"Who's there?" she demanded as the blurring movement came again from afar before disappearing once more.
Her own voice echoed back at her, scaring her senseless. She forced herself to her feet, readying for whatever was moving in the darkness.
"Come out and face me!" Rose shouted daringly. "What are you waiting for?"
The cold began to sink into her bones once more, making her quake despite her show of bravery. She was so focused on what was before her though, that she didn't sense the presence directly behind her. In one quick movement, something had grabbed her from behind, and Rose thrashed wildly in response as she tried to shake it off. Thrown off balance, she tumbled to the ground, throwing the entity out in front of her so that she could see it for the first time.
She screamed.
The creature reached out ice-cold hands to grasp Rose once more, but she was quick to avoid it this time.
"I know what you are!" Rose shrieked as she jumped away. "You're a Never-were! You're one of those who tries to pass over into the land of the living!"
The creature gazed at her out of its hollow black eyes and smiled piteously.
"I will take you," it hissed in a horrible voice.
Rose evaded another lunge and whipped around to face the creature that was trying to possess her body. If it succeeded, it would exchange places from with her and send Rose to dwell eternally in the black, unforgiving void.
"I don't think so," Rose answered grimly as she caught the Never-were's wrists in her hands, forcing the creature's heartless touch back upon itself.
The Never-were moaned horribly as it's lifeless hands seared into its own skin, opening up a conduit to the next realm without a host body to leap into.
"No!" the creature cried in anguish as Rose held firm.
"You'll lose," it gasped desperately before the shimmering portal appeared. "The Could've Been King will take everything from you and the Overlord, until all you have left is fear!"
The Never-were began to laugh manically as Rose stepped back through the light.
She paused for a moment and glared down at the soulless creature before shaking her head.
"Your King will fail," she breathed angrily. "What the Doctor and I have, no man, King, or demon can touch. You tell him that for me. Or better yet? I think I'll let him know myself."
Without another word, Rose fell back into the portal and disappeared, leaving the Never-were to howl in misery.
Next Chapter