Beyond the Hell Cliffs (51 page)

Chapter 48

Greela sat in his chamber letting the Rathgar slave girl work out the soreness in his back.  It was becoming a nightly ordeal trying to get the aches to dull enough for sleep to take him.  He hurt every day for the past seven years all because of the bearded Saban with the long sword.  It was not just a physical pain.  The Saban had known the worst way to hurt him; making him watch the Empress die and then depriving him of an honorable death.

Greela looked at the papers on the table in the middle of the room.  There were shortages in food, in man-power, in medicine and those who knew how to use it.  For seven years he had kept the Citadel limping along without an Empress.  He had instigated martial law as soon as the first of the refugees returned and it still stood.  He had
crushed Sethora of Spine when that insolent brat had come to claim the Empire.  He had suppressed the attempt at usurping him by one of his Elite Guards and defended the walls from that ridiculous coalition of gangsters that had formed out in the Outposts.  He had kept his people safe the entire time, but he did not know how much longer he could.

He had almost laughed the first time he heard of the campaigns in the west.  The two Lokai nobles had already fallen to a group of marauders and lost their dominions and the villages within.  It did not bother him that the Lokai were fighting among each other. 
However, it should have bothered him that the guards stationed at these villages were being completely overwhelmed by a people that had long-since abandoned the ways of combat.  He had been busy keeping the Citadel running at the time and could not have spared the men for a march on the Lokai even if he would have foreseen the problems it would later cause him.

Too late he realized the consequences of losing the trade routes with the west.  As more people flooded the Citadel, abandoning the Outposts or simply returning from whatever refuge they found in the desert, the food shortages began.  Overtaxing the dominions still under his control would not work; there was only so much they could give.  Despite having a fraction of the combat-ready guards he was used to, he needed to move to retake the farm lands of the west. 

Then he learned of the shanty town that had popped up in the Barren Wastes.  Gimlets were banding together and organizing, pooling their scraps and salvages under the command of Beretta, the centuries-old retainer of the Emperors.

Beretta was an enigma to him, even after all the years he spent around her.  Infernals were a wild
race, with untold magic power.  There had not been a sighting of another Infernal in the civilized Greimere in hundreds of years, but the histories described them as demi-gods, like the dragon queen in the desert or the monsters on the other side of the eastern mountains.  Beretta had been found as an infant and quickly domesticated.  During all of the generations of rulers she had served, never once had she displayed power anywhere near what was described of her kind and she was forbidden from learning anything about the Infernals.  Other than the remarkable ability to create flames, she was benign.  Or so he thought.

Having been charged with safeguarding the northern boy, she fled the Citadel and had never returned.  That she would show up again, controlling innumerable Gimlets in
the desert, shortly after some unknown force wrought havoc among the western village was troubling.  When the images of the super weapon from the north entered his head, he could not rid himself of them.  Beretta was the only being he had ever seen capable of magic, other than the tall, colorful folk of the north; it was possible that she could have figured out how to create a similar weapon.

With every report from scout units he sent into the desert the Gimlet City grew.  Thousands of Gimlets swarmed the area, erecting buildings and towers.  They had a yard filled with metals and salvage; things no one had ever seen before were inside the city.
  Interrogating the Gimlets that came out of the city was useless; they told him whatever they thought he wanted to hear.  More than a few confirmed that the Infernal was building something large and foreign and that she served some unseen master.

“This
is some sort of conspiracy!” he yelled at his generals.  “She could be in league with the armies of the north for all we know.  She… she could have summoned them here in the first place.”

“
That seems unlikely,” General Stribog replied.  “But if they are building something powerful enough to bring the walls back down, we should strike immediately.  What are we waiting for?”

“
We don’t have the man-power to assault anything right now,” another general said.  “Every guard we have is working double shifts just to keep the masses inside these walls in order.  If Beretta has a weapon like this; if she has any kind of defenses up within the city, we would need a sizeable force to send.  We need more men!”

“The dominions,” Greela said.  “Too long they have been allowed to sit on the side, waiting to see what will happen to us.  It is time they rejoin this empire…
the
Empire of Greimere.  I’ll take them by force if I have to.  Sethora’s dominion will not yield much after he wasted most of his useful men trying to take the Citadel from me, but Gamalka’s dominion should be ripe with men old enough to fight.”

The girl hit a nerve and made Greela’s entire arm jerk.  He turned and growled at her, reigning in his desire to bash her face with his fist.  He had already abused too many
slave girls and this one was the only one who could do any good on his tortured body.  She was one of the Empress’s favorites.  Tamyth was her name, he thought.

“Forgive me, lord,” she whispered, waiting for him to settle before going back to working his muscles.

Greela sighed and turned back, letting her start again.  His thoughts went back to the threat of the super weapon that he was sure Beretta was working on in the desert.  It was the only thing standing between him and reclaiming the western farm lands.  There were barely a thousand reliable guards under his command and several thousand civilians. He had sent so many into the desert to destroy the city of Gimlets and their super weapon that he barely had enough to defend the Citadel with.  He could arm some of the Lokai and Urufen men, but they were inferior races, unsuited for combat and just as likely to revolt as defend the city, especially after all of the examples they had forced him to make in the streets.

Greela shook the thoughts from his mind.  There was nothing more he could do this night and he needed something more than massage to fully relax.  He turned away from Tamyth and looked her over.

“Undress.”

“Lord?” she asked, hesitantly.

He reached out and grabbed the top of her tunic, ripping it downward and almost pulling her off of her feet.  “I said undress!”

She quickly pulled the rest of her clothes off and he yanked her into him, spinning her to the bed.  She closed her eyes and steadied her breath as he took his pants off and climbed on top of her.  It aggravated him that she put on such a show of bracing herself, but he was not in the mood for correcting behavior.

Just then there was a pounding on the door.  A guard on the other side announced his presence.

“Not now!” he yelled.

“This can’t wait, Commander,” General Stribog said, coming in through the doors.  He was unfazed by the sight before him and continued to speak without looking away.  “Runners have returned from the assault force.  They have confirmed the existence of the superweapon.”

“
I knew it was so!” Greela roared, throwing Tamyth from the bed and scrambling over the other side.  “Pull the men from the walls!  They’ll be destroyed by the weapon!”

“Sir,
we are not besieged.  Our army is standing by outside of the weapon’s range.  Reports suggest the city is defended by a handful of females.”

“
Females?” Greela asked, pulling his trousers up.  “A weapon powerful enough to topple stone walls and a group of females hold it?  What insanity is this?”

“Insane or not,
we have the reports from the field,” Stribog said.  “Sir, it would sacrifice many men, but if we could defeat the ones holding this weapon...”

“
We could claim it for ourselves!” Greela bellowed.  “This takes priority, Stribog.  This is important.  I want you to send everyone.”

“What do you mean by everyone?” the general asked.

“Everyone!” Greela screamed.

Chapter 49

The old Rathgar woman pulled the rug away from the wooden door and opened it, spilling light into the space below.  Hiding them in her house, under Greela’s martial law would have gotten her flayed in the streets had she been discovered, but to her it was worth it.  She had lost all three of her daughters, two of them in the past two years, executed by the guards.  Her youngest daughter, the troublemaker, had died much earlier, on the night the men from the north brought down the walls of the Citadel
.  It was for her that she hid the dangerous group below her home, spying on the guards and waiting for the time when all but a few of them gathered and marched out the west gate, just as she was told they would.

As she reached down
into the dark cellar, she grasped hands and helped pull her youngest daughter’s only friend up into the house.

“Thank you, Edna,” Indie said to the sturdy old woman.  “You didn’t have to risk so much.”

“My Enga was murdered by a northern bastard.  Ethel and Eadra were both tortured before my eyes,” the Rathgar woman said, eying Raegith as he emerged from the cellar.  “You say you’ll kill Greela and then go destroy those in the north?  Then I can do this much for my girls; for vengeance.”

Raegith merely nodded to the woman.  She knew he would avenge Enga.  She did not need, nor want to hear anything else from him in his northern voice.

The others climbed up out of the hiding spot and filed out into the night, inside the walls of the Citadel.  Other than Indie and Magda in confiscated guard armor, the rest of them wore only dark leathers and they carried discrete weapons.  Hitomi was the only Helcat not present, having chosen to stay and help defend Gimlet City.  Naoko, Kimura, Indie, Magda, Fenra, Freya and Helkree were all there beside him.  If they were any other group of rebels, they would stand little chance against the guards armed with steel weapons and heavy armor.  If they were any other group of rebels, they wouldn’t be Helcats.

“
Greela performed just as expected.  He sends his entire force to engage Hitomi and Brimgor, leaving his neck exposed and unguarded,” Raegith said, pulling all of their attention back to him.  “Helcats, my battle angels from hell… we find ourselves back here in the Citadel, where we began; where your group was born.  Only this time we do not return to drop back into the Pit.  No, this time we come to claim it and every soul inside.”

“Broosh!” they yelled in unison.

“Keep it tight and move quickly.  There will still be guards left inside and Greela will surely have kept his best men at the palace with him, so save your energy.”

“
Protect Grass-hair at all costs,” Helkree added.  “Keep quiet and let Naoko or Kimura take out any single targets we run up on.  You’re up if we get a runner, Fenra.  Indie and Magda will be doing any breeching.”

“Everyone
is ready for this?” Raegith asked, taking in all of the nods.  “We don’t stop until we reach Greela… then he’s all mine.”

Raegith le
d the group of female warriors away from the staging house and into the streets.  They did not creep along or try to hide; speed was more important than stealth.  They ran along, in formation around Raegith, scanning the alleys and shadows for threats as they moved westward.

They managed to avoid detection all the way through the merchant district of the Citadel, but as they approached the central area, where the Palace
was, they were surprised to find a hasty barricade with watchtowers blocking their path.  From their elevated positions, the guards spotted the group before they were close enough for Fenra or Freya to smell them.  The curfew made it even easier for them to be spotted and for their part, the guards were smart enough to let the group get within range before sounding the alert.

Bowmen opened fire on them as soon as they were in range
.  There were less than a dozen men on the gate, but their bows and javelins kept the small group behind cover.  The only protection Greela would have kept behind were his Elite Guard, who were all experienced and cunning enough to return from the war in the north.  They were not the same Rathgar that Raegith slaughtered outside of Gimlet City.

“We don’t have time to waste on this!” Raegith exclaimed, peeping around the corner of the building at the men on the gate.
  “We need to draw their fire.”

“We’re ready,” Fenra said.

Raegith looked over at the two Urufen girls.  Freya was as fast as Fenra, but she was young and untested.  She hid her fear well, though, looking to her adoptive sister for courage.  She gave Raegith an assertive nod, unnaturally quiet during the battle.

“Good.  You’re up, then.  Stay light on your feet and if you see an opportunity, take it!”

Ferna grinned and backed up.  She took a deep breath, steadying herself for a moment as if she were meditating.  Without warning she unleashed a deafening howl and her body shook.  Freya joined her, using her own way of triggering the bestial call they had learned on the Alfhildr. 

They both exploded in fur and became the giant, wolf-like beasts of old.  Fenra and Freya were like strikes of lightning in
their transformed bodies.  They were out around the corner and speeding through the streets, dodging the first volley of arrows and disappearing behind the nearest building. 

As their fire was drawn, Naoko slipped around the corner and snapped off two shots in rapid succession, dropping the
shooters in both towers.  Three men carrying spears and shields started forward towards the group as the two remaining archers covered them.

“They’re focused back on us,” Naoko said.  “I can’t get a good shot off if they’re just waiting for my head to pop around the side.”

“Fenra!” Helkree yelled.

Two bestial forms bolted from the shadows and soared through the air towards the barricade.  The archers, focused on pinning Raegith and his group behind the building had only enough time to change direction and loose hasty arrows at the monsters crashing down upon them.  Fenra and Freya fell atop the Rathgar and dragged them to the ground, ripping and tearing them with massive, razor-lined jaws.

The remaining guards barely slowed at the sounds of their comrades being torn apart behind them and their shields easily deflected Naoko’s attempts at bringing them down.

“Stay here,” Helkree said to Raegith.  “I’ll handle this.”

She pulled the two tomahawks from her belt and stepped around the corner as the three shield-bearers drew near.

“All three of them?”
Magda asked, staring after Helkree as she jogged right at the trio.

One of the guards switch
ed his grip on his spear and threw it at her with practiced aim.  Helkree barely moved her head, slipping to the side of the bladed tip as it sailed past her cheek.  Another guard threw his spear and Helkree avoided it with a slight step to the left, not even breaking stride as she did.

The first one to throw his spear roared with frustration and charged at her, pulling his hand axe as he closed with her.  Helkree took two quick steps and then shot to the side of his shield, away from his weapon arm.  Dropping the axe in her left hand to the ground, she grabbed the man’s shield and wrenched it forward.  Her right hand dropped
like a hammer and the blade of her axe cleaved cleanly through the man’s wrist.  He was screaming before his shield clattered to the ground, but Helkree’s backswing hooked his esophagus and ripped it out, ending his noise.

The last spear shot right for her face as the other Rathgar came at her with his axe.  Helkree avoided the spear head and dipped under the axe swing.  As the guard swiped at the air over her head, she destroyed his knee, dropping him instantly.  A second spear thrust skidded along her side, splitting the leather rib protector she wore.  She snatched the spear at the wooden shaft with her left and cut it with one swing of her axe.  A kick put the guard off balance, stumbling backwards and Helkree bombarded him with strikes from both her axe and the lethal half of the spear that she just stole from him.

The guard struggled to block and avoid the ambidextrous attacks and Helkree checked his shield with her elbow when he tried to bring it around the front of her body.  Then an axe strike with her right clipped the inside of his helmet and sent it flying.  The guard dropped the heavy shield and desperately tried to raise his hands to grapple the axe away from her, but she used his grip against him, yanking both of his arms down and jamming the broken spear inside of his shoulder plates and through his collar.

The guard stumbled backward and dropped to his knees, sucking in air as the blood gushed around his neck.  She turned away from the dying man and dropped on top of the guard she had kneecapped earlier.  He was trying to crawl back toward the barricade, but his armor made him too heavy.  Helkree split his face in two with one chop.

“Are you even mortal anymore?” Raegith joked strolling up to her, examining the mess she had made of the guards.

“
Whatever,” she replied.  “You could have taken this gate by yourself.”

“No,” he said, staring at his hands.  “It drains quickly and I can’t rely on it like I
can rely on normal strength.  I’m good for bursts, but I’ve yet to master it enough for an extended fight; I’d be worth shit on the field.  That’s why I need you and your Helcats.”

“If this looks difficult, don’t let that bother any of you!”
Fenra yelled from where she and Freya cranked the wheel that opened the gate.

“Indie, this is what I mean by a breech!” Helkree yelled, pointing at the gate.