Chapter 21: Surprise party

The attic was rank with the smell of mold. Crates and bookshelves littered the floors with their broken cadavers. Thick layers of dust covered every surface and made my every move send small clouds of it swimming through the air. 

Behind me, James’s hurried steps up the ladder smattered. 

Pillars of light broke through the battered roof. There was no light source inside, yet when I turned, I could see the rough outline of his body. 

He groaned and pulled the hatch shut, “Fucking animals looked like they wanted to tear me to shreds. I could see it in their eyes.” 

He padded his pockets until he found a box of matches. The smell struck a nostalgic chord. 

He spat on the ground, “A bunch of freeloaders.” 

“I was wondering why they’re allowed to hang back. Seems like an awful waste, don’t you think?” 

He snorted and shoved a spiderweb out of his face. “The little princess probably thinks she’ll garner more renown that way.” 

The broken pieces of furniture proved no obstacle to him, as he led me with practiced steps. He’d been here before, no doubt about it. 

I raised an eyebrow and asked, “She never struck me as one wanting attention?”

James turned to me; there was something patronising about his look, “She isn’t. She just wants to advance.” 

As usual; I didn’t understand. Lucky for me, he seemed more than content with explaining. He must have liked the sound of his own voice. 

“The more renown she gathers, the quicker she can advance to the next stage. As a dreamer, she’s not worth much to her family, but were she to become a figure of renown, an unsung warrior, then things would change.” 

I sneered and listened. He was jealous, and he didn’t think much of me. That much was clear when he didn’t turn to look at me once. Not that he would see much with only the little match lighting my features.

He clicked a slanted window open and poked his head out, “Looks clear.” 

He looked at me expectantly, making way for me to pass. I sighed, and climbed out. 

The tiles clattered under my boots. Screams and dull thuds thundered from the entrance of the building. The horde spilled around its sides, enveloping the building in a sea of bodies. 

None of them looked to see me and James scamper across the rooftops. 

“They’re awfully focused,” I said, then spoke under my breath. “Not at all like before.” 

Something must have signaled the change. Stumblers becoming runners… runners becoming golems. It didn’t add up for it all to happen just as I escaped. Something must have disturbed the status quo. 

The roof came to a stop with a steep edge. I glanced down. Even with burst strengthening me I doubted I would survive the fall. On the chimney a few meters up, a thick rope secured a crude metal bridge, waiting for someone to use it. 

James picked it up with a groan and tried to rest it on his shoulder. I hurried over to help him, he grunted in thanks. 

We moved to the edge of the building. James held his free hand up. “Stop.”

A gap of a few meters separated our building from where we apparently wanted to go. 

“Now how the fuck do we get this over there?” he mumbled. 

With the height difference in my favour, getting across shouldn’t be that hard. The problem was that the opposite roof tilted downward to the street, and it looked mighty slippery for a roof in this type of climate. One wrong step would mean disaster. 

I resolved myself, “I’ll do it.”  With burst and a safety thread helping me, I had the biggest chance of not fucking up. 

James looked at me with surprise. He probably figured I liked not risking my neck. Which was fair, since I don’t. I wouldn’t have offered my services if I thought it would come back to haunt me. 

I let go of the bridge after he took a firm new grip, pulling it tight to his body. 

I took a few steps back, inhaled, and set off with burst enhancing my steps. The familiar flow of magic roiled through my veins and. I grinned, I could get used to this, and jumped. 

The wind caressed my cheeks and rustled my hair. The streets swished past below. 

I overshot the gap by a few meters. The roof tiles cracked under my weight. Miraculously I didn’t slip, nor did the ammunition in my pocket spill out.

James whistled back on the library roof, “Damn. Some legs you got. I remember when I was young...” 

I chuckled, “Save it, old man. Hand me the bridge.” 

He grumbled something under his breath, then spoke clearly, “Catch it softly.” 

With a few strained grunts he managed to lift it onto its short side, and let it fall toward me. Just before it pressed down on me with its horrifying momentum I activated burst. The tiles that survived my landing didn't survive this. But the crack was of little consequence with all the noise the runners and golems were making by the entrance. 

I secured it to my side of the gap using the attached contraption. A stomp to each end was enough to send a hook through the roof tiles, deep into the material of the building itself. It would take a lot to pry it loose. The only real option if one wanted to destroy it, was to destroy the bridge itself. 

I walked back over, “Now what?” 

He smiled menacingly, “We see what the others are up to, of course. No reason to dawdle here if that means they all die.”

I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t ask further. No one in their right mind would choose to come to a place like this repeatedly.  

We hurried back. The previously jam-packed sick-bay had been completely emptied, only the long since dried spots of blood and I-don’t-want-to-know-what remained. 

Voices boomed from the reading room. I shared a look with James, he looked at me expectantly. So I pressed on first again. Both of us kept our weapons at the ready. 

I called forth Silent scream and pressed it against the wand. It was stupid, and prone to get me cut. But it gave me a little comfort knowing that I wouldn’t need to wait for it to fully form should I be caught in a melee. 

We stepped out to the stairs. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Samara screamed. Her voice booming from below. 

We peeked over the railing. Elana held a sharp knife to Maria's throat. A trickle of blood painted the knife with a crimson strip. They were both injured and worse of wear. A wicked smile hung on Elana’s lips. 

Elana tightened her grip on the healer, “Isn’t it obvious?”

There was a fiery light to her eyes, unnatural and sickly. The pounding against the increased. Outside, the horde was doing all they could to get inside. The walls wouldn’t last much longer.

She pressed the knife into the healer’s throat. Blood poured in a steady stream. “Easy now. This won’t kill her. But if you don’t open the fucking door, things will change.” 

Samara’s brows furrowed, she grit her teeth, “Why?!”

“Because you shouldn’t be here. None of you should. Your presence is unnatural, an insult to the order of things.” 

She jerked unnaturally as she spoke. The group of civilians looked on, deathly silent. Some held each other. Most stood frozen stiff like deer in headlights. 

James nocked his bow and took a deep breath, he nodded at me to go around the railing. I didn’t hesitate, and stepped away as sneakily as I could. Though they seemed too preoccupied with the cliché villain-explains-what-they’re-doing scene below to notice the scraping sounds of me clumsily getting a better angle on Elana. 

Once in position, I locked eyes with James, we came to a silent understanding and stood up to take aim. He loosed his arrow with a twang. It flew in a graceful arc toward Elana’s temple. 

Just before it pierced her skull, Elana jerked back, pulling the healer with her. The arrow pierced her skull, sending bits of gore to spray over Elana and the crowd surrounding her. She stared daggers at James. 

James glared at me, “What are you doing?! Shoot!” 

I grit my teeth. There were too many non-combatants near Elana. I couldn’t risk setting them on fire. 

Elana danced into the crowd of civilians with a manic laugh, blood spurted everywhere her shadow passed. “Stupid! Soft and stupid! I expected more from you, Cal.” 

My eyes darted, there was no way to get a clear shot. 

The fighters sprinted at Elana under Samara’s orders. None were left behind to bolster the barricaded doors and windows. The twins moved in a coordinated pincer maneuver, the mirror wielder frantically whispered somethings to her reflection. A fierce glow emanated from the mirror and shot at Elana like a heat seeking missile. She jeered, and let it pierce her. 

It had no effect. At least I assumed as much based on the twin’s gaping mouth. 

Samara supported Yusuf and ran to the stairs, pushing him from behind. 

James re-strung his bow and let loose another arrow. I followed it with my eyes, even as it completely missed its mark and shot clear through the throat of a bystander. Their eyes went wide in confusion. 

When they finally realised what happened and pressed their hands to the wound, it was too late. They slumped down on their knees as life faded from their eyes. 

James smiled. The fucker. He smiled. 

“What the fuck?!” I yelled at him. 

He whirled to look at me with a toothy grin, “I could swear you had the smell of him on you. Honest mistake...”

I had to do something, but my body refused to move. All I could do was watch in abject horror as he leisurely grabbed another arrow, placed it against the string of his bow and drew it at me. 

The arrow was upon me in a moment's time. Even with burst, there was no way to avoid it. 

Just as I readied myself for the pain of getting pierced, something solid slammed against my shoulder and sent me crashing into the wall. I groaned, and pushed myself to my feet, trying to make sense of it all. 

Thick smoke dissolved where I had stood just moments before. I didn’t even take the time to aim carefully before I shot at James. Thankfully, aiming wasn’t completely necessary when it came to the blasting wand and its vial ammunition. It burst into flames right next to his face, swallowing both him and his agonized scream.

With shaky hands and a banged up shoulder, I rummaged through my pockets for another bullet. It wasn’t a particularly hard reload, but when faced with an enemy that could kill you from range, and the pain of getting slammed into a wall, which actually hurt very fucking much, it proved more difficult than normal. 

The bullet clanked against the metal tubing, and slipped from my hands. I clawed it up with a, “Fucking!” and finally managed to load the wand as the cloud of smoke dissipated. 

James's smouldering body sprawled over the railing. Smoke seeped from his crackling and burnt face. His skin was melting off what little remained of it, dripping down on the floor below. 

The fire of my bullet spread to the walls and floor. It wasn’t anything substantial, not yet. But fires grow quick. 

We couldn’t stay. 

“Cal!” Yusuf shouted from the door to the sickbay, his frail body still leaning against Samara. 

Somewhere along the line the mirror wielding twin had joined them. 

I ran to them and panted, “Thank you.”

He nodded. To his side, Samara whispered, “What the fuck is going on… This wasn’t supposed to happen.” 

The floor below turned into a battlefield. Civilians fought civilians, fighters fought fighters, comrades killed comrades. All in a bloody dance of death.

Then it hit me like a truck. In the middle of it all was Anna. Lifelessly slumped to the ground with a sword sticking out of her back. 

She’s got kids for fucks sake! 

Elana whistled a jolly tune as she loosed the planks barring the door, “What poor manners we have to leave our guests waiting.”