So, how're we gonna drag the kid back? Cant exactly bring him outside without a suit. One of the slavers asked.
Yeah, this is a fuckin ss. Another said. Zains shipnt aint even scheduled for another two weeks. And we're way off the map from the dance hall. Whats our exit plan now boss? Those undersiders shouldve been with us too, fat lot of good theyre doing now, pissing with their dicks out in the freeze.
Enough. We dont need a godsdamned suit. The knight holding down said. And this chance was once in a lifeti. It paid off see? Weve got the brat. So shut the fuck up and do as I tell you. Yaggril, go out and keep the courtyard clear. Make sure they dont entrench guns around the area before we leave. Clanners are insane enough to do anything if you look away for even a mont. One of the knights stood at that, nodding. Rest of us, well wait here till the team groups up and then we all punch a way down together. If we get split up, thats the one way these fucks can snatch victory from us.
How did you scrapheads get into the colony in the first place? I asked, wheezing through what little of my throat was still capable of breathing. My lungs were on fire, and that gauntlet was stopping the much needed air, but still, part of hadnt given up.
The knight on top stopped mid-brief and looked down on . Well, wouldnt you like to know huh? Too bad.
Clan lord is a Deathless. I snarled back. You think you're going to get away? He'll chase you to the ends of the world. Youre not getting out of this alive.
I dont think your little pet Deathless is going to be moving around for a few months with the gear we've got to deal with him. By the ti he's back, this miserable shithole will be a crater, and we'll all be long gone like the snow. He chuckled darkly at that. You wont be around either, co to think of it. So both of you are going to miss all the fun thats coming. Saw a lot of pretty faces at that dance, cant wait till I co back for round two.
Ill br-
He shushed then, spare finger pressing down on my lips, the gauntlet tal cold to the touch. Youre lucky the knights with knock-out drugs arent here yet, but keep pressing your luck and Ill find novel ways of shutting you up. Got that? He lifted his head next, turning to the others. Dont let this brat get into your head. The Deathless isnt going to be our problem, trust the other team to do their job. I know were deep in enemy turf and this hasnt gone anywhere close to the outline, but so long as we stick to what weve got, we should pull through all right. Don't panic, do what I say and we'll be fine.
There was a sound at the doorway entrance, and everyone snapped their heads to see whod arrived.
Three figures stepped through the open doorway. Three soldiers in the Winterscar deep black uniform. Id seen these three before at the feast, or sotis gathered around the training yard watching Kidra and I spar. Back then their faces seed so jovial. Now, they were dead set, a quiet sort of intensity to each.
Each of them held onto one of my new blades.
They raised up the black blades in unison, taking stances, igniting the occult edges. The slaver holding down laughed. This so kind of joke? You lot dont even have armor, and we outnumber you.
The soldier at the center narrowed his eyes, then t my own. Master Keith, third corridor down. Well buy you ti.
The raider constricted his hand on my throat. Dont even think about it, kid. He growled, then turned to the other knights. Kill these fucks, Ill make sure the brat doesnt bounce in the anti. Make it quick.
The other three nodded, drawing their blades out, stepping forward to et the common soldiers.
The center Winterscar raised his blade in the traditional salute to the dead. For House Winterscar. He spoke in deadly calm.
The slaver closest to them had the gall to return the salute, more a mockery. For pleasure. He said, chuckling all the while.
That didnt matter to the Winterscar, he charged forward wordlessly, blade whistling through the air. The other two followed behind like his shadows, matching the movents perfectly.
The slaver slamd my face back down on the ground, holding down and forcing to see nothing but the cold tal ground and synthetic carpet. I heard the sound of Occult blades clashing, shouting, screams, and relic armor shields flaring up.
What the fuck do you assholes think youre doing? The one holding down shouted. Stop playing around and kill them already!
More crashing blades, more yelling. Then the hand holding down let go with a loud curse, and I heard the sound of blades clashing right above . Sothing grabbed my collar, lifted up and threw back on my feet.
I had enough ti to turn around and see one of my soldiers spin past an executing blow, delivering a counterstrike of his own before another slaver impaled him from the back, knife going in and out. The Winterscar guard grunted, falling on his knee for a mont before standing back up and swinging wildly with his blade. His opponent took the blow on his shields, gauntlet snaking out and grabbing the mans wrist, blade and all. A sound of crunching bones, followed by a furry of knife stabs into the soldier, all the while the slaver scread in fury. After a few more stabs, he kicked the man hard into the wall, powered relic armor easily breaking through the ribcage.
The dying soldiers eyes t my own for a half second. Go. He mouthed out.
My feet turned on autopilot and I sprinted through the hallways, searching for the third corridor. The sounds of fighting were dying out behind , the ringing of a occult blade striking another slowing down, the sound of a relic shield breaking, then, no other sounds.
No, there was sothing. Heavy footfalls, many of them, right at my heels again.
The third corridor ca into view and I understood why Id been told to flee this direction. At the end an entire crew of five Winterscar soldiers had set up an auto cannon turret, the heavy caliber rounds already loaded in, the gunner at the front aiming straight down, hand on the trigger. The crew behind waved to stick to the side of the wall.
I did exactly as instructed, sprinting on the far end of the hallway. The crew continued to aim down sights for a mont longer. Everyone seed to be holding their breath.
A muzzle flash blinded as they opened fire, while I was still halfway through the corridor.
Shockwaves struck from the side like a physical force as heavy caliber rounds sounded off, one after another, zipping a few inches to my right. The sound instantly deafened , cutting out any noise of the chasing footfalls. Disoriented . But still my feet pounded forward.
In another few seconds I ran past the crew, which were busy keeping the cannon fed. But I knew those relic shields were only taking small percentages with each shell. This wasnt going to be enough.
One of my soldiers grabbed my shoulder and yelled sothing. I couldnt hear anything of course except for a high pitched whining. He seed to realize instantly, and shifted to sign language.
Vault. Armor. Prepared. Run.
I gave him confirmation, turned and continued my sprint, the high pitch covering any sense of what was happening behind .
Another checkpoint forward, I saw a second autocannon getting setup by another crew of five. How they had managed to carry such heavy ordinance all the way here, I have no idea. But they done it. And behind them were the vault doors. Those were wide open, with another ten servants already rushing around inside, moving dark tal plates of Journey around, preparing.
I was all but shoved into the vault, where the soldiers outside slamd the heavy thing on my face with barely any acknowledgent, locking in while they remained outside. The servants moved with chanical precision, two of them sealing the door shut from the inside, while the rest were already lifting the prepared armor pieces and snapping them into place on my body. There wasnt any ti to put into an under armour, they just shoved the plate pieces directly on my dress suit, tearing the fabric if they had to.
Despite the panic, they didnt let it get to them. The high pitched sound ringing in my ears slowly died away, replaced by muffled shouting and the booming of the cannons, along with rifle shots behind the door. Normally, at an average pace, it would take a team about two whole minutes to dress soone up in armor from start to finish.
They had already gone past the halfway point, the armor already powering up and gratefully taking the stress off my body. My wind wasnt coming back to , the armor was holding up now, and just in ti.
Sounds of fighting suddenly died off behind the door. It was quiet for a mont, and then a massive rattling explosion sounded off behind the vault. It shook even our own room, though the vault held firm. The servants flinched, but didnt stop in their preparations. They must have already expected this to happen.
An Occult knife stabbed into the door, followed by another other at the opposite end. They took wide sweeping movents, cleanly slicing through the vault.
The servants didnt pay any attention to that. I knew they must have heard it, or seen the blades in the sides of their vision. They didnt speed up nor did they slow down. They remained laser focused on their task, taking each step as quickly and accurately as they could. No mistakes.
Click. Click. Click. Each section of the armor was coming together, nearly there. A pair lifted the shoulderplates, locking them in place. Another was working on attaching the smaller leg parts, the more intricate pieces. As soon as they were done, theyd instantly weave away to the side, cycling around, letting the next person attach parts while they went to fetch the following one.
The knives continued across the vault until they reached each other, then drew out. A heavy grinding sound ca from the door as the cut section began to push inwards.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The servants all took a step back as one, the last plate piece affixed and humming with power. Theyd managed to assemble the whole armor in under thirty seconds. A ridiculous speed.
My helt was passed over to as the final piece and I slamd it on. The familiar hiss of pressurization surrounded , along with the expanding foam clinging to the sides of my face and body. Orange lines and markers loading into place, coming to life.
The shields flared, Journey testing all the subsystems were operational and fully prepared.
I probed my occult sense around for what I knew I had left inside the armor. The soul fractal lit up like an old friend. I dove into it, far more practiced this ti, fury and rage bubbling through the link, remaining present even deep inside the soul trance.
The other fractals inscribed within the armor lit up in my sense, ready to be used if need be. Ready to burn and maim the intruders.
Power flowed into my mind, the options I had expanding out. Occult senses flooded into , but my attention was solely on the enemy I felt directly behind the vault door.
Good work. I told the servants. Stay behind , I'll take it from here.
The servants backed off, giving room, a few sitting down as their adrenaline crashed. Most of them seed to fully snap back to their senses with their work done, like they had been in a trance and were waking up only now. A few muttered quiet prayers, one after the other, eyes closed. The others were looked at like I was their last hope.
Theyd done their part. All of them, from soldier to servant. Everything they could, each in their own way. Many dying for it.
Now, it was my turn.
Whats going on? Cathida asked in my ear. Never seen you this angry before, heart rate is off the charts. So girl reject you at your dance?
No. A few rabid animals need to be put down. Maybe there was sothing in my voice, maybe it was the situation, but Cathida went quiet. No banter this ti.
With one last heave, the whole vault door collapsed downwards and two slaver knights stepped inside, their armor red with fresh blood, the skull designs seed almost gleeful. One stopped, looking up and down in the armor. You fuckin wackin it on the snow or sothing? Just fuckin surrender already, princess.
His partner grunted, his accent more clearly understood. Gods damned pain in the ass you are. A royal brat fed off a silver spoon, you think being in armor is going to change anything?
You have no idea." I hissed. My longsword lit up in my hands, ready for blood. "A mont ago, you had a chance. Now, that chance is gone."
One of the slavers took a step into the room, occult knife spinning idly in his hand. "Oh no, Lenrad, hold , I'm shakin' in boots. Guess I'll just have to call up the boss and warn him everything's lost."
I took my own step forward and drew into stance slowly, longsword held perfectly still, tip pointed directly at the enemy. You're not going to live long enough to. None of you will.
Next chapter - The knight of House Winterscar
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