Journey to Yesod

Art drawn by: Bintang Hamal

Written by: Hunter Ake

Edited by: Lilliana Steele and Dee Dee Davis

Chapter 6

         Thralls climbed over the walls of town, shambled out of homes, and poured through the gates. 

         “They were already here; waiting for us to arrive!” Sook exclaimed. Pirouz and the other two angels quickly drew their bows, igniting their arrows before firing at the enemy rushing them from the side. Sook swiped with her tail, sending a couple of pawns barreling back over the walls while Dulani stayed close to her, dashing forward to behead a puppet that got too close.

         The assailants eventually came too close for the arrows; forcing Pirouz and his men to swing their bows onto their backs and draw their flaming swords in order to properly engage in close combat. The swarm continued to shamble in from the mist despite the fighters beating them back. Empty pieces of armor scattered about the ghost town.

         Zenebe sat in the middle of the group with his staff laid across his lap and concentrated his magic. The hydrosophist siphoned moisture from the fog around them, concentrating the water into an ever-increasing mass above their heads. Visibility increased further and further as Zenebe held his staff up and focused evermore intently. The numbers were starting to weigh down the group as the dissipating mist revealed more and more bodies in the distance, crawling over each other in a ravenous frenzy. 

         “Everyone, get close to me!” Zenebe urgently shouted. All five fighters quickly shoved their opponents off and regrouped by Zenebe whose forehead vein was throbbing. “I’ve never done this much before, but I think it will work!” The angels watched in disbelief as 12 massive, sucker-covered, tentacles erupted from the mass of water in all directions. The tentacles thrashed wildly, crushing thralls, twisting armor into misshapen chunks of metal and leaving nothing but impacts on the ground. Zenebe took great care not to harm the buildings. He was barely able to maintain influence on his summoning. 

         Zenebe couldn’t hold the spell much longer, but luckily for him and his comrades, his stunt both gave the front line a chance to collect themselves and dealt crushing damage to the sheer numbers of emaciated marionettes. Zenebe used the last of his strength to move the water out of town only letting drops of water slip and sprinkle on his comrades. The torrential downpour was released downhill from the town and it crashed onto the forest floor. The sheer mass of the water formation was evident from the sound alone of the impact. Pirouz and his men flew above the walls, picking off stragglers with their arrows while Sook and Dulani took care of the few that were left moving around. 

         “They’re not very formidable. It seems like raw numbers are their only advantage,” Dulani noted.  

         “True, but there were so many this time that we would have been in dire straits without Zenebe’s quick thinking,” Sook responded.

          Dulani couldn’t deny that, “Ugh, yes, he has his moments. Are you enjoying this as much as I think you are?” 

         Sook sundered the last decrepit corpse in half with ease, “Hehe, yeah.”

         Pirouz swung his bow onto his back as he landed gracefully in the center of the city, “I believe we have fought off the initial wave but there’s no telling if they’ll return. Furthermore, I am concerned with how prepared they were. I’ve never seen these abominations involved in a plan that well-orchestrated. They knew which direction we were coming from and how to stay out of sight as we approached the town.”

         The others contemplated the implications. Zenebe was the first to speak, “There very well could be somebody at the garrison who is involved and was able to learn of our intended excursion to this town.” 

         Dulani immediately butted in, “My money is on that Borzou asshole.” 

         “Watch your tongue, outsider!” one of the angels shouted. 

         “Lock it up, soldier! We must acknowledge all possibilities,” Pirouz silenced the private while Dulani simply smirked and flipped her hair as she turned to continue speaking with Zenebe and Sook. 

         Suddenly, an arrow split through the mist and pierced the ground a fair distance away. The weary fighters laboriously brought themselves back to high alert after barely getting any time to rest.

         The group watched the skies, preparing for a volley when Sook suddenly stated, “Wait, that arrow has a note wrapped around it.” Sook got up and walked over to the arrow, pulling it out of the ground and untying the string that held the note to the shaft. Sook unrolled and read the letter as Dulani read over her shoulder. “Interesting,” Sook turned to face the rest, rereading to ensure she didn’t miss anything, “according to this, not everyone who lived here disappeared like the rest; it says that Tilahun is alive to the north of this basin.”

         “...Tilahun is my uncle’s name. Whoever fired this arrow knew who we were looking for,” Zenebe spoke in a shaky voice.

         “Can anyone else smell a trap?” Dulani asked with superiority.

          Zenebe considered the possibilities, “Maybe, but it’s also the only lead we have.”

          Sook spoke up, “Well I say we check it out. Setting up a failed trap only to immediately invite us into another one doesn’t seem like a very likely plan.” 

         Dulani rolled her eyes, “Ugh, I hate when you make sense. But I’m still betting on it being a trap.”