David Dalglish - Blood Of Gods

“We’re dead,” she whispered.

“I would not be so sure about that.”

Moira spun her head back around and saw her four Movers standing before her, three facing the lioness while Rodin stood by her side, his eyes locked on the male. “Form together!” Gull shouted, and they all backed up until their shoulders were almost touching, forming a five-person circle in the center of the square.

The lions began to circle around them, eyes squinted and glaring as they examined their prey, angling nearer with each revolution. By that time the center of the square was empty but for the hundred or so corpses that littered the cobbles, though the armored men and women lingered in front of the alleys as if waiting for something. Kayne dipped his head into the gaping chest of one of the corpses while passing it by, slurping down a mouthful of entrails.

“They speak,” said Gull out the side of his mouth.

“Seems that way,” Moira replied.

“How intelligent are they?”

She shrugged, tracing the lions’ movements. “I don’t know.”

“Let us see then, shall we?”

Gull stepped away from their defensive circle, holding his longsword out before him. He had a self-assured manner about him as he began to mirror Kayne’s movements. He flicked the tip of his sword to the side and fully faced the beast, his legs spread out wide. His empty hand lifted, and he made a mocking, beckoning motion to the lion.

“I challenge you,” Gull stated, his voice still strangely flat despite the danger facing him. “Let us see if a beast can indeed be anything but a beast.”

Kayne scowled at him, his massive head dropping. The lion moved slightly to the side.

“Are you afraid, animal? Do you fear a mere human with a sword?”

“What are they waiting for?” Danco whispered in Moira’s ear. He jutted his chin at the gathered, armored people who lingered beyond the lions’ claws.

She didn’t need to answer, for a half second later the separate groups of people bellowed at the tops of their lungs and charged toward the lions. Danco and Tabar followed suit, taking off at a run in opposite directions, their swords held up high, their feet pounding the gore-soaked cobbles. The lions ceased their pacing and looked ahead and behind before rushing Moira’s sworn men. Moira kept her eyes on the male, watching in horror as the beast shook his head, his sodden mane like a ring of snakes, and then hunkered down on his haunches. Tabar flew past Gull and lashed out at the lion. A paw came up, absorbing the blow, and when Tabar streaked past, Kayne pounced. The lion’s powerful jaws clamped down on the man’s left arm, halting his momentum, snapping his head to the side. Tabar howled in pain. Kayne drove forward, forcing Tabar to his knees. There was a pop as his shoulder dislodged from its socket.

Without making a sound, Gull strode forward, moving quickly and easily across the square, and brought his longsword down on one of the lion’s legs. Kayne released Tabar’s arm, which was now dangling as it bled, and roared. When Gull’s sword looped back around, there was only a smattering of blood on the blade. The other charging men and women then reached his side, hacking and slashing in vain at the lion.

“Moira, we must go!”

A strong hand clasped around Moira’s injured forearm, and she was nearly yanked off her feet. She spun, batting the hand away, and caught a glimpse of Danco as he danced around the lioness, joined now by another thirteen combatants. It was difficult to see in the spreading darkness, but she swore Danco was limping. He had placed himself between the buildings and the open space of the center square, severely restricting his opportunities to flee. People pressed in around him. Lilah bore down, ready to strike.

Again Rodin grabbed at her. “We must leave while we have the chance! No harm can come to you!”

“No!” Moira yelled at him. Her teeth gritted and she glowered. “I am Moira Elren. I fought Karak’s Army in Haven. I do. . not. . run.”

She drove her elbow into Rodin’s chest, knocking him aside, and then charged toward the faltering Danco. Danco now favored his left side, his free arm pressed against his own waist as blood turned his breeches red. Moira leapt at Lilah, plunging both her swords into the lioness’s flank. The lioness whirled around with a quickness that should have been impossible for so large a creature. Moira landed and flattened herself on the ground, barely avoiding the giant claws that soared over her head. She then rolled beneath the lioness’s torso and jammed one of her swords into Lilah’s gut. The beast howled and rose up on her hind legs as a gush of blood left the wound. But Moira watched in horror as the cut closed, fur overlapping the gash until it disappeared.

Danco grabbed her ankle, dragging her across the ground and nudging aside the swarm of people that surrounded them, before the lioness dropped back down on all fours. She heard Tabar swear somewhere behind her. Moira kicked Danco away, scampered back to her feet, and went to charge the lioness again, knocking a man in a rusty helm in the back of his head with the butt of her sword in the process. This time Rodin snatched her around the waist, pulling her tight to his own body while Danco fought Lilah off.

“Do you want to die?” Rodin growled into her ear.

She kicked him in the shin, eliciting a yelp, and then flung her head back as hard as she could, striking him square in the nose. The hands around her released, and she charged back toward the fighting lioness, flinging herself into the air to stab down with her twin blades, soaring over six new corpses.

She never had the chance.

The lioness turned at the last moment, lashing out with a heavy paw. Moira managed to slip one of her blades into the thick webbing between the beast’s toes, but that wasn’t enough to stop the large, sharp claws from piercing her padded leathers, shearing her armor and flesh at once. Her breasts were scored over, ripping nearly to her ribs. She lost hold of her blades and tumbled back to earth, her forehead smacking against the cobbles. For a moment she blacked out, and then the world and all its pain came rushing back at once. Moira screamed as blood flowed from her wounds.

“Everyone, back!” she heard someone order. “Now, to the alleys!”

Gull shouted to her, and then the whoosh of countless arrows sounded. The ground shook as the lioness tramped past her. Moira opened her eyes, but there was blood in them. An explosion rocked the square, much too close to her, and the sudden light drove into her brain like hurled spears. She shrieked and covered her face with her arms. Something heavy approached her, and she knew she was done for. She reached out with desperate fingers for her swords, but then she heard steel slide across stone nearby and knew someone else had picked them up. She cursed to the heavens as loudly as she could.

“Calm yourself, Lady Moira.”

Hands slid beneath her back, lifting her from the ground. Her life became a cavalcade of pain as whoever carried her ran across the square.

“Now, do it now!” she heard a man’s agony-filled voice shout.

The cascade of arrows continued, the twang of bowstrings nearly constant, as was the thud and clomp of many retreating feet. The lions began to roar and screech behind her. She could actually hear the arrowheads embedding themselves in the creatures’ thick hides. Though she was in agony, a smile stretched her lips.

More voices, hushed and urgent, directed those who carried her. Hands shifted beneath her a few moments later, and her body was lowered. Moira heard a door slam, and everything went hazy. She felt like she was close to vomiting.

Another door slammed, more hands lifted her, and this time she did heave, pitching the contents of her stomach all over herself. She heard a man and woman grunt in disapproval, but her forward progress didn’t halt.