Tim Marquitz - Dawn of War

Zalee drew herself up and began her whispers once more. The clouds were slower to gather, but they did not refuse her summons. As she built her bridge of smoke, Cael noticed a sudden flurry of motion just below where they stood. He moved down the walkway to see more clearly past the smoke, leaning over the edge. The deep-throated growl of a Grol reached his ears just as his vision focused. His heart grew thunderous in his chest.

There in the maze of alleys between the houses, he spied the brown-haired girl he’d seen when he and Zalee had first come to Lathah. She ran parallel to the wall, heading in his direction, as she darted through the narrow alleys, swerving left and right to avoid the detritus that stood piled in her path. At her heels was a dark-furred Grol, scrabbling on all fours and howling. Despite the girl’s speed, Cael could see the beast was closing on her.

He looked to Zalee. Her face twisted in concentration, he knew he would find no help there. All eyes on the gathering smoke there was no time to plead for the party’s assistance. He darted to Zalee’s side and dug his hands beneath her cloak. If she noticed, she gave no sign. Her glazed focus was on the forming darkness.

He fumbled with the bag at her back and yanked the silvery rope out. With no time to tie it, he tossed the looped end around the nearest crenellation and ran the far end through the hole to keep it in place, dropping the rest down alongside the wall. He sucked in a quick breath and pulled his tunic up to protect his hands before slipping over the wall. He heard panicked voices call out to him as he went, their words lost in the wind of his descent.

He slid quickly down the rope, the heat of his passage burning at his hands despite the material of his tunic. The ground rushed toward him and he bit back a cry, wincing as he felt the rope tear at his palms. He gritted his teeth. It was too late to turn back.

He hit the ground hard and tumbled backward into the trash that littered the alley, the fetid piles buffering his fall. It exploded all around him, tumbling overtop as though a funeral of debris. Cael swept the garbage away just as the smell hit, and scrambled to his feet, grateful he had only a gentle throb at his knees in reward for his graceless landing. His eyes darted about to gather his bearings. He heard the snarling Grol approaching, the slap of the girl’s bare feet leading the way.

A thought was thrust into his mind right then, as sharp as a dagger through his eye. He had brought no weapon with which to challenge the Grol.

Already pounding its quickened rhythm, his heart grew even more tempestuous. He glanced about as he heard the girl approaching around the corner, his eyes landing on the rope. He dashed across the alley and snatched up the rope’s silvery end, running back to the corner. There was just enough slack so that the rope lay flat across the trash-strewn ground. He could see its silvery sheen, but there was no time to cover it up. His course had been set. He prayed to Ree he had made the right choice.

His plea barely formed, the young girl bolted around the corner and stepped lithely through the collected debris. She missed the rope by inches and Cael whispered thanks to Ree as she flew past. She glanced over her shoulder a few feet beyond the trap, perhaps spying him as she went by, and stumbled to a stop. The dark pits of her eyes stared at him, her cheeks flush with fear and the silver of her tears. She stood still as if stunned by his appearance.

Cael waved her on as he heard the grunted snarl of the Grol, almost upon them. She stared for an instant longer before she seemed to realize what he intended. Her lead having fallen away in just that short time, she dove for the meager cover of the trash.

Cael had no time to second-guess his plan because the Grol appeared around the corner, jagged yellow teeth and fiery red eyes leading the charge. It loped with fury, coming fast. Cael did his best to time the beast’s movement, pulling hard on the rope just before it reached the line.

A cold terror washed over him up as the rope snapped upward. He bore down, ignoring the stripped flesh of his palms, when he felt the first tug, the rope drawing a line across the Grol’s throat. Its eyes went wide and its clawed hands reached for the rope as it realized what had happened. It was too late.

Cael crouched low and dug his heels into the sodden ground as the Grol’s weight pulled hard against the rope. The beast’s head was snapped back by its sudden shift in momentum, its feet taking the lead as its hind quarters were flung into the air. Head over heels it spun, hurtling through the air like the acrobatic bards he’d seen in Nurin as a child. Only there was no graceful landing at the end of its spin.

Tossed upright, the Grol crashed face first into the white stone of the wall. A muffled crack resounded as its snout was bend downward at an odd angle, its weight only contorting it more as the rest of its body collided with the wall. It loosed a wet grunt at impact and fell backward. Showers of dark blood and yellowed teeth spewed volcanic from its mouth as it landed hard on its back. Its red eyes whirled in its head as though it were blind before coming to rest on Cael.

Despite the viciousness of its fall, the Grol rolled over onto its belly and pulled its limbs beneath it into a crouch. Blood spilled from its broken-toothed snarl and it hunched low, ready to launch at Cael.

Frozen by fear, his arms and legs in rebellion, he stared at the beast, unable to flee. An ear-piercing scream drew his eyes and he saw the girl hurl a fist-sized stone at the Grol. The rock slammed into the side of its head with a solid thud, bouncing away to disappear in the mounds of trash. Seeming more angered than hurt, the Grol spun and leapt at the girl who scrambled away with a shriek.

Cael knew she stood no chance. Her courage having ignited his own, he flung himself at the beast. Without conscious thought, he reached into his waistband and dug inside the bag stashed inside. His fingers closed about the rod and he dismissed it, digging deeper until he felt the cool surface of the crystal orb, remembering what the Sha’ree had told him of it. He pulled it free as he dove at the Grol.

The beast saw him coming and turned to face him, giving him a feral grin of ruined teeth. Despite the tremors that rattled his body and the voices inside his pounding skull that screamed of the stupidity of what he intended, there was no turning back. He ducked low as he barreled forward, stepping beneath the sharpened claws that waited to tear his flesh from bone. As he did, he whipped his arm overhand, his fist and the orb crashing into the cheek of the Grol.

The crystal orb shattered as it struck and he could feel the razored shards wreaking havoc upon his palm, hundreds of tiny wounds opened all at once. His knuckles sang out, the stout skull of the beast like punching stone.

Unable to slow his charge, Cael slammed into the Grol. Through the blur of his thoughts, he imagined he knew how the beast had felt when it had crashed into the wall.

He being the smaller of the two, Cael was bounced backward, falling away from the beast. As he fell, he spied the sharp claws that hurtled toward him, their tips striping the flesh at his chest, just below his collarbone. He hit the ground, his head snapping back into the trash, agony burning at his hand and torso.

A horrible, inhuman screech tore at his ears and drew his attention from his wounds.

Cael looked up at the beast through eyes that refused to focus and wondered at the flickering red and orange halo that seemed to flutter about the Grol. He blinked away his tears as the young girl appeared at his side, tugging at his arm to pull him up.

The shriek continued as the Grol thrashed about, swatting at itself as though covered in wasps. Cael blinked once more as he was hauled to his feet, his vision clearing.