novelraw Chapter 724: The Winged One Part 2
Chapter 724: The Winged One Part 2
Chapter 724: The Winged One Part 2
Catherine smiled at her children, then walked to the front of the crowd. “I led them here.”
The orc captain looked her up and down, noting her shabby clothes. “And who in all the bloody Realms are you?”
She looked down at her own meager, smoke and bloodstained clothes. “...I am nobod—” she stopped herself. Stryg’s words echoed in her mind. He had looked into her eyes with compassion and spoken words she had never even dared to dream of, ‘Your life is not meaningless. I heard your resolve, your bravery. You are worthy of more than you know.’
She gripped the edge of her skirt with balled fists, straightened her back, and looked the orc captain in the eye. “I am Catherine and I’ve brought these people here to protect them from the war raging on the other side of the city. We are trying to reach the temple of Stjerne.”
The captain scowled. “The orders to you commoners were clear. Stay. In. Your. Homes.”
“It isn’t safe in our homes,” Catherine said.
“And you think it is safer out here in the streets where those savages lurk?”
“The goblins are breaking into our homes. They’re dragging people out into the streets and killing them. If we stayed in our houses, we’d have been killed too.”
The other commoners nodded and voiced their agreement.
“Silence, all of you!” The captain drew his sword and aimed it at Catherine. “Your orders were clear, wench. Or are you too stupid to understand?”
The crowd stepped back at the sight of the sword and the rest of the soldiers standing behind the captain. They all knew what happened to those who broke the law.
Some part of Catherine wanted to take her children and hide, or even beg the captain for mercy, but she quenched those feelings of fear down and swallowed hard. “I am trying to protect these people—”
“I see. So you are deliberately disobeying orders given to you by your betters,” the captain nodded to himself.
“I am only trying to keep our people alive—”
“Enough! All of you are in direct violation of the warlord’s law. You are lucky I do not cut you all down where you stand. This is your last chance. All of you turn around and head back to your homes.”
The crowd complained aloud, pleading for a chance to explain, but the captain would have none of it. The survivors slowly retreated back the way they had come, many crying and whimpering for mercy.
“Move!” the captain yelled.
Catherine saw the look of murder in his yellow eyes and she felt afraid for her life and those of her children, but then she noticed something she hadn’t before. A trace of fear in the captain’s visage. Past the anger and spite, he was scared like the rest of them. His city was under attack and he did not know if he would make it past the night. There was no one watching over him, reassuring him that everything would be alright.
A sudden calmness filled Catherine’s heart. She had no need to be afraid, not anymore, for she was not alone in this battle.
“No,” she said in a steady voice.
“What was that?” The Captain did a double-take.
“No. I will not be going back. There is nothing left to return to. Our homes have been burned down. If we go back, the goblins will kill us,” Catherine said.
“Kill her,” he said in a cold voice.
The soldiers all looked at the captain, surprised. A young soldier stepped up, her eyes darting at Catherine, “Sir, they are just trying to live. Shouldn’t we—”
The captain smacked her across the face with the back of his gauntlet. “That is an order, lieutenant. Kill the traitor.”
“Yes, sir. Apologies, sir,” the lieutenant nodded. She drew her sword and gave Catherine a forlorn look. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed silently.
“Mom,” Anna rushed over to Catherine, Henry closed behind.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” Catherine held her children close and stared at the soldiers closing in on them. The rest of the commoners looked around in a panic, uncertain of what to do. They had all witnessed the brutality of the warlord’s soldiers before. A commoner did not stand up against the soldiers. If they did, their lives were forfeit.
Undead soldiers surged out from the crowd and formed a wall in front of Catherine and her children. The soldiers stopped in their place. One of them pointed at Catherine, “She’s a black mage!”
“Impossible,” the captain murmured in denial.
“I am not a mage,” Catherine said. “These are guardians sent by my god to protect my family.”
“Wait, is that—?” The captain narrowed his eyes and stared at the armor of the undead orcs. “Those are our soldiers! She killed our men and defiled their bodies. Kill her!”
“No, I didn’t. This isn’t what it looks like,” Catherine swore and looked around for help, but the soldiers and even some of the commoners were looking at her as if she were suddenly riddled with a plague. Only Sadina seemed unafraid of her.
“I am no traitor,” Catherine sighed. “But I am loyal to my god, not the city that left their people to die alone just so that they could protect the wealthier merchants and lords.”
“Silence, traitor! Dismiss your undead and surrender, or we shall kill your friends as well.” The captain raised his hand and several of his men raised their crossbows.
Catherine stared at the soldiers behind the crossbows, unafraid. “No.”
The captain narrowed his eyes. “Fire—!”
A goblin leaped out from the wall of undead, crossing the entire distance between Catherine and the soldiers. The undead goblin slammed into the captain and knocked him to the ground.
“Get off me!” he screamed and tried to kick the goblin off, but the small creature held on with otherworldly strength.
Soldiers stabbed at the goblin and even shot crossbow bolts into her back, but she was unfazed. She drew a dagger and plunged it into the captain’s chest. He cried out in pain and thrashed around. With calm efficiency, the goblin pulled the dagger out and stabbed him again. She then yanked the blade out and repeated her actions over and over. The captain’s thrashing slowly stopped and his cries became quiet gurgles of blood.
Finally, he stopped moving altogether. The soldiers had at some point ceased their attacks and stared in shock at the gruesome sight. The goblin rose to her feet, the wounds across her body sealing up in front of their eyes. The steel bolts fell off her flesh and clattered to the floor before those wounds healed as well. When she had fully recovered, the goblin walked back and took her place in the line of undead.
“That’s not possible,” the lieutenant whispered. “Undead can’t heal without a black mage’s assistance.” She glanced at Catherine, “Who are you?”
“I am not a mage, nor am I a traitor,” Catherine said.
The ground suddenly began to shake uncontrollably. People screamed and looked around in a panic.
“What is going on!? Are you doing this?” the lieutenant said.
“No,” Catherine shook her head.
The lieutenant bit her lip and nodded, “Okay.” She turned to her soldiers, “Form a vanguard around our citizens. We are escorting them to the Temple of Stjerne!”
“Yes, ma’am!” the soldiers hurried to form a vanguard in front of the surprised commoners.
“Thank you,” Catherine smiled gratefully.
“Mm,” the lieutenant gave a nod.
The wind picked up in a howl as a figure wrapped in shadows and silver wings shot out of the city and soared into the sky. Starlight burst from his wings as he became a comet of light and crashed into the two gods fighting amidst the clouds.
“Look, it’s the winged one!” Sadina pointed at the sky.
“The Winged One?” the lieutenant frowned. “Who is that?”
“The god whom I serve,” Catherine said with pride.
The ground continued to shake violently and someone pointed to the south, “The Water Gates have fallen!”
Everyone turned to see a flood of water rushing up the street, swallowing everything, the tide as high as the buildings.
“Run!” the lieutenant shouted.
They turned and ran in the opposite direction, only to see the water breaking through that street, as well. In every direction they looked, the water was coming and closing in on them fast.
“We’re dead,” the lieutenant whispered. Her sword slipped out of her numb fingers.
“Everyone, stay together!” Catherine yelled over the panicked screams of the people.
The undead split off and formed a loose ring around the commoners and soldiers.
“It’s over,” the lieutenant mumbled, her face despondent. She wandered away from the group and stared up at the oncoming massive tidal wave.
Catherine ran to her and yanked her back into the group, but she was too late. The water bore down from above, blotting out the night sky. Catherine looked up, frozen. The world fell quiet; the roar of the water, the screams of her children, the wind in her ears.
In her last moments, she remembered seeing her husband off as he took a ship down the river. She had felt afraid back then, worried about the rumors of war on the horizon, of the ships of ice that had been spotted on the coast. Though it had only been a few weeks, it all seemed so long ago now.
So much had happened in the last day and night. She was no longer the same woman who had waved her husband goodbye. She had found a strength within her that she did not know she possessed. A courage that pushed her forward, no matter the odds.
As Catherine stared up at her death, a single thought echoed in her mind. A truth she knew was certain down to her very bones.
I am not afraid to die.
The tidal wave fell down on her and crashed into an invisible barrier a few paces above her head. Catherine turned and found her family and the other survivors unharmed. A large invisible dome had formed around them. The water swirled above the dome harmlessly.
The undead stood at the edge of the dome in a loose circle. Their arms were outstretched, palms flat, as if physically holding back the water.
“How is this possible…?” the lieutenant whispered in awe. “Undead are incapable of magic.”
“They are not undead. They are extensions of my god’s will,” Catherine said.
“The Winged One…?” she asked.
Catherine nodded and looked up at the sky. The water above the dome blurred the sight, but she could still make out the clashing of light among the clouds. “Even now, he fights for us.”