Realm of Monsters - Chapter 718: The Courage of the Small

Chapter 718: The Courage of the Small

  Blood and smoke filled the night air, choking the scent of the sea and leaving behind only the taste of iron and soot. The sounds of the dying and the clash of steel rang out through the neighborhood. The fires of the burning Water Market covered the houses in orange light and deep shadows.

  “Mom,” Henry whispered, his hand quivering in his mother’s grasp.

  “It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Catherine turned around and gave the best calming smile she could, but the shadows and firelight transformed her expression into one of eeriness.

  A howl broke through the sounds of fighting. The wooden shutters of the houses all around them vibrated at the sheer sound. Henry and Anna hugged their mother close.

  Catherine swallowed her fear and gripped her children’s hands tight. “Come on, let’s go.” She pulled them down the streets and used the shadows for cover. 

  A few of their neighbors watched them from their dark windows. Some were curious, many were shocked, but most were afraid. Afraid of what it might mean to disobey the soldiers’ orders and leave their homes, or afraid of what might happen if they didn’t leave.

  As they walked towards the other side of the city, Catherine wondered to herself where she was going. She hadn’t thought that far. The warlord’s castle was most likely the safest place in the city, it was certainly the most fortified, but if she showed up at the castle gates, she doubted the guards would welcome her with open arms, no matter if it was an emergency. She was a commoner. Her children were commoners. And there was no place for people like them in the castle of nobles and mages.

  Catherine began to doubt if she had made the right decision. Should she have stayed in her home? Was there anywhere safer for commoners like her family and her? Had she just placed her children in more danger?

  A patrol of orc soldiers turned the corner and Catherine barely managed to drag her children behind a couple of barrels sitting at the edge of a house. The soldiers marched past them with haste, swords and spears drawn for battle.

  “Mom, I think they’re gone,” Anna whispered.

  It was only then that Catherine realized she was trembling from head to toe. “My lord, please keep us safe,” she mouthed silently. If she could believe in the Traveler, truly have faith in him, then she could believe in herself, too. Or at least, that’s what she told herself. 

  The fear of death and the doubt it sowed in her mind ate at her resolve, but she shook it off and stood up. “Let’s keep moving.”

  Light from the distant fires did little to illuminate their path, but Catherine had walked these streets since she was a child. She knew it like the back of her palm. She suddenly paused in her gait.

  The temple.

  An idea suddenly popped into her head. The Traveler’s temples were always open to all wayward travelers. The one in the nobles’ district was no doubt well fortified. She could take her children there and pray for safety.

  Deciding on her course, Catherine set her eyes North and changed directions. A howl resounded once more, sending the shafters shaking. Men and women shouted muffled cries from within their houses.

  “That one was a lot closer,” Anna took a step behind her mother.

  “I-It’s okay. This way.” Catherine pulled them down another street. It would take longer to reach their destination but it would pull them further away from the Water Market.

  Yet no matter how far they walked, the sounds of battle only grew louder. Catherine stopped at the edge of a street and peeked around a house and down another street. She stiffened at the sight. 

  Goblins dressed in blood-stained hide were dragging families out of their homes. Fathers tried to protect their families, some by resisting, others by throwing themselves on the ground begging for mercy.

  The outcome was the same. 

  “For Lunis,” the warriors shouted and stabbed the orcs with their spears.

  A mother screamed in horror. A goblin stepped up behind her and sliced her throat with a knife. Children cried out for help. A black wolf, almost as tall as their houses, stepped forward. Cold mist flowed out from between its fangs as it opened its maw and silenced the screaming children with a chomp. A pair of grey wolves, about half the size, appeared by its side and joined their alpha in the morbid feast.

  Catherine’s face went pale. She covered her hands over her mouth and gasped, “Dear gods…!”

  One of the grey wolves in the distance raised its bloodied maw from its meal and sniffed the air.

  “Mom, what’s happening?” Anna tried to peek as well.

  Catherine yanked her back. “We’re going a different way.”

  “But—”

  “Now.” Catherine dragged her children down another street.

  “Over there!” a sudden shout stopped them in their tracks.

  Catherine turned her head. A goblin riding a wolf as tall as an orc stood in the distance, pointing his spear at her family. 

  A chill ran down Catherine’s spine. “Run!” She sprinted away, never letting go of her children’s wrists.

  “Mom, slow down!” Anna said.

  “Mom, I can’t— Ah!” Henry tripped and fell down.

  “Henry!” Catherine spun around and scooped up both her children into her arms and ran.

  The sounds of multiple footsteps thundered behind them, but Catherine refused to look back. “Gods, help me,” she huffed desperately between breaths.

  The footsteps were getting closer.

  Catherine turned the corner and tossed her children into a dark alleyway.

  “Mom!” Anna said.

  “Shh.” Catherine held a finger to her lips and looked back worriedly. “Stay there. Protect your brother. Don’t come out until the goblins leave. Head to the Traveler’s temple. Show them your coins. The priests will keep you safe.”

  “Mom, don’t go,” Henry cried.

  “Mom, please, don’t leave us,” Anna whimpered.

  Catherine’s heart broke at the sight of their children’s tears. “I’m sorry,” she whispered and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

  The faces of her children reverberated in her mind’s eye and pushed her on, even as her legs burned. She was scared. Terrified. She didn’t want to die. She wanted so much more for herself and her family. Wherever her husband was, she hoped the gods would keep him safe so that he might take care of Henry and Anna.

  “If you are out there, help them, protect them,” she cried out to her god.

  The gods had never cared for someone so small and meager as her. She had learned from a young age that the gods did not bother with the rabble and dirt. But the Traveler had deemed to bless her children. She knew he would conceal them from danger. He had to. She believed, even if the children didn’t understand it yet, she believed, and that was enough.

  Catherine was about to reach the end of the street when a massive paw landed on her back and threw her to the ground. Her face slammed into the cobblestone and sent her head ringing.

  The world flickered and swam. Someone rolled her over and she found herself staring into the yellow eyes of a wolf. A few moments later, a pair of goblins hoisted her up by the shoulders. Her head lolled to the side, blood dripping down her nose and lips.

  Catherine could hardly breathe. Some distant part of her mind realized she had broken her nose. A muffled voice shouted in her ringing ears. What was he saying? She couldn’t quite make it out. He shouted again. And again. Until the voice began to become clear.

  “Where are the kids?!”

  “No kids,” Catherine mumbled.

  The goblin yanked her head up by her hair. “We saw them. Where. Are. They?” he sneered.

  “Captain, why don’t we just let them be?” another asked.

  The captain turned on his subordinate, “What was that?”

  “I mean, they’re kids,” she mumbled.

  “They are our mortal enemies. Our orders were clear. Not one survives. We end this 300-year war tonight. Understood?”

  “Yes, Captain,” she nodded numbly.

  “Good. Now,” he pulled Catherine’s hair tight, “Where are your little brats?”

  Catherine slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the night sky. The stars were beautiful tonight. “Thank you,” she smiled, her teeth blood-stained.

  Though she was small, unimportant in the grand workings of gods and kings, Stjerne had chosen to look upon her family with favor. She was grateful for the gift that had been bestowed upon her. Anna and Henry would be safe. She knew they would. Her greatest regret was that she could never repay Stjerne for his blessing.

  “What is wrong with this red bitch?” the captain hissed.

  “Captain! We found them!” yelled another goblin.

  Catherine’s eyes snapped wide open and she turned to find her children being dragged down the street by a pair of warriors.

  “No!” Catherine screamed. “Let them go!”

  “Shut up.” The captain pulled out his dagger and slit her throat.

  Catherine sucked in a weak breath but nothing came. He tossed her away and she hit the ground hard. Her head smacked into the stone, sending her head ringing once more. She lay sideways, sputtering for air. The cold of blood loss sapped at her strength. The world began to fade in her vision. All she saw was the captain moving towards a crying Henry and Anna.

  No.

  Catherine knew she was nothing. A speck in the Ebon Realm. Her life was meaningless. But her children— they were everything to her.

  Please. Spare them.

  The wolves circled around Anna and Henry, salivating at their mouths. Another wolf, twice their size, emerged from the shadows, mist trailing off its white fur. The smaller wolves backed and bowed to their alpha as it drew close, eyeing the children, snout pulled back in a snarl.

  No.

  Catherine reached out weakly.

  Please. No.

  “Mom!” Henry screamed.

  “Don’t hurt him!” Anna stood in front of her little brother, arms outstretched, limbs trembling. Tears streamed down her panicked face. “Please, don’t—”

  The wolf opened its maw and clamped its fangs down.

  NO.

  Catherine closed her eyes and moaned, a quiet, muffled whimper. Cold, icy mist breathed down her face. She didn’t care. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. She welcomed death and its eternal stupor.

  Kill me.

  Catherine opened her eyes and met a pair of giant lilac eyes staring back at her. The frost wolf held her children up, its fangs clamping down on the scruff of their cloaks. The wolf laid the children down next to her and shifted in a burst of starlight. A young man, more beautiful than any she had seen, stood before her, skin as blue as the sky, hair as silver-white as the stars.

  “Mom!” Anna and Henry hugged her and cried.

  The goblins were shouting at them, but their voices fell on deaf ears. The beautiful stranger gently pushed the children aside and knelt next to Catherine. The children struggled against him at first, but then recognition crossed their faces and they stopped, hope budding in their eyes. The stranger placed his hand over Catherine’s neck and a soft light poured into her wound, clasping it shut.

  “I made it in time,” he sighed with a relieved smile.

  “…ank… you…” Catherine rasped weakly. “…Thank… you… Traveler.”

  He furrowed his brow for a second and shook his head softly. “I am not The Traveler. I am Stryg. And you are going to be alright, I promise.”

  “Thank you, my lord, thank you!” Anna hugged him tightly and cried.

  “Thank you!” Henry hugged him as well, before the two children turned and hugged their mother.

  “…Stryg?” Catherine mumbled.

  Was he a man? A mage? Just a mage?

  Of course, how could someone as small as her ever be graced by the attention of a god? She felt foolish, smaller than she ever had. But grateful to be alive.

  “No, Catherine,” Stryg brushed her cheek. “Your life is not meaningless. I heard your resolve, your bravery. You are worthy of more than you know.”

  Catherine’s eyes widened. “You…? It was… you.”

  This was no man.

  “Hey! I’m talking to you! Who are you, drow!?” yelled the goblin captain.

  Stryg stood to his feet and glanced at the wolves. “Leave us.”

  The wolves shook their riders off them and bowed before running off.

  “What did you do!? What sort of shaman magic is this?!” the captain exclaimed.

  “This family is under my protection. Leave,” Stryg said.

  The captain straightened his shoulders and hefted his spear. “I do not know who or what you are, but we have orders from the Warrior Elect, given to him by Lunae herself. No orc will be spared.”

  He looked at them calmly, as if his eyes could see through them. “I am Stryg, son of the Moon and Stars. You will not lay a finger on this family.”

  “Stryg?” a goblin whispered.

  “The War Master?” another whispered.

  “No,” the captain shook his head. “He is not the War Master. The Chosen of Lunae stayed behind in Holo’s Shade. This man is an imposter. We have our orders. Move aside or die.”

  The dozen or so other goblins glanced at each other uncertainly but followed their captain’s lead. Henry and Anna clung to their mother with worry, but Catherine felt no fear as she lay on the floor.

  This was not a man nor mage who stood before her. This was a god. Her god. And he would not be broken.

  “Surround them!” the captain yelled.

  Stryg closed his eyes and tilted his head to the sky. “Heed my call, Svartna.”