Realm of Monsters - Chapter 723: The Winged One Part 1

Chapter 723: The Winged One Part 1

  Catherine watched in awe as silver wings sprouted from her god and he leapt into the sky, starlight trailing off his feathers. At first, it seemed as if he was heading straight into the clouds, but he shifted trajectory and flew back into the city where the fires were spreading worst. His shrinking figure never left Catherine’s sight until he disappeared in the pillars of smoke.

  Where he went or what his plan was, Catherine did not know. Stryg had killed both orcs and goblins alike. It was clear to her that he was part of neither side of this conflict and so neither would she be.

  But where could she go then?

  She looked down at her worried children, both of them still clinging to her. They had seen her throat slashed by a goblin and though her god had healed her, neither child was willing to stray far from her. Nor did the undead bodies who were standing only a few paces away. 

  Only a few minutes earlier, they were orc soldiers loyal to Murkton and Sylvan warriors here to kill them all. Now, they stood with glassy eyes, vacant with no thoughts behind them.

People would ask questions if Catherine lingered here. The city guard might even try and arrest her for disobeying the city-wide lockdown. She needed to move, but where? The temple, perhaps? Was it still the best place for her family and her?

  She did not know of any temple in the city’s main square that worshipped a god known as Stryg. Still, if she went to the Traveler’s temple, surely the priests would offer her refuge. 

  Right?

  Catherine glanced at the twenty-some-odd undead standing around her.

  Maybe not.

  Still, she didn’t have many options. Deciding it was her best chance at keeping her children safe, Catherine grabbed their hands and made her way towards the main square.

  The scent of smoke grew stronger with every street they passed. The fires had started in the Water Market and had only grown from there. Half the common residential area was already burning. Catherine had tried to stay away from those neighborhoods, but she needed to cross a few at the edge to reach the main square.

  “Stay close to me,” Catherine whispered.

  Henry and Anna nodded; neither had let go of her hands.

  The sounds of steel clashing against steel had faded from earlier, though the roars of the fires had only grown louder. A sudden scream broke through the neighborhood.

  Anna and Henry clung to their mother and closed their eyes tightly.

  “It’s okay,” Catherine assured them with confidence she didn’t feel. With slow, measured steps, she crept up to the edge of a house and peered down the street.

  Almost every house was on fire. The flames painted the goblin platoon in the dark silhouettes. They were dragging a woman from her house as she fought and screamed.

  Catherine felt a pang of guilt at the scene, but she couldn’t risk exposing her children to any more danger. They needed to keep moving. As she was turning away, a child’s cry froze her in place. She looked back and saw a boy, no older than 5, being pulled out of the house by his hair.

  “No, let him go!” the mother sobbed as she tried to reach her little boy to no avail.

  “Stop it!” Catherine yelled without thinking.

  The goblin warriors turned on her, their eyes glinting yellow in the firelight. Catherine stumbled back a step and bumped into someone. She glanced back to see one of the undead Murkton soldiers. 

  “Soldiers, kill them,” said one of the goblins. His fellow warriors nodded and sprinted at Catherine and the undead.

  Two dozen more undead leapt out from behind the building and attacked. The goblins tried to retreat but it was too late. The undead moved with unnatural speed. They cut the goblins down with ease, their hands crushing bones as if they were reeds.

  The young mother held her crying child in her arms and looked at the undead, terrified.

  “It’s okay,” Catherine raised her hands in a non-threatening manner. “We aren’t going to hurt you.”

  “…Who are you?” the woman asked.

  “I’m Catherine. And you are?”

  “…Sadina.”

  “Are you or your son hurt, Sadina?”

  She shook her head.

  “I’m glad. My children and I,” Catherine patted Henry and Anna’s shoulders, “are going to Stjerne’s temple. We’ll be safe there. Come with us.”

  Sadina stared at the undead standing over the dead goblins.

  “You don’t have to worry. They’re here to protect us,” Catherine said.

  “Are you a mage?” Sadina asked.

  “No. They are blessings from my god.” Catherine remembered Stryg’s words, “They are an extension of his will…” She was struck with the realization that the undead had protected not only her but Sadina and her son as well. If that was Stryg’s will, then she would do the same.

  “Come with us, please. We’ll protect you,” Catherine said.

  Sadina looked at her crying son and nodded slowly. “Okay.”

  Catherine led them back up the street and resumed her journey, only to hear more shouts of panic and cries of despair in the near distance. She paused in her steps.

  “Mom?” Anna whispered.

  “We’re going back,” Catherine said.

  “What? Going back? Are you crazy?” Sadina said.

  “We’re going back,” Catherine said, this time with more confidence. “There are other people who need our help. My god did not abandon you or I when we needed him. I will not abandon these people either.”

  Catherine marched back into the fray, her undead guards following beside her. Sadina looked in the direction of the temples and then back at Catherine.

  “Gods, help us,” Sadina muttered and ran after Catherine.

~~~

  There were more people in dire need of her help than Catherine realized. She found over thirty commoners running for their lives as goblins chased them down. The undead made quick work of the goblins.

  Catherine found twice as many orc survivors running from the fires. Their homes had burned down or they had escaped when the Sylvan warriors had attacked their neighborhoods.

  A few families had stayed in their homes, even as the fires burned their neighbors’ houses or Sylvan warriors ransacked the homes over the next street. The families were terrified of the Sylvan, but they were more afraid of what might happen if Murkton soldiers found them outside their homes, despite the orders to stay inside. Many a commoner had been executed for far less.

  Catherine tried to tell them that it wasn’t safe, but few listened. It was the other families she had saved whose words had an effect on them. Some of the orcs listened and left their homes, though others were too afraid and stayed indoors. Catherine couldn’t afford to wait any longer and so she guided her group of over a hundred survivors out of the common residential areas.

  A clap of thunder resounded over the sky. Everyone looked up to see a comet of golden fire clashing against a figure shrouded in silver light. Though the two were only small pinpricks of light against the dark clouds, the orcs knew what they were witnessing unfold.

  “The gods are fighting,” Sadina murmured.

  “The Watcher and The Guardian are fighting for the fate of the city,” said another.

  “It doesn’t matter who wins. We’re all going to die,” cried another.

  “Don’t say that,” Catherine admonished. She needed to keep these people from panicking or otherwise there would be chaos.

  “He’s right, the city burns. Our homes are gone. Where are we to go?” asked another.

  Catherine wanted to refute their claims, but they were right. Even now, as they hurried away from the commoner streets, the fires were only growing and spreading all around them. As if to confirm her fears, Catherine turned the corner and found a burning house had collapsed on the street, blocking their path. She looked around, searching for another path, but the only street that wasn’t blocked by fire was back the way they had come. There was nothing for them back there.

  “What do we do?” Sadina asked, looking at her as if she somehow had all the answers. It wasn’t only Sadina. Many of the orcs were turning to Catherine, trust in their eyes. Somewhere in the last few minutes, she had inadvertently become their leader.

  “I…” Catherine didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t a leader, she was just a commoner like the rest of them. She sold fish at the Water Market. She was just— her.

  A figure swooped down from the sky and flew above and past them. A cold mist rained down from his silver wings and doused the burning rubble blocking the street. He went back into the city as fast as he had appeared. The air felt different. Lighter somehow. Cleaner. A breath of crisp air.

  The crowd stood stunned.

  “Was that— Stjerne?” someone asked.

  “No. Did you not see the cloak of shadows all around him? That was Caligo. Caligo saved us!”

  “Don’t be stupid. His wings were glowing with starlight! Who else could that have been but the Traveler himself?”

  “It was neither,” Catherine said and the whole crowd stopped to listen. “His name is—” She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to share her god’s name. Names were sacred to deities. They were not spoken lightly.

  Stryg.

  It was the name of her god and the name of the Ebon Aspirant everyone had been talking about in the taverns lately. Was it the same being? 

  She doubted it. Even if it was, would they believe her?

  “Who is it then?” Sadina pressed.

  “He… He is my patron god. And he will protect us. Come this way,” Catherine turned on her heel and walked up the street.

  The survivors stared at the woman passing through the scorched rubble, a pair of children following close behind. Her back was straight and she walked with her head held high. And for a brief moment, she seemed taller than any Murkton warrior of legend. Sadina picked up her child and followed after Catherine. The others soon followed not far behind. 

  The further they moved away from the neighborhoods, the quieter it became. It was only when she crossed a bridge and had a better view of the city that Catherine realized why she hadn’t seen any of the city guards or the warlord’s soldiers. 

  Torchlight flickered along the bridges leading into the merchant neighborhoods. Murkton’s military had abandoned the commoners in order to fortify a border around the weather residential area.

  “Why?” Catherine whispered.

  “Our lives are meaningless to the Houses and their wealthy friends,” an old man said bitterly.

  “They just gave up on us,” Sadina muttered.

  “We need to move deeper into the city. As far away from the residential areas as possible. The soldiers will protect the merchants and nobles in their homes. Our best chance is to get away from all the fighting,” Catherine said.

  “Agreed,” said one of the survivors, several more pitching in their approval.

  A few minutes passed before the group encountered a platoon of soldiers marching down the street. By the looks of it, they were heading to the noble district.

  “What are you all doing here?” demanded an orc dressed in slightly better armor.

  The group all turned their heads and looked at Catherine. She leaned down to her children and whispered, “Stay here.”

  Anna shook her head, “But Mom—”

  “I’ll be right back,” Catherine assured her.

  “Please, don’t go,” Henry whimpered.

  Catherine gave her children a smile, 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?”