Chapter 73: The Blood Citadel

The vibration of the first bell faded slowly through the stone under their boots.

Leo turned his shoulders toward the castle hill, keeping his body low against the wall of a closed shop while his boots found dry stone between the patches of snow.

Behind him, Valerie matched his stride, holding her greatsword low beside her leg so the steel would not catch the red light rising from the road.

"That cultist back there," Valerie whispered, her breath puffing white in the cold air as her eyes tracked the glowing lines in the street. "He said they are using five thousand lives to wake a beast under the rock. What kind of monster needs a whole city of blood?"

"They do not even know what they are feeding," Leo said, his gaze fixed on the red pulse flowing uphill toward the keep.

Beneath his coat, his heart beat with a heavy, steady rhythm against his ribs.

When Julian had brought word that their supply wagons were seized at the pass, Leo had told the house they were riding south to rescue their drivers and break Voss’s leverage.

That had only been half the truth.

He had not ridden into a mountain blizzard with Valerie just to recover a few wagons of goods. From the moment Julian mentioned the Iron Gate, a vague memory from the novel’s later plot had surfaced in Leo’s mind.

In the novel, another Calamity boss had been buried somewhere beneath the southern mountain pass, waking up after a border disaster wiped out an entire town.

Leo had only remembered the rough location, not how the seal broke. He had come here in person fearing that Voss’s sudden move at the pass was tied to that event.

Now, looking at the blood channels carved across every street and house, his fear had become reality.

"These cultists think they are waking a guardian beast they can command," Leo said, his voice cold. "They have no idea that the thing sleeping under this pass is one of the Calamities I warned you about at breakfast."

Valerie’s fingers tightened on the leather wrap of her hilt. "And if they break the seal?"

"Then the priest and his men will be the first ones it eats," Leo said. "And right now, just the two of us are not enough to put a full Calamity back in the ground. We have to kill Varis before that seal opens."

They stopped at the corner of the last building before the castle square.

Ahead of them, the main street opened into a stone yard in front of the outer castle gate.

The road to the gate was blocked.

Two hundred townspeople stood packed shoulder to shoulder across the street. They faced down the hill toward the city, their arms hanging limp at their sides and their blank eyes fixed on the snow.

Above the crowd, a wooden platform sat atop the stone wall of the gatehouse. Six cultists in dark robes stood on the planks. Four of them held heavy crossbows aimed down the street, while the other two poured bowls of steaming blood down the gate pillars to feed the runes under the crowd’s feet.

Valerie’s jaw set hard. "They put innocent people in front of the gate. If we charge up the street, the crowd will block us while the archers shoot."

"We do not take the street," Leo said.

He looked to the left side of the square, where a stone storehouse sat built directly against the outer wall of the gatehouse. Its sloped roof reached just below the wooden platform where the archers stood.

"We go over the storehouse roof," Leo said, pointing toward the dark alley beside the building. "It puts us right on the wall beside the archers, past the crowd."

Valerie looked at the roofline and gave a short nod.

"Lead the way," she said.

Leo slipped into the narrow alley beside the storehouse, his boots making no sound on the packed snow.

At the back of the alley, three wooden crates sat stacked against the stone wall under the eaves.

Leo tested the top crate with his hand. The wood was frozen solid and held his weight. He stepped up onto the boxes, gripped the stone gutter on the edge of the roof, and pulled himself onto the sloped tiles.

He reached down and offered his hand to Valerie.

Even with the heavy greatsword strapped to her back, she came up the crates in two clean steps. Her gloved hand locked around Leo’s wrist, and he pulled her up onto the roof beside him.

They stayed low, crouching in the snow near the chimney.

Ten yards ahead, the storehouse roof met the stone wall of the castle gatehouse. The wooden platform where the six cultists stood sat just four feet above the edge of the roof tiles.

On the platform, an iron brazier burned with dark red coals beside the winch for the gate.

"The four with crossbows are watching the street," Leo whispered, his breath barely moving the cold air. "The two with the bowls are standing right beside that fire pot. If they tip those coals into the blood trough, the whole keep will know we are at the gate."

Valerie slid her greatsword out of its scabbard, holding the grip with both hands. Since waking in the mountain camp, her arms felt warm and rested, the heavy steel moving in her grip without the old ache in her shoulders.

"You take the two by the fire," Valerie said quietly. "I will clear the bows."

Leo nodded once.

They moved across the sloped roof together, stepping where the snow had blown thin against the stone tiles.

When they reached the gatehouse wall, the cultist nearest the edge turned to refill his bowl from a barrel.

Through the gap in his hood, his eyes caught the dark shape of Leo’s coat rising over the stone lip.

"On the roof!" the cultist hissed, spinning toward the iron brazier with his bowl raised.

Leo did not give him time to throw it.

Vaulting over the low stone wall onto the wooden planks, Leo flicked his right wrist and sent his throwing knife straight across the platform.

SHING.

The blade took the cultist through the throat. The man’s knees buckled, and the bowl slipped from his fingers, spilling red liquid harmlessly across the frost-covered boards before he hit the floor.

Beside him, the second priest lunged for the handle of the iron brazier to kick it into the trough.

Leo landed on the planks in a low stride, closed the distance in two steps, and caught the priest by the back of his hood. He yanked the man backward off his feet while driving his other fist into the side of the priest’s ribs.

CRACK.

Bone gave way under the blow, and Leo slammed the man’s head into the stone wall, leaving him limp on the wood.

At the front rail, the four archers spun around from the street.

Because Leo and Valerie had come over the side roof, the archers were caught lined up in a narrow row along the planks, blocking each other’s aim.

The front two archers braced their stocks and pulled their triggers at point-blank range.

THWIP.

Two iron bolts hissed straight at Valerie’s chest as she cleared the wall.

Valerie planted her boots wide on the planks and swung the flat of her greatsword across her body.

CLANG.

Both bolts struck the wide steel blade in a shower of sparks and spun off into the dark square below. The heavy impact pushed her back half an inch on the frost, her boots holding firm against the wood.

Before the two men could reach for their belts, Valerie drove forward off her back foot like a battering ram.

She swung the greatsword in a wide horizontal cut that caught the first archer across the chestplate, splitting the leather and iron before knocking him into the second man. Both cultists crashed through the wooden rail, falling twenty feet into the snow behind the crowd.

The last two archers in the back dropped their unloaded bows and drew curved knives, rushing her from left and right at the same time.

Valerie did not step back.

She caught the left cultist’s wrist with her armored gauntlet, twisting his arm until the knife dropped, and drove her forehead straight into his nose. As he stumbled back bleeding, she pivoted on her heel and brought her greatsword down across the right cultist’s shoulder, dropping him dead on the planks.

Leo stepped up behind the stunned man holding his broken nose, hooked an arm around his chin, and snapped his neck with one clean twist.

He lowered the body onto the wood without a sound.

Below the wall, the two hundred townspeople in the street did not even turn their heads. They remained facing down the hill, trapped in their silent trance.

Leo walked over to the first body, pulled his throwing knife free from the man’s throat, and wiped the steel on the dark robe.

At the back of the platform, a narrow stone stairway led down into the inner passage of the gatehouse.

They descended the steps into the torchlit tunnel.

Ahead of them stood the inner iron grate that opened into the castle courtyard. Set into the stone arch above the grate was a carved basin filled with thick, glowing blood that held the heavy iron bars locked in place.

Standing in front of the grate were two massive guards in black plate armor.

Each man stood a head taller than Valerie, holding a two-handed iron cleaver resting against his shoulder. Through the slits in their helmets, their eyes were milky white, and thick black veins pulsed along their exposed necks.

"Voss uses men like these in the southern pits," Valerie whispered, rolling her shoulders as she adjusted her grip on her hilt. "They are fed blood drugs until they cannot feel pain."

As Leo and Valerie stepped off the bottom stair, both guards raised their heads at the exact same moment.

Without a word or a battle cry, the two giants charged down the stone passage side by side.

Their heavy boots shook the floor.

"Left is mine," Valerie said.

She ran forward three steps and planted her left heel, swinging her greatsword up to meet the first guard’s overhead chop.

CLANG.

Steel hit iron with a deafening ring. Sparks showered across the stone walls. The guard’s weight pressed down hard, forcing Valerie’s wrists back two inches, but her footing did not break.

She twisted her hips, angled her flat blade, and slid the heavy cleaver off to the side, letting the iron edge gouge a deep cut into the stone floor.

Before the giant could wrench his weapon free, Valerie stepped inside his reach, drove her armored elbow into his throat, and followed through with a horizontal slash that took his head clean off his shoulders.

On the right, the second guard swung his cleaver at Leo’s waist.

Leo did not block the heavy iron.

As the blade rushed toward his ribs, his eyes tracked the turn of the giant’s shoulders. He dropped into a low crouch, letting the cleaver pass two inches above his head, and slapped his left palm flat against the side of the moving blade to push its weight outward.

Pulled off balance by his own swing, the giant stumbled half a step toward the wall, opening a gap between the plates beneath his right arm.

Leo rose from his crouch as black light wrapped around his dagger.

He drove the blade straight into the gap under the giant’s arm, pushing the steel deep into the heart.

SHING.

The black light of Sol Noctis flared inside the guard’s chest, drinking the dark blood magic that kept the body moving. Within two seconds, the black veins on the giant’s neck turned gray, and the heavy frame crashed face-first onto the floor.

Leo stepped over the body and walked to the iron grate.

He reached up and pressed his bare left palm into the stone basin above the lock.

The hot blood inside the basin hissed against his skin, trying to push its dark pulse into his veins. Leo kept his breathing slow and let his core open.

Black light flowed from his palm, swallowing the red liquid in a single pull.

The runes carved around the arch went dark. Inside the stone wall, the heavy iron chains clicked and released.

Leo gripped two bars of the grate, lifted the iron gate four feet off the stone, and held it with his shoulder while waving Valerie through.

Beyond the gate lay the inner courtyard of the castle.

The yard was empty of soldiers, lit only by the red glow pouring from the high tower above the keep. A wide stone staircase rose straight up the front of the main building, leading to two tall wooden doors at the base of the bell tower.

Twelve cultists stood in two rows along the steps.

Each man held his left wrist over a stone basin built into the banister, letting his own blood drip into a glowing red stream that flowed up the stairs toward the doors.

As Leo let the iron grate drop shut behind him, the twelve cultists turned their heads toward the courtyard.

"Stop them!" the lead priest at the top of the steps shouted, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "Keep them away from the door until the third bell!"

Six cultists drew curved knives from their belts and rushed down the icy steps, while the other six dipped their hands into the basins and threw a wave of red fire roaring down the staircase.

"Behind me," Valerie said.

She stepped in front of Leo, planted both boots on the bottom step, and swung her greatsword upward with all her strength.

BOOM.

The wide steel blade met the center of the flames, splitting the wave of red fire in two. The flames splashed harmlessly against the snow and stone walls on either side of the stairs, while a second smaller burst of fire curved around the banister toward Leo’s head.

Leo raised his left hand and caught the fire in his open palm.

The black light of Sol Noctis swallowed the red flames before they could singe his coat, turning the spell into cold ash that drifted to the steps.

Before the ash hit the stone, Leo lunged past Valerie up the center of the staircase.

He moved through the six knife-wielding cultists with calm economy. He caught the first man’s wrist, redirected the curved blade into the throat of the second, and kicked the falling body into the legs of the third to send him tumbling down the stone steps.

Valerie charged up the right side of the stairs half a heartbeat behind him.

Her greatsword swept through the robed men in wide, clean arcs. With no room to dodge on the narrow steps, three cultists were cut down where they stood, their knives clattering down the stone.

Side by side, Leo and Valerie climbed the staircase without slowing their pace.

Whenever a priest at the basins raised a bloody hand to cast another spell, Leo’s dagger took him through the chest. Whenever a cultist lunged from the side, Valerie’s steel crushed his guard before he could get within arm’s reach.

In less than a minute, all twelve cultists lay motionless across the red-stained steps.

Leo reached the top landing in front of the tall wooden doors.

Carved across the heavy oak panels was a thick red seal, pulsing in time with the light at the top of the tower.

Before Leo could raise his hand to break the seal, the air above the keep vibrated with a sudden, crushing weight.

High in the tower, the massive bronze bell swung on its beam.

DONG.

The second bell struck.

A ring of dark red light burst from the top of the tower, washing down over the castle roof and rolling across the city below.

The stone landing shook hard enough to knock loose snow from the eaves.

Valerie caught the stone rail with her free hand and looked back over her shoulder down the hill.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Down in the streets of the city, all five thousand townspeople dropped to their knees in the snow at the exact same second. Their heads tipped back, and dark blood began running from their noses and eyes, pouring straight into the glowing channels in the road.

Deep beneath the mountain rock, something answered.

THUMP.

A single, massive heartbeat rumbled up through the stone foundation of the keep, shaking the dust from the castle walls.

Valerie turned back toward the sealed doors, her knuckles pale around the grip of her sword.

"It is waking up," she said.

Leo placed his left palm flat against the red seal on the wood as black light gathered around his fingers.

"One bell left," Leo said. "Get ready."