highlighting the guards at their posts.
Royce nudged the other man, David had just started to drift off again, “Come on, it’s time shut the gate.” You’ll be able to sleep better on the battlements anyway, he thought uncharitably.
“Alright, I’m about tired of standing out here,” Tanner responded. Lifting his spear he turned to walk back inside the gate. A third man, Sam Turner stood within, next to the warning bell. “Give me a hand with the doors Sam.” Tanner said.
Royce was about to turn and follow him in when he heard a sound. Years hunting deer in the Duke’s forest had given him keen ears, but this was no deer. “Who’s out there?” he called.
Sam had one of the two gate doors in place and David had his side halfway closed. Once the two met in the center they would throw the heavy bar to lock them in place, but they paused when they heard Royce’s voice. Sam looked out to see Royce backing slowly toward the opening. He thought he could see the form of a smaller person approaching from the darkness but it was still indistinct. “Royce, do I need to hold the gate for someone?” Sam asked.
Royce had already recognized the person walking toward them; it was Rebecca Miller, the third person to go missing. She had been gone for almost three weeks now and Royce already knew the full details of Mordecai’s encounter with what had been Sadie Tanner. He backed steadily toward the gap in the gate doors, “No Sam, I think we’d best lock up tight as soon as I get through the gate.” He never took his eyes off the form of the thirteen year old girl walking steadily toward him. Two more steps and he would be inside. Rebecca was only ten feet away now.
Sam heard the tension in Royce’s voice. That and the fact that he didn’t turn his head to speak told him everything he needed to know, but David Tanner wasn’t so quick to understand. The light clearly showed the girl approaching when David spoke up, “Hey now! Isn’t that Rebecca Miller?” He started to step away from the gate but Sam grabbed his shoulder.
“Wait up David,” Sam said.
“Will you let me in? I’m ever so hungry and I’ve had nothing these past few days,” came a curiously monotone voice from the girl.
“What’s your name girl?” Royce asked. He had stopped backing up since it was clear he wouldn’t be able to get them to close the gate doors till the girl’s identity was settled.
“I can’t remember. Won’t you help me?” she replied. She was only feet from him now and might have gotten closer but Royce had his spear down, pointing squarely at her chest.
David shook off Sam’s hand and stepped out, “It’s Rebecca. Dammit Royce, stop pointing that thing at her. She’s just a girl!” Shoving Royce’s spear aside he reached out to take the teenager’s arm, she eagerly clasped his hand.
“Don’t touch her!” Royce shouted, but it was too late. David Tanner struggled to pull away from the girl, a look of terror on his face as he felt the dark pull on his spirit. She had both hands on him now and she held him with incredible strength. Royce didn’t wait; jerking his spear back into line he impaled the young girl on it, driving the long bladed head through her torso.
Sam saw what was occurring from a few feet behind them, “By the gods! Royce what have you done?!” He started forward but Royce yelled for him to stop.
“Ring the goddamned bell!” he shouted. The girl hadn’t let go of David and was pulling him closer as he weakened, his knees buckling. Royce struggled to push her off the other man with the spear but she showed no sign of letting go. The weapon might have gone all the way through her but it was a boar spear and the cross-piece kept it from passing, a good thing as it allowed him to push harder against her. Very little blood issued from the girl’s wound, and what there was seemed thick and black.
Sam finally snapped out of his shock and ran back to ring the bell while the men struggled in front of the gate. A dark shadow on the periphery of his vision warned Royce that the girl wasn’t alone and he let go of the spear. Stepping back he drew his sword just in time to meet the charge of a man he didn’t recognize. The stranger was unarmed but his slack face and empty expression made it clear he was cut from the same cloth as the girl.
Slashing sideways he severed the man’s hand at the wrist as he slammed into Royce. The weight of his body shoved Royce back into the unsecured gate door, causing it to swing wider. At his first touch Royce felt the coldness seeping into him, a dark biting wind drawing his life out. The creature’s remaining hand had him by the throat and try as he might he couldn’t pull it free. He could hear the bell starting to ring behind him, but help couldn’t possibly arrive soon enough.
A lifetime shaping iron had given the blacksmith strength few men could hope to match. Even as he felt himself starting to weaken he slammed the hilt of his sword into the monster’s face. The blow had little effect on the creature but it gave him enough room to swing the sword properly and he used the opportunity to hack at the arm holding him. He failed to completely sever it, due to the awkward angle but he cut deeply into the elbow and dislodged the hand from his throat. “Get off me damn you!” he ground out the words as the hand came loose from his throat. He would have backed away but the creature’s other arm, the one missing a hand swung up to club him in the side of the head, sending him reeling.
Royce wound up falling sideways onto the hard cobblestones but he kept his eyes on the creature as it turned to follow him. One step and it was to him but he didn’t wait for it to fall on him. If it landed on top of him he knew he would never have the strength to get out from under it. Sweeping the sword low to the ground he took the thing’s right foot off at the ankle and it toppled away.
Scrabbling backward he looked over to see what had become of Tanner and what he saw wasn’t pretty. The other man had collapsed and the thing that was latched onto him was cooing softly, like a small child. The monster that had been Rebecca Miller had a look of rapture on her face while both of her hands were gripping the older man’s head. David’s eyes had rolled upward and he seemed completely unconscious now.
Royce tried to stand and for a brief moment he considered attacking the girl, but his left leg failed to hold his weight. Old age, always knew it would be the death of me, he thought as he saw the one he had been fighting crawling toward him. He raised his sword, wondering if he could take off another appendage before it got to him when a mailed boot swept out and kicked the creature away.
Dorian Thornbear stood over him, his enchanted mail sparkling in the lantern light, “Sorry it took me so long to get here.”
“Better late than never.” Royce answered as he eased himself up on his good leg and hobbled inside the gate. Dorian was methodically hacking the bodies of the two creatures limb from limb. He was efficient at the task but despite his thoroughness the body parts continued writhing on the ground.
He might have kept at it longer, to see just how many pieces you needed to cut one into before it quit moving, but Royce called to him from the gateway, “Get inside there’s more coming!” Looking up Dorian saw several dark shapes approaching in the lantern light. He grabbed Tanner’s limp arm and dragged the man back with him, while Royce and Sam shoved the gate doors closed behind them. They all breathed a sigh of relief when the bar was finally in place.
Royce leaned over and checked Tanner, to see if he was alright. David had been alive and healthy only minutes before but he wasn’t breathing and there was no pulse. “He’s dead,” Royce said.
“How? He doesn’t have a mark on him!” Sam shouted. The normally reliable craftsman was close to panic.
“When that one touched me a minute ago I could feel it drawing the life out of me. As soon as one of ‘em touches you you start to feel weak. I’d guess he got a bit more of that than I did,” Royce answered.
“We need to get up on the wall and see what they’re doing. The rest of the men will be here in a few minutes,” Dorian stated calmly.
“What do we do with David?” Sam asked.
“He might turn into one of them,” Royce replied.
“He’s dead!”
“So were they, unless I miss my guess,” Royce answered flatly. “We probably need to cremate him or something but there’s no time right now. We’ll figure it out later; if he does turn it probably won’t be right away… I hope.” He turned and followed Dorian up the stairs to the top of the wall. Not knowing what else to do Sam went with him.
“Dammit!” Dorian said as he looked down from the top of the wall, “They’re climbing up.”
“How? I cut a foot and a hand off one of ‘em,” Royce was incredulous, until he looked over the top himself. A
