There was no physical shockwave, but a shimmering cloud of yellow sparks bathed a huge portion of the battlefield in light and death. The werewolves' fur blackened and crumbled. As one they lifted their snouts to the sky in a soundless howl. Their skin burned away in patches like paper over a fire. Their fat and muscles, ligaments and tendons reduced into something black, like the pervading muck of the Underlands. All that remained was blood and bone, collapsing to the ground in perfect formation.
The wave of death reached the ranks of gen, who likewise melted, and the banners of Kash fell.
From what Pierce could see, only a handful of the garrison troops had survived the rout. They had been lined up on their knees for execution, and remained there, twitching in sobbing despair.
Only the enemy, though, had been harmed by Ess's bone bomb.
Not one of the invasion force had survived. The gates of Testadel had closed. The painreapers may have retreated, or they may have died too - Pierce hadn't seen. The gates remained shut tight, and there was apparently not a capable force left in the ruins of Grondell to assault them.
Everyone felt it through their feet when the deep drone of the obelisks stopped, and Scythia deactivated her Amulet of Silence.
"Ah! Finally," Pierce said.
"Missed the sound of your own voice, huh?" Agrathor teased.
Pierce smirked. "It's just so lonely when everything's quiet."
Indeed, all sound had returned to the space around Gorgonbane, and wails and sobbing echoed through the streets of what had been Grondell. When Pierce registered these sounds, he looked around and felt a heaviness settle on his heart. Nothing had gone according to plan. Not that anyone could have known what this day would hold.
Kash had won the day, despite his heavy losses. Was he shut behind the black walls of Testadel, or had he hidden himself elsewhere? Where would he strike next?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Sev
Gorgonbane approached the city perimeter in trepidation. No one was eager to test their mettle against one of the mega-Monstrosities.
But Kash's enhanced giants were nowhere to be found. Pierce supposed they had crawled back to whatever pit they'd risen from. All along the rubble of the ramparts lay the cavities they had left behind, dark and gaping. But each did have a bottom. There seemed no plausible way the Monstrosities could have burrowed up from the Underlands.
He still didn't know where the Monstrosities came from in the first place, but he figured Kash wouldn't want to risk losing the most powerful siege machines Overland had ever seen. Pierce imagined the things were few in number, either slow to reproduce or hard to create.
All across the city, dust-covered people were wailing and sobbing, crying out to loved ones as they searched the rubble for survivors. Two and a half squads of the garrison troops had been spared - those that had been slated for execution when the bone-bomb went off. These had fallen into a loose formation behind Gorgonbane, most of them walking along in a daze. None of the city's officers had survived.
Many people who either had no one to search for, or who had simply forsaken hope, trudged away from the ruins of Grondell and into the hills beyond. Word would spread of the attack, and all of Overland would wait in fearful anticipation of the next incursion. At the least, people would know what kind of attack to expect, even if they might not have a clue how to defend against it. Pierce certainly couldn't think of anything, but if this went unchecked, all of Overland's major cities would be overthrown in short order.
Gorgonbane and its recruited infantry returned to the city center, resting in formation within view of Testadel. The mighty fortress revealed nothing of its internal workings, but it certainly seemed as if there would be no further moves made this day. It was dangerous to stay near, but Axebourne wanted to get a grip on the situation before having everyone move out. He wouldn't just lead the little army in some random direction.
"I want to watch the place for a bit," he said to the others. "See if it betrays anything useful. I know we'll get precious little sleep if we stay the night here, but if they make a move, I want to see it."
Everyone agreed, and they all hunkered down for a long vigil.
Pierce found himself wanting to talk about what had happened, but everyone else seemed morose, or at least withdrawn. He supposed it had been a long time since Gorgonbane had suffered defeat. It might be hard for even these legends to process such a loss, despite their long years of experience.
He fell asleep unintentionally, slumped against the stump of a wall, and was wakened by a hoarse whisper.
"Hey, kid," said the voice. Axebourne? Agrathor? A hand touched him. A big, hard hand.
Pierce forced his eyes open. It was deep night, and the silver moon was obscured by the remnants of a pottery shop's facade. The person touching him was merely a shadow in the darkness. Less than even a shadow, almost like a hole.
"Kid, it's me," the voice came again. "I snuck out of Testadel."
"S-Sev?" Pierce croaked.
"Yeah, it's me," Sev said.
"Why can't I see you?" Pierce asked.
"Another special color," Sev said proudly. "I call it doubleblack. Darker than black."
Pierce straightened up a bit, rubbing his eyes. "Can you, I don't know, take it off?"
"Yeah, I used it on an aura bracelet. I just... didn't want anyone in your group to try and kill me, see?"
Of course, Pierce realized. If anyone saw a lone forgemaster approaching the camp, he would be dead before he could say a single word.
"So can you... get me in?" said Sev. He sounded nervous.
"Get you into what?" Pierce shook his head.
"Gorgonbane, man. I'll walk with the normal guys in the back, even. I just can't stay in that place any more."
"Huh. Well.
