A tall nagen scaledthe port side defenses, feet from the bridge. A broad rock klops clambered ontothe bridge deck itself. His slit nostrils flared. Cyrus’ flesh grew clammy andpale. He was dead if he did not flee. He collected up two loaded rifles fromthe rear railing, then rushed back down the stairs.
“Retreat!” he shoutedto the two gun teams. “Never mind the hatch, just run.”
Cyrus peered overhis shoulder. The nagen and rock klops loomed at the top of the stairway, glaringdown at the four water klops below. Cyrus spun and fired both rifles single-handed.
Bang! Crack!
Both villains duckedbehind the railing. The four klops grasped their weapons, then fled with Cyrus intothe woods. He glanced backward. The nagen stood tall on the wall, a bow and arrowstretched between his wiry arms.
Thwack!
The arrow took oneklops in the neck. The gunner fell dead.
“Keep running,” Cyrusshouted.
He stopped and droppedto one knee, reloading one of the rifles. The three remaining klops turned andgave cover fire.
“No, run,” Cyrus shouted,adding powder to the firing mechanism.
The rock klopslumbered down the stairs. The nagen ducked a bullet, then counter-attacked, droppinga second water klops. The gunner to Cyrus’ right tossed his spent rifle and beganto load his bow. He nocked an arrow and fired. His poisoned missile struck the rockklops in the leg. The beast roared but continued on, obviously immune to the toxin’seffects.
“Bloody Kingdom!”
Cyrus stuffed alead ball down the rifle’s barrel. His heart pumped flame. The callous brute wason top of him, his sword raised.
Bang!
Cyrus fired. Purpleblood spurted out of the rock klops’ chest. Then the creature crashed to theground. The nagen leaped off of the battlements and landed on the tiled earth below.Two more of his kin mounted the bridge deck above. The wiry demon nocked a fresharrow and began to stalk forward.
“Keep moving,”Cyrus shouted.
Then he and the tworemaining water klops ducked into the woods and out of sight.
Chapter29
AMBUSH
CYRUS AND THE TWO KLOPS fled down a twisting pathway, rushingpast rotten marshes, hewn creepers, and crooked trees. Freshly slain klops litteredthe muddy trail. How had the enemy gotten so far ahead?
Cyrus peeked intohis tunic. Edward still slumbered safely within. He glanced over his shoulder.He saw flashes of the three nagen closing in beyond the woods and brambles. Heand the two klops rounded a darkened bend and arrived at a newly cut clearing. Beforethem lay the would-be town center, and at the far end of the site stood the fallbackwall.
“Thank the Angels,”Cyrus gasped.
But wait, there wereseveral foot-long gaps in the twelve-foot-high wall. Why were the defenses not completedas reported? Several alves stood on the parapets.
“Close up those gaps,”Cyrus shouted, “Ready your weapons. We have company!”
The alves opened thegates. Cyrus and the two klops dashed for the threshold.
Cyrus watched withrelief as three men on the battlements aimed their rifles.
Bang! Bang! Crack!
Cyrus leaped throughthe gates. He crashed into a crowd of villagers packed within. He looked back.
“No!”
The riflemen had killedthe wrong soldiers. Feet from the entrance, his two companions lay face-down deadin the mud. The three nagen broke free of the forest.
“What have youdone?” Cyrus shouted, “They were with us!”
The gates slammedshut. Behind the doors lay a mound of dead batalha.
Click! Click!Click! Click! Click!
The surrounding alvespointed pistols and rifles up at Cyrus’ head. The villagers all wore the dunklewoodcharms. Had they lost their minds? He searched their faces. The adults were terrifiedbut determined. Weeping children clung to their parent's legs, frightened andconfused.
“The enemy iscoming for our heads,” Cyrus shouted, enraged, “point your cursed weapons at them!”
The villagers quivered,but would not lower their guns. What was happening? Cyrus racked his mind. Howhad everything unraveled so quickly? Why were there so many dead klops on the trail?Where were the intruders that had killed them? Why were the nagen not attackingthe gate? It was as if the enemy were in on the ambush…
Cyrus studied thepile of dead batalha laying heaped against the wall. He counted eight bodies intotal. All appeared shot through the back. He recalled Gabriel’s fear in the night,and the delayed report from the starboard defenses.
Impossible…
Yet it was all beginningto make sense.
Cough, hack!
“I tried to warnyou, ma-boy,” said a familiar voice, from within the crowd of villagers.
It can’t be!
The alves parted way.Mayor Hoblkalf shuffled forward, shadowed by Cyrus’ stepmother. Llysa’s gaunt facehad withered to a bitter, cruel scowl. The old man stood on his own two feet. Hehad been feigning weakness the whole time.
“Tyrants people willfollow for a time, true,” Hoblkalf said, wiping his monocle with a stained handkerchief,“but the first chance they get, they’ll stab you in the back, or trade you for theirfreedom, as it were.”
Lars Hoblkalf, Mr.Aker, and the Tiller twins pushed through the crowd. Each was grim-faced,clutching a loaded weapon.
“You bargained withthat Witch?” Cyrus shouted.
He felt rage bubblein his aching guts.
“You gave us no choice,”Lars replied.
“We were trapped betweentwo evils,” the mayor said, with theatrical remorse, “One promised us tyranny andthe company of demons. The other offered us freedom, and for such a small price.”
“You fools,” Cyrusroared, “What did you do with Fibian?”
“That blue-eyed demonabandoned us,” Llysa shouted.
Her oily dark hairwas plastered to her severe, clammy face.
“Fled into the wateras soon as the Sea Zombie approached,” bow-legged Acker snapped.
“She treated uswith a dignity and respect that you could never possess,” Hoblkalf replied,adjusting his tattered tie, “It was her man, Captain Greves, who returned us homelate in the evening. A creature of few words, but very capable when given a task.Diplomacy was the only way, ma-boy. We never stood a chance against the Sea Zombie’slegions.”
Again, Cyrusthought of the delayed report from the starboard wall. How had Holblkalf turnedthe villagers so easily?
“You’ve bargainedfor your destruction,” Cyrus spat, stepping forward.
Several gun barrelsjabbed him in the chest.
“She’ll come forme first,” he continued, glaring at the outcasts, “but mark my words, you’ll benext.”
He jabbed a thick fingerat the surrounding alves. His gaze met Sarah’s. She pushed her way to themiddle of the mob, tears in her big, grey eyes.
“Why did you comeback?” she wept. “You don’t belong here.”
Cyrus stood shakenas if struck by thunder. Had she
