“Get him, he’strying to open the door!” a small klops shouted.
Amid theconfusion, his words seemed lost in the shouts and cries. Cyrus pounded at the boltwith the handle of his sword. The latch held fast. The small klops scrambled over and grabbed a batalha.
“Get off me,”the batalha grunted, smacking him away.
“You fool,look!”
The small klops pointed to Cyrus and Fibian,hacking at the wooden catches holding the latch in place. The batalha grabbed his partner. They charged towards Cyrus andFibian. The latch began to jostle within the loosenedhooks. Cyrus kicked the bolt free. The batalhaclubbed him to the floor. Cyrus laid on his back stunned, his arm and side achingdeep. He shifted. Was anything broken? His flesh felt raw and bruised, but the klops armor had absorbed the brunt of the blow. He lookedabout for Fibian.
“What in bloodand bones are you?” the batalha asked, kicking offCyrus’ helmet.
“It’s the boy,and the blue-eyed creature the Queen has been searching for,” the smallerscoundrel squawked.
The second batalha struck Fibian to thefloor. His helmet too was gone.
“Well, they’redead now.”
The batalha stepped on Cyrus’ chest. Cyrus felt his ribs bend andhis spine pop.
“Please no,”he wheezed.
The brutewound up to strike. The small door flew off its hinges and crashed into the smallerklops, making a mess of his head and chest. Threearrows found their way through the entrance, into the batalha’sback and club arm. The brute groaned like a twisting tree as he collapsed ontop of Cyrus.
A wave of yetipoured through the gate. Cyrus shoved and kicked his way from under thecreature’s heavy frame. He fought to catch his breath. His broken hand throbbedand his body was exhausted and stiff.
“Form up andfire!” Knavish’s voice shouted.
Rifle firebegan to cut down the yeti infiltrating the hall. The yeti countered quickly.They began to emerge through the door holding large sheets of armor. The leadballs pinged off the iron plates. Several yeti lined up behind the giantsholding the shields. The gunfire began to ebb. The klopshad been unable to gather enough rifles in time. Yeti emerged from behind thethick plates, cutting down klops with their swordsand clubs.
“To the southend of the hall. Everyone!” the queen shouted from her throne.
Her voicebecame a high-pitched beacon of warning.
“Do not letthem open the main gates!”
War broke outwithin the fortress as the two sides crashed headlong into battle.
A tannedfemale emerged through the door, wielding swords in each hand. Cyrus and Fibian rose from the floor. Cyrus’ eyes met Ungur’s. For a moment, she looked unsure. Then her expressionturned to desperation. She charged Cyrus and Fibian,swinging her blades like a steel tornado. She was going to murder them in thefog of war, rid herself of two witnesses with knowledge of her treachery.
She slashed atFibian with a low arching stroke. Fibianflattened himself to the ground. He tried to mount a counter-attack. The secondblade narrowly missed his rising head. Cyrus spied a rifle on the ground andmoved to grab it. Ungur turned and swung at him. Herolled to the side. The sword smashed the stone floor beside him. Ungur thrust out with the second blade, driving towardsCyrus’ heart. Cyrus parried the blow with his own sword. The steel cracked thefloor to his right. Fibian leaped for Ungur’s back. She swung at him with a backhanded blow. Fibian raised his own sword in defense. The strike cut himout of the air and sent him sprawling to the earth.
“No!” Cyrusshouted.
He rose up andhurled his sword at Ungur’s back. She spun and battedit out of the air.
“You shouldnever have come here, Child Eater,” Ungur roared, chargingforward, “How many yeti must die for your village?”
“Just onemore,” Cyrus cried.
He dove forthe klops rifle, grabbed the weapon and rolled, comingup on his knees. He pointed the gun at Ungur. Shestopped short and froze. Cyrus snarled and pulled the trigger.
Click…
The gunmisfired.
“You never cantrust klops craftsmanship,” Ungurchuckled.
She continuedforward, raising her swords high. Cyrus leaped to his feet and charged. Ungur slashed at Cyrus, but he was inside her range. Herstrokes were awkward and stunted. Cyrus buried the rifle’s bayonet in her belly.Ungur looked down at him in shocked wonder. Shedropped her swords and clutched the rifle.
“No,”
She withdrewthe blade and stared at its poisoned tip.
“Child Eater!”
She reachedout and clutched at Cyrus. He ducked and circled away. Then the giant crashedto the ground in a jumble of bone and muscle. The yeti lay motionless besideseveral of her kin, joining them in their endless slumber.
Cyrus rose tohis feet and ran to Fibian’s side.
“Are you allright?” Fibian asked.
“I think so,”Cyrus said, helping Fibian to his feet.
The froskman’s sword was broken in two, and his breastplate hada large gash in it. Blood leaked from within.
“It is only aflesh wound,” Fibian said, “It will heal.”
“We must openthe gates,” Cyrus said, leading Fibian forward.
Together theyfound swords and followed the yeti into battle. Fibianmoved slowly at first, but once he had recovered from Ungur’sblow, he began to attack the enemy with delicate mastery. Cyrus fought with amix of fear and rage. He overcommitted on several blows, stumbling and slashingthrough the assault. Fibian kept to his back andfended off many of Cyrus’ would-be attackers.
“The wheels,those operate the gates,” Cyrus shouted to two nearby yeti.
He pointed outthe two door cranks. Several batalha guarded thecranks with swords and spears. The yeti smashed through them as if they weredry tinder and overtook the mechanisms. Again, the doors opened with a grindingmoan, but this time instead of water klops pouringover the threshold, a horde of angry yeti rushed the gates.
“There is noretreat,” the queen shouted, “Fight, you fools, fight!”
The klops’ spirits seemed to break, but, with no other choice,they were forced to battle on. The yeti challenged the largest klops first, letting several smaller fiends sneak throughthe lines.
“We must getto the queen and find Edward,” Cyrus said to Fibian.
“This way,” Fibian said, cutting a path through the smaller klops, taking refuge along the western wall.
Cyrus stabbed,parried and slashed with a rage that only a lust for revenge could provide. Thesmaller klops withered and fell with relative ease.Battle fever took hold. With each kill, Cyrus grew stronger, surer,
