A warhorn blasted out from the cave entrance as I regrouped with the vanguard. We may yet live to see the morning. “Fall back to the defensive line!” I shouted, waving the men back. While we were fighting, the defensive infantry had moved into position behind us, forming three equal ranks of soldiers positioned equidistant from the cave entrance. Large rows of spiked barricades stood behind them in a tight circle, with a final group of soldiers as a last wall of defense should the perimeter somehow be breached. I made my way to the front formation and addressed the woman holding the horn. “Challa.”
“Commander,” she nodded. “Everyone is in position. Mining is underway; Shadowmine’s construction lends well to a collapse, according to Father—er, Rex,” she reported, correcting herself. “We’re only a few minutes out from completion.”
“Good. Hold ranks here and continue to relay—”
“Commander!” Bryce cried from the formation on our right. “More of them, at the tunnels!” Challa and I snapped to attention and stared across the dark expanse of the mine. Where the various mineshafts all met at the far wall, three shadowy figures scuttled back and forth in the darkness. As we watched, their numbers swelled from three to four, then to six, then seven, and beyond. The Serathids hung back at the opposite side of the cavern, shifting in and out of sight in a teeming mass but making no immediate move to advance on our position.
“Stand your ground!” I bellowed to my gathered forces. “We will hold this entrance at all costs. We will not falter! We will not fail!” I banged the edge of my shield against the ground in a constant rhythm, and the cave soon echoed with hundreds of stomping spears, boots, and shields. Just a few minutes more and we will be rid of this Primes-damned scourge for good.
Challa shuffled closer to my place at the head of the formation. “Commander?” she asked, her voice nearly drowned out by the pounding beat. “What are they doing?”
“I...do not know,” I answered, shaking my head. “They appear to be waiting for something. Perhaps there are more of them down below.”
“Can we, uhm...can we hold off that many?”
“Yes,” I said firmly, “we can. We hold the advantage in our formation, and we will be prepared when they charge. When Rex signals the tunnels are ready, we will retreat immediately; we need not endanger more lives hunting these beasts through the tunnels.”
“Yes, Commander,” Challa replied, her relief clear upon her face. “We will not fail.”
I felt the corner of my mouth begin to curl into a smile. “When this is finished, Challa, I would have a word—” A sudden, thunderous crunch shook the stone beneath my feet. I whirled to my left to find the source of the impact, and my blood turned to ice in my veins. A Serathid stood directly in the center of our leftmost formation, violently bobbing up and down after its impact with the floor. A half-dozen soldiers laid at its feet, crushed down into sickening positions.
A faint whistle registered in my ears through the cries of panic around us. “ABOVE!” I screamed, grabbing Challa by the rim of her breastplate. I hurled her into the empty space ahead of us as I spun my shield into the air above my head, instinctually moving to block the attack I knew was coming. My eyes caught a glimpse of torchlight reflecting off of a deadly crescent blade above me as I reached my free arm up to brace against the incoming blow. Every joint in my body popped as the weight hit me, and a roar of pain escaped my lips as the inside of my shield smashed against my face and shoulders. The weight knocked me down to one knee, but I maintained enough control to dump the beast to the ground away from my soldiers behind me.
A flurry of motion surrounded me on both sides as I knelt, momentarily stunned. Soldiers swarmed around me and assaulted the beast I had deflected as it writhed on the ground in pain and shock. Instinct took sudden control of my body, and I threw myself up to my feet to reassess the situation. “Bryce!” I shouted, spinning towards our right flank. “Regroup the vanguard and circle to the outs—” My breath caught in my throat as my eyes met Bryce’s. He was suspended two feet above the ground by a glistening scythe through the center of his chest, his yellow eyes dim and lifeless as blood poured down his chest.
The entire world seemed to freeze as Bryce’s body slid from the blade and crumpled to the ground. Not like this. My stomach lurched as a fresh wave of adrenaline jolted through me, and I shook away the panic grasping at my mind. I scanned the cave with sharpened vision, finding another round of three Serathids skittering along the cavern ceiling towards us. The remaining six on the ground pressed forward at a more cautious pace, seemingly waiting to observe the outcome of their surprise attack.
When my attention turned to the remainder of my forces, it was clear that their resolve had broken. A small contingent of fighters had held together in each formation and taken their revenge upon our surprise assailants, but a majority of the soldiers had fled towards the relative safety of the exit tunnel. No. Not soldiers, I reminded myself. Civilians. They were not prepared for this. Yet, I brought them here, regardless. I dashed over the slain Serathid at my feet and pulled the small warhorn from Challa’s belt as she stumbled to her feet, then put it to my lips and let out three short blasts. “Retreat!” I shouted, pointing my shield to the cave entrance. “Fortify the barricades! Block the tunnel!”
The fighters around me were more than willing to flee from the advancing beasts. I grabbed Challa by the shoulder and ran back through the fortifications, weaving back
