Rise of Heroes

Chapter 26 - Living Nightmares

“What is happening?” Cara asked the moment Isabelle dropped back in her seat. “What did they say?”

Isabelle didn’t respond at first, trying to calm her voice so that she didn’t frighten them any further. She considered herself the most level-headed of the four, and probably the only one who could hide her fear. Or lie properly. But remembering Simon’s face, she took a moment longer than usual to smile again.

“The storm is getting worse. They wanted to reach the castle before it started,” she said, receiving a few relieved sighs in return. Only Elaine continued to stare at her, but after Isabelle gave her a reassuring smile, the girl returned to the conversation they were having before the interruption.

For a few minutes, they kept talking despite the constant jolting and the noise outside, when suddenly the shouts were cut short by a high-pitched shriek. The four of them covered their ears at the same time, gritting their teeth to numb the piercing pain that came with the sound. Just as it started, the scream cut off. The carriage sped up again, at which point Malina started praying to the gods.

“I don’t know about you, but I prefer to get a little wet rather than die! This is madness!” Elaine said in a panicked voice, her hands gripping the edge of her seat. “I’m telling them to slow down!” The moment she reached for the door’s handle, Isabelle caught her wrist. Her younger sister gave her a puzzled look.

“No!” Isabelle barked, quickly smoothing her face before Elaine saw the panic in it. “They won’t put our lives in danger. Maybe the storm is indeed very bad. None of you knows what may happen during a storm here.” She continued but realized that with each next word, their faces grew more and more scared.

She missed Corelle’s calm presence and Lydia’s sweet words, who could put everyone at ease. All three girls before her were just sheltered children ⁠— easily frightened and knowing nothing of the world. But something was telling her that might change today.

“What…” Elaine started, but before she could finish, something slammed into the side of the carriage, making it tilt. The girls’ screams filled Isabelle’s ears, but she was too shocked to make a sound herself. The carriage tilted back on four wheels and continued forward with the same frightful speed as the girls tried to pick themselves up.

“What was that?” Melina cried out, her face as white as a sheet. “What, pray the gods, was that?” Her wide eyes turned toward Isabelle, then back to the window on her side. She skidded toward Isabelle and the latter was just raising her hand to embrace her and try to calm her down when there was another clash.

This time the hit was stronger and with Malina’s body almost in Isabelle’s lap, the carriage didn’t fall back into place as before. Instead, it kept tilting until all of the girls found themselves rolling up and down in the narrow space — fingers reaching for a gripping point or hands covering heads in attempts to protect them.

The carriage finally stopped, and all of them fell on top of each other — bruised, hurt, and scared out of their minds. For a few moments, none of them moved until Isabelle, who had landed on the top, slowly rose up. The carriage had stopped on its ceiling and she carelessly banged her head in the seats upon rising.

“Are you all alright?” she asked in a hoarse voice. Every breath caused a sharp ache in her chest, but nothing felt broken. She felt a sting on her forehead so she touched it, only to find blood smearing her fingers.

“They won’t put our lives in danger?” Elaine snarled angrily while trying to get up. “Is this what you call not putting our lives in danger? We could have died!”

“Calm down!” Isabelle said while pushing the door of the carriage. Instead of opening, the door fell limply on a pile of leaves in the underbrush where they had stopped. Isabelle stepped outside, signing to the others to wait. She wanted to make sure it was indeed safe from whatever had made Simon so worried. From whatever had caused the carriage to overturn.

Tall, thick trees were rising high above them on both sides, their branches so close to each other that barely any light made its way through. The carriage had crashed into one of those trees, just under its vast crown.

Isabelle’s eyes searched for the coachman, but before she could find him, the sound of battle reached her ears. It took her a few long seconds to take in the scene — all the Anamirian soldiers, along with the Roderians, were fighting fiercely for their lives. Some of them were still on their horses, and others were already on foot or lying motionless on the ground.

She couldn’t help but notice the difference between their men and the Roderians. The first were scattered around, desperately fighting with everything they got, their faces twisted in horror; on the other side, the Roderians had fallen into some kind of formation, all working in threes or fours, covering their backs in movements that seemed well-trained and thoroughly practiced. Even if someone among them fell, another one filled the gap, shouting directions, so their movements quickly fell into sync.

It wasn’t the fact that they were under attack that made Isabelle gasp in horror. As unexpected and scary as that was, it paled in comparison with the realization of who attacked them. Or rather, what attacked them.

The attackers, who at first she thought to be humans clad in green and gray from head to toe, were for once, too tall to be human. Some of them didn’t even resemble a human from afar, but her shocked mind failed to notice that. But then it did.

Isabelle narrowed her eyes at a couple of Anamirian soldiers who were trying to defend themselves against one of the creatures. Moving on all four, the thing resembled a bear, but it was much larger, its maw spreading so wide that it could easily lock its teeth around a man’s torso. At the sight of its numerous long teeth, Isabelle realized her knees were shaking.

The creature jumped forward with a deafening growl that made even her take a step back. The monster hit one of the men with its thick tail and he flew a dozen feet back before landing heavily on his stomach. He tried to get back on his feet, reaching for his fallen sword, when another creature landed on him, tearing his head off like he was plucking a flower from the ground.

A scream came from further down the road, making Isabelle turn just in time to see a huge lizard jumping on Miara, one of Elaine’s maids, and locking its long teeth on her shoulder. A second creature got her by the legs, pulling wildly until a loud, sickening nose replaced her screaming.

Isabelle slapped her hand over her mouth as she watched the girl get torn in half,. Her mind, blank and empty until that moment, finally acknowledged the gravity of the situation.

This was real. They were attacked. They were attacked by things that shouldn’t exist and their men were dying so fast, soon there wouldn’t be anyone to protect them.

“What in Gods’ name…” Elaine’s trembling voice made Isabelle jump, letting out a shriek. As she turned, she noticed her sister standing frozen next to the overturned carriage while her ladies were getting out of the hole that used to be a door. Both Cara and Melina gasped in horror as their eyes took in their surroundings, the latter preparing to scream.

Isabelle had but a few seconds to reach her, pressing her palm against the girl’s lips. Melina’s eyes widened in shock, but she made no other sound besides the quiet sobs that rattled her body. Attracting attention was the last thing they needed since their position didn’t provide them with any cover or protection. If even one of those things caught sight of them, it was all over.

They had to get away from the battleground. Away from those creatures, whatever they were. Away from the open space, away from the blood and the gore, away from all that death that was closing in on them.

“We have to hide,” Isabelle whispered, glancing first at her pale, shivering sister, then at Cara, who was now holding Melina’s hand.

“I think it’s too late for that!” Cara whimpered in a tiny voice and Isabelle followed her gaze. One of the monsters — a massive, human-like being with mud-brown skin so tight on its head that one could see the muscles on it twitching, was making its way toward them. Its skeleton-like appearance and eyes shining with bloodlust made it look like a grotesque picture of a living nightmare. Its mouth was full of unnaturally long teeth, four of which were jutting out of its thin crimson lips like fangs. The beast’s eyes were pitch black and what Isabelle thought were its weapons turned out to be its sharp, bony arms that were even longer than the longest swords she had ever seen.

Isabelle’s hand fell from Melina’s lips and the words that were coming out as mumbling quickly took the form of prayer she repeated again and again. Isabelle glanced at her little sister only to find her completely petrified, not even blinking.

She scanned the ground where the clothes from their coffers had bestridden chaotically until a shiny object caught her gaze. As if in a trance, she rushed toward it without thinking, grabbing the silky gown that covered half of it and throwing it away as if it was no more than a filthy rag. She stared at the sword, most likely property of the guard driving the carriage, before wrapping her hand around the hilt. She lifted the weapon and almost dropped it. It was much heavier than she had expected and the hilt was so thick, she had to use both hands to hold it.

“Izzy?” Elaine whimpered, her eyes darting between her sister and the creature advancing toward them. Isabelle gritted her teeth, moving in front of her sister and raising her sword, so it was pointing toward the thing coming their way.

“Stay behind me!” she commanded, and she noticed with relief that her sister obeyed without hesitation. Isabelle turned her attention back to the creature that had almost reached them when she realized that it had stopped. It was no more than twenty steps away from them, but it didn’t proceed as if it was intimidated by her poor posture and shaky hands.

‘Impossible!’ Isabelle thought, barely allowing herself to breathe under the intense stare of the beast. The monster stood still for a moment longer, then changed direction and bolted toward a couple of Roderians with animal-like ferocity. Isabelle almost dropped the weapon in relief but the nagging feeling of danger didn’t disappear.

She turned to check on the other girls when a long shadow caught her attention. Her fingers gripped the hilt tighter, and her body tensed even more in an attempt to hold it up. Neither Elaine nor her ladies had yet noticed the creature that had climbed on the overturned carriage and was hovering ominously over them.

Isabelle allowed herself a quick look — long thick tentacles fell from the back of its bald head, their thin ends moving and twisting as if they had a will of their own. Its mouth covered half of its face, revealing four rows of black teeth.

“All of you, walk toward me very slowly. Now,” she whispered, hoping that the creature wouldn’t attack them the moment they moved. Cara had to pull Malina after her, since the girl seemed completely out of it. Just when Cara’s shoulder passed Isabelle’s, Melina turned her head to look back. Nobody was fast enough to stop her from screaming this time.

The beast crouched in surprise, then bellowed with rage.

The only thing Isabelle was able to do before the creature attacked was to push Elaine out of the way. The monster crashed into Isabelle with such force that all the air left her lungs even before she hit the ground. Its jaw chattered right next to her face, her family pendant entangling between its teeth. The creature locked its deadly jaws inches away from her face and the small stone let out a loud cracking noise. Isabelle pushed the sword with all her might — the only obstacle between her and the creature’s maw. Isabelle reached out with her left arm, grabbing the other end of the sword with her bare palm.

Crying out from the pain that cut into her skin, she tried to hold on to the blade with trembling hands. The thick black blood of the creature kept dripping on her chest and neck, mixing with her own and making her hold even more slippery. Its teeth kept inching closer and closer, its terrifying eyes locked on her as if he wanted to taste her fear before devouring her flesh.

Elaine screamed for help, but the sound got swallowed into another sound — a low, monotone noise that sounded like a horn. A moment later, a three-foot-long arrow pierced the beast’s left side, almost throwing it off her. She tried to take advantage of its distraction and push the beast off, but that only brought the creature’s attention back to her. The beast pushed the sword even harder toward her, ignoring completely the way the blade cut deeper into its flesh. A long, bifid green tongue slipped between its teeth, licking her face.

Her hands were shaking so hard, she knew she was at the end of her strength. The monster inched closer, and she turned her head to the side, unable to look at its horrid face. The creature’s slick tongue licked her cheek again as if almost testing its meal, making her squirm in despair. Isabelle whimpered as the smell of decaying flesh and something even worse filled her nostrils, all while the creature got closer and closer.

‘We should have never come here,’ she thought desperately, squeezing her eyes shut. At least if she died first, she didn't have to see Elaine dying. Or maybe her death could allow her sister to escape the same fate. Either way, that was the end of the line for her.

Somehow, she wasn’t scared.