Iron Blooded

I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on my tent pole.

Opening my eyes, I saw that the chair across from my cot was empty. Gills stood in the entrance, his face a mask of worry.

I sat up quickly, wincing as my new bruises stretched.

“What is it?” I asked him. From the light outside I could tell it was still day, but Gills was agitated by something.

“There is trouble in the city,” he said. “Last night there were reports of refugees going missing. Just this morning a body was found by the entrance of the sewer.”

I blinked away the fog from my brain.

“Orks?”

Gills shook his head.

“I doubt we wouldn’t have heard of it if eight-foot red skinned beasts were somehow prowling the inner city at will. No, this is something else.”

I rose to my feet and grabbed my helmet from where it lay next to my cot. There was a sizable dent in the metal where the blow of an Ork had almost killed me.

“And I suppose they want us to take care of it.”

Gills nodded.

“The garrison is occupied defending the walls, and with the looming siege, well, you might have the only squad that can.”

I sighed and pulled my helmet on, fastening the leather clasp under my chin. Gills hesitated long enough that I raised a brow at him. Then I realized he couldn’t see my face.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked him.

Gills glanced through the entrance flap at the armored men moving past. Then he lowered his voice and turned to me.

“There is something going on here that I don’t like,” he said. “The Inquisition has been poking around recently, asking questions to the men. It seems like they are looking for someone, though they won’t say who.”

My stomach knotted with tension but I kept my peace.

“Sounds like the Inquisition alright."

“I suppose..” Gills didn’t look convinced but he followed me out of the tent to where my men rested in the courtyard. Draxus looked up, and a smile lit his face.

“Had me worried there Blackbriar,” he said. “I thought you might have been a goner.”

“Not yet,” I slapped him on the shoulder as I went by. Draxus grimaced.

“Go easy, you knocked me six ways to Sunday only hours ago.”

“Sorry.”

I rubbed the back of my neck.

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“I’m still learning how things work. Next time I’ll hit Kato instead of you.”

“Do my ears deceive me?” said Kato, rising from the box he had been sitting on.

“Or was I just threatened?”

The arrival of Ser Connel was announced by the obnoxious rattle of his plate.

“Lieutenant Giller,” he said, his lips twisted In distaste.. “I have been directed to advise you that the 3rd is needed to reinforce the defenses of the main gatehouse. And Blackbriar,”

He directed an equally distasteful stare in my direction.

“You are to take a small squad and descend into the sewers to deal with whatever threat you may encounter. Since this morning two bodies have been found by the sewer entrance in the city center.

He hesitated.

“Watch your back, Ser William," he said at last. "There is speculation that whatever is inhabiting the lower cisterns might have been there a long time. The sewers are likely its hunting ground, and you'll be at a severe disadvantage.

I buckled my sword unto the belt at my waist.

“Understood.”

I chose Draxus, Kato, Hade, and two other men from my squad to accompany me into the sewers. The rest of my men joined with Gills and began their march towards the front gate. I watched them go, framed by the light of the dying sun.

We had repelled the Ork assault force, but that had only been the beginning. Now, we faced the threat of true siege.

“They’ll be alright,” said Draxus, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Right now we need to focus on ridding the city of the threat within. If corpses start to pile in the streets it could begin to foster disease.”

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I nodded and turned away.

“Then we should get moving. Check your inventory for extra torches. We’ll need the light when the sun goes down, and I don’t fancy crawling about in the dark if someone happens to drop theirs on their own crotch.”

“That was one time,” grumbled Kato.

The main street leading to the square was as silent as ever. A wind blew a few stray leaves, tumbling over one another. I was reminded of the fire-haired God who had given me his blessing only yesterday.

The God King’s followers taught that he was the only god in all the lands, and to believe in another was heresy. It was obviously a lie, but I couldn't help but wonder why.

We turned between the shadow of two houses, coming out into a small alcove to the right of the square. Here, a gutter led towards a sloping storm drain set into the ground. There were iron bars over the entrance and when I peered inside I could see only yawning darkness.

Nearby, the stain of old dry blood was painted on across stone. The trail led towards the sewer drain and disappeared beyond the metal grate.

I held out my torch as Draxus struck his tinderbox. The spark caught and flared to life.

I held the torch over the drain entrance and peered straight down. There was a rusted ladder to one side of the man-sized hole, but it was long enough that I couldn’t see the bottom. I swung my shield onto my back and fastened it there before stepping forward.

“I’ll go first,” I said. Draxus and Hade, you follow. Kato will bring up there rear.

I ignored Kato’s snort, wrapping my fingers around the metal bars of the grate and pulling. The grate creaked and came away with a screech that set my teeth on edge.

The sound echoed down into the sewer and I grimaced.

“Smooth,” said Kato. “If you were going for the whole entrance by fanfare.”

I leaned the grate against the lip of the sewer and stepped up and over, swinging my leg around until it connected with the metal rung below. Draxus took my torch as I lowered myself down. The smell of rust and musty air hit me like a wave as I descended.

Halfway down I had to stop to adjust my grip on the bars. There was some corrosion there, some kind of sticky fluid that clung to my gauntlets. When I finally reached the ground far below it was dark. Looking up I could see Draxus’s face framed by the glowing ring of torch fire.

I held out a hand and moments later Draxus dropped the torch straight down.

I caught it by the shaft and turned about, hand Iron Fang.

The tunnels inside the sewer were wide enough for two men to walk shoulder to shoulder. There was a small gutter in the ground and water tricked through it and down a small slope into empty darkness.

Moments later, Draxus dropped down beside me. He had forgone his spear for a short sword, and his shield was slung across his back.

“Nothing like the damp and dark,” He muttered, stepping forward and examining the tunnel. The stone brick was worn and covered in what seemed like some variation of moss. As his torch flickered across it, the moss glistened.

“It’s wet.”

“Well that’s generally what happens when you’re surrounded by water,” said Kato as he came clanking down the later. Hade and the two other soldiers took up positions as Kato pulled out his own torch.

“Alright,” he said “Let’s kill this thing. Preferably before it kills us.”

“What monsters typically live in sewers?” I asked as we made our way forward.

“It depends. Sewers can be a damp and dark breeding ground for all kinds of nasties. Bogarts, mutant rats, shambling mounds you name it.”

“Shambling what?”

“You don’t want to know.”

The tunnel floor sloped downward and I had to brace against the wall to keep my angle. Draxus paused and held up a hand.

“Do you feel that? It’s a cool breeze.”

Kato and I exchanged a look.

“What breeze?” I asked. “I didn’t notice…” No sooner had the words left my lips than a tiny shiver went through my body as If my neck had been doused in ice water. I blinked.

What the hell had that been? I glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed, but nobody seemed to react. In fact, Kato was studying something on the ground, his back to me.

“I think,” he said, dropping to a crouch near a cluster of small white mushrooms. “That these are corpse mushrooms.”

There was a pause.

“They're what?” I asked, coming to stand beside him. The carpet of mushrooms was growing out of a mound against the sewer wall. I had originally taken that mound for algae, but as I looked closer I saw the white of bone.

Unbidden, the image of the Untree flashed in my mind. The corpses twisted and piled together as the tree devoured them whole. The thought was chilling.

“So said Draxus, voice echoing off the walls. “Whatever it is, It’s killed before today. And more than once. Look."

He gestured deeper into the tunnel, and I realized that he was right. Corpse mushrooms grew from mounds scattered around the tunnel. Some were as small as rats. Others were much longer and vaguely humanoid.

"Keep your guard up," I told Draxus. "The last thing we want is this thing to get the drop on us. Hade, you take the rear. If you see anything call it out."

"Aye Ser."

Our pace was slow and careful as we descended deeper into the sewers. Twice the tunnels branched off in different directions and each time we followed the trail of mushroom corpses deeper into the sewer.

The wet algae on the ceiling shimmered and danced in the firelight of the torches. I watched it uneasily, but it didn't seem to move or even react to our presence.

After a moment a faint tapping sound echoed through the tunnels. It was soft and rhythmic and it was difficult to tell which direction it had been coming from. Draxus had his hand on his sword, gazing into the darkness.

"Sounds like scratching," I said. "It could be rats."

Draxus shook his head.

"Whatever is making those sounds is far larger than a rat. It's also far quieter. At this point, we should assume it's aware of our presence here."

After a moment, the tapping ceased and the tension dissipated. We continued forward and rounded a corner where the tunnel widened, and the channel of sewer sludge seemed to grow deeper. I hopped the channel, holding out a hand to help Kato across.

When he landed he straightened and his eyes grew wide.

"Throne on High," he muttered, stepping forward. "What is this?"

I turned and my eyes snagged on the writing on the walls. It was jagged and curving, written in a language I couldn't Identify. It was the same as it had been back in that cave with the cursed bear and those eyeless corpses.

My swallow was audible, even to my own ears. Draxus lifted his torch and brought it closer to the crudely carved letters. As the light of the flame made the shadows dance, something about the carving caught my eye.

"Look," I said, pointing. "It looks like some sort of mural."

Draxus frowned, leaning closer to study it.

"I can't make sense of it," he said. "This language is like nothing I've seen and the mural doesn't make any sense. It's just a depiction of a man and a dear." he pointed towards the figure of the dear, its curved horns and skull face immortalized in stone.

A chill that had nothing to do with a breeze went through my body.

"Draxus," I said slowly. He turned to face me, and the shadows under his eyes made him look almost like a corpse.

"What type of Monsters wear deer skulls."

Draxus's brows drew together and he turned to face the mural again. I saw the moment my words registered to him. Saw his eyes widen and his throat bob in the half-light.

"I only know of one," he said.

The silence was oppressive as we waited, all eyes on him.

"Wendigo."

Somewhere down the distant tunnel, the tapping began again.