Chapter LX: Gobudo
The warriors, clad in black cloaks and wearing black armor, their eyes a pale glowing blue, poured around the tower, the warriors riding around in circles, a rasping hiss rising from the group, a sound unheard by anyone on the living side of the world. The hiss burned into the soul and West pulled back from the top of the tower, unable to stare down into the writhing faces that seemed to shift and change with every second. There were hundreds around them, all with blades drawn and swinging. Finally, the creatures slowed their swirl and several of them dismounted from their horses, marching towards the doors of the tower, slowly marching across the wastes with malicious intent. West rose first, firing his pistol and striking one right in the head; it stumbled backwards with a screech that rattled the walls. After a moment, its body began to writhe uncontrollably and, its body convulsing, it burst into flame and crumpled to the ground in a flaming pile of ashes.
“Well, that was certainly interesting,” West said reloading his pistol.
“What just happened?” Blackheart’s voice echoed from within the tower.
“It burst into flames and was reduced to a pile of ashes. I guess that’s what happen when you kill hate.” West rose again and fired at one of the two who had stopped to stare down at their former ally. A moment later, another screech rang through the air. The shadows all began to wail in unison, the sound deafening the heroes as they pushed themselves close to the ground and tried to avoid the terrible screeching that cut through the walls. No amount of nails on a chalkboard could get this painful and frightening a sound. West gritted his teeth, rising and shooting another from his horse, “Ignore the pain and let loose an arrow, Laura!”
Laura nodded with a wince and rose up onto her knees, sending an arrow sailing into the chest of a shadow creature, watching it incinerate itself moments later. And then, all the creatures went silent. In unison, the front line of warriors dismounted their horses and charged the tower. Laura and West fired at the same time, sending two sailing back in a fireball, but it barely made a dent. The door buckled with the first blow, but the rubble held it up as the shadow creatures tried to hack their way through.
Blackheart drew his blade darkly, “Everyone get ready. It’s time to die.”
Outside, Eza sat in the crack in the wastes, glancing up at the horse’s underbelly. All she had to do was fly out and stab the creature, but she was afraid. She hadn’t ever been this close to something so dangerous and lethal. She closed her eyes and continued to listen the battle outside, unable to move. She began to cry as she listened to West yell for her to help out as he yelled to Laura to fire faster.
“EZA!” West reloaded his pistol and fired, blowing the head off one of the demon warriors who had scaled the wall. The flaming body sailed down, the other creatures stepping out of the way as the creature hit the ground like a meteor, smouldering for several moments. West turned to see another already almost over the wall, he brought his sword around and with uncanny speed, the creature’s hand was up to block it. It’s attention drawn, Laura let an arrow loose and watched as it tore right through the creature’s chest. It stared down as the fire began to consume it, West kicking it away from the tower as he drew his sword back and sheathed it. “We’re in deep shit!”
“I already know!” Laura fired another arrow into a creature bashing at the door, the arrow tearing straight through the top of its head and burying itself all the way to the feathers. As it exploded in a shroom cloud, Laura glanced over at West, “But nobody’s ever killed these things before! We’re doing better than anyone before!”
“That’s all great,” West said, firing again, “But it doesn’t mean a whole lot when we’re still going to die.” West glanced down into the swirling masses, “Eza! We could use your help!”
Eza quit her sobbing, wiping her tear stained cheeks and taking a deep breath. What was she? A coward? She had survived for a reason, and she believed this with all her heart. Everyday had been spent searching for the ‘why,’ and now she had discovered it and she was doing nothing. This wasn’t what she was supposed to do; it was time to take a deep breath and fight. Eza grabbed her blade and unsheathed it, sailing up towards the horse and swinging with ferocity at the back knee of the animal, scooting out of the way as the horse toppled over and the warrior tumbled from his horse. He hit the ground and Eza, with eyes closed, drove the little blade into the creature’s face and then sailed out of the way of the cannoning flames.
The warriors glanced back at the middle of their ranks where a second horse tumbled over and the warrior, moments later burst into flame. The pale eyes flickered for a moment, trying to understand what was going on. One didn’t get very long to think before a small metal ball tore through its skull and set it afire. “Suck that you hate-spawn!” West turned and kicked another creature from the wall, watching it land among the shadows and rising. “How are we doing down there in the tower?”