Chapter 21: 21. Ambush

Keir

As they got closer to Kodor more and more signs of battle and death could be seen. Civilians and soldiers had fled towards the mountains as the city died, chased by the seemingly endless horde of demons. The column didn't stop at what had once been a popular rest area beside a small lake, the entire area was covered in bones and hastily built barricades of bags, wagons, carriages, logs and anything else the poor bastards could grab.

Keir raised over a thousand simple skeletons from the piles of bones. He could have easily raised three times that number if he'd wanted to push himself. The dead picked up whatever weapons they could find before heading out ahead of the column, clearing the road and the woods of any demons that might be preparing an ambush.

Watching the men and women who made up the column, Keir saw the growing feeling of anger and loss. Passing a scattering of houses, a woman driving a wagon began to cry, her hand went to a locket hanging from her neck, clutching it so hard her hand shook.

A soldier got out of line at a creek where a mangled skeleton with a crushed skull lay surrounded by three smaller demons, a rusted pistol still held in it's hand. The soldier knelt down beside the bones, making the sign of The Father, placed the pistol in his pack and jogged to get back into position, his expression grim.

Several dozen were riding in the wagons, weeping, staring numbly into space, screaming a loved ones name, or muttering to themselves as they rocked back and forth. A handful were tied up, having tried to run, either searching for demons to kill or trying to escape the monsters that haunted their minds. The journey towards their old homes and the graves of their loved ones was too much for them. Back in the Keep they were able to keep their feelings under control, out of sight, out of mind. Now it was overwhelming.

In his time Keir had seen soldiers and civilians afflicted like this, their minds broken by horror. Most of them would be able to follow orders in a few hours. Others would need to be put somewhere safely away from the fighting, hopefully capable of doing useful work. Back in the War of the Dead, he could send such men back to their families with a small stipend and sometimes even land for their service. Now, they needed every hand either holding a gun or a hammer.

He saw some of his ghosts come flying back, giving reports of demons to Colonel Moreno. It was unusual not being the person in charge. Keir couldn't decide if it was more relaxing not having to keep everything in order, or more frustrating that he wasn't at the center of everything. At least he was well protected if demons attacked, being placed in the middle of the column, surrounded by dozens of Lleial, directly behind marching soldiers and ahead of the wagons carrying their own detachment of soldiers,

More and more ruined villages and even towns were popping up as the sun began to set. These had seen heavy fighting, some houses were completely destroyed by artillery, others were burned to the ground, had collapsed walls, or were full of bullet holes. What had once been farmers fields lined the road, they were even more torn up then the buildings. Shell holes, landmines, foxholes, and massive craters had killed whatever crops had once grown there.

If Keir had a few days he could raise another army from the bones that seemed to cover the land.

When they were about two or three hours from the city, the landscape began to change. The plants and trees were almost all dead. Not shattered or trampled by war, but utterly dead as if a spell had sucked the life out of all of them. And among the dead plants were piles and piles of bones and desiccated flesh. Tens of thousands of demons had died here.

There was some fresh flowers and weeds growing through the bones and dead plants, but they were the only sign of life. Even without his magic sight he could see and feel death covering the area like a shroud.

“What happened here?” he asked.

“Gas,” Floria said. “One of the last battles to save the city, they tricked the demons into thinking they were trying to clear an escape route. Then, when they had tens of thousands of demons here they hit them with all the gas they had left in the city.”

“Gas did this?” Keir knew that some gases were poisonous, but he didn't know they could be used as weapons and not on this scale.

“Chlorine gas, mustard gas, phosgene, even something called sarin gas. I scouted this area two days after the battle, it burned my nose just being close to here. They slaughtered the demons, it bought the city maybe an extra three weeks.”

“Is it safe to pass through here?”

She nodded. “It breaks down quickly enough. I've heard that in some places they've used gas attacks and sent out soldiers with gas masks and protective runes a few minutes later. An hour or two later and even unprotected soldiers can go through the area, so long as they avoid holes, the gas stays close to the ground and moves almost like water.”

He tried to picture what it must have been like, the only thing similar to it that he could think of was his grasping death spell. That spell sent tendrils of magic around him, seeking his enemies and draining them of life. Even that spell couldn't match what he saw here, he had to control it, sensing where each tendril was going, ordering it to kill or not, and it couldn't go very far. Too kill on this scale, it made the most horrifying weapons and spells of the War of the Dead look like children's toys.

Before he could think of what to say a ghost came flying to the column from the east. Another one came from the west. Two more flew overhead coming from the rear. Then a dozen came from all directions,

Keir mentally reached out to them, seeing what they had seen. Demons filled his mind, thousands of them coming together to surround the column. The dead he'd sent out to clear the way and guard the column were already fighting dozens of the monsters.

“What is it, Regua?”

“An ambush,” he replied.

Spurring his horse into a trot he hurried up the column to where the officers were already bellowing orders. They could win this battle, but they needed to prepare.

***

Near The Ruins of Kodor

The monster that had once been an old widow and was now undead driven by rage and hatred, crawled through the bushes, heedless of the thorns that tore at its ragged clothes and flesh. It reeked of blood, courtesy of the dozens of demons it had slain. Its white claws were still pristine, they turned the dead grass a silvery white from frost. Its prey moved past it, not realizing what was stalking them.

The demons were moving in a group, the small monsters capered around the larger ones. A massive demon, protected by thick bone and as large as an elephant trampled everything in its path, creating a path for the rest.

Leaping from the bush, the monster grabbed an Imp that was lagging at the back of the group. It squeaked as her claws pierced its throat, freezing its flesh. They were hidden in the thick foliage a moment later.

As the demons looked around, wondering what the noise was and where the child-like demon had gone, the monster bit into its kill. The warm blood made it shiver with delight.

A dark hound came close, growling at the smell of blood. Pushing its head into the bushes, it whined, jerking back missing it's lower jaw. Whimpering howls came from it's throat, it rolled on the ground in agony, slowly dying from blood loss.

Most of the demons reacted by instantly charging into the bushes. The large armoured monstrosity continued on its way, too dull to notice what was going on behind it.

The monster raced through the bushes, leading the demons further into the woods. The small demons quickly left their larger brethren behind, not realizing what was about to happen.

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Sliding to a stop, the monster lunged at the demon pack, heedless of their natural weapons. It's claws and teeth sliced through their flesh like water. Every blow broke bone. The demons screamed as they died to a creature, stronger and far more monstrous than they were.

When the larger demons got to the killing ground, all they found were twitching corpses and pieces of half frozen flesh. Searching for the enemy, they never looked up.

Dropping from a crumbling pine tree, the monster landed on the back of the long, sinuous reaper. The demon shrieked, trying to hit it with it's scythe-like limbs. It's skull was pierced and opened by the monsters claws.

A four-armed Brute grabbed the monster before it could run. It's massive hand crushed the monsters arm into paste. The monster didn't care, it raised it's clawed feet and slashed the demons face into ribbons. As the monster dropped to the ground, it's arm hanging uselessly at its side, it shrieked with blood lust. Throwing itself at the throat of the nearest demon, it's savage mind was filled with delight at the sight and taste of blood.

***

Thousands of screechers darkened the sky. They had come from hundreds of miles around, forming a massive flock of tiny, bloodthirsty demons. They were staying well away from the column, waiting for their land bound brethren to attack. When the humans were focused on the ground attack, they would fly in, taking the prey by surprise and swamping them with bodies. A voice in their minds had told them to kill everyone in column, especially the mages. They would have done so anyways, but the order made it clear that it had to be done quickly, so they would wait and then attack as one.

As they flew to their waiting spot, dozens of strange shapes rose from the trees ahead of them. Then there were hundreds, then over a thousand. Most of the screechers squealed in confusion. The few who had survived the last battle against the humans screeched in fear.

The screechers weren't very smart, but they were obedient. They had to kill all the humans. They didn't know how these humans could fly, or why they were translucent, but they were clearly human shaped, they needed to die.

The air filled with screeches and shrieks as both sides flew at the other.

Among the demons a barely noticed voice told them to hit the ghosts as often as they could. They wouldn't feel the ghosts but enough strikes and the things would vanish.

As the screechers crashed into the ghosts, there was no confusion when their claws passed through the ghosts. They simply flew onwards slashing, biting and even flying through their enemies. The ghosts struck back, striking wings, faces and limbs, looking to disable rather than kill.

Blood fell like rain, and demons hurtled to the ground desperately trying to stay airborne with shredded wings and missing limbs.

The ghosts began to fade, vanishing from existence as their magic was drained from the countless blows, given and received.

By the time the sun had set, the screechers were alone in the sky, victorious but horribly mauled. Where they had been an overwhelming flock, there were a few thousand exhausted and battered demons landing in the trees to sleep and recover.

***

An army of demons swarmed through the dead forest, following a command to attack the humans soon after dark. They didn't like attacking at night, they were creatures of the day, but the command could not be ignored.

They were the most numerous group of demons. They hadn't been in the last battle, they were fresh, having spent the last several months moving through the region looking for humans, eating what they could find and mating. Many of their numbers were only a month or two old, smaller than the adults but still ready and able to kill.

As They passed over the bones of demons and men. Some sniffed at the bones hoping to get some scrap of meat from them. They recoiled at the harsh smell of gas that seemed to permeate the bones of their kin.

A gnasher opened its enormous mouth to crunch down on a human skeleton. It was a mere baby and was constantly hungry as it rapidly grew to maturity. The bones wouldn't be very nutritious but it would help calm it's hunger.

It squealed as a knife blade pierced the roof of its mouth and entered its brain.

As if it were a signal, skeletons rose from the ground stabbing and clubbing anything near them. The demons roared in surprise at the enemy in their midst, unsure where to turn as many of them were swarmed and brought down.

A Horn Blower, a four legged demon with a long mouth, screamed at a group of skeletons. The sonic boom it created knocked the dead men to the ground, they got up immediately and began attacking another demon. It screamed again, killing several demons with its sonic weapon, the skeletons were again unharmed.

It's simple mind tried to comprehend what was going on when a sword gutted it.

Close by an armoured lizard spat fire at the skeletons attacking it. The intense flame made the skeletons bones crack, but it didn't stop them. As a knife slid between its armoured plates, the Spitfire panicked and let loose a long gout of flame that should incinerate and melt its attackers.

Two of the skeletons fell, their bones too brittle to hold them up. The rest kept stabbing as the dead wood and brush around them caught fire and began to spread.

The demons ahead and behind the ambush fell on the skeletons, ripping them apart, shattering their bones, and crushing them under their feet. But as they destroyed their enemy, the fires caused by their own side spread through the dry, dead wood.

As the last of the skeletons fell the demons fled in every direction, their instinctive fear of fire overriding their orders.

***

Keir

Standing off to the side, Keir watched while barricades were built, stakes were placed into the ground, and trees were felled. Things were going nicely as they prepared for the attack, no one was panicking, and his dead were working tirelessly.

Several ghosts flew over to him. He smiled at the images that flashed through his mind, things were going well. By the time the demons started their attack, there would be even more surprises waiting for them.

The demons were about to find out what it was to fight a true army of the dead.

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