He took the Mourning Wasp further up out of the valley and towards the surrounding landscape. From forests to the shore, creatures, humans, rumel, Okun, all lay in bloodied pieces. The whole region reeked of death and faeces; how many had died here to create such a mess, he would never know.
He flew towards the shore to see smouldering fires where the ships had been set alight; out to sea, vessels still burned. Out of the shallows jutted chunks of metal and wood, and the broken, webbed wings of enormous creatures. Mile after mile of this devastation stretched out along the grey surf. Occasionally something stirred within the bloody mess and Brynd wondered if someone had miraculously survived, but it always turned out to be a looter clipping rings from the fingers of the dead.
As he drifted over the corpsescape, he vowed to himself that this was the end of blood being spilled. It was the most humbling sight he had ever seen.
It was nightfall when he returned to Lantuk and no sooner had he landed than a garuda swooped down to land beside him. The impressive, black and white feathered creature, with astonishingly bright armour, breathlessly tried to get Brynd’s attention.
‘You have news for me?’ Brynd demanded.
Aye, the bird-sentry signed. I have flown all night from Villiren, as quick as I could.
‘Villiren?’ Brynd asked, frowning. ‘What’s wrong?’
The gangs, he signed. They’ve risen up to take the city.
THIRTY — THREE
‘I’ve got an idea,’ Randur said suddenly. It was pitch-black, and he’d only managed to get four hours’ sleep, but it was better than none. He stood up and stretched himself awake. The cold soon brought his senses back.
He took a mouthful of bread and a glug of water before he crouched by Eir. ‘I’m going to head over the side of the building. We’ve got rope, right?’
‘What on earth for?’
‘I need to visit someone,’ Randur smiled, moving over to a specific bag they had brought up. He rummaged inside, clanked about, managed to scoop something out and conceal it in one of the pockets of his breeches. ‘Just trust me, OK?’
‘Don’t go, Randur, stay. Can’t you send one of the others to do whatever it is you have in mind?’
‘Nope. No one else will know the way.’
‘What are you going to do exactly?’ She eyed him with suspicion.
‘Just trust me.’
Randur gave orders to some of the men to help tie him securely so he could step over the edge and abseil down one side of the building, near one specific area. He walked down the wet stonework as if he had done it all his life, though he was fearful that he’d fall onto the streets below.
Now’s not the time to show you’re scared, Randur, he told himself. You’ve blagged your way through life — at least you can give everyone a little hope you know what you’re doing. .
After a few minutes of faffing about on his way down, he managed to find the window he wanted. Luckily it was on one of the higher floors, where they had not bothered boarding up the windows, only the doors on the inside. He peered through the glass but knew there would be no one on the inside.
No one from the gangs, at least.
He kicked at the glass and in large chunks it shattered. He cleaned the gap of any shards, and laid a piece of cloth on the windowsill for extra protection. Gripping the sides of the frame, he manoeuvred his legs into the gap, before untying the rope from around his waist. He sat there, momentarily, cursing his lack of fitness. A year ago and this would have been a piece of piss, he thought.
Once he had regained his breath, he wriggled through the gap and into the corridor connecting the gaol cells. He looked around for any signs that he had been spotted, but guessed he had got away with it.
Rika was in the corner. She appeared gaunt, skinnier than ever, but her expression was one of deep anger and resentment.
‘Evening,’ he announced, but she showed no signs of having heard him. ‘I’m guessing you’re probably quite hungry, right?’
Again, nothing.
‘Well, I’ve got a surprise for you.’ Randur pulled the key from his pocket. First he walked to the main door that connected with the rest of the Citadel and checked it would open easily; then he returned and put the key in the lock. Hungrily, Rika glanced to his hand and then back at him. He reached down into his boot, drew out a dagger, and placed it outside the cell, then sprinted to the window, jumped back up onto the frame, tied the rope securely around his waist. He heard the key click in the lock and the gaol door creak open. He slid his head then the rest of his body up and out of the window. He tugged down three times on the rope and shouted that he was coming up. He began to feel the rope tighten then yank him back outside into the darkness.
Back on the roof, back safely with Eir, she demanded he tell her what he had been up to.
‘I went to see Rika,’ Randur muttered.
Eir contemplated his statement and replied, ‘You freed her, didn’t you?’ There were conflicted emotions in her gaze, and he placed his hand over hers. ‘She hasn’t eaten in days, but she’s capable of causing a lot of damage. It took a superhero to catch her, that other night, you know.’
‘I can’t believe you did that without consulting me.’
‘It was the right thing to do, Eir. They would have killed her if they had seen her in the cell like that. They’d have shown no mercy because of who she was. If we’d brought her up here, she would have eaten us all.’
Eir remained silent, but the fact that she did not withdraw her hand indicated that she could well have supported his decision.
Screams filtered up through the night. They were occasional, at first — could have been anything. But the next time Randur woke up, the wails of agony from below were terrifying, far more so than anything the gangs had imposed upon the group. Men seemed to be suffering from horrific ordeals. They were sobbing and screeching like bats.
There must have been very few places to run in the winding corridors of the Citadel, very few ways in which to escape. However, if you were familiar with the layout, as Rika was, then there would be infinite places to take refuge.
Perhaps it was a very cruel thing for him to have done, unleash some mad cannibal in such confines. Perhaps. .
Only when the screams finally diminished could he fall asleep once again.
The crowds began to surge again, down below. The first rays of the morning sun began to show themselves, peeling back the darkness of the night. It had been a quiet evening. If indeed there had been breaches of the higher levels of the Citadel, Randur wasn’t aware of it. For all he knew, the gangs might have decided that there was no one around any more; that they had vanished down some secret tunnel. There was nothing to reveal that they were on the roof.
They ate meagre rations and waited. Noises filtered up from below: the Citadel was being ransacked. All that the commander had worked for was probably being ripped up or, judging by the burning smells, being set alight.
‘Do you think we should perhaps negotiate with them, lay down our weapons?’ one of the guards said.
‘Oh that’s right,’ Randur replied, ‘hand them our arses on a plate. Do you really think they’ll offer any kind of mercy? These are gangs — another word for c-’
‘Randur!’ Eir interrupted. ‘There’s no need for that. The man was simply asking a logical question.’
‘Logical?’ Randur spluttered, and glared at the soldier. ‘You can hand yourself in if you want. They might use your head as a vase if you’re lucky.’
‘I meant no offence, sir,’ the soldier replied wearily. ‘My apologies. I will, of course, fight as long as you instruct me to.’
‘Good.’ Randur strode to the edge of the building to look over the cityscape, feeling the chill wind on his face. He half hoped someone would see him and report that there were people on the roof. He wanted people to come at him now. He was sick of waiting — that was all he had done since he’d been in the city. He was a country lad, a scrapper. What’s more, he hadn’t had a good fight in ages.