Champions of the Apocalypse (19 page)

“Hey!” shouted the first.

The other two men heard the commotion and drew their own weapons to join their comrades.

“Get out of my way!” ordered Thrax.

The four men refused, not that Thrax expected anything different. Though he was a big man, the Raiders were no weaklings. They rushed him, all four at once to increase their chances of success. As the first two came within his range, he stepped back with his left foot and brought up his mighty sword from his lower right. It cut upwards in an arc and slashed up in front of him. The first man he caught just under the ribs and the blade continued through his body and moved onto the second where it struck his arm and head. He rested the sword on his left side, the point almost vertical and waited. The following Raiders were already too close to stop though and they leapt into action.

Jonas jumped into the open space to help but Thrax was already pushing back the two Raiders.

“Get inside, find her!” shouted Thrax as he hacked away.

Jonas ran around the vicious melee and towards the large, grand doorway that led inside the Citadel. The door was open and his instincts told him to check. He moved to the side and peeked around the corner to see what was happening inside. From his position, he could make out several figures in the large open room who were arguing about something. He turned back to see Thrax approaching, the two Raiders dead and in several bloody pieces on the ground.

“What is it?” he asked as he moved to the doorway.

“There are more inside,” replied Jonas.

Thrax, unfazed by what he said, reached down and pulled out a small folding-crossbow from a leather sheath on his side. He tossed it to Jonas.

“You know how to use this?” he asked.

Jonas simply nodded and flicked the lever that pushed out the folding side sections. Thrax reached his other side and pulled out an identical weapon that he held in his left hand. He kept the massive sword in his right but held it low so as not to get in the way.

“Now!”

They both ran inside and into the wide hallway. It was sparsely furnished, inside the room was big enough to house easily up to a hundred people at a time. In the centre of the room stood the great hulk of Cainon whilst on each side of him stood two equally vicious looking men, both of whom were dressed in the armour of his clan and certainly not as the Raiders. They already had their swords drawn and rushed towards Thrax whilst Cainon took a large, two-handed mace from the rack of weapons on the wall.

“Now!” shouted Thrax.

Jonas lifted his crossbow and aimed carefully at the closest enemy. He pulled the iron lever and the steel tipped bolt covered the short distance to strike into his forehead. No sooner had it struck his skull and Thrax did the same. His bolt hit the second warrior in the chest but it wasn’t enough to stop him. Without so much as a second thought Thrax dropped the weapon and grasped the blade of his sword with his left hand whilst keeping his right on the hilt. Doing this shortened the weapon and changed its characteristics into that of a short spear. With a quick jab, he embedded the tip of his sword directly into the man’s chest. The combination of the stabbing motion and the momentum of the running man forced his body along the blade until a good six inches of metal pushed out from his back. Jonas threw his crossbow down and drew his own sword whilst Thrax extracted his blade from the dying warrior.

“Where is she!” shouted Jonas.

Cainon moved closer, holding the two-handed mace out in front of him.

“Poor lover boy misses his girl!” he laughed.

Taking a step forward, he swung the weapon. It was heavy and the mass of the weighted head could smash chunks from masonry and crush a man’s bones. Jonas only just managed to avoid the strike and ended up stumbling and crashing to the floor in his desperation to avoid the hit. Thrax wasn’t awed by either the man or the mace and he knew from experience, that a heavy swing like that would over balance the man. He judged his charge to time with the weapon just passing its apex and crashed into him. Both men staggered across the room before hitting the wall. Cainon was no weakling though and although he was pinned to the wall, he immediately started to deliver low punches into Thrax’s ribs and stomach. Each strike hit like a hammer and for a moment Thrax almost dropped to the floor. Shear willpower kept him standing though and with much effort, he lifted his left leg and slammed his knee hard into Cainon’s crotch. It was a powerful strike and instantly stopped the rapid punches he had been absorbing. As Cainon dropped from the attack, Thrax followed up with a hammer fist blow to the side of his head that sent Cainon to the ground, stunned and unable to continue the fight.

“You okay?” asked Thrax as he stepped back, still wheezing from the punches.

Jonas lifted himself up off the floor and staggered over to him.

“I’ll live,” he replied with a forced smile.

As he approached Cainon he couldn’t see him moving.

“Is he dead?”

Thrax bent down and checked for the man’s pulse.

“He’s just stunned, he’ll be back up soon though.”

He pulled back his jacket to reveal two small daggers, both pushed inside thick leather sheaths. Jonas stepped forward and held his arm.

“Hey, what are you doing? We need him,” said Jonas.

Thrax looked down at the man and then back at Jonas.

“What do you mean? He’s just another thug that needs to be dealt with.”

“No, he is Cainon, the son of Lar and the leader of his clan. He could be useful,” explained Jonas.

“Useful? You mean like a hostage?” he asked with a wry look.

“Exactly.”

Thrax nodded whilst smiling.

“Now you’re thinking like one of Galan’s men. Good idea.”

Thrax moved over to the wall where the weapons were stacked and untied a long piece of rope that had been wrapped around a batch of blades. He tossed it over to Jonas.

“Here, tie him up, I’ll check for prisoners.”

As Jonas worked on keeping Cainon under their control, Thrax headed to the back of the room and a small doorway. As he approached, he came to a small corridor with three doors, one in front and one on each side. Each of the doors was fitted with a sliding metal slat about the size of his head. He pulled back the first one and looked inside. It was a dark room but he could make out the shapes of several people tied up along the walls.

“What’s going on out there?” asked one.

“Who’s there?” came a voice from the room behind him.

“Where are the engineers?” asked Thrax.

“Engineers? Why do you want to know?” asked the prisoner in a suspicious tone.

“We’re breaking everybody out, we need the engineers to work the train,” explained Thrax though his tone suggested he was quickly losing patience.

“In that case we’re who you need. I’m Tom and this is Jac, we’re responsible for servicing and running the engines.”

Thrax pulled the iron bar that unlocked the door and stepped inside. As he entered, Jonas arrived from his tying up of Cainon.

“Engines? There is more than one?” asked Thrax.

Before he could answer, Jonas interrupted.

“It sounds pretty bad out there. We need to get Synne and the engineers out of here.”

“Is Cainon secure?”

Jonas turned and pointed to the prisoner who he had obviously dragged along the floor to where they were. Thrax smiled.

“Good work, you check the other rooms, I’ll get these guys out.”

Jonas moved to the room opposite whilst Thrax searched about for the keys to the chains. It didn’t take long to find them hanging from a ring on the far wall. As he released the first man, he was surprised to find the second was a woman.

“You’re one of the engineers too?” he asked.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” replied an indignant Jac.

“I, uh, come on, we need to go,” said a flustered Thrax.

As he helped them up, he remembered Tom mentioning the engines.

“What did you mean when you said more than one train?”

“They aren’t trains, they are engines,” said the man who was then interrupted by Jac.

“They’ve had us working on them for almost a year now, since they got hold of the plans from up north somewhere. They have the main engine that goes down to the Trading Post most days. We’ve also been working on their military engine for three months now,” she explained.

Thrax helped them to the door before stopping Jac. He made to speak but Jonas appeared from the side room with several prisoners.

“Look who I’ve found. Ulric, the son of Galan!” he said with a smile.

The badly bruised, but proud looking Ulric staggered out of the room along with two other men who were in equally bad condition. Thrax extended his hand to the brother of Synne.

“I am Thrax, an old friend of your father. I haven’t seen you since you were a small boy.”

“My father spoke of you often, it pained him that you were split by the troubles.”

“Yes, the Brotherhood, and its scheming, has a lot to answer for,” Thrax said as he glanced back at the still unconscious Cainon.

Ulric, watching his gaze spotted the man on the ground and rushed for him.

“You bastard!” he shouted.

Thrax grabbed him though and held him back.

“I know, I know. He is a bargaining chip, we might need him to get out of here. Trust me, you will get a chance to deal with him soon enough. For now, we need to find your sister.”

Ulric shook and struggled before calming down, the realisation of their bigger problems finally hitting home.

“Jonas, take the engineers and get them to the train. Look after them,” he said.

“Can you work the train?” he asked Tom.

“Of course, we pretty much built the thing!” said an almost indignant Tom.

“What did you mean by a military engine?” he asked.

“It is pretty simple, just a modified engine, or train as you call it. It has a few changes made for battle conditions. I don’t see why it would ever be needed. It has armour around the boiler and all the crew sections, and we’ve just fitted fighting platforms for the guards,” Jac said.

“Can you get it working for our escape?” asked Thrax.

The two both nodded in agreement.

“Good, get going, we will be with you once we find Synne.”

The small group left to go back through the main hall and out of the front entrance. They moved quickly but carefully, ever on the lookout for stray guards. As they moved past the weapons, they each grabbed a sword or spear, anything that they felt comfortable holding. In seconds, they were out of the door and in the open.

Thrax and Ulric stood at the end of the corridor, there was just the one door left to check.

“You ready?” asked Thrax.

Ulric nodded and Thrax pulled back the bar to gain access to the room. They stepped in and were surprised to find the warm glow from the oil lamps hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the small room was a table, Synne lay lifelessly on top. Part of her clothing was cut, or torn away and several small pools of blood had already formed on the floor.

“No!” shouted Ulric as he rushed forward.

He grabbed at the straps and undid the buckles to free his wounded sister. Thrax leaned down towards her face, listening for breathing.

“She’s alive,” he said whilst checking her body from top to bottom.

Ulric lifted her up and tried to put her onto his shoulder.

“Her wounds look superficial, I think she’ll be ok. Come on, we need to go!” Thrax shouted.

The three remaining prisoners who had stayed behind helped to lift her to Ulric’s shoulder, the small group then made for the door and into the hall.

“You three, carry that thing. We’ll need him for later,” said Thrax as he pointed to the still body of Cainon.

They may have been weak and exhausted but the sight of their hated enemy gave them a newly found source and energy. Thrax could only imagine the thoughts running through their heads as they grabbed him, half-dragging and carried him out and to the front of the Citadel. As they emerged from the dark building and into the sunlight it was clear that the entire base had erupted into a swirling melee of fire, smoke and fighting. Small groups of people ran towards and away from the fires. Some carried water, others possessions and smaller numbers carrying weapons to join the fight.