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Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

Its shudders and small cries as it died were chilling

*Andrew’s POV*

I left Vas and an impressive number of Day Watchmen to keep an eye on the Soul, to check and see if there was any sign of reinforcements arriving. If not, there was nothing for it, I'd go back on foot myself.

I could hear the sounds of Watchmen shouting and the ballistae being shot, but the archers were still holding their fire. I figured the horde must not have drawn close enough yet for bowmen. They certainly were taking their bloody time. Perhaps the trolls were less organized than we had thought?

Like an eerie vision, I spotted Papa Emeritus soaring through the air, coming out of the trees, along the path. Reluctant to go far from the shrine, where I had said I’d find Eliza, I nevertheless jogged over to meet the imposing gast.

He saw me and pulled up, landing just a few feet away. “I was roused. Others are coming. What is the situation, Second Officer?”

I gestured at all the frantically scrambling Watchmen. “There are kobolds, we can’t see them, something sent them inside the Walls-“

The five Nameless Ghouls started whirling about over Papa’s head as he nodded. “Not for long. I will harden my luonto and beseech the kalman väki to aid us with sight.”

With that, Papa levitated back into the air, and began to stomp his feet as he chanted nonsense. I started to feel wildly uncomfortable, as though I had an itch I couldn’t scratch, and my stomach vaguely pained me. Slowly Papa's hair began to rise on end, and the Ghouls began to circle overhead faster and faster. Groaning and yowling, Papa made for an intimidating sight; not for the first time, I was glad he was on our side.

With an unintelligible shout, Papa shook his fists back in the direction I had come, and… Nothing happened.

Wait a second. What the deuce was that? I saw a dark, bent figure darting out from between some barrels to knock over a weapons rack!

I turned to Papa, “You did it!”

Papa nodded, totally unsurprised. “Of course I did, Andrew. Goodness! Now, unless you need my services, I’m going to go spread plagues throughout the enemy host. Yes?”

I nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, yes, by all means!” And with that, Papa and his five henchmen took off again into the air.

I had just turned to go skewer the kobold I had seen when I heard a shout, “Andy!”

I turned and relief filled me; it was Eliza, up the path! “Draw your weapon, there are kobolds behind the Walls!”

Eliza whipped her battleaxe out of the loop in her scabbard and kept running towards me. “Just kobolds?” She was panting hoarsely and would clearly need a bit of a rest before sprinting elsewhere.

I shook my head as she approached. “No, there’s an army of trolls coming into range for the bows and crossbows. I didn’t get a good look to see if there were any obvious siegecraft, they could be concealed in the cover of the Forest. Does the rest of the Village know?”

She nodded, pausing a moment to catch her breath. “Yes, they’re coming. I sounded the howlers myself. I alerted the Healers and Elder Ozzy has warned the Council.”

Ozzy? Out of time for detailed questions, I figured Eliza would tell me anything I needed to know. I turned and walked quickly back towards the Walls. “Kobolds are the size of toddlers, and they have to be eliminated! If something got them in here, it could get them out; we must keep them away from the Soul!”

I spotted another kobold, and I went after it and swung, gutting it easily. I took a moment to put it out of its misery, blood blossoming on the ground, before headed back towards the shrine. Dammit, a trio of the things popped out from behind a stack of straw!

I dispatched another two easily enough, but was distracted when I watched Eliza’s blow send the bleeding body of the third sailing clear through the air! It literally smashed into the Wall itself, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s a really dramatic way of killing something so small, Liza.”

She shrugged. “Well, it worked, didn’t it? So are we just going to try and root out the kobolds now?”

I nodded, as I looked all around us for more of the things. “Yeah, neither one of us thought to bring bows, and the enemy hasn’t entered the pomery yet. We need to eliminate the threat on the inside.”

I spotted a kobold and took off after it. Fucker was surprisingly fast! I felled it with a throwing knife to slow it down, then put Dennis Westower through its chest. Its shudders and small cries as it died were chilling, a sobering reminder of the cost of bloodshed. I waited until it was quiet before bending to retrieve my knife, wiping it on its hunched shoulder before slipping it back into my scabbard.

All around us, Day Watchmen were scurrying after the tiny, dark forms. They seemed to have caught on to their visibility, and appeared to be more concerned with running than with causing any further trouble. Even so, there was nothing for it. They all had to die.

Notes

how's everyone feeling so far about the story? are you excited yet?



woohoo! i got a new subscriber! thanks! yee-haw!

Comments

*NOTE* The author of this story no longer has access to her account due to site malfunction.
SmuttyPariah SmuttyPariah
4/15/17

I've waited right to the end to comment. I loved this so much. I love all the characters and if this site would let me vote loads, I would. I wish it were more like wattpad in that respect. I've read the first chapter of the next installment and I can't wait. I'm super excited.

xPockyCookiex xPockyCookiex
4/7/17

@Teja

yay! so glad you like it so far!

anathema anathema
3/26/17

@smutty pariah

*snorts at you* ;0)

anathema anathema
3/26/17

Yes, can't wait!

Teja Teja
3/26/17