Iron Seeds (Legend of the Iron Flower Book 8) Page 20

  "What are you waiting for, Corn Cob," Amber shouted, "let's get down there! The city guard's going to need all the help they can get!"

  There were a lot of monsters, and more by the second. Could they even be stopped now that they'd gotten inside? But Amber was going down there whether Jacob wanted or not, and he wasn't about to let her fight alone while he hid in fear. He followed her.

  #

  They joined a squad of soldiers led by a short stocky veteran called Shannon, a man whose name Amber jokingly mocked for being girlish before he gave her a punch that earned her respect. They headed through alleys and side streets towards the apparent location of the portal, fighting their share of monstrous stragglers despite their attempt at stealth. As they drew close, however, the concentration of monsters increased. It became apparent they would not likely reach the gate intact, and even less likely escape if they managed to destroy it. So they retreated for now, joining most of Gustrone's inhabitants, and soon found themselves on the plain just outside looking back. Many warriors had died trying to protect the civilians. Though the monsters thankfully didn't pursue for the time being, a few jeered at them from the walls, and taunted them with thrown stones that fell short.

  "I can just imagine what Mom's going to say when she gets back." Amber groaned while she laid on the grass, tunic cut to shreds and soaked through with her blood. She'd taken a lot of hard hits, and much to her embarrassment could barely hang onto consciousness.

  Jacob nodded, his eyes playing worriedly over her strained face. "Yeah, she'll be pretty mad at herself for not being here."

  Scratching his scruffy brown beard as he walked towards them, Shannon wondered, "Would she even have been able to stop this?"

  "If she and Dad were around, I doubt we'd be out here now," Amber said confidently even as she shuddered with pain. "Though those numbers would be a challenge even for them. It's like the Norh plains emptied out in Gustrone..."

  Shannon stared towards their conquered home. "Damn them. Well, I'm sure once the Kayland forces from around the nation join up to take our city back, they won't be able to hold out for long."

  Amber didn't feel so sure about that. The walls were quite formidable, and the small dip in the top made by a falling giant golem hadn't done much to weaken them overall. It would be tough to retake the city if the monsters played it smart, and seeing as they'd been able to sneak a magic gate inside, they might not be too stupid.

  Sitting down at her side, Shannon gazed at her blood-soaked garment. "You okay? That big brute pasted you good."

  "It was just a glancing blow," she said of her worst injury—a deep gash torn by an ogre's axe over her ribs, breaking more than one of them in the process. Her side throbbed madly, but what really bothered her was that she had bits of clothing stuck inside the wound. She'd have to take care of that soon, but it was going to hurt!

  "Didn't look like a glancing blow—looked like he chopped you good."

  "Yeah, I guess he did. You want to help me?" Amber bared her awful wound, wincing as she pulled fabric out of the rent. Fresh blood welled out, and sundered white bone could be glimpsed. She noted absently a broken arrow stuck just two inches from the end of the gash; she hadn't recognized that pain as a separate injury before.

  Catching her peeling away her garments, Jacob asked, "What are you doing?!"

  "I'm letting him get a look at my wound, Prince Suspicious! You want me to clean and stitch it myself? That hurts."

  "I'll do it," he replied as Shannon looked on anxiously. She could tell the stout soldier was worried about her, and wanted to treat her before she lost much more blood. She did find him kind of cute, not that that was any of Jacob's business.

  "Are you sure, Jacob? You don't like messing around with blood and gore."

  "Is it really that bad?"

  "It's pretty bad," she said honestly.

  He leaned over with mixed dread and curiosity in his eyes, blanched at what he saw. "Okay, let Shannon take care of it. Geez, you've got to take better care of yourself."

  "Says you!" Despite all his caution, Jacob had been knocked unconscious by a club in the running fight out of the city, and Amber forced to carry him with her injuries. It hadn't been fun, though she was proud her body held up to the task. Luckily, he pulled through okay too, with just a slight lump on the head now to show for his misfortune.

  Flushing, he turned away. Shannon offered Amber a sip of wine and went to work. But as he tried to cleanse her wound with what little water he had, a huge rock plummeted to the ground scant yards from them. He cursed. "Dammit, they're using our own siege engines against us! Bastards, when I get my hands on them, I'll-"

  "Ow!" Amber said. He'd unknowingly dragged his hand across her gaping gash in his arm-waving fury, and it really hurt. She shoved him. "Get away from me!"

  "Sorry, I didn't realize... are you alright?"

  Another catapult stone landed even closer than the last, annihilating a cartful of supplies and sending splinters through the air. "No," she snapped, "but looks like now's not the time to rest anyhow. Let's get back before those things do serious damage!"

  Many of their allies had already begun moving, and as Shannon stood to follow, Amber did not stick by his side. Instead she limped next to Jacob, draping an arm over his shoulders both in a friendly gesture and for the physical support. He looked at her in surprise. "What happened to your friend?"

  "He hurt me."

  "Already?"

  She explained, making Jacob laugh. "So you want to take care of me? I'm a wreck, and the real medics are bogged down enough with people who are really hurt."

  "You're really hurt," he said with a noticeable wince at his recollection of the damage. "But I'll try my best."

  "Don't worry, I just need you to fish for scraps in there, wash it and patch it up. The bone, I'll take care of myself. Though it'd be nice if you had some wine too... do you?"

  Jacob hesitated for a moment before answering, "Yes."

  Amber grinned. "And I thought you were my perfectly well-behaved baby brother."

  "I might have been, but it's been a rough few months." And when they finally got out of artillery range, he went to work on her with less squeamishness than she expected. He'd hardened considerably over the course of their adventures, which in her mind was a good thing. They would need all the steady hearts they could get if they were to halt the monstrous threat.

  #

  Her wound closed with good sturdy thread, Amber waited anxiously with her brother to see what the army would do next, not being given privy to the discussion of their leaders despite their famous parentage. She imagined that young King Matthew must share some of her frustration; though he had recently gained official rule of Kayland, he was still very much a neophyte, and must have acted largely under advisors' instructions. Even so, at least he got to be present at strategy meetings...

  Kayland being the large nation it was, it took a few weeks before enough of its armed forces arrived outside Gustrone to attempt retaking their capital. Seeing no sign of their parents, Jacob and Amber began to grow worried. Where were they? Even if they had gone out of country, they probably should have still heard the news that Gustrone had fallen. But when the approaching siege towers of their allies rose into view, the focus of Jacob's fears seemed to change considerably.

  "Are we going to have to ride in those?"

  "I will," Amber said casually. "I need to get in close to do my best work. You're an archer though, so you don't."

  "Crossbowman," he corrected. "I'll stay by your side. Somebody has to look out for you, right?"

  Though she waved dismissively, she knew her smile gave away her gratitude. Soon they rode together in a tall wooden box towards the walls of Gustrone. Amber had enough of a reputation that they were allowed to wait at the top of their tower, which did little to alleviate Jacob's anxiety. Seeing another tower smashed into splinters by catapult fire, he yelped, and she patted his shoulder. "Relax, I'm right here with you."

&
nbsp; "Yeah, but you could actually survive that."

  "Maybe, maybe not. Looks like it'd hurt, though. Well, if I die, you can use my body as a shield."

  Jacob groaned. "Shut up, Amber. You're not going to die."

  "Of course I'm not, I was just kidding around—watch out!" She pushed him out of the way of a ballista bolt that pierced through the oak-panel door, impaling the soldier behind her as she too avoided the massive missile. The man's blood sprayed onto her armor, and she realized she'd almost suffered the same fate her mother once had. Getting impaled by a ballista would tickle. She saw they'd reached the wall, and leapt over the parapet where a goblin ran to meet her with spear in hand. It fell before they could engage, a crossbow bolt in its forehead. She moved on to the next enemy, an ogre raising its axe to finish a man it'd knocked down. Amber cut its throat from behind and helped him up. An arrow thudded into her chest, but her mail kept it from penetrating deeply. The soldier she'd saved threw a dagger at the goblin archer, dropped it.

  "Are you all right?" he asked, fixing his helmet.

  She nodded and turned from him to find Jacob still in the process of reloading his crossbow. "Hurry up! You're supposed to cover me, remember?"

  "It's jammed!" he yelled back as he struggled vainly to cock it.

  "Already?" Amber frowned, looked around, and spotted a dropped crossbow. Picking it up, she tossed it to him. "Here!"

  "Thanks, sis." He shot down a goblin charging at him in the nick of time and dashed to her side. "You want to go find that gate?"

  She'd almost forgotten about that since being run out of Gustrone. "Is there a point now? All the monsters that wanted to come through probably did already." She gutted an ogre with a cut from groin to ribcage, then heard her brother's reply.

  "It couldn't hurt to make sure no more will, once we get deeper inside."

  Though the monsters fought with respectable courage, they were the ones outnumbered now by the more organized attackers, and slowly started to give way. But once the battle moved off the walls and into the city, the humans' discipline became less of a factor in the chaotic fighting that filled the streets, disintegrating into a brutal contest of attrition as crimson rivers ran through the gutters.

  Amidst the bloodshed which left even Amber near speechless, the siblings found themselves separated from their allies when Jacob ducked into a alley to retch in private only to trapped by a pair of huge ogres and one troll on opposite sides of the passage. Amber charged the ogres, hoping Jacob would at least survive against the troll until she could finish her opponents. Surprising it with a dagger throw, she quickly killed the first foe with a blade in the throat. As the other ogre roared in anger and grief, she aimed a slash at its legs. To her shock it jumped over the low-sweeping blade, striking while it leapt at her head.

  She barely leaned away from the mighty club, ducked another blow, and opened a shallow gash on the monster's side. Its backhanded punch sent her reeling away and she fell purposely, feigning serious injury. The unexpectedly skilled giant nonetheless took the bait, rushing in for the kill so that she managed to trip it by rolling into its legs. As it tried to stand she buried her sword in its neck and it collapse, dead.

  "Jacob?" She turned to help her brother, who was already retrieving a crossbow bolt from his troll's eye. "Good job."

  "You too. Damn, this shaft's ruined." He tossed the bolt aside with a sigh.

  "Finished retching?"

  "I'll save that for after the fight."

  She hugged him proudly, then charged the next pack of goblins walking by the alley. Together they killed dozens of enemies, and Amber's exhilaration grew despite the sorrow for her fallen allies. She couldn't help the thrill she felt, and though Jacob didn't display the same, he gave her reliable aid from afar as he forced himself on with grim determination. They fought until their muscles could barely move with fatigue, and began to have trouble finding new foes. The battle must be dying down, and seeing monsters retreat deeper into the city pursued by soldiers, they started to relax, thinking the day all but won. Then shouts of panic sounded from the gate of Gustrone, and they ran to find out what was going on.

  To their dismay, another force of monsters was fighting their way in, trapping the humans between two enemy fronts. Amber realized what must have happened. Somehow, the monsters had snuck their gate outside the city, and split themselves in two to crush their unsuspecting prey. No wonder they'd been so easily dislodged from the walls... She was impressed if unhappy they could have thought of such a devious strategy to use, and growled as she warded off goblin spears poking at her belly, "They must have some leader."

  Jacob relieved her enemy load by downing a goblin. "Think our old friend Winston's back?"

  Before she could answer, a crossbow bolt struck the back of her thigh and she fell. Two large spears pierced her back as she rolled to her belly, and she thrashed agonizingly while leering ogres held her down. "Amber!" Jacob screamed, and shot dead one of the creatures thrusting sharp steel into her flesh. Then he screamed again, this time in pain, and fell himself with a quarrel in his hip.

  "Look who I've found again," Winston's familiar voice sung as he advanced on the fallen siblings.

  Amber stood and tore free of the still-held spear inside her, only for its wielder to thrust again and drive the weapon fully through her. Her spine arched violently as the tip burst amid blood from the right side of her stomach, but she stabbed backwards into the ogre's chest and slew it. She staggered forward, sank to her knees against a nearby wall as her hand left a red streak down it. She coughed out a gout of blood and raised her head to glare into Winston's eyes.

  "I'm going to kill you," she said, reaching for a dagger at her belt.

  Winston shot her in the right shoulder, laughing when the blade slipped from her fingers. But she'd freed a hidden knife from its sleeve sheath with her left hand as well and threw it, catching the arrogant goblin in his middle. He grunted and fell on his rump. Having dropped his bow, he scooted away, still sneering at Amber. Before he got a foot, Jacob's crossbow bolt caught him in the chest, and he dropped to his back.

  "You did it!" Amber beamed. "He's finally finished!" The large pool of blood forming around his body seemed to confirm her words, though somebody should go make sure. The goblin was tenacious.

  Jacob dragged himself to her side. "I'm going to faint," he muttered just before he passed out. She sagged against the wall, smiling contently as weakness threatened to make her join him. Luckily, the bolt in his hip had missed anything important; unless he developed a bad infection, Amber expected him to be all right. Or so she thought until half a dozen huge, armored ogres stomped towards them to avenge their master. Crap.

  Amber fought to stand, her consciousness perilously close to failing. Before she could make it to her feet, Shannon and three comrades fell upon the ogres, killing the first within seconds. Still she thought to aid them, worried their blitz would falter, but as she continued to watch realized they did not need her help. Clearly more skilled than most, the soldiers weaved fearlessly through the maze of swinging ogre swords, and with precise blows slew them in short order.

  "Amber," Shannon called softly after the fight was done. She raised her head to look at him, clutching the spearshaft through her. Though she tried to hide her pain, her mouth quivered ceaselessly to betray her. She caught the glint of metal in his hand and gaped as it thrust in, his knife seeking her heart.

  Almost too shocked to react, Amber jerked her arm up. She managed to deflect the blow a moment before it would have pierced her chest, but the sharp blade cut into her palm when she slapped it aside. "What are you doing?" she asked in disbelief.

  He met her gaze, eyes grim. "It'd be a mercy," he said gently. "A gut wound is a harsh death."

  Amber pushed herself up with the help of the wall and held out her hand, scowling while she showed him the bloody gash. "You idiot, I don't need your mercy! Look at what you did to me. How am I supposed to hold my sword?" She punched him, making him
stumble back, winced and clutched at her wounded hand.

  Shannon stared at her and rubbed his jaw. "You sure have a lot of energy for someone mortally wounded. I'm sorry. Would you like some wine to ease the pain?"

  "It's not fatal," Amber said, knowing the blood she drooled seemed to bely her words. "I'm very tough. But I'll take the wine."

  He pulled the skin from his belt and handed it to her, watching closely as she guzzled down drink. His eyes grew wide, and she guessed he must be surprised that she would not collapse, overwhelmed by agony, like he expected. "W-what's your name, anyway?"

  "Amber. What, you didn't know me? No wonder you tried to kill me. I had better build my reputation soon, then!"

  Shannon's hands shot out without warning to grab hold of Amber's shoulders and pull her close. Before she could stop him, his puckered lips touched her own. She set her hands against his chest and shoved him away. "What are you doing?! First you try to kill me, now what, going to rape me?"

  "I wouldn't rape you," he said swiftly. "I'm sorry if that was a bit hasty, but I couldn't help it. You're just... amazing."

  "The hell? You're going to get a thing for me now, while my body's butchered and my clothes torn to pieces? Make yourself useful then, if you like me. Get me and my brother to some medical aid!"

  Chapter 12

  "Indestructible just like your mom, huh?" Countess Ashleigh of Resnick commented as she worked on Amber's wounds in the makeshift hospital set up in the castle. The much-lauded protector of her county, the stocky blonde was also a longtime friend of Rose and Finn. "You two really are amazing for such young warriors—I think you'll be great heroes, just like your parents."

  The veteran's compliment made Amber feel good, but she shrugged and admitted, "We got lucky, that's all. Plenty of people could have beaten Winston. He just picked us to attack."