Locked In

Join Brother Leroy as he and his leaderless squad scramble to defend their new headquarters in Nescetan from a horde of Beasts. Written in 37 A.S.

I was at the new headquarters in Nescetan when it happened. If you ask me, it was a great idea, raising a base of operations in every town within Iseron. You’ve got a standing chapter of Hunters intimately familiar with the town and people they’re defending and the land they Hunt in – most of them born locally to boot. It’s a trick and a half, though, ensuring every chapter has the right people, the right gear, the right resources. But, so far, the Council has been pulling it off, and I was sitting comfortably – buffing my newly forged breastplate – when the alarm rang.

I was out of my seat before the second ring of the bell and strapping my cuirass to myself by the third. I ran to fetch my helmet, sabre, and musket; my dagger already at my waist. I burst out into the streets alongside my squad members: Sister Aubrey, Brother Zachariah, and Brother Julian. It was fortunate we had all decided to remain within headquarters while off-duty. Our squad leader Sister Ellen, however, was off with Master Tomio to find terrain for some secret test she had been very vague about, so we would have to make do without her.

Outside, I saw Makers, Providers, and Traders rush into whatever buildings they could, a Beast at their heels. It was limber, moving with flowing movements interrupted by short, sharp twitches. It resembled a wolf in build, grey fur covering it from large paws to long snout and large ears, but it was more vicious – its muscles almost angular. Without a moments’ hesitation, the four of us levelled our muskets and fired, sending the Beast flopping jerkily to the ground. We ran over to it, Aubrey making sure it was dead with a quick stab of her dagger.

We were about to study our kill when gunshots told us the alarm wasn’t ringing for just one Beast breaching the perimeter. I wondered briefly how multiple Beasts had gotten past three on-duty squads of Hunters, but set these thoughts aside to focus on what needed to be done. Setting off towards the gunfire, we reloaded as we ran. Coming out into the main street, we saw the scope of the assault.

Throughout the length of Nescetan, Beasts similar to the one we shot were darting across the streets. Some barked and jumped against doors and window shutters. Others shot between buildings, chasing seemingly nothing with a ferocious vigour. Still others climbed up the fruit trees lining the street or even ran up walls to hide in the roof gardens. I swallowed at the sight, hardly knowing where to start with these clambering fiends. By their rigidity, I could tell my Siblings were similarly struck.

Then one of the Beasts darted sideways up the wall of the building we were stood next, pressing off from the wall and leaping for me with its mouth agape. Aubrey clubbed it from the air with her musket. Zachariah stepped forward and shot the Beast dead, Brother Julian kicking its now lolling head for good measure.

At the gunshot, though, the other Beasts jerked around, yipping and yelping before darting toward us from the streets, the trees, the rooftops. Knowing when to stand and when to run, we ran, rushing back the way we came. We sped past the first Beast we had killed, but its kin were gaining on us despite our head start. Julian told us to keep going, and before I realised what he meant he had stopped and turned, shooting the closest Beast before tossing his musket, drawing his sabre, and rushing into the onslaught. We called out to him, but we kept running, and thanks to his sacrifice we made it back to headquarters, shutting the door behind us.

I leant against the wall to collect myself, but Aubrey pointed out that headquarters has an open square for training. Startled by what this meant, we moved swiftly into the building, splitting up to shut every door and window the Beasts could reach from the roof. We were almost done when one of them landed in the courtyard and rushed through the final open door to attack Zachariah. His calls for aid echoed through the halls as I ran toward him, but they turned into a strangled gurgle before Aubrey or I could reach him.

I rounded the corner, Aubrey doing the same across the hall, and we found Zachariah propped against the final door, held shut by his weight and that of the dead Beast laying heavily on his chest, his dagger stuck in its side. His face was drooping, streams of blood coating his cuirass as they ran from his torn throat. We grit our teeth at the loss, shutting the door properly and heaving the Beast into one corner, laying Zachariah out in the other. Reverentially, we stuck his dagger in his heart so that the Starsteel would prevent the Dark Ones from resurrecting his remains until we had time to burn them. We then did the same with the Beast.

Safe for now, Aubrey and I sank onto our haunches – panting and sweating – to take stock. Nescetan was overrun with Beasts. We had lost two of our squad members to them, and we had no idea where our squad leader was, or even if she had survived the onslaught so far. Similarly, we had no idea how Master Tomio or Nescetan’s other squads were faring. Furthermore, although we were safe for now, we were locked in, and we were supposed to be out there Hunting the Beasts. The thought of waiting out the storm felt repulsive to us.

I suggested the best course of action would be to get word to Fenblith – after all, its standing force is much larger than that of Nescetan and it could easily send help. However, Aubrey pointed out that even if one of us got out of Nescetan and managed to get to Fenblith unharmed and the Council immediately sent down a force to relieve the town, it would take days, and even the people who had managed to get to safety were unlikely to last that long, given almost none of them would have access to food and drink.

And so we were resolved to strike out at the Beasts. But we would need a strategy, as the two of us couldn’t hope to slay the entire horde haunting the town. We debated what to do. Aubrey suggested to strike and retreat, sneaking out to shoot one or two Beasts before retreating to headquarters again. After some deliberation, we rejected this idea, as we had been lucky to escape the Beasts the first time and shouldn’t test our luck again.

The logical conclusion, then, was to find a way to lure the Beasts into a trap. To this end, we needed to take stock of our resources. We went to the armoury, reaching it swiftly but finding the door shut tight from within. Perturbed, we announced ourselves, at which point we heard a sigh of relief, followed by hurried footsteps and the removal of a length of wood serving as a makeshift lock. The door opened to Spencer, one of the local Makers selected to oversee the production and maintenance of our gear. He was pale with fright, his eyes bulging as he let us in and shut the door behind us. Hurriedly, he explained that he had been mending some worn straps when the alarm had rung. He had shut the doors to protect himself, waiting for Hunters to come for him and listening in fear to the sounds of fighting and death.

We explained what had happened, how we lost our squad members, and how we intended to stop what we were by now calling the Clamber Fiends. Spencer listened in rapt horror. Then we asked what gear was on hand for us to use. Spencer swallowed, visibly steeled himself, and went through the inventory, gesturing to the armour and arms racks as he spoke. There were some replacements for the standard brimmed helms, cuirasses, sabres, daggers, and muskets. There were also some coned helms, swordstaffs, and blunderbusses for specialised Hunts, as well as gauntlets, greaves, and vambraces for especially dangerous ones. Finally, there was the prototype, recently sent from Fenblith for field testing under Master Tomio’s supervision. It was a gun with five barrels which would rotate with each fired shot so that a Hunter could fire multiple times before reloading without the risk of the mechanism getting jammed as earlier attempts at repeating guns had done.

Aubrey and I exchanged a glance. I asked if the prototype was reliable. Spencer assured me the Makers in Fenblith had claimed that it was, but had warned it did have a major drawback other experimental repeaters didn’t have, namely that after each five shots loosed, the barrels would have to be individually reloaded, taking quite some time.

I hesitated, but Aubrey stated that she felt confident she could reload the gun smoothly enough. All she would require was someone keeping the Beasts at bay while she did so. I nodded, telling Spencer to fit me with armour.

He obliged, and while Aubrey took the time to acquaint herself with the weight of the repeater as well as the spinning mechanism, my lower legs, forearms, and hands were plated in steel. I then replaced my sabre and musket with a swordstaff, readying myself for a fierce fight.

Aubrey and I both swapped our brimmed helms for coned ones, allowing us to keep sight of the rooftops. We then left the armoury, with Spencer once again locking the door behind us. We were of one mind: we would lure the Clamber Fiends to the courtyard and deliver them into carnage, Aubrey firing away while I kept the pack at bay with my swordstaff. It was a risky plan, but it was the only plan we had, and we needed to act.

We returned to where Zachariah lay, readying ourselves for the fight to come. With one last nod exchanged, I swung open the door Zachariah had died shutting and stepped into the courtyard. Aubrey kneeled behind me, raising the repeater as I stepped aside to give her clear sight.

Then I started making noise.

I shouted. I struck my fist against my cuirass. I stomped my feet. Soon enough, I heard it: the yelping and barking. The first Clamber Fiend appeared atop the roof, leaping down into the courtyard. The moment it touched the ground, a shot rang out, and the Beast crumpled. Another appeared, then another, and both were shot down the same as the first, Aubrey’s aim steady and true.

As the repeater’s mechanism whirled the next barrel into place, I saw a shape looming over me in the corner of my eye. I spun, chopping into the Clamber Fiend as it pounced, showering myself in its vile ichor.

Aubrey fired again behind me, making me turn. Her shot had missed, the Beast she had intended to kill now darting across the courtyard toward us. Swiftly, she whirled the final loaded barrel toward the firing mechanism, aimed, and shot the charging Clamber Fiend down. She called out a reload, and I stepped into place to defend her as she cleaned and loaded the barrels as swiftly as possible.

Another two Beasts clambered up and over the walls of headquarters, dashing past their fallen kin and rushing towards me. I braced myself, and swung horizontally the moment they came within reach. My blade struck true, hacking apart the first Beast’s jaws in a burst of bones and teeth. I retracted my swordstaff and thrust at the second, skewering it, its black ichor gushing across the ground.

I stepped back – jerking my weapon free – when another Clamber Fiend landed heavily on my back, sending me stumbling as I hastily shrugged it off of me. I turned just in time to see its slavering maw snap shut on my thigh. Pain lanced through my leg. My body urged me to strike down at the Beast with my gauntleted fist, but my training overruled it and I swiftly drew my dagger and stabbed it down into the nape of the Beast’s neck. With a shudder, it let go. Warm wetness trickled down my leg, but I ignored it, limping back into position while Aubrey finished reloading.

Still more Clamber Fiends leapt into the fray, heedless of the almost half a score of Beasts already dead on the ground. Aubrey fired, fired, fired, adding another three cadavers to the slaughter. My leg burned, but I stayed sharp, noticing another Clamber Fiend trying to jump me just in time and leaping aside. I made to strike it, but it turned to Aubrey instead, leaping toward her. Without hesitation, I hurled my swordstaff, nailing the Beast to the ground mere paces from Aubrey. In thanks, she shot another above my head, its limp body sliding from the roof and crashing down a short space behind me.

I limped to my swordstaff, gasping at the pain. With more effort than it ought to have taken, I withdrew the weapon from the Beast, planting its butt in the ground to lean on it instead of my leg. I breathed deeply, forcing the pain out of my mind.

We waited for more. Aubrey reloaded the four barrels she had emptied as I continued to monitor the roofs. Sound came from outside the gate. I sank into a ready stance despite my aching thigh. Then we heard a voice.

Master Tomio had returned.

I rushed over to the gate as swiftly as I could, ignoring my injured leg as Aubrey covered me with the prototype. I unlocked the gate and wrenched it open. In front of me stood the battered members of the three on-duty squads – covered in blood and ichor – led by Master Tomio, Sister Ellen at his side.

I collapsed at the sight, my body finally giving into the wounds in my leg as I realised what their return to headquarters meant.

The Beasts were dead.