KGWrites

James

The Northern Walls, Winter District, Kingdom of Aldiron

Confusion ruled James’ mind.

The call of the north gate lowering had drawn him and Marius to the wall’s edge to look out. Sure enough, the wide bridge was lowering down over the burning trench, towards a waiting group of Accursed. As James watched, the black armoured troops began leaping up and pulling themselves onto it from the second they could reach it, before it had even touched the ground. Their horrific cackling echoed through the night as they charged towards the gatehouse and into the city.

James looked to Marius, about to ask what was happening, when a cry of anger came from behind him.

Alyx!

Spinning, James found himself faced with yet another confounding spectacle.

Captain Conrad Turner was laid on his back, trying in vain to find breath as a red smile opened on his throat, spilling red blood down over his chest in a waterfall. King Samuel Ravellan was currently rolling along the wall, having been quickly shoved behind Alyx, who had wrapped her arms around the waist of a helmeted member of the royal guard.

She drove forwards, pushing the guard back until they hit the back of the wall. Then they slammed down the hilt of their sword onto Alyx’s back, making her grunt in pain and release them. The guard followed that up with an arcing swing of their blade that Alyx only avoided by throwing her head backwards, causing the tip to pass just barely in front of her throat.

Reacting on instinct, James swiftly pulled an arrow from his quiver and took aim. He released the bowstring a second later and the arrow flew across the wall in a second, catching Alyx’s opponent in a glancing blow that knocked the sword from their hand.

Alyx recovered a moment later, moving back in close to the guard and slamming her fist into the soft side of their armour, where the plates were strapped together. And she just kept punching.

James tried to line up another shot, but with Alyx so close to the guard he was as likely to hit her as not. Still though, he kept his arrow trained on his target, ready to fire.

Alyx rained blow after blow on the figure, but her hits were ineffective against someone so heavily armoured. Raising their hand, he slapped Alyx across the face hard with the back of their gauntlet.

The clang of metal on metal was loud as Alyx’s helmet protected her head, but still the blow sent her stumbling away from the guard. But towards James, still blocking his shot.

James grit his teeth in frustration, moving to his right, trying to clear the shot. But Alyx recovered fast.

Charging back in, Alyx drove her shoulder into the chest of her opponent, pinning them back against the low wall before she reached down and gripped something. A rock, one of the ones intended to be thrown at the besieging army.

Lifting the rock in her fist, Alyx punched forwards with it. She hit her opponent directly in the faceplate of their helmet, causing their head to shoot backwards. Their limbs stiffened, stunned momentarily by the hard blow. Then she swung again, and again, and again.

The metal of the faceplate bent and shattered somewhere around the third or fourth hit, but still, Alyx kept going. With every hit, her opponent leaned further and further back against the wall.

Until, with a final bellow of rage, Alyx threw the rock forward into their face at the same time as she reached down, gripped the back of their leg and lifted, sending them tumbling backwards over the low wall.

They disappeared into the darkness down to the streets of the Winter District far below with a fading scream.

Alyx slumped slightly, leaning on the inner wall and panting heavily, staring after the treacherous guard. James immediately moved to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. She gave him a nod of thanks, sweat sticking that same defiant lock of hair that always came loose to her forehead. Then King Samuel’s voice came from behind them.

“Whatever’s happening, the northern gate is open. General Marius! Take a force of your legionnaires and get to that gatehouse, close it!” He roared, pointing down the wall towards the gatehouse.

Marius saluted and immediately began barking orders.

James’ mind flashed back to the cackling sea of black armour, the tide already beginning to wash over the drawbridge. If that gate wasn’t closed, then that tide would rush into the city, and it would all be over before sunrise.

Some part of James knew he couldn’t just leave that to others.

He turned his head back to Alyx.

“I’m going with him, keep the king safe. I’ll see you back at the palace.” He told her. Alyx looked at him incredulously.

“The fuck happened to no unnecessary risks?” She asked him and James chuckled, one hand gripping the back of his sister’s neck as he pressed his forehead to hers.

“Some jumped up little shit showed me we can do some good.” He laughed and she laughed too, her own hand coming up to grip his wrist and squeezing. Her hazel eyes locked to his.

“You’d better fucking be there.” She told him firmly and he nodded.

“I will. Don’t go killing any demons without me.” He promised, lifting his head from hers and moving away, towards Marius and his gathered legionnaires.

Along the way, James passed by Meghan, who gave him a half smile and a nod, which he returned.

It was a whole conversation, in a couple of quick movements and had completely silently.

Be careful. I’ll look after her.

I will, thank you. You be careful too.

And then James fell into step beside Marius, who ordered his troops forwards. Ahead of them, a group of twelve legionnaires began a steady jog along the walls, with James and Marius following behind.

They passed through the tower, along another section of wall where a single siege tower was blocked by a shield wall of legionnaires holding the Accursed at bay. Reaching another tower, Marius brought his men to a halt.

“Second legion’s meant to be holding everything beyond this tower, which is a straight run to the gatehouse from here. We don’t know the situation but given the attack we just saw on the king, treat all members of the second legion as potentially hostile unless we see evidence to the contrary. At all costs, we reach the gatehouse and close the north gate, understood?” Marius said to them, his face grim and his hand on his sword hilt. The legionnaires all saluted as one and James nodded, nocking an arrow to his bowstring. Seeing them all agree, Marius took a deep breath and nodded to himself, before he motioned them forwards.

The tower was eerily quiet, with only a few men of the third and fourth legions stationed within to man the windows as archers. That in itself wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary though, as many would likely have moved off to respond to the enemy reaching the walls. Indeed, it wasn’t until the group passed through the tower and out onto the wall leading to the northern gatehouse that the gravity of the situation became clear.

The wall was lit by the roaring fire of a burning siege tower, clearly one that had caught fire when the trench had flared from Meghan redirecting Draconeus’ magic. And the light revealed a massacre along the length of the wall.

Bodies of both Accursed and legionnaires littered the wall around the siege tower, evidence of a pitched battle for control over the wall. It wasn’t those though, that caught James’ attention and stole the breath from his lungs.

Instead, it was the bodies of legionnaires, scores of them, that lined the walls in growing pools of their own blood. Where they lay it was clear that the fighting hadn’t reached them from the tower, nor was this the work of fine archers from Draconeus’ forces. No, many of these dead legionnaires had been stabbed through the back, or killed while turning to face whatever new enemy had revealed itself behind them.

Which, judging by what now stood between them and the gatehouse, had been their own allies in the second legion.

In front of the gatehouse were ranks of legionnaires, with their shields held up in a wall that closed off the entire width of the city wall and blockaded James and Marius away from the gate. Atop the gatehouse itself, James could make out the shadowy figures of archers, taking aim at the group along the walls.

And definitely not firing down into the attacking enemy army.

If James had been in any doubt that the second legion had just betrayed the kingdom, what was now playing out before him cleared that doubt from his mind immediately.

“We need to get through them.” James said softly to Marius, glancing down to see that the bridge had fully lowered and the Accursed were flowing freely across it into Aldiron.

“Agreed.” Marius responded, before he tilted his head, and a sly grin came across his face. “Think you can repeat your shot from earlier?” He asked.

James turned his head to follow Marius’ gaze and found that still piled up at the side of the wall was a stack of pitch pots like the ones he and Alyx had used to blow up the tower. The pile was just behind the second rank of the second legion troops.

He didn’t answer Marius, just took the nocked arrow from his bow and dipped it in a pitch pot next to them. Marius smiled grimly and drew his sword, yelling out a battle cry as his legionnaires raised their shields in front of themselves and charged forwards, Marius and James barely a step behind.

As they passed by a brazier on the wall, James quickly dipped the pitch covered arrow into it, lighting the end and nocking the arrow to his bowstring.

In response to their charge, the second legion troops began beating their shields with their weapons, taunting the charging forces as their archers opened fire along the wall. Their arrows hit the raised shields of the charging legionnaires, thudding into the wood without doing any damage to the soldiers behind.

When they’d closed the gap enough though, barely seconds from hitting each other, James kicked off the low barrier at the edge of the wall, jumping up above the heads of his own side and loosing his arrow. He dropped back down to the wall just as two arrows aimed to stop him whistled through the air he’d just occupied.

Which meant he didn’t see his arrow strike true on the pots of pitch. But he certainly felt the results.

The night lit up with fire as bright as daylight and the stone wall shook as the explosion shot outwards. The second legion didn’t even have time to scream as the fireball either set them ablaze or flung them off the walls.

The legionnaires never stopped moving though, ploughing forwards through the remnants of the explosion, cutting down the few dazed troops left before they reached the door to the interior of the gatehouse.

Clearly the enemy had not taken the time to reinforce the door, confident in their superior position as when their troops reached the door, it took only a single hard blow from the lead soldier’s shield to force it open.

Seeing his bow would be pretty useless inside, James slung it over his back quickly, drawing his mother’s longsword from his belt just as he passed through the door and into the chaos of the gatehouse.

The inside was a messy melee of fighters. The explosion had removed all semblance of organisation and left both groups scattering their forces into many smaller fights throughout the towers.

James quickly found himself the target of one such fight as a legionnaire from the second legion battered one of James’ own allies out of the way and stabbed a spear towards James’ chest. He spun deftly, dodging around the thrust and batting the spear away with the flat of his blade.

Then he took advantage of the gap created and stepped in close, cutting the traitor legionnaire across the thigh and making them fall backwards with a cry of pain. James kept moving though, kicking the spear from their hand as they fell before stamping down on their wrist to pin them in place, ready for him to finish them with a quick thrust.

At the last minute though, they swung their other hand up, slamming James in the side with the edge of their shield and driving the wind from his lungs. He lost his footing, pitching sideways and releasing their arm, allowing them space to move away from him and stand again.

They stood lopsided on their wounded leg and kept their shield up between themselves and James as they drew their sword.

James slowly began to circle around them, tossing his mother’s sword into his left hand, out of his three-fingered right. He was as good with either hand now, Marius had made sure to train him in both. But his left hand had better grip on the sword hilt. Which, in a long fight, could make all the difference.

The two fighters eyed each other carefully, both waiting for the other to make a move, daring the other to make the first mistake. But James was patient, he used to spend hours lying on rooftops in freezing cold rain waiting for the perfect moment, waiting out the legionnaire was just a matter of time.

In the meantime, he busied his mind with another issue. One that had bothered him since the moment the second legion lowered the bridge.

Raising the bridge with the Accursed army on it would be nearly impossible. The added weight would make the bridge too heavy to lift. If they were going to close the gates, stop the tide of Accursed entering the city, then they needed another way to do it.

And, as his legionnaire opponent roared a battle cry and charged him, James saw that other way.

Stepping backwards, he dodged the legionnaire’s charge and spun, backpedalling towards the wall of the gatehouse, where a mess of ropes, pulleys and sandbags hung.

Again, his opponent came, and this time, James ducked beneath their blow, being showered in sand as their blade sliced some of the ropes and pierced one of the heavy sandbags hanging from them. The sliced rope whipped around like an angry serpent and something heavy and metal groaned from behind James. He grinned.

This time when the legionnaire came at him, James was ready. Using his sword, he batted their blade sideways before cutting along the wrist of their shield arm, coming up around their attack and spinning them.

As they hissed in pain, James kicked out at the cut he’d made on their leg and connected, causing them to collapse to the ground with a loud groan.

James wasted no time in moving forwards and gripping one of the ropes, pulling it and looping it around their arm and over their throat as they twisted in agony on the ground. Then he stepped back away from them as they swung their sword out in an attempt to gut him.

Clearly, they’d believed he was preparing to use the rope to strangle them as they grinned in triumph as they pushed him back, coming to their feet and reaching up to begin untangling themselves from the rope.

They stopped however, as they noticed James was grinning right back at them. Looking around in confusion, their eyes traced the snaking rope wrapped around them all along its length.

And came to rest on a heavy counterweight, hanging next to James. Who gave them a single cheery wave with his three fingered hand.

Realisation dawned in their eyes, then horror, then panic. Immediately they scrambled to untangle the rope. But it was too little, too late.

With a single quick swing of his mother’s sword, James sliced through the rope holding up the second counterweight for the portcullis that hung suspended above the open gates. The first had been cut by the legionnaire’s earlier, wild swing.

Which meant when this one dropped, so did the portcullis.

It fell like a meteor, dropping into position to dam the flow of Accursed across the bridge, crushing more than a few beneath its metal reinforced frame. The resounding impact echoed up through the gatehouse, shaking the ground beneath James’ feet.

It wasn’t the only sound though, as the legionnaire wrapped up in the ropes that had been holding up the portcullis just a moment before let out one last terrified scream before the ropes pulled tight around them, snapping their arm and neck in quick succession and crumpling their body against the wall as they tried to pull them through the gap the portcullis had dropped into.  

Looking away from the horrifying fate of his enemy, James found that the room was now under the control of Marius and their legionnaires. The general was looking him up and down with a mixture of appreciation and wariness.

“I thought Alyx was meant to be the scary Cobalt to fight.” He said after a moment. “But here you are, blowing up siege towers and legion shield walls and dropping an entire portcullis on the enemy with someone tied to the top.”

“It’s been a day.” James replied with a shrug. He didn’t necessarily like thinking about what Marius was implying. He was happy letting Alyx do the fighting when they needed it.

“Still, good thinking. Dropping the portcullis is a much harder problem for them to just undo, even if they retake the gatehouse. It’ll stem the flow of them into the city, maybe even let us take back control.” Marius reassured him, before he crossed to the window and looked out towards the enemy army. “Their advance has stopped, let’s hope it stays that way. Everyone take up defensive positions, get ready to hold the gatehouse against whatever comes.”

“Marius. We’ve got a different problem.” James said seriously, looking around the room as the legionnaires moved to follow their commander’s orders. “I don’t see Grand Marshall Hills here, nor amongst the dead from outside the gatehouse. If he’s headed elsewhere, somewhere they don’t know about the treachery yet…” James let his words trail off, the implication all he needed for Marius to understand.

“He could order inner gates opened.” Marius finished and James nodded.

“Or worse, if he keeps going to the palace.” James confirmed and Marius paled, realising the full scale of the threat. Quickly he turned to a young man stood nearby, wearing the armour that denoted a legion officer.

“Captain Tobias, you have command over the gatehouse, rain fire on the fuckers. Let no one in. Lord Cobalt and I are going to end this treachery.” Marius commanded and the officer, Tobias, nodded and saluted him. He saluted back and then raised his voice to be heard across the gatehouse.

“Well done, all of you. Your courage in the face of this darkness is testament to us all. Stand firm. And remember, those who stand against the shadows.”

“Are greeted by the dawn!” The room of legionnaires answered as one. Marius smiled proudly and nodded, before turning back towards James and motioning him to follow.

“What was that?” James asked as they ran down the stairs of the tower further back down the wall.

“Old legion motto. My father used to say it to inspire the troops before battle. I never used to like using it, it felt too much like I was trying to be him.” Marius replied, looking ahead as they reached the ground.

“It’s effective.” James observed as they opened the tower and hurried out into the streets. “And I don’t think channelling your father is the worst thing in the world today.”

“No, maybe not.” Marius agreed. Then he looked around. “You know these streets better than me. What’s the quickest way to the palace from here?”

James glanced around quickly, getting his bearings. They were on the edge of the Winter District, right as it blended with the Autumn District. Buildings were burning and screams and the sounds of battle echoed around them, accompanied by the frenzied laughter of the Accursed.

It was hell. But it was a familiar hell.

“The Spring Stair. Top of the Autumn District. This way.” He said quickly before taking off at a run, leading Marius deeper into the fires and battle.

The Spring Stair, Autumn District, Kingdom of Aldiron – Twenty Minutes Later

How could twenty short minutes feel like an eternity?

Every route James had thought to take had been a mess of rubble and fire, or in some places the Accursed ran among throngs of panicking people, leaving a bloody trail in their manic wake. They’d fought where they could, but two men couldn’t do the job of an army.

So, they’d often kept running, moving through the chaos along routes that only James knew.

By the time they emerged to the square at the foot of the Spring Stair, it was entirely ruled by madness.

Refugees poured through the square in every which way, some hurrying up the stairs to the upper city while others made for the maze of the Winter District, or the docks of the Autumn District.

Legionnaires and city guards stood shoulder to shoulder along the edges of the square, facing down dark armoured Accursed that charged their lines relentlessly. Lord Captain Haster stood at the centre of the madness, calling out orders to his troops. Marius and James hurried to his position.

“Haster!” Marius yelled when they were close enough to be heard, causing the guard commander to turn and breath a sigh of relief.

“Marius! What the hell’s happening? One minute we’re escorting people to safety and fighting fires, the next I’ve got Accursed swarming the streets.” Haster asked, gripping Marius by the wrist in greeting.

“We’ve been betrayed Haster. The north gates were opened for a time, long enough to let the enemy get inside the walls.” Marius explained as Haster extended his greeting to James, squeezing his wrist tight.

“Betrayed? What do you… Who?” Haster asked, worry and confusion clear in his expression.

Before Marius could answer though, a shout went up from the men towards the edge of the square.

“It’s giving way! Get clear!”

Turning, the three men saw that a burning building at the side of the square was crumbling inwards on itself, spitting out an eruption of sparks and rubble as it did so. Soldiers of Aldiron ran for cover, along with screaming, panicked civilians.

And in doing so, they created a gap where the defensive line wasn’t as strong.

Like water through a crack, black armoured Accursed began spilling into the square, slaughtering as they came.

“Reform the lines! Stand your ground!” Haster yelled out, drawing his sword as the legionnaires and guards hurried to obey. He glanced over his shoulder, checking that James and Marius were with him. James gave him a nod of confirmation as he reached back for an arrow and Marius drew his sword.

Not many left. James thought to himself as he pulled the arrow free. A rough count of the quiver behind his head told him he was sitting on seven arrows left. Not counting the one he let fly in that moment, sending an Accursed warrior tumbling over backwards as the arrow struck true.

Ahead of him, a father carrying a young child tripped and fell as an Accursed warrior bore down on them like a rabid dog. The mother, carried away by the crowd, screamed in horror as she saw her family’s peril.

James looked around, hoping there was a soldier on their way, but everyone nearby was already fighting for their lives.

Alright then. Just me.

An arrow wouldn’t be enough, he couldn’t guarantee the hit, certainly not the kill. He needed to buy them time, and there was only one way to do that.

Slinging his bow onto his back again, James charged the Accursed as they stood to their full height above the stricken father, who sheltered his son’s eyes from the monster above them. As he moved, he screamed out at the Accursed, hoping the sound would draw its attention.

Sure enough, it turned to face him, raising the battleaxe it carried to swing for his head.

At the last second, James drew his mother’s sword into his left hand and brought it upwards, blocking the blow and locking his blade in with the axe, stopping the Accursed from swinging again.

“Go!” He yelled to the father, who didn’t need told twice.

Across from him, the Accursed started laughing as it pushed forwards with the axe, wrestling with James for dominance over the fight.

So close to it, James’ nostrils were filled with the stench of rotten flesh and dried blood. Enough to almost make him want to throw up. There was no arguing with Marius assessment of them being monsters. He could hear its teeth gnashing behind the featureless faceplate of its armoured helmet.

It was stronger than James, far stronger. He could feel his arms beginning to shake as he pushed back against it, trying in vain to hold it in place.

Can’t hold it. So, use it.

Hooking the handguard of his sword against the head of the axe, James pushed forwards with all his might before quickly pulling back the sword, drawing it clear of the axe.

The sudden removal of the sword holding it caused the Accursed’s gathered strength to swing its axe viciously around. A blow that would have severed James’ head, had him pushing on the axe head not turned the blade so that it slammed against the Accursed’s own head first.

The creature’s helmet protected its head, but the force of the blow still sent it reeling as its helmet flew clear of its head. Which revealed the horrific creature beneath in all its blood chilling glory.

Marius had said the Accursed had once been people, but seeing one up close, James wasn’t sure what was before him could ever have been a person.

It was pale and pallid, grey like a corpse. Its eyes glowed within its head with pale white irises, though the part that would normally be white was scarlet with burst blood vessels. It had no nose or lips, and the skin was pulled tight, like it was dried out. The teeth were sharpened and gnashed in a mouth that spat blood that ran down the chin in a river. The blood itself though was thick and dark, barely even a liquid anymore.

It was death, a monster made not just to kill, but to be the very essence of The Gravekeeper’s wrath.

As James watched, the monster began to cackle, literally shaking with laughter as it saw his horrified expression. It raised the axe again, blood slipping from its maw. James lifted his sword, ready to fight.

And then the air next to his ear whooshed by and a throwing hatchet buried itself deep in the Accursed’s face. The laughter faded from its mouth as its head lulled backwards and it collapsed.

James stared at it, still mostly frozen in horror at what lay beneath those helmets.

“You going to fight there James, or just stare at the ugly bastard?” It was a voice James knew almost as well as his own. Turning slowly, he found his sister stood a short distance away, her sword in one hand and her other hand resting on her belt loops, where only a single throwing axe now hung. Behind her, James could make out the rest of the royal guard crowded around the king, and Meghan Whiteoak not far behind.

Slowly, James lifted his hand to point at the dead monster on the ground.

“We’re supposed to fight that?” He asked, finding his voice to be a little higher than he’d have liked. Alyx just shrugged.

“Why not? They die just like anything else. Take a bit more killing is all.” She joked, giving James a reassuring smile.

And then a warhammer slammed into the side of her head.

Time stopped for James as Alyx tumbled sideways, thrown through the air like a ragdoll and sprawling on the ground. Sound slipped away, leaving only James’ own breathing.

One breath.

Two.

Three.

Alyx didn’t move.

James’ head turned back to the Accursed that had hit her as it cackled in triumph. His grip tightened on his mother’s sword. His vision tightened to a dark tunnel, leaving only him and the Accursed.

He charged straight at it, his scream of rage sounding muffled and distant even to himself.

It swung the hammer again.

James stepped to the side.

The ground shook as the hammer hit it.

James leapt upwards.

He felt the air behind him lift and knew that somewhere outside of his vision, Meghan had just lifted him with magic.

James slammed into the Accursed’s chest, driving it to the ground and pinning its arms beneath his knees.

The sword came down.

The laughing died into a gurgle and the creature stilled beneath him.

As soon as it did, James was on his feet again, moving to his sister’s side. Running footsteps behind him told him Meghan was right there too.

Alyx lay face down in the dirt, her limbs limp and bent at odd angles from the landing.

James dropped to his knees and gripped her shoulder, rolling her onto her back and cradling her in his arms.

And as soon as she was clear of the dirt, Alyx made the most wonderful sound James had ever heard.

She gasped for air.

Her eyes opened and, after a few blinks, focussed on James’ face.

“Somethin’ hit me?” She asked, her voice slightly slurred. James nodded, feeling silent tears of relief trickling down his cheeks. His three fingered hand struggled to undo the clasp on her helmet’s chin strap, but as soon as he did, Alyx tore the helmet from her head and looked at it in her hands.

One side was dented inwards, the metal cracked and broken. But the worst on Alyx’s head itself was a small cut above her brow that ran a tear of blood down her cheek. James pushed away the thoughts of what would have happened without the helmet.

One of Alyx’s hands came up and lightly brushed away the trickle of blood from her brow. She stared at it for a second, then turned her head to her helmet.

“Damn. I think mother just saved my life from beyond the grave.” She said softly and James laughed, taking the helmet from her. The same helmet he’d so often seen their mother remove when she returned home, that he’d run around playing soldier wearing as a boy.

“I think it might be a one time save.” He replied after a second, placing the broken helmet down on the ground. “Thank you mother.” He whispered to it.

Then he hauled Alyx to her feet again and Meghan appeared next to them. A quick look confirmed Alyx was alright and so Meghan simply held out Alyx’s sword to her. Alyx nodded in thanks and took it, spinning it in her hand to make sure she had the best grip.

And then a sound echoed across the city. It sounded to James what he’d always imagined a dragon would have sounded like. The roar of fire, a rumble that shook the ground and the sound of screeching metal.

“The fuck was that?” Alyx asked, shrugging out of James’ grip to stand on her own two feet, looking off towards where the sound had come from. Towards the north gate and the portcullis James had dropped.

James knew exactly what the sound was.

“Seems Lord Draconeus has had enough of waiting. He’s using magic to break through the portcullis.” James muttered, his blood cold in his veins.

“Impossible.” Meghan breathed. “Even for a man such as him, that level of magic use would be exhausting.”

“That’s assuming he even is a man.” James replied drily, looking towards the Accursed he’d unmasked earlier.

“Either way, let’s not hang around and find out, eh?” Alyx said, slapping James’ chest lightly with the back of her hand as she turned and hurried between him and Meghan back to the king.

James and Meghan exchanged a quick look and then turned to follow her.

As they reached the king, they found him talking quickly with Haster.

“You’re sure?” King Samuel asked and Haster tilted his head.

“I didn’t see him myself your majesty. But my men on the gate say that Grand Marshall Hills passed through the Spring Stair not long before the north gate opened. He said he had been summoned back to the Falcon’s Nest.” Haster reported quickly. King Samuel snarled in rage and kicked at a piece of rubble.

“Fucking traitor! Opens the gates and runs to usurp the throne in the palace.” He growled. Next to James, Alyx tensed.

“Iona.” She muttered under her breath.

James couldn’t help but share a similar sentiment. If Hills was going to the palace, then Iona was in danger, and Lillian with her.

“My king.” Marius began, making the king turn to face him. “Draconeus is using magic to break the gates, we’ve bought all the time we can, but the lower city will soon be lost. I advise we sound a retreat, get beyond the inner walls and mount a further defence. Then you can return to the palace and put an end to Hills’ treachery.”

Marius advice ran deeper than that, James could tell. Hills’ treachery had already all but ensured Aldiron’s downfall. The inner gates were nowhere near as reinforced as the outer, and if Draconeus’ magic could break them then the upper city wouldn’t be able to hold him back for long. There was another message to Marius’ words to the King.

We’ve lost here. You should make your final stand at the palace. And you can at least bring justice to Hills first.

As if to emphasise Marius’ point, another roaring blast echoed from the north gate. And this time, it was followed by the sound of a thousand bloodthirsty roars.

The gate’s down. Time’s up.

Everyone looked to King Samuel, who looked dour. Then he nodded.

“Sound the retreat. Get everyone who can to fall back to the upper city. Protect the citizens we have here, get them safe.” He ordered, Marius nodded, turning to a legion soldier nearby and passing on the orders to her to run to the signal drummers to sound the retreat.

As the legionnaire moved off, Haster stepped forwards.

“City guard! Form ranks around the civilians and pull back up the Spring Stair, protect the retreat at all costs!” He bellowed out. The guard quickly moved to obey, forming a line that stood firm against the enemy while others began trying to guide the people up along the Spring Stairs and into the Spring District beyond.

The line of city guard soon collided with the wave of Accursed sweeping through the streets, but they held firm, covering the retreat. Though there was a cold certainty in James’ heart that they would be paying for the retreat with their own lives.

James moved with the king and the royal guard as they began rushing towards the inner gates at the crowd’s centre.

They were about halfway up the stairs when the yell came out.

“Cover!”

James’ head whipped around, and his eyes went wide in shock as he saw what they meant.

Flaming rocks, the same ones fired from the catapults outside before, were blazing trails through the night sky towards the lower city. And more than a few of them were headed towards the Spring Stair.

James threw his hands over his head as the fireballs crashed down, hitting the wall and buildings around them and bursting with small blooms of fire. One hit the stone of the gatehouse above the inner gate and cracked it, sending rubble careening down onto the refugees below and forcing James to throw himself sideways to avoid being crushed.

Another though, hit the edge of the line of battling Accursed and city guards. But where there were Accursed to almost immediately fill the hole it created, there were no guards left. And the Accursed fell upon the fleeing refugees with sick glee.

The panic was immediate. The crowd scattered and their ordered march up the Spring Stairs became a stampede of people going in all directions.

And James found himself separate from the others, buffeted along by the crowd.

Which was heading back down the stairs.

James pushed and fought, seeing Alyx looking around frantically for him as the royal party passed through the walls and Marius made the impossible call.

Close the gates.

Twisting and turning, James pushed himself free of the crowd. But he was now at the bottom of the Spring Stairs, and the gates above him were already beginning to swing closed.

I can make this. Just move with the crowd, like a tide.

James sighted his route, raised himself up on the balls of his feet.

And then the fearful scream of a child reached his ears. Immediately, he turned his head to follow the sound and spotted the same child from earlier, pulling desperately on his father’s arm.

An arm attached to a man half buried in rubble and spitting up blood.

James looked to the child, to the rapidly depleting line of city guards before the Accursed wave, to the closing gates and his sister beyond them.

She was already safe.

There never was a choice after that.

Kicking off like the city guard were on his tail after a theft. James sprinted forwards, ducking down the side of the Spring Stairs and reaching the boy.

“I’ve got him. Where’s his mother?” He asked the dying father quickly as the boy immediately panicked and sobbed, gripping his father tight. The half-crushed man looked up at James and after a second, his eyes widened, recognising the man who had saved him earlier. He nodded weakly, giving James approval for what he was trying to do.

“D-Docks. We’ve got a bo..” He tried to say, but the effort was too much, and his breath faded from his lungs, his limbs falling limp and his head drooping forwards.

A boat, the docks. I’ve worked with less information than that before.

James wrapped his arm around the young boy’s chest and lifted, pulling the wriggling and sobbing child away from his father’s body.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But we need to go. Right now.” He told the child as he wailed for his father, still struggling in James’ grasp and reaching back.

James began running, hearing the screams crescendo behind him as the thud of the inner gates closing echoed across the Autumn District.

No going back now.

And he kept running.

As he ran, with the fireballs of the enemy siege weapons still raining down on the city and the Accursed still gleefully slaughtering their way through the streets, James began working on ways to get around the issue of being trapped in the lower city.

He could dive into the ocean and swim around the inner wall or hope for a boat. But he’d certainly not be the only person trying that, which meant it would be slow and obvious. Not to mention the idea that swimming around the wall was known as the “Tidal Folly” for a reason. It claimed the lives of many who tried it as the tide broke them against the walls of the city, driving them under and drowning them.

He could also try and work his way back along to one of the other inner gates, join the rest of the retreat. But even if the gates were still open by that time, there was almost certainly an army of Accursed between him and the other gates. Quite possibly one that included Draconeus himself.

He could wait and try and sneak out of the city, maybe he’d join up with Alyx and the others through whatever route they were going to take out. But he had no idea where that was, and there was still an army out there. Not to mention it felt a lot like abandoning them.

A ladder going up against the wall would almost certainly get him killed by his own side, let alone the fact it would be very exposed to any enemy from below. So, all the old thieves’ routes were out.

No… not all of them.

There was the Cutpurse’s Corner. A route that agile thieves used to skirt around the edge of the wall. But it was an old route, almost unused now, and it was meant for two people, not one already battered man with a crippled hand and heavy leather armour.

What choice do I have?

Suicidal route it is then.

He ran on.

It took more than a little dodging and weaving to stay away from the fighting in the streets, but soon James emerged on the dockside and with a quick look around, he spotted the boy’s mother, weeping uncontrollably as she tried to untie a small fishing rowboat from its mooring.

The boy, hugged to James’ chest, had stopped wriggling, and was now simply crying quietly into James. But he stirred when James shook him slightly in his arms.

“Nearly there now little man, nearly home.” James told him, forcing himself to sound cheery and smiling down at the boy. Then he raised his hand and called out to the woman.

It took a few attempts to get her attention, until the boy looked at where James was calling out to and called out for his mother, instantly sobbing again. His mother’s head shot up and she honed in on her son as he reached out for her. She looked at James, and then past him, looking for her husband.

When she didn’t see him, she put her hand to her mouth, physically blocking the crying until she knew her son was safe. James knew the look well, it had been him many times, hiding the pain from Alyx when they’d still been young.

Standing, she rushed to meet them. Her arms reached out and wrapped around the boy, lifting him from James’ arms. He hugged tight to his mother, sobbing into her neck. She was crying too, but still she smiled and lifted her hand to James’ cheek, cupping it.

“Thank you.” She said softly. James smiled back, then nodded to her little boat, urging her towards it. Following his gaze she nodded and hurried down into the boat with her son, placing him down as James looked down at the knotted mooring rope. It was tied well, proper sailor’s knots that would take him a moment to untie.

But as the chaos’ echoes through the streets began again in earnest nearby, James knew that he didn’t have that moment.

In one fluid motion he drew his mother’s sword from the scabbard and sliced downwards, cutting through the rope and setting the little boat bobbing adrift on the tide.

“Good luck!” He called out after them, smiling as even the young boy gave him a timid little wave. He wondered how he must have looked to them, standing on the docks as the city burned behind him.

As the fishing boat faded from view into the night, James sighed, turning his head towards the inner wall. Already arrows fired down from it into the city below and ladders were being raised along its length as the siege moved on to its next, ugly phase.

Standing on an open dock’s a sure way to catch an arrow.

The thought came unbidden, old thief’s instincts kicking in, but it pulled James back into the moment. Moving quickly through the panicked crowd as they clamoured for space on the boats or began throwing themselves into the water, James made for the shadowed buildings at the foot of the wall, and somewhere above them, the Cutpurse’s Corner.

The route to the Corner was a series of wooden crossbeams, hammered in between the city wall and the wall of a warehouse next to it, creating a sort of staircase that rose up through the thin gap between the buildings. It was barely wide enough for someone to move through without squeezing but it quickly brought the climber up above the warehouse rooftop.

James bounded up the steps quickly, moving far faster than he normally would have considering how long it had been since he had taken the Corner. But now was not the time for caution, with every moment the Autumn District became an ever more dangerous place to stay, and the chance of Alyx and the others leaving without him got ever more likely.

Reaching the top of the steps he saw the route of the corner itself. A series of thin wooden planks, painted grey to blend in with the stones, stretched out along the length of the wall above the dark churning water of the harbour until they reached the wall’s end, almost a hundred metres out to sea. They were barely wider than one of James’ feet and were one of the two main reasons that this route usually required two or more thieves. They’d work like tandem mountain climbers, driving in wide nails that they had looped rope through and tied around themselves, so if one of them slipped and fell both the nail and the other thieves would catch them on their rope.

There were no nails, no other climber and no rope for James today though.

James looked at the route, taking a deep, steadying breath. He could already hear Alyx lecturing him for going for the kid, he couldn’t imagine the earache he’d get if he died doing this. Not that he’d be around to hear it.

Biting his lip and shaking his head once, James stepped forwards onto the wooden plank. Already the wet wood flexed and shifted beneath his weight. Gritting his teeth, he pressed himself to the wall and began to shuffle along against the wall.

He was about a quarter of the way towards the end of the wall when the whole thing shook as a flaming rock from Draconeus catapults outside the city crashed against it further down in the district. James’ left foot slipped and for a split second, he half-dangled precariously over the frothing ocean abyss.

Then he managed, by some miracle, to throw himself back against the wall, panting heavily to calm himself.

He stayed in place for a moment, calming his frayed nerves and thanking whatever god of The Village had decided to bless him. Then he began moving again. And as he did, he began speaking to himself, his voice slipping into a near perfect impression of his sister.

“Oh, once wasn’t fucking enough James? Just had to throw yourself off another damned cliff into the sea?”

Then he slipped into his own voice.

“Says the woman who blew up a damned siege tower and threw herself at a member of the royal guard without a weapon in her hand. I didn’t really have much choice.”

Back to Alyx.

“Yeah well, if you hadn’t decided a random kid you saw on the street was worth throwing yourself away for then we’d have been just fucking fine! But nah, you just had to go play hero and take the Cutpurse’s Corner by yourself didn’t you!”

And then back to himself.

“Yes, I did. Because no-one would have done it for us! I’m not letting it happen again. And besides…” James stepped off of the thin planks onto a wider platform set against the edge of the wall.

“It worked, didn’t it?”

Looking back down the wall he could see he’d successfully crossed the entire thin plank section without issue once he’d started having his imaginary argument with his sister. Beyond that, a large section of the Winter and Autumn districts bloomed with orange fire. Screaming and the sounds of battle echoed out from the city, bouncing off the walls until they reached the empty blackness of the night over the ocean beyond.

It was a strange juxtaposition, being out on the platform. James felt removed from the chaos of the siege. While the lights and sounds of the battle echoed distantly towards him, out here, the air was quiet, dark and cold. Like he was safely removed from the dangers.

Which, in many ways he was. But he certainly wasn’t any safer. Because now came the second reason that the Cutpurse’s Corner required more than one thief.

The swing.

The swing was a large hook, mounted on a swivel arm that spun around the end of the wall. The theory was that a thief would jump to the swing and their momentum would carry them around the wall to a similar platform on the other side, allowing them access to the upper city docks and from there, the stairs up the cliff into the Spring and Summer Districts. The issue was that the swing performed its duties a little too well and often swung too fast to dismount properly, leading you to tumble over the edge of the platform and fall into the ocean below.

To counter this problem, a rope was attached to the swing that was then held by the thief not using it, which would allow them to slow the turn down so that their companion didn’t misjudge the landing.

James was just going to have to make that judgement himself.

And hang off the hook with a three-fingered hand.

Not wanting to waste any more time thinking about what lay ahead, James backed up as far as he could along the wider platform. Then he sprinted forwards and threw himself into the air.

For a second he hung weightless, and he worried he’d misjudged the distance.

And then his hand closed around the freezing cold metal of the hook, and he held on as tight as he could.

With a screeching and creaking that made James doubt that any self-respecting thief could use this without alerting the entire city to their presence, the swing began to turn. He twisted in the air, wind rushing past his ears as the swing picked up speed.

But James really wouldn’t have minded it being faster. His damaged hand was already beginning to seize and stiffen against the bitterly cold metal and the horrible feeling of losing his grip was already beginning to make itself known.

And then, miraculously, he emerged around the other side of the wall. He could see the Spring District ahead, its streets lit by torches and lanterns but not aflame as the Autumn had been. And against the wall, just a few metres in front of him, James could make out the twin platform to the one he had just left.

The hook wouldn’t bring him directly over the platform, James needed to use the speed and momentum it had given him to jump from it onto the wood. But he needed to time it right. Too soon and he’d drop below the platform, too late and he’d be carried across it and tumble over the far edge.

A little more.

Now!

James let go, tucking his knees up to his chest and folding his head down to protect it. Again, he flew weightlessly through the air, with no idea where he’d land.

And then he slammed down hard on the wet wood of the platform. It buckled and bent under the sudden impact.

Immediately, James uncurled from the ball and threw all his gangly limbs wide, digging his boots and fingernails into the wood to slow his landing. He bounced and rolled across the wood and for a second he was certain he’d waited too long and was destined to disappear over the edge.

And then his back hit hard against the cold stone of the city wall, knocking all the air out of himself with a grunt, and he came to a jarring, painful stop.

He lay there for a moment, catching his breath again, before he slowly rolled onto his chest on the wooden platform and began pushing himself up to his feet.

See Alyx, it all worked out. No problem.

And then the platform jolted beneath him with the instantly recognisable, and terrifying sound of rotten wood cracking.

“Oh fuck.” Was all James had time to say before the whole thing fell out from beneath him and he was suddenly plummeting towards the black abyss of the ocean below.

I’m never going to hear the end of this.

And then James hit the water, and his world became a dark void.