The Saga of Tallia the Unwilling Ch. 10

Disclaimer: Everyone is over eighteen. If you are not deeply into fantasy pulp fiction, gender fluidity and pansexuality, you are in the wrong place.

BEHOLD! I, Thutmose-Neferkare, royal scribe, chief librarian and high priest of the divine Ra do bid thee welcome back for the tenth scroll in "The Saga of Tallia the Unwilling". Before I get to the translation, I think we all need to take a moment to thank Ra for the miracle we all witnessed last week!

Yes, of course I am talking about the big God-Snake eating the sun. Wow! I mean just wow. You read about these things in the sacred scrolls and perhaps you think, this has got to be some sort of complex metaphor. And then, bang! Sun eaten!

Honestly, it really makes you think. Imagine if the sun stayed gone. That would be bad. Bad really seems like an inadequate descriptor. I think we can safely say that would be... very bad. Maybe even very VERY bad. No, worse than that.

But anyways, Ra has defeated the big God-Snake and is now safely sailing the skies once more in his fiery sky boat. It seemed a bit touch and go there for a while, but now our divine lord and master is once more back on top. Anyways, let's get back to Tallia and her exciting doings. But never forget that last week, we almost lost the sun. I'm not entirely sure how good triumphed over evil, but I am certain it must have been something I, the most exalted Thutmose-Neferkare, did.

You're all welcome.

Chapter Ten: He Hammered Me So Hard

Tallia awoke before Mela once more. The sidhe was entangled in her goddess' arms. The Amazon gave her the gentlest kiss upon the cheek and then rose and quickly dressed. Mela stirred only briefly and then went back to sleep. They were sleeping together where they had made love last night, in the second story of a sidhe house in dead Gaelynglas. There was only one door and all the windows were bolted closed. This was a deliberate choice of course. Even though they had seen no evidence of life in this ruined metropolis, danger it seemed was always close at hand.

Danger -- that thought did give Tallia pause. Gods on high and in hell, what was she doing here? She had just days before struck up a relationship with her longtime companion Hilarius and here she was entangling herself in another the moment he was gone from her side. The quiet, temperamental, studious sorceress and the boisterous, indefatigable, gregarious rogue could not be more different. In many ways they were polar opposites. But here she was, confessing her love to each. Would Hi consider this a betrayal? Would the pair even be able to stand each other? Was she so desperate for affection that she would simply give her heart to anyone who crossed her path? What is wrong with you, Tallus?

She startled at that. No, not Tallus. She was Tallia now, however unwilling she might be.

Beyond the door, she could hear the priestess Liandra fetching water and coming up the stone steps into the only other chamber on this second floor. The sound of sloshing water made the Amazon acutely aware of a desperate need to piss. There were no proper garderobes or even chamber pots in this dead city, so they just went down to the nearby dock and used the lake, well away of course from where the trio drew drinking water. She passed the priestess who gave her a smile and a "good morning."

Tallia made her way down stairs. Out of habit, she grabbed her war spear and tucked her sidhe dagger in her belt. Tallia went nowhere in this ruined city without being armed. Her shield was upstairs. She would fetch that as soon as she finished relieving herself. She went out on the narrow stone dock out of the house's back door and quickly urinated. She turned around just in time to see a shadowy figure dart into the house.

A beast-man! They were under attack! Instinctively, the Amazon threw her spear at the shadow and charged. Her aim proved true and she put the war spear deep into the creature's back. She ran to him quickly and saw the hound-man still struggling even though pinned by the heavy spear.

"Ta-ya!" it cried in pain.

She silenced it by pulling out her spear, widening the already impressive wound. She had to get to her shield! She ran upstairs with all speed, bounding up three steps at a time.

"What's going on?" asked the priestess.

"Beast-men! Get under cover..." but the Amazon's words came too late. The priestess was standing next to an open window. But they had been closed! Clearly Liandra had opened one to get some air. A well-aimed arrow from a hawk-man sniper on the next roof sunk deep into Liandra's back. Tallia threw her sidhe knife with almost inhuman force at the creature and the startled sniper took the true-silver blade right in the forehead, nearly between the eyes. The damn knife did not come back, but the bird-man bow-man fell off the roof and splattered quite spectacularly on the cobbled street below.

Liandra fell as well, bleeding on the floor. Tallia yelled to Mela who was only now awakening. "Get her into the bed chamber! Barricade the door with that stone chest!" Tallia grabbed her shield and slammed the one open window shut, bolting it closed.

Tallia had no idea how many foes she faced. For all she knew, Arion had marched his whole damn army down here. But she did know this. Even if there were a million of them, they had to go up those narrow elven stairs one or maybe two at a time to get to the second story of this stone house. There was no hiding from these Sons of Arion so she didn't try. Instead she bellowed a leonine war cry that reverberated through the entire dead city of Gaelynglas and near shook the walls. "I'm here, you shit-eating dog fuckers! Tallia and death await you!"

The first group of takers to her challenge were a band of four beast-men that stormed in through the front door of the house. These four wolf-men, hunched and black-furred, snarled, eager for the kill. They sported an assortment of armaments -- a hand axe and a small metal shield, a spiked club and second similar shield, a long spear and a bow. The archer wolf, in way of greeting, sent a couple of arrows sailing into Tallia's shield.

Tallia was little concerned. At the top of the stairs, she had an abundance of cover. She crouched behind her shield and let the archer waste his arrows on her solid circle of bronze. The two shield wolves doubtless thought she would be distracted by the archery and charged up the stairs their shields side by side, eager to catch her off guard. They wasted their time and their lives.

As soon as they were half way up the stairs, Tallia lashed out with her spear, fast as a coiled cobra. Their small round shields were far too small to protect their entire torso and she caught the axe wolf squarely in his left shoulder. She pulled the point back, lacerating canine flesh and giving him a wide gash. The axe wolf howled in pain. Even as his brother was being pierced, the other pushed forward and slammed his spiked club into her shield. The sidhe-forged metal of the shield bounced its crude bronze spikes. The spear wolf gave support to his embattled brothers and tried to find an opening to jab her with his long weapon. Tallia gave him none.

The Amazon then pushed forward herself. She shoved her circle of bronze down the stairs with all of her strength. She was a battering ram filling the stair well with her unavoidable charge. She caught the wounded beast-man square on his shield. Its wounded shoulder no longer had the strength to hold against her advance and the wolf tumbled backward, yipping in agony at the impact. At the same moment, she shoved her spear into the throat of the wolf with the spiked club. She near decapitated that one. And then shoved the two dead or dying wolf-men down the stairs and into their spear toting brother. She was rewarded for her efforts with a mass of blood and tangled bodies at the bottom of the stairs, two of whom still squirmed.

The archer tried to rescue his brothers from this deadly tangle. He shot an arrow that came perilously close to Tallia's head. That arrow immediately made her miss her helm. She imbedded her spear deep into a tangled up wolf-man. She then picked up the hand axe and found it a well-balanced throwing weapon. She put it deep into the archer's chest. She recovered her spear, and was about to finish off the last of the wolf-men when the wounded bastard hissed at her.

"Rontus will avenge me!"

"What the fuck is a Rontus?" She didn't wait for the answer. Instead, she made sure all the fallen wolves were dead with several vicious thrusts and then backed up the stairs once more, retaking her deadly perch at the top of the rise.

"Who's next, fuckers?!" she roared.

Several long, all too quiet moments followed and the Amazon knew then that the cunning bastards were up to something. She could hear the soft patter of movement in the rest of the house and outside in the surrounding alleyways and lanes. There was a great deal of the lower level that was not visible from the stairs, yet still she could sense her foe's presence. They were trying to be stealthy now -- that was certain. That first ill-conceived assault had taught them a deadly lesson. She shifted in anticipation. She even glanced behind her, wondering if perhaps somehow she had missed some other way into the stone manse.

But no. The quiet grew long. She was sweating now, worse even than during the actual fighting. They couldn't have left could they? Perhaps it was only a small patrol. She had killed six of the bastards after all. Maybe the rest fled. Doubtless gone to summon reinforcements. But she had heard no signal horns like they used in the fortress. No disorganized or hasty retreat. No, they were still close. They were planning something.

And then hell unleashed.

***

Hilarius and Sang escaped the underworld beneath the wizard's fortress with remarkable speed. They had proper lighting now, Sang had been this way before and her perfect sense of direction served her well in this labyrinth of tunnels. As they at last emerged back into daylight, it was late afternoon. The light stung both their eyes, so long had they been in the dark. They paused cautiously at the bramble choked exit, waiting for their eyes to adjust. One thing that needed no adjustment -- as they smelled the lush greenery, felt the wind blowing warm upon their faces and breathed deep uncloistered air -- they both couldn't help but smile. It was good to be out of that hole.

Thankfully, it wasn't raining at present and indeed the skies looked clear. They stayed low, using the tall grass that proliferated everywhere as cover and made for the small cave they had used for refuge days earlier. They were delighted to find no one but the original family of monkeys back in residence.

Neither of them was tired but they lacked food and now they faced a dilemma. It would soon be dark and the beast-men preferred to patrol and hunt at night. They could try to cut across country but risked getting caught in the dark by a patrol. Torchlight would surely draw them, but travel in utter darkness seemed equally perilous. They could shelter here till morning but they had no food and risked getting cornered if a patrol decided to investigate the cave.

Sang, every wary of speech this close to the fortress, silently pointed at her companion and at the cave. 'Stay here. I'll be back'. Hilarius nodded and Sang was quickly gone. She was back quickly with both two striped and skewered rabbits and weird news. Sang actually spoke. "They're leaving -- sixty, seventy, headed west."

Hilarius was puzzled by this report even as they built a small fire and skinned and roasted the rabbits.

"That's bizarre," said the rogue. "They aren't hunting us?"

Sang shook her head no.

"But sixty is not enough to raid Denggang. That's a town of thousands!" observed Hilarius. "What could sixty of those bastards do?"

"Raid," whispered Sang.

"Yes, I think you're right. They must be village raiders. Were they one large party or several?" asked Hilarius.

Sang held up three then four fingers.

"Three or four groups..." said Hilarius, interpolating Sang's meaning. "Those are slave-takers! Don't you see? This is our fault. How many beast-men did we kill in total?"

Sang shrugged.

"I'm not sure either. We killed a dozen getting into the wizard's sanctum. Tallia killed thirteen in the arena at least. We killed another half dozen breaking out," the rogue paused doing mental sums. "That's thirty one. Plus the tiger-dragon bagged a few frolicking in the stands."

Sang held up three more fingers.

"You killed three while stealing provisions."

Sang nodded.

"So, thirty five at least. Maybe a few more. That's why they're leaving -- new recruits. The wizard needs more slaves to turn into beast-men."

"Many in dungeons," remarked Sang.

"Yes, but I bet old people and children don't make good beast-men soldiers. I'd wager that all the men are already transformed into monsters. And you know what I've never seen? A female beast-man. Have you?"

Sang shook her head.

"Of course. Hah!" laughed the rogue. "You can add to all of Arion million's failings chauvinism. He doesn't think women can fight."

Sang rolled her eyes.

"Ridiculous, right? Anyways, that explains at least in part his fascination with Tallia. With thirty five or forty dead and sixty gone raiding -- that's near a hundred beast-men gone from that fortress since we arrived. Seven gods of fortune, the place must be close to empty."

Sang again shook her head at that.

"Yes, you're probably right. Who knows how many remain? The arena looked to me like it could seat two hundred of the creatures at least." Hilarius paused. "I'm torn, Sang. I've got to tell you. Leaving Tallia behind was the hardest thing I've ever done and now that I've done it..." the rogue paused and breathed deep. "I'm not sure I can live with it."

Sang nodded. Her anguished expression was equally clear. She did not feel good about leaving them.

"You have to understand," Hilarius sighed. "I love her, Sang. With all I my heart, I love her. But the wizard -- he is so powerful. How can we possibly stop him? But then, Tallia has done several things already that seemed impossible. She saved me. She's killed monsters no one else could have defeated."

Sang just listened.

"She also..." Hilarius paused almost unable to say what came next. "She also called me a coward, Sang. That hurt. That really hurt. I've been called a coward before of course. It's an occupational hazard of being clever in a world full of dullard killers. But most of them... they didn't really know me. If Tallus... Tallia doesn't know me, doesn't respect me, then who does?"

Sang put her hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Sang. That means a lot coming from you. I know she didn't mean it. Before that... we'd been counting the number of times we'd each saved each other from death. It was not an easy enumeration. She said I still owed her two lives, Sang. Which is ridiculous by the way, I owe her one at most," Hilarius sighed. "But I think she was right about that. I do owe her one life at least. I think I have to go back, Sang."

Sang could only nod. Then the archer suddenly started. She looked at Hilarius and smiled.

"You have a plan? Something we can do without facing that damn wizard but that will help Tallia!" said Hilarius excitedly.

Sang nodded.

"Of course, the beast-men!"

Again Sang nodded.

"At half strength, maybe less, the various guard posts have got to be lightly manned. If we sniped a couple off the walls, they'd have to send hunting parties after us. But the beast-men clearly don't know about the secret entrance or fear going down there because of the demons. Of course!"

But then Sang held up a finger. She pointed at the silver and again at the cave.

"But there's more. Yes, we hide the silver here so we can travel light. Everything depends on mobility!"

Sang nodded yet again.

"We keep moving, pick off who we can and then we shelter in the underworld. We don't attack the wizard direct but we do help pick off beast-men, giving Tallia and Liandra their best chance at success. And if they fail, we rescue them and then run. And if they succeed, we get a share of the wizard's gold! That's brilliant, Sang!"

Sang acknowledge the praise with a humble, slight bow.

"Let's have some dinner. We attack the walls at nightfall!"

They hungrily, eagerly devoured the rabbits and prepared themselves for battle.

***

In one thunderous crash, the floor beneath Tallia's feet gave way. The stairs were reduced to rubble and stone rained down as a sizeable portion of the upper floor of the House of Cathal collapsed. Dust hung heavy in the air. Tallia was cut and bruised in a dozen places, but none the less managed to pick herself up from the pile of debris. Her footing was uneven and off balance on the jumble of new fallen stone. She looked up.

The second floor had not entirely collapsed. She could see above her the door into the bed chamber that Mela and her had shared last night. It was still there, but without stairs it was no longer easy to access. She didn't get long to contemplate how to get back up there.

They came at her from all sides at once. Six beast-men charged her, screams and howls emanating from every direction through the obfuscating dust cloud hanging within the wrecked house. A powerfully built bull-man three hands taller than her swung a heavy axe almost as long as her spear. She got her shield up and absorbed the strike, though she felt its impact as it bruised her shield arm and made her circle of bronze ring like a bell. She was going to jab him with her spear, but before she could make the attack, her arm was bound up by yet another of the damned creatures. A grinning hyena-man leapt on her, holding a pair of jagged curved knives, eager to cut her throat.

Her war spear, long and perfect as it might be, was useless in such close quarters. So she dropped it and grabbed a brick of fallen masonry. The bull-man banged again on her shield, splitting the top with a gouge two hands deep. Her shield was in serious risk of being sundered. The hyena-man sliced at her spear-arm giving a painful but shallow gash. And other beast-men pressed forward joining the pile, trying to bury her.

It was brutal hand to hand now, a brawl more than a battle. But Tallia gave as good as she got. She slammed the brick into the hyena's face with stunning force, shattering his left eye socket. Bone broke and blood poured down his face. So hard was her blow that the brick broke apart in her hand. So, instead, her metal shield became a club. She pushed up with astonishing strength, sending beast-men flying off of her. She swung the great metal disc like a hammer, slamming into the bull-man even before he could bring his axe down once more. The sound the monster's ribs made as they cracked sounded to her like timber splintering.

A tiger-man joined the fray, piling on, easily as massive as the bull. The horror wore a necklace of artfully arranged human teeth. It would need new teeth as she slammed its muzzle with the edge of her bronze shield. She hit the thing so hard, her own shield bent from the blow. The tiger-man's face more exploded than bent.

She pushed them all back and staggered to her feet. She was covered in dust and blood. She bled from countless cuts and gouges and was bathed equally in the blood of beast-men. And then the biggest damn beast-man she'd ever seen emerged from the wreckage.

It was a massive ogre of a creature, grey, muscular and armored with thick rough hide. Coarse, wiry black hair was all across it. And on its head, it had a patch of the stuff tied back into a long braid. It had four stout trunk-like arms and in two of those arms it held massive bronze hammers. Doubtless this was the creature that had brought the house down. It bellowed out a war cry.