A Secret Man of Blood

Chapter Three

Taking out his sonovox, a magical device like a radio, Squad gives his signal to Anya. "Hit them."

The morning sky explodes in a cacophony of colours, as barrage after barrage hits the barriers around the fort and the fort itself. Squad turns to Captain Mallory, whose heart is storming with joy at the onset of battle. "Begin the attack."

As soldiers charge towards the colossal gate, the barrage smashes it inwards and a defender rushes out, clawing at his own head, his skin trailing behind in festoons like rags. Squad leaps through the remains of the gate and sees dead defenders blackened on the ground, knees doubled against their chests like hunched-up rabbits.

A flaming volley shrieks across the ground and, dodging it, Squad locates the enemy mage and fires a bolt of lightning into the man's face, skittling him down a flight of stairs. He kicks an incoming attacker and cuts off her head, then leaps forward and plunges his swords into two others. Impaling the two opponents on his swords, he points them at a group of onrushing foes and, with a sound like cannons firing, explodes their bodies in a deluge of blood and bone, stopping the charge dead and knocking some enemies down with the weight of the gore.

Before any of them has recovered, Squad is in their midst, cutting them down. Sig is there too. "I really feel I've earned these kills," he tells Squad, killing helpless enemies who are slipping on blood or coughing it up. "In some ways, I'm life's greatest hero. They'll never give me a medal, though...because basically everything I do is illegal."

Squad smiles and shakes his head at the psychopathic dwarf. "There's something wrong with you."

Sig shrugs his shoulders as if to say, "Aww, shucks," and smiles at Squad with childlike glee. "I combine a madcap sense of humour with genuine mental illness," he says, smashing his axe through a man's skull and winking.

*

Cleaning her blade with ruthless efficiency, Captain Mallory turns to the approaching Squad. "Have we found Scipio?" he asks her.

"No," Captain Mallory answers. "All the defenders are accounted for, except for Lord Scipio. But he couldn't have escaped." A glance towards the large, circular entrance to the Warrens indicates where she thinks Scipio went.

Squad nods slowly, building himself up for the mission to come. "I'll enter the Warrens, find Scipio and kill him."

"I'll go with you," Captain Mallory agrees. "Let me know what troops you want and I'll have them ready."

"No. That's not viable," Squad shakes his head. "We can't take a large group into the Warrens without alerting the Skree. It'll just be me and my team."

Anya and Sig approach. "Thanks for volunteering us for the suicide mission," Anya jokes.

"It was a lovely consultation," Sig agrees.

Captain Mallory seems determined to go. "You should take me. I've defended these tunnels for thirty years and my experience will be invaluable."

"It's amazing," Sig mouths, staring at Captain Mallory in awe. "You have the confidence of a much younger and more attractive woman."

Captain Mallory casually flicks a punch into Sig's eye. "I'm sorry," she deadpans. "I thought you were an assailant."

"Don't mention it," Sig replies, checking his watery eye. "Friendly fire can happen."

"Erm, yes...friendly fire," Captain Mallory agrees.

Squad, respecting her skill and how she handled the operation, tries to let Mallory down gently. He knows working above the Skree and going down to face them where they live are two very different things. "Captain, I need you and your people up here to secure the fort, identify the bodies and secure us further leads."