Medusa: Fate's Game

Chapter 13

"You bring a swarm of insects to my door, and hope to do battle? So be it." Andromeda slammed her staff down from on high, and unleashed havoc.

Red eyes started to join the white sorceress. More. And more. More until Darian was left blinking, eyebrows raised, and looking around to see if the other skeletons were indeed destroyed. They were.

But the wailing wind cry of a thousand undead filled the air, and stopped everyone. Chimera finished with the last of the guards before him, reached up to his chest to pluck a spear from his flesh, and stared at the oncoming cloud of red dots. Otrera's raised sword slowly fell to her side. The mob behind him all came to a standstill as Medusa slithered up to stand near Darian.

The eyes of the undead flowed over the mountainside road, but did not follow it. Like water, they poured over the mountain and down toward them, stopping on the mountain road only long enough to run across its width and then back down upon the nearly flat cliff face.

As they came into view, lit by stars and torchlight, more people began to gasp, and step back. The eyes of the undead running down the mountainside, ignoring the road, were literally running down the cliff wall. Their arms were held high, and the glint of metal caught the moon from each hand. These undead had no armor, sported no spears or shields, but swords and axes instead, and their mouths were open as they screamed their death wail upon them.

Otrera bashed her sword and shield together. "Flanking positions! Darian, Medusa, up the road. Chimera says you can fight, Medusa, prove it. Start shooting, and when it's time for melee, transform."

Medusa slithered up between them. "B-b-bu—"

"No buts! Shut up, get over here. Chimera, here next to me, away from the cliff side. They're not shields and spears, they're swords, axes, and a lot of them. You'll get hacked to pieces if you take them head on."

Chimera obeyed. Not a moment of hesitation or even a glance the queen's way to check if she knew what she was doing. Giant had a lot of faith in the Amazon.

"And you!" Otrera pointed to the mob that had slowly come to a stop behind them. "Form ranks! Shields at the front! Xiphos swords second row, Kopis swords third row."

A new thunder joined them from the small warrior woman. Otrera cut through the noise, the panic, the growing cries of the mob, and shut them up hard. Darian took a step back from her, eyes wide, as the queen pointed her sword to the crowd and then where she wanted the line formed on the center of the bridge.

They looked to each other, to Patrius, Tritus, to Hieremias, but Otrera took a step toward them, and frowned.

"Now!" Thunder once again.

And the people listened. No longer a riot, or a mob. Now they were an army. They pushed past each other, did their best to get into the positions given them, and prepared themselves. They knew each other at least, and working together was something many had done before, Darian could see. They got shoulder to shoulder at the shields, swords up and ready.

How could such a tiny woman make such a loud noise?

Otrera bashed her sword and shield together again, and turned to face the oncoming tide.

"First row! You will defend the man next to you with your shield, and you will aim for the legs of the undead in front of you. Stay low, shield up. Second row! You will hack through the arms of the undead that break against the shields. The enemy will fall forward and onto the first row, so be ready. Third row! You will deal with any and all breaks in the defenses." And again, she bashed her sword and shield together. "We will weather this storm!"