Chronicles of the Exalted Sun Child

Book 4-14.1: Harvest

Yuriko fought her instinct to just run out of the stockade and head directly to the threat. It wasn’t easy but she only had to remind herself that there are hundreds of warriors here and she wasn’t even of the same nation. Still, she went out of the building and stared at the wall.The camp was barely illuminated. There were only a few lanterns filled with bioluminescent moss, as well as what remained in the cavern itself. Notably absent were crystal Animus lamps, and open fires.

“Snakekin’s heat sense,” Yuriko muttered.

She supposed that they could see each other and their surroundings with the body’s ambient heat. She wondered if the lizardkin, the L’tik, had a similar sense. For that matter, she was probably the only one with difficulty seeing in the dark, considering most cats, the cat-, lion-, and tigerkin included, could see well in low light conditions.

But there was a source of illumination coming now. She could see an orange glow rising from behind the walls. The warriors on the battlements looked somewhat flustered too.

The stockade guards were equally tense.

“What’s going on?” Yuriko asked one of the lizardkin guards.

The man, though that was honestly an assumption on her part, looked at her, blinked, then licked his eyes with his long and narrow tongue.

“Dire beast. Bigger devilbeast. Leader,” he said in pidgin Wojan.

Yuriko nodded. The warriors on the battlements started shooting their crossbows sporadically. Their frenetic movements weren’t quite panic yet.

Usaza jogged back to the stockade, bearing a piece of paper with her.

“Elder Yuriko!” she yelled, “the commander has agreed provided they give me their parole. The terms are…”

“Wait!” Yuriko interrupted. “Tell it to them, not me.”

“Ah, yes. My mistake.”

Usaza pushed her way past the guards while Yuriko followed behind. Once she was in front of the tigerkin’s cell, she started rattling off the terms.

“...your word of honour to act under Forgestride’s command until the end of the Beast Tide, afterwards you will be released. Any and all Ivory you acquire will be turned over to the quartermaster, to be redeemed for fifty Denari a piece. Support will be given during the fight and the mop up operation afterwards. Should you wish to decline we will still release you after the Tide, but a life price of ten thousand Denari will be demanded from Vizugmon’s Delver’s Guildhall in return…”

“Onerous terms,” Anda growled, “but I accept.”

“As do I,” the lionkin, Dai, and Masa said at the same time.

The full-blooded catkin woman hesitated but acquiesced. As for the rest of the prisoners, they weren’t even given a chance.

Usaza marched out and gave the guards their instructions. Afterwards, she planted herself in front of Yuriko and gave the forehead salute.

“Elder Yuriko, the Commander requests for your assistance on the wall.”

“Very well.”

She matched her pace with Usaza who jogged with her to the wall. The white scaled snake-kin was armoured in leather with a chainmail vest. She had a crossbow strapped across her back and a curved sword on her waist. A quiver of bolts was balanced on the other side. Usaza led her to the wall’s access stairs. It was wide enough for three people to climb up next to each other and had guardrails. The walls were ten paces high and just as wide at the top.

Once they were at the battlements, Yuriko looked for Otlaca and found the elderly snakekin at the other end of the walls, near where the cavern’s walls were. He was staring intently towards the ground. Yuriko followed his gaze.

The cavern floor was lit by dozens, or rather, hundreds, of fiery hounds. Tongues of red and orange flames flickered atop their shoulders, looking more like a lion’s mane than anything else. The hounds were the size of a pony, but there was one individual that towered over them, standing far from the walls. It was still within easy shot of the crossbows though, as the cavern wasn’t big enough. Bolts flew at the Dire Hound, a creature that stood nearly as tall as a Koinos Colossi at the shoulder, and was covered in flames. It was nearly half as tall as the wall, and no doubt a powerful leap would have seen it over already. Except for the fact that the battlements were close to the ceiling, and even if it scrambled up to the battlements, it wouldn’t be able to stand.

“How did that thing even make it all the way here?” Yuriko muttered. The tunnels she had walked in were no more than three paces high. Maybe four at times. Did it squeeze through the narrow or low portions?

The Dire Hound glared at them with its burning eyes. It had been staring at Otlaca’s direction, while the Elder snakekin looked placidly back. But as soon as Yuriko laid her eyes on it, the hound flinched and turned to her, growling. This, in turn, brought her to Otlaca’s attention. He nodded at her but quickly returned his gaze at the hound.

It barked and that was the signal. The fiery hounds dashed at the wall and as soon as they got to the base, leapt. Yuriko’s jaw slackened when instead of bouncing off or crashing, the hounds’ claws dug into the stone and they kicked upwards, essentially propelling themselves up. In no more than three or four bounds, they would reach the battlements.

The crossbow bearers shot down at the hounds. The bolts bounced off the skull, sank into an eye or nose, or pierced the hound’s shoulders. The kinetic force staggered and knocked them down. If they were lucky, a shot would cause a hound to fall and take another doggy with it. Still, there weren't enough crossbowmen.

The reptilian crossbowmen backed off the edge and the footmen struck. Some wielded curved swords, scimitars she thought, others used hatchets or battle axes. Each one had a large round shield strapped to their off hand.

Blades rose and fell while shields warded off claw strikes and bites. All the while, the Dire Hound didn’t move but kept its eyes on Yuriko and Otlaca.

Neither of the two of them moved. Usaza fidgeted nervously. Yuriko was actually close to the edge, but the fiery hounds avoided her instinctively.

She could see the tunnel entrances from where they stood. There were half a dozen of them. Four of which disgorged more fiery hounds. As for the remaining two tunnels, they were apparently paths that the beasts wanted to take. Every now and then, a small pack of hounds, or other devilbeast, rushed into the tunnel.

A hound, somewhat larger than its brothers, leapt over the wall a couple of paces from Yuriko, and leapt at her throat.

“Ah!”

Usaza yelped and aimed her crossbow at the beast, but it was already too close. Yuriko’s fist into its cheek caved in its skull and knocked it over the wall. All without bothering to move her eyes from the Dire Hound.o propel herself upwards. Though the wall was completely vertical, it was only a matter of balance to keep her centre of gravity near it. She reached the battlements after her second jump.

“Ah!” Usaza squeaked in surprise. Her eyes focused on the bloodstained Ivory she held in her hand.

“Here.” Yuriko tossed it over. “I’ll expect the Denari when this is over.”

“Of course,” she muttered.

While the Dire Hound and the fiery doggies had retreated, it was only temporary. Several packs lingered near the tunnels even as more of them came into the cavern. After a few minutes, the hounds decided that they weren’t done yet and charged back.

Within minutes, the reprieve won by the death of their apparent leader was gone and the Lucentians and Griefordians were fighting sword to claw. Yuriko killed any who came close to her but she reserved her strength for the Dire Beasts.

Some time afterwards, Masa and the rest of her team arrived on top of the battlements and started to fight off the hounds with quick and efficient movements. Three of them wielded longswords while Dai the lion man had a large tower shield and a shortspear.

They moved towards Yuriko’s position until they were practically next to her. She saw Anda look down the walls and to the Dire Hound’s corpse.

“That your doing?”

“Yes.”

He nodded gravely then focused on his fights. An hour later, the tide of fiery hounds ebbed and the defenders were able to stand down.

“Fifty hounds killed,” Masa sighed, “and maybe a third of them have Ivory.”

“Keep your chin up. More of them will come soon,” Anda said. “Do you mind if we fight beside you, Elder Yuriko?”

“I don’t mind, but don’t call me Elder.” Yuriko shuddered.

“Yeah, she’s only fourteen, you know!” Masa chirped.

“What?” Anda, Dai, the other catkin woman, and Usaza all yelped.

Yuriko just shrugged and grinned. In the distance, more devilbeasts were pouring out of the tunnel, and it looked like another wave was coming.