Valkyria (17 page)

The guard had managed to raise the
short sword just enough that it pierced the burnt, decrepit body of
the Creature. Its eyes, normally filled with rage, looked hollow as
its rotting arms slumped to its side.

Now’s our chance. Einar slowly slid
across the floor to the bars at the front of the cell. The keys
were sitting on the floor, connected to the guard by a flimsy
carabiner that was just in reach.

Einar pushed his hand through the bars,
reaching toward the keys. As he managed to get a finger on them,
the Creature stirred, making him jump backwards. It had just been a
dying reflex, however, as it remained still after the
twitch.

He reached again, shaking his head as
he managed to get a grip on the carabiner. Come on Einar, you can
do this. He had never touched a dead body until now. He had not
even seen a dead body until he had seen Rin. Come on, you have to
do this. His hand was shaking as he opened the carabiner and pulled
the keys into the cell. Rising to his feet, Einar unlocked the cell
and opened the gate of bars before turning to Haze.

“
Come on Haze. We have to
get out of here.”

She did not move, instead staring at
the dead guard and the rotten corpse that covered him.

“
Haze!”

She jumped, looking Einar in the eyes.
She was crying, tears streaming down her face. She’s seen too much
death recently. He knew that, but Einar also knew they would see a
lot more before the night was over.

“
Come on, I’ll protect
you,” he said as he extended a hand to her. She sat still for a
couple of seconds, gazing at his hand, before finally grasping it
and letting him pull her to her feet.

Outside the cell, the corridor’s marble
floor and stone walls were stained red and the gas lanterns
flickered in the cold night breeze. Einar and Haze carefully
stepped over the bodies in front of the cell and started walking
toward the open door at the end of the corridor. However, just a
few steps later, another Creature appeared at the door, its eerie
smile almost peeling the skin from its face.

It bent forward, drool pouring from its
mouth as it prepared to rush Einar. He readied himself to push Haze
into another open cell. Well, I guess this wasn’t the best idea
after all... He could feel his heart racing, and his stomach
sinking further into his body. This can’t be happening! I don’t
want to die like this! I don’t want to die!

He tried to raise his arms, to push
Haze to safety, but realized he had frozen, staring into the cold,
empty eyes of the Creature. What do I do? His eyes scanned the area
as fast as they could, finally fixating on the guard’s pistol that
lay just a few steps away. I can do it! With that, I can do it. He
dived forward, sliding toward the pistol, wrapping his hands around
it. The Creature put its weight on the back of its feet, ready to
pounce. It pushed forward, toward Einar.

A splash of blood shot from the
Creature’s head, covering the door to the corridor. It had not
finished launching itself before a shot had come from the left,
outside the door. The Creature crashed to the floor, bouncing as it
slid across the marble.

Behind it appeared a guard, rifle in
hand. The guard turned and looked straight at Haze before raising
his gun. Einar fired. Shot after shot rang out as he squeezed the
trigger of the pistol, each one hitting the guard in a different
part of the body until he collapsed.

What have I done? Einar dropped the
pistol to the ground, his hands trembling. I killed someone. What
have I done?

“
He was going to kill us,”
said Haze, placing a hand on Einar’s shoulder. He felt her grip
tighten as she pulled him around to face her, before putting her
arms around him. “He was going to kill us, so you had no choice.
You had no choice, Einar.”

She was right. He knew she was right,
but he could not stop the feeling of his gut twisting in
disgust.

“
We have to go,” she
continued. “You said you would protect me, and you did. But now, we
have to go.”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and
nodded to him. He breathed in deep, trying to swallow the bile in
his mouth, and nodded back.

From the prison corridor, there was
only one other corridor they had to pass through before they
reached the courtyard. The sound of battle rang out throughout the
compound, gun shots, screams and the shouting of commands. The
Creatures had overrun the entire complex.

In the courtyard, some of the Creatures
were still feasting on the bodies of the Inquisition soldiers and
guards. Fires burnt their way through the steam-cars and velocycles
lay in wreckage.

Einar and Haze ran forward, toward the
center of the courtyard; it was the fastest way to the breaches in
the outer wall. As they ran, the Creatures looked up from their
meals and began to encircle them.

Einar stopped running, Haze crashing
into his back. He looked around the courtyard for a way out, but
they were completely surrounded. He sighed deeply and turned to
Haze.

“
I’m sorry, Haze. I really
am.”

He pulled her close and held her
tightly. What a stupid idea this was. I got us both
killed.

Bullets started raining down upon the
courtyard from above. The Creatures were being torn apart by the
gunfire. Search lights, appearing out of nowhere, illuminated the
ground, moving in every direction.

Einar gazed upwards to see a huge
airship flying above them, the search lights blinding him from
being able to see it clearly.

“
Stay there,” shouted a
voice, crackling as if coming through a speaker. “We will pick you
up in a minute!”

*~*~*

29

NATE

“
Just one more good turn,”
said Nate, his arms aching as he twisted the final bolt into place,
finally attaching the new main cannon to the Seadawn.

He and Charles had not left the airship
for hours, both of them dripping in sweat and panting like a dog.
The metal sheets had been welded on to the body of the airship, and
the old rifle had been replaced with a cannon that could fire at
twice the rate.

“
She is certainly
beautiful,” said Charles as he stepped back, admiring the finished
product of their labor. “And she will definitely be able to defend
herself now!”

“
I have to say it,” said
Nate. “I think we have really out-done ourselves this
time.”

He turned to Charles and smiled, whilst
Charles nodded, a grin stretching across his wrinkled
face.

“
I need some air,” said
Charles as he turned away from the airship. “Shall we go and take a
look out the observation deck? I hear the view is
great.”

He let out a bellowing laugh, his
stomach shaking. Nate nodded and followed him to the hangar bay
doors, back into the main corridor of the Valkyria.

As they walked along, he could still
hear the yapping of Ruby, the sound scratching at his bones as he
thought about how angry Anastasia had been. How could I have been
so stupid?

“
Are you thinking about the
Captain’s sister again? What was her name?”

“
Anastasia,” said Nate, a
bit more forceful than he had meant to.

“
Ah yes, that was it. You
know, you should just go and apologize to her. Clear the air, so to
speak.”

Nate shook his head, tired of hearing
advice about how to deal with Anastasia.

“
I can handle it,” he
said.

“
Oh of course, you handled
it perfectly well last time, did you not?”

Never before had Nate wanted to punch
Charles in the back of the head quite as much. What do you know?
You have been alone your entire life.

“
I know what you are
thinking,” said Charles. “I can see it from the look on your face.
You think that because I never married I know nothing of the
intricacies of youthful relationships, correct?”

How do you do that? How do you always
know what I am thinking?

“
You have known me for a
very long time, my boy,” Charles continued. “But you have not known
me for my entire life. I was your age once, and there was a girl in
my life that I longed for just the same as you do now.

For years I tried in vain to have her
notice me. I would try to force conversation, ask to borrow things
just so that I could be near her. It was rather pathetic
really…”

They reached the top of the central
staircase and Charles opened the steel door, revealing a huge empty
room with windows all around. The sky was empty, the darkness of
night pierced only by the light of the moon and stars.

“
One day, I decided that
enough was enough. I went to her home with a freshly cooked rabbit
stew, and we sat and talked for hours. For months I would go to her
house and we would just talk, until one day things became serious
between us, and I never looked back.”

Nate titled his head to one side, taken
aback by the story.

“
So, what happened to
her?”

Charles dropped his head, looking at
the ground. He raised his arm and wiped his sleeve across his
face.

“
My darling Delilah took
ill about two years before I met you. She was carrying our child at
the time, but the illness took them both.”

Nate reached an arm forward, but found
that he could not place it onto Charles’ shoulder. Instead, he
pulled it back and sighed deeply.

“
I am so sorry Charles. I
never knew.”

“
That would be because I
never told you, my boy,” he replied, wiping his face again before
breathing heavily and standing upright once more. “The point is, no
matter how it ended, I would not give up a second of my life with
her. Do not let foolish pride or cowardice stop you from talking to
Anastasia.”

Charles strolled over to a window on
the right of the observation deck, with Nate following close
behind.

“
Take every chance you get
in life, and hold on to it for all it is worth, boy. Otherwise, you
will live in regret until your dying breath.”

Nate looked out into the night sky,
trying to find some articulate words to say to his friend, to try
and heal the pain in Charles’ eyes. As he gazed outside, he noticed
a bright orange light on the ground.

“
What is that?”

He turned to Charles, only to see that
he had already ran to one of the binocular stands and was staring
down at the light as well.

“
A fire,” said Charles.
“There is a compound of some sort. It looks as though it is under
attack.”

“
We should tell
Irving!”

“
I agree,” said Charles,
and they ran from the observation deck, down the stairwell again.
What kind of compound is it? Who is attacking it?

“
I thought we were flying
over the Ringlands,” said Nate. “Who would attack a compound here?
This is Inquisition territory!”

“
Whoever it is, they must
have a death wish!”

Nate crashed through the door onto the
bridge, the crew turning around sharply, glaring at him.

“
Captain! Someone is under
attack!”

“
We already know,” said
Irving. “They are warming up the search lights as we
speak.”

“
Who would be so foolish as
to attack a compound here?”

“
They are not being attack
by a person,” said Irving as the spotlights outside the cabin light
up. “Take a look for yourself.”

Irving passed a telescope to Nate, who
placed it to his eye and stared out of the window. Through the
flames, he could see five buildings arranged in a square. The
central courtyard was filled with bodies, some dead and some racing
around, the skin peeling off them as they ran.

“
Creatures!”

“
That is correct,” said
Irving.

Nate looked through the telescope
again, moving his vision around the compound. Vehicles were toppled
over, burning wildly. As he watched, he saw two people run out of a
building on the left and move across the courtyard until the
Creatures turned and surrounded them. Nate looked up from the
telescope, and turned to Irving.

“
We have to help
them!”

“
Agreed,” said Irving.
“They are most certainly civilians. Shine the search lights around
the courtyard! Move them around so that the Creatures get
confused!”

“
Yes, sir” said one of the
crew members, who then proceeded to turn and adjust various dials
on his control panel. The lights began to move erratically, going
left then moving right again.

“
Nate. Charles. Is the
Seadawn able to fly?”

“
Yes, sir” said
Charles.

“
Good. She is probably the
only ship onboard that can get down there in time. Nate, take her
down there and get those two out of there!”

“
What about other
survivors?”

“
If the Creatures are
surrounding them, then they are almost certainly the only living
people left. Now hurry down there, before it is too
late!”