All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 275: Brave, Brave Sir Robin, Stood and Fought?

As my Sensory Disruption settled over the Lieutenant, I got excited. Maybe I had actually confused the enemy and turned its own tricks right back at it. But after its initial gasp of surprise, I heard a roar of rage. A sudden force slammed into my undercarriage, thrusting me up at the ceiling. I beeped in distress as I realized that my thrusters wouldn't be able to flip me over and counteract the force in time, and I smashed into the rock, leaving a circular-sized hole as the castle receded into the distance.

As I flew up into the sky, I was able to take in the state of the city. The capture had been working remarkably well, and our armies had pretty much fully taken control. Most of the capital's guard and standing army had surrendered and were being led out of the city. They sat in rows, disarmed and ready to be taken prisoner and assessed depending on what the leaders worked out.

Things appeared to be going much worse at the castle. The demons were pressing our people hard, and the ground that we had taken when we entered from the gate was still pretty contentious. The demons continually flooded out of the dungeon and other castle buildings to the point where I couldn't imagine their combined volume could fit inside. There's no way those buildings could hold so many demons, even at maximum packing efficiency. The soldiers were constantly being rotated out from the front lines, many with injuries and some even worse.

I observed this all in an instant as I completed my flip and thrust myself back down towards the castle. I soared back through the hole that my unwilling exit from the castle had caused. On re-entry, I was surprised to see that our enemy had switched tactics. Now, the entire throne room was coated in a thick blackness that suppressed all visuals. I only hoped that my friends were doing all right.

---

The invasion of the city couldn't have come at a worse time for Harold. He had finally gotten smugglers to agree to get them out of the city. He had even set up a system for the Warden to get out, unconscious as he was. It was just becoming too difficult for them to continue hiding in the city.

But now? Now, there was utter chaos. With the city gates being taken over like this, there was no way they could get out tonight. And the demons spilling out of the castle made everything so much worse. Now, he didn't just have to worry about discovery but general safety as well.

He positioned himself just inside the door of the healer's dwelling, peering out of a crack in the door for any threats. The old woman and the Warden were down in the cellar as she took care of him. The old man had stirred several times today, and they both hoped that he'd be waking up soon. It was the only way they might escape at this point. But until then, Harold was on guard duty.

Harold had to say that the Warden did look a lot better. He was certainly less gaunt than he had been at the start of all this. Somehow, the healer woman had been making sure he ate. It was some class skill that he was honestly very impressed with, allowing her to feed the unconscious man. But even with his improved condition, he wasn't sure how useful the Warden would be when he woke up.

A throaty growl sounded outside the door as an imp curled its claws around the door, trying to open it. The demon immediately got a face full of a demonsbane mixture flung from an open vial. Harold only had so many of them, but they were very effective.

Whenever he downed a demon like this, it would run away, and the stench made other demons avoid the area for several minutes at least. The time gave him just enough leeway to work on his next concoction. He didn't have to do any real fighting yet, but he wasn't naive. He had prepared for more substantial resistance, too.

Several crossbows sat loaded and ready nearby. They originally were going to be for private self-defense along the road while traveling, but the situation had changed. They. But the couple he had gotten for him and the Warden each now leaned against the wall next to him, ready to grab and fire several shots in a row if necessary and reload when he had downtime. But so far, they hadn't been called for.

Each bolt he had dunked in a poison he had concocted with some properties that would be troublesome to a demon. It turned out that a lot of the herbs the healer used for her potions had some crossover with alchemy, and a few creative substitutions had seemed to work. At least, as best he could tell. But he was worried about making it through the night. If the demons had openly decided to take over the city, then that was really going to be an issue. And considering that they were coming from the castle... Well, it felt strange, but Harold found himself rooting for the invaders that seemed to be holding them back.

If these invaders could take over quickly and dispel the demonic threat, that would be amazing. But judging based on what he'd seen from the demons, it seemed unlikely. There must have been some sort of massive summoning circle array in the castle because the number of demons that had made it into the city was entirely improbable. No way they had all been hiding this whole time. The idea boggled his mind, though. The ability to summon such demons one at a time already took a lot of magic. This must have called for fantastic amounts of energy, to the point that he didn't think even all his mages put together could hope to match it.

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He finished brewing another anti-demon potion. If all went well, he could turn it into a talisman to hang over the door. It would help to keep more demons away. Just as he got started, though, he heard footsteps coming up from the cellar. Harold half-turned to see what the old lady wanted, but to his surprise, he saw the Warden leaning on the door frame. The older man blinked, dazzled by the lights but obviously aware. The old lady was gently tugging on his sleeve, trying to get him to come back to rest.

"Harold. By the gods, it's good to see you. What the heck is going on?" The Warden asked in an uncharacteristic harsh tone, far from the polite, neutral voice that Harold is used to hearing. The man's voice was raspy from disuse and dehydration.

"You're awake." Harold stood quickly. "Are you sure you should be up?"

"Yes, of course I should. Now, tell me what's going on."

Harold blinked in surprise, checking the door quickly to make sure that nothing was attacking before he made his report.

"There's a lot sir." He sighed, wondering where to begin. "I pulled you out of the dungeon. You've been recovering for weeks. Right now, demons are invading the city. Or rather, there is a human force invading the city while demons flood out of the castle to oppose them. At least one Lieutenant is free, and I haven't been able to contact a lot of our normal assets. Someone has taken down much of our network." Harold said, trying to give a concise report but failing. The magnitude of what he had to convey stretched out before him.

The Warden nodded. "Yeah, I got your reports before they got me. The King's been compromised. And from what I learned in the dungeon well, it's a bit hazy, but there were definitely some demon issues going on."

"The demons were here before the invading army, so I don't know if they're connected, though that's certainly a possibility. It does seem like the invading army is fighting the demons, at least. The humans defending the city have mostly surrendered, and sometimes are even assisting with fighting the demons when necessary." Harold started to pack away his equipment. "All right, now that you're up, we can move. Are you ready? How can you walk? Can you ride a horse?"

"Yes?" the Warden asked in a questioning voice.

"Good." Harold said, "Then let's hope the gate I prepared for our escape is still open."

"Our what?"

"Our escape. We have to get out here, regroup and plan our next moves."

The Warden looked at Harold. "Harold, I cannot thank you enough for getting me out of that awful place. But you've got to be insane if you think I'm going to run away right now."

Harold stopped packing. "What?"

"Harold, this is our city. This is the capital of the Kingdom. If this falls to the Lieutenant, there's nothing we can do. We have to make a stand at some point." The Warden stared at him levelly. "I thought you would have learned this from your last couple of lessons, but perhaps I need to be more explicit. There comes a time when you have to make a stand. Even if it all seems hopeless. There's something, some hill you need to stand on, or else you're never going to accomplish anything. Now you know more about demons than probably gods, well, anyone. If they are allowed to flood into this realm unchecked, what can we really do about it?"

"We have to get in there and stop whatever they're doing. If there are summoning circles, we need to destroy them. If there are leaders, we need to take them out. If there are lieutenants, well... we'll have to hope that the gods are on our side. Because if we run away now, I guarantee this horde will be right on our tail."

Harold stood silently as the Warden finished his speech. He didn't want to stay here. Why should he? There was a literal army of demons out there, and he was woefully underequipped. If he'd been able to assemble more supplies, then maybe. But like this, what could the two of them do?

Still, the Warden didn't flinch. There was a look of determination in the man's eye that wouldn't take no for an answer. Eventually, Harold exhaled in frustration. "Fine. Fine! But what do you expect us to do? You're sick. I'm not made for combat. I'm a spy, god damn it!"

The Warden shook his head. "Someone's got to do something."

Harold looked down at his hands and over toward the back door. Just beyond it were a pair of horses, stabled and ready to go. "Fine. We'll see what we can do."

---

I crashed down through the hole and landed in the center of the ongoing fight, knocking what sounded like Beatrice away from fighting some sort of demon. But I couldn't really tell for sure what was going on, just that there was no longer fighting. Quickly, I waited, processed the audio information I got, and located the four sounds of human boots and one sound of claws before I fired my laser around leg height toward the claws. Hopefully, if I was wrong, at least no one would be permanently injured.

A shrieking hiss emitted from my target. The illusions covering my sensors flickered, and I saw what was really going on for the first time.

The mess maker was tall. Each of its many limbs had a hand with four clawed fingers arranged in two pairs. I was a little jealous of the many opposable digits. It didn't even make very good use of them!

The clawed monstrosity with a spiky soul was facing off against my four friends. They were battered and bruised, but I didn't see any major or permanent injuries. The demon, though, looked in very bad shape.

The smoking hole in its leg from my laser was only the latest wound it had taken. One of its arms was hanging by a thread, and another hole pierced through its stomach, bleeding profusely. It looked to be regenerating slowly, but a purple liquid that coated both the tips of Beatrice's broom handle and its wounds seemed to be slowing it down a little bit.

I fired at it again, but it puffed into mist, completely avoiding the attack. A moment later, my sensors were scrambled again. But I did notice that the sound hadn't changed too much. Focusing on that, I prepared for my next attack.