CHAPTER 7 - MABINOGION - Part 2

Reaching the end of the second tunnel, Gwydion hammered in his own rope ladder and began his descent. When he reached the bottom he held the ladder steady for the Dwarf to climb down. Roarr didn’t like using thin rope ladders and he grumbled the whole way down.
Behind him came the Kingsguard and the Xho contingent they had with them. Their job was to split up and free the two remaining pens that were a short distance away from each other.
Gwydion took Roarr and Cat with him while Feather led Dog, Worm and Heat the other way. Each group crept quietly through the shadowed streets until the faced the pens doors and the groups of Host soldiers that stood guard.
Then a loud explosion echoed through the massive cavern that held the city and the attackers could see the guards get nervous. Some ran off to find commanders while the rest turned to face the front gate and listen to the beginnings of battle there.
Worm unslung his short horn bow from his shoulder and lined up his shots. He fired two arrows, one after the other, killing the two farthest soldiers from him. Feather, Dog and Heat rushed in followed by Worm and the Xho.
They killed all the soldiers but one who managed to race off into the shadows. Feather was going to chase him but Heat pulled him back and shook his head.
“Nothing we can do now, you’ll just get lost out there,” he said. “Better to guard them as we get the prisoners free.”
Feather nodded and braced himself to open the pen doors with the others. They managed to get it open, just slightly and the Xho ran inside. They found over a hundred people inside, thin and in poor health, but mostly scared as armed men ran into their space.
It took a few minutes to explain what was happening and many of the prisoners felt that they would be punished if they were caught and they didn’t want to go. Finally the Kingsguard pressured them enough to get them moving and a line started out towards the rope ladder.
Men, women and children were rushed out of the pen and brought towards the tunnel they would use to escape. The Kingsguard watched the other streets for Hive soldiers and let the Xho guide their own people towards freedom.

Gwydion and Roarr managed to kill four Hive soldiers each and Cat killed two, while the others were killed by the Xho fighters that came in behind them. But they also missed just one soldier that rushed off into the dark.
They opened their pen door rather easily and were surprised to find at least three hundred people trapped inside. Then pen was huge and covered a few city blocks. It had no roof since there was no worried about bad weather inside the cavern, and there were no walls for privacy inside. There was a privy trench and the Kingsguard could see that disease threatened some of the prisoner’s lives.
They also had to spend some time convincing the prisoners that they were being freed, but eventually they got them moving, using a handful of the Xho to guide them and help them up the ladder.
The warriors, Kingsguard, Asrai and Dwarf waited near the outside of the pen for the escaped Hive soldier to bring reinforcements. They knew it was only a matter of time before they were counter-attacked.

Gwaelod and his team killed all the Hive soldiers they attacked without any of them escaping. They found the same conditions the others had found when the opened their pen, but they found five hundred people inside.
Fortunately those prisoners welcomed escape and believed in the Xho fighters right away. Quickly they began to run for the ladder and freedom, with the healthier ones supporting the weaker.
The team took up guarding positions and watched the dark streets for trouble. Gwaelod thought about Cullen and those at the front gates and he hoped everyone was ok. This was going to turn into a dirty, ugly fight soon and he worried that they wouldn’t all get out alive.

Cullen, his brother and Idylls carefully ran through the streets, avoiding any buildings that seemed occupied. Twice they ran into Hive soldiers, but only a pair once and a single soldier the second time. Both were immediately dispatched.
They heard the explosion at the front gates and were in a position to see the flash of fire when it happened. They could hear the sounds of battle in that direction and the circled away from it to avoid running into any soldiers that were headed that way.
It took a long time to reach the castle and when they did it loomed out of the weird blue lighting to stand tall against the cavern walls. Cullen could see towers and balconies all the way to the top where the glass ceiling protected the city from the rushing water overhead.
Cullen saw guards at the castle gate and he decided it was time to make their presence known. Tris’tan fired two arrows into the group standing there, with their attention on the front gate, and the arrows of force exploded into purple sparks and the Hive soldiers were all blasted off their feet.
Cullen and his brother rushed in and wreaked havoc among them, slashing and cutting with their swords before most of them could get back on their feet. Then, with Idylls running behind them, they entered the castle.

Aki saw the Sisters coming and he commanded the Xho to guard him while he prepared. There were three sisters, all holding their globes of shadows and they stood on a small section of stone to be above the fighting. It made them excellent targets as far as Aki was concerned.
The fighting got intense at the edge of the bridge as the Xho kept the Hive soldiers from reaching it to cut it away and kill hundreds. And their plan to rotate in fresh soldiers was working beautifully.
A rush of Hive soldiers came close to knocking Aki back and suddenly Fox used his magic to grow in order to protect the elf. Fox seemed to swell, his chest growing larger, then his arms and legs puffing out to compensate.
The Hive soldiers backed away from the even and Fox swept his sword through three of them and he rose to six feet tall with massive muscles. He stood before Aki and blocked him from harm.
The three Sisters spoke words of power and blew into the globes, setting loose wicked shadows that stood out starkly in the morning sun. They flashed across the space between the Sisters and the fighting and just as they reached the front lines Aki exploded with light, covering all of his men and disintegrating the shadows.
Then he leveled his sword at the women and fired a beam of light that hit each of them one after the other, blasting them off their perch with smoking burning skin. They howled in pain and collapsed to the ground and a great cheer went up from the Xho.
Anton stood near the front lines organizing the rotation and clobbering any Hive soldiers that got too close to him with his mace. He looked over at Aki and grinned. It was good to have him here on the front lines. That would teach those witches to send their shadows after them!
They pushed ahead and managed to send the Hive soldiers back ten steps. That got them closer to the doors, and Fakhri’s women were still throwing small bombs into the Hive’s ranks and exploding them into chaos.

As the Xho hurried as fast as they could run and climb, the warriors waited, knowing the one that escaped would bring reinforcements. They didn’t wait long. The first wave, as the Host usually used, was creatures of the Underdark, giant spiders, centipedes and scorpions.
They came scuttling out of the gloom, running along the walls and floor and leaping forward to attack. Roarr met the charge with one of his own and was soon chopping the legs out from under the beasts with his axe.
As they fell and stumbled past him, Gwydion and Cat fought with swords, killing whatever Roarr missed. The Dwarf started chanting a Dwarven war song, as he slashed his axe back and forth, killing creatures left and right.
And behind them, the Xho ran for their lives, knowing this was their only chance for freedom, because of these strange rescuers that came out of the dark to help.

On another street in the dark city Dog, Worm, Feather and Heat fought side to side, facing the black creatures that came swarming up the streets. Worm stayed back and fired his arrows with precision, killing many of the monsters as they crawled up the street and when he ran out, he drew his sword and joined the others.
They had no elf or Dwarf with them, they were just four experienced Kingsguard that had fought during the Host War back home and they knew what to expect. The Host would send these creatures at them first to tire them out and then the Hive soldiers would come to attack them.
Dog thought about his brother, who often got on his nerves, but he knew that Cat was in another section of the city, fighting just as hard and hoping to stay alive. Dog used two hammers to fight and he smashed his way through the carapaces of the scorpions and centipedes, avoiding the stingers and pinschers.
Feather was the expert swordsman, using two short swords as effectively as any Dog had seen. The tall lanky man slashed and parried, avoiding fang attacks from the massive spiders that would climb the wall and try to attack from above.
Soon all four were covered in the ichor that came from the bleeding creatures and the floor got slippery. The four soldiers moved back along the street, underneath the gas lights, where they could see the monsters better.

In another part of the cavern, Gwaelod led his own Kingsguard along a wide street under the gas lights of the pen to fight the teeming masses of Underdark creatures as they scurried out of the dark towards them.
Deep fought with Farmer and Crow, holding the line until they got tired. Then they would switch out with Bray, Stone and the Asrai to rest, just as the fighters on the bridge were doing. It was a technique that kept them fresh for the coming battle that they all knew was ahead.
Deep glanced back to see the hundreds of worried Xho clambering away and up the ladder to disappear into the dark above the city. They just had to keep the Host from reached the crowds, so holding the line was all important.
Deep worried for his men, spread out within the cavern, all fighting in small groups, where he wished he could have them together as a team, since they all knew each other intimately.
Then it was his turn up front again while the others rested and he could think of nothing but reaching claw and fangs and long spider feet as he hacked and slashed away at whatever came at him in the street.
He didn’t know how long it would take hundreds of prisoners to climb out, but he knew it would take a significant amount of time. They had to hold the Host back. Everything depended on it.

Cullen and Tris’tan went through the castle, one room at a time, attacking and killing anyone who stood in their way. He could hear faintly the sounds of battle coming from the gate of the city and he knew Aki was edging forward.
Idylls stayed behind the two warriors, keeping to the shadows and trying to avoid being seen. She worried that the Queen would make a special effort to kill her if she realized Idylls was with the intruders. She hoped to be a surprise instead.
Cullen pushed through another set of doors and found six Hive soldiers waiting for them. He slashed his Sword across in front of him and all of them fell away, crashing into table and chair behind them.
Tris’tan fired the Bow into the mass of them, setting off purple explosions of color and energy. Cullen swept into the rest and killed them as efficiently as possible. Only twice had their been so many guards that they were slowed in their advance, but even then, the Hive soldiers couldn’t stand against the might of Cullen’s Weapons.
They pushed through to the next room and found themselves on a balcony that looked out over the city. Cullen moved to the edge and looked towards the gate. He could see the chaos of battle there and it looked like his people were pushing their way into the city.
Then he turned his gaze across the rest of the city, back towards where he knew other men were fighting. He could barely make out knots of battle in the limited gas light of the pens. He could see people running and got glimpses of his men fighting and he stood a moment, sending a wish that they survived.
Tris’tan touched his arm and he knew he had to go. They had more stairs to climb and more rooms to search, looking for the last Host Queen. He turned away and they moved ahead.
Idylls could see that Cullen was thinking of the others. He visibly cared about them and wanted to be with them, helping them through their trials. She had never seen those emotions on someone and it again touched her heart where once she felt confused by her own feelings, she now recognized them in this man.
She hurried after him, waiting to match her power against Hrim’s, hoping she had enough skill to oppose her. She kept close to the other two fighters, keeping out of their way but close enough to keep up.
Cullen led the way up another flight of stairs and then down another hall. Idylls decided now was the right time to begin her own defense and she spoke the words of power into her small globe and she summoned forth two shadows that loomed up behind her in the dark.
Cullen glanced back to reassure himself that it was only her shadows that came and then he led them onward. They burst into another room and found more Hive soldiers waiting. They seemed to be trying to ambush the intruders, but they found themselves quickly overwhelmed and beaten.
Cullen and Tris’tan left bodies in their wake, running from room to room searching for their final opponent. They climbed another set of stairs and then another. They must be reaching the top, Cullen thought, they had climbed quite high.

Aki, Fox and Anton yelled commands to step ahead once again. Anton was amazed that the Xho fighters could fight so hard. They were pushing the Hive soldiers back a few steps every wave. Men were wounded and quickly shuffled back to the rear to be cared for, and the rest just shoved their way forward again and again.
Fox, seemingly without tiring, kept attacking one side of the opposing line and his attacks made the edge confused and clumsy. The Xho would take advantage of that edge and keep attacking the rest of the line.
Every time the Sisters rose up to use their magic, Aki would hit them with a beam of searing white light that punished then for rising at all. Then he would turn his sword back to the fighting in front and the line would move ahead again.
Their forces were almost at the doors that were hanging on by just a bit. Anton knew it would be harder to get through the door than it had been to get to the door. There, the Hive soldier could bottle-neck the attackers and keep them out with less numbers on their side.
Anton shifted backwards to tell Fakhri that they would need a few more bombs for the doorway, to push the Host back inside so that the Xho could occupy the actual door themselves. She nodded her understanding, and the woman that fought with her moved ahead in the ranks until they were close enough.
The Xho moved back suddenly and made space for the women to throw. Small round balls of explosive flew through the air and hit Hive soldiers and bounced into the doorway. They exploded with a loud noise and a lot of flash, launching two lines of Hive fighters back into the city.
The Xho charged right behind the attack and took the doorway. Now two lines of them were actually inside the city and Aki moved ahead to guard them from magical attack, while Fox continued to cut down anything that stood in his way.
Anton smiled and hoped the others inside were doing as well. And he thought of Cullen and hoped his mission was a success too. It would be meaningless if they didn’t rescue the Xho and if they missed killing the last Queen.

Even Roarr was getting tired as the creatures stopped coming and the Hive soldiers arrived, thankfully without bows and arrows. The Dwarf had never seen the Host use arrows; it seemed in their warrior culture, a fighter needed to get up close and personal to kill, instead of attacking from a distance.
The Asrai and the Dwarf kept Cat in the middle so they could support either side, and the three of them faced the groups of Hive soldiers that came at them. They had backed up to a corner of the street, where they could defend a smaller space.
Gwydion risked a look back and saw that the last of the Xho were headed for the ropes and now some of the Xho fighters were coming to spell them on the line. The Xho weren’t as good as the Kingsguard or the Faeries but they were passionate about protecting their people now that they had been trained to fight.
Gwydion was impressed by their spirit as they faced the many Hive soldiers that came at them. They slowly started giving up the street, a bit at a time, as they all backed up towards the rope ladder. But the Asrai worried, who would stand below and be the last to climb? That person may have to sacrifice themselves for the rest.
Then he heard the strangest sound, like an avalanche of stone falling down a mountainside. He heard something crumbling and things falling, but he couldn’t understand the sounds. Then a roar shook the cavern and everything seemed to stop.
The Hive soldiers began to cheer and they stopped fighting. Gwydion grabbed at the others and yelled at them as loud as he could.
“We have to go now! Something’s coming! Go!”
All of them ran back towards the rope ladder and the Hive soldier seemed to be willing to let them go. None of them gave chase, they just stood and watched and Gwydion got a sick feeling in his stomach that it didn’t matter how fast they ran.
Something was coming.

Feather, with his supreme swordsmanship, supported by Dog with his pair of hammers, were fighting with Xho beside them since finally the prisoners were all almost up the ladder. Worm and Heat held the side as they slowly backed up.
Feather had already realized someone would have to defend the ladder and probably wouldn’t make it back up and he was trying to decide if he was going to stay. He thought about Dog, and he thought about his brother, Cat and how heartbroken either one of them would be without their sibling.
He thought about Heat, the team’s chef and medic. He would be needed for the aftermath of this battle. All of them had wounds, some serious, some not, but they would need an experienced medic to help.
He thought about Worm, the sneaky, lowly former thief that had proven himself a worthy member of their team. He had no family, no friends outside of the Kingsguard and he really wouldn’t be missed by anyone but them, but Feather couldn’t convince himself that Worm deserved to die more than himself.
They took oaths when they joined the Kingsguard, and they made promises to each other to always stick together, no matter what. The team was more important than the individual. Feather decided he would stay. He would be the one to make sure they rest got away.
Then he heard the sounds that rumbled through the cavern. Something big had happened. And then the roar echoed throughout the city and Feather’s heart dropped.
Something really big was coming. They had to run now, while the Hive soldiers were busy cheering and looking away towards the back of the city. He grabbed his men and pulled them towards the ladder.

Gwaelod and the Kingsguard with him had proven better than the Hive soldiers sent against them. He had checked and saw that most of the prisoners were gone and soon they would head back towards the ladder themselves.
And he worried about who would stay to let the rest climb. Someone would be stuck at the bottom, defending the rest. The Asrai warrior thought about it while he fought, and decided he would probably be the quickest and most able to fight until the last second and leap away and climb.
He watched the Kingsguard fighting and he was proud to fight alongside them. They were truly Cullen’s Company and they had fought just as hard as himself and his brothers throughout this whole battle, in each city.
He couldn’t stand to think of any one of them being left behind. He wondered how many of them had already figured out that leaving was going to be a problem for someone. He supposed he could just pull rank on them since he was Cullen’s brother.
Then he heard the rumbling and the sound of stones collapsing somewhere. It came from the rear of the cavern and he thought the sounds didn’t make sense. They were using explosives at the front of the city, so who set something off in the back.
Then he heard the roar and he knew they were all in serious danger. Something about that sound brought back ancient memories of legends he heard as a cub. The Hive soldiers stopped fighting and began cheering and Gwaelod started grabbing the soldiers and demanding that they run.
Something very dangerous was coming.

Cullen and Tris’tan crept slowly down the last hallway. There seemed to be one more room to check, all the way at the top of the highest tower in the castle, where it touched the glass ceiling.
They had fought their way to the top and not found the elusive Queen and all three of them agreed she must be there. They walked to the last set of doors that must open up onto a balcony.
Cullen opened the doors slowly and looked inside. He saw the Queen on the edge of the balcony and she was chanting. Cullen couldn’t understand what she was saying but the words made his head hurt, the language was harsh and guttural. He opened the doors wide and Tris’tan aimed the Bow.
The Queen spun as she heard the doors open and she quickly dodged to the side. The arrow went flying past her, off into the city somewhere. Cullen raced towards her, but stopped as he saw her globe come up in her hand.
She barked a word of power and the globe released its shadows. They erupted out of the smoky globe, rearing up in front of the fighters. From behind him Cullen heard another command and suddenly shadows raced past him to grapple with the Queen’s.
“You traitor!” Hrim screamed. “You would side with this half breed instead of your own people?” The look on her face was disgust as she sneered at Idylls who stepped ahead of Cullen.
“What our people have done is wrong Hrim, we cannot enslave other races! It’s wrong!” Idylls cried out, her voice pleading with the Queen to see reason.
“I should have known when you didn’t take on the skin of our God that you were corrupted!” the Queen raged on. “I will see you all dead!”
She screamed another command and the shadows began a fierce battle overhead. The Queen raised her globe again and started to speak more words of power. Idylls looked horrified and backed away.
Cullen didn’t wait. He gathered his spiritual pressure and cut the air with his Sword. The arc of fire and force ripped the air as it flew and it severed the Queen’s head in mid sentence.
Her head dropped off the balcony and her body wavered for a moment before following the head over the side. Cullen ran to the edge of the balcony and watched the globe fall to the floor below. When it hit, it exploded with bright flashes of color and shadows seemed to swell out of it and then died screaming.
Cullen knew that the Host everywhere must have seen that and he thought, this is the end. The rest of them will give up or run away and my people will get free and we can go home. He looked out over the city and sighed.
Its over.
And then he heard the rumbling. He could see stones falling away from one side of the cavern. In the shadowy light of the city, he saw a dark shape move away from the wall.
But his eyes couldn’t understand what he was seeing. The shape was massive, it blocked out whole sections of the city as it moved. Idylls grabbed his arm and gasped.
“It’s him! It’s Mabinogion! She woke him!”
Then the vast shadow roared and Cullen’s heart dropped. He heard Tris’tan gasp from the other side of him and he tried to make out what he was seeing. And then he saw fire spew forth from the thing’s head as it raked flames across the city.