17. Sun
Chapter 17
Sun
I knew that the furthest point of the tunnel emerged close to Kari. That didn’t leave much time to collect myself.
I’d seen my beloved mare resurrected, had been stabbed, saved by the goddess and then finally, I had given in to Hadi.
My fingers trailed up his chest as we walked, and I wondered… what had I been so afraid of ?
Giving myself over completely had worried me so much. Somehow, I’d felt like I would lose myself, but when Hadi fucked me, it was like we were both equal, both giving in, both finding a connection beyond what we had expected.
I shook my head and tried to push the thoughts away.
The emperor was surely in Kari right now, in his palace of lies, awaiting our arrival.
Soon, no doubt, we would be surrounded once again. I only hoped that General Hideyoshi kept true to his promise to meet us at the gates with our supporters.
Sure enough, the familiar sounds of battle were soon easily distinguished as shouts, clanking metal, and cries of despair filled the air.
All of us tensed as we walked toward it.
Every other thought vanished from my mind as we turned onto the path that led directly to the city’s sweeping entrance.
From a distance, we moved toward the large clearing where the battle was taking place.
My heart was in my throat as the walls and most importantly, the doors came into sight.
The large gray bricks rose all the way into the sky, nearly as high as the palace walls themselves and the doors were even more immense and intimidating. Tall, black and metal. Designed to keep even the craftiest of nocs from getting into Kari too easily.
They were sealed shut and archers no doubt held position in the lookouts from the top. But we would find a way through, and we would open those doors for our supporters.
Emperor Gaulu would very shortly know the menace we could be.
“We should go straight through,” Kiar said. “Let the others fight for us. We won’t stop moving forward until we are in the palace.”
My body was still sore and stiff, but it was now or never. He was right.
“Then let us go quickly, before we are seen.”
The others nodded and with that, we ran forward.
Hadi was fast when he needed to be, all eight legs blurs as he carried us into the edges of the fray. Kiar shot ahead like a whip, his body just as hard to decipher unless he paused and above Clem and Bracken shot through the air like arrows, leading the way.
It didn’t take long before we were noticed. A well-aimed spear nearly caught me and sent me tumbling from Hadi’s back.
Rather than taking the time to climb back atop him, I began to fight, pulling my new dear horn weapons free and silently thanking Hideyoshi for stocking me up.
“There!” Clem shouted, pointing.
I couldn't see what he was seeing from his vantage point, but I still went where he told me to, fighting my way through, ignoring the stiffness in my muscles from holding me back.
Hadi moved ahead of me, clearing the way, Kiar followed, protecting us from behind while Bracken dove down, attacking relentlessly. When I glanced back at him, the humans against us were using concentrated efforts to get him now, spears and arrows shooting through the air toward him, but I didn't worry. Despite his size, Bracken was agile.
Instead of worrying about any of them, I concentrated on getting to wherever Clem was pointing.
And suddenly, it was upon us. Distracted by the battle as I had been, I hadn't seen the horses until they were right there , a multitude of them with soldiers on their backs.
I gasped and paused, watching the warriors cut down our enemies from the back of horses that didn't look quite as dead as they had before.
“Sun!” a familiar voice shouted.
I searched for the source, not seeing Jia until she was over me, riding a steed I had seen her on many years ago, before our beloved horses were taken from us.
She offered her hand.
“Quick! Get on!”
I took her hand, allowing her to help swing me onto her stallion.
“This way!” she shouted, and I realized in shock that she was talking to Hadi and Kiar who were behind me.
They were truly on our side, I realized once more as she kicked her stallion forward, sending us bounding through the battle until we were surrounded more by our allies on horseback than the humans who were against us. Somehow, it was still hard to fathom.
“I've been looking for you everywhere!” Jia shouted back to me. “It took us too long to remember the tunnels that lead here. Just as well. You got here just in time.”
“Where did you come from?” I demanded. “And the horses? Are they truly ours?”
“They're ours!” she said, grinning back at me. “This old boy was lost to me in that treacherous time, and he found me again, just like that. And it's not just the horses, Sun. Humans rose too. Not all of them, but our allies.”
I shook my head, feeling lost.
“There's no way–”
“Sun!” Clem shouted and I spun around, deflecting a flying arrow with my arm. I got a shallow slice through the forearm, but better that than my head.
I looked back, heart racing at the sight of Hadi, Kiar and Bracken, still in the thick of battle.
“There are too many of them!” I shouted.
“Don't give up yet!” Jia said. “We're nearly there!”
She pointed forward and I realized then where she was taking me–right to the gates of Kari. She, and her platoon were going to get those doors open. I had no doubt. Inside there was where this would all end.
“General Hideyoki went south with his battalion. I don’t know if he’ll make it back in time. I took Tao south toward Hae and then veered off and rejoined this group once my stallion found me. Sun, you wouldn't believe the things happening through the land. Everything is already changing.”
“Bracken!” I shouted and my large bat beast, attuned to my voice, rose into the air, shaking free of the humans trying to grab him to pull him down.
Instead of continuing to fight, he swept through the air towards me.
“What is it, Sun?” he asked from above us.
“Make way to the gates!”
My entire harem leaped in the direction I pointed, making easy way with our allies towards the tall metal gates gleaming in the distance in the afternoon sun.
Bracken led the way, clearing those who tried to stop us as they became less and less concentrated, the majority falling behind us. The battle was already primarily at our rear and what felt like victory was before us, close enough to taste.
Soon, only the wide stone path into the city lay ahead of us with nothing and no one barring our way. They'd thought their soldiers would stop us. Ha! They underestimated me, my harem, my supporters and the goddess Tsuki. Just like the many battles I'd taken part in before, being underestimated would prove to be our greatest weapon.
“Get those doors open!” Jia shouted to her comrades as we drew nearer. They hurried ahead on horseback, arrows pointed to the watch boxes.
As a group, we slowed to a stop, waiting.
No one appeared in the boxes to tell us we were not welcome, and no one opened fire on us.
“They're hiding,” she said in disgust. Then, louder, she shouted. “Open these doors, or we will do it ourselves!”
Silence rang in response.
“Open the doors!” she instructed her men.
Without hesitation, arrows were shot over the top of the door. They had hooks attached to the front with ropes attached to the ends. They had planned this part better than I had, after all, I had a flying beast to carry me over the wall. But going in with the large group would be better for us. If we charged the palace as one, there would be no way for the palace guards to stop us.
Heart pounding, I watched as the many ropes were gripped and pulled taut.
Still, no alarms sounded. No one appeared to stop us.
“On three!” Jia shouted and when the number was announced they all began to pull as one.
For a moment, there was no response and then with a great, metallic creak, the doors began to part.
Still, silence.
Had the city been evacuated? By now, they had known we were coming. Was all of this effort for nothing?
But no... It hadn’t been long since General Hideyoshi had taken our side. That wouldn't be enough time for an entire evacuation. If the entire populace of Kari had left, wouldn't we have heard or seen something ? Wouldn't Jia have heard something?
The towering doors pulled further apart, the momentum suddenly swinging them with more force just as I finally realized.
“No!” I shouted. “It's a trap!”
The moment the words left my mouth, a chilling, inhuman sound reverberated through the air, so loud that all other noise was drowned out. It was like the clicking of a thousand locusts surrounding us and with it, like a swarm, countless nocs came spilling from behind the walls. Every type of bug-like monster, coming toward us, the mass so thick that it was hard to see where one ended and the next began.
And from their midst, a creature so large and hideous that I gasped, emerged.
It was a noc unlike any I had ever seen. Its body stretched as tall as the very walls surrounding the city, long and thick with small legs, hundreds of them, and at the top, a misshapen, hideous human face.
“Daaku!” Hadi shouted and I could scarcely believe it. This was the new noc king. The one who had taken Hadi's rightful place. He was terrifying, absolutely intimidating, but it was hard to fathom strategy coming from such a monstrous creature.
“Run!” Jia shouted, but it was too late. The nocs were upon us and another battle beginning, but all I could think as Jia’s horse reared in fear and as I swung my weapon at anyone who came too close, was that Emperor Gaulu had exposed himself.
He was letting the world know that the current noc king was his ally. Why else would he be here, fighting to protect Kari and the emperor himself?
If we could make it out of this alive, everyone would know the truth. No one else would try to stop us.
This was good.
The moment I thought the gloating thought, a scream tore through the air, piercing me, and I knew without even seeing that it was one of my nocs.
My blood went cold as fear shot through me.
I searched in vain to see where the sound had come from and saw at the last moment as Bracken fell from the sky.