The day to remember. Act 2.

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Act 2.

Baric stepped out into the busy, paved street, each side lined with tall,

wooden houses with over lapping second floors. To his left were the northern gate

and barracks, not far at all from his apartment. To his right was the market

place in front of the cathedral and behind that sat the grey, swirling,

lifeless stone. He was known to visit it from time to time out of curiosity.

Baric turned left and headed for the barracks at a fast pace. Zora had done 

a fine job on his arm; barely felt a tingle as he marched off. He was met by Velix standing

outside the barracks, practising with his bow and arrow on a training dummy,

straw with a wood bucket as a head. The boy was good, the dummy might not

of been moving but it was late evening. The sun was setting and darkness

ruled the starless sky. He was surprised to see Velix skills as they were, he

was certain he should of struggled to land the arrows as he did, one after

the other next to his former shot. What was most impressive was how visible

the dummy was as Baric could hardly see the damned thing. He himself was 

spear man sporting a shield in his off hand. He would always keep his sword

as reserve however, good thing too, as he lost his spear during the battle

with the undead earlier.

"Getting better each day." Baric said as he approached Velix.

"Let's hope well enough with what's out there."

"We'll be fine. Any word?" 

"Guard captain Greenwald just got back; he is just briefing the seniors

before he addresses the rest of us."

"Time for me to sharpen my blade and grab a drink then." Baric knew

Greenwald liked the sound of his own voice. so he sat down by a lit brazier,

grabbing a whetstone and water. Velix finished up with the dummy before 

joining him on a seat next to him.

"So what happened out there?" Velix asked terrified.

"I'm not going to discuss that." 

"I want to know what we face."

"We have a foe that kills our own and who then becomes the enemy." Baric snapped.

This was a subject he'd liked to discuss and especially with a sibling.

Baric stopped what he was doing and looked to his brother who was prodding 

the coals of the brazier with a stick. He sighed and was about to speak when

someone sat opposite them.

They were dressed in white robes, laced with gold and red colours. The robe

was fairly tight on the wearer, with little loose material, and pieces of 

metal armour covering the hips, chest and shoulders. They recognised the 

smiling face of Zora looking back at them. She placed her mace and shield

down beside her and relaxed, though not entirely too comfy in her cleric's

battle armour. 

"Shit sky tonight, I was hoping for a bit of beauty on the night I died."

"Lovely thoughts there Zora, didn't realise the religious zealots were

such a depressive bunch." They both shared a laugh at their dark humour but

were interrupted by the barracks door slamming open. 

"Everyone gather around!" Barked Greenwald as he stormed out the door. Most 

were already gathered as this moment was big enough to have people on edge.

"I'm assuming you all know what's happened so i'll cut to the chase." Greenwald

spoke loud, clear and with huge authority, a voice of a king some say, if a

king had a commoners accent. 

"A large horde of undead have destroyed our main force, we don't yet know their

numbers. Regardless, we have these walls, our archers and the gods with us. We 

have good reason to believe they will be heading this way next. Take up your

posts and stay vigilant. Any questions?" 

With that, everyone shook their heads and disappeared. Greenwald headed into the

barracks, most likely heading to the tower that sprouted out of the middle

of the barracks. It was the tower with the best vantage point for organising 

a defence of the city. Baric followed Velix and Zora up the walls. Zora went

towards the eastern side, doing laps of the walls, ready to give aid to who

she passed. Velix went to his usual spot, just off the side of the northern

gate house. while Baric took up position on top of the gate house. He wasn't

armed with a ranged weapon so he though he'd help control the gate house.

There was a tense sensation in the chilly air as midnight loomed. The moon

just managing to break through the clouds. Velix was almost falling asleep,

his head constantly falling as his eyes gave up under the weight of his own

eyelids. It had been a long day for him. He looked up towards the gate house,

just about seeing Baric, who was looking out constantly, by the warming

light of a brazier. He'd never realised how similar he really was to his older

brother. Every feature was almost identical to Baric's, apart from his longer

hair, impressive beard and slightly older facial features. Baric saw he was

being watched, he smiled and waved. Velix returned in kind and continued his

watch of the empty horizon. Usually Baric's presence would settle him but not

on this night, nothing could this night. In the distance, He noticed something,

the air seemed to shimmer. He could hear rustling, louder than that of the 

forests leaves, and a light moan on the wind. He squinted but it didn't help.

He drew an arrow, lighting it on a nearby torch and strung it back as far as

he could, letting it loose into the dark distance. It landed with a thud and illuminated

the area around it. Soon he lost sight of the arrow amongst the endless stream

if shambling corpses. It was clear to him there how many had come, it was

no surprise that the army had lost. Fear gripped him, like an icy chill trying

to drain the life and warmth out of him. He could see how some were armed with

weapons and colours of the city's own forces, some of the neighbouring allied

cities and some had no limbs at all. That's then when he heard the thuds. 

Something big was just out of sight and it was getting closer. The noise 

grew in volume and frequency. The hordes of undead seemed to increase slightly

in pace, as if being pushed along by whatever was coming. Velix heard the 

crackling and creaking of trees being felled. They were being pushed aside

by the creature that emerged from the endless, dark, forest edge. It stood as

tall as the two story houses behind these walls and as wide as the gate house.

It had the appearance of a giant, twisted, spider but only the legs and body.

Where the head would usually of been was replaced by a huge torso of a man, with

long arms and a bald head, so foul, it left Velix speechless. He was about to

call out an alarm when the beast lifted it's head up and roared. The beast

threw it's head up and realeased it's tongue into the air. It spilt into

three long strands of tongue, each with it's own movement. He was gripped,

unable to speak, unable to move. He was frozen until the sound of the cities

alarm bells were ringing. It brought him back. It was there that he readied

himself for what was coming, though, he doubt was all he felt.