Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,85

He pointed to the compass. “We need to open this doorway again and get our armies through as fast as we can. These . . . beasts”—he pointed to the sleeping creatures—“should be restrained. We need to mark entries and exits and devise a new plan. We hadn’t expected to arrive underground so we need to adapt.” Then he stared at the three remaining elders that, now with more light, Crow could see were all a grimy, dishevelled mess. Tancho didn’t seem to care. “And let us make one thing very clear. We are in charge now. The Elders’ Consul is no more, and the four of us—Crow, Elmwood, Samiel, and me—give the orders, as do our personal guards. If anyone here with us asks you a question, answer them. If they ask you to do something, do it. We need your help to take back Aequi Kentron, so you’re either with us or against us.”

The three of them nodded and Aelfflaed wiped at a tear. Adelais bowed her head. “We stand with you.”

“You bring armies?” Gabel asked, hopeful. “You will challenge them and take back control?”

“We’re not going to challenge them,” Tancho answered. “They dare walk into my home and demand access to Aequi Kentron? No, we’re not going to challenge them. We’re going to kill them.”

The three elders blinked owlishly at Tancho, but Crow met Tancho’s eyes, seeing nothing but fire and determination in them, and smiled.

Samiel and Elmwood practised their doorway opening to all four kingdoms, and the huge cavernous and ancient grand hall began to fill with rows of soldiers. Each dressed in their uniforms of white, black, green, and red, they came with supplies and an arsenal of swords, knives, arrows, and spears.

Soko, Karasu, and Kohaku were in charge of settling the ranks and giving instructions, and for the most part, despite the number, the soldiers were quiet. The guards from east and south were in charge of restraining the sleeping creatures, and Crow wasn’t bothered when they did so none too gently.

Crow, Tancho, Samiel, and Elmwood sat with Adelais, Aelfflaed, and Gabel and grilled them for information.

Though they had tried to remain hidden, they had also tried to find out what they could. The creatures had two commanders; both had a different armour to the rest of the battalion with two silver stripes across the right shoulder. They had noticed two others with one stripe, and it appeared to be some kind of rank and insignia. Apart from that, the rest of them appeared the same.

“We should aim to take out the chain of command,” Tancho said.

“Their armour appears to be an old leather of some kind,” Elmwood said, after another brief inspection of the sleeping creatures. “It protects the chest and neck. They wear hard boots to below the knee. So if we hit them, we aim for the knee, under the arm, and into the chest cavity, or at the base of the skull.”

Crow gave him a nod, pleased. “Good assessment, friend.”

“They are strong,” Gabel said, fear evident on his face. “They are not like anything I’ve seen. They move fast and without mercy.”

“We watched them kill our friends,” Adelais whispered. “They simply grabbed them and ended them, without effort. Broken necks, crushed skulls. They . . . feast on the innards . . .” She paled, clearly reliving those ghastly memories. “Without mercy.”

Feast on the innards? Oh, blue skies. What kind of monsters were these?

Tancho pursed his lips. “Speaking of crushed skulls, we found Maghdlm in the archīvum. We heard her cries for help and found her lying in a pool of her own blood. We assumed she’d survived the attack. We found no one else.”

“When we heard of the invasion in the Westlands, we called an emergency meeting,” Adelais said. “Maghdlm did not attend. We didn’t know where she was. Then some guards alerted us to the compass in the old house sparking to life. We sent our guards but they did not return. We found them all dead at the door . . .” She motioned to the end of the hall. “Richart and Perun raced in first and were met by the two commanders, with the stripes . . . they lifted them up off the ground by their necks and ripped out their bellies . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“We tried to run,” Gabel said weakly. “I grabbed Adelais and Aelfflaed and we hid in the archīvum and the creatures chased, capturing the others, killing them