The Realms Thereunder

6

Daniel and Freya tried their level best to stay with the crowd as they fled for the safety of the Langtorr. The streets, buildings, and city guards blurred past them as they struggled to keep up with Ecgbryt.

Horns sounded from other parts of the city. Freya and Daniel kept their eyes on the Tall Tower, remembering its thick iron doors. Freya grabbed Daniel’s shoulder and pointed up at the tower. Following her finger, Daniel saw a flicker of bright red and yellow in one of the windows several stories up. It was Ealdstan, gripping the window frame, with one foot on its ledge. As they watched, he launched himself forward and fell, his robes billowing and flapping around him like flames on a burning arrow. He quickly dropped out of sight, below the roofline of the houses. Daniel tried to shout to Ecgbryt, but it was no use, he couldn’t make his voice heard over the clamor.

They had just turned a corner and had their first glimpse of the Tall Tower’s gates when the yfelgopes caught up with them. The creatures had scaled the buildings and were jumping from roof to roof towards the centre of the city, out of the reach of the guards.

Nine of the creatures dropped into the road ahead of the crowd. Ecgbryt halted his horse and ushered the fleeing townspeople down a side street. The yfelgopes, each of them sprouting sharp bits of metal from joints and fingers, ran towards them, snarling and barking.

From around the corner of a building, Daniel and Freya watched Ecgbryt charge forward, galloping into one end of the line of attackers. With his spear couched in his arm, he drove into the swarming knot of yfelgopes, skewering a creature on his left with his spear and batting another two away with the edge of his shield. Releasing his spear, he drew his axe and sliced cleanly through the neck of an yfelgop that was slashing at his leg and stirrup. His horse reared underneath him as one of the twisted men raked at the horse’s flank. Ecgbryt kept his saddle and brought his axe down into the attacker’s head with a juicy thok!

The yfelgopes left standing became even more enraged and bestial. With quick, darting movements, they surrounded the lone knight. Ecgbryt reared his horse to make a break out of the ring when a shout rang out from a side street.

Five of the city guards, led by Breca, the guard at the Western Well, swept upon the invaders in a pale, gleaming fury. Their speed was controlled and effective-every blow that fell was either crippling or deadly. In a very short time the yfelgopes were dispatched.

“Hwaet, Breca,” Ecgbryt said, addressing the guardsman.

“What news?”

“The wall has been breached. Few have entered-very few. It is possible that this attack is a feint.”

“Or that the force was not so great as we thought,” Ecgbryt suggested.

“Perhaps,” replied Breca, signaling to his men. “We go to join the forces already guarding the Carnyx. The rest have been ordered to sweep the city.”

“Swa swa, I will join that number,” Ecgbryt replied, tugging on his mount’s reins, “when I have delivered the rest to safety.”

“God by ye,” Breca said, and turned to order his men.

Ecgbryt urged his horse forward and away after the fleeing citizens. Plucking his upright spear from the chest of its victim, he caught up with the crowd just as the first and fastest of them entered the gate of the Langtorr. Daniel, with Freya clinging to his arm, turned just as he started up the steps of the torr. He saw Ecgbryt halt his horse and dismount as people flooded in around him. He heard growls and screams as yfelgopes leapt from the rooftops, and two of the knights in the raiding party came into sight, being pursued by a swarm of the twisted creatures.

As they ran across the wide courtyard that separated the Langtorr from the rest of the city, Daniel paused to look at the squat building that protected the Great Carnyx. A body of guards, Breca amongst them, was encircling it on the outside as warriors on the inside ran to take up places around the structure’s battlements.

Freya pulled Daniel’s arm very hard and he allowed himself to be dragged forward. But in the pushing and jostling of the crowd she lost her grip on him. Springing up the steps, he tried to catch up with her.

Once inside the crowd scattered in confusion. Servants tried to herd the refugees into the banquet hall, but everyone was taking stock of themselves, looking for companions, and staggering in exhaustion. Daniel tried to see through the commotion but couldn’t find Freya anywhere. He called out her name but had trouble hearing even his own voice over the din.

He was about to enter the hall with all the others when he saw a swift movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw that someone was running up one of the staircases: Freya. She must be headed to her room-but why? He leapt up the stairs after her and ran down the hallway to her door. It was closed but he flipped the latch and threw himself against it, expecting it to be locked or barred, but it swung open easily.

“Freya?” he hissed. There was no answer.

He tried again. “Freya? Where are you?”

A sound came from under the bed. “Shh!”

“Freya, what are you doing under there? Let’s get with the others!”

There was no reply. He bent down and stuck his head underneath the bed frame. “Freya, it’s safer in the hall.”

“You don’t know that.”

“They have weapons to protect us.”

“I don’t care! There are too many of those-those-things.

Find someplace to hide or go back to the others, but just get out of here!”

“I’m not going to leave you alo-”

At that instant the door flew open with a bang.

Daniel spun around and let out a shout of surprise. Then his heart froze.

In the doorway crouched a snarling yfelgop. It wore loose bits of plate armour over its bare skin that was painted with an angry, black zigzag pattern. Its head was inhumanly white as if it had been bleached. The thing brandished a short, crooked, and fearsomely pointed spear in one hand, let out a curdling scream, and leapt.

Daniel dove out of the way and the creature skittered across the covers of the bed. Sinking its fingernails into the mattress, it spun itself around and crouched to leap at him again. Daniel lunged forward and pulled hard on the thick bed sheet, flipping the yfelgop onto its back. He threw the cover on top of it as the thing spat and writhed.

Rushing to the fireplace, Daniel snatched up a poker, the only weapon he could see to hand, as the sound of ripping cloth came from behind him. He spun around and lofted the heavy, blunt length of iron. The yfelgop crouched in the middle of a pile of shredded cloth, trying to free itself with a jagged knife-and jerking away the tough threads that were caught on its rough armour.

Daniel saw his opportunity. Yelling, he dashed forward, swinging the poker in a wide arc. The yfelgop dipped sideways and deflected the blow with an armoured arm, but the blow clipped him on the temple. The momentum in the swing carried Daniel and he felt his feet slip from under him. He landed lengthways on the floor.

Grunting and snorting, the beast tumbled out of the bed and landed on top of him-Daniel felt sharp knees dig into his sides as a claw-like hand gripped his throat. He saw the jagged knife silhouetted against the ceiling and desperately swung the poker against the ugly, snarling face but managed only enough force to bat the yfelgop’s head to the side.

Snarling, the yfelgop slashed at Daniel with its talon-like fingers. Daniel cried out, his eyes squeezing shut in pain. When he opened them again, he saw the arm once again drawn back to strike. Daniel scrambled for the poker and felt his fingers close around it, but it was too late. The knife sailed through the air-and then clanked to the floor. The yfelgop choked and glared hatefully at Daniel, its eyes angry and wild. It leant forward slowly and spat a gob of sticky blood against the side of his face and shoulder. Then it slumped heavily against him, letting out a ragged, gurgling sigh as its eyes rolled back in its head.

Daniel looked up and saw Freya standing over him and the body of his attacker. Her face was terrified and tear-streaked. She was holding the yfelgop’s black, crooked spear, still partially entangled in the bed sheet and now also planted between the creature’s shoulder blades at the base of its boney neck. She gave the dark metal a sharp twist and the thing against Daniel twitched and lurched.

With a mighty heave, Freya tore the spear from the corpse and Daniel pushed the fetid body off of him. He stared up at Freya, who was huffing through clenched teeth, and he started to cry.