SS - Chapter 3 - Shattered Glass

I made some minor changes to the end of chapter two, and since the start of chapter three wouldn't make sense without them, I included them here. It should be fairly apparent where the changes come in, the first line is the same as an existing line in chapter two.

--- Chapter 2 end

Laying one hand at the rapier at my hip I paced back and forth for a couple seconds. Even though I tried to rationally evaluate the risks.

“You’re thinking about doing something stupid, aren’t you?” a familiar voice asked behind me.

“Camille, I’m pretty sure I asked you to go back to the village and warn them about the Skylians,” I grumbled, turning towards the smaller girl.

“I did. I ran all the way there, passed on your orders, then ran all the way back. Just in case. I thought you said you were just going to inspect the battle site, then retreat,” she replied judgingly, arms crossed.

“That was my intention, but…” I trailed off, fiddling with the doll in my hand. “I think these people stayed behind, to give their families time to escape, and the Skylians are still pursuing them. I found evidence of children coming through here.”

“And since you can’t stomach injustice, you want to follow. Despite the fact that you’re severely outmatched,” Camille sighed. “Which way did they go?”

I stared at her blankly for a second. “Pardon?”

“I know you, you’ll waffle about it for a couple minutes, but in the end you’ll chase after them. I’ll never be able to convince you to give it up, but I can stick with you and even the odds a little.”  Camille declared as she adjusted her belt and rested her hands on the pommels of the twin daggers at her side. “So which way?”

I smiled lightly and turned back towards the far side of the clearing. “Follow me.”

------- Chapter 3

“Not exactly the most subtle group, are they?” Camille whispered as we followed the path of devastated vegetation deeper into the forest.

“They’re chasing someone, so they’re probably moving as fast as they can to close the gap. Besides, they have a pair of constructs with them. Even if they wanted to sneak, those things are about as subtle as a siege engine. I can’t complain though, it makes it easy for us to follow the path of destruction,” I replied, gesturing to the trail of disturbed ground cover and shattered branches before us.

Camille just grunted in agreement. 

The two of us were moving swiftly, abandoning caution for speed. The Skylians had a bit of a head start, and I wanted to close the distance before they managed to track down their prey. I only hoped that the sound of the constructs barging through the underbrush would conceal our approach.

Despite our quick pace, it still took us a fairly long time to catch up. The thick foliage of the forest slowly thinned out, until we finally stepped out onto a small plateau overlooking a small rocky canyon. 

Skidding to a stop right at the edge, the two of us stared at the situation below. The Skylian soldiers were perched at the top of a ridge further down the hill, raining fire and arrows into a small canyon, while the two constructs slowly worked their way down towards the entrance.

“I can’t see who they’re firing at from here, but if you want to intervene we’ll need to move fast. If those constructs get into that canyon we’ll never be able to stop them,” Camille hissed.

“Do you think you can take down the noble from here?” I asked quietly.

“Easily, but if I did that the rest of the squad will take cover, and return fire,” Camille replied, eyes narrowing. “Why?”

“Because I need a distraction if I’m going to get down this hill without being shot, and dealing with mages is always the priority,” I explained.

Camille stared daggers at me. “You’re going to charge straight down this hill, and try to engage both of those constructs without backup?”

“I doubt those refugees are going to have magical weapons, which means that either you or I are going to have to go down there to deal with them, and I don’t have a ranged weapon to distract the soldiers. You know it’s the right decision.”

She stared at me for several seconds before drawing her bow and creeping along the edge of the plateau, moving closer to the small squad. “Why do I always let you talk me into these kinds of situations?” she muttered.

“Because you hate seeing people being oppressed as much as I do,” I replied with a small smile. “That’s why we get along so well.”

Camille snorted as slipped the ornate longbow off her shoulder. “Be ready to run as soon as I fire.”

Despite her diminutive size Camille had no problem fully drawing the massive bow. She leaned forward, eyes furrowed with concentration, took a second to adjust her aim, and let the arrow fly.

The massive arrow punched straight through the back of the mage, causing him to stagger forward, the fire spell which had been forming dying in his hands. He clutched feebly at the arrowhead sticking out of his chest a couple times before toppling over, dead.

The rest of the soldiers wasted no time diving for cover behind the small rocky outcroppings dotted around the area. Camille calmly drew another arrow from her quiver and scanned the scattered group below. “I’ve got this, go!”

I didn’t argue, jumping off the side of the plateau and digging my heels into the side of the hill. The loose dirt and rocks gave way, causing me to slip rapidly down the slope. It wasn’t the most dignified, or controlled way to descend the hill, but it was by far the fastest. I grasped at whatever furled roots, and thin brush I could get my hands on. Not to stop my descent, but slow and control it enough to get to the bottom safely. 

A couple arrows did sail my way, I apparently didn’t manage to completely sneak by undetected, but every time one of the soldiers stepped out to take a shot Camille made swift work of them.

When I finally slid to a halt at the bottom of the slope, the two constructs had already entered the narrow canyon and disappeared from sight. Pushing myself to my feet I sprinted after them, desperate to close the gap before it was too late.

It took me less than a minute to make it to the gap, and turn the corner. What I saw there made my blood run cold. 

The long razor sharp fingers of the slender glass men ran red with blood, half a dozen bodies already lay at their feet. Further into the canyon one young woman was using a long stick to poke at the constructs like a staff, or spear. It was obvious she couldn’t hurt the magical monsters like that, but the action was keeping her just out of reach of the razor sharp fingers and buying precious seconds for help to arrive.

Drawing my rapier I charged the nearest monstrosity, plunging the blade into its back. Unlike the blunt swords, and various long sticks that the refugees had been using, my magical blade bit deep.

The construct shuddered, and its head swirled around to look directly at me, but it didn’t go down. 

Before it could turn to engage me I sidestepped, and brought the sword around slamming it into the glass creature’s arm as hard as I could. It was like striking solid stone, and reverberations nearly caused me to drop the weapon as my hand went numb, but the desperate attack paid off. When the construct whirled about bringing the limb up to backhand me, there was a loud crack as the last thin bit of glass I’d failed to cut through snapped, causing the limb to fall away. As the magical creature stared at its fallen limb in confusion, I pushed forward smashing the blade of the rapier directly into its downturned face.

Unlike when I swung at the limb, the thrusting strike didn’t meet much resistance. Through a combination of luck and skill it slid right through the construct’s eye, sinking deep into the head.

Something audibly popped, and all the life ran out of the construct, causing it to crumple to the ground.

Its compatriot, realizing that I was some sort of threat, immediately turned on me. Backing away, staying as far away from its razor fingers as possible, I stared the construct in the face. Whether through design, or some screwed up coincidence in creation, this glass man had a wide slit straight across the bottom of its face. The glass around the slit had buckled in some places, and broken in others, making the thing look like it had some sort of multicolored rictus grin.

With slow, deliberate strides the tall artificial monster closed in on my position. Its fingers flicked back and forth, creating a constant low ‘snik’ noise as it leaned down and looked me in the face. It almost felt like the thing was sizing me up.

Even though I tried to maintain my distance, and maintain some sort of advantage, the construct struck first. Whipping its upper half forward it extended its arms as far forward as it could, shooting its fingers out like spears. Instead of dodging entirely to the side, I brought my blade up and stuck it between a couple of fingers on the left hand, twisting the blade to parry. I wasn’t able to fully redirect the hand, but the two middle fingers snapped off from the pressure. Slipping to the side at the last moment, and with my blade still caught between the final two fingers, I wrenched downward as the hand passed, severing the remaining digits.

Unlike the previous construct, this one did not pause and investigate the damage, instead the strange formation on its face opened and it screamed in rage. I nearly froze at that, because I’d never seen a construct that had unique features, never mind one that showed any emotion. The whole point of constructs was that they were reliable, uniform, disposable troops. This one almost seemed alive.

Thankfully I recovered from the shock before the second hand came around. The glass man swung its remaining talon with both extreme speed, and surprising skill. It probably would have been able to overwhelm most skilled swordsmen, but it wasn't going to be enough to save it. 

I waited until the construct committed to a massive swipe before stepping forward, closer to the main body and out of the way of the long lanky arm. Bracing myself as best I could, I brought the rapier down upon the construct’s elbow, using its own momentum to increase the damage of my blow.

When the two connected there was the sound of breaking glass, and huge shards exploded out of the wound. The limb didn’t fall away, like the last one, but it went limp.

The glassman reared back, like someone taking a deep breath, then bent forward and once again screamed in rage. Rather than stagger back, like I did last time, I slammed the blade deep into its artificial mouth.

It choked, turned its head slightly to the side, eyes glowing red. Putting more pressure on the blade I finally felt something give. Life immediately left the construct’s eyes, and it crumpled to the ground.

Breathing heavily, I turned to find the eyes of every single refugee locked on me. Their expressions running the gambit from suspicion to wonder.

I slowly sheathed my sword and held up my hands so everyone could see them. “Now, I know this might look suspicious,” I said. “But believe it or not I come in peace.”