Skywarriors of Eoe Part 1 Read online

  Skywarriors

  Of

  Eoe

  ~ Part I ~

  A Science Fiction Novell

  By

  Laird Oliver

  Copyright and Social

  © 2019 by Laird Oliver

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author´s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events, or locals is entirely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Skywarriors of Eoe

  Copyright and Social

  Tide of death

  Matter of fur

  Slave Chains

  Caged Catbeast

  Tide of death

  Tebosch Arim narrowed his eyes and stared at the rapidly diminishing light. As soon as the Sky Clipper reached enough height, the crew would extinguish the lighting. Peroad was close to Essalia’s border and so the White Brotherhood preferred to sail overnight, even though peace reigned officially.

  At some point he would be on one of these airships to get home to Chesoba, once he would have completed his service in the Imperial Legion finally.

  He was shivering. It was bitter cold, and a cutting east wind whistled over the platform of the watch tower measuring only a few steps. With clammy fingers he raised his collar and rubbed his hands.

  He could smell the fog coming. The mixture of salt and mildew tickled his nose, and the humidity caused the frosty late winter night temperatures to drop even further.

  He looked down the bulwark, dozens of meters below him were the first swaths of the bubbling mists flowing against the walls of the old fort, like fringes of an old carpet, fumbling up the hill and licking the gray granite blocks of the stronghold. The fields and roads, the small lake next to the crossroads and the old barn outside the walls of Peroad were already covered by the impenetrable fog. Blue lightning flashed through the luminescent white and chiseled grotesque shadows like scissors cuts from the waving fog. Just below the lowest point of the yellowish lunar disk, he thought to see a gigantic tentacle skyrocketing for just a fraction of time.

  For some time rumors circulated that even the big beasts were venturing up with the fog floods...

  But maybe his imagination played a trick on him, the past weeks had been exhausting.

  He pushed himself away from the battlements and gazed over the arch of the eastern fortified wall, which joined the watchtower. The wall went down the hill on which the fort lay and disappeared with a slight bend in the valley of the Mereon River, before returning to the Fenoran High. The prefect had evacuated this part of the city wall for the night. The fog had repeatedly penetrated the fortifications in the river valley over the last few months, and he wanted to surrender the slums rather than the legionnaires to the twisted creatures coming with the gray-white haze.

  Those were the moments when he longed for Chesoba.

  Tomorrow, the prefect would strike another mark in the tally pole and announce succinctly that the fog had been rising and falling for generations and there was no need to worry.

  But that was only half of the truth.

  While the fog floods always got more violent when the two moons Miai and Okine met the increasingly higher notches in the weathered wood were undeniable.

  At some point Peroad would have to be abandoned.

  The fog changed everything it touched for a long time. Normally it started with the plants. They bleached out and got bluish luminescent veins, and then it spread to the animals and finally attacked the humans. Tebosch had already encountered several human chimeras, emaciated pale figures whimpering meaningless words and attacking anything that came too close by. They lived in the floodplains and sometimes crawled together with the sky-fins across the eastern wall. When he was off duty during a fog tide, he volunteered to patrol the slums to protect those who nobody else cared for.

  Just as Tabira would do ...

  »Don’t tell me you’ve never done this before? «

  And there it was. His second problem beside to the fog tonight.

  He left the sight of the waving swaths reluctantly and turned to the recruit.

  »No. «

  »You’re serious, are you? «, the boy grinned in disbelief, exposing two rows of uneven teeth shimmering stained in the light of the torches.

  »Yes «, he looked disgusted at Andor Lorin.

  The recruit was in his second year of service, thin as a beanpole and at least six summers younger than himself.

  »Oh, come on! «, Andor pointed with both hands to the wide open place beneath the watchtower.

  »I mean ... she’s begging for it. «

  »Oh yeah? «, he frowned.

  »Yes ... Look at her … «

  He shook his head. »You really have a lot to learn about women, kiddo. «

  »Hey, I don’t want to marry her. I want fun ... «

  »With a woman in the pillory? «, he sighed and looked down.

  The middle one of the three wooden pillories held a young woman captive. The sturdy wooden planks enclosed her wrists and her neck, forcing her to stand bent over. She was nearly naked, only a short skirt ending just below her bottom covered her femininity and thick metal shackles connected by a short chain kept her ankles caught to prevent her from kicking backwards.

  »Why do you think she’s down there? «, Andor pushed his chin defiantly forward.

  Tebosch shrugged and tried to sound indifferent. »I don’t know. There are many reasons to end over there … «

  »They caught her outside the whorehouse! «

  That was probably true, but still ...

  He turned back with a jerk. »And that gives you the right ... «

  »That’s the reason she’s down there «, insisted the younger one.

  He sighed. The boy was right. Rape was a calculated part of the punishment, especially for women. The place of shame was not without a good reason directly in front of the barracks. She had little to fear as long as of the street lights were on. But the lower ranks would quickly notice the opportunity which was waiting for them a few steps away when the flames in the hanging lamps getting dark in the middle of the night.

  Maybe it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to her tonight. However harsh it may sound, but as long as the men were occupied with her, she was at least safe from the fog beasts.

  He was looking at the nameless young woman. Toned light skin, a well-proportioned waist and curled blonde hair falling in front of her face like a curtain. A handsome girl with no doubt, and he would have been happy to meet her at any other time. He would even let some Riadi bounce, if she worked in the whorehouse.

  He pressed his lips together. Even he could hardly hear anything from the distance, her quivering upper body told him she was sobbing.

  Probably not her last tears tonight.

  »You won’t be able to look at yourself in the mirror again, if you do that «, he whispered soundlessly.

  »Really? Do you really believe that? I want to be a legionnaire, not a Turdapriest «, laughed Andor harshly.

  Tebosch looked again at the endless expanse of the fog flooded plateau. »I can’t forbid you to rape her, but I won’t cover for you, if you leave your post. «

  The boy spat on the stone floor. »And you wonder why
no one wants to be on duty with you? Tomorrow morning she will be so well lubricated that I don’t want to go in there anymore. «

  »Not my problem, kiddo «, he shrugged.

  »It’s only because of the cat girl, isn’t it? You still have a crush on her «, Andor grumbled.

  Tebosch cursed himself for having uttered too much when he arrived. The recruits had met in the »Nimble Finyan« before their first day of service in the Legion. There were wine and whores, and after the narrowness of Chesoba, the many unknown faces seemed like a salvation to him. The alcohol had loosened his tongue and let him reveal things he regretted since this day ...

  Like his love for Tabira, who only had eyes for his half-brother Hiron.

  »Not your business, kiddo «, he replied bluntly.

  Andor sneered and sat down between two battlements pointing to the east wall.

  »Just as I thought! Have you ever...? « The boy made a meaningful movement with his hands.

  »No! «

  The giggling turned into a shrill laugh. »You’re crazy! They have at least a dozen catbeasts in the whorehouse. They didn’t even declaw some of them ... I mean ... if you like that kind of stuff. «

  Tebosch closed his eyes. He didn’t want to imagine Tabira as one of those broken creatures. »Shut up! «

  The boy formed a claw with his hand and swung it through the air. »Rrroooaaarrrrrrr ... The lieutenant told me, they do a kinky blowjob ... cause of the fangs. «

  Tebosch could hardly resist the temptation to punch his armoured fist into the recruit’s face.

  »The fortifications are not meant to be seats «, he forced through clenched teeth instead.

  The boy mockingly let his head swing from one side to the other. »Wohoooo...! The fortifications are not meant to be seats. Will you report me now? «

  He made a fist in mute rage. »If I get rid of you ... «

  The boy giggled again. »I think ... «

  The last word drowned in a dull plop.

  Tebosch spun around. The young recruit was still sitting between the two battlements, staring with wide-opened eyes at the tip of a spear protruding from his chest. He touched the reddish metal in disbelief, blinked, looked up at Tebosch and then tilted backwards with no other sound and disappeared into the darkness.

  The fog swallowed the impact.

  Tebosch's thoughts tumbled over like a dog puppy chasing after his own tail.

  Those were no brainless chimeras from the floodplains.

  As unbelievable as it sounded …

  … the Southerners attacked them in the middle of a fog tide.

  Now he could hear the scraping of metal against stone as the steel hooks grabbed for hold, the creaking of wooden ladders groaning under the weight of armoured men, and the barking of harsh orders with which the commanders coordinated the attack.

  The unmanned east wall ...

  … it probably didn't take much time for the strategists from Essalia to realize that the prefect was evacuating the guardsmen from the lower fortifications of the river valley during a fog tide.

  He whirled around on the heel.

  Peroad was lost.

  Even if he woke up the fort with the alarm bell, the walls would have been overrun long before the soldiers could squeeze their clumsy feet into the boots, but he could still warn the rest of the cities on the Dawn Plain.

  He ran to the narrow staircase leading to the battlements connecting the east tower with the north tower, taking three steps at a time.

  Stumbled.

  Caught himself and stormed on. A sleepy legionnaire stared at him in bewilderment. He pushed him roughly to the side. Behind him the dull voices became louder. A crossbow bolt struck crashing into the chest weir and tiny stone splinters bit into his unprotected neck.

  He cursed loudly.

  From the corner of his eye he saw the man, whom he had pushed aside seconds before, collapsing with a gurgling sound.

  He darted sideways, ducked forward, a crossbow bolt shredded the leather of his armor on his right shoulder. He hurried up the stairs to the north tower. The deck was empty. He needed little imaginative power to picture where the men were. In a few minutes the men of the Nightwatch would turn off the streetlights.

  Damn whore!

  The voices behind him came closer. He didn’t understand a word, but it was about him.

  Next staircase, he grabbed the two handrails and slid down.

  In the middle of the fort rose the Tower of Heaven, a slender concave column carrying a round platform on top. A gigantic statue of Turda occupied half of the circular area, the war goddess only wore a long scarf which ran from the left shoulder to the right hip and was looped to form a skirt. She defiantly raised her sword and shield towards the night sky, while a pyre waited between her legs to alert the remaining cities of the plain about an attack.

  He hurried. The voices behind him became more hectic. Armored boots thundered across the battlements, a new volley of crossbow bolts whistled through the night. He leaped forward, rolled over his shoulder. The projectiles bounced against the stone wall with an ugly noise, and a bunch of stone splinters and ricochets pelted his armor. He got back on his feet and ran. Somewhere in his left leg a stabbing pain raged. He reached for the handrail of the bridge leading to the signal tower, rushed over the wooden planks.

  Only a few meters separated him from the saving door.

  The voices had become angry cries accompanied by wild curses. He heard the groaning of wood and the rough metallic crunching of stretching crossbows. The Southerners stood across from him on the battlements. He was a perfect target. If they were done before he reached the tower, dozens of bolts would pierce him.

  Not even seconds...

  The heavy oak planks would not stop the attackers for a long time but with a little luck it would give him enough time. He took the first three steps with a single jump and hurried up the spiral staircase. The twists and turns were dragging as if they didn’t want to end until he finally reached the hatch. He pushed upwards and squeezed through the gap onto the platform. Something hit his left leg and a wave of fiery pain whipped up his spine. He screamed, rolled away, kicked the latch with his foot and closed the tower hatch.

  For endless seconds, gracious silence surrounded him.

  He gasped for air and as if it had been a secret signal, dozens of fists drummed against the wood.

  He cursed, rolled over his belly, and got up.

  Next to him the first plank splintered.

  He reached for a torch, pushed it into the coal basin and rammed it into the pyre with a desperate cry.

  Come on!

  The fire jumped on the oil-soaked tinder, leaked over the massive logs, limped up on the statue’s legs and exploded in a bright fireball.

  The shock wave swept him off his legs, he was lying helpless on his back like a turtle staring at the monster he had sparked. The flames were rising to the hip of the statue and the dazzling brightness of the fire seemed to eat its way across the upper body and arms of the war goddess in veins as thick as arms until it reached the sword and shield and shrouded them in its glistening glow.

  Turdas’ light shone upon Peroad!

  He peered to the west, trying to find his way around the rage of the stake to detect the signal fire from Beluos.

  They must see the fire!

  Unless they had a whore at the pillory too, with whom the guards entertained themselves the whole night because nothing happened during a fog tide, anyway. The last planks of the tower hatch splintered with an ugly crunch, dark shadows fought their way through the opening.

  He tried to get on his feet reaching for his sword, but a hard punch hit him and blood filled his mouth. He collapsed. One of the Southerners kicked him in the stomach, he made a gurgling sound. Darkness flooded from the edges of his field of vision into the centre and the world with the tower top slipped away from him.

  »Stop soldier! «

  The voice sounded cuttingly sharp and used to give com
mands.

  He japed and the black fog of powerlessness slowly withdrew from the corners of his eyes. He could see a light that flared up in the darkness.

  He opened his mouth and felt sticky warmth running down his chin. A dark puddle formed on the gray marble tiles.

  He lay on the floor...

  Awareness slowly seeped into his consciousness without him knowing whether he had fallen after the punch or the kick.

  In front of the pool of his blood stood two black boots. He followed the polished leather with his gaze until it merged into the fabric of the trousers.

  The man was a giant.

  Apart from the face, every square inch of his body was covered with black fabric or steel, and a blood-red cape flew like an unfortunate flag from his massive shoulders.

  He crouched in front of Tebosch. »I guess we have the first hero of this war. «

  Tebosch supported himself with his elbows and withstood the gaze of the cold gray eyes.

  »Now everyone knows you’re coming «, he croaked.

  »Oh, that’s wonderful, at least I don’t have to announce myself. «

  Tebosch pressed his lips together.

  »You have luck ... or bad luck, that’s up to you. « The giant straightened up again.

  »I collect heads, mostly those of heroes. And heads are easiest to transport when they are still moving by themselves. So you won’t die today. Bring him away... «

  »Yes, Commander Koring! « One soldier grabbed Tebosch and pushed him towards the tower opening.

  »And sent a runner to Darves. We are coming! It’s time for him to keep his end of the deal «, Koring continued.

  »Yes, Commander «, confirmed the soldier.

  The dark staircase of the Tower of Heaven swallowed Tebosch.

  Matter of fur

  Shit!

  I stumbled over the thick root of a Teschtree and limped quietly cursing on the narrow bank of the Lineta. Besides the throbbing pain in my right arm there was now an angry romp in my left paw.

  Great!

  If Hiron sees the wound, he’ll have one topic of conversation left for the rest of the afternoon.