Continued from here part 10

The Capitol, near the Coast Wall.

Bartley along with the royal guard and several member's of Kearn's crew were engaged in a rather vicious battle. Bartley had found himself surrounded. He fought with all his might but was nearly overwhelmed when he saw several of his attackers fall before him. He let out a hardy laugh when he saw Vargas, "Look, boys it's the runt."

Vargas smashed the jaw of a bandit beside him before kicking him away as Bartley continued, "You've grown what an inch, two? Still a runt though."

Vargas chuckled, "Not too short to save your flabby ass."

As the two were forced back to back Bartley nudged him, "Dogs too tired to bark?"

Vargas gave a nod, "Give me a bit, I'll get a second wind."

***

The West Wall.

Alana was being treated by a field medic as Oleg and several other soldiers fought to keep the location secure. Sarah noticed her laying on the ground and knelt down, "How you feeling?"

Alana gave a hateful look, "Like some bitch tried to gut me. You?"

Sarah patted her on the head, "You'll be fine."

Oleg then yelled over, "We got more bugs, Chain girl might be coming to finish the job."

Sarah raised her blade releasing an electrical charge that took the swarm of metallic insects down as she stepped past the soldiers. Sarah then looked to Zhin who glared, "I will avenge Paimon."

Sarah shrugged, "You aren't capable."

Zhin gritted her teeth and moved to call another swarm. Sarah quickly appeared before her and knocked her blade to the ground, "A true warrior conserves her energy."

Sarah then backhanded her to the ground. Zhin then yanked her blade to her and launched it at Sarah. It was easily deflected. Zhin was enraged as she began flinging her chain. Sarah stood calmly as she deflected every strike until finally slamming the hilt of her sword into Zhin's forehead knocking her unconscious.

Sarah turned to Oleg, "Bind her."

He scratched his head, "You leaving her alive?"

"She's not worth killing."

***

A top the North Wall.

Dmitry stood amid several dead soldiers as he held a spyglass. He looked and noted Paimon, laying dead on the field. He then turned to see the shattered South wall and finally into the city where he saw Belial facing off with Kearn.

He then patted the Wind Slitter, "It seems we won't be getting paid."

Several soldiers then arrived. He turned, "Seems I no longer have a reason to kill you."

He then jumped from the top of the wall and seemed to disappear.

***

Near the center of the city.

Belial raised his blade to strike at Kearn but the admiral struck his blade. He fell back a step as Kearn struck his blade again nearly knocking it out of his hand, "You think you're a master, boy?"

Belial tried to answer but Kearn punched him in the face sending several teeth flying from his mouth, "A real master of the blade would have killed me already."

Belial fell to a knee as as Kearn stepped back. He pulled himself up and charged with the Reaper's Arm but Kearn side stepped. He then turned the Leviathan and it wrapped around Belial's body with crushing force, breaking several ribs and an arm before Kearn tossed him away.

He tried to pull himself up with the scythe as a crutch but Kearn kicked him in the chest, breaking another rib. Kearn then swatted the Reaper's Arm away as he spoke, "People like you disgust me. You think just being able to pick up a blade makes you strong. You ain't strong, you ain't nothing but one more would be conqueror that doesn't understand the power he tries to wield."

Belial sat struggling to breath as blood filled his lungs. He then tried to crawl toward the Reaper's Arm. Kearn shook his head, "Pathetic."

He then stabbed his sword through Belial's heart, nailing him to the ground. He then turned to Gunnar, "What the hell you still standing here for, we still got an infestation to deal with."

***

Near the Coastal wall, Vargus, Angus and Bartley were fighting all comers. Bartley looked over as the royal guard began pushing the attackers back, "Hey look, the royals aren't all worthless."

Angus was using whatever weapon he could pick up due to the Changeling being spent after overwhelming Bao. He fought until his weapon broke and then found another. At this point he was swatting attackers down with a large stick.

Some made their way near the civilian shelter but quickly turned and ran as Kearn's massive dogs fought back. Vargas was shocked to see dozens of men running away before seeing Menace charging after them.

***

As the sun set the few attackers who weren't dead or captured, fled. Paimon's men and the mercenaries had taken off as soon as it became clear they wouldn't be paid, leaving the bandits to fend for themselves. Soldiers began the task of clearing the dead from the streets as a crew of marshals searched the dropped weapons for powered blades.

Sarah ordered her men to aid the medics in getting the injured to the city's hospital. Kearn met with Vargas by the shelter as the people were being let out. Angus looked over the large man as he spoke to Vargas, "Why is everyone in your family two feet taller than you?"

Kearn chuckled, "His mother was a small woman, he takes after her."

He turned as a soldier approached, "I sent for my brother, where is Marcus?"

The soldier was nervous as he spoke, "His body was found just outside the North Wall, one of the prisoners indicated that he was killed by a mercenary called Dmitry."

Vargas sighed, "The Wind Slitter?"

The soldier nodded. Kearn's jaw tightened a bit, "Did he at least go down fighting?"

"He crushed several men with the Lion's Paws."

As he sat a soldier raised a hand, "What is it?"

He gulped before speaking, "We found the Blade Vault open at the armory, it wasn't broken into so whoever did it had a key."

The Admiral nodded, "So this , Dmitry is the prime suspect? How many did he take?"

"Half, sir, 37 in total."

Vargas shrugged, "Mercenaries always find a way to get paid."

Kearn took a deep breath before ordering his men, "On your feet, boys. We got a mess to clean up."

He looked to a young man, "Oliver go help with the injured, the healers will need all the help they can get. Bartley take the guards and check for stragglers and looters. The rest of you go help with the clean up and get these people home."

He then turned to Vargas and Angus, "What, you deaf? Move your asses."

***

As Vargas walked along he noticed Alana being carried to the hospital. He started walking toward her but Sarah stopped him, "She'll be okay, we need some help out here."

He sighed, "We got about 2 dozen powered blades, the rest is mostly scrap."

She looked over at the cart he'd been filling, "You sure that's all of them?"

"Trust me, I'd know if there were."

She gave a nod, "That's a useful thing to know."

"The Coyote senses their presence. That's why Marcus hired me to collect them for him."

***

Gunnar was called to meet with the council who informed him of Marcus' death. After they were done he nodded, "So why am I here?"

A council member stood, "He named you his second, that mean's you're High General now."

He had a grim look, "Fine, but no damned ceremonies. We got a city to rebuild and we ain't got time for it."

A priest on the council looked ready to say something but Gunnar caught him with a glare, "If the gods have an issue with it, they can take it up with me themselves. Other wise, I don't want to hear it."

(Book 1 to be concluded)