Chapter 12: A Sanguinary Grotesque

Nienna ducked just in time to avoid colliding with a heavily muscled arm swinging in her direction. Staying low, she thrust her axe upward, catching her assailant high in his side. He let out a pained cry, doubled over, and fell to the ground as he bled out. Another mercenary, a scarred woman with long blonde hair woven into a tight braid, took the opportunity to go after Nienna while she recovered from the attack. She leapt forward, her daggers primed for Nienna’s throat, but Dee caught the flash of movement in the corner of her eye, turned, and thrust her blade into the woman’s back before the blades could reach her friend. Bracing a foot against the now lifeless woman’s body, Dee pulled her weapon free.

“Thanks,” Nienna said, grateful for the intervention, but the norn had already moved on to the next mercenary, eagerly trading blows with every enemy who dared cross her path.

Searching across the courtyard, Nienna managed to catch a glimpse of Seren and Salara between moving bodies. They were being pulled from the fray, but her view was blocked for a moment and once it cleared again, they had vanished. Panicking, she called out their names as loud as she could and listened for a reply. All she could hear were battle cries and the sounds of metal clashing with metal. She called a second time, but it was no use. They were gone—again.

And Lady Eira was no where to be found either.

Nienna turned to the others. “They’ve taken the girls somewhere. I can’t see-“

A shot rang out, and searing pain suddenly cut through Nienna’s left upper arm. She cursed and clasped a hand over the wound. She looked up to find a hooded mercenary reloading and lining their rifle up for another shot. There was no way she could beat the speed of a bullet, nor could she block it. The shot fired, and Nienna braced herself for the impact. Just as she expected to feel the searing pain of the bullet tearing into her chest, it instead ricocheted against a brilliant blue light in front of her. She blinked and stared at the space where the bullet should have crossed.

Kneeling on the ground next to Nienna, Tuborg struggled to maintain the protective dome of energy around the two of them. The light around them flickered, indicating it was nearing the end of its use. Thrusting his shield forward, he dispelled the energy outward, knocking the rifleman and any surrounding mercenaries onto their back. A soothing sensation came over Nienna, and the pain from her wound started to subside. Gathering her energy, she hurled her axe at the downed rifleman before he could get to his feet, ravaging his body with claws of green energy while Clarkus ran him through with his sword. The charr uttered a triumphant roar as the man’s life left him.

Together, the group battled the onslaught of mercenaries. Metal clashed with metal as blood on both sides was shed throughout the camp. The Byrnes had the advantage of larger numbers at their disposal, but Nienna and her people remained steadfast, determined to not repeat the same outcome in Lion’s Arch. They held their ground and fought side by side, slowly whittling down the numbers until they were almost evenly matched. Their success had forced the mercenaries to regroup, but their efforts had not been without detriment to their energies and bodies.

Dee pointed her large, norn blade in Lord Aedan’s direction. “Give it up,” she said gruffly, breathing heavily from exertion while wiping drops of blood from her cheek. “You’re not gettin’ away this time. Your thugs are almost all dead, and there’s nothing left to protect you.”

Lord Aedan scoffed. “I imagine it certainly looks that way to someone lacking in mental faculties. The larger they are, the smaller the brain, I suppose.” He raised the blue-hued, jagged sword and tipped the end of the blade toward them all. “The human body can be so fragile on its own. In order to do great things, it sometimes requires a little help.”

The highborn lord bent down and grabbed a nearby mercenary crawling toward the lord’s feet, leaving behind a smearing of blood in the snow from a fatal stab wound. He seized the dying man by his longcoat and unceremoniously plunged the strange sword into his chest. The man gurgled as he died, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Tuborg gasped. “What sort of a man kills his own people?”

A myriad of words came to mind—none even remotely kind—as Nienna watched Lord Aedan let the body fall back to the ground without a care. Her vision edged in black, and she balled her frosted hands into fists. The body lay there in the snow, still and unmoving as a hush fell upon the courtyard. Upon seeing what Lord Aedan had done to one of their own, the remaining mercenaries flashed each other concerned glances as they started to move back toward the edge of the courtyard.

Hatred refueling her vigor, Nienna gripped her axe’s handle tight and readied to jump back into the fight. “You’re a sick bast-“

“Wait. Did it just—move?” Dee asked, her eyes wide, as she pointed a shaky finger at the body.

Limbs twitched and spasmed, kicking up snow all around the once lifeless body. Its skin was now as pale as the snow itself, and it began growling as its spasms turned into thrashing. Nienna swallowed hard, unnerved by what they were all seeing. She grimaced as the sounds of bones cracking and ligaments snapping filled the air. Shards of ice protruded through its skin and along its limbs as its body contorted and reshaped into an icy grotesque of its original form.

Clarkus’ tail twitched back and forth nervously. “What the hell is that?”

Suddenly, the creature darted at Nienna, moving on all fours like a beast. It collided with her, and they went tumbling in the snow. When the world finally stopped spinning, Nienna discovered her assailant on top of her with icy claws mere inches from her face. She reached up and grabbed the creature’s arms, holding them back from poking a myriad of holes in her head.

“A little help please?” Nienna managed to say through clenched teeth.

Rushing to her friend’s side, Dee reached down to pull the humanoid creature off of Nienna, but it swung an arm back, and the icy shards jutting off of its forearm cut into the norn’s shoulder. Dee let go with a pained curse but reached down again, gripped the leather longcoat, and pulled the creature off of Nienna. It landed in the snow nearby. With a garbled cry, it clawed at the ground and pushed itself back up into a righted position. Its two ice-blue eyes bore into Nienna’s as it opened its mouth wider than it should have been able to, and hissed. She expected it to charge again, but it scuttled over to the lord’s side like a tamed pet, as an unsettling quiet fell upon the camp’s courtyard.

“What have you done to him?” Nienna demanded, unable to take her eyes off of the creature.

“A second chance,” he replied, matter-of-factly. “His body failed him once. But with my help, he is now stronger than he could ever be.”

The creature charged again, moving swiftly on all fours. With his shield forward, Clarkus dug his hind paws into the snow and launched himself into the creature’s path, hitting it hard in its center mass and sending it flying away from the others. It landed with a soft thud in the snow, but immediately righted itself and prepared to charge again. Tuborg didn’t waste a moment intercepting the creature. He ran into the fray and swung his blade low, making contact with one of its front limbs. The blade cut through leather and frozen flesh with ease, but the wound did little to impede its movements. It tackled the sylvari to the ground, and the two struggled together in the snow.

While the group was occupied with pulling the humanoid ice creature off of Tuborg, Lord Aedan grabbed another wounded mercenary and plunging his sword into their chest. The woman gasped, wide eyed, as the life fled from her. Like the creature created before her, the woman’s flesh grew unnaturally pale as her body was remade. Shards of ice broke through her skin and emerged from her shoulders like spikey pauldrons. This new creature let out an unnatural howl and charged Nienna and her people.

Taking cover behind a tent, Torx anxiously tapped his fingers on his tablet, trying to contact his krewe still on the airship. “Where are those confounded krewe members of mine?” He tapped on a green button. “Hello? Where is everyone? Release the creature and prepare the ship already! It’s time we vacated this disaster!” After tapping a red button, he took a deep breath and let out it. “Why did he have to use the sword so recklessly?” he muttered to himself.

With his new ice creatures and what was left of Captain Morrow’s mercenaries keeping Nienna and her people busy, Lord Aedan made his way toward the edge of the courtyard. He sheathed the blade in his belt and flexed his hand. Hearing the soft patter of footsteps, he looked down to find Torx had found his way to his side.

“Might I suggest we board the ship and take off before our little experiment tears us apart in the process?” he asked.

Lord Aedan glared down at the Inquest scientist. “We don’t leave until we get the blade. I don’t care if your little experiment tears this place apart. We need that weapon.”

“Your wife is already on the ship,” Torx noted. “Apparently, she doesn’t feel the same.”

Lord Aedan grumbled, but did not respond to the asura’s remark.

Thunderous footsteps descended down the airship’s gangplank. What was left of the mercenaries, both touched and not touched by ice, heeded the ominous sound and started to back away to the far side of the courtyard. Erring on the side of caution, Lord Aedan and Torx also stepped back until they were out of sight. The lord impatiently wrung his hand on the hilt of his sword as they waited for Torx’s newest experiment to make its appearance.

“What’s that sound?” Tuborg asked as he wiped away sap trickling down his cheek from a clean sword cut. “Where are the rest of them going?”

“Running, AGAIN?” Clarkus growled. He huffed and banged his sword against his shield repeatedly, trying to bait the mercenaries into rejoining the fight, but they didn’t bite. He narrowed his eyes, his dark pupils now thin slits as he continued to address the remaining enemies. “Come on, you yellow-bellied skritt! Finish the fight!”

“Clarkus, wait a minute,” Nienna warned, her eyes fixed on the gangplank.

“Bear’s back,” Dee uttered as she followed her gaze. “What—is that?”

His focus tunneled, the charr launched himself at the nearest mercenary, his blade raised and ready to cut down anyone in his path. But before he could reach his target, a hulking mass of flesh and ice collided with the charr, hitting the charr in his side. Clarkus’ sword and shield were knocked from his paws, and they slid through the snow before stopping at Torx’s feet.