Tales of the Vangen: The Siege of Middengard (Book 2)

Chapter 53: Mayhem

"Kill them my children! Kill them all!"

Beslog swept an arm over a troop of soldiers hiding behind their shields. Metal armor clanged like church bells on parade day as she smashed them to bits, scattering men into the air. The rest tried to flee, but she was upon them in an instant, dragging one by a leg, the other she caught between thumb and forefinger, squeezing till he popped like an overripe sausage. One of the braver soldiers tried to jab at her with a spear, but all it got him was a backhand that snapped his arm the wrong way. He screamed, lost his grip on the weapon, went tumbling after it a second later.

The rest of the soldiers had been luckily spared by her destruction, running while the rest of their fellows were brutally murdered. They didn't get very far, however. A pack of Jotun's fell upon them in a howl of bloody fury, stomping them into the ground or tearing them apart with their bare hands. More of Beslog's children came surging out through the stairwell, rampaging through Ferris Keep's courtyard with near suicidal levels of reckless abandon. They charged through battered shield walls, smashed aside Iron Knights. One of them was even using an Iron Knight as an improvised club, swinging the poor bastard into a troop of bewildered soldiers.

Brand could only watch in fascinated horror at the destruction Beslog and her children were causing. So many lives lost in so quick a timeframe. Mortal men reduced to meat, and he'd almost joined them. The thought alone left him gripping Beslog's hair just a little bit tighter.

Out in the courtyard, the other Jotun's were applying their own sense of justice into Raylein's forces. They clobbered soldiers with blacksmith's hammers and foreman's tongs, crushed men beneath anvils or whipped them with chains. It was all bloody chaos. Men were dying and screaming and fighting and swearing. He could barely hear his own thoughts from all the noise. All he could do was stare out over the carnage, Ferrus Keep looming out to his left, the indomitable iron wall to his right. They truly were trapped between a rock and a hard place.

A twinge of pain made Brand grab at his side. By the Forgefather how his stomach hurt. All that jostling and using of his powers had made his stomach burn something fierce. The metal stitching felt hot against his palm, like a tea kettle warming up. How much longer could he keep this up, he wondered. Sure, he'd unlocked power beyond all reasoning, but he was still just a seventeen year old boy. Barely a man by his father's standards. Not that he gave a shit anymore of what he thought. He could be dead for all he imagined and that would be that. If only he could have seen his mother one last time, though. She'd be—,"

"Child! Get down!"

Brand looked up, saw something glinting up on the high walls. Large metal tubes aimed straight for him, burning wicks like rat tails on their backs. Before he could ask what was going on, the ends of the tubes exploded in a smoking crack of sound that made his head buzz. Something whistled in the air before the ground erupted beneath Beslog's feet. The Mother of Jotun's lurched back as a loud crunch erupted up her right shoulder.

Brand had but a moment to hold on before he was suddenly lifted off the ground, swinging by a coiled strand of Beslog's wiry hair as he spun helplessly in the air. He gasped as felt something rip inside him, pain erupting into his abdomen and spreading rapidly.

Beslog's massive feet pounded into the cobblestones as she righted herself, right arm hanging slack, bones beneath her leathery flesh poking out in odd angles.

"Are you okay, child?"

"My whole body hurts," Brand hissed through gritted teeth. He put a hand to his stomach, the palm coming back all red and sticky. "I think the wounds opened up." He stared up again, saw people moving about the tubes, pushing more ammunition inside. "We have to destroy those things. Before they wipe us all out."