Servitude: The Hydrangea Chapters

Chp 7: The Showdown in the Dunes - Part 1

Retracing her steps back to the gate, she finds Mordecai with a sled and a lizard steed secured to it, a large crossbow slung across his back. Hearing the sound of her metal footsteps and catching the scent of hekoska blood, Mordecai looks at her and nods in respect.

"I'm glad to see you here. And don't worry, I'll smooth things over with Aurea and Tessa afterward."

There's something a bit different about his sled than the one she had seen before: it's armored with metal plates and has a narrow shape. He carries over a dome-like wooden cage, likely where he intends for her to stay protected while he drives. Lifting it enough for her to crawl inside, he then secures it.

"The scent on you is going to attract the scouts to us. And with some luck, if enough are taken down, they'll tell the hunters to back off."

Marlina glances around but doesn't see anyone else nearby. "Are... we doing this by ourselves?"

Mordecai pats the cage reassuringly and steps onto the driver's perch of the sled, shaking his head. "We all have our jobs, I'm just one for the front lines."

Letting out a loud whistle to the lizard, it takes off forward, causing Marlina to tumble backward, not expecting to propel forward so suddenly. Right through the front gate and onto the sands, Mordecai leads them between the spires and out toward the wastes.

He pulls the reins to bring them to a stop several yards away from the ring of spires that mark the perimeter. With his stance steady and gaze fixed on the sand in the distance, Marlina looks up to see seven spikes of stone soaring high across the sky before diving toward the ground farther out in the wastes.

"Seven to start, huh? Smaller than usual."

As the lizard takes off again, Mordecai is chasing the spires, making Marlina more anxious as they descend closer to the ground. When they near the ground, Marlina covers her eyes with her forearms, unable to bear watching them collide as they come closer.

As the stones sink into the sand, large shifting mounds retreat from the spikes, with several much smaller hekoska leaping from the ground and letting out their roars. One jumps toward Mordecai with its maw wide open; he draws his scimitar and slices through half of the creature's jaw, its blood splattering over him and Marlina as it roars and lands on the sand.

Marlina looks up from her arms at the roar, shocked at how much smaller this one is. This one is about the size of a human, and its jaws are only large enough to swallow a person's limb. A thin spike of ice pierces through it when it tries to dig back underground, rendering it motionless.

Marlina turns to see where the ice had come from and notices Aurea at the outpost, standing atop a towering pillar of ice that enables her to attack from above the outpost walls. From her vantage point, Aurea has formed the column using water from the fountain in the square.

Marlina also spots Tessa and Elek on a high balcony of the central building of the outpost. From Marlina's distance, she can only discern Elek pointing in various directions towards the horde of hekoska and a stone wall in front of Tessa, from which the soaring spires are forming and being launched from.

With each stone spire released under Elek's guidance, more hekoska leap from the dunes, which Mordecai slices through while Aurea delivers the finishing blow. Mordecai maneuvers the sled in circles, keeping the horde chasing him and Marlina, drawn by the scent of blood. As long as he maintains his course, the others can predict where he will be, ensuring they won't accidentally strike them. How the others pinpoint the beasts hidden beneath the sand isn't clear.

Although Marlina struggles to keep track of all the chaos and Mordecai's quick, erratic movements with the sled, he remains aware of every hekoska slain. By his count, seven have fallen. Looking back toward the direction the hekoska came from, both notice larger mounds shifting beneath the sand, heading straight for them.

"Time to back up a little."