Fragments of Ash Vol. 2 (Urban Fantasy)

Chapter Six: Infiltration

Ada and Eleanor got out of their car. They had ridden on Eleanor's small red convertible for the last several hours at the maximum speed possible, Eleanor didn't want to waste any time. There seemed to be a sort of personal issue going on with her, her heart were into this one more than anything else. Ada could tell, a fateful battle was on the onset, something Eleanor had been waiting for for a long time. They could see the coastal mist on the horizon, the town was walking distance. It was fairly small, only a handful of small houses, Ada supposed that the town was there mostly for fisherman to fish for the birds that flew in the mist. Her favourite food. Still, that'd be the deaths of several hundred innocent people, a despicable thought.

"We should get out and wait here, sneak there at night," said Eleanor, "no point in causing ruckus if we don't have to."

"Right."

The journey had taken almost half a day, at first, the two had spent most of the time listening to the radio. But over time Ada started to tell Eleanor more about her past, she told her everything she had learned about her spell, all the things she'd done and experienced on her journeys. In return, Eleanor did the same. She reflected on everything that she could, as hazy as her memory was, there was still a lot she had to say. They were sharing more than ever, perhaps due to the fact that Ada once again, almost died the day before, or perhaps because the car drive was exceedingly mundane.

"It's a shame, I was hoping to take you to this town to try their cuisine, I knew you'd like it. Tch," Eleanor crossed her arms, "to be honest," she started to walk on the dirt path towards town, Ada followed, "fighting is a very lonely profession. Even among a band of brothers fighting in a war. Because if you're good at it no-one else will be your equal, no-one be able to understand or empathise with you, nor will you, them. You're my only hope, my only chance of learning what it's like to actually care about another person."

"Really? But... you've saved so many lives in the past. And now you're going into this battle because of all the people who died. How can you say you don't care about them?"

"Sympathy and empathy aren't the same things. Feeling bad for people and feeling bad with them. Projecting myself into the people who suffer has never been the way I've seen things; I look at it from a distance, and my heart bleeds for them. In the end though, they're not me, I'm not them. And all I'm left with is this emptiness. I think fate brought you with me to this battle to fill that void."

Ada wondered about this. Why did Eleanor feel guilty about this? Ada felt bad about all sorts of atrocities that went on in the world, but she never felt compelled to put herself in their place. There wasn't an empty void of anguish that was hoping to be filled. No, she was too busy worrying about her own problems. And that was fine. It was fair. She had her own crap she needed to sort out.

She didn't know what Eleanor was talking about, but such a thought didn't bother her too much, after all, she was still young. Maybe one day she would.

And so it was night time. Hundreds of outlanders crowded in the town square, hundreds more spilling into the streets, makeshift bonfires keeping the streets alight. The creatures were too disfigured and oversized to be able to turn on light switches.

The middle of the square was a massive feeding tray full of human corpses. A makeshift metal trough that surrounded the central street lamp. Of course, the street lamp was surrounded by bits of wood and set on fire. The outlanders were tearing each body into pieces, fighting over the meatier ones, often tugging at them from both ends and ripping the bodies into two. The trough in general though just looked like a pool of red with random limbs and heads floating on the surface.

Eleanor and Ada hid in the shadows, they could see it all;

"Those disgusting creatures," Ada whispered, "desecrating the bodies after killing them; these people won't even get a proper burial,"

"Yes they will," muttered Eleanor. She drew her sword, "stay here, back me up if anyone flanks me."

"Wh-what?!"

Eleanor jumped to the roof of the building the two were hiding behind. An inhuman jump, Ada had no idea how she did it. She noticed Eleanor start to glow in the light of the moon, she must have cast some spells on herself. This would be the first time she'd see Eleanor actually bother using visible magic during a battle.

Did Eleanor even really need her help?

Eleanor walked to the edge of the roof, it overlooked the town square where all the outlanders had convened. She surveyed the area and then performed a momentous running jump that made her land right in front of the feeding tray in the middle of the square.

She stood in front of the bonfire at the centre of the square and then slowly started to walk around it in a circle, eyeing every beast that stood before her. From the perspective of the outlanders, nothing of her could be seen but her monstrous silhouette among the raging bonfire. It gave her a fierce and ominous presence. The outlanders all recoiled, it was as if they knew they were in for trouble.

"Pitiful creatures," Eleanor said among the silence, "eating like pigs from a trough. A civilised person waits in line for her dinner," Eleanor raised her sword and pointed it at the group of outlanders, "who wants to get served?"

After a moment of silence, every single outlander charged towards Eleanor without any restraint. The idea of anything getting in the way of their food had made them go berserk.

Eleanor instantly raised her hands to the sky; runes surrounded her body and then there was a flash of light. Ten swords fell from the sky, each one looked different, one was covered in lightning, another was see-through, like it was made of glass, and yet another was red and was melting into the earth. Every sword seemed to have a different property. Eleanor's hand remained in the air until she managed to catch a sabre that was completely engulfed in fire. The others landed around her and firmly dug themselves into the ground.

"Why don't I share with you the smell of freshly cooked meat?" said Eleanor, she growled and then slashed the creatures to pieces. Fire crashed across the crowd of outlanders like a tidal wave. Every slash that Eleanor burned another handful of enemies.

The town centre was indeed starting to smell of cooked meat; dead outlanders were piling up by the dozen.

Ada stood and watched. She wasn't needed at all. Eleanor's fierce but sturdy face as she annihilated the army of creatures was enchanting. What a warrior. Even one of these creatures would be enough to take out a small army, but she was demolishing them without even moving from her spot, and she had managed to make sure that none of the human bodies or their houses were burned.

All the fire was purpose-built to purge the town of outlanders.

But suddenly.

A wind blew across the town. Another presence.

Amelia.