The Iron Skeleton

Chapter 36

At last, Brant and the bloodthirsty insurgents came to a stop several dozen feet before the mass of Alcontean soldiers. Each side stared the other down, the mutual hostility tangible in the air between them. 

The Alcontean general stepped out from the midst of his men with two soldiers flanking either side. He approached Brant with a hard stare that the brawny warrior unabashedly returned. 

"I guess I don't have to speak long with you, Nayan." the general muttered, "You know exactly what you're up against, but your folly keeps you here." He cleared his throat, and in a louder voice, he declared, "You are all citizens of the Alcontean Empire, and your treason is not kindly looked upon. Quite the contrary! I demand you immediately cease and desist, if you value your own lives or the welfare of your brethren." 

Wendy crossed her arms. "We didn't trek the whole bloody way up here just to give up now." 

The general shrugged. "Your loss." 

He spun on his heel to rejoin his men. While he crossed the distance between the opposing sides, Wendy leaned over to Brant. 

"You don't have a bloody intricate plan for this too, do you?" 

"I do, actually." Brant replied with a smirk, "Cave some skulls." 

"You don't have to ask me twice." 

"I wasn't planning on it." 

With that, Wendy shot into the sky, with long and narrow plumes of flame and smoke trailing behind her. When the Alcontean general barked out the order to fire, many soldiers in the front lines fired at the insurgents on the ground, while those farther back focused their shots on the flying Danlashian. She darted and dodged to evade most of their bullets, but those that did hit their mark bounced away, having made no mark but shallow dents here and there. 

When shots flew Brant's way, he created a shield in his free hand. He dashed forward with his axe poised to deal devastating blows. His first swing removed an Alcontean's hand, and the return strike beheaded him. 

The axe transformed into another shield when soldiers on either side of Brant opened fire on him with machine guns. He held still for a moment and guarded himself from their barrage. Then he bolted forward and used the twin shields to disperse concussions and bruises aplenty. He glanced back and saw a comrade's bullet fly off course from its intended target. With a smirk, he moved the edge of his shield into the projectile's path, causing it to ricochet into the head of the initial target. 

Wendy rained arrows on the soldiers from above, scarcely missing a single shot. Then she pressed a button on her metal bow, and a cloud of green gas spread out from the last five shafts she'd fired. She returned her bow to the clip on her back and dove into the midst of the coughing horde. 

Wendy landed a kick on a bald soldier as she landed, causing the pinkness of his scalp to turn violet. Then she gave the surrounding men a savage beatdown as they choked on the gas and clawed for air. Few found themselves capable of attempting a proper fight. When a grenade rolled to her feet, she rocketed into the sky again. 

One grinning insurgent swept a gatling gun over the Alcontean ranks, chuckling to himself as they fell by the dozens. Then he grunted as their general called the shieldmen to the front of the line. They only carried pistols, but the full-body shields in their right hands rendered his heavy firepower irrelevant. He growled and pulled the pin from a grenade. 

Brant's eye caught a grenade roll in from behind. It stopped at his feet. With a sigh, he picked it up and rolled it again, this time into a gap between two shieldmen.