Chapter 98: Third Party

Staying out of their way quickly became impossible.

The two Abominations tore through the Seventy-Second as though the Bastion had been built from brittle clay. The pale creature drove the feline through one house, crushing two floors beneath their combined weight. The Seventh Rank answered by twisting around its opponent and dragging four claws across the plates covering its abdomen. Pale armor split apart. The darkness beneath it bulged through the wounds, carrying fragments of faces that screamed before the flesh closed around them.

Neither creature remained still long enough for the Reapers to find a safe angle.

They rolled across streets, struck walls and climbed over buildings without appearing to notice the destruction beneath them. The pale Abomination fought with all six limbs, hooking them around whatever portion of the feline it could seize. The Seventh Rank relied upon its jaws and the brutal weight of its body. Every time it secured the creature’s throat, the intruder sacrificed another layer of flesh to pull free.

For a brief stretch, the feline dominated the fight.

It forced the pale creature onto its back and pinned two of its limbs beneath one paw. Its jaws closed around the exposed darkness beneath the creature’s chest plates. The memories there ruptured under the pressure, spilling translucent arms and distorted faces across the street.

The feline tore its head sideways.

A large section of the intruder’s body came away in its mouth.

The creature released a sound too fractured to be called a roar. Several voices screamed through the vertical opening in its face while the remaining limbs struck the feline from both sides. The first two blows slid across its shoulders. The third hooked beneath its ribs.

All four rear limbs extended at once.

The feline was lifted from the ground and hurled across the square.

Its body passed over a barricade, struck the corner of a tall building and continued through it. Stone folded around the impact. The upper floor collapsed, burying the creature beneath enough debris to fill the street.

The pale Abomination rolled onto its limbs.

The wounds along its chest remained open. Dark forms moved beneath the broken plates, pushing the fragments back into place. Several human hands briefly emerged from the torn flesh and pulled the armor together from within.

A Reaper stood directly in front of it.

He had been thrown from the barricade during the collision and landed badly. One leg bent beneath him, the knee twisted far enough that the lower half faced the wrong direction. His sword lay several paces away.

The Reaper attempted to crawl toward it. The Abomination lowered its divided head. The vertical mouth opened, splitting nearly the entire front of its body. Rows of teeth unfolded from within, each long enough to pass through the Reaper’s chest.

He raised one arm to defend himself.

The creature lunged.

Black stone exploded from the ruined building.

The feline struck the pale Abomination from the side before its jaws could close. Both creatures crossed the street and crashed into the cavern wall. The impact buried them beneath a wave of broken rock, while the injured Reaper remained where he had fallen.

Two officers rushed forward and dragged him away.

Mara stared after them. "It saved him."

Rook kept his attention upon the collapsing wall. "It attacked the other creature."

"Before it could eat a Reaper."

"That doesn’t make them friends." Rook’s eyes kept locked onto the two. Too many thoughts passing through his head right now.

The rubble shifted.

The pale creature emerged first, one of its limbs hanging from the side of its body by a band of dark tissue. It pulled itself clear and snapped the damaged limb against the stone until the joint returned to place.

The feline climbed out behind it.

A hooked hand immediately caught the side of its neck. The pale creature drove it into the ground and dragged it through several storefronts, leaving a trench of shattered stone behind them. The feline twisted free, but the delay gave its opponent time to turn toward another group of Reapers retreating from the damaged square.

Its attention settled upon the slowest among them. The creature gathered its limbs beneath its body.

The feline moved between them.

It did not attack immediately. It planted itself across the street, lowered its head and released a growl that caused the surrounding buildings to tremble. The Reapers behind it continued retreating, passing so close to its rear legs that one almost struck its tail.

The feline never looked at them.

The pale Abomination swung one of its broad hands. The impact caught the feline across the head and tore open the flesh above one eye, yet it refused to leave the street.

Mara looked toward Rook. "You saw that."

"I did."

"An Abomination is protecting them."

Rook’s expression had become more troubled than it had been while both creatures were trying to destroy one another.

"I’ve never seen one do that."

The admission came without his usual reluctance. In three centuries, Rook had encountered creatures capable of speech, deception and patience. He had seen Abominations create traps, preserve prey and imitate the dead well enough to fool people who had known them in life.

None had placed its own body between a Reaper and another Abomination.

"Maybe it’s protecting the Beacon," Frederick said from behind them.

"It left the Beacon to save that man," Mara replied.

"Then perhaps it needs the Reapers alive."

Rook glanced toward the buildings sheltering the wandering souls. "That possibility isn’t comforting." The pale creature struck again.

This time the feline avoided the blow and bit into the attacking limb. Its claws found the joint above the hooked hand and tore downward. The limb separated beneath the second joint, but another swept across the feline’s exposed side before it could withdraw.

A wound opened from shoulder to hind leg.

The Abomination staggered, dark blood rolling through its fur. Faces appeared within the wound, their mouths moving without sound.

Mara watched the pale creature press its advantage. "The one that entered is stronger."

"No," Rook said. "It has fewer things to care about."

She turned to him.

"The pale one only needs to attack. The feline is watching it, the Beacon and every Reaper stupid enough to remain nearby. Every time the other creature turns toward us, it exposes itself to stop it."

"That still means it’s losing." Mara said.

"For the moment. That remains true."

"And what happens when it loses?"

Rook looked toward the pale Abomination.

Its broken limb had already begun rebuilding itself. Human arms emerged from the stump and locked together, forming a temporary framework while pale plates grew across them. The replacement was crude, but it would soon be strong enough to fight.

The feline’s wounds were closing more slowly.

Mara lowered her voice. "If we let the creature protecting us die, the other one eats everyone afterward."

"We don’t know that it’s protecting us."

"It has saved two Reapers."

"It may want them alive for something worse."

"Would you prefer the creature that clearly wants to eat them?"

Rook gave her an irritated look but found no useful answer. She was right. This went against everything he had learned. An abomination saving a reaper? That was not right.

The Manager had been watching the same exchange. She stepped closer, her attention fixed upon the injuries accumulating across the feline’s body.

"We could interfere," she said.

Rook turned toward her. "With two creatures near the Seventh Rank."

"We don’t need to kill either of them. We only need to keep the fight balanced."

"That sounds suspiciously like something people say before being torn in half."

"If the pale one wins, it reaches the Beacon. If the feline wins, we remain trapped with the same creature that has already refused to kill us. Neither result is good, but one gives us more time."

Mara pointed toward the monsters. "And if they kill each other?"

The Manager considered it.

"That would be preferable."

Rook’s eyes returned to the fight. The feline had secured the pale creature by its upper body, but two of the rear limbs were raking deep wounds across its stomach. It could continue tearing at its opponent or release it to defend itself. The pale creature had forced it into that choice several times already.

Rook reached for the chains securing his coffin. "Now that is a strategy I can support."

He dropped the coffin beside the broken barricade and opened it.

The falchion he had prepared moments earlier went back inside. He searched beneath several rows of weapons before removing two short, one-handed scythes. Their blades curved inward like narrow hooks, each darkened along the inner edge from years of use.

Lengths of grave rope had been tied through metal rings at the ends of both handles. The cords were thin enough to coil around Rook’s forearms, but Mara knew how much force they could withstand. Similar rope had held Reapers together across the Red Tide and restrained creatures capable of breaking ordinary chains.

Rook handed one coil to Mara. "Hold this."

She accepted it, then immediately felt the weight pull against her hands. "What are you doing?"

"Tying it down."

"That thing has six limbs."

"I brought two scythes. We’ll start small."

He turned toward the Manager. "Can you hold the pale one for several seconds?"

"If it touches the ground."

"Make certain it does."

Rook looked toward the Reapers positioned around the square. Most were waiting for the Manager’s command, though several appeared far less enthusiastic now that they understood what might be required of them.

"Nobody attacks until I secure it," he said. "If you strike too early, it turns toward you. If you miss and hit the feline, we lose the only creature preventing it from eating us."

One officer raised a spear. "And once it’s secured?"

"Hit whatever isn’t black and furry."