Regrets of The Fallen (Victis Honor Book 1) (26 page)

Haruka cocked her head, listening as they all went silent. The sound was a wet scraping combined with splashes, coming from the side of the ship. Freya hopped down and leaned over. “We, uh… We got boarders.”

Haruka released Bella’s hand and moved forward as Freya backed up to stand beside her. A grey-blue-skinned hand came up over the side and the thing pulled itself up; a former man, it now looked like a corpse, bloated and with its skin torn or split in several places and rotting in others. Its hair was oily and slick revealing partial decomposition. As it stood on the deck it gave a disgusting gurgling sound, beginning to move towards them. More similar sounds came, signifying others beginning to climb up the sides of the ship from other angles. Freya leveled her pistol, Skaldi, at the undead creature and pulled the trigger unleashing a burst of blue energy that tore through it leaving a hole in its chest. It continued forward and she fired again, blasting off its head this time and causing the body to collapse and burst pouring blood and rotten organs.

Fortunately the four were hardened and reacted to the disgusting scene with little more than grimaces, including Able, who looked bored and subtly annoyed. Isabella stepped forward as another creature climbed the ship’s rail, slamming her sword into its head and knocking the thing back into the water. “Good idea,” Haruka acknowledged as she leapt forward and kicked another off. Isabella and Haruka each moved to one side of the ship, knocking away the undead as they attempted to climb over. Freya stood in the center of the deck turning and shooting any they missed.

Able glanced over his shoulder at the upper deck where the tiller was, hearing more sounds coming from there. “What a bother,” he muttered as he walked up the steps, finally removing one hand from a pocket. As he approached one of the undead he opened his hand, holding it out in front of him. A blast of white energy erupted from his hand, eradicating the thing’s head and dropping it back to the ocean below. He glanced to his left as another crested the railing. A slight narrowing of his eyes was the only sign of emotion on his face as he lowered his hand and flicked his wrist, creating a blade in his hand from the energy. “This is so annoying.”

Haruka used an open palm to strike the side of an undead’s head causing a Death Mark to appear on its grey-blue skin. She then kicked it in the face, dropping it to the ocean where it exploded. She couldn’t use that ability too freely for fear of catching the ship on fire or blowing a hole in the side; if the ship sank, they’d be dead. Freya had moved to the bow of the ship and was using her cutlass Sigrun to hack apart the things climbing up there. Isabella had given up on simply knocking the creatures down and had drawn her iron sword in her left hand, using that to hack off limbs or heads.

The creatures seemed to be coming faster though, more every minute and from more directions. They kept getting onto the deck from undefended spots, forcing the four to kill them where they stood instead of knocking them back into the water. The deck was soon covered in oily black blood and gore but there didn’t seem to be any fewer undead coming. In fact, their numbers seemed to be multiplying. For each one they cut down three more seemed to appear. Able soon had a blade of energy in each hand, moving and spinning as he hacked through large numbers of them. Haruka channeled her chi through her body, strengthening herself so she could smash in heads with punches or kicks. Freya was hacking with one hand and shooting with the other, dodging back from swipes and grabs.

Isabella was doing the worst as she backed up a few steps and watched several of the things climb up onto the deck. She stood panting, her arms hanging at her sides. At this point they’d been going for twenty minutes and there was no sign of slowing or thinning numbers, just more undead coming faster every minute. Her sword in its scabbard was no more use with her weaker
arms, forcing her to tie it back to her belt. She wielded her iron sword with both hands, needing the additional strength to cut through the rubbery skin with the dull blade. She stumbled back as one struck her shoulder, nearly getting a bite; she didn’t know what its slimy green teeth would do, but she knew it wouldn’t be good. She brought her sword across and hacked into its neck, but there the blade stuck, refusing to cut through or be pulled out.

Bella gritted her teeth, ignoring the sweat on her face as she planted a foot on its chest and shoved it off causing her to stumble back. She hated the fact that she couldn’t fight like she used to. Isabella of Two Faces should have cleaved her way through these things like a scythe through wheat, but she could no longer do that. Fatigue and pain crept through her body and her head grew foggy as she balanced herself, stepping forward and stabbing her sword through another’s head. She ripped the sword out as she ducked a swing from another, spinning and cutting its legs from under it. She came up and brought her sword down with a yell, stabbing it into the creature’s head.

Again the dull blade stuck, this time in the thing’s head. She stepped on its head, tugging on the blade, her weakening limbs making the process of freeing the weapon additionally difficult. A thick hand grabbed her and her eyes widened as the weight of an undead pressed down on her back, bringing her to her knees. She attempted to shake it off but to no avail. A second later the thing was yanked off of her; Haruka kept her grip on the creature’s neck and hurled it off the boat, sending it flying out over the water. She slammed her fists together with a yell, lining both with fire before she tore into the other undead near Bella, her fists simply tearing through them and sending pieces to the water below.

Isabella released the handle of her iron sword and stumbled to her feet, shaking her head. This wouldn’t work. She put a hand on the hilt of her sheathed sword only for Haruka’s hand to land on hers, preventing her from drawing the blade. She looked into Haruka’s eyes as the monk shook her head. “No.”

“Haruka,” she said with what breath she had, “I can’t-“

“No,” Haruka repeated. “It’ll shorten your life.”

“If I don’t use it now my life may be even shorter!”

“We’ll do the fighting,” Haruka assured her, her eyes pleading. “
Please
. Last resort. Very last.”

Isabella released the hilt. “…Alright.”

“Thank you.”

Both instinctively ducked as a white blade of energy flew past them, slicing an undead’s head in half and dropping it beside them. “I don’t know what you two are arguing about,” Able said as they looked at him, creating a new blade in his hand. “But maybe we should do it inside.”

Freya backed over to them, firing her pistol as rapidly as it could go. “That’s a good idea, keep ‘em off our backs.”

Haruka nodded, pulling Bella’s iron sword free and handing it to her. She then grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly as they moved their way towards the door leading belowdecks. Isabella was quiet; Haruka knew she felt useless, and it was true that in her current state she couldn’t really fight enough to help them. But Haruka just couldn’t make the trade-off of worsening her condition even if it meant making this fight easier. She would fight with everything she had to prevent that from being necessary. It was fortunate that Able, whoever he was, appeared to be a
very
good fighter, cutting his way through the zombies as they moved. Freya followed behind them, hacking those that were close and shooting those coming.

They went inside and Freya came in last, slamming and locking the door. After a few seconds the banging on the door started, but at least they all had a rest. They moved down the stairs, closing another door behind them, before they reached the table they’d been at before, each taking a seat. Freya sat on the edge of the table with one leg crossed over the other, leaning back on her hands and looking upwards, listening to the banging above them. Able sat in a chair and folded his arms, staring at the floor with a serious expression
while Haruka sat in a chair beside Bella’s, keeping a hold of her hand as the woman laid her head on her shoulder.

“Hey kid,” Freya said as she looked over at Able. “This didn’t ‘appen before?”

“No,” he answered, not bothering to look at her as he spoke. “They just disappeared. Maybe this is them. We could be the next ones, who knows.”

“…That’s a soberin’ thought.”

“I don’t want to die any more than you do.”

Isabella watched them with half-lidded eyes, making no effort to lift her head from Haruka’s shoulder. “Able, how old are you?”

He glanced at her. “Twenty-one. I’m a human.”

Bella blinked. “You’re a human? But your eyes…”

“Unnatural. I know.” He looked back down, feeling uncomfortable as the other three inspected his odd golden eyes. “I don’t know why.”

“Sorry to pry.”

“It’s fine. You’re just curious.” He looked up, the slightest hint of a smirk touching his lips. “I’m pretty curious about me myself. Let’s hope we all survive this to talk about it.”

“It will be easier to fight them down here,” Haruka said, drawing his attention. “The three of us can alternate holding them off at the doorway.”

They all looked up as the sound of splintering wood reached them. After a few seconds of stumbling the beating began at their door. Able looked over at Haruka. “Why just the three of us?”

She glanced at Bella, who looked down. “She’s sick.”

“I don’t have the strength to cut through them anymore,” Bella said softly, apologetically.

“Oh. Alright,” he said, standing and glancing at the door before holding both arms out at a downward angle. He placed his left hand on his right wrist and held the fingers of his right hand as if he was reaching for a doorknob. Effort showed on his face as a glow of energy appeared between his fingers, intensifying as the seconds past. He clenched his teeth, grunting as his arm trembled, then raised his voice into a yell as the light extended and burst forth into a blade of energy like the ones he’d been using. He grasped it in his fingers before dropping his arms to his sides, catching his breath. “Here.” He flipped it around and tossed it towards Isabella, who caught it in her free hand instinctively.

Bella blinked, moving it around. The part between her fingers seemed to form the shape of a hilt even though the whole thing was pure energy. She couldn’t feel any weight to it and looked from it to Able as Haruka inspected it. “How did you do that?”

“I don’t know that either,” he admitted, looking back at the door as it shuddered. “I know
how
to do it
, but I don’t know where I got the ability. Either way, that’ll cut through a lot without much trouble, and it takes no strength to use, so even if you’re tired it’ll work.”

Isabella smiled at him, spinning the blade once. “Thank you.”

Able met Haruka’s eyes as she gave him a grateful look, nodding subtly at her before looking back to Bella. “Just doing what I can to extend our life expectancy. Normally I’d worry about someone cutting their own arm off with that, but since you’re more skilled than
I
am, I don’t think that’s a problem.”

She blinked, looking up at him. “What makes you think I’m more skilled?”

“I have a good eye.”

Freya hopped off the table, patting his shoulder. “You’re alright, Able, m’ lad. You live up t’ yer name.”

“…Thanks.”

Haruka stood up and pulled Isabella to her feet, looking at the door as it splintered a little under the beating it was receiving. “I don’t care what’s going on here, we’re going to survive,” she said, looking at the others, her eyes landing on Bella last. The knight smiled, giving her a kiss that caused her to smile despite their situation. She released her hands and cracked her knuckles. Bella turned the energy blade in her hands to get used to wielding a weapon that had no weight. Freya leveled her pistol at the door, aiming for the newly appearing break. Able opened his hands, creating two new energy blades.

Freya suddenly shook her head. “Fuck me, I’m forgettin’ th’ most important thing!” The others looked at her curiously as she sheathed her cutlass even though a grey-blue hand had just broken through the door. She walked over to a shelf, tossing bottles left and right off of it. “Bad, bad, terrible, ass, bad,
worse
than terrible, bilge water… ah!” She grabbed a particularly dark bottle and bit the cork, yanking it out with her teeth as she moved back to her original position. She spit out the cork and brought the bottle up to take a huge swig of the stuff, lifting her pistol and blasting off the arm that jutted through. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve, grinning. “That’s th’ stuff. Come on in ye undead, puff-faced, seaweed-brained, bottom-scrubbin’, barnacle-‘eaded failures o’ life! I’ll put every one o’ ye back in’ th’ grave where you belong so none don’t ‘ave t’ suffer yer faces again, an’ I’ll spread th’ good news t’ yer mothers meself!”

The other three looked at each other and smiled, somehow feeling better about the situation. “You’re right,” Bella said as she stepped forward, waving the blade in her hand. “Why are we even letting them push us back?”

“It would be suicidal to go on the attack,” Able said, glancing over. “I have no objections.”

Haruka stepped forward, cracking both her knuckles and her neck. “Enough running, then. Let’s show them what we’re made of.”

“Aye, now you’re talkin’! Eyahoo!” Freya fired as the door burst open, dropping the undead that had broken it free, and then took another drink. Haruka rushed forward and caught a plank from the door as it flew towards her, placing three Death Marks on it before flinging it into the group of undead. The explosion killed several more, allowing Able to rush into the newly-opened gap and slash his way through. Isabella followed right on his heels, hacking those to the side as they passed. Freya brought up the rear and holstered her pistol and drew her cutlass before following, choosing to keep one hand wielding the bottle.