Chapter 12: City of Ghosts

While Peter wanted to vomit over the next couple of hours, eventually, the whiplash came to seem second nature as the horses galloped deep into the evening. It wasn’t until they slowed, and he turned his neck that he noticed the swath of knots now impeding his movement. What he did see was just as excruciating. With the sun setting, none of the city walls of Zemliharos were lit and the gate to the city remained wide open, without a guard in sight. Silence was all that welcomed the patrol home. Peter cranked his head as far as he could turn it to see Luka. The knight continued towards the gate, though he could feel his body tense as they passed through the unmanned entrance.

The rest of the city brought no better omens. Whether it was the tavern, vendors or the streets leading up to the town square, not a soul welcomed them back from their journey. Yet, there was nothing that hinted at any sort of conflict. Just emptiness. The patrol came to a halt as they approached the cathedral, yet there was not a torch in sight. The golden hues of twilight dimmed into darkness. A cold silence is all they found.

“Boo!” Tinnie laughed as the guard fell from his horse in shock. Peter felt himself nearly float in the air as the ropes tightened around him, keeping him in place as Luka’s horse bucked from the shock and Peter felt his neck radiate with even more agony. In a flash, the Tintilinić wiggled out of his ropes and dashed towards one of the alleyways, all while his guard struggled to get himself upright.

Luka cursed as his captive disappeared into the evening. “Get this one untied, they’ll show themselves soon enough.” Peter felt his chest heave in relief as the ropes around it loosened and the guards lowered Peter to the ground. While his legs were free, they still kept his arms bound behind his back. Peter knew he didn’t stand much of a fighting chance at full capacity, but would be completely useless against one of those creatures in his current state.

Stomping footsteps from one of the dimmed alleyways broke the silence. Luka motioned to the guard who was overlooking Tinnie to inspect it further. The steps were heavy, far too strong to be from Tinnie, they echoed again through the alleyway, a clanking scratch, like nails hitting rocks, followed. With his sword in hand, the guard stepped with a slow conviction, darting his head every which way, until he disappeared into the darkness. Silence followed, until a crunch. The sickening sounds of cartilage, bones and flesh cracking, along with a gurgled scream echoed through the alleyway, until that unmistakable metallic scream boomed through the air.

Luka drew his sword and prepared his shield. Soon, a faint fog filled the air, and the once ominously peaceful town faded in and out of reality, until the quaint illusion broke to show reality. While Peter could still remember the deafening screams of that priest as the first time he’d seen true bloodshed, this was something he wasn’t prepared for. Bloodstains decorated the town square, with the flattened remains of several bodies in their wake. While he had seen a couple of polished corpses at funerals, and some burn victims during an emergency room visit when he broke his arm playing basketball in high school, it was nothing compared to the raw carnage of these mangled corpses.

The talon-like steps of several creatures echoed from the rooftops, yet Peter struggled to make out their monstrous form. All he could really see were the piercing yellow eyes that broke through the fog. One of the two remaining guards raised his sword into a defensive stance, but a pair of the yellow eyes swooped down from behind and slashed at the guard’s neck. Spurts of blood erupted from it and the guard screamed another one of those gurgled cries. Peter dashed and threw himself down to the ground, behind some of the crates outside the main tavern as he watched in terror. The remaining horses darted in every direction as the striga focused their attention on the two soldiers remaining. One swooped down from above, but Luka stood ready. As the striga reached out with talons, luka pirouetted and slashed his sword though the creatures’ midsection. It collapsed to the ground, screaming in a fury as Luka raised his shield to knock away the next striking beast.

Peter felt a cold hand touch his shoulder. He jumped and prepared for a kick, only to see Tinnie holding up his finger in a hushing gesture with a dagger in his other hand. He giggled as he cut through the ropes that bound Peter’s hands together. Peter felt a rush of blood returning to his hands, but it was the least of his concerns. Several of the striga circled around the other guard, and while he swung wildly in an attempt to keep them away, it simply was in vain. One of the striga tore into his shoulder, then another into his stomach. Soon he was on the ground, helpless to the barrage of creatures overwhelming him.

“W-we have to get out of here.”

Tinnie motioned down an alleyway. He could make out one of the warhorses standing in place, its blinders keeping it in oblivious obedience from the horrors around her. Tinnie crawled on all fours towards the steed, and Peter did the same, doing his best to ignore the dried blood that caked parts of the cobblestone. Peter kept his attention on the sole knight that remained. With his shield handy, Luka kneeled and lifted his shield above his head, keeping several of the beasts at bay as they attempted to overwhelm him, until a deep, crone-like squeal caused them all to fly away in a panic. Luka got to his feet, swirling around in a frenzy to find his foe, yet none arrived. It wasn’t until a dark cloud within the fog festered on the other side of the plaza that Luka saw what awaited him next.

The fog lifted just enough for Peter to make out the crones’ features. Her slim, gaunt face and uneven crimson eyes looked at the knight as if he were a mouse. She seemed to hover in the air, and her frame was far larger than that of a homely old woman, as she stood several feet taller than the knight. What disturbed Peter the most was the horn-like blemish that protruded from her forehead, with overgrowth that seemed somewhere between veins and roots from a tree, along with the long, protruding nails that were sharpened into the shape of daggers.

“Babaroga-” was all the knight could utter, before the hag like being rushed at him with deceptive veracity and dexterity. Her nails met at high guard with Luka’s sword, yet they did not break under the steel. She disappeared into a cloud, only to reappear behind the knight. She trusted her nails into his back, breaking his plate and the deathly crunch of crushed ribs followed. Blood spurted from the knight's mouth, and he looked up to the night sky one last time.

Peter finished mounting the horse, with Tinnie watching his backside. He mimicked the same whistle he heard Luka use, and the horse broke into a mad gallop, back towards the city gate. He heard the cackle of the crone behind him, and he turned to look for Babaroga, but she was no longer there. A black mist traced behind them, and several striga flew through the night sky in pursuit of the two. Peter mimicked the kicking motion he saw Luka did and he felt his neck pulling in agony every which way as he attempted to speed up the mare. One of the striga closed in.

“Oh dear.” Tinnie shrunk himself down, but Peter could feel the edge of the talons digging into the upper part of his shoulder as the beast attempted to tighten its grip on him. Peter screamed out in pain, but what left his mouth wasn’t a man’s scream. He felt something deep within him release, something furious with bestial intent. What left his mouth felt similar to a bear’s roar. The piercing talon no longer dug into his gambeson. He turned around to see the striga falling from the sky, frozen in place. Even the black mist froze in its tracks.

Tinnie erupted into a furious laughter, “The Krsnik runs in your veins afterall, perhaps we won’t die yet.” The mare blew past the gates and far from Zemilharos.