Chronicles of Metal: Chapter 20 – Chill in the Night

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The last week had been taxing for Aeirfin, to say the least. For starters, some of the mercenary's acted exactly like the old town guard. Going around the city bragging that they'd keep everyone safe, an hinting that being given a few free meals and drinks might incentivize them to do a better job. He'd spent a majority of his time rounding them up and demanding they stay on lookout duty at either of the city's entrances. Luckily, he didn't have to do it alone. Gwen and Karock where more than happy to help him. A slender elf and a doe eyed priestess hardly made for an authoritative pair, but the almost seven-foot tall lizardman backing them up seemed to add a significant amount of weight to his words.

Of course, Aeirfin's first thought was to go to Tyr, but she remained strangely absent whenever he dropped by the barracks. Which only made things harder today, when a majority of the mercenaries came by asking for their first week's pay. Again, fortunately, just as it looked like a fight would brake out, Celic emerged from the office with a large sack full of coin bags that he began handing out. Aeirfin wanted to think he’d just been givin’ the task by Tyr, but he had a gut feeling Celic had just broken in and stolen it himself, only handing it out to keep the city from devolving into a battleground. He didn't have the stomach to ask though, but based on the unending glair Gwen was casting his way, it was clear he wasn't the only on that had that thought.

And so, as night fell, Aeirfin sat atop the wall next to the city's west gate. Partly to keep an eye on the mercenaries that had tried extorting the citizens, and partly because he wanted some time alone. His life had taken such a turn in recent months that it was almost hard to fathom. The old town guard had betrayed him, the late Capitan Anders had tried to have him killed, and he was saved by some enormous knight that had shown up out of the blue. A knight that had broken Frostbite. He carried around a replacement now; a cheap thing he bartered for from one of the town smiths. The weight was off, feeling a little heavy towards the tip, but it was better than nothing. Then of course there was...

"Hey Fin!" A small smile grew on Aeirfin's face. There was Aoi, letting him stay with her, her sister, and little Hazel. Who was now half jogging towards him with a rucksack slung over her shoulder. "You look like you've had the day from hell."

She plopped down next to him, dangling her feet over the side of the wall. "Yeah, It's been..." He couldn't have put it any better than Aoi had. A day from hell. Somehow his silence made her chuckle though, and he thought to change the subject. "How was your day?"

"Aki had to kick out one of those mercenaries." She said with a shrug, unaware of the tight knot that put in Aeirfin's stomach. "I get they're supposed to be better fighters, but... It kind'a feels like the town guard all over again." That too was something he couldn't have put better. Something his father said to him rang in the back of his mind; the more things change, the more they stay the same. "Here, have some."

It took Aeirfin a sec to register what she'd said. When he faced her, he found her holding out half a meat bun for him and a handful of other food items in the rucksack she'd just unpacked between them. "What's this for?"

"Eating, dummy." She giggled, pushing the meat bun into his hands. "You've barely eaten anything all day, have you?" She said with a suspicious look. "Whenever you come home, you always say you're too busy to eat. But you never take any money to pay for lunch when you leave in the morning."

Something about her knowing that made him far more uncomfortable than he expected. He enjoyed spending time with her, but she had an eye for the strangest details and had absolutely no trouble pointing out people's flaws.

Not that he really minded right now. Aoi was right, he was starving. "Thanks." He said, gratefully accepting and taking a bit bite out of the meat bun. It was good. Really good. Just what he expected from the Maiko eatery. "Did Hazel make these?" He asked with a smile.

"She made the dough." Aoi nodded. "Sis made the... You know... Meaty stuff." She pointed to the filling, before taking another big bite that finished the bun off. "The two are quite the pair. Best sisters I could've hoped for."

Aeirfin nodded in agreement. He hadn't been home much since Aoi invited for him to stay, just enough for Aki to shrug and allow it, and for Hazel to convince him to be her official taste tester. Honestly, compared to the rough, rowdy, and rude guards he used to bunk with, living with Aoi and her family was the best time he'd ever had.

"Hey Fin?" He looked towards her, finding her head lowered, hiding most of her face behind her scarf. All he could see where her eyes, and something about that made his heart skip a beet. "I uh... I wanted to say..." She trailed off, holding her scarf up. He waited for her to finish her sentence, but she remained silent. She slowly sat up, like she was trying to look past him. Her eyes weren't on him anymore, but something behind him. "What's that?"

Aeirfin furrowed his brow. More than anything he wanted to know what was on her mind, but something had distracted her. He looked out into the night, but found a dull orange haze in the distance. A familiar haze. Something out there was on fire. And it was spreading quickly. "What the hell?" He gasped, jumping to his feet. There was no doubt about it. One of the farm fields was burning! He could make out the shape of a few carts approaching the gates, and a handful of mercenaries waiting to receive them. "Aoi, stay here."

He heard her say something, but Aeirfin wasn't sure what. He dashed for the stairs, looking to join the others. Someone was driving those carts, someone fleeing from whatever was going on out there. If this was an attack, they'd be able to tell him. And he'd be able to organize some sort of defense before the perpetrators got here.

He slipped through the heavy wooden door at the foot of the staircase, and stepped into the cool night air outside the city just as the first cart arrived. Six of the mercenary's surrounded them as a family of farmers stumbled out of the back. The instant they were deemed to not be hostile, they were led inside the city. Just then a second cart arrived, followed closely by two more before they could even finish unloading. Between the sobbing and pleads for aid, Aeirfin finally got the time to ask the question that'd been on his mind the moment Aoi had noticed the fire.

"What happened?" He asked as the third cart emptied.

A teary-eyed farmer looked up at him, wiping blood from a gash above his eye. "It was Norn!"

Like a fuse had been lit, the canopy covering the fourth cart tore to pieces, and over a dozen men in furred cloaks barrelled out. One of the mercenaries didn't even get to so much as draw his sword before one of the figures leapt onto his back and cleaved an axe into each shoulder. The two dropped, and a pair of raiders joined the first in hacking him apart.

It was than that Aeirfin saw him, a beast of a man holding a great axe in one hand and wearing the skull of a bear on his head leapt from the cart. He decapitated the horse that'd carried them with a single swing, then looked up just as the last of the farmers scrambled past the readying mercenaries. "Tonight!" The man roared, standing up to almost seven feet tall and raising his axe towards the gate. "Your city walks with the dead!"

Two of the other mercenary's rushed past Aeirfin, intercepting three of the raiders as they charged them. The clash was enough to snap him out of his stupor, and he reached for his sword as a fourth raider rushed him. He ducked to avoid the barbarian’s tomahawk and drew his sword, slashing into his attacker's side all in one fluid motion. He didn't have time to celebrate his first kill though, as two of the three barbarians that had felled the first mercenary turned their attention to him.

The first bore down on him with a large stone hammer. Aeirfin spun out of the way, and just as it thumped against the ground, spun and delivered a shallow slash across the barbarian's chest. The second leapt at him with a pair of reversed grip daggers, swiping at him in a mad flurry of attacks. Weather he was unskilled or had a plan in mind didn't matter, Aeirfin stepped back just out of his reach, knocked one of his blades aside and thrust his sword into his stomach. He fell to the ground just as the first regained his footing, but a growing commotion from the carts was beginning to draw Aeirfin's attention.

"Out of my way!" A billowing roar drew the young elf's attention back to the moment. The enormous man wearing the bear scull cleaved through his wounded companion and shoved his corps aside, barreling towards Aeirfin at a speed someone his size shouldn't be able to attain. He ducked just as the bear skulled man swung his massive great axe, but had no time to react as the man whirled around and swung at him again.

"**North Wind**!" Utilizing one of the martial arts skills his father had taught him, Aeirfin went limp and continued to dodge around the Norn leader continued to swing at him. He tried looking for some way to counterattack while the man forced him back towards the city gate, but he beardly had time to get out of the way of one strike before the next came his way. He'd heard the stories of Norn Barbarians, but this didn't do them justice. Just one misstep and this guy would cut him in half.

And that misstep came, when he felt his back hit the wood of the gatehouse. His breath catching in his threat. Aeirfin crouched, avoiding the man's axe by a hears breath. Splintered wood rained down on him as he cleaved through the wall, but he had his opportunity. Standing up inside the reach of the man's axe, he raised his sword and aimed for the barbarian's chest. However, he could hardly believe his eyes when the man grabbed Aeirfin's blade with his hand. The tip of his blade left the shallowest of cuts on the barbarian's hip and blood gushed from his palm. But he'd stopped Aeirfin's strike cold. The handle if the man's axe collided with the young elf’s shoulder, sending him tumbling across the paved stone path Infront of the gate.

Aeirfin rolled to land on his back, just in time to raise his sword as the man stood over him. He swung his axe over his shoulder, sending Aeirfin tumbling again. However, a familiar feeling snap in his hand told him his weapon had once again broken. Landing on his hands and knees confirmed it, the sword he'd bartered for had broken just like Frostbite had. He had no time to lament that however. When he rolled over, the Norn chief was bearing down on him again. He reached for him with his sliced open hand, and Aeirfin responded by stabbing the broken blade through his wrist. Again though, this failed to stop him. Aeirfin's broken sword carved through the man's arm up to his elbow, only stopping when his hand closed around Aeirfin's neck. What was with this guy! Nothing seemed to even slow him down! Grinning beneath the bear skull helm he wore, the barbarian raised his axe to finish the fight, when a shadow appeared behind him.

A defining crash rang out as a metal bucket full of bricks slammed into the side of the barbarian's head, stunning him enough to loosen his grip on both his axe, and the young elf. "Fin!" Before he knew it, Aoi had pulled him to his feet and yanked him away from the stunned chef. "Fin, snap out of it!" He had nothing to snap out of though. While the Norn chef had been stunned for the moment, another barbarian was rushing right at them, and now he didn't have a weapon!

As soon as he contemplated grabbing Aoi and making a brake for it, a crude javelin flew over his head, hitting the barbarian in the stomach and stopping him cold. "Sir Theocrei!" He looked back to find Karock readying another javelin, and Gwen running towards them at the head of more mercenaries.

Most notably, was a red blur that shot between he and Aoi. When Aeirfin turned, he saw Zane draw his two blades and leap into the air, just as the Norn chef raised to his feet again. "**Savage Fang**!" Crossing his blades, Zane cleaved down on the chef, cutting through the handle of his axe and splitting him open from shoulder to sternum.

"Sir Theocrei!" Gwen shouted almost in his ear, a frantic look in her eye. "You're hurt!"

"W-what?" That didn't sound right. He'd been roughed up, sure, but so far not a single blade had touched him. He understood her concern when eh looked down though, as the chef had practically coated him in his blood when he grabbed at him. "N-no no, it's not mine."

Gwen gave a big sigh of relief. As did Aoi, despite wearing a concerned expression when Gwen clutched his arm. "Priestess!" The three looked up to see Karock pointing at another barbarian charging at them. "Ahead!"

But... Charging wasn't the right word. Stumbling more like. He definitely didn't look like the others either, largely because he had no weapon. His head sat at a funny angle, and he weakly swiped at them despite not being nearly close enough. The words of Aeirfin's father suddenly echoed in his head. A story he'd hardly believed at the time, but seeing this thing shamble towards him evaporated any doubt he ever had.

"Undead!" He cried, grabbing Aoi and Gwen by the arm and shoving them towards the gate.

Both women gasped, and Aeirfin turned around just as the zombie set upon him. He had no weapon, but luckily his blood-soaked tunic was slick enough for the zombie to not be able to grip him. The respite lasted only a second however, as before he knew it Aoi was back at his size, swinging her bucket into the zombie's head. This proved just as effective as it had against the Norn chef, and the creature fell onto it's back.

However, just as Aoi's mouth curled into a smile, another zombie shambled towards her. "Aoi!" he cried, charging for her just as she turned to see it.

Once again however, someone else got their first. He didn't know who it was, only that it was a large tiger beastmen with white fur. He threw a strong jab that knocked the creature's jaw off. It stumbled past Aoi, but the beastman stepped around her as well, knocking the undead into the air with a powerful knee to the stomach, and finishing it off with a strong jab that sent it flying back to the carts, where a horde of well over a dozen more zombies picked over the dead.

"This way." The beastmen took Aoi by the arm and waved for Aeirfin to follow.

"Who are you!" Aeirfin demanded. Once he, Aoi, and the beastman joined Gwen, Karock, and Zain once he too had retreated from the horde.

"I'm Ryo!" He shouted back. "I'm one of your mercenaries!"

Aeirfin didn't remember him from Tyr's trials, but he was hardly about to complain about that. "What do we do about them?!" Aoi shouted, gesturing towards the approaching hoard.

"Don't worry about that." As outlandish as Ryo's claim was, Aeirfin noticed something else going on behind them. A cool gust of wind blew over them, and a small woman in a white robe strolled past, muttering to herself behind a white fox mask. A shear white fox tail with a black tip trailed along behind her, gently bobbing as crystals of ice formed in the air around her. "Lady Shino will mop up the rest of them."

The woman, Shino, raised her hand, and the ice crystals began whirling in a tempest over her head. "**Icicle storm**!" The moment she spoke, a volley of ice blades launched towards the undead. Some where sliced to pieces instantly, others froze solid and shattered. A few remaining Norn raiders where among those that fell to the first volley. But a handful of the undead began picking themselves up after a few seconds. With the wave of her hand, Shino unleashed two more volleys, carving a large X mark in the ground under the spell's path.

Mist began to form around the gatehouse, but not enough to obscure anyone's view of the scene. None of the attackers where left. Two of the mercenaries, eight Norn warriors, and over a dozen undead, all still on the ground.

The spell whirling over Shino's head dissipated, crumbling into a thin snowfall that glittered in the air around her. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but it was obvious more than a few questions lingered. "Who..." Aeirfin stuttered, trying his hardest to remember her and Ryo from the trials. "Who are you again?"

The woman turned her head ever so slightly to lock eyes with him, and in that moment Aeirfin froze. Something about her told him to stay the hell away. Her icy blue eyes bearing out at him from behind her mask sent a chill up his spine. A chill that only went away when Aoi stepped up beside him and took his arm.

In the briefest moment he took to look at her, Shino's expression changed. "Worry not." She gave a small smile and a quick bow, folding her hands inside her robe. "Lady Tyr hired us. Myself and Sir Ryo. I am a mage you see."

"We noticed." Aoi mumbled. "That was... Incredible."

Shino giggled into her sleeve, and Ryo moved to stand at her side. "Worry not. So long as I am here..." She spoke slowly, her eyes once more fixing on Aeirfin. "Everything will go smoothly from here on out."

All at once, Aerifin felt a familiar feeling in his gut. A feeling he hadn't had in a long time. The feeling that he wasn't being told the whole story. It wasn't just her odd manor of speaking, or her story of being hired after the fact. Something about these two beastmen made him suspicious. Just like how it'd been when the Viscount had been plotting the fires. He clung to Aoi a little tighter, and she gave him a sideways glance, but he didn't care. They'd almost lost each other once. He wasn't about to let it happen again.

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