The grapnel hooked itself well to the corner between the pinion and the gap. Pulling a lever on the device, I rushed upward with the speed of a bullet.

Landing onto the gray stone of the wall-walk, I ducked at once, pressed my back to the pinion and looked around.

“Hurry up…” said the Bat with an effort, nodding its head to the left.

I nodded and ran after it. Crouching, I moved forth, mindful of my surroundings.

Kane chose a really good starting point. Groans, cries, bomb explosions, and clanging of metal all sounded muffled from where I was standing. The nearest fight was about one hundred and thirty yards away. Several Formidable Bears Changed by Decay, supported by Colossal Spiders Changed by Decay, had surrounded a small group of guardsmen in the middle of the street and were killing them off methodically, ripping their flesh off with special attacks and casting Effects of Decay on them.

BOOOM!!!

A house came falling down a bit further away from me. Turning toward the sound, I saw the heads and shoulders of two Warriors of Decay. Because the city houses were built close to each other, I couldn’t properly see who the creatures were fighting with, but judging by the jade flashes that hit their faces a couple of times, as well as the golden glow that flashed between the houses, there were definitely some skillful archers there, Followers of that crazy Aerida, and Einar’s fearless fighters. This didn’t surprise me at all.

“Duck… Lower…” the Bat wheezed, pressing itself to the stone surface of the walkway. I followed its example immediately. Ten seconds later, it flew up again and stared down at the city. “Let’s go…” it commanded, making sure that we were relatively safe.

Next time I was the first one to notice a decayed Spider that was crawling near the bottom of the wall. When it started to turn in our direction, I called the Bat quietly. We managed to stay unnoticed.

I didn’t have direct connection to Rugus so I couldn’t find out where exactly his Gleam was at the moment. Even if I could, theoretically, get in touch with him, I doubted that he would answer. In the last battle he got hurt no less than our Old Man, and now he had to be licking his wounds as well.

Through his Disciple, Liro, the wounded man that I had met a couple of days ago on the hill, Rugus told us that Una was kept not in the city prison that was by the garrison, but in the basement of the town hall. The former mayor, Mister Elliot, personally equipped several cells for very important prisoners there. I wouldn’t be surprised if “City Secretary Anda” helped him with that…

We also got a map of Ekheim from Liro. Kane studied it and could now easily navigate the city, even though he watched the world through the eyes of his winged Wight.

“Stop… Get down…” the Bat ordered again. “Crawl… To the edge…”

I didn’t ask questions and crawled on my stomach to the edge of the wall. The Bat landed beside me.

“Can… You… Jump… Up that…?” It pointed its matted head at a rectangular building with a gable roof that looked like a warehouse. It probably was one, given that the river gates and a small port were nearby.

“Sure thing. Where to next?”

Of course, we had a well thought out plan of navigating around the city. Unfortunately, due to the unexpected invasion of the Decayed, it had to be dropped.

“Wait…”

The Bat went to scout the area. While it was absent, I watched the city, carefully peeking from behind the wall. A fire broke out in the southern part of the city. I wondered if it was an accident, or if somebody decided to burn Ekheim down so that the decayed beasts wouldn’t siege it.

“Aaaa!!!” Someone’s scream pierced through the cacophony. This wasn’t the first time that that had happened. The damned monsters tore open the bellies of still alive people and gobbled down their innards before the poor bastards could find solace in death.

I clenched my teeth and tried to regain my composure. Thanks to the Old Man, Kane was by my side. Had I been alone, I could’ve bumped into a group of the Decayed by now, or worse, the Warriors of Decay, or even…

One of the Mothers.

Luckily, the strange ladies were too far away from my position, so I couldn’t read their info nor look at them properly. But if they weren’t the Mothers, what sort of women could calmly watch a city be destroyed? I counted four of them. Maybe there were even more.

Why are they here? I supposed that they were there to be support to the common decayed beasts in case some of the Gods decided to help Ekheim.

The Bat returned and told me that the coast was clear. With help of the Joy of the Acrobat I jumped up the slanting roof, unhooked the grapnel from the eaves, jumped down and rolled over, slowing down my momentum.

“Hurry…” it ordered, rushing along the warehouse.

Hiding in the shadows of the buildings, stopping now and then so that the Bat could explore the area, we reached the central street. It took us more than an hour, but we managed to get around dozens of groups of the Decayed.

The battles raged on. The defenders fought desperately for their lives, and the closer we got to the center, the louder the cries and the clanging of metal of the torn apart breastplates and broken swords were.

“Those who couldn’t get to the city gates began to fight their way to the city hall,” I said, glancing at the torn family of five that was lying in the puddle of blood amidst the cobbled road.

“Yes,” the Bat agreed. “Stop… Hide…” It nodded at the nearest house that welcomed unwanted guests with its wide-opened door.

It went to scout again, and I hid in the house and sat quietly by the window. The Bat was absent longer than usual this time around. I got especially worried at the moment when three Colossal Spiders in the company of an Alpha of the Black Wolves appeared on the street.

It was difficult to see me through the muddy window from the outside, but I could observe the monsters with the corner of my eye and think of a strategy.

I was sure they had noticed me; they looked askance in the direction of my hiding place. But trouble avoided me; they didn’t slow their pace, continuing to move fast in their original direction.

It’d be good to find out how the Decayed “saw” the world. Could they smell me? Or could they feel my life energy? I was leaning toward the second option. They apparently didn’t attack me because they had more important things to do.

But if all the monsters were connected with each other through the Mothers it meant that another group could be sent after me. It wasn’t safe to stay in the house anymore.

Cautiously looking out, I noticed the returning Bat. There were no enemies nearby, so I exited the house.

“There’s… A large… Battle… It’ll take… Too long… To go… Around… Battles… Are everywhere…” it reported with an effort.

“Just as we thought… Have they all gathered there?”

Confirming my guess, a triple explosion sounded somewhere nearby.

Well, that made sense. Here, in the center of Ekheim, was a garrison, and that meant that the arsenal was here, too. But, more importantly, there was a secret passage in the city hall that led outside. Very few people knew whether it really was there or not, but every citizen was notified that in case of danger, if they couldn’t hide in their houses or evacuate, they should immediately go to the city square.

And that was what was happening now.

People who would hold the enemy back until the more important citizens of Ekheim had escaped through the back door were gathering around the city hall. If the “cannon fodder” was lucky, some of them would be able to get out, too.

It was interesting that Carl Tsunter, Einar’s Disciple, hadn’t ran away at once, but tried to stand up to the invaders. Perhaps, he wasn’t so bad after all.

We ran some two hundred yards more before the Bat pointed at a stone house. Following the wall, I looked round the corner.

Right in front of me, Captain Koyne, the one who was the first to take Tsunter’s side during Mayor Elliot’s capture, threw an orange phial at a Warrior of Decay. I remembered Arthur using the same tactic against a similar monster during our quest for the Part of Zurtarn.

Enflamed, the decayed giant froze with its mouth open in a silent scream. Immediately after, arrows, glowing with different colors, flew in its direction. The Warrior was too close to the fighters in the front line and so they couldn’t use bombs.

Well-coordinated attack of several dozens of Ekheim’s defenders was decreasing the giant’s HP fast. However, the latter didn’t come alone. No matter how much the armored swordsmen tried to cover the archers, the rush of various decayed beasts forced them to stop showering the Warrior with arrows and crossbow bolts and concentrate on the weaker enemies in order to help their friends.

As a result, when the burning liquid stopped eating away the giant’s HP, keeping him in place, it still had a couple of thousand HP left. It rushed at the crowd of guardsmen at once.

“Shields up! Don’t retreat! We have to let the civilians evacuate!” Captain Koyne shouted at the top of his lungs. “Don’t forget that your families are among them too!!!”

Several more groups like this one fought on both ends of the street as well. It was just like Kane had said: it was practically impossible to go around the battlefield inconspicuously. Besides, if I wasted my time sneaking, there was a high chance that there would be no one but the creatures of Decay left by the time I got to the city hall. No matter how disgusting it sounded, I had to use this opportunity while the Decayed were busy to do what I had come to do.

“Get into the inventory,” I curtly said to the Bat.

It silently landed onto my hand, and I put it into my inventory.

“AAAAA!!!”

A horrible scream echoed throughout the street. Shifting my gaze instinctively, I saw Captain Koyne. The Warrior had lifted him by both arms over its head, and was now stretching him.

Deprived of its upper limbs, the body fell. Throwing the captain’s arms at the nearest guardsmen, the monster caught him and bit off his head, thus increasing its own HP a little. Then, shifting its victim in a more convenient position, it sank its teeth into the mangled corpse’s stomach.

Though Koyne had betrayed Elliot, he fought bravely to defend his city. He met his end with honor. His conscience had to be clear now.

I didn’t let rage overwhelm me. It was a stupid feeling. It was senseless to hate the Decay. It was like hating a hurricane or an earthquake. One had to keep control over oneself. And I had to do what I had come to do.

I gritted my teeth, breathed out and imagined streams of energy pulsate through my body. Good… Now I had to blur them…

Twilight Wanderer.