CLANG!
Wenamor gritted his teeth as his machete sparked against the bone-reinforced forearm of a mutant guard. The impact jarred his shoulder, but he refused to yield. He twisted the blade and shoved the creature back.
"Hold the line!" Wenamor shouted. "Don't let them near the tunnel!"
BANG! CLICK-CLACK.
Laviss worked the bolt of her rifle with practiced efficiency. She fired another round that struck a henchman in the shoulder.
"I'm trying!" Laviss yelled back. "But they keep coming! I'm running low on ammo!"
WHOOSH!
Jerrick stepped forward and unleashed a torrent of orange fire from his nozzle. The flames licked the night air and forced three mutants to scramble backward.
"Burn, you freaks!" Jerrick yelled.
Despite their valiant efforts, the tide was turning. The henchmen were stronger, faster, and more numerous. A mutant with skin like bark shrugged off the flames and backhanded a villager into the dirt. Another with crab-like pincers snapped Jerrick's fuel hose.
HISS...
"My gas!" Jerrick panicked. "I'm out!"
The bark-skinned mutant loomed over Wenamor. It raised a fist like a sledgehammer.
"It's over, old man," the mutant growled.
Wenamor raised his machete in a futile guard. He closed his eyes and waited for the end.
KA-BLAM!
A gunshot rang out. It sounded heavier than Laviss's rifle. The bark-skinned mutant's head snapped back and exploded in a shower of gore. The creature toppled backward.
Wenamor opened his eyes. "What?"
More gunshots erupted from the treeline behind the mutants.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A hail of bullets tore through the flank of the henchmen. Caught off guard, the mutants scrambled for cover as a war cry rose from the darkness.
"Charge! Don't leave a single one standing!"
Dozens of armed men and women poured out of the woods. They wielded pitchforks, axes, and hunting shotguns. They crashed into the confused henchmen with the fury of a tidal wave.
A man in a dusty leather coat and a wide-brimmed cowboy hat stepped over the fallen mutant. He spun a revolver on his finger and holstered it.
"Looks like you folks bit off a little more than you can chew," the stranger drawled.
Wenamor stared at him. "Who... who are you? You aren't from our village."
The man tipped his hat. "Name's Chavez Stain. We hail from the village across the valley. We heard the explosions and saw the fire."
Chavez gestured to the fifty angry villagers behind him who were currently beating the henchmen into submission.
"We have kin in this hellhole too. My brother went missing a month ago. When we saw the smoke, we figured it was the best time to come knocking. Need a hand, partner?"
Wenamor felt a surge of hope. He gripped Chavez's hand. "We need all the hands we can get. Welcome to the fight."
…
Outside the main gate, the atmosphere was far less heroic.
RUMBLE...
The ground vibrated beneath the wheels of the black-lacquered carriage. Luthor Greymoor peered into the darkness and his face paled.
"That noise… It sounds like the earth is splitting open. And the screaming... surely that isn't normal staff discipline?"
"It sounds like a war," the portly noble whimpered. He clutched his wife's hand. "We should leave, Luthor. This is unsafe."
"Nonsense. We are guests!"
CREAAAAK.
The massive iron gates groaned and swung open. But it wasn't a servant coming to greet them.
A carriage burst from the estate. It careened around the corner on two wheels.
SCREECH!
The driver pulled the reins hard and brought the vehicle to a halt right beside Luthor's carriage. The door flew open.
Carl Blackthorn leaned out. He looked like a man who had rolled through a pigsty. His silk robe was torn, his face was smeared with soot, and he was sweating so profusely that his collar was soaked.
"Carl?" Luthor gasped. He wrinkled his nose. "My word, you look... unrefined. What in blazes is going on in there?"
Carl wheezed like a dying engine. "Luthor... huff... apologies... huff... slight... malfunction..."
"Malfunction?" Luthor scoffed. "The sky is on fire!"
KABOOOOOOOM!
The conversation died instantly. A section of the heavy stone perimeter wall exploded outward. Dust and massive stone blocks rained down on the road.
"SCREEEEAM!" The noble's wife shrieked and covered her ears.
Two monstrous figures crashed onto the ground amidst the debris.
The impact shook the carriages violently.
Luthor stared in horror. A giant purple bat-creature straddled a black-armored demon on the ground.
"Die! Die! Die!" Vanderznak screamed.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Vanderznak pummeled Zareth's face. Each punch created a shockwave that cracked the road.
Zareth absorbed the blows with his blackened faceplate. He waited for an opening.
"Get off me!"
CRACK!
Zareth bucked his hips and drove his knee into Vanderznak's gut. The breath left the scientist in a rush.
"Oof!"
Zareth didn't stop. He scrambled up and lowered his shoulder. He rammed Vanderznak like a bull.
The impact winded the scientist, but Zareth didn't let him fly back. Instead, Zareth snatched the purple titan. He wrapped his mutated arm and his human arm around Vanderznak's torso in a vice-like grip.
"Going somewhere, Madman?" Zareth growled. "We aren't done yet!"
"Let go!" Vanderznak shrieked and clawed at Zareth's back.
Zareth ignored the pain and dug his feet into the ground.
BOOM!
He ignited his toenails. The explosion of fire propelled them both upward. Zareth launched them back over the broken wall and returned the battle to the estate's airspace while he held his enemy captive in a death embrace.
Silence returned to the road, broken only by the whimpering of the horses.
Then, gravity took its toll.
CRUNCH!
The shockwave from the landing had shattered the axle of Carl's carriage. The vehicle groaned and tipped over onto its side.
"GAAAAH!"
Carl screamed as he tumbled around the interior.
The door on the upward-facing side burst open. Carl struggled to climb out like a badger escaping a hole. He clawed his way onto the side of the wrecked carriage and panted heavily.
He looked at his ruined transport, then at Luthor's pristine carriage.
"Open the door!" Carl shouted.
He didn't wait for an invitation. He waddled across the debris and ripped the door of Luthor's carriage open.
"Carl! Wait!" Luthor protested. "There is no room! We are four already!"
"Make room!" Carl bellowed.
He dove headfirst into the compartment.
SQUISH.
"OOF!"
"Get off!"
"I can't breathe!"
Carl jammed his immense bulk into the small space. He crushed Luthor against the window and flattened the portly couple against the far wall. His ample stomach pressed into the wife's face.
"Drive!" Carl screamed at Luthor's driver. "Drive or I'll have you executed!"
"But Lord Blackthorn..." Luthor wheezed from beneath Carl's armpit. "Your estate... your legacy..."
"Screw the estate!" Carl spat. "Vanderznak can have the damn property! I just want to live!"
He knew the game was up. The explosions, the monsters, the fire; the Convent would see this from miles away. An investigation was inevitable. If he stayed, he would face the Inquisition.
'I have gold,' Carl thought as the carriage lurched forward. 'I have friends in the capital. I can rebuild. But I can't rebuild if I'm dead.'
The carriage sped away into the night and left the burning Blackthorn Estate behind. Carl Blackthorn, the tyrant of Sidonia Kemis, fled like a thief in the night while he sat on the lap of a screaming marquis.