In Harmony We Trust, Ryan Matthew Harker [rooftoppers .txt] 📗

rank, nearly fifty thousand strong. He saluted his men and bellowed, “At ease!”
Now this is how men should stand, he thought.
McAriicoys smile suddenly grew broader and he pushed himself into the ranks until he found himself face to face with a soldier of about his own size. Clasping hands to wrists with the other man he cried, “Vohrmint, you old war dog! When did you get here?”
“Good morning McAriicoys. My men and I arrived yesterday afternoon not long before that damned arcane energy bomb went off.”
“Good, good. I’m glad you made it.”
“Aye, we nearly didn’t,” Vohrmint muttered.
“How did thing’s at the monastery turn out?”
Vohrmint frowned. “Not well, I’m afraid. The monastery’s gone.”
“And the monks?” McAriicoys asked.
“They’re safe. We dropped them off at the Celestine Temple this morning. Jin sends his regards.”
McAriicoys smiled at the mention of the garrulous old man. “The priestesses at the temple are going to have their hands full housing those horny bastards.” The two men laughed. “Well we’re glad to have you back,” McAriicoys said before he shook Vohrmint’s hand again and returned to the head of the assembly.
“All right listen up!” McAriicoys laced his fingers behind his back and began pacing back and forth. “First I need volunteers, five groups of five. The men who step forward are going to be sent out as emissaries of the crown. Royal recruiters, if you will. Each of you will be sent to one of five of the six major provinces. You’ll be escorting a royal ambassador and your mission will be to ensure the safe arrivals of said ambassadors. This is extremely important as Harmony’s army is currently on the march for the capital and is estimated at around twenty times the fighting numbers stationed here. These ambassadors are vital as their jobs are to enlist the aid of the armies and the support of the thaumaturgical societies local to these areas. You will be teleported, for speed and convenience, as close to your destinations as is magically possible, from where you will be required to make arraignments to continue on your own as necessary. These meetings were already put into motion by the Commander General who, with his usual foresight, predicted the need for these reinforcements, ” McAriicoys stopped pacing and his voice went silent.
Although every man there was eager to render their services for such esteemed missions, the mercenaries had a very well honed and humble sense of not only their own abilities but those of their fellow soldiers, and so with only a minimum of low murmuring exactly twenty- five men finally stepped forward.
McAriicoys was pleased at the efficiency with which the troops operated and he smiled broadly. “Great!” he said and indicated a member of the royal guard from where he was standing discreetly to one side before he continued, “You will be leaving A-sap! Please follow this gentleman. He will take you to meet the ambassadors where you will be briefed in more detail. Good luck!”
The twenty-five men followed the guard into the palace and McAriicoys began to pace again. “As for the rest of you, one hundred of you will be accompanying me into the field. I have spoken with the King and he and I both agree that it is time to reunite with Commander General Jeshux and the Chosen Ones!” He waited for the short burst of cheering to die down before he continued. “The King’s magicians were able to tell me that they are currently headed on a course that shall lead them into Gonderlund. It is our opinion that the Commander General is headed for Gontiluna to try and enlist the help of the Archmagi Florencii and her mages. Although the Archmagi has a strong reputation for steering well clear of anything political affiliation the Commander General is a close friend of hers, if anyone can sway her decision in our favor it’s him.” There was another short cheer from the mercenaries. “We will be supplied with horses but we only get one shot at this as our window of opportunity is narrow. This is due to the fact that magical support to the shields takes precedence and really no one can be spared to teleport a group of our size.” McAriicoys stopped and raised his hands at the mumbling that rippled through the mercenaries. “No matter, the king has agreed that our mission may be significant to our survival,” he told them. “We will be leaving in just under two hours from now and it is estimated that at a hard pace we should reach Gontiluna not much behind the others.”
More mumbling and murmuring erupted and McAriicoys shouted, “Ok! I know that everyone is eager to get some action outside the city gates but only half of you will be coming on this mission while the other half are going to stay here and lend support to the defense of the city. You all know the size of the army that Harmony has amassed and you all know that it won’t be long before that madman has it camped outside these walls! I expect every one of you to give it your all! When you return to your bunks you’ll find your assignments. Those who are staying are to report to the Imperial Guard for detail. Those who are coming with me are to meet outside the south gate, Dismissed!”
McAriicoys waited and watched with a combative lust in his eyes while the massive assembly of mercenaries slowly trickled from the courtyard and he smiled with pleasure at thoughts of the battles to come.
Vohrmint disengaged himself from the crowd that milled around him and approached his superior officer.
“I don’t suppose you would let me volunteer myself outright for the away team?” he asked McAriicoys.
“You’re on the list,” McAriicoys smiled.
Vohrmint returned the smile with a toothy one of his own and said, “Well I guess I had better get ready then!”


Dusk crept in and spread long shadows across the Citadel of Gontiluna, with full dark close on its heels. Almost two weeks had passed since the mercenaries had left the capital and, unbeknownst to Jeshux and his small group huddled in the safety of the guilds entrance hallway, McAriicoys was leading a small group of a hundred men through the streets of the Citadel at that very moment.
Inside the hallway voices were tense and two topics of discussion were being fiercely debated. Topic one was about the coming night and Candlelite and Absinthe’s inevitable transformation. Over the past couple weeks, for some the past couple months, everyone had become more or less comfortable with the pair in their bestial forms. Usually, with the coming of night, they would slip off together and suffer the agony of metamorphosis in private, sparing the others the horror of being witness to the unnatural act. Tonight it was not looking as if they would be allowed the luxury of privacy, which led directly to the second topic.
“Look this hallway’s pretty big but within, maybe half an hour, it’s going to seem pretty cramped,” Candlelite said. “I mean Abbie alone will take up half of it and at that point she’ll only be able to retreat out. Those inner doors’ll be way too small to accommodate her.”
“You’re right, of course,” Jeshux conceded. “So do we head into the antechamber, forced to stay the night and cornered in the event of an attack or do we go outside press an attack of our own and hope for the best?”
“Are they still out there?” Absinthe asked.
“I haven’t heard anything for a while,” Max stood at the door and listened. He took a chance and cracked the door only to close it hastily as he heard an evil hiss and then a thump against the other side. “Whoa! Yeah they’re still out there,” he said.
“Max,” Jeshux glared at the little man. “Don’t do that again!”
Max pulled out his flask and raised it to his lips only to lower it again, a look of disgust on his face as he tipped it upside down and only a couple of drops dribbled out. “Anyone got a drink?” he asked hopefully. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy and he shook his head. “No? I didn’t think so.”
“Can we get back to the point here?” Candlelite asked. “We’re running out of time.”
“I agree,” Jeshux stated dryly.
“I think we should wait for dark and then go for it,” Absinthe’s voice was a little husky and a faint gleam had come into her eyes. No one seemed to notice but Candlelite looked at her strangely. “Me and Candlelite can leave first and clear a path for the rest of you.”
Candlelite started to sweat a little. It was close to full dark he could feel it in his bones, in his brain. He started to say something but found that he could not speak.
“I vote for retreat,” Sefu interjected from where she sat in the shadows of a corner.
Jeshux glared at her, “I didn’t realize you were such a coward, Sefu.” The sarcasm dripped like venom from his words.
The assassin made an obscene gesture at the mercenary commander but otherwise stayed quiet and sullen in her corner.
“I agree,” Max said calmly. He had stepped away from the door to stand next to Candlelite. “I say we retreat into the antechamber and wait for dawn. It’s a good chance that the zombies will wander off sometime during the night. After all they weren’t anywhere to be found when we first got here.”
“Max!” Absinthe said loudly. Her voice had gone even huskier but still no one seemed to notice. “I can’t believe you!”
“What?” Max raised his hands defensively.
Candlelite meanwhile had stepped back from the conversation. The young man sweated freely now, his nearly shoulder length hair hung lankly around his face. He again tried to say something, anything to alert his companions to his plight, but still he could not make a sound. His teeth were clenched and his eyes, blood red with the pupils dilated beyond the boundaries of his irises, bulged from their sockets. His hands opened and closed spasmodically. Candlelite noticed his fingernails had become long talons. The young man dropped to his knees.
“Uunnn!” he finally gasped.
Jeshux whipped his head in Candlelite’s direction. “Damnit!” he exclaimed. “I think our decision’s just been made for us.”
“Candlelite,” Absinthe called throatily and took a step towards her lover. “Ahhh!” she cried suddenly and fell to her knees and forearms with her forehead rested on the floor. The young woman began to convulse wildly and her clothing began to bulge as if huge boils were breaking out all over her body. She threw back her head and twisted her neck at a strange angle to the accompaniment of loud cracking and sick pops. Her eyes shone black as obsidian.
“Everyone get back!” Jeshux yelled and motioned everyone toward the antechamber, unable to tear his gaze from the disturbing spectacle before him.
Candlelite howled deeply and the sound reverberated throughout the hall. His back had hunched. He dropped his shoulders and pushed his head out in front of him. Ears elongated; cheeks, nose, and jaws stretched out away from his face and his already pointed canines grew longer and decidedly more wicked, he rest of his teeth fell out as the blunted grinders of an omnivore were supplanted by the slashing ripping daggers of a carnivorous hunter. He howled again.
Although intellectually knowing that these twisted creatures were still their friends and that they would come to no harm the primal instinct of their ancestors took hold and the group of men shrank closer to the doors at their backs. They were terrified by the horror in front of them yet incapable of looking away. Even Sefu, witness to and