Age of Cataclysm: Book 1-Chapter 32
Imported from SF2 with no description.
Chapter length: 3,019 words
Current novel length: 92,291 words
Chapter 32
All is quiet back at Radclyff's house as the family is in the process of going to bed. The members are asleep in bed, except for Aila, after eating venison for dinner from an eight-point buck from Barion's, the oldest son and child of Aila and Radclyff, most recent hunt. The youngest, five-year-old male triplets Roffe, Lupus, and Royd, are sharing a room. The two pairs of twins, eighteen-year-old Deryn and Cordea and fourteen-year-old Garnet and Thyrius, are in their own rooms. Aila is bathing herself in the master bathroom.
Barion wakes up in his own bedroom, having a strange feeling that something isn't right. He listens very intently to his surrounding environment. He hears a noise downstairs that his mind interprets as the front door opening. He leaves his room and creeps silently towards the source of the noise with his longsword in hand. Barion eavesdrops on a conversation from multiple people. They are speaking in a lower register.
"I hope for our sake this intel of yours is correct."
One of the unknown amounts of people responds, "My source has never been wrong. The furball is away with a group, so he isn't here to catch us. Maybe his oldest son and his wife can pose a threat, but I doubt it."
A third person speaks with enjoyment, "If I get my hands on that Elf, I'm going to be a delighted man. Don't kill her unless you want me to murder you."
The same person that matches the second voice speaks, "Don't forget what our objective is. The boss doesn't want damaged goods."
Barion hears a fourth different voice. "What is the objective? All I was told was to come here."
He hears the same voice again, presumably the group leader or at least a higher up. "Get his family, more specifically the youngest. If we can get all of them, that's a bonus. The boss gave us the go-ahead to kill the most likely to put up a fight should it come to it. Under no circumstances that the triplets must be harmed."
The first voice speaks, "So why are we still waiting here for the others? Let's go and get them. We haven't heard a commotion, so we have surprised them."
"The others are for backup. Wait for them before proceeding. The boss doesn't want any fuckups. The fact we have surprise is excellent, or else things we would be very different right about now."
"Which is why we need to act now. How long would this last?" A shadow figure gets closer and closer to the stairs before another silhouette pulls it back.
"If you go anywhere near those stairs before the backup arrives, I'll break your kneecaps or put a couple of crossbow bolts in your ankles. They'll be here between five and ten minutes."
Barion doesn't make a sound as he makes his way to Cordea's room because it is the closest. He curses under his breath as he finds out the door is locked. He figures all the bedroom doors, except for the triplets because they're rambunctious, and Aila and Radclyff have to remind them from time to time to be quiet, are locked, and Deryn is the only one that can lockpick.
He decides to get the triplets to safety first because that's the group's primary objective. He opens the door to their room. The beds are in a row, and there is a little chest where they can store their items at the end of each bed. Roffe is the closest to the door. Lupus is the farthest, and his head is dangling off the side of the bed. Royd is in the middle and is sleeping on his stomach. Barion wakes them up one at a time.
Lupus is the first to say something, and he says it groggily, "That you, Barion?"
"Shhhhh."
Roffe is the next to speak, "Why are you here?" He yawns and stretches in bed.
"Shhhhh."
"What's going on?" Royd asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"Quiet! Listen, I need all of you to go into the safe room now."
"Is it a drill?" Royd asked.
Barion feels it's best to lie to keep them calmed down. "It is. This time the bad guy has really, really good hearing, so be extra quiet. I'm going to alert the others once you are inside. Don't leave unless I say so." Radclyff had been doing these drills ever since Barion was a child. He still does it to this day. He said it is to keep them safe because his adventures and his riches make him a target.
Barion takes the triplets to the nearest safe room, a secret room close to their room. It is behind a wall, and the way to reveal it is by a five-letter codeword. The triplets don't know the code since they're too young to be by themselves, so Barion enters it, and they go in. There are food and water to last them a couple of days. The triplets and the youngest twins have instructions to stay there for at least one day before leaving to make sure that the threat is gone if something terrible happens to Aila, Barion, Deryn, Cordea, and Radclyff, and they can't come back to say it's ok to leave. Barion emphasizes the 'don't leave' part back in their room. They have a habit of running out when the coast is not clear during a drill, occurring twice in the past. They head inside, and he locks the door. The reinforcements should arrive very soon if they haven't already. I don't have a lot of time. Can't get to the rest of my brothers and sisters, and I would make noise in trying. Need to prevent them from coming up here. There's a chance my mom forgot to lock the door. It's worth a shot because I need her help if she's available. He is competent in combat because o his parents' tutorage, but he knows it's him versus more than four intruders. His mom will provide much-needed assistance.
Barion tries his parents' bedroom, and the door surprisingly opens. Inside the room, there is a big, fancy bed, a crib close by for the unborn baby, a walk in closet, and a lit bathroom. He enters the bathroom and descries his mom soaking in the bathtub.
"Mom," he whispered.
"Barion!"
"Keep it down!"
"Why the hell are you here?"
"Being the man of the house. We have intruders. They are here to kidnap us, mainly the triplets, and reinforcements are coming very soon if they're not already here. I put the triplets in the safe room close to their room. I haven't gotten the others because the doors are locked, which by the way you forgot to lock yours, thank the gods."
Aila gets up from her tub. "Get me my throwing knives."
Barion turns his head away and hides his bulge at the sight of his mother's breasts and pussy. His cheeks are also red as she retrieves a towel. "Shall I get you your clothes as well?"
She wipes herself dry, unbothered by exposing her entire body in front of her oldest offspring. "Come on, Barion, you're twenty years old and my son. You can handle beholding my naked body, and it's not the first time you stared at a vagina. Besides, we have a more serious issue than my lack of clothing." She goes commando in a simple nightgown and arms herself with her throwing knives.
Barion peaks out the door. "I count four currently in the house that I am aware of. No sign of them down the hall."
"Know how many reinforcements?"
"They didn't give an exact number."
She sucks her bottom lip as she calculates a rough estimate of what they will face. "Let's wake Deryn and let him know what's going on. Then he can wake the others and get them to safety. While he does that, we can greet our guests. I think it's rude of us to make them wait so long."
They creep their way to Deryn's room, remaining alert to the intruders in case they make their move. The door is locked, and Aila takes out a couple of items. She inserts them into the doorknob. After a few clicks, she hears the sound that signals to her that the door is unlocked.
Barion is impressed. "When did you learn to lockpick?"
"Way before meeting your father and conceiving you. Deryn had to get his skills from someone, and it's sure as hell not your father. He would simply bust his way towards progress."
"That does sound like him."
Aila and Barion enter Deryn's room. His room is in complete disarray. They forge a path by parting the items in their way away.
Barion shakes his brother. "Deryn, wake up."
Deryn stirs awake. "Huh? What do you want, brother?" he asked with a bit of hostility.
"Shh. We have intruders. Mom and I want you to get the rest of your siblings and take them to safety. The triplets are in the safe room closest to their room, so head there if you can."
Deryn shrugs it off, "You couldn't have picked a better time, asshole? How about tomorrow or never?" He shuts his eyes.
Aila is not having it. "Deryn Ailwin Siosal, you get your butt up right now and get your brother and sisters to the safe room right now, or you won't be having your friends over for a sleepover in a few days."
"Alright, I'll go along with the drill this time," he said unenthusiastically. He removes his blankets and reveals his hairy genitalia.
Barion shields his eyes. "Dude, put on some clothes."
Deryn extends his arms wide, making sure his brother and mother have an unobstructed view of his nude body and penis. "What's the matter, Barion? I thought you enjoyed looking at dicks."
Aila snaps. "That's enough, mister. Keep this up, and I'll flay your ass. Maybe I'll let your father know about this, and he can bring out Usse."
Deryn knows from the tone of her voice that she means it, and he does not want Radclyff to bring out Usse, folding his wolf-ears as he caves, "I'll go get the others." He puts on clothes before leaving his room.
Barion is the next to leave. "I gotta go see what's going on downstairs. There's no way they didn't hear us just now."
Aila nods in agreement. "It's weird that they aren't responding."
"My guess is they're outside with the reinforcements."
"I bet you're right."
Aila and Barion head to a room with a window that overlooks the front yard. Deryn works on Cordea's door. The room is a storage room of things that need to be tossed out. They make it to the window and look outside. There is a break in the clouds, and the moon is supposed to be very bright tonight. The moonlight illuminates the outside well enough for Aila and Barion to count heads. There are sixteen people of various races huddled in a group. Barion assumes that the four men he heard are part of the sixteen, but he leaves room in his head that they are still inside so he and his mom could potentially face twenty.
"So, how should we handle this?" Barion asked.
Aila stares at the group. "Can't face them out there in a sword fight because they will easily surround us. We would have to face them inside, so they would have to come from certain directions. I can kill some of them before they get in. The giant guy over there is going to be a problem. They're moving right now."
"Let's give them a warm welcome."
Aila opens the window. She proceeds to throw her knives. The trespassers scatter as they witness two men collapse with a knife in their chest. One person takes a knife in the right shoulder. Another takes it in the left eye. Before the first intruder gets inside the house, five are dead in the yard, and two have injuries.
Barion confronts one invader downstairs. He kills him after a few clangs from two blades. Multiple sounds of glass breaking in the house alert him that more criminals are in different parts of the house. One man charges down the hallway and receives a knife to the head from Aila.
More intruders show up, and Aila and Barion engage in combat. A hulking size goliath appears after Barion kills his two opponents. They fight immediately. The goliath only uses his fists during the fight. He disarms Barion, and they are now in hand-to-hand combat.
Barion is at a disadvantage due to the size difference, and he is also inexperienced in fist fighting. The goliath overpowers him. He lands numerous blows on Barron's body and breaks his nose. He then picks him up and slams him down on a table, breaking it in the process.
Barion goes flying across the room and into a bookshelf. He gets back up, charging at the goliath, but a blunt object wallops him on the side of his head. He goes down and remains motionless with blood coming out. Aila becomes distracted after seeing her son get knocked out.
"Barion!" she screamed.
She stops in the middle of her tracks. She looks down and sees a blade protruding from the center of her torso, her nightgown turning red with blood. This enrages the goliath.
He storms at the person responsible. "Why did you do that?"
The person quivers in fear. "I'm sorry. She was a threat, and my body moved on its own after seeing an opening."
"I told you and everyone else that she needs to be alive."
"But she was armed."
"I don't care."
Before the person can get another word in, the goliath twists his head backward, killing him. The goliath checks on Aila. "She's still breathing."
"Don't forget about the mission." Another man appears.
"You and the rest can find the children. I said from the beginning that I am going to have my way with her, and she's still alive."
"Fine, but once we're leaving, you're coming with us whether or not you reach your climax. I will kill you if I have to." He and five other intruders begin the search.
The goliath removes the bloodied nightgown and begins to fondle Aila's breasts while kissing her. "You know, I would prefer you to struggle like all my previous victims did, but I guess this will have to do." He lowers his trousers and goes in for the penetration. Before he does, he hears screaming from behind. He turns around and sees Barion swinging a fire poker at him. The pointed end hits him in the eye, and he screams in pain. Barion repeatedly strikes the goliath, covering his face with blood splatters. The goliath dies eventually.
"Mom? Mom, wake up!"
"Barion."
He hands her some towels. "Put these on the wound and apply pressure."
"The children."
"I'm going after them right now. I'll be right back."
"The children." Her eyes close, and Barion feels something primal deep beneath him surfacing. It is pure rage. The remaining intruders hear an unhuman-like growl and look to see Barion. He instantly slaughters the closest ones before they even had a chance to respond. The entire operation's leader is in a different hallway, and he can hear the screams of his men, observes blood splatters, and witnesses a head roll into the hallway. The figure of Barion slowly enters into his field of view. All he can see is the look of hate coming from him. He fires a bolt at him. Barion is unfazed by the impact. The leader fumbles around, loading another bolt in his hand crossbow, and moves back, trembling.
The leader eventually collides with a window. He fires one more time but barely misses. The tears start streaming down his face, and he wets himself as he realizes that he is facing death. He tries negotiating. "Let me go, and I promise never to return again." Barion gets closer. "I can give you money. I have tons of it." It didn't work. "Come on, man, I have a wife and kids back home." No response. Barion is now as close to the leader as he can get. "What do you want?" Deep down, he already knows the answer.
Barion grabs him by the throat. "Your life." His voice barely sounds humanoid.
Barion throws the man out the window after biting and ripping his throat out. He lands awkwardly, causing his neck to snap. Barion turns and heads back to his mom. Aila's eyes are shut when he arrives. He checks for signs of life like a pulse or breathing. He detects nothing at first. Then he feels a very faint pulse.
He hears a voice behind him. "Barion?" It is Deryn and the other siblings.
"Get back to the safe room now."
"Is mommy ok?" one of the triplets asked.
"Mommy is fine," Barion lied. "She's just recovering from her boo-boos."
Garnet starts to sob. "That's a lot of blood. Is she really?"
"Garnet, I don't need to hear that from you or anyone else. Now go back up to the safe room and stay there, except for Cordea. That's an order." They obey and head back.
Cordea stays behind while the rest leave. "What is it that you want me to do?"
He looks at her. "You have better medicine skills than anybody else in the family. You know how to stop the bleeding or severely slow down the flow. I need you to do that to mom to buy me as much time as possible."
"For what?" She heads over to Aila and starts putting her medical skills to use.
"I'm going to get help."
"Who's going to help at this time of night?"
He can think of one person close by. "I'm taking mom to Skye."
Feel free to vote, favorite, comment, and spread the word.