Ambushed

Barbarus, Northern Mountains, new frontline outpost.

Now.

.

Thick fog slowly spread over Barbarus's murky black earth beneath the faint light of dawn. The intermittent cries of foul eagles came from afar.

The poisonous gas outside the small outpost was visibly much denser than inside. Pale yellow mist churned endlessly; any creature that moved within it would stir up rolling waves in the fog.

Herrela stood at the entrance to the outpost, holding a musket in one hand and carrying another over her shoulder. A dagger was tied at her waist, and her bulging little pouch was full of bullets.

She wore a full-face gas mask that covered her entire face, her brown eyes watching her other two teammates through its lenses.

Kuzza and Tille were inspecting their equipment. Like Herrela, they wore full-face gas masks and were fully armed, each carrying a scythe with two daggers strapped to their waists.

"Ready. We can depart."

Big Sister Liss, who had come to see them off, nodded. A dark green headband soaked in herbs was tied around her forehead.

"Listen up, everyone. Your objective is to deliver this map, marked with specific enemy ambush sites and supply points, to the rear frontline command."

"To avoid alerting the enemy, we can't send a large force to transport this document. Our outpost is currently at the very edge where human territory meets xenos territory. Sending a large force would expose us, and we'd be likely to run into an ambush on the way."

"To be safe, three squads will be dispatched from different frontline outposts at staggered times, each taking a different route to deliver this document."

"And you are the third squad."

"But that doesn't mean you can let your guard down. In fact, the lord we're facing this time is stronger and more cunning than any we've encountered before."

"You must deliver the document! Do you understand?!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The three stood at attention, saluted, and shouted in unison.

Big Sister Liss took a step back and looked over Herrela and the other two again.

"Good. You're the finest close-combat warriors and marksmen in this outpost. I believe you can complete this mission."

Big Sister Liss saluted the three warriors, and the gate of bound solid logs slowly opened.

And so, they set off.

The scenery repeated endlessly. Murky, fishy yellow poison fog rolled without end. Other than the scythe symbols left by the Death Guards earlier, there were no landmarks on this road to guide their direction.

They marched at speed. Kuzza scouted ahead, Herrela walked in the middle, and Tille watched for enemies approaching from behind.

That intelligence rested securely against Herrela's chest.

.

Yet disaster descended from the sky.

A piercing shriek tore through the air. A roaring crimson fireball tumbled down, ripping apart the yellow haze!!!

It was an explosive fireball!

"Take cover!!!"

The three accelerated madly, trying to run beyond its range--

But behind that fireball--

--hundreds of fireballs roared after it--

The explosions erupted. Destruction arrived. All life was extinguished.

Herrela woke to a violent ringing in her ears.

She staggered to her feet and pushed away the two charred corpses lying over her.

Yes. The moment Kuzza and Tille realized they could not escape, they had thrown themselves over Herrela.

There was only one reason: Herrela carried the intelligence.

No matter which of the three carried it, the outcome would have been the same.

The other two would sacrifice themselves to protect the one holding the intelligence.

The ringing had not stopped. There was no time to grieve. She had been exposed, and Herrela had to move immediately.

Her gas mask had shattered. Dull yellow poison gas kept pouring in. Herrela hastily wrapped bandages around the mask, barely managing to slow the gas seeping inside.

A sharp pain lanced through her left calf. Herrela looked down. White bone had snapped, punched through the skin, and pierced the flesh.

Blood gushed out without stopping.

Gritting her teeth, Herrela quickly treated the bleeding. Then she used her dagger to cut off a section of a broken scythe shaft and took out bandages.

Herrela gripped one end of her calf with one hand and the part near her knee with the other.

Crack!

Her calf, broken at a grotesque angle, snapped back into place.

Hiss--fuck!

Herrela rarely swore, but she had just done so.

Then she placed the piece of scythe shaft against her calf and bound it tightly with bandages to immobilize the broken leg.

The ringing had faded somewhat. Her lungs ached endlessly, and the pain from her broken calf kept stabbing at her. She was on the verge of passing out.

No. She had to deliver the intelligence!

One musket had broken. Herrela threw it away, picked up the other, and loaded it.

Without a moment of hesitation, Herrela limped onward.

I'm sorry, my comrades. I will deliver this intelligence.

You won't have died in vain.

Drop by drop, blood slid from the wound in her calf, leaving a scattered trail across the ground.

Herrela was beginning to feel dizzy, but thankfully, she had often suffered from dizziness before. She could handle this.

Faint barking drifted through the fog.

Pus Hounds?!

A tall dead tree stood ahead on the wasteland. Without hesitation, Herrela dragged her broken leg up to its crown.

The barbed bark dug into the wound in her leg again, but she had no mind to spare for it now.

Herrela raised her gun and aimed into the distance.

Judging from the barking, Herrela estimated there were six or seven hounds in the pack.

Herrela slowed her breathing. That would let the poison gas enter her lungs more slowly--

When that tiny black dot first appeared in the murky yellow fog--

Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Gunfire rang out!

The first bullet pierced straight through the unlucky creature's snout and entered its brain. Of the two shots that followed, one struck the hound's right eye, while the other hit its foreleg as it sprinted.

The hound, racing at full speed, fell instantly. Whimpering, it rolled across the ground and kicked up clouds of dust.

The Pus Hounds behind it were startled. The two at the front even stumbled over the fallen hound's corpse.

She pulled the trigger again.

Bang! Bang!

The Pus Hounds dropped at the sound. Two more down.

So I misjudged them. Herrela pressed her cracked lips together, brushed aside the loose hair by her ear, and smiled.

The enemy had probably assumed that whoever survived the bombardment would be a strong close-combat warrior, so they had sent hounds renowned for entangling enemies in melee.

When they outnumbered their opponents, these Pus Hounds were indeed extremely troublesome enemies.

One careless mistake, and they could kill you.

But the enemy had not expected that it was a seemingly frail marksman, someone who should have been unable to withstand the bombardment at all, who had survived.

That was why humanity would ultimately triumph.

You selfish xenos freaks with pus for brains!

You will never understand the human spirit!!!

Four remained. After realizing their opponent was a marksman, the hounds began changing their paths, advancing in a dazzling group zigzag pattern.

If she was lucky, Herrela could shoot them down before they entered their attack range.

If she was unlucky, one or two of them would most likely manage to attack her.

Bless me, Hades.

I want to live. I want to deliver this intelligence. I want to see you alive one more time.

I want to hold on until the day peace arrives.

Bless me.

Hades.

Bless me.

People of Barbarus.

This was my first time writing, and I didn't handle the supporting characters well. I'm very sorry about that (ˇˇ)