Planet B

Ch.10

William felt the horror of what was about to happen fill his chest. In the distance, behind the bearded man, Crytons poured out from the trees. Many Crytons. Too many.

"Cryton attack! From the North!"

Most of the people who went out earlier in the day were tired and hungry, and those that didn't were nowhere close to their weapons or armor, as they all were at the town hall meeting. This was going to be a slaughter.

He looked at Katherine and found her too staring out to the trees, her face now white. Without a second thought he turned to those gathered.

He realized then he didn't need to give orders or directions. Not only was that not his place, though they probably would have listened had he done so, but this was a group who had fought the Crytons for the better part of a decade. They knew what to do.

William turned back to Katherine, who was unfamiliar with their camp.

"Go that way," he pointed, "there are extra weapons and bits of armor in that tent. Have your people take whatever they need."

Katherine nodded and left without a word, leaving William alone on the platform. Men were running all around him, searching for weapons and forming ranks. Pilfered tables from the nearby clubhouse were turned on end, half-eaten meals spilling to the ground as they prepared their defense. William helped construct a makeshift barricade across the middle of the camp, tables and carts and various large items making up the impromptu blockade. To his right he saw Chaim and Luke forming a layered defense, several rows of people ready to relieve or replace the ones in front of them, the relieved people moving to the back to later relieve those in front when necessary.

The Crytons poured into the camp. Knowing he had no time to find his tent to get his specialized armor William simply took a deep breath, bent over to stretch for a few moments, then vaulted over the barricade and toward the incoming monsters.

You're all going to die. You know that, right?

Given their present situation William was hard pressed to disagree.

Chaim. Luke. Monster gruel is what they'll be.

"Shut up," he muttered as he slowed and ducked into a tent, the sounds of Crytons now very close. He could hear their grunting and wheezing from only a few tents away and knew surprise was his best bet. He'd let them pass by and then charge from behind, hopefully outpacing any behind while touching the ones he ran up to. He'd hoped to find something of use in the tent but its occupant seemed to have very little in the way of possessions and only bedding and clothes were waiting for him.

Very well, the voice said. Pass along my regards to their corpses.

William ground his teeth in frustration. He watched through the crack in the tent flap as the creatures began to pass by, fists clenched in anticipation. His heart already pounded almost traitorously loud given the Cryton's exceptional hearing. After the tenth one passed he closed his eyes for the briefest of moments, took a breath, and charged.

Bursting from the tent he barreled into a Cryton, a quick jab to its armpit the only thing preventing a collision that would have still killed the creature but would have left William prone on the ground. As it was William stumbled on the falling pieces of armor of the now dispersed creature and went into a forward roll and popped back up to his feet instead of falling flat on his face. Behind him the creatures screeched as they chased him, but he was faster than them, awkward bone structures allowing for power but not speed. He raced to the next one in line, running a four-fingered hand along its arm as he passed by.

It wasn't until he'd destroyed the fifth creature that the ones in front realized something was happening behind them. Similar sounding screeches sounded throughout the camp and they turned and began to raise weapons as William approached, still at nearly a sprint. The two closest to him weren't fast enough and William waved hands through them as they brought sword-arms up. As each disappeared he caught their falling blades and threw them at the next two. The creatures deflected the oncoming projectiles, an instinctive defensive movement that cost them their lives. Bodies turned slightly with their parries William had little trouble passing a hand through each of their throats, the Crytons bursting into nothingness just as their brethren had before.