The Wolf Among Us (Completed)

Chapter 13 - Battle

The community was in a frenzy boarding up windows, barricading doorways, and running along the rope bridges to secure the next building. Blackbirds swirled above as if their instincts were telling them that death would soon drape the streets in crimson. Meanwhile, Magnus walked the main road towards the gates, his eyes scanning each person, and nodding to them. On the wall, guards rolled canons into place, and Zemora ordered her men as they assembled Gatling guns at the very tops of each tower. When he made his way to the exterior, his father was standing there, tinkering with a remote in hand.

"Pop," he said, grabbing his attention. "How's it going out here?"

"Oh, it's going," Jupiter sighed. "Any news from the scouts you sent out?"

"Not yet, but hopefully soon."

"Good." He nodded. "Want to see something?"

"Sure."

Jupiter reached for the walkie-talkie on his hip. "Everyone standby."

After a few seconds, a reply of echoes came back, "All clear."

"On one, two, three..." He pressed the remote in his hand and bobbed a brow at Magnus. "Watch this." He flung a stick at the fence, and it sizzled before turning into splinters. "Pretty neat, huh? They won't see the invisible fence until it's too late, and it circles the entire perimeter of the fortress."

"Think we can defeat them?"

"We've done it before, and we'll do it again. Plus we have the added protection of the wall this time."

"But it's been twenty-five years, Pop. I was eleven years old when we last won. Lots has changed, and their people have been training for war since infancy. I mean, just look at Estera - a conniving killer from the moment she could crawl. If I went toe-to-toe with her, I'd lose."

"No, you wouldn't." Jupiter patted his back. "They might have the physical skills, but we have the weaponry. Follow me."

Walking back inside the gates, he shuffled along with his father to the Great Hall while nodding at citizens as they hurried by with wheel barrels of weapons.

"Where did those come from?" Magnus pointed as one rolled past.

"That's what I'm about to show you."

They proceeded up the steps and through the open doors into the Great Hall, where a procession of people was transporting crates of weapons. The tables which usually hosted plates of food, now had a buffet of metal and steel laid out as citizens assembled weapons for the battle. Jupiter walked over to one of them and lifted a rifle.

"We keep these in a cellar below the kitchen."

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?" Magnus lifted a cartridge of ammo and glanced inside to find rows of glass bullets with lighting. "These are clever."

"More like what the south calls witchcraft," Jupiter smirked. "And to answer your question, after the war, all of the territories swore to maintain peace, so I placed these in storage in case we'd need them again. Turns out, I was smart to assign a discrete team to invent and manufacture more over the years."

"If only some of that intelligence had rubbed off on me."

Jupiter squeezed his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about Estera. She was raised to kill or be killed, and when something like that is ingrained in you by someone like Catalina Montenegro, then you'll do anything to survive. So, it wasn't personal. Plus, I believe that deep down she's remorseful for pushing Samson off that cliff."

"You really believe that?"

"I do." He lifted another weapon from the table, and then attached a glass cartridge to it with lightning inside. "All it takes is one little zap to knock a person down. My hope is that no one gets hurt, but just scared enough to surrender."