The Company retreated through hell. The attackers must have been through in a dozen places, and the city was well and truly burning. Black Ryann’s storm, if the tempest was the wizards work and not a cruel mockery on the part of uncaring gods, was making things worse. The intermittent rain drops were nothing compared to the high winds which fanned flames into blazing infernos and blizzard ash through the streets. Fanatics burst from alleyways and corners at irregular intervals, sometimes in twos and threes, sometimes by the score, throwing themselves on the swords of the retreating mercenaries with no regard for their own lives. Some were literally frothing at the mouth with insane frenzy. At one point a dozen Norgard had come charging out of a side street, aborting their rush at the last minute as the recognized friends, or at least not enemies. Bianca had allowed them to join the formation, at least until they found more of their own kind, if any such still lived.


Bianca, used to commanding small detached groups of scouts, found herself taxed to the breaking point, rushing back and forth between the front, where men had become disorientated in the blizzarding ash, and the rear, where men stopped to fight rather than continuing the retreat. Her legs throbbed but she chived her makeshift command along, pointing them towards easy to follow land marks and tugging men backward when they didn’t move quickly enough. At one point they were forced to open a gap between the men and a burning brewery, so intense was the heat and the enemy tried to rush around the flank, trusting their indifference to pain to carry them through. The Norgard took unreasonable delight in simply batting them into the flames with their heavy shields. The awkward rearguard continued.
“Bianca!” Hessel was shouting at her as she tried to push him forward. Her eyes focused for the first time in what seemed like forever. She wiped her face and her hand came away black. They all stank of burning hair. They had reached the entrance to the aqueduct and she could see troopers heading down into the tunnel. Other troopers, the rest of the Company she dared to hope.
“For her Dark Majesty!” someone screamed and a score of fanatics charged out of the smoke. Bianca lifted one of her pistols and cursed as it clicked empty. The shields locked and the bodies slammed into them like hail on a rooftop. Exhausted men thrust low  through the gaps, ripping open groins and guts to leave a barricade of howling maimed men. One of the troopers went down, his helmet split open by a heavy axe blow that sprayed grey muck a half dozen feet in all directions. A Norgard stepped into he breach, his own axe lashing out to disembowel the fanatic before locking his shield int place.
“The Captain says you are the last unit, we need to disengage!” Hessel was shouting, his voice a plea. They could all feel how precarious the citation was, at any moment this cold disintegrate in a rout that lead to whole sale slaughter.

“Disengage,” she breathed forcing her eyes to focus for what seemed the first time in an age.

“Grenados,” she said but Hessel was already shaking his head.

“None left, used’m at the tower,” he explained. Bianca could only vaguely recall flashes in the smoke as the abandoned the tower, a subjective lifetime ago.
“Right,” she said, a place holder while she gathered her thoughts, she glanced around at the rickety building that concealed the entrance to the aqueduct.

“Right, get everyone inside, then fire the building,” she ordered. Hessel blanched.

“Fire it… after we are inside?” he asked. Bianca nodded vigorously acutely conscious of something her uncle once said: Indecision buries more men than stupidity.
“Do it, we can move down the tunnel as the flames force us back. Wrap scarves around your faces so you can breathe.” Hessel looked unconvinced but nodded turning to yell orders to the others. In short order Bianca found herself hustled into the aqueduct, feeling an instinctive sense of security steal over her. Flames crackled up behind her and she felt the air being sucked through the tunnel around her as she fell back. The aqueduct was packed with men moving forward as quickly as their numbers allowed. By her guess most of the company had made it, and a score or so of Norgard as well. Bianca pulled her canteen from her belt and gulped down great mouthfuls before sluicing her face clean. 

“Bianca! The Captain wants you!” someone shouted and she pushed herself to her feet, forcing herself wearily through the packed ranks towards the front.