New Novel
Chapter 37: Shut Up

Chapter 37: Shut Up

The surrounding Reapers finally recovered from their hesitation, and a coil came flying toward him. Rook released one hand from the scythe, caught the rope, and wrapped it around the handle. He barely finished securing it before the Fourth Rank’s free arm swung toward his neck.

He ducked beneath the blade, and the sword arm struck the rope instead.

Grave-rope was woven to resist the flesh and abilities of the dead. The edge cut halfway through the outer braids but failed to sever it completely.

"Pull!" Rook shouted.

Three Reapers seized the other end and ran toward one of the ruined pillars. They passed the rope behind the stone and threw their combined weight against it, twisting the scythe deeper between the Fourth Rank’s ribs.

Its upper body was dragged sideways while its damaged leg remained trapped beneath it. The creature attempted to rise, but the movement only widened the injury Voss had caused through its thigh.

Another rope flew toward Rook, this one ending in a heavy iron hook. He caught it near the middle, stepped over the Fourth Rank’s damaged leg, and drove his boot into the joint of its sword arm. The elbow struck the ground. Before the creature could lift it again, Rook plunged the hook into the side of its neck.

The point pierced the thin flesh and caught beneath the base of its skull.

The Fourth Rank stabbed at him with its other arm. Rook twisted his body over the thrust, planted one boot against the flat of the passing blade, and used it to carry himself across the creature’s body. Another hooked rope came toward him while he was still in the air, and he caught it before landing behind the Fourth Rank.

Rook drove the second hook into the opposite side of its neck. The rope immediately tightened as the Reapers carrying the other end ran toward the remains of the eastern gate.

The creature’s head was pulled backwards. Its sideways mouth opened, but the stretched flesh around its throat transformed the resulting scream into a broken rasp.

"Keep them coming!" Rook shouted.

Another rope arrived, followed by another.

Rook moved around the Fourth Rank while it fought against the first restraints. He ducked beneath its sword arms, stepped over the injured leg, and drove hooks into any part of the creature capable of bearing its weight. One caught beneath a rib. Another pierced the flesh around its shoulder. A third passed through the narrow space between two vertebrae before Rook twisted it sideways.

Each rope was carried toward a different anchor point. Reapers wrapped them around pillars, buried sections of wall, and iron stakes driven into the field. Some pulled by hand, leaning back until the cords shook beneath the strain. Others secured the lines and moved forward with their weapons ready.

The Fourth Rank thrashed among them. Its sword arms cut through one rope, but three more tightened before it could exploit the opening. It tore a hook from its shoulder and took a strip of flesh with it. Rook replaced it with two others, one buried beneath the collarbone and the second driven through a rib.

Voss remained near the creature despite the blades sweeping around him. He retrieved the spear, seized the shaft with both hands, and drove it through the Fourth Rank’s side. The point passed between its ribs and emerged from the other side, causing the creature to convulse.

Voss placed one palm against the exposed section of the spear, and the metal began vibrating again.

This time, the tension travelled through the weapon and into the body surrounding it. The Fourth Rank’s ribs were pulled in opposite directions as the spear fought to remain rigid within the twisting creature.

Bone cracked.

Voss released the shaft before a sword arm could reach him and picked up a discarded axe instead. He drove its blade into the creature’s shoulder, touched the handle, and forced the weapon taut within the wound. Every attempt the Fourth Rank made to move caused the axe to tear farther through its flesh.

"You enjoy this ability far too much," Rook said.

"You enjoy carrying a hundred weapons."

"Ninety-seven."

"That somehow makes it worse."

The Fourth Rank forced one leg beneath itself and tried to stand. The ropes tightened, dragging several hooks deeper into its body while others pulled its spine in conflicting directions. The creature managed to rise halfway before Voss lunged forward and slapped the undamaged thigh.

Muscles tightened beneath his hand, and the leg shuddered violently. Rook heard several wet snaps before the limb folded beneath the creature. Its body crashed back toward the ground, caught by the ropes before it could fall completely.

The Fourth Rank continued fighting. Even restrained, it nearly severed the arm of one Reaper who approached too closely. Its sword limb stabbed through another man’s coat and opened his side from the ribs to the hip. Rook caught that arm with a hooked rope, redirected the point into the ground, and stamped upon the back of the joint until the bone cracked.

By the tenth rope, the creature could no longer move.

The cords extended from every side of its body and disappeared around pillars, broken walls, and iron stakes. Its spine had been pulled upright while both legs remained folded beneath it. One sword arm was pinned against the ground, while the other had been drawn behind its back until the shoulder joint began separating.

Every movement tightened something else. The Fourth Rank hung at the center of the field, suspended between the restraints like an animal caught in an enormous web.

Its eyes remained upon Rook.

None of the Reapers holding the ropes mattered to it. Neither did Voss, despite all the damage he had caused. Both owl-like eyes tracked Rook as he walked among the scattered weapons.

The voices inside the creature rose again. "You will not escape your fate!"

Rook picked up a heavy axe.

"You will die!"

The Fourth Rank strained against the ropes, causing the hooks to tear through its flesh and open new wounds along its neck and ribs.

"Same as us!"

Rook approached it, and the creature’s sideways mouth opened as far as the ropes allowed.

"In fear!"

He raised the axe.

"In horror!"

"Shut the fuck up."

Rook swung.