Fenrir looked back to the gate and examined the layout. The buildings were three stories tall. And with how the street snaked, the storm had a hard time bearing down on them. There were no alleys on this last two-hundred-foot stretch of buildings. He could easily reach the rooftops, but the building line ended short of the wall by fifty feet. The wall itself was double that at the least. And instead of a low patch for guards to talk to people, there were portholes in the stonework.
"We're going to have to try and get through the sea," Fenrir said and began to turn back in a hurry.
"We can't!" Layla barked. "The current lord had extended the walls out into the sea! We're going to freeze before we get around that! It's also going to take too long!"
And the two fell back into arguing.
The in-human like shrieks had ended that. Because unlike before, it was not a single one or a few. The shrieks rose from all around them like a massive hoard of demonic pigs.
The mass of mortals began to clamor over one another. Each desperate to save themselves. Women, children, and the old were push aside. While Fenrir stared down the street in the way they had come, towards the only ground entrances; Layla watched as the sudden fight for self-preservation angered her.
Women were pushed away, and the elderly fell underfoot. Children cried at the back as their parents abandoned them. The mother bear in her began to sunder into her thoughts, just like it had done back in Iron Horn. The intense desire to protect those children roared. Before Fenrir could catch her, Layla had flung herself off his back. She heads the ground in a stumble before she sprinted with all her might towards the crowd.
More children had been thrown away; eventually finding themselves at the back of the crazed crowd. Fear had gripped them all, and it was a free for all now.
"Come!" Layla cried as she ushered the children to whatever shelter she could. Which happened to be the third story building next to them. Build from red brick, and it's lower floor windows barred with iron, it was the best place she could think to stick them. "Get in the building!"
She would not let them die. Even she knew what she had done was akin to throwing her life away. But she couldn't leave now. Not after she had seen it.
"What are you doing?!" Fenrir appeared behind her and startled the children as they cried out in terror.
"He's fine!" Layla tried to calm them. "We need to save the children!"
Layla gave him a quick pleading glance.
"We cannot!" Fenrir snarled. The children slowly calmed seeing their helper speak to the large wolf. And they too looked to him for help. "We cannot save them! I have to get to Cyril!"
"She can help herself!" Layla snapped at him. "She gave me powers! If the myths are true, she gave you powers too! She can handle herself, but these children are powerless!"
The two locked eyes, eyes of silver and eyes of brown. But the undead didn't see fit to give them their little power game more than a few seconds. The shrieks rang out much louder as they poured through the alleyways on the eastern end of the snaking street.
Fenrir glanced over his shoulder before he turned back to Layla. He gave her one sharp growl. His head lowered dangerously to her face. She did not back down. After a moment, Fenrir turned back to the undead.
"Fine," Fenrir snarled. "We'll discuss this when its over."
Layla let out a staggered breath of relief and rushed through the open door of the building. Which turned out to be a store. The ground shook as the horde, bolstered by the hundreds living in the suburbs, charged with insatiable hunger towards the living.
Layla took one last glance at the Great White Wolf. His snowy fur shimmered with silver as armor formed from mana. He faced the mass of dead, ready to kill.
"Thank you..." Layla muttered before she went about grabbing the weak and young from the crowd. She would save as many as she could.