The poles reveal small openings that span around them and as the sound of gears turning goes into overdrive, chains shoot out of those opening and swing around the poles. Driven by some force hidden within the poles the chains swing around along the openings creating spinning wheels of death.
I avert my gaze and focus on rushing ahead again as the pained cries of monsters ring out behind me. Like a mindless flock of ants, the monsters during this stampede seem to have only one goal. They are heading towards those bridges and into the city regardless of the obstacles.
Those spinning chains must act like filters in this case since they reap the lives of a part of all monsters that pass them. They are very well thought out inventions to combat a stampede of normal dimensions.
As I charge through the gate into the city I catch a glimpse of a very familiar drake surrounded by grayish mist charging through multiple swinging chain poles as if they are nothing but air. The poles crack like toothpicks under the pressure of the drakes advance. Normal stampedes don't include monsters of that caliber so the city's defenses will only work on the upper section of the spiral pathway.
Once I'm through the gate and inside the city, it becomes even more apparent that they have yet to complete it. Most of the shop fronts and houses aren't fully built yet and even the pavement is open at some spots revealing a mess of pipes and cables.
I search the area around the gate and find it strangely deserted. There should be people here, right? The tools that are strewn across the ground do indicate that people were here.
Did they hide due to the stampede? No that would be way too quick and organized. Are they hiding?
The moment the thought crosses my mind I notice a conveniently placed steel plate leaning against a building while creating a hidden space three humans could hide in. I make my way over as quietly but speedily as possible. As I arrive before the plate I hear two voices whispering with one another.
"The sounds stopped. Do you think it left?"
"Who cares if it left! As long as that thing is out there I'm not moving from here by an inch until someone comes to save us."
"But if we don't disable the bridge's connectors the monsters will be able to enter the city in droves!"
"You want us to go disable the connectors? Do you not remember where the control panel is? That panel is beside the gate and in clear view of everything around it. That thing out there is a lesser wyrm! If it sees you and attacks it's all over!"
"So what? If I have to die to save this city I will!"
"You won't be saving it! disabling the connectors through the control panel will take you ten seconds or more if you are nervous. After that, it will take 18 more seconds before the connectors are released. But what you don't know is that there is a safety precaution installed."
"There is?"
"That's the problem. If the control panel is damaged at any moment between you operating it and the connectors being fully released it will lock down the connectors until the master key is used to unlock them."
"With that monster out there..."
"Exactly we might do more harm than good. We need to wait until help arrives. I'm sure it won't be long until they arrive."
He isn't wrong. The owner of the second voice, probably one of the workers stationed at this gate, seems experienced.
I already hear footsteps rush over from the direction of the city's center. Time is of the essence and I would be worried but two unsuspecting fools just told me how to keep that bridge up.
The control panel is totally obvious once you look for it. And since it only needs some damage done to it I send an energy fang shooting towards it. The energy fang crashes into the panel and sparks fly as small electric arcs dance all over it.
The noise from the panel being wrecked by my energy fang alerts the two workers hiding behind the plate. They begin to shift around but ultimately stay in place and continue to whisper.
"That sound..."
"Yeah, it was the control panel that got hit just now."
"Do you think it was a coincidence?"
"As if. There was no other sound besides that so it must have been a targeted attack. It's been nice knowing you even if you are a bit slow."
"What do you mean?"
"Whatever that thing outside is... It heard us. It knows that we are here and I doubt it will let us off."
He's right. Who knows what those workers could do if I left them here. If they somehow shortcircuited the control panel and released the bridge's connectors I would be pissed. I raise my tail and ready myself to smash that plate to bits.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
A loud shout echoes from the city center as the footsteps of whoever is arriving draw increasingly closer. A sudden hint of familiarity in that voice causes me to tense and I accidentally smash my tail down with full force.
Since the action is more of a reflex my tail simply slams down with full force and crushes both the metal plate as well as the workers below. With my current strength, the workers have no chance of survival and they die very quickly.
"YOU DAMN MONSTER! JUST DIE!!!"
A figure clad in leather armor and a short leather skirt that reveal her muscled abs and legs that look capable of crushing watermelons with ease is fast approaching. Her auburn hair flutters in the wind and her now red eyes carry that very same wrathful smoldering that terrifies people who fight her.