The Final Storm

by Wayne Thomas Batson

  Perhaps their legs are too big? some thought, for indeed, the warriors from Balesparr had massive thighs and calves that bulged out of the tops of their cloth boots. They looked very powerful—and menacing. Each Baleneer had a very long quiver slung on his back. These were crammed full of the terrible long spears that they called bales.

  They came to a wide ramp to the right of the main gatehouse and halted there. Kaliam turned to Warriant. “Queen Illaria and King Ravelle have stationed their archers near every tower upon the battlements,” he said. “Send one team of your spearmen to join every two teams of archers. Two thousand on the walls and the others in reserve. We will house them in the barracks behind the walls and along the main thoroughfare where the fountains are. If the walls fail, they will need to cover our retreat.”

  “It will be done as you say,” Warriant replied. “But, if I may, we should take the reserves and go to the tallest towers and high places of the city. We can be very effective at great heights.”

  Kaliam nodded. “Then choose what heights you may.”

  Warriant raced off, shouting commands to his forces.

  “You know,” Kaliam said quietly to Farix, “there is something in Warriant’s gaze that is disturbing.”

  Farix nodded. “I have seen it too,” he said. “Not troubling in the sense that he might betray us. But something wild.”

  “Yes,” Kaliam agreed. “Like an untamed animal that has just been let out of a cage.”

  All of the defenses of Alleble were in order. The storm continued to churn above, but the lightning and thunder were not as fierce as before. Kaliam and his commanders stood on the main battlement above the gate to the city. Robby paced back and forth . . . waiting.

  “This is not Paragor’s usual pattern of attack,” said King Ravelle. “He hits hard first, and attempts to overwhelm with brute force. That is what he did in my city.”

  “And in Clarion, Yewland, and the Blue Mountains,” Kaliam agreed. “Why does he wait?”

  “Perhaps not all of his forces are in place,” offered Lord Sternhilt. “We have not yet seen so much as a single Paragor Knight.”

  “And yet, I feel he is out there,” Kaliam said.

  “In that murk, who can tell?” said Farix.

  “There is one way to find out,” said Warriant.

  “You do not mean to go down there?” Lady Merewen asked. “It is perilous beyond that curtain of darkness.”

  “You sound as if you have been in there,” Warriant said, scoffing at her cautions.

  “I have, Sir Warriant,” she replied. “In the Blackwood this darkness surrounded us. It changes your senses, and evil things lurk there. We were fortunate to have survived.”

  “Apologies, m’lady,” Warriant said. “I will stay alert.”

  “You mean you still plan to go?” Lady Merewen asked.

  “By Kaliam’s leave, yes,” he replied. “We will go in just far enough to find Paragor’s position. My people are stealthy. We will be careful.” He looked questioningly at Kaliam.

  Kaliam nodded slowly. “You have my leave,” he said. Then he turned to King Ravelle. “Send a squad to man the gates. Shut them behind as soon as they leave, but be prepared to open them at a moment’s notice!”

  Warriant turned and looked at Kaliam strangely. “Gates?” he asked. “Who said anything about gates?” And with that, he nodded to a group of his Baleneers, and to the terror of all, they leaped off the battlements.

  Kaliam and the others rushed to the parapet just in time to see them land softly on their feet. The other Baleneers, the ones who still stood high on the walls, turned and grinned.

  Kaliam turned to Farix. “I cannot believe they just did that.”

  The Baleneers did move stealthily, making swift dashes from tree to tree over the plains. At last, they passed silently into the gloom.

  Those atop the walls watched them as if through a veil, until they had gone too deep into the murk for anyone to see them. A great silence settled over the ramparts as those who watched waited.

  Then came a sound as if from far away. It was like the echo of screams. And then again, louder and more terrible. Agonized, wrenching screams—some cut short suddenly. Others wailed until a few figures ran out of the gloom.

  “The gates!” Kaliam yelled. “Open the gates!!”

  Immediately, the triple portcullis lifted, and five knights ran inside. “Close the gates!” Warriant yelled.

  “But there were others?” asked the guard.

  “Close them now!” Warriant commanded. “The others are dead.”

  37

  ENEMY WITHIN

  THE WALLS

  Of the five who fled the darkness and made it back into the city, Warriant was the only one still standing. The other Baleneers were taken into the barracks for medical attention.

  “What happened?” Kaliam yelled. Warriant looked up, a maniacal, angry glint in his eyes.

  “Wolvins!” Warriant yelled. “The biggest I have ever seen. They tore my men apart in front of me. I put a bale into the chest of one of the creatures. It bit off the end and kept coming.”

  “The Sleepers!” Farix exclaimed. “Sound the alarm! Paragor’s armies are here!”

  But out of the shroud, before the bells of Alleble could be rung, a piercing wail arose. It began as a shriek that drove knights to their knees and then lowered to an unearthly rumbling roar that shook the walls with its thunder. From the edge of the darkness a volley of a hundred flaming projectiles soared into the turbulent sky. A hail of arrows followed, fired from unseen longbows. And then thousands of soldiers in dark armor streamed out from the murk. They carried battering rams, tall ladders, and grappling hooks and assaulted Alleble’s walls in a hundred places at once.

  The fiery missiles landed beyond the gates, some reaching almost as far as the first fountain. They crushed cottages and small keeps, leaving hot fires wherever they fell. Several landed in the midst of companies of Alleble Knights running to support those upon the walls. Hit by arrows, archers and knights fell from Alleble’s walls into the teeming broods below.

  But Alleble was ready for this first attack. Legions of knights within the walls pumped gallons of snowmelt from the enormous vats used days before in the crafting of the walls. Fires were doused as soon as they sprang up, and the knights were ready for ten times that first wave.

  And atop the walls, Queen Illaria, King Ravelle, and an infuriated Warriant gave the orders for their teams to open fire. Nock and some of the archers began with their new arbalests. They loosed a first volley of darts—these made from the sturdy timber of the Blackwood—and the enemy’s front line dropped as if a great mat had been ripped from under their feet. The archers were stationed two-deep so that after firing, the second archer stepped forward while the first reloaded. The Paragor Knights raised their shields, but that mattered little, if but to throw off the archers’ aim. The bolts launched from the arbalests hit the enemy’s shields and passed through them as if they were made of paper. And the ground nearest the foot of the castle walls became littered with the enemy’s dead.

  The Baleneers focused on the enemies who came with ladders and grappling hooks. They were used to spearing wild game from the high limbs of trees in King’s Forest, so this range made it easy for them to pick off the enemy. They heaved their sharp bales down with great might. Those enemies on the ground blinked and found themselves pinned to the earth with a spear through their chests. Others who were unfortunate enough to be climbing the ladders took a spear in their forged helmets.

  The volleys of flaming projectiles continued with little effect. Some hit the adorite walls of the city and did no damage to the walls but caused a great tongue of white fire to flash outward and cling to the enemy while it burned. Paragor Knights fell smoldering to the ground.

  For hours, Paragor’s armies clamored before the walls of Alleble, but that was all they could do. Kaliam looked with awe at the new walls erected by Mallik’s folk from the Blue Mountains. The wal
ls proved tougher than anything the enemy had to throw at them. Battering rams shivered and cracked upon them. Grappling hooks could gain no purchase, and slid down to fall upon the heads of those who had thrown them. And with Yewland’s archers and Balesparr’s Baleneers defending the parapets, Paragor’s great siege towers could not get close enough to the walls.

  But Kaliam knew better than to relax. He knew only too well that the enemy had a devastating weapon at his disposal. He looked out over the wall into the murky darkness breathed into existence by the evil Wyrm Lord.

  “Kaliam,” Farix shouted as he ran up, “what are your orders, my Sentinel?”

  “Farix, good. I am glad you have come,” Kaliam said, pointing out into the shadows. “What do you see?”

  Farix stared into the gloom. “I see a thousand knights on foot,” he replied. “They have also pendulum battering rams, and siege towers, but beyond that, I can see nothing.”

  “That cursed darkness! It hides the enemy’s designs. We see only those within range of a short bow, but what lies beyond? And where are the Wyrm Lord and the Seven Sleepers?”

  “Perhaps Paragor is waiting to release them at the time of greatest opportunity,” Farix said.

  “Now is the time of greatest opportunity!” Kaliam shouted out in frustration. “The Wyrm Lord in his weakest state razed Clarion to the ground, and together with the Sleepers, they devastated our combined forces in Yewland! By now Paragor has no doubt nursed them back to full strength. Why does he delay?”

  Farix was silent.

  “We must be ready,” Kaliam said. “Farix, go and find Kindle and make sure he has his force of spearmen near at hand. And see to it that Mallik and his folk fill the turrets should any of their siege engines win through to the walls!”

  “Yes, Sentinel,” Farix said, and he vanished down the stairs.

  Kaliam stared out over the enemy into the darkness. He paced the parapets until he could bear it no longer. He raced along the wall, ducking into and out of massive turrets, until he came to one of the guard towers near the main gate.

  As Kaliam approached, seven sentries ran to him and stood at attention. “What news?” Kaliam asked.

  “The gates hold,” answered the first guard in line, a clean-shaven Glimpse who wore a gleaming conical helmet. “In fact, it has barely been assaulted since the battering rams were turned back.”

  Kaliam went to the wall and stared down between two stone merlons at the enemy. There were knights as far as the eye could see in that gloom, but they were armed with swords and milled about almost casually.

  “We sent the archers to the outer walls,” the sentry continued.

  “They are needed more there to repel the siege towers.”

  “Yes, good,” Kaliam replied. But he was not so sure. He looked again down at the enemy. As thick as ants on a carcass they were, but they had no ladders or devices for scaling, no great rams for smashing the gates. Why would the enemy abandon the gates? It was the weakest point of entry. “You have done well,” Kaliam said at last. “But do not be caught unaware by a lull in their assault. Send word to bring a host of archers back to the gate. I feel the enemy will strike here again.”

  The sentry nodded and sent one of his knights racing along the wall. Then he and the others returned to their posts.

  “What is Paragor’s plan?” Kaliam thought aloud. He turned and looked behind him, up Alleble’s main thoroughfare, past the Seven Fountains to the castle. He longed to speak with the King. Surely he would know what to do. But King Eliam had gone to the Sacred Realm, a place where his Sentinel could not follow. And there had been no report of his return. Kaliam would have to lead the defense of the kingdom himself.

  Suddenly, the sound of metal grinding against metal ripped through the din of the siege. Kaliam whirled around. “What are they doing?!” The enormous deadbolt arm of the main gate was being drawn back. He pointed to the sentries. “Go!” The sentries dashed from their post and flew down the spiral stairs to the causeway leading to the gatehouse.

  Still the great murynstil bolt continued to slide back. Shouts came from the enemy knights on the other side. Kaliam went to the parapet and saw that they were aimless no longer. Hundreds had gathered at the gate, and to Kaliam’s astonishment, they were forming ranks. Kaliam looked back along the walls, and there, running swiftly along the parapets, was Nock, and he led a great team of archers.

  “What is happening?” Nock asked when he drew near.

  “There is evil afoot!” Kaliam exclaimed. “Someone has begun to withdraw the great bolt to the gate!”

  Nock and the others stared.

  “I sent a team of guards to the gatehouse, but—” Kaliam looked back to the gate just in time to see the last of the bolt slide away from the guides on the portcullis. He felt a tremor of fear creep along his spine, for slowly the gate itself began to rise. “Nay! This is not possible! Nock, I must go myself to the gate! But see, the enemy is forming on the other side—lining up—as if they might simply walk in!” Kaliam locked eyes with Nock, and in that moment, he was not speaking captain to knight, but friend to friend. “Do not let the enemy enter our city!”

  “They stand in line to perish,” Nock said, motioning to his team.

  Kaliam’s broadsword unsheathed, he sprinted down the stairs and across the causeway to the gatehouse. He paused at the ramp and watched. The triple portcullis continued to rise. It was nearly high enough for the Paragor Knights who clamored there to squeeze through. I will put a halt to this! Kaliam thought as he hurried up the ramp.

  But Kaliam stopped short. There before him was a trail of twisted bodies. He recognized the Glimpse warriors strewn about the road like broken toys, and their eyes were frozen open in fear.

  “What madness is this?!” Kaliam exclaimed. Few weapons could inflict this kind of damage—Mallik’s hammer, perhaps. And that led Kaliam to a very disturbing thought. Could one of Mallik’s folk, the Glimpses of the Blue Mountain Provinces, be a traitor like Acsriot or the false ambassadors?

  Kaliam held his broadsword in front as he climbed to the top of the ramp. And there, turning the giant chain-driven wheel that raised and lowered the triple portcullis, was a single knight. That is impossible! Kaliam thought. It takes three stout warriors to turn that wheel!

  The knight stopped and stood to face Kaliam. Dressed in the armor of Alleble, he smiled grotesquely at Kaliam before walking toward him. And as he drew near, he seemed to change. It was as if with each step, he grew larger. Then Kaliam saw his eyes. They flashed blue at first, but then they flashed red. The warrior began to convulse . . .

  38

  FALON’S WRATH

  The wind whooshed through Aidan’s and Antoinette’s hair as they clung to Falon and watched her myriad legs rise and fall rhythmically like pistons. They had long since seen the Cold River come and go, and Aidan knew Alleble was close.

  The storm overhead was beginning to intensify. Lightning bathed everything in putrid shades of green. Thunder rumbled and crashed. “Thingsss go ill with the city,” hissed Falon. “Paragor has been busy . . . too busy.”

  Aidan and Antoinette saw the silhouette of Alleble, but there was fire and smoke. And surrounding the entire city like a pool of oil was an army larger than either of them had ever seen. “Look! Look at the walls!” Aidan said.

  “They’re white!” Antoinette yelled. “When did—?!” But then she looked off to the side. “Oh, no! There’s a huge crack in that wall!”

  “Falon, hurry!” Aidan cried.

  “Do not fear,” Falon said. “They will pay for all they have done.”

  At last, they came to the edge of battle, and Falon slowed to a stop. She stretched out a foreleg and Aidan and Antoinette reluctantly climbed down.

  “Falon, what are you doing?” yelled Aidan.

  “We can’t stop here!” Antoinette exclaimed. “You’ve got to take us to the gates!”

  “Patience, young warriors,” Falon said, and she brought her broad face close to
them. “The forces of the enemy are thick here like a carpet of ssspiders. Allow old Falon to clear a path for you. Wait here for now, hmmm? Things are about to get nasssty.”

  Robby felt kind of useless as he marched around on top of one of the southwestern walls. He couldn’t throw a spear or fire a bow. And the enemy never made it to the top of a ladder—the Baleneers made certain of that!

  Suddenly, a trumpet sounded. Robby turned and looked to the north. There was frantic activity at the area nearest the main gate. He started to run toward the gate. I can’t believe this! Archers choked off the passage along the parapets on both sides. And the massive Glimpse warriors from the Blue Mountains were blocking the castle towers. Robby spun around in restless circles, not knowing what else to do. Then a ladder clattered to the wall right beside him. Robby leaned over and looked down. He saw two enemy knights rapidly ascending.

  But before Robby could do a thing, a warrior hurled a spear down upon the climbing knights and then gave the ladder a mighty shove. It flew backward and landed in a sea of enemies.

  Robby drew his broadsword just as another ladder appeared on the wall a few yards away. A Paragor Knight appeared, his head just cresting the wall. Robby ran and went to kick the ladder, but the weight of his armor gave him more momentum than he could handle and he overextended his leg. The Paragor Knight fell backward off the ladder, but for a horrifying moment Robby had one foot on the castle wall and one foot on the ladder. He leaned toward the ladder, grabbed a rung, and held on, riding it as it fell into a crowd of enemy knights.

  Robby shook his head and realized he was more or less unharmed. He sprang to his feet and saw why. There were at least a dozen dead Paragor Knights lying beneath the ladder. Quickly, Robby dove just ahead of a slash that would’ve taken his head. He rolled and came up with his broadsword ready. Several enemy knights stood facing him. Robby knew there were some closing behind him also, so he did what he did best: he bullrushed the knights in front of him and swung his heavy broadsword with all his might. He slammed the first enemy with the first blow, smashing a dent into his helmet. Then he sidestepped a thrust and knocked the second knight down with a kick. The third knight tried to circle around to get behind Robby, but Robby was too quick. He spun and swept the legs out from under him.