Savelle and Syrus, being the most organized of the group, surmise they can be more efficient if they group together matching parts. Once several piles of matching parts are grouped together to form a complete group, the remaining brethren will work on assembling the weapons. The plan works.
Although it is initially painstaking work, by the end of the morning, Syrus and Savelle group together at least twenty-five ballistas with their individual parts. Two other groups will take the parts of a complete ballista and assemble it. By midafternoon, the Brethren have assembled close to forty.
The wolves sit by their guardian counterparts and watch the proceedings, mesmerized by the bustle of activity and fervor. Their canine brains are incapable of grasping the intricacies of the project, but they are caught up in the moment of excitement. They know something big is coming.
Merlin and Shadow travel down to the outer reaches of the invading army’s perimeter. Nothing about the situation surprises him. Jason is not stupid. A less intelligent leader would have overlooked the Brotherhood and shrugged them off like a bothersome fly. Although not delegating numerous soldiers to security protocol as an overkill, Jason is cognizant of the Brotherhood’s formidable skills; and he clearly is not taking chances.
Three large Lude Block structures have been constructed on the outer banks of the Eukrades River, providing an advantageous vantage point. The river is on a downgrade and the valley floor is flat. At seventy feet high, the towers have a viewpoint of several hectares, with the ability to see any approaching squadron, even a small one.
Massive oaks cluster together fairly close and throughout the canopy, dense, green shrub grass dot the knobby landscape. The geography could certainly provide some opportunities for clandestine warfare for a small crew, but Jason foreseen this as well. Another forty men are positioned at likely vantage points.
The geography on the other side of the river is vastly different. Plateaus and hilly outcroppings rise precipitously high above the valley floor, making it impossible for a large invading army. Numerous narrow switchbacks and doglegs trails serve as the only path through this treacherous terrain.
A lesser man would have been daunted by the seemingly insurmountable tasks ahead. But where most men see a major impediment, Merlin sees opportunity. He smiles in hopeful anticipation, the last-minute details of the plan beginning to form in his mind. Shadow senses his hopefulness and nudges his muzzle against his shoulder. Merlin returns the affection with a loving pat.
“You ready to go to war, old boy?” Shadow appears to nod.
Chapter 16: Adele, the Sex Slave
Adele is a coquettish girl who is overly trusting and oblivious to the ways of wretched men. Growing up sheltered in a small town, her father was overly protective, lenient, and prone to giving his daughters nearly everything they asked for assuming it was in his power to give it. She grew up with an unwavering assumption most men were benevolent and trustworthy. That assumption has been shattered.
Now her fantasy world came crashing down and she is left vulnerable to the perils of vicious men. If it were not for her sister Sylvia, Adele would have contemplated suicide. But she could not bear to leave her sister. She would not under any circumstances. That would be unforgivable. Throughout several days extracted from her happy life, Adele was raped repeatedly by Jason.
His touch made her skin crawl, as if spiders were making their way up her body. At least twice a day, he would rape her. And he was never nice about it. She would lay there crying pathetically. He would come to her and pounce.
Jason would not be satisfied with her just lying there. No, that would be too easy. Too kind a gesture from him. He loved it when she fought back. And if she sat complacently, he would beat her until she complied with his request. She was left with little choice. She must fight back, humiliating herself further at his request or just prolong it.
Her only repose was the few times that he would let her out to go wash herself. But this was done more for his benefit than hers. He would not desire her as much if she were stinky. Her only other comfort was that he did not pass around his trophy.
Once, when necessity dictated his presence with his subordinate, a lowly guard ventured into his chamber and attempted to have her for himself. Jason returned unexpectedly. Upon seeing another subordinate attempting to have his prized possession, he responded instantly and viciously. He yelled at the guard and produced a large Billy club, which he used to pummel the man violently. Despite the guards’ vehement protests, Jason did not stop but continued to beat the man, unrelenting in his ferocity and anger.
The man’s protests were cut off when he lost consciousness. Jason did not stop then. He continued to beat the man, until he heard a loud break like a tree trunk snapping. It was the man’s skull breaking.
Although the man tried to rape her, Adele felt sorry for him. Once Jason finished his beating, the man was nothing more than a bloody pulp. The cartilage inside his nose was disintegrated and the skin hung precariously around his face in a flattened shape. One eye looked gouged out and the other eye socket had been crushed, closing in on the deformed one.
The only thing keeping the eyeball from popping, was the severe swelling from the beating. His cheekbones had been shattered. Further caving sunk his face, as if some small arsenal imploded inside his head. In short, the man was no longer recognizable as a human. Adele whimpered softly at the savagery of it.
Two guards were called in to remove the guard from Jason’s chamber. He assured her that no one else would ever lay a hand on her. It was a small comfort for her. At least she knew what to expect from Jason. With someone else raping her, there was always an unknown variable. Would a new rapist do serious damage to her internally? Would he decide to kill her after it was done? Adele realized she very much wants to live.
Perhaps there is a chance she can escape from this nightmare - her and Sylvia. As she is contemplating her tactics, Jason walks into his chamber and looks at her, a salacious glean in his eyes. She returns his lascivious look with a contemptuous sneer and a vulgar gesture.
She picks up one of her shoes and throws it at him. He ducks from the blow and looks at her with shocked dismay. He looks ready to throttle her with a beating. She notices something else as well. His tight pantaloons cannot obscure the bulging cock that rises up. He wants her.
He jumps on her and begins to pummel her repeatedly. To increase his desires, she bucks and fights him off with all her might. Within a couple minutes of this ‘foreplay’, Jason roughly extracts her clothing and sticks his engorged cock inside her. He is so delirious with desire he is already pre-cumming when he enters her, much to her relief. She constantly bears the vaginal irritation of not being properly lubricated.
Her tactic pays off. After only being inside her for a couple of minutes, Jason is unable to hold himself off and he shoots his load into her. The whole episode, while violent, is mercifully over in less than five minutes. He rolls off her, spent for the time being. She decides that now is the time to reason with him. “I know how you like it, so I do. Permit me to see my kin and I will please you as much as you like. “
“You are in no position to make deals with the likes of me, wench. I’ll take as I see fit.”
“Ai. Am your prisoner, as you say, I am. But you need me to pacify the children, so you do. And I don’t have to fight you. I can just lay there, and let you take me. Let’s see how well your cock responds to a dead wench. It’s not much I ask for my compliance. Is it?”
Jason considers her offer. He ponders and looks away. He knows despite her demands and that she is close to overstepping her bounds, she is right. He needs her to pacify the children. Perhaps he could permit her some privileges in exchange for sexual satiety.
“Ai. I will allow you to see your kin. You must tend to the young ones when I say so. Failure to disobey me results in serious sanctions. Do I make myself clear, wench?” She nods. As he says this last statement, he grabs her face threateningly. He laughs and slaps her h
ard.
He dresses and goes to the tent door, looking at her longingly. She turns away from him in disgust, playing the part well of the rebellious wench who would retaliate against her rapist. Her revulsion she portrays, however, is no act. She loathes the man and would give anything to stick a hot poker in his eye socket.
“You will accompany me to dinner tonight, so I may show my men what they can never have. Afterwards you will accompany me here so I may have my way with you. If you behave and please me as you promised, I will let ye see your kin.” She looks back at him, a twinkle of hope in her eyes.
Jason ponders he would like to break her of all her hope and diminish her to a point of despair. But with that, she might succumb to catatonia and would do little to satisfy him sexually. It would satisfy his domineering spirit and the need to see people with lofty ambitions broken of their will. But such satisfaction would be short lived.
Jason ponders that democracy had given the pathetic masses a sense of self-esteem, self-righteousness and grandeur not in their abilities to live up to. Ordinary men who believed they knew what type of government was right for them and who should lead them. Absolutely preposterous and was ludicrous to him. That a commoner had the audacity to believe he was well informed enough to vote in elections and take part in government.
Only a noble few could hope to lead the masses in the right direction. Nobles with great purpose, high intelligence, and a righteousness handed down to them through a birth right. These noble few were the only ones worthy of leading. Jason was one of those who inherited this position. It was his right to rule and lead. After all, he was a direct descendant of Jesus Christ. The land of Gilleon was literally leading the pathetic masses to the hounds of hell. It was up to the truly noble like Jason to thwart their misguided direction.
His father was destined to be a King before him again by noble birthright. He should have been next in line to be King. To set an example for the Visi-Gauls, his grandfather sent his father to be a recruit in the Brotherhood. What should have been merely a pretense became a horrible injustice and insult to his family. After only a year and a half, his father was rejected from the Knights. His father never forgave the Knights their slight and so he passed his loathing of the Confederates down to Jason and rightly so. His father should have been King of Gilleon.
Instead he was relegated to being a King of the Visi-Gauls- by most accounts a great honor. But Jason would never forgive the slight his family suffered at the hands of the Brotherhood. He wished they would attack. He would give anything to see that pathetic Merlin on his knees, groveling before him, beseeching him for his life. He would demand from that wretch his subordination and oath of the rightful king; and if none were given, he would torture the pathetic, blind man to the point of death; and he would revel in it.
It was beyond all comprehension to Jason that such a pathetic, blind, ingratiatingly, accommodating man could rise to such an esteemed position in his. The rumor has it that the man was revered above King Menelaeus himself. Although the man was a member of the Brotherhood, at least he was born to noble birthright. He was not rejected by the Brotherhood as most with a noble birthright were. Merlin, on the other hand, had no noble birthright.
Chapter 17: Further Acts of Depravity
By sunset, Merlin and Shadow arrive back at base camp. Syrus and Savelle had overseen the laborious task of building close to seventy ballistas. Each ballista was retrofitted with fourteen channeled grooves where each deadly arrow would be placed. A crank was attached to each ballista to pull back the resilient amber wood bows. It would be impossible for any of the men to pull the weight required to pull back the amber wood bows so great was the tension.
Once they were positioned back with the aid of a crank, they would be ready to be released, as any bow; but with one important difference. They would have a striking range of several miles. To be completely obscured from the enemy, they would be positioned far enough away. And the projectile would need the precise coordinates of Merlin, who was well schooled in mathematics.
He uses physics and trigonometry to ascertain the exact location the ballistas would need to be positioned. The man was a gifted mathematician. He must be. If his calculations were off by a minuscule amount, close to a thousand arrows would be wasted.
Syrus and Savelle look in the direction of their fierce leader. From such a distance, they notice he is hopeful. Shadow possesses a limitless supply of energy as his tail wags incessantly. He barks as he jumps high in the air, performing flips as Merlin threw a large stick for him.
The rest of the group soon take notice of the positive energy. They wait in anticipation of their leader, their respective wolves enraptured with Merlin as well. After all, they were just as much a part of the festivities as anyone else. Merlin stops in the middle of his journey, pulling out a large parchment paper on top of a Braille stone he invented. The parchment paper is especially thick and resilient and unable to rip like regular cusp paper documents. After the message was written, it was sent via telegraph.
On the stone, hundreds of symbols represent different mathematical symbols, codes and equations. Merlin uses another tablet for verbal documents. Merlin looks around and sense the air. He put his hand on Shadow who anticipates his need to fully experience the world through his perceptions. Then, he makes several more calculations and writes them on his pad.
Merlin reaches the rest of the men. Shadow nuzzles the group with his large snout.
Syrus approaches Merlin. “Well? Our pantaloons are filled with ants. What have you for us?”
Merlin smiles at Syrus and hands him two pieces of parchment paper. He stares at it in befuddlement. Merlin walks off. Several others in the group snicker at Syrus’ confusion “You know it’s been a while since I learned trigonometry Merlin and I don’t read Braille.”
Merlin smiles. The rest of the group murmur to themselves, growing frustrated with his evasion. He maintains the suspense. Atticus is the first to voice the concerns of everyone in the group. “Merlin, what did you find out?”
“Jason is no imbecile. He has anticipated our arrival. Three Lude block towers stand sentry at the perimeter of the Eukrades River. The geography of the surroundings are conducive to surreptitious warfare. Jason has anticipated this. At least forty men have been stationed in this perimeter, ready to cut-off our assault.”
“And this is good news, Merlin?” asks Syrus, indignantly.
“It is Syrus, son of Bradbury. I would have been worried if Jason had not bothered with any security. That would indicate a trap, something I would not have expected from him. That maneuver employs smoke and mirrors is something I would only expect from a Knight. Jason is intelligent but he is not one of us.” Merlin says this last part with a bit of gloating pride bordering on arrogance.
As esteemed as the man was, he is also humble; but he is fiercely proud of his heritage and his inclusion in the Confederacy. It is something no one could ever take from him. He earned his place among them with blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice and a physical exertion that pushed him past his pre-conceived physical limits.
Merlin turns around towards the group, ready to delegate. He would now order them. “Syrus and Savelle,” says Merlin.
“Ai.” They respond in unison.
“We brought two sets of dog sleds on the oxenules, did we not?”
They nod. “Ai, Merlin.”
“Assemble the sleds and put the ballistas on them. Each sled should accommodate approximately ten ballistas, if you lay down the paltoon.” The paltoon was a large fibrous net that could stretch because it was reinforced with worm silk, a stretchy, yet strong and resilient material. The ballistas each had flexible wheels made of flyewood and tungsten, making them able to glide effortlessly over the rough terrain. Merlin thought of everything.
Merlin looks at Atticus, the other master mathematician in the group. “Atticus, son of Hammond?”
“Ai, Merlin?”
“After I calculate the position of the ballista
s, I will re-check my coordinates. And then you will triple check my coordinates. You ken?”
“Ai, Merlin.”
“Cotteroy.”
“Ai, Merlin?”
“You are now the master assembler.”
“Ai, Merlin.”
“Choose a partner and assemble the tug-a boom.”
“Domithicus!”
“Ai, Merlin?”
“I would have private word.”
“Ai.”
Merlin looks at the rest of the Brethren. “Germanicus, Jamison, choose two groups. One group will begin loading the ballistas. The other group will ready the wolves for the sled. When the coordinates are completed, I’ll configure the coordinates for the tug-a-boom. We work through the night. Each man sleeps three hours tonight. No more. No less. Deep, Rem sleep. When it is your turn to sleep, I’ll put you under through a trance. My Brothers, we attack at dawn. Prepare yourselves. Say a prayer to Christ. “
The group responds in unison. “Ai.” The wolves respond by yelping out a war cry of their own. It is an unusual sound, part snarl, yelp and howl.
(2)
Jason takes Adele to dinner that night as he promised, enjoying the feast laid before him. Copious amounts of wine, cheese, red-plumed oxenule slow-simmered in blood pudding are being feasted on by the gluttonous and brackish warriors make up Jason’s officer’s regime. Lowly enlistees cannot attend the events. Jason would not deign to associate with such lowly commoners. A general atmosphere of ebullience pervades the scene as the officers celebrate their victories. It had not dawned on them what little they had managed to accomplish. The eighty-five hundred invaded unprotected and unsuspecting lands with little in the way of constables to thwart such an attack.
The fact had not gone unnoticed by the King. He strategically positioned his force to gain advantageous leverage against the enemies who are withholding what is rightfully his. But his goals remain unfulfilled. And, to Jason’s reckoning, what right did the officers have for celebrating when it was his ingenious planning and foresight that would ultimately lead to their desired goals?
The Brotherhood of Merlin Page 9