Dryw Henge

by Jonathan Forth

  They had removed the heraldic banners from the castle. All but those of the King himself.

  “Perhaps we should start by saying hello,” said Dorf.

  They had a flag for each letter of the alphabet. It was coded and the combination of flags and their message could be changed simply by adding the coded symbols. The codes, of which there were ten, were square in shape; then the letters and numbers were triangular in form. Hence the chart, ten columns by thirty-six symbols. Not that it would be likely that the codes would be broken or discovered. They were kept under lock and key at all times and only the head of the castle guard or the commander of a marching army had access.

  Dorf had a steward prepare the flags and a scribe to prepare the messages. Keilif stood next to him. They raised the flags and waited while Windstrom deciphered the contents and responded.

  “Square, sword, star, horse, falcon…”

  “How doing?” said the scribe.

  “Reply ‘gate down, barbican hold 2 days’.”

  Again Dorf repeated the symbols.

  “Advance?” said the steward.

  “Let’s tell them to ‘wait for Aquamuran arrival’.”

  They waited. “No sign?” said the steward.

  “No sign,” said Dorf. “Keep them posted.”

  He turned to look from the other side of the tower then strode across the battlements and looked out through his scope, careful not to lean beyond the merlons. He scanned the horizon but could not see anything yet.

  *

  Leo, Fayette and Aksel cantered into the Windstrom camp. Their faces were covered with scarves to protect from insects and dust. The guard met them as they walked their horses and the Princess removed her scarf so that she would be recognised. They were hot, grimy, hungry and thirsty but had made good time.

  The Queen rushed from her quarters to meet her daughter. They embraced each other, clearly delighted to see one another. The Queen swept her matted hair from her face. Then her expression dimmed to a frown.

  “Your father,” she choked. “He may have fallen.”

  “No,” said the Princess. “I have seen him. Through the crystal.

  “Vane has him but he is alive. Though as well as can be expected, he was chained to a wooden pillar on the ground in front of Ampheus, forced to watch the siege.”

  Her mother gasped. “But nevertheless, if your father survives then that is wonderful news. In your father and all he represents, hope survives.”

  “Would you like to see him?” asked Leo. “We can try.”

  She looked at the boy that had been brought to the castle not so long ago, but now seemed to have turned into a young man.

  She bit her lip, “Thank you, but no. I will see my husband after the battle.”

  She looked at Aksel. “I remember you.” He forced a smile.

  “I met Raisa.” She saw the relief sweep across Aksel’s face.

  “She, Ailin and Halle travelled east of the Great Wood to find you. They then took to Celestina believing you would head there.

  “Perhaps the future of the Janshai will be in both your hands.

  “Now get yourselves tidied up and have something to eat. It should get interesting here over the next couple of days.”

  Commander Favian joined them. “Milady, every time I see you, you seem to be surrounded by waifs and strays.”

  “This is my daughter, Commander.”

  “Oh,” he apologised and looked at the dirty wretch that stood in front of him. He compared her to her stately mother and wondered how they could be of the same family. “Errmm, well pardon me Princess,” and bowed.

  “Don’t worry commander,” teased Fayette, “I clean up just fine.” And as if reading his mind added, “Though I have more of my father in me.” The commander blushed.

  “Well anyway. We’ve made contact with Ampheus. No sign of the Aquamurans as yet. But the Horde has breached the main gate and it will take a day or two for the sappers to clear the barbican. Then Aquamurans or not, we’ll have to go in and reinforce the castle. We’ll just be heavily outnumbered.”

  “Can you get me in close to Vane?” asked Leo. “I just may be able to stop him.”

  “And who may I ask are you?” said the commander incredulously.

  “I am Leo. I am perhaps your only hope.”

  Chapter 24

  The Sappers

  The sappers worked alongside each other, supported by two men who held a shield above them. The shield protected them from the barbican above. Arrows fired down at them and pikes constantly thrust upon them. The Horde responded with arrows and pikes of their own, trying to keep the enemy at bay.

  It was as miserable as could be. The sappers themselves scrabbled at the dirt and the rocks with blades, loosening them and leveraging them free. They then pushed them behind and started on the next one. It was a dark confined space full of acrid smoke that made them choke, and their eyes and nostrils burn.

  They wore thick leather to protect them from the pitch that was poured on them. Their mouths were wrapped with linen soaked in water to help filter the smoke. Embers from the fires above would come tumbling through the gaps in the barbican, burning their hair and skin if they could not avoid them. Then they’d need to scrape and kick them away so they did not burn through their clothes and shoes.

  They’d been digging for two days now and made about thirty feet. They perhaps had the same distance to go again. They rotated in ten-minute intervals. It was about all a man’s body could bear before they struggled to breathe or were weakened or faint from the heat and the dehydration. They would stagger back to the entrance of the castle gate and sprint to the wooded barricade constructed about fifty feet up the hill.

  For the first few yards they had to dodge murder holes from the gate towers corbelling above. Then the next twenty yards or so rocks would pelt down at them and smash on the shields above their heads. They staggered and slipped on the wet rocks and debris used to fill the lake.

  Fingers were broken and snapped. Then they faced a barrage of arrows. They crouched down but still their legs were exposed. Arrows sunk into ankles and calves. Most sappers now limped and had heavily bandaged legs. Some resorted to strapping tree bark around their legs to give them some protection. The sappers’ unit had suffered so many casualties that they were now reinforced by the infantry.

  Balian threw himself behind the barrier and ripped off his thick leather outer garments, checking for any embers that may still be clinging to the hide, burning holes. He gasped from the exertion but enjoyed the momentary relief in the cool air, though even here the smoke was acrid and pungent. He stepped to the wooden barrel, his face was black with soot apart from his mouth. He dunked his head in the water and held himself under enjoying the dulling of the sounds of battle around him.

  “Hey we are drinking that water,” someone shouted.

  He ignored them but picked up a ladle and drank heavily, the warm liquid easing the parched scratchiness of his throat.

  “A hell of a way to earn a living!”

  He ducked involuntarily as another rock from a trebuchet pounded the battlements of the castle. The battlements once proud were now tumbling from the constant bombardment. Sections had been rendered to rubble. Many of the solid upright merlons had been pounded and destroyed, or cleaved where the narrow arrow slits undermined the solidity of the structure. The wooden shutters that would normally provide some cover now left twisted and dangling uselessly from the battlements.

  They were still above the lake and too high to scale, but it undermined the defences. Terramian archers and guards were now more exposed. Bodies now bobbed in the lake, turning the water red and slowly bloating. Clouds of flies would burst from corpses as rats scuttled from one to another, oblivious to the fighting going on around them. If you looked closely you could already see maggots wriggling in the eyes a
nd mouths of the carcasses that floated upwards to the surface.

  Balian glanced at the King of Terramis chained perhaps forty feet to their left. His hair fell bedraggled, covering his face. But he stood there, his hands by his side. His back was straight, his head held high as if willing his whole consciousness on Ampheus to force it and its occupants to stand firm and repulse the attack.

  The assault had started in earnest three days earlier. The battering ram was initially pulled by elifants into place at the top of the slight slope to the castle lake. Then it was slowly lowered to the edge of the water by tens of soldiers letting out thick bands of coarse rope that ripped at their palms. Every fifty yards or so the rope was spliced together to give more length.

  The battering ram was huge and weighed many tonnes. It inched and creaked its way into place. Runners placed sheets of wood under the front wheels to stop them sinking into the mud that was soft from the rains. Those that did not crack and shatter were reused and brought up front again from the back. Others left splintered where they lay and were replaced by new planks.

  The ram was perhaps the full length of a sturdy oak: a hundred foot long and three feet thick and suspended in a swing. The men swayed with the ropes in tune with a chant, swinging their bodies from side to side.

  The head of the ram was reinforced with iron and narrowed into a sharp point, with ridges circling around the head like the teeth of a drill. All the way down the length it was strengthened with bands of metal to stop it splitting or splintering. A roof provided some cover to protect those operating it. It had been soaked with water overnight, and wet hides covered it providing further protection, but fire arrows still found their target and burnt into its surface, until the operators doused the flames with water. By the time it reached the edge of the lake it already looked like a pincushion of arrows.

  At its rear, unusually, it had two large flat surfaces vertically attached to the frame. It soon became apparent as to their purpose as the two elifants were led by their handlers to the edge of the lake. The elifants lowered their heads to the frame and heaved forward, inching the battering ram onto the dam across towards the castle gate.

  Dorf looked out of the gate tower. “Keilif, bowmen bring down those beasts.”

  The Gamurans were firing volleys from the hill that arched over the battlements and the trebuchet doubled their frequency of pounding the castle. So, the Ampheans had to continually take cover. The elifants were covered in thick iron plates that protected them from the front. They leaned into the ram, pushing it forward.

  “Spears,” he shouted. But any that struck glanced off the armour of the elifants and fell uselessly to the sides only to be picked up by the Horde and pitched back. The elifants stumbled and slipped on the wet dam at times, but for big animals they were pretty sure-footed and quickly regained their balance.

  “They are not going to be close enough to use the pitch or the boulders. I can’t see any way of bringing them down.”

  He cursed again, “Where is Sumnar when we need him? Just keep doing what you are doing.”

  Finally one of the spears sliced between two of the protective plates of the elifant and embedded into the rear thigh of the beast. It roared with pain and lifted itself onto its hind legs wrenching control from its handler. The injured leg gave way underneath the strain and it staggered backwards and lost its footing teetering and pitching into the water. The bowmen fired into its soft belly as it floundered in the lake and could not right itself. It slowly ceased struggling, floating dead in the water.

  A cheer went up from the battlements of Ampheus. Then from the hill another elifant was led to the lake. It glanced briefly at the floating mass of its kin. Then put its head down and started pushing.

  It took an hour to get it in place. The operators hammered in blocks to stop the wheels from moving. Then they took the ropes that had lowered the frame down the hill and reattached them to the back of the ram itself. Once more then the Horde dug their heels into the ground, started a chant and pulled back on the rope. At the order they released as one sending the full force of the oak against the main gate.

  The blow reverberated around the towers down to Ampheus’s very foundations. At the rear end of the barbican the rocks blocking the entrance shuddered and shook.

  The head of the ram pummelled and chewed at the solid oak door. It blistered, bent and splintered under the force. The men handling the ropes changed their angle on the slope, slightly changing the line of the sling. The iron head hit and weakened different parts of the door. With the use of pulleys and winches, the operators were also able to guide the height of the strikes of the ram as they sheltered under the roof. The Terramians dropped boulders and shattered sections of the roof but the frame of the ram remained largely intact and continued to pound the main gate.

  Eventually the door was breeched. Soldiers dashed forward with axes to further break down the gate. Grappling hooks were also used to prise cracked wood from the doors and rip it away. Many of the Horde were brought down by arrows from the murder holes from the towers corbelling above. But there was always a next man willing to risk his life.

  *

  Two days ago they sent in the sappers to unblock the barbican.

  Vane rested in the pavilion. He could not help but feel that the sands of time were flowing against him. That Gorath’s weak frame was slowly failing him.

  He cursed Saturnus. That meddling druid. If it were not for him he’d be strong and invigorated. A new man, or well, boy anyway.

  He stepped out of the tent and looked down on Ampheus. The great castle was crumbling around the edges. His sappers were gaining ground through the barbican; another couple of days and his troops would once more be inside. And this time there would be no mistakes. Once they were in they would wreak havoc. Once Ampheus fell the rest of the Four Realms would quickly follow. He was sure of that.

  The Black Wizard approached him, his cloak flapping round him in the breeze. “This is taking too long. The Aquamurans will be here soon and then we’ll have to face both armies. They will surely coordinate and attack with the Windstrom.”

  “There was no avoiding it really. Time has a way to speed up and slow down in order to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion. It’s inevitable that we’ll all be standing here at the same time. The sappers appear to be going slowly. The forces of our enemy arriving at the eleventh hour. It’s the way it should be. Destiny. It surely gets the pulse racing.”

  “In that case why have me raise Celestina?” asked the Wizard.

  “Well that was in fact tactical. There was no better a time to sack it without her armies based there. We can reinforce the men in Celestina after we take Ampheus.”

  “I could have taken this castle weeks ago,” urged the Wizard. “Walked straight in, blown the doors off the gates. Struck down their men.”

  “Really? Don’t be so sure. The Terramians have their own wizard who may be a match for you. As your brother showed, we can’t just rely on magic alone. It has its place but for every force, chances are there is an opposing one. No, we must be coordinated, it’s the only way.”

  “My brother! Be careful when you talk about my brother. He devoted his life to the cause and if it were not for that Southerner he would have succeeded. And as for Armanar I will seek retribution for what he did.”

  “You may have your revenge. But not yet, patience, patience.”

  The Black Wizard strode down the hill and stared at Ampheus. His anger built up inside him and he pulled back his arm and threw a searing fireball at the castle gate tower. As the fireball approached it was deflected upwards and into the sky.

  Sumnar steadied his staff and looked down at the man in black. He drew his staff back and sent a burst of flame fizzing at the figure. The Black Wizard had to throw himself sideways to avoid the bolt. He picked himself up and cursed, looking at the mud on his cloak and britches. He looked
up to the tower and the silhouette of the man standing there, staff in hand. The man who defeated his brother. He turned and raised his hand and clenched his fist. King Armanar grabbed at his throat as it tightened and he struggled for breath.

  Sumnar watched and shook his head. He raised his staff and pointed it at the Black Wizard and the wizard’s middle finger bent backwards and snapped. He wailed in agony releasing the King and stumbling back up the hill cradling his hand against his stomach.

  Prince Aron looked down. “Can we do anything more?”

  “I can try,” said Sumnar and mumbled under his breath.

  “It should provide some protection around the King or at least give me some notice if he is threatened again.”

  “So this is it. All the pieces are in place. I’m not sure what can tip the balance in our favour. We need Windstrom and Aquamura to come to our aid.”

  “Indeed. There is still no sign of the Aquamuran force. If they do arrive they will be tired. They have been marching for weeks. We can’t expect them to step straight into the fray.”

  “They will have to. Otherwise our only hope is the Windstrom. If we lose Ampheus there may be no way to overcome Vane.”

  “What about the boy Leo?” asked Aron.

  “Who knows, but I can’t help but think he is a pawn rather than the answer to our prayers,” admitted Sumnar.

  *

  The Windstrom Army massed by the side of the forest. The banner had been raised from the tower of Ampheus to commence the assault. Time had run out. Once the banner was raised the Windstrom would count down an hour and begin the charge. Two thousand knights massed five deep by the woods. The chargers huffed and whinnied eager to get into the fray. The cavalry resplendent in their gold plumes and white uniforms.

  Along the formations were the colours of the regimental flags fluttering in the breeze. They held spears in their hands ready to plunge into any Horde that stood to meet them. It was not the optimal approach to attack through the woods as it would break up the lines and limit the chargers’ speed. But at the same time it would protect the cavalry from the Gamuran archers. The first point of engagement would likely be when they burst out of the trees into the light to meet the Horde’s defences.