by Pedro Urvi
“Poisoned knives!” Viggo warned his comrades.
“You traitor!” the Veteran Assassin Ranger cried. “You’re going to pay with your life for this!”
“I seriously doubt that,” Viggo said, full of confidence, dodging a slash and counterattacking.
“You’re a Natural Assassin like me. I didn’t know Orten had sent a hatchling with the same mission.”
Viggo winked at him. “This hatchling flies free, and he’s going to take your place.”
“Experience always counts in the end.”
“It’s time for new blood to renew the specialty,” Viggo said, and lunged to attack with lightning speed.
Egil unsheathed a knife and stepped back, while Arnold defended himself from the other Assassin with some skill. Unfortunately, in a confined space and in close combat there was no way he could defeat an Assassin of Nature. He tried to run him through with a couple of sword-strokes, but the assassin was too fast and dodged them.
“Don’t let him cut you!” Egil shouted to his brother in warning. “The poison will kill you!”
Arnold blocked a stroke, and as he dodged the second, he lost his balance and fell backwards. The assassin hurled himself on him. He had him now, and he was going to kill him.
A flash ran through Lasgol’s arms and bow: True Shot. The arrow hit the assassin in the heart, and he fell dead almost instantly.
Viggo meanwhile was fighting the other Assassin, exchanging attacks and defenses as if it were impossible for either of them to touch the other. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Lasgol had nocked his bow. He turned a somersault when the assassin attacked him.
“Get him,” he called to Lasgol as he moved back.
Lasgol called upon his True Shot again and released. The assassin moved like lightning. He would have been able to dodge a normal shot, but this one was a perfect, accurate one, and the arrow hit him in the heart. He died without understanding how it could be so.
“Everyone okay?” Viggo asked.
Egil nodded, and helped his brother to his feet while he checked him for cuts.
“Everything’s okay,” Arnold replied. He turned to Egil. “Friends of yours?”
“Very good friends. Lasgol and Viggo, from the Camp.”
“Oh, I recognize them, now. Everything happened so fast. I’ve no idea how you two got here,” Arnold said looking at them, “but I’m very grateful.”
“Nothing to be thankful for. We’re with Egil.”
“I’ll call my guard and we’ll strengthen security,” Arnold said leaving. “I don’t want any more surprises.”
Egil, Lasgol, and Viggo stood staring at the two corpses. Camu appeared beside them.
“Let’s look on the bright side,” Viggo said, smiling. “We’ve dealt with the assassins. There’s no danger.”
“Not exactly true,” came a voice behind them.
They spun round. Lasgol nocked his bow and Viggo drew his daggers. Egil took slightly longer to turn.
“Lower your weapons. You don’t need them,” said a figure dressed completely in black. It had appeared in the same passage Egil had come out of.
Lasgol recognized the voice and could hardly believe it. “Astrid! What are you doing here?”
Viggo pointed to the two dead assassins on the floor. “What d’you think she’s doing here? The same as me, the same as these two.”
“Correct,” Astrid said. She came up to them and pointed to the Assassin of Nature. “I was sent with this one. His name is Mortensen.”
Viggo nodded. “I see… rumor says he was extremely good. Then, the other one must be Hiltzason, from my specialty. Two of the best.”
“Not anymore,” Astrid said looking at the dead rangers.
Egil greeted her with a smile. “Hi, Astrid.”
“Hi, Egil. Nice passages you have in this castle.”
“I thought they were secret,” he replied with a half-smile.
“Not all of them,” Astrid said, and winked. “Hello, Camu,” she greeted the little creature, and Camu did his happy dance.
Viggo nodded. “It seems they sent two novices and two veterans.”
“That’s what it looks like. I didn’t know you were around here too.”
“I didn’t know about you either.”
“Odd, isn’t it, that the veterans are dead and the novices alive,” said Egil.
“Yes, very odd,” Astrid smiled.
“I don’t find it odd, or in the least amusing,” Lasgol said angrily. “You shouldn’t have chosen the Specialty of Assassin. I told you so at the Shelter!”
“We’re pretty good at it, eh, Astrid?”
She nodded. “We certainly are.”
Lasgol was furious. “You’re impossible!”
Viggo laughed.” I wouldn’t want to be any other way.”
Astrid smiled, then turned serious. “I haven’t come here just to say hi.”
Egil had the immediate feeling that something was up. “What, then?” he asked.
“Your brother, Arnold. He usually has a glass of hot wine before he goes to sleep.”
“Yes…”
“The wine’s poisoned.”
Egil turned and ran out of the hall.
“By the Ice Gods!” Lasgol cried.
She shrugged. “That’s why I couldn’t tell you anything. My mission was to kill Arnold.”
“You tried to kill Egil’s brother!”
“To be exact, Mortensen and Hiltzason tried to kill him, not me.”
“That makes you an accomplice!”
“Not if he doesn’t die,” she said nonchalantly.
“The brunette’s right,” Viggo said. He winked at Astrid.
“Impossible! You’re impossible!”
Very funny, came Camu’s message.
And you’re hopeless too! Lasgol messaged back. He was overwhelmed by the situation.
I good. I handsome.
“Argh!” Lasgol shouted in despair.
It was some time before Egil came back, and the group began to worry.
“Is he alive?” Lasgol asked eagerly when at last he returned.
Egil breathed out heavily. “Yes. Luckily he was talking to his guard about what happened and how to strengthen the watch system. He hadn’t yet gone to his chambers. We’ve destroyed his wines and the dinner they were going to send him. All food and drink will be tasted by a reliable tester.”
“Good idea,” Astrid said. “I don’t know what else he might have poisoned. Mortensen had been in here secretly for a couple of days. I didn’t manage to smuggle myself in with enough time to see what else he did.”
Viggo smiled. “Remind me never to be Tester to a nobleman. Bad profession, with a short life expectancy.”
“I’d like to thank you for telling me about it,” Egil said to Astrid.
“It was the right thing to do. It’s one thing to serve the realm and do one’s duty. It’s a very different thing to cause irreparable harm to a friend. I couldn’t do it.”
“Thank you, Astrid. My brother owes you his life. I’ll never forget it.”
“We’re friends. There’s nothing to be grateful for. And now my duty’s done and I have to go back and report to Thoran.”
“What are you going to tell him?” Lasgol asked.
“The truth.”
“The truth? No! He’ll hang you for it!”
“I’ll tell him that we got in secretly, we poisoned the wine, then the veterans saw an opportunity and tried to kill Arnold, but they failed and lost their lives.” She took out one of her daggers and with a swift movement cut herself, once in the arm and again at the level of her ribs.
“Astrid! What are you doing?”
“I’ll say I was wounded trying to help them, and I had to escape.”
“Wonderful alibi,” Viggo said.
Egil nodded. “Very cleverly thought-out.”
Lasgol was very worried. “Suppose he doesn’t believe you?”
“He’ll believe me becau
se he needs the wine to work. He has that hope.”
“And when he finds out it hasn’t?”
“He’ll blame it on the tester,” she said calmly.
Lasgol made a disbelieving noise. “I’m not so sure about that…”
“It’s a good story. Don’t worry, he’ll believe it. I’ll be convincing. Besides, I’m a novice. I’m allowed to fail.”
“That’s right. You’re not me,” Viggo said, and smiled from ear to ear.
Astrid smiled. “Good luck tomorrow. Be careful.” And before Lasgol could say another word, she had vanished into the passage.
“What a great night,” Viggo said. “We should do this more often.”
Egil laughed, and Lasgol rolled his eyes.
“Now come with me. I’ll say you’re my new bodyguards. Tonight, we’ll all sleep in my chambers. I don’t want any more surprises.”
With dawn, Thoran ordered the catapults to be moved forward until they were near enough to reach the Olafstone castle. At the same time, he sent what remained of the Thunder and Snow armies to protect the left flank. The Blizzard Army took the right flank, while the Invincibles of the Ice took their places in front of the catapults, daring the enemy to come out and destroy them. Thoran, Orten, Sven, Gatik, Count Volgren and the other nobles of the East went to stand behind the catapults with their guards, together with the Ice Mage.
When the siege weapons were launched at the castle, the great rocky projectiles flew over the outside wall and fell in a huge arc. The rocks struck the outer wall, two of the towers and a part of the battlements. The impacts were shattering. As the castle was full of soldiers, casualties were inevitable. The horns sounded the alarm throughout the castle and city. Several riders left through the ruined north gate to where the Zangrian army had taken up its position.
The catapults were launched again, and death by rock fell on the defenders, who fled to shelter. Splinters of rock flew in every direction, wounding or killing every soldier they reached. The wall and the towers were holding, but not the battlements, which were already beginning to show damage. The attack went on uninterruptedly all morning.
At last, at noon, seeing that Thoran was not going to attack the castle but instead, to damage it with the siege weapons and kill as many soldiers inside as he could, Arnold made the decision to take his men out. If they had to die, they would do so fighting in the open. A long line of Western soldiers, four abreast, went to the north gate to leave the city.
With Arnold at their head, they went to join the Zangrian forces, who were waiting to the north of the city, led by General Zorberg. Arnold and the General exchanged nods. With Arnold, were all his trusted dukes and counts. General Zorberg had fifty lancers with him as his personal guard.
At a signal from Arnold and Zorberg, the armies began to circle the city from the west. Immediately the catapults stopped their attack. Thoran gave the order to maneuver the troops ready to face the approaching armies, until both armies were facing one another five hundred paces apart. The Invincibles of the Ice took their place at the center of Thoran’s forces, with the Thunder and Snow soldiers on their left and the Blizzard Army on their right. The King, his nobles and the Ice Magi stayed behind. Their opponents were now in two very distinct groups: on the right Arnold’s forces, and on the left the Zangrians.
For a moment there was a tense quiet. It seemed as if even the breeze had stopped. Nothing could be heard, no birds in the nearby forests, only a sigh which foretold the deaths which were to come.
With a choleric bark, Thoran gave the order to attack.
The war horns rang out. The hosts of the East began to move at the steady pace which the officers had set, while the forces of the West stood their ground.
“Will your brother charge against the enemy?” Lasgol asked Egil.
They and Viggo were watching the battle unfold from the highest tower of the castle.
“No. I’ve told him he must always stay away from the front.”
“Shouldn’t he be leading his men in the attack?” Viggo asked. “It’s what would be expected.”
“If he does, he’ll probably die.”
“Because of the Invincibles?” Lasgol asked.
“No, my brother is as good as an Invincible with a sword, or better. They’re not the problem. It’s the Ice Magi and the Rangers. The Ice Magi can kill him at two hundred paces.”
“True…”
“And the Rangers at almost five hundred.”
“That sounds a lot to me,” Viggo commented.
“Don’t forget the Specialists, the Forest Snipers, the Infallible Marksmen and even the Mage Hunters. They could bring him down from a distance.”
Viggo’s face twisted. “True…”
“In fact, Gatik has placed Specialists in the forest to the west and on the wall,” Egil said.
“That wall?” Lasgol said in surprise.
“Yes. I’ve sent men to clear both sides. I don’t want an arrow to kill my brother, least of all a Ranger’s arrow.”
Lasgol nodded. He could understand that. “Molak will be at one of those spots,” he pointed out.
“I hope he can get away to safety,” Egil said sadly.
“Well,” said Viggo, “if he falls, I won’t shed a single tear for Captain Fantastic.”
“Don’t be like that,” Lasgol said.
Viggo shrugged. “I am like that.”
“Molak’s very smart and competent,” Lasgol said. “He’ll get away to safety.” It was more wishful thinking than genuine belief.
“I hope so too,” Egil said. He pointed to the wall, where at that same moment, a hundred soldiers were searching.
“Nothing gets past you, then, know-it-all?”
“I do what I can to help my brother, but I’m not infallible. There are a thousand things that could go wrong. A thousand situations could come up that I might not have been able to foresee.”
“I think you’ve foreseen them,” Lasgol said, “and you’ve helped your brother more than anybody could have imagined. I’m sure he’ll be very grateful to you.”
Egil smiled faintly and nodded.
Viggo pointed. “The confrontation begins.”
Arnold and General Zorberg gave the order to attack. The forces of the West and the Zangrian soldiers charged against the soldiers of the East. The clash occurred all along the front line of each side. The Invincibles were masters of swordsmanship, and the western and Zangrian soldiers soon found that out, to their horror. The Thunder and Snow soldiers fought with axe and shield. Strong, well-trained and well-disciplined fighters, they began to make a dent in the line of Western soldiers. The Zangrians were facing the Blizzard Army, the weakest of the Eastern forces. The Zangrian soldiers, carrying spears and metal shields, managed to penetrate the lines of the enemy, who were attacking with axes and wooden shields.
From the rear, the nobles and leaders of both sides shouted orders to their generals and officers. Suddenly a winter storm began to form above the front lines of the Western side. Eicewald and his three Ice Magi had moved forward and were beginning to attack. Bolts of ice and frost reached the Zangrian front line, freezing the soldiers alive. The officers, becoming aware of this, called the archers to release against the Magi behind the Eastern lines. The power of the spells of the Magi began to wreak havoc among both Western and Zangrian soldiers. Stakes of ice reared up from the ground between the soldiers, impaling them. The Ice Mage of the West now stepped forward and sent a colossal wave, twenty paces high by a hundred long, which fell on the enemy front lines and in the process froze everything it touched. Hundreds of soldiers were frozen by the wave of ice.
Suddenly Arnold put his hand to his neck. Dukes Erikson and Svensen, who were at his side to protect him, turned when they saw that he was in trouble. They asked him whether he had been wounded, but Arnold did not respond. He was holding his throat with both hands and seemed unable to breathe. He could not articulate a word, and was turning purple.
“Something�
�s wrong with your brother,” Lasgol said to Egil.
“What is it? Has he been wounded? Can you see with your Hawk’s Sight?”
“I’m using it. I can’t see any arrow on his body, or any wound that’s bleeding.”
“Well, what is it?”
“It seems…he’s having difficulty breathing.”
Egil’s face turned white.
The Dukes and Count Malason lowered Arnold from his horse and attempted to reanimate him, while his men surrounded him protectively. They took off his breastplate and blew air into his lungs, then massaged his heart. General Zorberg, realizing that something was wrong, came over to see what it was. After a moment, the Dukes decided to take him to the castle so that the surgeons could see him, and they left on horseback. General Zorberg followed them with his guard.
“They’re coming to the castle,” Lasgol warned his friends, and they hurried downstairs.
The Dukes and the Count carried Arnold to his chambers and called the surgeons. Then they took off his armor and laid him on a bed.
Egil and his two friends came into his rooms a moment before the surgeons, and Egil ran to his brother. “Arnold! Can’t you breathe?” he asked, with his heart in his throat.
Arnold could not speak. He was completely purple, and on his face was a look of horror.
“Hold on, brother! The surgeons are coming!”
“He’s not breathing,” Duke Erikson said.
“We don’t know what happened,” Duke Svensen said. “He doesn’t look wounded.”
“We tried to bring him round, but we couldn’t,” Count Malason added.
The faces of the nobles were deeply wary. The surgeons came into the room and saw to him. Arnold grasped Egil’s hand. His eyes were pleading, and there was fear on his face.
“They’ll save you,” said Egil reassuringly.
Lasgol was watching the scene in utter horror. Arnold was dying before their eyes. Life was seeping away from him, and the surgeons seemed unable to do anything to save him. Egil did not move from his brother’s side, but held his hand to the end.
“Brother!” he cried as he clung to Arnold’s body. Tears were soaking his dead brother’s chest.