Siege of Draestl

by Randall Seeley

  We often tried to study the Draebek. They were mysterious, religious, and formidable fighters. But they had secrets they kept to themselves. Only a few of us ever gained enough trust to learn of them. I fear that we didn’t learn enough. It’s one of my greatest regrets…

  Wayd took a deep breath as he heard Owen and the Wolves charge into the courtyard. Even from the protection of the stables, he could hear the clang of battle. It was loud enough it felt like they were there. Explosions. Cheers. Screams. He prayed that the Wolves would survive, and that they would be enough of a distraction to make this plan work.

  He sat on Quickening, and the mighty steed stepped back and forth anxiously. The steed could also sense something was coming. Something difficult.

  Hillup and his platoon sat on their horses, looking anxiously at Wayd and then at the battlements above. With every charge and scream, they winced nervously.

  A sudden explosion ignited in the sky and was followed by dozens of thunderous roars.

  “What in the name of the Creator?” Hillup exclaimed as he looked outside. “It’s the dragons! They’re dropping from the sky!”

  Wayd watched with astonishment as the sky crackled with a brilliant glow of fire as dragons erupted and fell to their deaths.

  “Malithan.” He grinned. “He really did have a plan to deal with them.”

  More explosions sounded and were followed by screams. This time they sounded like screams from men. Draebek or human, Wayd couldn’t tell. There was a massive thunderclap as something exploded or fell, followed be many more screams. I hope it’s Draebek screaming.

  It had felt like eternity since Owen and Gregor had left. And now he anxiously waited for the signal to begin his part of the plan. It wouldn’t come until Malithan was convinced the eastern Draebek forces were committed to following the Wolves. Wayd prayed it would happen soon. The remaining defenders didn’t have enough men to last very long.

  “It will happen soon,” Gauden said softly. Calmly. “Relax. Prepare for our own charge.”

  Wayd nodded at the big man. Gauden looked like a mess. He was still bleeding from his head—though he continued to refuse treatment—and blood was matted into his dark beard, making it look like it was greased back.

  Wayd was glad he was here. He had grown fond of Gauden from their time together, and was very grateful that Gauden had stayed with them over the past year. The guide could have left at any time and had refused several lucrative guiding commissions by staying. He explained he was on a break, but Wayd knew otherwise. Gauden had taken it upon himself to watch over and train Wayd and Owen. And he had.

  “It will,” Wayd responded. Then he turned to the skies. And as if his statement was prophetic, he saw fiery arrows fly into the air. It was time.

  He turned to his men, their eager eyes focused on him, and he nodded. “We move out quietly. Remember, we can’t gain any attention until we are closer to the eastern wall. If Thraegar discovers us before then, we could ruin the entire plan. We need to put distance between us and the castle for the misdirection to work.”

  His men nodded.

  “Then we go,” he instructed, and he kicked Quickening into a trot.

  The stallion whinnied softly as he started moving forward quietly.

  He looked to the sky as they headed out. Seeker Phillips was in the lead by his own insistence—not only because he was a Seeker, but also because he was a self-proclaimed formidable fighter. Wayd was surprised how arrogant the man was. He reminded him a little of Damon and Dothan Slith—the Templars who protected his parents and the king. It was a striking difference to the humility of Templar Arthron and Seeker Kalaia.

  Templar Yana rode by his side. She didn’t say much. Wayd had a hard time not underappreciating her because of her small size and quiet demeanor. But he reminded himself that he had seen her fight. She was deadly. Besides, he thought as he looked at Gauden, if Gauden trusts them, I trust them.

  He wondered how Gauden knew them, but Gauden seemed to know everyone in these parts. At the moment, the guide watched the sky, his eyes scanning for any sign of dragons. His finger kept playing with the giant black crossbow that sat across his lap, and there were dozens of bolts in reach.

  Wayd looked at the sky as well, and then back toward the gate they were heading toward. Their original plan was simple. To the eastern side of the castle was a rarely used exit that was currently barred shut. They would sneak out the side entrance, enter the streets of Old Draestl, and move as stealthily as possible to avoid detection.

  They quickly rode through an open area between the stables and the eastern inner wall of the castle. Wayd couldn’t help himself from looking up, and he felt relieved when he saw that the skies were clear of dragons. They weren’t detected.

  They reached the eastern wall of the castle and neared the gate. There were two guards already there. They were arguing.

  “What is wrong?” Hillup asked as his platoon arrived.

  Seeker Phillip started talking with the two guards. From his reaction, Wayd could tell something was off. Templar Yana joined in the conversation, and Wayd heard her swear loudly.

  Wayd felt nervousness grip him. What is happening?

  Gauden motioned for them to move forward, so Wayd did. As he neared the gate, he overheard the conversation that was happening.

  “What do you mean, it’s stuck?” Seeker Phillip asked, although it sounded more like a yell.

  “You try it,” the guard said in desperation. “There was a massive explosion not ten minutes ago, and ever since the gate is stuck. I can’t see on the other side of the gate, but I’m guessing that something crashed into it.”

  “It was a massive explosion,” the other guard agreed. “I don’t think anyone is getting through here.”

  Wayd looked at the gate. It appeared fine, but he watched as Seeker Phillip walked up to it and yanked on the chains. Even as they fell free, the gate wouldn’t open. He pushed against it with all his might. Hillup dismounted and joined him.

  The gate wouldn’t budge.

  “We aren’t getting through here,” Seeker Phillip declared a moment later. “Do we go to the south?”

  Wayd shook his head. “Malithan reported that the south is all but overrun. And he hasn’t been tracking that force’s movement. We need to head east.”

  “Well, the east isn’t an option,” Seeker Phillip stated angrily.

  “Not through this gate,” Wayd said. He tried to think. We need to move. He felt his anxiety building, unsure of where or what to do.

  Then he realized he could no longer hear the sound of battle. Or rather, hear the sound of battle this close. He looked out toward the main gate to the castle. Wayd realized it was open, and soldiers were being dragged through. They were gathering the injured!

  “The battle in the courtyard,” he said as he pointed toward the main gate.

  The company regarded the main gate, and Gauden let out a whistle. “Owen’s distraction really did work if the gate is open. Dear Creator!”

  Wayd couldn’t believe their luck.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “We still need to be careful. Who knows what is outside those walls.”

  The others agreed and they fell back in line. Seeker Phillip in the lead, followed by Hillup’s platoon, with Wayd, Gauden, and Templar Yana in the rear. They continued forward in silence. They approached the gate and put fingers to their lips as they moved by the soldiers who were helping the wounded. They made it through the portcullis and into the courtyard. Wayd was surprised at how silent it was. Dead bodies lay everywhere, discarded as if they were of little importance. He could see why the battle had ended. The northern wall was destroyed and its remains were scattered over dozens of bodies. He could only assume that even more were hidden underneath the debris.

  The loud explosion.

  Owen and the Wolves were nowhere in sight. That could only mean that they were rushing the western wall. The plan is working.

  “Let’s go,” Phillip said as he t
urned toward the eastern entrance to the courtyard.

  They followed him in silence.

  Phillip and Templar Yana approached the eastern entrance to the courtyard and Templar Yana raised a fist as Seeker Phillip disappeared around a corner up ahead. A moment later, Templar Yana beckoned them forward. Together they rode toward the eastern entrance and were out of the courtyard a moment later. This continued as they went around another building. But then Templar Yana raised a fist for them to stop.

  Wayd looked at her quizzically as she reiterated the command. They had already decided that Templar Yana and Seeker Phillip would be the lead scouts. Wayd’s small group needed the senses of the Order to ensure they didn’t walk into an ambush of dragons.

  “What is it?” Wayd whispered softly.

  Yana raised a finger to her lips to command silence, then turned her eyes to the sky. She pointed up. Then whispered softly, “Something is happening. I can feel it.”

  That statement did little to assure Wayd, and he felt his heart pounding as he looked up. They hadn’t gone very far, perhaps two or three streets away from the castle. From what he could tell, the dragons were still occupied with Owen. What does she feel?

  “Do you know what it is?” Hillup asked as he rode up to join them. Gauden was with them, too, though he stayed silent.

  “No,” Templar Yana answered softly. “It felt like dragons, but it was different. I feel them gathering to the west just as we planned, but something is…off. We will wait for Seeker Phillip to return and report on what is ahead. Until this unsettled feeling passes, we aren’t moving.”

  Wayd looked at Yana and then to his surroundings. They were in the middle of a street. He gestured toward the side, but Yana hissed sharply. “No movement until I give word,” she commanded.

  Wayd reluctantly nodded. Gauden seemed aligned with the Templar. Hillup looked for his lead, and so Wayd nodded again. “Tell the men—quietly—that we wait,” he instructed.

  A sudden explosion erupted next to him, and Wayd felt intense heat envelop him. There were screams followed immediately by eerie silence. The blow was so powerful that Wayd felt concussed in his head, and he wondered if he was still on his horse or lying on the ground. He felt Quickening’s steady—but heavy—breathing beneath his legs, and the motion calmed him back into reality.

  As reality returned, Wayd felt a wave of nausea. Then fear. Hillup was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that remained was the horseshoes of his mount. Everything else was incinerated.

  Reasoning came to him. A fireball. He could see the smoke smoldering from the pile of bodily remains. He could see the flames that had ignited pieces of debris on the ground. He realized that Quickening had saved him by sidestepping at the perfect moment. He could hear more screams. He turned around slowly. More fire bolts were raining down on them. His men were exploding with each blast.

  He heard screaming and turned to the side. Gauden was yelling and pointing up. Wayd started to look, but then Templar Yana rode in front of him. Wayd watched her curiously as she stood on top of her saddle, and then jumped toward him. What in the name of the Creator—

  A fire bolt came directly toward him. The heat of it approached so quickly, neither he nor Quickening could react. All they could do was watch. Giant, round, red, blue and white. He was watching blazing death approach.

  Then the fire hit Yana. She screamed as it crashed into her armor—but the bolt split in two, ricocheting harmlessly to the side of them all. Yana crashed to the ground, landing on one knee and a fist on the ground, while the other held her sword firm. She stood up and glared as the dragon swept overhead, turning for another pass.

  “We must move. Now!” she yelled.

  Wayd didn’t need any more encouraging. “We ride! Now! Go. Go. Go!”

  Yana mounted her horse, and then Wayd turned to charge. But stopped, as he saw Seeker Phillip running toward them madly. Obviously fleeing from something dangerous.

  “They’re coming!” he yelled frantically. As he saw them, his face grew more concerned. And as he looked to the sky, his face grew pale.

  Wayd looked up and saw the source of all the distraction. Dragons. And one he recognized.

  He locked eyes with Thraegar Thornclaw. The dwarf looked more disheveled. He was covered in debris. Perhaps even blood. But the intensity in his eyes could be seen even from this distance. And Thraegar Thornclaw was angry.

  “After them! It’s Waydsyn Scot! The Wolves were a distraction. Everyone! After them! After them!” Thraegar yelled. A horn sounded, and shortly after other dragons began to arrive.

  Thraegar was hysterical. And all Wayd could think of was that they were supposed to have put more distance between the castle before this occurred. They had barely made it past the courtyard. This plan has failed.

  He turned his attention back to his forces and saw Draebek following Seeker Phillip. They were surrounded. He had only one choice. Turning his horse back toward Seeker Phillip and the sea of Draebek following after him, Wayd raised his sword into the air and yelled “For the Wolves!” and charged.

  He was surprised that anyone followed him, but together they charged. He prayed he could crash through the forces in front of him before the dragons fired more fireballs on them. A bolt flew over his head and crashed into the charging Draebek. It made Wayd even more unsettled. Thraegar doesn’t even care about his own forces, he just cares that I am captured…or killed.

  But there was no other choice. They had to escape or they would surely die.

  Sudden screams sounded. But it was from above. Wayd looked up and saw dragons surrounded by an orange glow. The sky was on fire. Several ballista bolts flew into the air and then exploded, filling the sky with the same deadly fire. As it hit the dragons, they screamed in pain. Several fell from the sky, killing their riders in the process. Others rolled in pain as they tried to escape the deadly flames. Others seemed to grit their massive teeth and ride away.

  Wayd could see Thraegar’s dragon struggling with the fiery chaos. Even if the fire didn’t hit directly, it impacted the dragons. It was as if the air was infected. More ballista bolts fired, and it was the first time that Wayd realized they were still within the distance of the castle. Malithan.

  At first Wayd was frustrated with Malithan. The instruction was for Malithan and the battlement guards to begin retreat as soon as the second signal was fired. But there was no doubt that Malithan was still on the battlements.

  Then Wayd’s stomach knotted. Thraegar and the remaining dragons turned their attention toward the castle. Wayd could barely make the castle out from his vantage point, but what he could see was that there were only a few ballistae left. And he could only make out a few figures. They were practically decimated.

  Thraegar led his dragon straight toward the castle, and two other powerful dragons flew by his side. They closed the distance quickly, and Wayd saw the men above scrambling to reload the ballista. Wayd knew one of them was Malithan. Though he couldn’t make out the man’s features, he could tell from his body language. Standing tall. Rushing forward. Giving orders. Of course Malithan would still be there. Of course he wouldn’t abandon his post until he knew the plan was working.

  The dragons flew forward. A ballista bolt fired, but just as it left the ballista, fireballs from the dragons erupted into it. The force from the balls from all three dragons was enough to incinerate the bolt and blow up the ballista. Wayd saw men on the tower incinerated.

  “We must go!” Gauden yelled from the side.

  But Wayd was frozen in place. Malithan Hangdor was up there. Another of his mentors. Another of his friends. No. Not Malithan—

  Bolts from the dragons flew toward the battlements. At first they appeared to be too low and would miss the battlements, but then they crashed into the castle itself. The force of the fireballs exploded the stone in their path. The battlements began to crumble. Another round of fireballs blasted into the fortification. More dragons appeared, all of them focusing their breath in the same
place.

  A moment later, the battlements exploded in a mass of fiery blaze.

  “No!” Wayd yelled.

  “We must go!” Gauden yelled again. Wayd looked at him, angry. But then he saw that Gauden was bleeding more profusely. This time from his side. Wayd heard the commotion around him. The Draebek were completely surrounding them.

  “Malithan,” Wayd said softly.

  “I know!” Gauden yelled. “But we will die too unless we flee! Malithan sacrificed himself for us to escape. We must go. Now!”

  Wayd pried his eyes away from the castle, and saw Thraegar and the other dragons turning back toward them. No. We can’t waste Malithan’s sacrifice.

  He turned toward the approaching Draebek. He saw them surrounding the fighters. His fighters. Half of his men were dead. Templar Yana was surrounded by several Draebek, keeping them at bay by fighting like a force of reckoning. Seeker Phillip’s white robes were stained red, but he swirled his staff like a staff of death.

  They were surrounded. The entire force was. No. A rage filled him like he had never felt before. It was overpowering, forming from deep within. It felt like fire, and it coursed through him, filling every inch of his being. It invigorated him. He felt his senses enhance. He felt his mind focus. He saw what needed to be done.

  “Forces of Thraegar!” he yelled. He was astonished with how powerful his voice was. Rage continued to fill him. It was strange because it overwhelmed his mind and tried to take over. He tried to keep it at bay, so he thought of Malithan. He thought of Alaina. He thought of Owen, who was most likely surrounded at this very moment, or perhaps even dead. He saw Gauden, the big man trying—and barely managing—to stay upright on his horse. He fired bolt after bolt, but his accuracy was waning. We are about to lose. About to die.

  “Forces of Thraegar!” he yelled again, his voice even louder. What was strange is he could feel things now. Could feel the battle in front of him. Could sense Yana’s strain. Could feel Seeker Phillip’s effort. Could see and feel the dragons through his senses. What is happening? He didn’t care. All he knew is that he needed to stop this.