Sisera's Gift (Dragonblood Sagas Book 2)

by Robyn Wideman

  “The tower is not so easily taken. It stood through many a war before it was abandoned to build a bigger castle,” said Camdyn.

  “They have heavy catapults. King Ramsey learned how to use siege weapons during his foreign campaigns. They will cause us difficulties,” said Jaime. “They have great range and will easily destroy our gates.”

  “No,” said Isabella. “I will take the catapults out.”

  “That would be a big help,” said Jaime. “Without catapults, they will push a battering ram up the hill. Or at least they will try. Kai had an idea about how to stop that. We will trench in front of the gates. Put reeds over the hole with a small covering of dirt to hide the trap. The ram goes over the reeds, and they break. The ram falls into the hole. It should work pretty well.”

  “There is still the problem of numbers. Even if we take out all their siege weapons, they will still eventually be able to take out the gates with archers and burning arrows,” said Camdyn.

  “Perhaps using Sisera would scare them off,” suggested Oshri. “A dragon is a frightful sight when on the warpath.”

  “Maybe to scare them, but I do not want Sisera fighting unless absolutely necessary. If undermines everything I'm trying to accomplish. I’ll hear no more about Sisera fighting. Now, how long do we have?”

  “Judging by Sisera’s report I’d say three days tops until they are in the valley, possibly four days until they attack.”

  “Prepare the traps, send riders to Mirefield, warning them to stay away. Thank you everyone. I would like to be alone now,” said Isabella.

  The war council members nodded and left. All except Raven.

  “Isabella,” said Raven softly. “You know what must happen. King Ramsey will not stop and retreat at the sight of Sisera. He will keep attacking until he takes the tower. He will keep attacking until he takes you. You are the prize he seeks.”

  “I know,” said Isabella. “I’m still going to try and end this with little bloodshed. Perhaps destroying his siege weapons and seeing Sisera will be enough to send them back to Kosal.” Even as Isabella spoke the words she knew that they were hollow and full of false hope. War was coming to Mara and the Ramsey’s were not going to give up, not when her marriage would give them all of Northern Seron. Isabella knew blood was going to be shed, and soon.

  43

  “I don’t like the look of this,” said Prince Ramsey to his father. They had marched the armies south uncontested all the way into the valley of the ruins of Mara. From there they had an unobstructed view of the Tower of Kings, the new home of Isabella, his desired prize.

  “What are you rambling on about? We will take this sorry excuse for a castle in a day. Those gates are no match for our catapults.”

  “The walls look thick and sturdy. The tower itself looks like it would withstand any catapult attacks. They have the advantage of higher ground; their archers will pick away at us as we approach the tower. The tower is also tucked back into the mountain so we can only use a frontal attack. We can’t even spread out their defenses. Also, the ground close to the wall looks freshly worked. I suspect it was done to make it even more difficult to get our battering rams up the hill. They are ready for us.”

  “Don’t be a fool. We outnumber them by over a hundred to one. Even if they do pick off a few men on the way up the hill, there is no way for them to stop us. Once their gate falls, the tower falls. I don’t care how many men it takes. That child is the key to ruling Seron. We must take her if you are to rule the isle.”

  “I understand that, Father, but I am telling you I don’t like this. What if they do have a dragon?”

  “Men hunted and killed dragons before, if need be we can do it again,” said King Ramsey.

  Eric shook his head, his father was insistent that his catapults and siege weapons would destroy any castle or city put in their path. He refused to accept that defeat was possible. Eric wanted power, could taste how close he was to gaining it, but his senses told him this was all wrong. They should have seen signs of enemy movement. To this point they’d encountered no scouts, no hasty sign of retreat into the tower. Being outnumbered by such a vast amount, Eric had assumed the Dragon’s Tail Brigade would flee further south, but all signs indicated they were hold up with the princess in the tower, waiting. Why would they wait and not flee? What did they know that he didn’t? Eric wanted to wait, but his father was impatiently pushing for an attack.

  King Ramsey turned to his captains. Unload the catapults and have them setup. Have scouts climb the sides of the mountain, see if they can get a better look pass the wall. Have our foot soldiers made ready. When we attack, we march in a shield wall formation until the catapults are within range. If the catapults destroy the gates, the knights lead us in. If the gates aren’t cleared, we move the battering ram up the hill.

  King Ramsey grabbed Eric by the shoulder. “After this the Ramsey name will be feared all over Seron.”

  Prince Eric doubted that it would be that easy, but with victory so close to their grasps he couldn’t help but smile at his father. “May the gods give us a glorious victory.”

  44

  FROM THE BALCONY AT THE TOP of the Tower of Kings, Isabella sat with Sisera, watching the enemy as they advanced towards the gates. Isabella had never seen so many soldiers on the battle field before. Even the armies of Prozia couldn’t compare to the armies of Kosal. It was an intimidating sight, seeing the rows and rows of shields lined up.

  “If we are to destroy the catapults before they can fire on the gates we must do it soon,” said Sisera.

  It was nothing Isabella didn’t already know, she was waiting, hoping for divine intervention, but none was coming. She’d have to end the threat to the tower, and her people, herself. Isabella looked at Sisera. She had her saddle on and was ready to fly. Jaime had finished modifying the saddle and it now sat snuggly around the dragon. Isabella climbed Sisera’s back and settled into the saddle, the new buckles made tying herself in much easier. “Let’s go,” said Isabella. The details of the attack on the catapults had been planned ever since Jaime and Camdyn had explained how dangerous the siege weapons were. Isabella and Sisera had spent the days before the arrival of the army practicing against the side of the mountain. Her accuracy and distance was much improved, not to the point where she was satisfied, but they had no more time for practice. Now they had to do it for real. Sisera knew the distance at which Isabella was no longer accurate, so she’d fly them a little closer and let Isabella fire. The question was would Isabella’s range be greater or less than the archers of King Ramsey?

  Sisera sensing Isabella’s thoughts, tried to calm her. “I doubt they will be able to hit us, even if they do it is not likely to harm either of us.”

  Isabella wanted to be as confident as Sisera, but despite their thick skin, dragons were not invincible. They both would be in danger while Isabella fired on the catapults. As Sisera launched from the balcony, Isabella focused on the catapults. There were six of them stretched out across the valley aimed at the tower. Men were loading them with heavy rocks the size of a man curled up.

  Sisera climbed higher and higher until they were well above the range of any of the enemy archers. She then started to fly closer to the catapults, dropping down as she flew closer. Isabella took aim at the first catapult, she punched the air, launching her fireball down at the siege weapon. It struck its target, and exploded into flames, covering the catapult. Isabella could see men scrabbling to get away from the fire. Isabella turned her attention to the next catapult, as she went to launch a fireball an arrow whizzed by her head. It seemed they were now well within reach of some of King Ramsey’s archers. Isabella quickly fired at the next catapult.

  When Isabella was firing at the fourth catapult, the fifth and sixth ones released their rocks, the giant projectiles went hurling towards the gates. One of the rocks landed slightly short and to the right, bouncing into ground and then rolling harmlessly into the wall. The other rock though, struck the gates dead on. A
loud crack could be heard.

  As Sisera dodged arrows, Isabella destroyed the last two catapults before they could launch again. When the last catapult was hit, Sisera soared towards the tower, fleeing the arrows of King Ramsey’s archers.

  While they flew, Isabella could sense Sisera was in pain. Her attempts to dodge all of the archer’s arrows had not been successful. When they landed back on the balcony, Isabella quickly dismounted so she could check Sisera for wounds. “Are you okay?”

  “It will be fine,” said Sisera, “just a few scratches.”

  Isabella examined Sisera’s belly. It was more than a few scratches. Six arrows had penetrated her tough hide, and from the looks of it, many more had bounced off her. “You lying goat with wings, you are not just scratched.”

  “Hey, that was not nice. I’m no goat!”

  “Fine, you are no goat. Now tell me how to fix you up.” Isabella eyed the arrows nervously.

  “Just pull them out, they aren’t that deep.”

  Isabella pulled out the arrows. She wasn’t sure what Sisera considered deep, but from the amount of blood it seemed her dragon friend was not being honest again. “Will you be okay?”

  “Yes, I did tell you one of my magic powers was regeneration right? Well, if I go have a nice long nap right now, I will be fine by morning. I promise.”

  Isabella undid the buckles and pulled the saddle off of Sisera, she then gave the dragon a hug. “You did wonderful, Sisera. You danced and sailed through the sky.”

  “You were pretty decent yourself, Isabella. I think you only missed two times.”

  “It helps when your target is the size of a small house,” said Isabella, trying to be modest. But secretly she was very pleased by her aim. She’d destroyed all of the catapults. “I’m going down to see Raven and Jaime on the wall. You have your nap, Sisera.”

  …

  “How’s Sisera? I saw she took a few arrows,” asked Raven as Isabella approached her and Jaime.

  “Wounded, but she says her regeneration magic will have her healed by morning.”

  “I shall have to thank her later. That one rock almost destroyed our gates. If it weren’t for you and Sisera, the gates and our walls would likely be rubble by now,” said Jaime.

  “Do you think they’ll leave now?” asked Isabella with hope in her voice.

  “Hardly, they are already marching their shield line forward. If you think King Ramsey is likely to retreat from the battlefield, you are sorely mistaken, I’m afraid,” said Jaime. “Even the sight of Sisera won’t deter them. Although I bet there are more than one or two of them that will have soiled pants after watching you fly out on her back and destroy the catapults.”

  Isabella wasn’t ready to celebrate her destruction of the catapults. It had been vital to stop the catapults, but the one rock that had found its mark had weakened the gates. If the armies of Kosal got through the gates, they’d be fighting at close quarters with an enemy who vastly outnumbered them. “Have we any way of reinforcing the gates?”

  “Yes, I’ve had men preparing that since the rock struck the gates. We’re wedging thick poles against the gates. It will help, but eventually the gates will fall. It will cost them dearly, our archers are the best and have the advantage of height, but you should be prepared for the eventuality that the gates will be destroyed. Likely by fire as I think our plan for the battering ram will work.”

  “What can we do?” asked Isabella.

  “I think you know what needs to be done. I know you want to avoid killing men, but that is beyond your control. This is war. One that the Ramsey’s have chosen. They will keep coming until we are all dead and you belong to them. You can save the lives of every man in this tower, but it will cost the lives of many enemies. We can try and win this battle without using more of your magic, but the odds are against it.”

  Isabella looked over the edge of the wall. The rows and rows of soldiers, with their shields locked together forming a protective barrier for their archers, were climbing the hill and were within firing range for the Daxrah archers. Arrows struck shields, occasioning finding a soldier. But as a soldier dropped, another took his place and the formation continued to make its way up the hill. “When the gates fall, will they send in the foot soldiers or the knights first?”

  “As soon as they can clear the gates, they will send in the knights. The knights would be used to push back our forces, then the foot soldiers would come in behind them. I don’t know if it is the wisest battle strategy, but it’s the one the Ramseys' favor. I expect they will do exactly that.”

  “Tell your men to converse their arrows. Don’t take any risks. Pull the majority of your archers back into the tower. Don’t use the poles to block the door. Make a barricade that can be dropped from the wall down behind the knights, trapping them inside the wall.”

  Jaime grinned. “It would be a shooting gallery. It might not win us this battle, but it will take care of his knights. As long as the barricade holds the foot soldiers and archers behind the wall for a few minutes.” Jaime quickly moved to organize the men for the new plan.

  Isabella hadn’t mentioned it to Jaime, but she had a plan for how to deal with the foot soldiers and archers while the Daxrah cut down the knights. She didn’t know how effective it would be, nor did she know what it would cost her to do it.

  “It’ll be okay,” said Raven.

  Isabella had forgotten Raven was there, she’d been so engrossed in discussing the attack with Jaime and then her own thoughts, she’d forgotten her protector was there.

  “I can see in your eyes that you’ve made your decision. Don’t beat yourself up over it. What you’re doing is saving the lives of the people who have sworn themselves to you. It is what leadership is, taking the biggest burden upon yourself.”

  Isabella said nothing. It was obvious that Raven had figured out her plan. Isabella took another peek over the wall. The soldiers were not to the gates and were making a hole so the heavy battering ram could be brought to the gates. The battering ram, a hug log suspended by short chain on a converted wagon, inched closer to the gates, but then as they crossed over the booby-trapped ground, the bamboo started to break under the heavy weight of the battering ram. The ground below the battering ram collapsed and the converted wagon crashed into the hole. The front of the log tipped down striking the bottom of the hole while the back end of the log was jammed down against the ground. The battering ram was now useless. But as Jaime had predicted Isabella could hear a commander calling for oiled arrows. They were going to burn the gates.

  It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if the battering ram had worked, but this way, with the enemy archers using oiled arrows to burn the gates, it gave them time to get the majority of the Daxrah into position in the tower. Isabella turned her gaze down to the gates. Jaime was hastily instructing men to lash the big poles together. Once the poles were lashed together they’d be tied above the gates. “Raven, when all the knights are in the yard, you cut the rope and drop the poles.”

  Raven nodded, it looked like she’d been expecting Isabella to ask her to do that.

  “Where is Oshri Cheni?” asked Isabella.

  “In the tower helping Adina make healing salves and bandages.”

  Isabella’s brow furrowed, she wanted to speak to Oshri before the gates fell. Was there time?

  Again, Raven seemed to know what she was thinking. “It will take time for the gates to burn. You have time to go speak to Oshri.”

  “Thank you,” said Isabella before turning and going back down the stairs from the wall.

  She quickly made her way to the infirmary where she found Oshri and Adina. “Oshri, is there a limit to how much dragon magic I can use?”

  Oshri scratched the top of his head as he pondered her question. “Yes. There is a physical toll on you for using magic. I’m sure you’ve noticed it when you practice your fireballs. It gets worse if you are using more powerful spells. Eventually, you’ll become too weak to cast, and until
you regain your strength and energy, you’ll have no magic. You’re young and very vital so you have a fair amount of energy at your disposal, but fireballs are a strong magic so depending on how big they are will determine how fast you drain your energy.”

  “Thank you, Oshri, your wisdom has been very valuable to me. I appreciate having you both here.” Isabella turned and headed back to the wall. She didn’t care to explain why she needed to know her magical limits, it would be apparent to all shortly. It was not something she looked forward to doing. As she made her way back to the wall she could see that Jaime and his men had the barricade in place hanging above the gates. It was fortunate the makers of the wall had not built higher gates as there was barely room above the gates for the barricade. Isabella could see they’d hung the barricade so Raven only had to cut one rope to drop it into place. It was fortunate that Jaime and his men had worked so quickly. The gates were now ablaze. It wouldn’t be long before they were completely burnt and knocked out of the way for the knights to ride through.

  Rejoining Raven on the wall, Isabella found that Jaime had returned as well.

  “How many men did you leave on the wall?” asked Isabella.

  “A dozen men including myself. The rest are in the tower they’re ready for the knights.”

  Isabella took another look over the wall. The enemy foot soldiers were already making room for the knights to ride up to the gates. They had to ride around the hole holding the broken battering ram, but it wouldn’t be that difficult. Isabella ducked as she saw an archer lining her up. One of the Daxrah archers took the archer out before he could fire, but Isabella wasn’t taking any chances. She needed to be physically ready for when the gates fell.

  No sooner then she thought that, a crash could be heard. Isabella looked down, one of the gates had burned around the hinges and was leaning open. A few seconds later the second gate swung open. Jaime had had the thick beam holding the gates in place taken down, so when one gate crashed nothing held the other in place. The Tower of Kings was now without a gate.