by Thomas Rath
“Dor,” Thane panted, still working his swords to hold the attack of another troll. “I have to get to the bridge.”
Dor didn’t ask questions, not willing to waste his breath on them, and having a fair idea of what Thane meant to do. It was their only chance. “Dainz,” he cried, “to us! Call your men to us!” Dor caught sight of a small group of soldiers battling for their lives as they moved closer to the two Chufa. There were too few left. Sidestepping another cudgel blow, Dor cut the trolls arm off before turning with another slash to its belly. The wall was quickly filling with bodies making it hard to find solid footing.
Suddenly, Dainz was at his elbow, his sword covered in blood, his body splashed with the enemy’s gore. Gathering what was left of his men they made a desperate push back toward the bridge where the trolls were now coming over unchecked. The fighting wavered back and forth and for a brief moment it appeared as if they would not be able to hold. Another soldier went down and all were quickly tiring from the press.
Thane looked around. They were overrun. There was no use for it. It was act now or they all died. Pressing forward with both swords he gutted the troll in front of him and then tried to move forward but was immediately met by another troll. They were pitched to a frenzy now, smelling victory and the anticipated taste of HuMan flesh. He had to do something. Ducking away from a swinging fist, he dropped to the ground and shot between the troll’s legs. Coming up behind it, he let go of his swords and stretched out a hand toward the one now in front of him as it gave him a wicked smile and moved in to crack his skull with its club.
“Shonosh.” The word came out strong and forceful just as the troll’s club started its descent. Immediately, the troll burst into flames and was pushed back by the force of Thane’s Tane. Thane felt his energy drain, but he still had enough to regain his swords and dispatch the troll behind him. The flaming troll pushed backward, trying to get away from him and stop the fire that was quickly eating its flesh. Pressing back into the other trolls, the flames devouring its body also burned the flesh of those close by causing the trolls to scatter away. A hole suddenly opened up straight to the bridge where the enemy had stopped their progress, their eyes fearful and unsure as they watched one of their own crumple into a pile of ash.
Thane didn’t waste a moment as he shot forward, climbing the parapet and rushing onto the bridge. He was halfway across before meeting any resistance. Slashing his swords in a blur of strokes he sent his first opponent tumbling off the edge. He was almost there. All he had to do was touch the tower and he could ignite it. He felt tired and weakened from using his Tane but he fought off the exhaustion with fierce determination as he struggled on.
Meeting another troll, he blocked its swing but was almost knocked from the bridge by the sheer force of its blow. He found himself pushed dangerously close to the edge and suddenly noticed the gathered orcs and goblins below. They had moved forward and were throwing up ladders and hooks to the wall.
In desperation, he called the wind to him using its force like a cyclone to steady his balance on the bridge and then pushed its currents into the tower. Immediately the last two trolls were forced back opening the way for him to reach the opening and the tower’s wood framing. He moved ahead, his exertions finally taking their toll as his feet shuffled forward as if made of lead. Returning his swords to their scabbards he reached out his hand and grabbed the doorpost. Letting out a quick breath, he smiled at the growling faces looking back at him as they regained their balance and prepared to charge. Speaking the word softly, he pulled his hand away as the wood instantly caught fire. The troll’s eyes widened as they screamed in horror and frustration. Scrambling back, they pressed against those still climbing trying to force them down and escape the consuming fire.
Thane turned away as the flames quickly spread, hungrily devouring the tower but was shocked to find those same flames racing across the bridge. A sudden feeling of dread overcame him. He wasn’t going to make it. He looked for assistance but the ladders and hooks had suddenly started covering the wall on all sides. There was no one who could help him. Neither were there any posted at the oil vats, so desperate had become their situation on the wall. And now, the orcs and goblins were climbing unchecked toward the top as the remaining soldiers still fought a hopeless battle with the mass of trolls.
The flames shot ahead quickly engulfing the bridge as he made it merely to the halfway point. He could feel the heat and knew that he had only moments before the bridge collapsed, dropping him upon the waiting horde below. Having no other options, he turned to a ladder that had just been placed against the wall not ten feet away. Already it was full of orcs as they scurried up the rungs anxious to reach the top. Without another thought, he sprang from the bridge hearing it collapse behind him as he flew through the air toward the ladder. Dropping as he went, he hit almost at the center right onto the back of an unsuspecting orc. Not waiting to catch his breath, he reached up and grabbed the goblin’s leg above him and then scrambled up its back, kicking the orc in the face and knocking it off as he did so. His ascent was so fast, that none of the climbers had a chance to react before he was once again at the top and diving into the fight. Pulling his swords he dealt deathblows with every swing as he attacked from behind trying to reach his companions.
The battle on the wall was fierce but the defenders were quickly losing heart as more and more dropped either from exhaustion or mortal wounds. Soon there would be none left to hold back the tide as it surged forward over the wall. The remaining soldiers kept a tight formation with their backs to each other as they gave all they had left for their homes, their families, and their freedom. But it was over. There was nothing they could do to hold the enemy and there was no way for them to escape. They were surrounded.
Thane gave Dor a quick, knowing smile as he pushed his way back into the knot of soldiers. He would have used fire again, but the enemy was pressing them so hard that he didn’t have a chance to drop even one sword and call it forth without being taken down by a club or sword. He felt strangely content though. They had done all they could. They had fought well. He would die with his friend and there was no other place he’d rather be at that moment than by Dor’s side. His one regret was that he had failed to save his people. With the numbers and power at Zadok’s command, he could think of no way that they would be able to last long against such a host. He still hoped, but the hope for himself, and those fighting with him, was quickly dying away.
Dainz’s voice suddenly cut through the battle coming clear and sharp behind him. “They come! Hold your ground men! Our salvation comes!”
He didn’t dare turn around as he went back and forth with a goblin exchanging hammer blows of steel, but his ears picked up the distinct sound of pitched battle near the stairs. Could it be that the first group of relief soldiers had finally arrived? And what an arrival it would be. The small group of men seemed to gain strength from Dainz’s words as the enemy began to fall before them. Suddenly, more soldiers appeared at their sides as the pitched battle turned back to their favor.
“To the ladders men!” a voice shouted. “Pour out the oil!” Thane could hear the screams of the orcs and goblins over the wall as signal that someone had indeed gotten to the boiling oil and carried out the order. All along the wall, men suddenly rushed in cutting the lines from hooks gripping the parapet and dispatching the enemy at the ladders. The fire that had taken the tower quickly ignited the oil that had drenched the enemy below firing them in a rushing blaze, their screams renting the air. The press of trolls and goblins assaulting the small group of remaining soldiers suddenly lessened as the reinforcements quickly secured the wall and turned to help their comrades fight off those that remained.
Thane pulled his sword from the goblin he’d been fighting and then quickly scanned the area to see where he might lend aid. Two trolls stood back to back, close to the stairs, trying to fight off the ten men that had surrounded them but were soon lying with the other dead that littered the
wall. Dor cut down his opponent, spilling its intestines with a quick slash to the belly and then leaned on his sword trying to catch his breath. It was over; at least for the moment. The wall was secured and the enemy turned away.
Dainz walked up to them holding his arm where it appeared a sword had gotten through his defenses and left him with a nice gash. “You boys all right?” he asked, nodding to them.
Thane smiled. “Better than you it would appear.”
Dainz just shrugged. “Nothing but a sting.” He looked around at his men. So very few remained standing while the majority were mixed in with the dead and dying. He sighed, hanging his head in sorrow for the loss. They had won the battle, but at what cost and for how long? “Thank you,” he finally said in a half whisper. “We all would have perished if not for your…” he paused. “If not for your talents.”
Thane just nodded. So, he had seen what he had done. In the heat of the battle he wasn’t sure if anyone would have had the opportunity to notice. Of course, Dainz knew his true nature and therefore would have been watching for such displays of power, though now, it seemed, he no longer was so fearful of them or set against their being used. “How many men do you have left?”
Dainz looked toward the stairs where his remaining soldiers were filing down, some helping the wounded as they did so. “Not enough. We lost all but twelve, not counting you two or myself. It was almost a complete slaughter.”
Thane nodded. Dor smiled. “It was good of your friends to show up as they did or it is certain not even one would have remained.”
Dainz nodded. “You speak true, Master Dor.”
“And the wall is secure again,” Dor continued. “We still hold the enemy at bay. Your men fought and died valiantly.”
Dainz stared at the Chufa boy for a long moment and then just nodded. “I better have this washed and wrapped before I completely bleed out. You two make it back to the barracks and get some food and rest. It will be daylight soon. You can leave with the others as soon as they are able to travel.”
Thane shook his head. “Thank you, Captain, but we’ll be staying. We have other business that requires our presence here.”
Dainz paused for a moment as if he would ask just what that business was but instead just shrugged. “As you wish. Your swords are more than welcome.”
Ranse and Jace suddenly approached the trio, their faces flushed from exertions made during the battle, a smile playing across Ranse’s face.
“Well met,” Thane nodded to the pair while Dainz bowed, bringing his fist up to his breast in solute. Thane eyed the strange reaction and looked from one to the other.
“You know better than that,” Ranse snapped at the captain.
“Sorry, my Lord,” Dainz replied. “It’s a force of habit.”
“Lord?” Dor asked.
Ranse shrugged. “It would appear that I have been given up and by one of my own.” Dainz made to speak, but Ranse held up a hand forestalling him. “It is all right, Captain. I guess it only just that after Master Thane’s declaration of lineage in the hall that I should be as forthcoming with my own.” Turning to the two Chufa boys he smiled. “I am Ranse, prince of the realm, third son of Dagan the king. And,” he continued, pointing to Jace, “this is my bodyguard.”
Thane nodded. “So, you represent your father here in his absence?”
Jace flashed a warning look while Ranse’s countenance fell slightly. “I’m afraid I am here by my own accord. As you might well know, my father has not been…well, let’s just say that his concerns have been turned elsewhere for the moment. I am here because I recognize its import where others may have failed to see it so clearly.”
Thane just nodded, understanding the subtle nuances and hints that Ranse was giving without right out claiming that his father was a fool and a coward. He suddenly felt a growing measure of respect for the prince for coming to risk his own life for the safety of his people.
“As you might well understand,” the prince continued, “it would not be in the best interest of anyone to know that I am here, though. As the youngest of my father’s line, I hold little authority more than the respect demanded to the royal family. And it would be best if the soldiers were none the wiser since their duties would then shift from protecting the wall and our people to protecting me.” He suddenly got a twinkle in his eye. “As for my own protection, I have developed some skill with the sword and Jace keeps a sharp eye, albeit at times too sharp, on my royal skull. So please, if I might beg some discretion on your part?”
“Of course,” Dor said, while Thane bowed his head slightly. “A royal can fight and die just as well or as badly as the common folk.”
Ranse smiled warmly. “Well spoken, Master Dor. Now, if you will excuse the captain and me, we need to discuss the defenses while I’m sure the both of you could use some well earned rest.”
* * *
Thane and Dor did what they could to help remove the dead. The enemy bodies were cast over the wall to feed the fires still burning there while the soldiers were carried out to the plains where a military funeral pyre had been erected. Generally, their bodies would have been carried back to Haykon where they would have been returned to their families for burial, but in such a time of war it was customary for the HuMans to burn the dead together.
Exhausted from the fight and the clean-up, Thane and Dor dropped to the floor at the far side of the barracks and quickly went to sleep. The care and security of the wall was now in the hands of the reinforcements allowing the remainder of the soldiers to rest and prepare for their return to the main army at Haykon. All were feeling more confident now that support would continue to come in at twelve hour intervals. The most dangerous time had passed, and though it cost them most of their men, a feeling of hope and confidence prevailed amongst the soldiers that they might indefinitely hold the wall after all.
Waking around noon, Thane’s first order of business was to make a report back at Haykon, which he did in quick fashion. Jack wanted to know the battle’s every detail, obviously perturbed by not having been there, but he cut him off not wanting to take the time to rehash all that had occurred. For the moment, all that was important was that the wall held and that the reinforcements continue to flow west. Returning to his body, he thought of Jne and was about to return to the plains to search her out but Dor was there with a warm bowl of stew that fulfilled a more immediate need. So, he rested his back against the barrack’s wall instead and devoured his meal.
After eating, they went to the stables to check on the horses. The wall had remained quiet as the fires still burned, cleaning away the filth that blotted its western side. The reinforcements had taken up their positions and their supplies had been restocked in preparation for the next wave that would surely come. Chtey greeted him outside the stable doors with a whinny and a nuzzle. Though not allowing the handlers to get close to him, he trotted over quickly when he saw his friend approach.
Thane laughed. “It is good to see you as well my friend. I hope you are well fed and rested. The fight at the wall goes well but no one knows when we may need your speed at a moment.” Chtey bounced his head up and down in reply soliciting another laugh from Thane.
Turning back to Dor, he froze, the words he was to speak caught in his throat and the smile quickly fading from his lips. Dor stood not ten feet away staring agape at the mountain pass, his face an ashen mask. “Dor, what…” but his breath caught as he was suddenly engulfed with gripping fear. Shouts of terror echoed out from the wall as a wave of panic seemed to crash down on the defender’s camp.
“The dragon!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Dor and Thane rushed through the first gate just as a giant shadow passed over them. Looking up while cowering back they just caught sight of the underbelly of a massive lizard like creature darting past them in the air. Thane recognized the gray colored scales as the same dragon that had chased him through the valley near Raven’s Eye Peak. A loud screech turned their blood to ice as they
battled to regain control of their limbs against the sheer terror that emanated from the creature. Thane had dreaded this day, knowing against hope that Zadok would unleash this weapon should his other minions fail. There was no defense against such a powerful monster as was the dragon.
Grabbing Dor’s arm he dragged him along, rushing through the second gate as the leviathan banked and came in for another pass. “Get your men down!” Thane shouted as they broke through. “Get them down!” The men on the wall, cowered by the dragon fear, stood as if frozen in place. Thane searched for Ranse or Dainz along the wall but could not spot either.
The dragon dove, overtaking the first and then second gate. Thane and Dor dropped to the ground as it glided past then let out an awful sound as it opened its mouth and released a missile blast of air into the wall. It struck with such tremendous force that a large section of parapet exploded taking down at least twenty-five of the soldiers closest to the blast. Rock shards flew everywhere as a large chunk of the top wall fell away.
The men were thrown into a sudden frenzy of activity as they left their posts, anxious to reach the stairs and quit the wall. Over the chaos, Thane could hear the enemy’s drums starting up again.
“What is it?”
Thane turned to see Ranse, Dainz and Jace standing by the catapult as if they’d just been conversing there. “We have to get the men out!” he yelled over the screams of the soldiers still on the wall. “It’s the dragon I spoke of. There is no way to battle against it. The wall is compromised. We need to get the men away!”
Another loud screech made them all drop as the dragon returned firing another ball of solid air into the wall in almost the same place as before. A fissure opened up in the rock with the second pass, sending a large piece of the wall hurling through the air toward Thane and the others, scattering them as it smashed into the iron gate flinging it open with enough force to crush it against the mountain wall.