“What is it?” Derek asked.
BOOM!
Flare hesitated in amazement at what was taking place below him. “The goblins are using a battering ram. And it’s huge! I …” He never finished that sentence.
BOOM!
The resounding boom had cut him off, but Flare had quit speaking even before it rang out. He finally got a good look at the ‘goblins’ that were swinging the massive battering ram. “Derek, I was wrong. It’s not goblins using that battering ram, it’s trolls.”
Trolls are a gigantic humanoid race that primarily dwell below ground. While trolls have the same basic shape as humans, they are gigantic in comparison. Trolls are usually nine feet tall or taller and their strength is legendary. Their skin color is grayish, though some have a slight greenish tint, and their hair is typically coarse and oily.
The worse part of trolls is from the neck up. In one word, they are simply hideous. Oversized noses and ears, and eyes that are used to squinting in the dark places of the earth. They have teeth that are normally black or brown, and bent at all different angles. They are ferocious in battle, and more than a match for a human in even combat.
Flare watched in awe, as the trolls swung the massive battering ram.
BOOM!
There were twenty trolls swinging the battering ram, ten on each side. The battering ram was made of steel, and over twenty feet long. It had handles jutting perpendicularly away from the sides, which the trolls were using to carry and swing it.
Flare observed all of this in a flash.
BOOM!
The gate could withstand the bombardment only for a short while. ‘We have got to stop them quickly! But How?’ Flare wondered. He leaned back out over the wall, and looked for a weakness in the enemy. The trolls were directly in front of the gate. A host of goblins was gathered on either side of the trolls, but they were just standing there, having stopped trying to scale the walls. ‘What are they waiting for?’ Then it dawned on him. ‘They expect us to open the gates.’ It actually made sense, now that he stopped and thought about it. They would have to open the gates to stop the trolls, and that would allow the goblins access to the fort. If they didn’t open the gates, then the trolls would beat down the walls, thereby giving access to the goblins. Either way they were in trouble.
BOOM!
Derek tried to pull himself to his feet, but he stumbled and fell back on his rear, but the movement jarred Flare from his hesitation.
“Derek! Don’t move. I’ll get Kara to see to you.”
“I’m okay.” Derek said, looking like he was about to be sick. “Help me to my feet, and find my sword for me.”
Flare ignored Derek, and called over to a nearby soldier, “Soldier. Find Kara and get her over here quickly!”
BOOM!
He drug Derek away from the battlements, and then sprinted down the wall. The rest of the guardians were already waiting for him. They were all there except for Trestus, Derek, and Kara.
“Flare, what do we do?” Philip asked.
He looked from face to face. Each person was looking at him, as if he had all the answers. The looks on their faces was expectation, they were waiting for him to come up with some brilliant plan. He felt like the pressure was going to bury him. He wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. “Does anybody have any suggestions? We can’t open the gates, and we can’t let them pound the walls down around us.”
BOOM!
“Archers!? Can we shoot them?” Atock asked.
“No. Trolls have skin like leather, and arrows won’t cut their hide.” Philip answered quickly.
Silence engulfed them. ‘Looks like I’m not the only one who’s run out of ideas.’ Flare thought. “We’ll have to open the gate and rush them.”
BOOM!
“He's losing his mind.” Enstorion mumbled under his breath. “If they open that gate, they’ll be overrun by goblins. And me with them.”
“Get all the archers on the wall, and send all the soldiers to the courtyard.” Flare yelled over his shoulder as bolted for the downward stairs.
“Fool.” Enstorion said. He walked to the battlements and leaned out over the wall.
BOOM!
A thought occurred to him as he observed the arrangement of the goblins and trolls below him. He closed his eyes and began quietly casting a spell.
Flare was busy arranging the soldiers around him. It had already taken much longer than he had hoped to get the soldiers assembled. He left Trestus with the forty-five soldiers on the eastern wall, as well as fifty archers on the western wall.
BOOM!
He had Atock, Enton, and Aaron on his left. Philip, Murleen, and Heather were to his immediate right. They would lead the charge. He had arranged them in a spearhead, and the idea was that they would thrust through the enemies, hopefully taking out a large number of the trolls. There were two hundred soldiers assembled in the spearhead of the attack. There were another one hundred soldiers arranged in a half circle behind the spearhead. Their job was to keep the enemies from breaking through into the fort.
BOOM!
Flare felt like he was going to be sick. He was about to die and he knew it, but strangely enough it seemed almost a relief. At least it would be quick. He turned slightly to his right and caught Murleen’s attention. She smiled at him in a grim sort of way, and he smiled back. He was going to miss her. Was this love? He pushed the distracting thoughts away.
BOOM!
He turned back toward the soldiers, and realized that they were looking at him, and that they were ready to go. He sighed deeply, and then drew his sword and pointed it toward the heavens.
Judging by the looks on the faces of the soldiers, he knew they were aware that they were charging to their death. It worried him that they were so easily following him to their deaths. Apparently their faith in him was growing.
BOOM!
Flare took several deep breaths, trying to work enough courage to meet his death. He opened his mouth to give the order, when he felt a wave of magic roll over him.
“What was that?!” Atock asked.
“I.. Feels like they’re using magic against us also!” Flare responded angrily. “Open the gates! We have to stop them quickly.”
The soldiers manning the gate pulled the locks, and the gate slowly began to swing open.
The gate opened, and Flare’s jaw dropped.
The area around the gate had been turned into a wasteland. The bodies of goblins and trolls were heaped upon each other, blackened, tore open, and smoking. The battering ram had warped as if from a great heat, and was lying uselessly across the bodies of the trolls.
The soldiers behind the first tier were pushing forward, not aware that the threat was gone. The jostling, from behind, snapped Flare backed to the present. “Stop pushing! I want all of you back up on the wall.” Turning to the other soldiers at the gate house, he said, “Get that gate closed! Right now!”
Turning Flare sprinted to the stairs that led up to the battlements. Pushing and shoving, got him through the throng of soldiers attempting to regain the wall, and he headed straight for where the archers were standing.
He skid to a halt in front of Mikela. She was sitting down, with her back to the battlements, holding Enstorion, who looked to have passed out. Enstorion looked bad. He was pale, and was sweating profusely.
“What’s the matter with him?” Flare asked, leaning out over the battlements, trying to get a better view of the desolation outside the fort. It was a mess out there, with a multitude of bodies scattered around. The earth was scorched for several hundred yards in all directions; even the wall was scorched and black.
Mikela was silent for several moments, and when she raised her head and made eye contact, Flare got an icy cold feeling in the middle of his stomach. Her fear was spelled out plainly across her face.
“He cast some sort of fire spell, and it got away from him.”
Flare looked back over the wall at the destruction below. “He did this? I
didn’t realize he had that kind of power.” He said in amazement. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. He may not survive this.” Mikela answered quietly.
“What?! What can we do?” Flare said.
“The spell was an extremely powerful one, and he was weakened from lack of rest. When he cast the spell, he lost control of it, and it almost consumed him. He’s barely alive, and I don't know if he will live. But, right now we need Kara. Quickly!”
‘Great! Who will be next?’ Flare wondered, as he sprinted to find Kara.
The magical explosion apparently took the motivation out of the attackers. Those that survived the explosion withdrew.
Flare was pleased, since the goblin withdrawal had given the defenders time to rest and heal up. Today the casualties had been few and for the most part minor.
Kara had treated Derek, and pronounced no major damage, just a painful headache as a result of the blow to his head.
Flare joined the rest of the guardians for dinner, while Kara was tending to Enstorion. The guardians had sometimes taken to eating dinner separately from the rest of the soldiers, since they used dinner to plan strategy.
Flare entered the dark and smoky room, and took a seat at the table.
“How’s Derek?” Aaron asked.
“He’ll be fine. Just a major headache, or at least that’s what Kara tells me.” Flare answered. “Kara is treating Enstorion now, and she’ll join us later.”
“Things are looking up.” Murleen said, hope shining in her face. “I mean we didn’t have many injuries today, and we took out a bunch of the goblins and trolls.”
“We got lucky today. If we had opened the gate a few moments earlier, goblins would be sitting here eating.” Atock said quietly.
Murleen’s mentioning of the trolls brought another thought to Flare’s mind. “Has anybody every heard of goblins and trolls fighting on the same side?”
“No. Well, not since the Demon Lord wars.” Enton said.
“I have never heard of goblins and trolls fighting along with humans. And who is this Prince Zalustus, anyway?” Philip asked.
“I have no idea. But what I want to know is how did he get the goblins and trolls to follow him?” Flare said. “Do you think he just promised them a portion of the spoils?”
“Possibly, but I don’t think they would throw their lives away the way they are, just for spoils.” Atock said. “Perhaps he's controlling them somehow. You know if he has magicians that can create a barrier like the one surrounding us, then perhaps he could control the minds of the goblins.”
“I don’t know. It seems to me that controlling that many minds would be damn near impossible, even for a powerful magician.” Trestus said.
Flare silently agreed with Trestus' comment. There was no way one magician could control that many minds, he wasn't even sure that magicians could control minds.
Silence engulfed the group as they ate dinner. No one spoke again for several minutes. Trestus broke the silence first.
“Flare, what’s the arrangements for tomorrow’s battle?”
“Well, I guess we'll keep them the same as today. Why?”
“Because, I want to be on the western wall tomorrow. I’m tired of being kept away from the battle, because you think I might do something stupid.” Trestus said in an angry voice. “Derek was hurt today. I suggest you put him on the eastern wall tomorrow.”
A brief intense anger flashed up within Flare. He held his tongue for several moments, letting the anger fade away. He opened his mouth to speak, but Atock beat him to it.
“He’s got a point. Besides, Derek will probably be slowed tomorrow.”
Flare agreed, but wanted to make sure that Trestus was ready. “Trestus. If I put you on the western wall, are you going to do anything stupid?”
“You mean like opening the gates with an entire goblin horde on the other side?” Trestus answered, grinning.
Chuckles sprang up from various points around the table, and after a moment Flare joined in. “That wasn’t one of my brightest decisions. Was it?” He said when the laughter had quieted down. “All right. If you think you’re ready, then you can join us on the western wall.”
The conversation wandered for a while, and he was pleased to see that the guardians were flippant. It meant they had hope.
Kara entered shortly thereafter. She looked wore out and exhausted. She was pale, her hair hung in her face, and she was sweating.
“How’s Enstorion doing?” Flare asked.
Kara sighed before answering, “I’m not sure. He’s sweating and running a high fever. If this were a typical sickness, then I would say either he would die tonight, or the fever would break. But since it was caused by his use of magic, I just don’t know.” She paused, and her words sunk in. “Mikela said it can go either way.”
Kara’s words destroyed the positive mood of the guardians. They spent several minutes making conversation, before the dinner broke up. Murleen was the first to leave.
After she had left, Atock waited several moments and then looked at Flare and said, “Shouldn’t you leave too? I mean isn’t she waiting for you?” A huge grin split his face.
Snickers ran along the table. “So much for being discreet. How long have you known?” Flare said.
“Since the first night. You didn’t really think you could fool us did you?” Atock answered. “Things like that have a way of being found out.”
“You wouldn’t have spoken to Colonel Holt like this.” Flare said, grinning and getting up.
“I was afraid of him.” Atock answered, still grinning.
Flare and Murleen were lying in bed together, both spent from lovemaking. Murleen had her head resting on his chest.
“Murleen. When we were standing in front of the gate, just about to open it, I realized how I felt about you. I’ve never felt this way about anybody, and ….”
“Stop!” Murleen said, cutting him off. “Don’t do this. At least not now. If, if we make it out of here, then we can talk like this, but let’s not do it now. Please.”
Flare looked into Murleen’s eyes and saw tears forming there. “Okay.”
Murleen wiped her eyes and said, “Besides, there are some other more important things that we should be doing.”
“Like what?” Flare asked.
Murleen pulled the covers back and raised herself up in the bed.
“Again?!” Flare said.
Murleen’s answer was an evil grin as she leaned over to kiss him.
Chapter 14
Flare woke earlier than usual, and leaving Murleen asleep, went to check on Enstorion.
Enstorion had been placed in a small room, just off the main barracks. It was still a couple of hours until dawn, but Kara was already there.
“Kara. Have you been here all night?” He asked.
“No. I slept in the next room, and I just came over a few minutes ago to check on him.” Kara said, yawning.
“How’s his condition?” Flare asked.
“No change. He still has a high fever, and he sweating profusely.” Kara answered. “But you go on. I’ll stay with him until daylight. You go work your magic with the troops.”
Flare almost stopped at her words, 'work your magic with the troops'. What did she mean by that? It wasn't brilliant leadership that had kept them alive so far, it had been dumb luck instead. He turned back to speak to her, but she was already tending to Enstorion, so instead he turned and left the room.
Aaron left his room and walked slowly toward the mess hall. As he walked, he stretched his arms over his head to stretch out the sore muscles in his back. So far the fighting had been pretty intense, and the stress had kept him from sleeping well. He was sure that Kara could help him with the muscle soreness, but it was a trivial thing and he didn't want to bother her. The gods only knew that she was overly busy as it was.
He walked slowly, knowing that he still had a couple of hours until sunrise, so he should have plenty of time to get his b
reakfast and be ready when the attack came. A thought occurred to him about what would happen if the goblins attacked before dawn, but he chased it away. No use looking for any more trouble, they already had all the trouble they could handle and then some.
Flare was doing a good job, no, a great job in his opinion. Honestly, Aaron was surprised they still held the fort. By all rights, they shouldn't have survived the first attack, but here they were on their sixth day. He hoped they would make it to seven.
“Hello,” a female voice said, jarring him from his mental wanderings. He looked up quickly, tensing as he did so, but then relaxed quickly when he saw the girl who had spoken. She had long brown hair that was braided and reached to her belt. Her skin was somewhat darkly tanned, and she was somewhat plump. Her eyes were brown, and she had high cheek bones. She wore pants like a man would wear, and a thick long sleeved shirt. Something about her made Aaron think he had seen her before.
“Uh, hello,” he responded politely.
She seemed almost embarrassed to talk to him, and kept lowering her eyes to look at the ground. “Hi Aaron, My name is Elona.”
Suddenly he remembered her. Flare had arrested her on the trip from Telur for trespassing. “Yes,” he said, smiling, “Is there something that I can help you with?”
“I noticed you in the camp and you had such kind eyes. I was wondering if you would like to meet tonight.” Her eyes dropped to the ground as she spoke.
Aaron brow wrinkled in thought, he hoped she wasn't still trying to sell herself with the siege and all. What good was money if you were dead before you could spend it?
The girl must have realized how her question sounded, because she quickly added, “to talk. I mean to talk.”
“Oh. I thank you, but I will be busy planning for tomorrow.”
He started to move past her, but the girl stepped in front of him. “Please, all the soldiers know what I do and they're not interested in just talking to me. I was hoping that you might be.”
The Guardians: Book One of the Restoration Series Page 24