by James Wisher
Not the most inspiring speech, but he thought he did okay for a rookie. Col hoped they wouldn’t break at first contact. If they did nobody would last long.
* * *
The gate exploded when the ram hit it for the third time. Snarling, howling beastmen ripped the shattered remains of the gate down and poured through the breach.
Col’s grip tightened on his shield and spear.
The tap, tap, tap of his neighbor’s trembling shield hitting his caught Col’s attention.
“Steady, now, here they come.”
The beastmen charged across the yard like a furry tidal wave. Crossbow bolts streaked out into the mass of beastmen, sending the front row to the ground. The ones behind stomped their comrades to bloody mud.
Col braced himself to accept the initial impact. Even so, the force of the wolfman’s ax hitting his shield drove him back a step. The shield of the man behind him pressed into his back stopping his momentum. He regained his balance and stabbed up into the gut of the wolfman that hit him. The brute howled and groped at his punctured stomach. The moment it lowered its hands the man behind Col stabbed it in the face. It went down only to have another take its place a heartbeat later.
For the longest five minutes of his life Col butchered anything that stepped in front of him. At last the beastmen stepped back a few paces, hampered more by the pile of dead monsters than anything. “Switch!”
Col’s line and the line behind him fell back and fresh men stepped into their place. For their part the beastmen tossed the bodies of their dead comrades aside so they could get at the humans that blocked them. All the while the nonstop thunk of the crossbows whittled down their numbers.
Col leaned against the wall and gasped for breath. Perhaps they’d live through this after all.
“Col!” The man in the center of the front line pointed out into the yard.
He forced himself away from the wall and looked out between the rows of men. The beastmen had picked up the ram and were dragging it through the ruined gate.
He frowned. What the hell did they have in mind? The ram would never fit through the door with a beastman on either side.
His eyes widened. If the beastmen shoved the ram through the door it would ruin their formation. Their tiny phalanx wouldn’t be able to face the beastmen’s charge as one unit. The monsters had more brains than Col gave them credit for.
It looked like the crossbows had reduced their number by three quarters. Still, forty plus beastmen were a lot to deal with. Col grabbed the nearest man. “Go upstairs and have Ged bring half his archers down here. I want them formed up at the end of this hall.”
The man ran toward the stairs. Col watched the beastmen wrestle the ram free. The crossbows continued to tear the monsters apart. A human force would have broken long before now, but not beastmen. They’d fight to the last. Col meant to see that it was the last of them not the last of the refugees.
Ged arrived at the rear of the hallway along with ten men and women with their crossbows. Col went to join them. “What’s the plan?”
“Line your archers up at the end of the hall. Shoot them as they try to push the ram through. When I give you the signal fall back down the hall. If any of the beastmen get past us, shoot them.”
“Where will you be?”
“We’ll stand with our backs against the wall to give you a clear field of fire.”
“Here they come!” the man he’d left on watch said.
“Fall back, up against the wall.” Col suited his actions to his words and pressed his back flat against the wall.
The head of the ram poked through the doorway. Behind it snarling beastmen shoved with all their might. Bolts whizzed past Col’s head, a couple coming closer than he liked. About half the shots either stuck in the ram or the door frame, but a fair bunch punctured the beastmen out in the yard.
When the ram inched past Col’s feet the beastmen gave up and charged the doorway. He waited for one last volley to whiz by. “Fall back!”
He heard the archers scramble away. A wolfman charged down the ram, a blow from its sword sending one of his people sprawling.
The boarman behind raised its spear to impale the fallen farmer.
Col stepped forward and threw his spear. It pierced the boarman through the chest, buying the downed man time to scramble to his feet. With his spear gone Col ripped the broadsword from its sheath at his waist.
He leapt up on the ram to meet the charging wolfman.
The monster swung at his head. Col ducked and slashed across its stomach, spilling steaming guts on the floor.
The wolfman followed his innards down, howling in pain. A farmer finished it with a thrust to the chest.
Col had no time to watch his comrades as another wolfman appeared to take the fallen monster’s place. He fought one beastman after another, in a seemingly unending wave of blood and steel.
Twice he heard the thunk of crossbows behind him as the archers finished one that slipped past.
He couldn’t say how long that final battle lasted, but eventually no more monsters appeared to try to kill him. Blood drenched him from head to toe and his sword felt like it weighed fifty pounds. He looked around and saw six of his companions among the dead beastmen on the floor of the hall.
He leaned his back against the wall and slid down. It didn’t matter that he landed in a puddle of blood. His clothes couldn’t get any more soaked.
Shoes appeared in Col’s view. He looked up and saw Ged staring down at him. “I’ve never seen anything like that. How many of them did you kill?”
Col looked back down. “I don’t know. Not enough, we lost six of our people.”
“Seven, counting Anna from earlier this morning. It could have been so much worse.” Ged crouched down in front of him. “Who are you, really? No kid your age should be able to fight like that.”
Col locked gazes with Ged. “I’m no one in particular. If anyone asks that’s what you tell them.”
“Col!” Rain entered the hall then stopped, her eyes wide.
He pushed away from the wall. Somebody should have kept her back. The butcher shop they’d made of the entry hall wasn’t anything she needed to see. “Let’s get out of here.”
Her gaze shifted to him and if anything her eyes got even wider. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “None of it’s mine.”
“Col?” He turned back toward Ged. “What should we do now?”
Col sighed. How the hell did he get to be in charge? No help for it now. “Gather your people along with whatever supplies you plan to take. We need to leave while we can. I recommend you bring the crossbows and as many bolts as you can manage.”
“Everyone’s exhausted,” Rain said. “Why don’t we rest until morning and start fresh? You can barely stand, much less hike.”
Col hated to waste time now that the way forward looked clear, but he couldn’t argue with her assessment. He nodded. “Rest until morning. We’ll leave at dawn.” Col turned toward the officer’s quarters.
“Where are you going?” Rain asked.
“To stand under the waterfall until I get this blood off.”
* * *
Baron Dorrik’s keep was a welcome sight when the exhausted line of refugees marched up to the gray stone outer wall four days after the battle. A three-story-high tower with arrow slits dotted every few feet and surrounded by a twenty-foot-tall outer wall, the keep looked defensible. It also looked empty. He saw no signs of battle; at least the beastmen hadn’t found the place yet. The lack of soldiers manning the walls and the fact that no one had challenged them made Col nervous, not the least because he wasn’t sure how they’d get the portcullis open if no one was home.
Ged marched up to the gate and struck the iron bars with his spear. The clang set Col’s teeth on edge and echoed though the clearing. If any beastmen lurked in the area they’d just sounded the dinner bell. “Hey! Anybody in there? We claim right of sanctuary as vassals of Lord Dorrik.”
&nbs
p; A few minutes later a timid, sweating fellow in black servant’s garb approached the portcullis. “How can I help you?”
“Beastmen attacked Rel. We need sanctuary: food, a safe place to sleep.”
The servant’s frown deepened the lines around his mouth. “The master left for the capital weeks ago and took most of the soldiers with him.”
Col and Rain exchanged a look. If Barron Dorrik went to Finegold then he was most likely in a beastman’s belly.
“We’re willing to help defend the keep in exchange for food and shelter,” Ged said.
The servant nodded. “We have plenty of food and room for you all to sleep. If beastmen are on the rampage we can use all the help we can get. I’m Edward, the master’s butler.”
The butler spoke to someone out of sight and the portcullis clanked up. Col allowed himself a moment’s relief. Somehow they’d gotten the refugees to relative safety. Now he could focus on getting Rain out of the kingdom.
“I’ll set the cooks to preparing a meal. You must tell us what’s happening. We’ve had no news since the master left for the capital.”
“I don’t know how much we can tell you.” Ged led the others behind Edward toward the keep. “We’ve been on the run since the beastmen attacked Rel over a week ago.”
Col stopped listening and set his mind to planning their getaway. First thing he needed was a map, they had to have one here. He hadn’t gotten far in his planning when Rain tapped him on the shoulder. “What happens now?”
“Beyond a hot meal, a bath and a good night’s sleep I haven’t decided. We’ll talk more later, too many ears here.”
A pair of boys, maybe sixteen years old, stood on either side of the gate and tried to look intimidating. They failed spectacularly at it. Their armor didn’t fit, the way they held their halberds reminded him of the way Ged and his men held their spears, like farmers more used to a hoe than a weapon, and the acne didn’t help either.
“They’ve got children guarding the castle,” Rain said as though reading his mind.
Col grinned. “They’re only a couple years younger than me.”
“Maybe in age, but I’d put them about ten years behind you in experience.”
“The last week made me feel older. What about you?”
She nodded. “How’s your arm?” she asked with the air of someone eager to change the subject.
“It’s fine; it really was just a scratch.”
The kids opened the door and Edward led them into the keep. “Make yourselves comfortable. Dinner will be in an hour.” He bowed to the group and walked away, toward the kitchen, Col assumed.
The dining room waited to the left of the entry hall and Ged led the refugees that way. A long table lined with chairs filled the room. Big as it was there weren’t enough chairs for everyone. Col pulled out a chair for Rain and she slumped into it.
“Rest here, I’ll have a look around.” Col left the princess dozing in the hard chair and went across a short hall to the audience chamber. Benches faced a raised platform with a chair on it where the baron dispensed justice. Behind the throne was a doorway with a bored kid standing next to it.
Col walked over and the kid straightened. “Sorry, this area’s off limits.”
“I need a map,” Col said. “I suspect the war room’s back there along with all the information I need. You can come back with me to make sure I won’t take anything, but I need to see where we are relative to where I think the beastmen are.”
The kid chewed his lip, trying to decide what he should do. Col sounded like he knew what he was doing and if anything this guard looked younger than the two outside. He didn’t want to bully him, but he had little time to waste.
“Who told you not to let anyone in?”
“Master Edward.”
“Well there you go, since I wasn’t here when he gave you the order he couldn’t have meant I wasn’t allowed inside, right?”
“That makes sense.” The kid pushed open the door. “I’ll wait here.”
Col walked through the door and into the war room. A large round table with a scale map of the kingdom dominated the center of the room. Weapons, shields and banners hung on the walls. A quick look revealed their location lay almost in the center of the kingdom and less than one hundred miles from the capital. Col shook his head. All the walking they’d done and they’d only traveled a four-day march from where they started.
On a little stand beside the map he found a variety of markers. He put a black flag on the capital and another on Rel, they had both fallen to the enemy. He put a red flag in the approximate location of the hidden fort to signify a major battle. That summed up what he knew of the enemy’s activities: damn little. He traced the coast line moving away from Rel and toward Celestia. Thirty miles north he found a fishing village named Pike’s Cove. That seemed a likely place to find a ship. Hell, he knew enough to sail a small boat on his own if he needed to.
He guessed it would take the two of them four days to walk to the village. They’d take a week’s worth of food just in case. He suspected he’d find whatever else they needed in the castle with little trouble. Finished with his research and eager for something to eat, Col left the war room and returned to the dining room.
Chapter Sixteen
Col knocked on the door to the room they’d set aside for bathing. Rain should be almost finished with her turn. He carried a nice pair of boots, trousers, and a gray blouse, all nicked from the baron’s bedroom. He doubted the nobleman and his wife would return and even if they did they had so many clothes the loss of one outfit might not even be noticed. Besides, if Rain wore that shredded dress for many more days she’d end up naked, and her feet needed more protection than those slippers could offer. Even if the size wasn’t exactly right it would be better than what she had now.
“What is it?” Rain’s muffled voice filtered through the door.
“I found you a change of clothes. I’ll leave them outside the door.”
“Hold on.” A second later the door opened part way and Rain’s hand and bare arm were thrust out. Col put the boots in her hand and draped the clothes over her arm. “Thanks.”
The arm disappeared, and the door closed. Col leaned against the wall to wait. He’d collected everything else he thought they’d need for the trip, now all he needed was Rain. Ten minutes later the door opened and the princess stood, dressed in fresh clothes, hair still dripping, ready to go.
“Do they fit okay?”
Rain nodded. “They aren’t bad. Where’d you get them?”
“The baron’s wife donated them. Are you ready to go?”
She nodded again and followed him down to the entry hall where he’d left a pair of stuffed packs and his satchel. As they walked down the stairs she said, “When you say donated you mean you stole them, right?”
“Right. Don’t worry, her wardrobe survived the loss.”
They reached the entry hall and found Ged and Mara waiting for them. Col grimaced. He’d hoped to make a clean getaway.
“Are you sure I can’t persuade you to stay?” Ged asked. “It’s dangerous out there.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Col said. “But we can’t stay.”
Ged gestured for him to come a few steps away from the hugging women. “You’re no more a caravan guard than I am a merchant prince. Who are you two, really?”
Col’s eyes narrowed. “I’m nobody, and Rain’s my sister. If anybody asks that’s what you tell them. Better yet, after we leave, pretend you never met us. We’ll all be better off.”
Ged held out his hand and Col shook it. “Thanks for everything. We never would have made it without you. Whoever you two are and wherever you’re going I wish you the best of luck.”
“Likewise. One last piece of advice, if you can, try to sneak back to the fort and collect the weapons we left behind. A time will come when we have to reclaim this land and we’ll need all the weapons we can lay our hands on.”
Col and Rain shouldered the
ir packs and headed out the gate. When they’d left the castle behind Rain asked, “Do you think they’ll be okay?”
“As long as there are beastmen running loose in the kingdom none of us are safe, still they have some fighting experience now and those stone walls will help. What will help the most is us not being there to draw the darkcaster’s attention.”
* * *
Weary and relieved, Col spotted the chimneys of Pike’s Cove jutting above the tree line a few hours before sunset. They’d made the hike in three and a half days, better than he’d hoped. He suspected Rain’s improved fitness had more to do with it than anything. She’d kept up with his pace, not uttering a word of complaint. That surprised him and he thanked the Light for the change.
They crossed out of the evergreens and onto a packed dirt road leading into the town. “Is that it?” Rain asked.
“If the map was right it should be. I can smell the water from here so we’re close to the lake. Let’s go take a look.”
They continued into the village and found the buildings unharmed and no sign of beastman activity. It looked like the enemy hadn’t come this way or they decided the little village didn’t constitute a threat. Col shook his head; they couldn’t have come this way, the monsters would have burned the town on principle if they’d found it.
“Halt!” Four men in mail and carrying broadswords appeared from around a small cedar-sided house at the edge of the village.
Col held his hands to the side, away from his sword. These four looked like real soldiers and the last thing he wanted was to make them nervous. He moved a little ahead of Rain. “We’re not looking for trouble. We’ve been on the run from beastmen for going on three weeks now.”
The soldiers lowered their weapons a fraction. One of the men, wearing a sergeant’s insignia, stepped closer. “You don’t have fangs or claws so that’s a point in your favor. Who might you be then?”