“There goes Captain Oliss,” Earl Ageus said excitedly.
Rafe saw what looked like a tiny calypso dropping rapidly from the rear of the sky ship. The small vessel had just enough hylum in one small sail to keep it from crashing, but only after the crew who had abandoned the sky ship tossed the ballast overboard to lighten the small craft. It was a risky plan indeed but it seemed to be working. The calypso disappeared into the mists, and then all eyes were back on the sky ship as it drifted closer and closer to the fleet.
The men in Avondale were too far away to hear the explosion of the sky ship immediately. But they saw the ship blast apart in a fury of flaming debris. The burning chunks of wood that had once been the most opulent vessel in Valana should have shot out in every direction. Any piece of the flaming debris, all of it soaked in oil to ensure that it caught fire when the bombs exploded, should have damaged the ships they hit. Even a small chunk of burning wood could have easily burned through the balloon sails and sent dozens of ships falling from the sky. But the explosion was somehow contained. The ship blew apart, the wood and flames flying in all direction, but only for a short distance. It was almost as if the ship had exploded inside a bubble that contained the fury of the ship’s great sacrifice. None of the debris touched the king’s fleet. Not one of Leonosis’ vessels was damaged.
“I can’t believe it,” Earl Ageus said.
“Damn!” was all Rafe could utter.
The entire group of men on the rooftop were shocked. And almost immediately they could see the sails of the war ships unfurling. The fleet was setting sail once again, and nothing could stop them from converging on Avondale.
“Well, that didn’t work,” Earl Ageus said angrily. “We’ll have to fight the bastards now for sure.”
“We’re ready,” Rafe said.
“We’ll have to be.”
The next half hour was a flurry of work for Rafe. The city was too large to defend, so all the troops were pulled back to man the two large gatehouses and the wall on the palace side. Paladins and soldiers took up positions in the city itself, mostly in the sturdiest of the stone buildings. When the king’s soldiers arrived, they would take to the streets and fight in small bands, focusing on tight spaces where they wouldn’t easily be overrun.
Leonosis spread his fleet wide, the war ships sailing to the north and south of the city so that it was completely surrounded. It took nearly two hours for the ships to take their places around the city walls and just out of range of the war ships’ catapults. Leonosis was no fool; he must have assumed his father would train the ballistae on his ships, so he kept them back, letting the threat of their massed firepower weigh heavy on everyone’s mind.
In the streets, the citizens were near panic. Most of the city had decided to stay in their homes, fearing that some treachery was in the works. Rumors of the dangers down in the blighted lands swirled like leaves on an autumn breeze, and Rafe assumed that most of the people thought they were being tricked into leaving the city. Now, with the tremors continuing to shake the mountain and the king’s war ships surrounding the city, they realized their mistake. Many began to gather at the northern gate, but the gates were shut and barred with heavy steel. The soldiers ignored their cries for help, and any that tried to force their way into the gatehouse were quickly dissuaded from such foolish notions.
Rafe was high on the watchtower, waiting with flags to signal the troops manning the ballistae and the catapults that had been built just for this battle. Leonosis had the upper hand. He had more troops, and they were mobile, but attacking a fortified city was always a difficult task. Had it not been for Leonosis believing that Tiberius was in the city, he could have sailed high over the fortified town and rained down bombs all across Avondale. Instead, they positioned their ships more like a siege while Leonosis sailed around the city, looking for the weakest point.
“He’ll drop bombs on the walls,” said the soldier who was with Rafe. He was an older man, one Rafe knew his father had trusted, even though he was only an enlisted man and not an officer.
“We’ve anticipated that,” Rafe said. “Everyone knows what to do.”
“He could land all his troops on that far wall,” the soldier said in his gravelly voice.
“He could, but he’ll think its a trap.”
“It is a trap. We get his men out of those war ships and into the city, we’ll cut them to pieces.”
“So let’s hope he takes the bait.”
“The sooner the better, if you ask me. I’ve been waiting nearly thirty years to be in a real fight.”
“Thirty years?” Rafe asked.
“That’s right. Joined the earl’s war band after failing as a blacksmith’s apprentice and discovering that working in the earl’s fields all day wasn’t for me. I’d rather live a short, eventful life than toil away year after year scratching a living out of the dirt. I guess the joke’s on me, though. I’ve lived longer than I ever thought I would when I joined.”
“What made you stay in service?” Rafe asked.
“What else was I going to do? Besides, your father needed me. Most of those officers he had to deal with didn’t know anything about soldiering. I may not have had a fancy uniform, but your father knew who led the men when it really counted.”
“Well I for one am glad you’re with us.”
“I’m glad too. I saw your father fight duels and I’ve had more training exercises than I can stand, but this will be my first real fight. This will be the first time I’ve ever really been put to the test.”
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Only thing that scares me is finding out after all these years that I’m a coward. If I die fighting, I’ll be a happy man.”
“I’ve fought,” Rafe said. “Duels and some skirmishes down in the blighted lands. It all goes back to the training. There’s terror at first, then just a huge sense of relief once the fighting actually starts. Your fears vanish like smoke once you realize that your body knows what to do. Your mind and body react to the fighting, not your fears.”
“I thought I’d get my chance when you and your father raided those two war ships,” the soldier complained. “I climbed the ladder so fast I was out of breath by the time I reached the deck of the first ship and you had all those soldiers cornered. I ran to the other ship, thinking I would test my mettle, but your damn father had all those soldiers licked, too. I was the third man up after your father, and I still missed my chance.”
“He was a hell of a fighter,” Rafe said. “So fast.”
“Fast and smart, but then so are you. Me, I’m just a slash-and-hack man. I wouldn’t know what to do with a fancy sword like that,” he said, waving at Rafe's rapier. “Still can’t believe he’s gone. I keep expecting to hear him shouting at me for something I forgot.”
“I would do anything to have him here with us now.”
“He is,” the old soldier said. “I see him when I look at you. I hear him in your voice. He would have done everything just the way you did. Hell, I’d even be here on this tower with him. You could have picked anyone, but you chose me.”
“I appreciate that,” Rafe said, his eyes welling with tears.
He looked away so that the soldier wouldn’t see how emotional he felt. The tension of the battle was making him feel weak and weepy. He didn’t like the anticipation and wished that something would just happen so that the fighting would start and he could vent his frustration and grief on someone.
Then, almost as if Rafe had wished it into existence, the wall on the far side of the city, almost directly opposite of the palace, suddenly exploded inward. There was no fire, no rain of siege weaponry tearing the wall down, just a sudden and powerful crash that left a gaping hole in the wall.
“My god in heaven,” said the soldier. “What could have caused that? I didn’t see anything.”
“It was magic,” Rafe said. “It’s the one thing we can’t fight on our own. Tiberius, where the hell are you?”
Chapter 27<
br />
Lexi
They found the tunnel that led up and out of the forest, but getting back up the thick tree trunks was difficult. Lexi was exhausted, and even though there were plenty of hand- and footholds, she had to force herself to keep moving. Tiberius, on the other hand, was unstoppable. He didn’t rest, even though she could see in his movements that he was just as tired as she was. What was worse, he wouldn’t talk to her. He responded when she asked him a direct question, but his answers were short, his voice emotionless. She wasn’t sure what had happened when he touched the Emerystone, but she knew it had frightened him.
The climb back up through the gnarled trees was strenuous. They had run out of water, and it seemed to Lexi like her throat was full of dust, dirt, and tree bark. Swallowing was painful, and she couldn’t keep from chewing her tongue. Eventually they saw light far above them, and Lexi felt a glimmer of hope. She didn’t know what would happen in the days ahead, but she knew there was rest and comfort in the war ship that was waiting for their return.
“How much farther?” she asked, still in shock that she was more tired than Tiberius.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Lexi looked up. There were no leaves on the twisted branches, the canopy overhead was made up of barren branches, and judging the distance they had to climb was almost impossible. To Lexi, it felt like the tunnel would never end. The gloom around them was growing lighter, and she could make out darker shapes among the shadows.
“Can we stop for a minute?” Lexi asked.
Her hands were raw from the rough bark on the trees, and her legs burned with the effort she exerted as she climbed. She was strong, but the darkness and lack of water were taking a heavy toll. She never thought she would hate the darkness, but her adventures with Tiberius across the blighted lands had changed her. She wasn’t just a survivor anymore. She didn’t need darkness to hide in, nor did she feel the need to keep her distance from the people around her. All she wanted was for Tiberius to confide in her, but after their conversation in the camp—which seemed like years ago to Lexi, even though she knew it had only been a few hours previous—he refused to talk. He was angry, and she couldn't understand that. She was so proud of what he’d accomplished. Getting the Emerystone had been the caper of all capers. Not even Lexi could have taken it without his powerful magic. And he had been incredibly strong, too, holding her with the rope and pulling her back up all by himself. She wanted to praise his amazing feat, to revel in their success, but he wouldn’t hear it. The Emerystone had no power, and he felt betrayed.
They rested, but Tiberius didn’t talk to her. He looked up, and then he looked back down the tunnel, as if he expected something to come chasing after them if they didn’t get to the top fast enough. She was more than ready to get out of the forest, but for different reasons than Tiberius. He wanted to get back to Avondale and to find a way to stop his brother from destroying the kingdom. She just wanted to eat and sleep.
“Let’s get going,” he said.
He didn’t wait for Lexi to agree, and she made a face at him behind his back. She didn’t like being left out of his thoughts and plans. But she knew what it was like to be angry, to feel betrayed, so she gave him the space she knew he needed.
As the light around them grew brighter, Lexi’s spirits rose. She could see light shining though the boughs above them, and the feeling of being close to the top of the tree tunnel gave her a boost of confidence. Tiberius was climbing faster, too; they were grunting, and Lexi felt sweat rolling down the back of her neck, but she didn’t care. She just wanted out of the darkness, out of the twisted trees and dirt and the constant smell of decay.
She reached her hand out for a thin branch that curved across the tunnel, but as soon as her hand touched it, she knew she was in trouble. She tried to recoil, but the brown snake was too fast. It coiled around her arm, its body so strong that Lexi’s cry of surprise soon turned into a wail of agony. She felt as if the creature were going to pull her arm out of its socket.
The snake—if that’s really what the beast was—had skin that, in the shadowy canopy of the twisted forest, looked exactly like the brown, rugged tree bark. Lexi fought to pull herself away from the creature, leaning back dangerously over the chasm below, but another coil shot out and wrapped around one leg.
“Lexi!” Tiberius shouted.
The light from his simple illumination spell flared brightly, and Lexi had to close her eyes. Another coil shot out and encircled Lexi’s waist. It slithered up her midsection and across her chest. The coils squeezed so tightly that Lexi couldn’t breathe. Her screams were cut off, and she felt an awful pain in her back as her lungs burned and her vision swam.
The forest was dark all around her, but Lexi thought she saw two black eyes staring at her. They weren’t round, but slivers of oblivion that seemed to call out to her soul. She felt an icy gust of terror and heard Tiberius screaming from somewhere above her.
Specula Fulsi!
She knew she was losing touch with reality. Not even Tiberius’ words made sense. It was just gibberish to her. She could hear a hissing noise, and the pain was getting worse. She caught sight of a gaping maw, dripping with clear, viscous fluids. There were no teeth, just a dripping beak-like pincer that was open wide in greedy anticipation.
Specula Fulsi!
The hissing grew louder, and Lexi smelled a horrible stench. The coils tightened, and Lexi saw bright spots floating in the dark forest. She was on the verge of passing out when the creature relaxed its hold on her. Lexi took in a deep breath of air, and her vision snapped back into focus. She saw what looked to her like a wand of light coming from above her. The light touched the thick coils around her leg, and the tough, scaly hide blistered then split apart.
Lexi was hanging over the chasm, suspended by one arm that was still held fast in the creature’s tentacle. The fear, fatigue, and lack of oxygen that had paralyzed her just moments before were gone. Adrenaline flooded through her veins, and she realized that she had to do something to get away from the monster that was intent on making her its next meal. She kicked her legs and swung her body, ignoring the wrenching pain in her shoulder. One foot caught on a branch, and she pulled herself up, taking hold of another tree trunk with her free hand.
The coil around her arm tightened, causing Lexi to scream again. The fat, snake-like tentacle was wrapped around her upper arm and onto her shoulder. It pushed against her neck, and Lexi was sure it was going to rip her arm off. If it couldn’t eat all of her, it was going to take whatever it could get. Then came the blinding beam of light again. Lexi looked away but heard the sizzle of flesh and blood being burned. She could smell the char of the creature’s flesh, felt the tentacle around her arm shaking but not letting go.
Then came a huge roar. The sound was like a roll of thunder. The beast’s tentacles were everywhere in the twisted mass of branches and curving tree trunks. Wood cracked, and the entire tunnel shook as the beast raged, but finally it let go. The relief was immediate, but Lexi didn’t wait to enjoy it. She immediately began climbing, trying to get as far away from the monster as possible. The branches and leaves were shaking so violently that Lexi had trouble keeping a grip as she scrambled upward.
Then there was another roar, this time accompanied by a hot blast of putrid air. Lexi looked over her shoulder and saw the creature slithering out from the twisted maze of tree trunks and gnarled branches, into the tunnel. It was a huge worm, with a long, thick body and grasping tentacles reaching out from all along the brown, scaly body. It had two large black eyes, and in the center of one stubby end of its tube shaped body was the pincer mouth. Lexi spotted black blood and severed tentacles, but the creature was still hungry and hadn’t given up on making a meal out of Lexi.
“Climb!” Tiberius shouted. “Come on!”
His hand was reaching out for Lexi, and she hurried forward to grab it. Tiberius wasn’t a big man, and Rafe had handled all the heavy lifting when they were in the blighted lands, but T
iberius pulled Lexi’s body up quickly beside his own. And then they were scrambling upward. The creature below them shook the trees hard, hoping to shake them loose so they would fall into its open mouth.
Lexi struggled to hang on, but she was determined not to fall. After a moment she even continued upward. Tiberius stayed right beside her, occasionally looking down at the terror below them. The creature was gaining on them. Lexi guessed it could have reached out with its tentacles and grabbed hold of them, perhaps even pulling them down into its ravenous mouth, but Tiberius’ magic had made it cautious. Lexi thought it must be waiting until it was close enough to snatch them quickly back down.
“We have to stop it,” Lexi said. “It’s going to catch us.”
“I know,” Tiberius said. “Keep climbing.”
Lexi hadn’t bothered to look past her next hand hold. Her mind was on the verge of panic, expecting to feel the squeeze of the scaly creature’s tentacles at any moment. When she finally glanced ahead, she was shocked to see how close they were to the surface of the forest. She knew if they could just get to the war ship they would be able to escape. They only needed a few more seconds, perhaps a minute.
She was out of breath, and sweat was stinging her eyes, but Lexi didn’t stop, even though every muscle was burning and there was blood on her hands and legs from scrambling so quickly up through the wooden tunnel. One glance just before she made it out showed that the creature wasn’t afraid to chase them right to the top of the canopy. In a normal forest, the treetops would have bent and broken under the giant worm’s weight, but the twisted forest was different. It was much more than a group of trees, almost like a gigantic brush pile where dead and uprooted trees had been tossed along with those still growing. Some of the trees were upside down, and others were sideways, with all the trunks, branches, and roots snarled together.
Lexi felt a thrill of excitement as she scrambled up through the roots of an upturned tree and out onto the top of the forest. The sky overhead was a bright amber, and a breeze was blowing that felt magical as it cooled her sweat-dampened skin, but Lexi’s relief was short-lived. She could hear the creature coming up, even as she bent down to grab Tiberius’ hand and help him up.
Avondale V Page 17