Finley meanwhile was finding it difficult to keep up with the young prince as he sprinted down one corridor before turning down another. The boy suddenly stopped outside a set of white double doors, again guarded by one of the Elite Royal soldiers. The Prince pushed the doors open and ran across the room to another door, “Come on it’s in here!” he said. Breathing hard, Finley puffed out his cheeks, as the young Prince pointed to a glass case along one wall. “The Sword of Light!” he said proudly before stepping over and lifting the lid from the case. Finley watched as the youngster carefully took the blade from its stand and lifted it out.
After swishing it about a few times, Finley could tell that the prince was clearly quite adept with a sword in his hand. The prince then turned the weapon about and held the hilt out towards Finley. “Here take it,” he said watching as Finley slowly reached out with his own hand. Looking at the sword, he did think it rather dull and was as the King had described. However, when his fingers wrapped around the hilt of it, he felt a surge of energy run through his body as if suddenly charged and revitalised.
The Prince took a step back holding his arms out, “Whoah!” was the only word he could muster.
“What?” Finley asked unsure as to what the young royal had seen.
“You glowed…Only briefly… but you did.”
“Really? I did feel kind of strange,” he added, but the prince was already moving across the room.
“Here look at this picture…It looks like you, see holding the sword aloft.”
“That’s ridiculous, how can it be me?” Finley scoffed although did look a little closer. On inspection, he had to admit that the character did have certain resemblances to himself. Moreover, something more interesting to him at least, was the others stood beside the main character of the picture. An Orc, a Dwarf, A troll and an elf and stood just behind those a white wolf. “This can not be,” he mumbled as much to himself as to the young prince.
“You believe me now?”
“I do, but I have no idea how a picture painted hundreds of years ago could possibly show me. See this here,” he added pointing to the white figure behind the main character holding the Sword of Light aloft. “I have a link to a wolf. A white one the same as that. See him,” he said pointing to the Orc, “I have an adopted brother who is an Orc.”
“Unbelievable,” The young prince replied looking a little more closely at the other figures in the picture. In all honesty, he had not made the connection before. All five races including a troll were stood around the main character. “Only problem is I bet you don’t have a troll,” the prince added. While the image might have depicted small armies of all the races surrounding the main characters, Finley knew they did have a representation of all the races, and did indeed have a troll.
“We do. His name is Akeev…”
Realising they had probably not got off to the best starts the young prince formally introduced himself to Finley and offered a hand in friendship. “Please call me James,” the Prince said before suggesting that Galdrac and his father needed to see the picture. Finley agreed, yet despite all the logical reasoning, he had to admit the painting did indeed appear to show not only him but the others in his group as well. After offering the sword back to James, he was surprised to be told to keep it, “At least for now. I am sure it is meant for you, not me.” Finley had to admit holding the weapon did make him feel so full of energy, although as to why he was as yet unsure. With a spring in his step, he followed James out of the door, as the prince carried the painting under his arm, setting off at a much more reasonable pace than when they had made the opposite journey.
Chapter 13.
In the past few days, the patrols around Calness had seen a significant increase in Orc activity. While the promise of reinforcements was still supposedly good, they had not yet arrived. With the number of dead slowly growing, the Commander in charge was having to cut back and concentrate his main strength in defending his garrison town.
Since Jaxon’s involvement several days earlier in heroically jumping down off the palisade to aid a small girl fleeing two Orcs, he had seen very little action from his defensive position. Yet each day he watched his comrades venture out on patrols, and each time fewer came back. The Orc clan responsible certainly seemed to be growing in confidence, and Jaxon now thought it only a matter of time before a larger force took the step into the human lands.
Maya, a Mage of some skill, despite her young years, was one of only two magicians currently stationed at Calness. As a result of this, the Commander had made sure both remained within the confines of the palisade as part of the town’s defence. Naturally, at least as far as Jaxon was concerned, this had been a good thing. The young soldier often found himself gazing longingly towards her while on duty, as she had passed below his position. Unfortunately for him, Maya had not shown any interest in return, and aside from the odd acknowledging wave she probably barely knew he even existed.
After climbing one of the short wooden ladders that allowed access to the ledge that acted as the walkway around the perimeter fencing, Jaxon looked up at the morning sky. With just a few clouds he thought it looked as if it could be another beautiful day. Despite the early hour, he could already hear people in the streets below him, going about their daily business as if nothing else was going on in the world. The smell of freshly baked bread drifted on the morning breeze, which he inhaled just a little more deeply to appreciate the aroma.
As far as the outside of the perimeter went, all appeared as it should. He could see a few birds swooping down from the trees in the distance probably hoping to catch a worm, before flying back up into the air again. Jaxon had thought under different circumstances, Calness would probably have a nice place to live. The people were generally friendly, and he thought genuinely thankful of the service he and the other soldiers provided for them. The location was a far cry from the capital. Here just a few minutes walk could see you out amongst the countryside, rolling fields or thick woodland. The town was generally quite quiet, aside from the usual hustle and bustle of everyday life, and apart from their Orc problem would be as safe a place to live as any he knew.
Jaxon paused a few moments as he spotted several birds all take airborne from an area of trees. While it was quite likely nothing of note, something held his gaze. He had walked the perimeter fencing every morning since his arrival and had became acquainted with the characteristic sights and sounds of the area. Seeing so many birds take flight in one go was not an event he could put into that category. Of course, it might have just been a wild animal somewhere amongst the trees looking for its breakfast. However he also knew it could be something far more sinister, and as a result watched the area for a little bit longer, to see if anything else unusual happened.
Scanning his eyes along the tree line, he looked for any signs of movement. There, among the thick trunks of the trees, he thought he saw something glistening, reflecting the light of the morning sun. Something metal perhaps, a sword or shield, but whatever it was he knew it probably meant trouble lurking. He could, of course, be entirely wrong and raising the alarm now might land him in hot water if nothing untoward happened. However, Jaxon also knew that if he was right and didn't do anything, then within a couple of minutes there could be dozens of blood-crazed Orcs charging across the open land towards the unprepared town.
Although he wanted to go to his bow first, he reached down to the whistle he had been handed a few days earlier. This was an idea of the commander, who hoped this would be better than him trying to shout a warning. Jaxon nervously and slowly lifted his hand upwards and felt the cold metal of the whistle on his lips, all the time keeping a watchful eye on the trees. He spotted something moving just to the left of where he had seen the metal glistening, and that was good enough for him.
Taking a deep breath, Jaxon blew as hard as he could, as the whistle emitted a single high pitched tone that he thought could probably be heard in the next town over. He blew again, keeping the whistle in his
mouth while letting his bow slip from his shoulder in readiness for what might emerge from the trees. The next few moments seemed somewhat surreal, as the sounds of life going on in the town below him appeared to cease, as people froze where they were stood.
Jaxon thought he might have made a mistake, sounding the warning off too early as he kept his gaze fixed on the wooded area just a few hundred yards away. Behind him, he could suddenly hear the shouts of panicking voices of the townsfolk as they realised what the sound meant. The thumping feet of soldiers emerging from the garrison building and clambering up on the walkway around the inside of the palisade made Jaxon turn slightly as the Commander positioned himself alongside.
“What have you seen?” the man asked sounding relatively calm considering the panic Jaxon’s warning had quite noticeably caused. “Movement in the trees. There!” he said pointing to show his Commander the location. The man, probably old enough to be Jaxon’s father, leant his head forward as if straining to see. The man need not have bothered as a few seconds later dozens of Orcs came running out of the cover of the trees and out into the open.
Screaming and yelling as Orcs often appeared to do when in battle, more emerged as Jaxon fired off his first arrow. Although at the limit of his range, he managed to hit one of the leading Orcs in the lower leg, and while it was by no means a telling blow, it did at least force it to pull up. “To your posts!” Jaxon heard the commander shouting as the Orcs covered the ground between the trees and the town defences far too quickly for Jaxon’s liking.
His second arrow missed entirely, but his third struck an advancing orc straight in the chest stopping it dead in its tracks. However, with no time to feel pleased with his shot, he fired as quickly as he could, although in doing so his accuracy seemed to falter slightly. Within just a minute the attackers were smashing into the gates that had hastily been reinforced, with several guards now firing down upon them. While Jaxon had quickly learned that Orcs were probably not the most intelligent of beings, they were undoubtedly vicious and incredibly powerful warriors.
While the Orc physiology did mean using a bow and arrow was difficult, they did sometimes use crossbows and spears. The latter of which sent Jaxon diving for cover as one was launched his direction with such force it thumped into a wall of a house in the town some distance behind him. The man a few paces down from his position, however, was not so quick and nimble, and Jaxon watched in horror as the spear struck with such force that the tip protruded through to the other side of the man’s body.
Although causing the attackers casualties, it was not without loss to their own side. Moreover, the Orcs were still emerging from the tree, some of whom now had crudely made ladders, which Jaxon knew could only mean one thing. This attack was not merely a hit and run, this was for real. The Orcs were here to take the town and would likely kill every man, woman and child within it if they succeeded. While the clan responsible for all these attacks was considered one of the lesser ones, at least as far as the Orcish hierarchy was concerned, it was very evident that they were throwing everything they had into the attack.
Jaxon was quickly aware that the attackers now outnumbered the soldiers defending the town. He turned to his right to see two men struggling to tip a ladder away from the top of the palisade before a fireball did the job for them. He watched in awe as Maya moved slowly along the walkway nearer to his position twisting a staff in her hands before sending out another. With so many attackers and so few defenders, it was only a matter of time before an Orc managed to breach the defences. So that proved to be the case just a few minutes into the battle as someone shouted that they were climbing over in an area of the wall with fewer men to defend it.
Fortunately for the town of Calness, the Commander of the Garrison was a man who took his job seriously. Now the likelihood existed that they might have to retreat, he gave the signal for the townsfolk below his position to make their way to the Garrison building. Women and children first, just as they had practised, while the men were to take up arms and assist the soldiers. Jaxon felt his sleeve being pulled and turned to see the Commander, “See she gets to the Garrison building. Go!” he shouted pointing to the Mage that was just launching another ball of fire.
Jaxon did not argue, and after slipping his bow back over his shoulder and drawing his sword, he ran towards Maya. “You have to go to the Garrison building,” he shouted trying to make himself heard over the noise of the ensuing battle. She turned to look at him with a somewhat confused and puzzling appearance. “Commander says I have to get you back there now,” he shouted. Whether Maya believed him or not Jaxon was unsure, but she eventually nodded for him to lead the way along the walkway to the nearest ladder. Jaxon did think of merely jumping down as opposed to climbing, after all the drop was not that great, although something told him not to be stupid and take the appropriate means. Slipping and twisting a knee or ankle from being foolish would as good as put him out of action at a time when every man needed to be fighting.
“Come on!” he shouted to Maya, as he spotted two civilian men get systematically scythed down by an orcish warrior. While Jaxon knew he would be no match for the being in physical strength, at range and with his bow in hand, he had a chance. Dropping his sword to the ground, he quickly pulled one of his specially made arrows from the quiver and placed it ready to fire. Pulling back as hard as he could on the bowstring he aimed, trying to keep his breathing calm, before releasing the arrow. Flying exact and straight it hit the beast impressively in the area of the heart, his different kind of arrow tip cutting deep into the Orc’s flesh and sending it reeling to the ground.
Although he would have liked to have looked to see if Maya was impressed with his shot, he knew time was of the essence. Without further ado, he replaced his bow over his shoulder and picked up his discarded sword, before continuing the short trip to the Garrison building. With Orcs starting to encroach into the town, the doors would very soon have to be closed or risk them getting inside. Jaxon knew he was going to be one of the lucky few, as when the doors closed they would not be opened again to let any more in.
With most of the town’s residents having already made their way to the main room in the Garrison building, he was glad to see the other magician at the door shepherding others in as fast as he could. Jaxon spotted at least three or four more soldiers running from the far side to his position, probably an indication that area of the wall had been overrun. With Maya safely inside he stood by the entrance to see if he could help, as he heard the sound of a horn. This he knew was the general sound for all to retreat, and it would be a race to see how many could get back to the Garrison before the doors were shut and bolted.
Knowing there would likely be Orcs pursuing any soldiers he readied his bow again and spotted one such figure. Two soldiers were hurriedly trying to make their way back to the Garrison, and Jaxon knew he could help them achieve it. With just one arrow he hit his intended target, and although not a killing blow it was sufficient enough to allow the men fleeing adequate time to get back.
With the Commander being one of the last inside, the order was given to shut the doors. Any left outside would have to fend for themselves or hide and hope the Orcs did not find them. The perimeter palisade at Calness had barely kept the attackers out for more than twenty minutes, and while dozens of Orcs now lay dead, it had not been without cost. At least half of the town’s soldiers were unaccounted for, and it soon became apparent a score, or more citizens had also not made it back.
Even though they had made it to the Garrison Building, their safety was by no means assured. This just allowed a short reprieve, as now standing up on the battlements they could see Orcs flooding through the town’s streets. The gates were opened, and aside from their last defensive position, Calness had fallen. Even if the Orcs failed to breach the walls of the Garrison, it did not take a genius to work out those trapped inside could not stay there forever. At most, with the supplies in the stores and with careful rationing, perhaps a few days at mos
t, even if the Orcs decided to leave them be.
Chapter 14.
Finley was not best pleased with the way Galdrac had used him as a bargaining tool. To make sure the king sent forces to help the Elves and Dwarfs had taken some persuading, with Finley and Arach being the compromise and key factor in the negotiations. Only with the assurance that for now at least, they helped the humans would the King agree to such demands.
Naturally, Finley had suggested it would probably be better if he went to fight on the front lines, but Galdrac had told him that the time was not yet right. Moreover, that is precisely what Abalyon would be expecting him to do and would probably target either him or Arach. With the knowledge that the more powerful Finley became, the more at risk he was of turning to Abalyon, Galdrac knew he needed to use his young friend sparingly. Throwing him into battle would have seemed the obvious thing to do. After all, the youngster was probably the best weapon they had against the marauding hordes of balgraf.
Galdrac, however, had looked at the painting shown to him by the Prince. While the King had thought it merely a coincidence, Galdrac had lived too many years to know such things did not exist without reason. After studying the painting a little more carefully, Galdrac was certain it did indeed show not only Finley but the others of the group as well. Moreover, he was all but sure that he knew where the location was as well, although kept that part to himself as he was not yet entirely certain.
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