Dawn of the Valiant (The Valerious Chronicles: Book One)

by Julian Saheed

"Ladders!" shouted one of the officers standing by the battlements. The General turned and ran to the wall to see the huge ladders being carried forward by Dargonian soldiers.

  "Archers ready," ordered the General.

  The defending soldiers ran to the edge of the wall and readied their bows. Moments before, the siege engines had stopped firing directly at the wall and the soldiers knew what this meant. Behind the hundreds of ladders being heaved to the wall came the fist line of soldiers to enter the fighting. The General knew that these would be Zephra's most expendable troops. Most would likely not even reach the battlements.

  The archers began to unleash their arrows from the wall. The front lines of enemy troops fell to the floor as they were pinned down by multiple shafts and the General was pleased to see that for the first time the Feldonians were inflicting substantial casualties. He laughed momentarily to himself. This was Feldom's turn to strike back.

  Then the first ladders struck the top of the wall and the enemy began to climb.

  "Ready the oil," yelled the General, causing several soldier to bring up big pots of boiling oil, that had been bubbling away for hours. Those first men climbing the ladders screamed in terror as the defenders poured the hot oil down the battlements. Crossbowmen ran to the ladders and picked off the remaining climbers, making the scaling of the wall an almost impossible task.

  As the battle wore on even more ladders struck the wall and soon there were too many to hold back. Sergeant Hanlit, standing on the northern half of the wall, knew that this was his time to act. He pulled out a small horn and blew a long note into the air. With strict precision half of the archers aligning the wall dropped their bows and ran to the many caches of shields on the wall to prepare for hand to hand combat. The Sergeant ran along the wall making sure that enough of the defenders were ready for the wave of soldiers that would soon reach the top of the wall.

  Finally, in several spots they broke through the defences. Attackers rushed up the ladders with a savage frenzy, striking down defenders and making the ladders safe for their fellow soldiers. Hanlit could see that too many of the ladders were being made safe and realized that the wall would be overrun with the black armoured Dargonians. He drew his own sword and ran into one of the Dargonian attackers pushing him off the wall. Instantly, he was set upon by three others and was forced to move back. He parried the first attacker's sword and narrowly missed a high slice from the second. To his relief he was quickly aided by his fellow soldiers.

  Further south, Guthrum pulled his sword from the chest of a dead attacker and in one swift move severed the head from the next one. The Dargonians were drawn to him because of his golden armour, but few could match his skills. As they approached he struck them down with quick strikes. Next to him stood several of the city's finest soldiers, who had been ordered by Coppercloud to protect the General.

  With more of the ladders being secured, the regular infantry were able to reach the top of the wall. Amongst these, elites carrying the deadly Dargonian shields and short swords. The General cursed when he saw them jump from the ladders.

  He peered over the wall and saw a large contingent of heavily armoured footmen carrying axes. "So many," he muttered under his breath. He noticed that the axemen were standing directly in front of the gate and laughed. They cannot expect to see the mighty gate open. The gate of the eastern wall was unbreakable. Once the locks were in place, the only way to open it was from the inside.

  The defenders were slowly pushed away from the edge and were forced to fight in the middle of the wall, allowing even more of the Dargonians to reach the top. Guthrum sidestepped the sword of an attacker and cut into the man's back, sending him to the floor. He then raised his shield to stop a second attacker's sharp sword. A Feldonian soldier ran the man through with his own sword, but was struck from behind as two more attacker's leapt up. Guthrum charged at them furiously and killed the first with a blow to the head before he could raise his shield. The second Dargonian acted quickly and brought his shield across the General's face, striking him in the helm and almost cutting through his skull with the sharp edge of the shield. The General then felt hot metal run through his arm as the attacker thrust out with his short sword. Guthrum fell back and another defender took his place.

  He checked his wound and was relieved to see that the blade hadn't pierced too deep. Sergeant Hanlit appeared and saw the blood showing through the General's helmet and bracer. "Are you alright, Sir?"

  "I'm fine," roared the General. "How is the northern section holding up?"

  "Not good, Sir. They overwhelm us. We will not be able to stop them from reaching the stairs to the city for to much longer."

  The General already knew that, but there was nothing else that they could do. As long as they held them away from the gate they would be able to inflict as much damage as possible. "Return to your post and make sure that your men stand fast, Sergeant."

  Hanlit nodded and replied, "Skiye be with you General."

  The General ran back to the line of defenders and pushed an attacker back with his shield. The defenders around him were having great difficulty stopping the Dargonians and all over the wall injured soldiers moaned and cried out for help. He struck out at the nearest foe, taking the man's arm from his body and then swung around in a wide arc with his sword, hitting several attackers. The General's wild swings gave the attackers caution in approaching. Enemies fell to the General's blade and the defenders were given courage to fight harder.

  Fighting alongside his guards the General managed to make his way back to the edge of the wall. He raised his sword and plunged it deep into an Elite's chest. He then looked over the edge. Peering down upon the Dargonian army, he let his sword fall to his side. The group of axemen were making their way to the city wall and passing into the city. The mighty gate, bearing the symbols of Nyrune and Skiye, had been opened.