by Pedro Urvi
Lasgol was awed. This was a siege to end all sieges. Deeply unpleasant memories came to his mind. They were in a disastrous situation. He could make out the defenders on the battlements, armed with bows and spears. The king did not have enough men to withstand that kind of siege for very long. The Wild Ones and the Arcanes would wear down the defending forces.
Another thought occurred to him: the Frozen Specter. He called upon his Hawk’s Eye skill and searched for it among the enemy forces, but could not see it. And yet if the hosts of the Frozen Continent were laying siege to Norghania, it could only be because they could count on its help. It had to be somewhere, even if he could not see it.
Eicewald too was watching the distribution of the enemy forces around the city. There was no way in or out of the capital. “How are we going to get in, Captain Enveras?” he asked.
“It’s all prepared, King’s Mage. Commander Sven’s waiting to hear of my return. I’ve already sent news by pigeon. He’ll have got it by now, and he’ll set a stratagem in motion to let us slip in.”
“I see. Was it Commander Sven who planned it?”
“Yes, with the help of the First Ranger Gatik.”
“Good. Then how do we get in?”
“We have to wait for nightfall.”
“Right. We’ll get ourselves hidden in the woods.”
When it was completely dark, Captain Enveras came to the group. “Time to get moving,” he said. “We go in through the southern gate.”
Viggo, who was listening, looked skeptical. “There are a thousand Wild Ones in front of it,” he whispered to Lasgol.
“Have faith. They must have thought of something.”
“Yeah, and I’m one of the trusting ones …”
“Don’t protest so much and listen to our orders,” Ingrid snapped at him.
A raven flew back to the captain with the instructions. “Everything’s ready,” he said. “Now we can set off.”
“This is going to be a laugh a minute,” Viggo grumbled.
“Stay together at all times,” Ingrid told them.
The look in Gerd and Nilsa’s eyes suggested that they did not have much faith in the plan. Lasgol noticed their uneasiness. “We’ll make it!” he said encouragingly.
They rode until they were behind the Wild Ones who were guarding the southern gate, then waited in silence. Suddenly horns and Norghanian war cries rang out. The northern wall was lit up from one end to the other with torches, and at the same moment several thousand archers appeared on it and began to launch arrows against the Wild Ones. The remaining three walls, on the other hand, were still deserted. The maneuver surprised the Wild Ones by the southern wall, who began to grow restless. One group began to move northeast and another northwest, seeking to find out what was going on at the western wall and whether reinforcements were needed. The line began to break up.
Suddenly the southern gate opened. From within the city came the Royal Rangers, accompanied by the Royal Guard. They began to advance toward the Wild Ones, who had been taken by surprise.
“Now!” yelled Captain Enveras, and they galloped straight to the gate.
The Royal Rangers and the Guard managed to break the line of Wild Ones, creating a narrow corridor.
They were all galloping as fast as their horses were able. Lasgol was beside Eicewald, who was not a good rider. Camu and Ona were at his side all the time, with Viggo behind them, Ingrid at the head of the charge, and Nilsa and Gerd behind her. Several Wild Ones saw them charging, and hurled themselves at them. Several of the captain’s riders fell under the blows of their axes. Ingrid released at a Wild One who was crossing their path on the right, and Nilsa did the same on the left. Gerd delivered a kick at one who attempted to seize him.
“To the breach!” Captain Enveras shouted.
Several of his men in the front line fell, but the Rangers and the Guard managed to hold the narrow corridor they had opened up. When Enveras reached it, he crossed it with a few of his men. Ingrid released again and faced the breach, with Nilsa and Gerd behind her. Lasgol noticed that Eicewald looked as though he was about to fall off his horse at any moment. If he did, everything would be over. Viggo had seen this too, and took up a position on the Mage’s other side to protect him.
They reached the breach just as it was beginning to close. At the same time more of those Wild Ones who had abandoned their posts began to come back to see what was happening.
“We’re there!” Lasgol shouted to Eicewald, who was holding on to his horse with all his might.
Two Wild Ones tried to close the gap, but the Royal Rangers riddled them with arrows. They fell dead, and the galloping horses leapt over their bodies on their way into the city. The group made their way in, and no sooner had they done so than the gates started to close. Rangers and Guards withdrew and made it inside only a moment before the gates closed behind them.
They brought their horses to a halt.
“Is everybody okay?” Ingrid asked, staring at them with worried eyes.
“Fine,” Lasgol said breathlessly. He had turned to Eicewald, who seemed to be about to fall off his horse.
Ona and Camu were fine. Their tongues were lolling, but they were well. So was Trotter.
“We should do this more often,” Viggo said jovially. “It’s been really fun.”
Ingrid rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, really fun,” Gerd repeated scornfully.
An officer approached them. “You are expected in the throne hall,” he said.
“All of us?” asked Viggo.
“No, only the King’s Mage.”
“That’s better. I feel like resting a bit. Too many emotions.” He made as if he were about to faint, and Ingrid jabbed him with her elbow.
“Lasgol comes with me to see the King,” Eicewald objected. “I need him.”
“As you wish, King’s Mage.”
Lasgol looked doubtfully at the Mage.
“It would be better if you heard it firsthand whatever they have to say. You’ll have to help me with the spell, as you did last time.”
“Oh, okay, then.”
Nilsa was shaking her head, and Gerd did not look very happy.
“We’ll look after them,” Ingrid said, indicating Ona.
“Thanks,” Lasgol said. Then he turned to Ona. He knew Camu was beside her, even though he could not see him. Stay with Ingrid. I’ll be back shortly. Don’t get into trouble, and be good.
We good.
Lasgol smiled. I know you are.
The officer gestured them to follow him, and they rode through the city to the royal castle. Lasgol could not see much in the darkness of the night and with no lights burning in the city, but he had the impression that things were not going at all well here. By now the city had been under siege for some time.
They were led to the castle very quickly. When the portcullis was raised and they were allowed in, they dismounted. Immediately an officer of the Royal Guard asked them to follow him to the throne hall, where King Thoran was waiting for them.
“Eicewald, at last!” Orten barked in greeting as Eicewald and Lasgol approached the throne. “We were beginning to think you weren’t coming back!” He was standing beside his brother, who was sitting on the throne looking annoyed.
“I hope you’re back with good news, for your own good and that of all of us,” the King said, also without even any pretense of a greeting. There was a glint of despair in his eyes.
“Your Majesty, my lord,” the Ice Mage said as he knelt before them. Then he nodded courteously to Commander Sven and Gatik, who were watching him from the King’s left.
“Did you get it?” Orten insisted urgently. “In case you hadn’t noticed, the situation is desperate. That accursed Specter is decimating us.”
Eicewald took the Star of Sea and Life out of his travelling bag very carefully and showed it to them. “We were successful,” he said, indicating Lasgol who was standing behind him in silence.
Thoran rose to his feet. “
Is that the Object of Power you went to look for?” he asked. His eyes were wide, bright with hope.
“It is, your Majesty.”
Everybody stared in fascination at the Star of Sea and Life, as if it were able to work a miracle at a moment’s notice.
“It’s surprising,” Gatik commented.
“So it is,” Sven admitted. “I wasn’t expecting it to be like this either.”
With his hands raised high, Eicewald went on displaying the Star, with its five sea-blue tips, the width of two hands. It was mottled with an infinite number of bright spots which looked like tiny diamonds.
“Will you be able to kill that thing of the ice with it?” Orten asked.
“I hope to be able to destroy it. I’ll need the other Ice Magi.”
“They’re alive,” Sven told him. “We haven’t risked their lives too much in case this moment finally arrived.”
“I’m glad to know that,” the Mage said, and this was no mere courteous turn of phrase. Lasgol saw in his face and his dark eyes – which he was already beginning to decipher – that this was really true.
“We were expecting you a month ago,” Thoran said, sounding annoyed.
“I came as fast as I could. I was very much aware of the danger the realm was in.”
“We’ve barely been able to hold out!” the King barked at him. “We’ve been under siege for six weeks, and they almost managed to break through three times!”
“Getting the Star turned out to be complicated … very complicated …”
“I’ve no time for your excuses!”
Lasgol swallowed. The King was having one of his famous tantrums, and the best thing to do at those times was to lower your head and say nothing. Eicewald knew this, and did the same. Both of them were silent, staring at the floor.
“And that’s without counting the three weeks we spent trying to delay them as they came down from the mountains,” Orten added.
The King took a couple of steps to one side, then turned and came back. The gleam of hatred faded slowly from his eyes. “We’re still here, which is the important thing,” he said more calmly. “Now we have to turn the situation around. And to do it quickly, before they manage to get into the city and everything’s lost.”
“I’ll deal with it, your Majesty.
Thoran jabbed his finger at him. “Do not fail me!”
“Does the Specter come close to the wall?” Eicewald asked.
“Not always,” Gatik said. “There are days when it does, then sometimes it disappears for several days. Which is a blessing for us.”
“We don’t know why, but that’s how it acts,” Sven added. “It doesn’t always follow its leaders’ designs.”
“That’s understandable,” the Mage said thoughtfully. “It’s a creature with free will. The fact that they’re using it doesn’t mean they can always do it, or that the creature is willing.”
“Of course, that monster’s willing to kill!” Orten said. “It stretches out its arms and seizes our men on the walls. They die a horrible death.”
Lasgol was petrified. If the Specter could reach the battlements, that meant that either it had grown enormously, or else that its arms now stretched much further.
“I’ll need to do some preparation with the Ice Magi,” said Eicewald.
“Well, do it fast,” Thoran snapped back. “We don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to hold out.”
“This very moment, your Majesty,” Eicewald said, and turned to leave. He gestured to Lasgol to follow him.
“Sven, have the soldiers get ready,” the king ordered the Commander.
“Yes, your Majesty,” Sven replied. “The men are ready.”
“And so are the Rangers,” Gatik added
“Don’t fail me!” Thoran yelled as they all left the throne hall. He was not in the least convinced that they would manage to defeat the Specter and the enemy forces.
Chapter 35
At dawn the horns rang out in warning throughout the besieged city, and were heard as far as the Royal Castle. From the Tower of the Magi, came Eicewald with his Ice Magi, who waited in front of the Rangers’ Tower for Lasgol and his companions. They nodded to one another, looking serious and troubled, then made their way to the north wall, where the attack was under way.
Sven and Gatik were already on the battlements, giving orders to soldiers and Rangers who were trying to repel the attack.
“Release against the enemy!” Sven shouted. “Show them what a Norghanian’s worth!”
“Don’t let them get as far as the gate!” Gatik yelled to his Rangers at the top of his voice.
The defenders launched arrows against the attackers. The enormous Wild Ones of the Ice, with the aid of the Tundra Dwellers, were trying to take the walls. The Arcanes of the Glaciers could not come close because the Rangers, whose bows had a longer range than the magic of the Arcanes, had orders to shoot at them first.
Lasgol and his companions went to stand beside the Rangers on the battlements, to the right of the gate, and began releasing against the enemy lines, which were advancing like a white tide. The soldiers were shooting from the left-hand side of the wall and above the gate, where they were also preparing a large cauldron of boiling oil to pour over the assailants.
The Wild Ones of the Ice were attacking the gate, which was very damaged by now and was not likely to hold up much longer, in spite of the enormous barricade Sven’s men had built behind it. The Peoples of the Frozen Continent had no siege weapons, which until now had saved the defenders. However, they had their own more primitive methods of attacking the wall, and in particular the city gates, which were the weakest point in the Norghanian defense.
A group of a dozen Wild Ones approached at a run. Between them they were carrying a huge tree with one end like an arrowhead.
“Battering ram!” Sven shouted in warning.
“Don’t let them reach the gate!” Gatik ordered.
The Rangers’ arrows killed them all a hundred paces from the gate. The tree they had been carrying as a ram was left lying on the ground among the corpses.
Viggo smiled. “This is too easy. It’s like shooting ducks in a pond.”
“Well, I don’t know … you need a dozen arrows to bring down a single one of those mammoths,” Gerd said. His grimace suggested that it did not seem quite as easy to him.
Nilsa did her best to reassure him. “You’re as big as they are, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Stay focused,” Ingrid said. “If the gate falls, we’re finished.”
At that moment two Rangers came up to them.
“I thought I’d seen some new faces, but not ones I know,” said Luca.
“Ones I know very well,” the second Ranger said with a smile. It was Molak.
“Luca!” Nilsa cried happily.
“And Captain Fantastic,” said Viggo, sounding deeply disappointed.
“I’m glad to see you too,” Molak replied acidly. But he was smiling.
“It’s great to see you both here!” said Gerd happily, and gave them each a bear-hug.
“Gondabar has called all available Rangers to defend the capital,” Molak explained. “We’re spread out along the wall and at a few strategic points, such as the gates.”
“I see you’re keeping well,” Ingrid said icily.
“So are you,” he replied, sounding calm and friendly. “You’ve got a good color, you’ve obviously been in the sun. Your last adventure must have agreed with you all, because you look very healthy. Everyone okay?”
“Everyone’s fine,” she said.
“Lasgol?” Molak asked, not seeing him with them.
“Further back, with the Magi,” said Ingrid. She did not smile or hug him, and Molak did not attempt to hug her either.
“I’m glad to see you well, I really am,” he said, and smiled sweetly at her.
Ingrid nodded. She too was glad to see him, even though things were not the same between them anymore. “So am I,” she s
aid, and her tone of voice and expression were a little gentler.
“What’s up with these two?” Viggo whispered into Nilsa’s ear with great interest.
“You know I can’t tell you.”
“Well, I’ll get it out of you somehow, and it’ll be worse for you because you’ll have to put up with my interrogation.”
Nilsa breathed out heavily, looking troubled. “All I can tell you is that they’ve drifted apart rather … because of the distance between them … and because she’s a Snow Panther …”
“And because she hasn’t told him about all the trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into?”
“If you already know, why are you asking me?”
“I didn’t know, but I suspected. You can’t keep secrets and love at the same time. That destroys a relationship.”
“Said the expert! Not that you’re that.”
“I know enough about it.”
“Stop smiling as if you’d found a chest full of gold,” the redhead snapped. “It’s sad to see two people who love each other who can’t make it work just because of circumstances.”
Suddenly another group of Wild Ones carried out the same maneuver as before. They all took up their positions, aimed and began to release, and managed to get within fifty paces of the gate before falling dead.
“This time they got closer,” Nilsa pointed out.
“Keep releasing, they mustn’t reach the gate,” said Molak. “It’s a strategy they’ve been following for several days.”
“Aren’t they afraid of casualties?” Gerd asked.
“They’ll have even more if they try to take the walls,” said Luca. “I don’t see Astrid,” he added.
“Long story,” said Viggo.” We’ll tell you about it later.”
“Okay, but she’s all right … isn’t she?”
“Yeah, for the moment,” Ingrid said.
A sizeable group of Wild Ones now appeared at a run, under cover of large boards they had fashioned out of wood into something like huge shields, as if they were running with doors on their heads. They ran together in a close group, so that the overlapping boards covered a wide area.