“Let me teach you something,” Trak replies. He rests a rock on Lizardthroat’s glowing palm. “Concentrate. Will the rock to fly across the room.”
Lizardthroat is stunned when he accomplishes the feat without difficulty. “Now place your palm on your chain and shatter it.” Again, he succeeds.
“I could have left this cell at anytime had I known I possess such power,” Melkerei exclaims.
“Are you ready to leave?” Trak asks the condemned commander. Trak and Lizardthroat depart the castle and meet Alrik Redeyes at the dock where they take a small boat to Halban by the Sea. A sleepy guard watches them sail away from the island. He recognizes Trak but not Lizardthroat.
In the morning when Melkerei’s escape is discovered, the guard recalls what he saw. The duke searches for Trak and Alrik. They are not on the island. Duke Amin and King Lorring can’t understand why Trak has betrayed his friends and their cause, but the evidence is clear. He has freed a condemned assassin and fled the island. Farg and Krage know something of Trak’s scheme but remain silent.
The day after Trak disappears from the isle; its occupants shake off their disappointment at Trak’s apparent desertion and return to their preparations. Myrel and Meg take an inventory of their supplies of medicinal plants and set about gathering fresh herbs. Hogarth constructs a hut for his own use. Krage seeks out Queen Meriem. The two have not reunited as a couple, but they are on friendly terms and want to enjoy what time they have left. He watches her twins at play. They reminded him of his own twins whose childhoods he was not able to enjoy.
Farg, Lord Ran and Queen Fae walk the perimeter of the castle, analyzing the stronghold’s weaknesses. Queen Fae comments, “Farg, your fortress can hold off a thousand wraiths, but if Big Red shows up, it will be a pile of dust in minutes. The demon’s weakness is water. We must find a way to bathe him in water when he appears.”
Lord Ran remembers the day a dozen years ago when Farg recaptured the castle using a subterranean passage and asks, “Are the castle’s secret entrances secure? The wraiths are very good at attacking from below.”
The duke grimaces as his stronghold’s many weaknesses are pointed out. “We clearly have a lot of work to do,” he replies.
On the Isle of Uisgebeatha, the flow of arriving refugees dwindles to a trickle. They bring word that thousands of white wraiths are sweeping across the mainland, killing all in their path. They burn everything they can’t eat. A mother and her five goblets arrive in a makeshift boat. She reports seeing trolls. Tironock’s hordes move with purpose. They are headed to the coast and converging on Halban by the Sea.
“They will find boats and attempt to sail to the island,” Farg speculates. “At least they will not find anything large enough to carry a troll.” Farg orders the island’s only dock destroyed.
Farg and Lord Ran distribute their soldiers around the island’s perimeter. They hope to destroy the white wraiths as they attempt to come ashore. When the enemy begins arriving, the defenders beat back the first wave. The subterraneans lack sailing skills. They crash a few small fishing boats onto the rocky coast, dumping the white wraiths into the churning seas. The waiting defenders kill those who manage to reach shore. Ghad’s army stands ready to block any attempt to reach the island through the undersea tunnel. As a last resort he is prepared to cut through a retaining wall and flood the tunnel with seawater, drowning the attackers. For several days the sentries posted along the rocky coast report no attempts by the wraiths to come ashore, and the men and goblins on the island begin to believe that they are safe from a mainland invasion.
As the refugees relax, they turn their attention to procuring the food needed to feed the island’s swollen population. Baelock builds a new iron smelter and begins manufacturing iron weapons. The castle is overcrowded. King Lorring, recognizing the problem, voluntarily moves Dorla and his parents, the former king and queen, into a small suite to make room for other nobles and their families who arrived before the subterraneans shut off communication with the mainland.
Queen Fae is inspecting the island’s perimeter defenses, when one of her guards shouts, “On the horizon! Three ships! The Queen recognizes the vessels as belonging to her southern neighbor, King Fangdor. Queen Fae’s heart lightens. An unexpected ally is coming to their defense. Lord Ran and Duke Farg join her in the harbor as the lead ship anchors in the bay and its occupants approach the shore in small boats. Queen Fae recognizes King Fangdor in the lead boat. She hails him and raises her hand to salute. That is when Fae realizes that something is not right. King Fangdor’s armor is blood stained.
The king stumbles onto the shore. “We seek refuge,” declares the king. Two weeks ago white goblins and trolls attacked my capital. I kept them at bay for four days before the trolls smashed through my front gate and the battle was lost. These three ships carry all that is left of my army.”
Duke Amin replies to the king from the south, “You are welcome on my island. You should be safe here. The sea protects us.”
“Thank you,” said King Fangdor, “but I fear that your island is not as safe as you think. The enemy has captured many of my sailing ships and taken their crews captive. As we fled my capital we saw ships from other lands arriving in our port. I fear the Underworld demons have overrun the continent and gathered an armada. I can only guess they are preparing to attack your island. When your island falls, the demons will have defeated our world.”
Duke Amin doesn’t have to wait long for the forewarned attack. Two days after the arrival of King Fangdor, an armada appears on the horizon. “In the duke’s banquet hall and in the presence of the leaders of the various groups of refugees, a scout reports sighting over a hundred vessels in the channel. “Some of the vessels carry only a single combatant—a huge troll that sits in the middle of the deck while captives man the galleys.
“There are so few of us to stand against the enemy,” King Fangdor laments. Turning toward King Lorring, he asks, “Where are the goblin armies of the north? I heard you command thousands.”
“The few hundred on the island are all that is left,” replies the king. “The rest have been killed or scattered.”
“Ghad adds, “I have three thousand white goblins hidden beneath the island. They will join the fight when the time comes.”
“Well,” declares Lord Ran. “The time has come. The enemy will not sit in the harbor for long. I expect the attack will come this night.”
The leaders of the surface kingdoms muster their forces in front of Duke Amin’s castle. In addition to Ghad’s three thousand wraiths, Duke Amin and King Lorring contributed eight hundred goblins. The combined force of Queen Fae, Lord Ran and King Fangdor contribute seven hundred seasoned fighters. Another three thousand refugees are fit to fight. Unfortunately, they are armed only with the old bronze weapons or simply clubs and pitchforks.
The invaders are formidable, but they have no easy way to offload their warriors. There is no beach suitable for landing large boats. The dock has been destroyed and the harbor is already clogged with the ships of refugees. The defenders’ best chance is to stop the enemy as they tried to come ashore.
As the invading armada draws near, Lord Ran realizes the trolls are tied to decks with ropes, perhaps to keep them from moving about and upsetting the balance. When the ships come into range, he orders his archers to fire at the trolls. Arrows hail down and inflict painful stings to the tough hides of the restrained trolls. They begin struggling to free themselves from their bonds. One troll flips his boat in his struggle. He lands face down in the water, the boat still tied to his back. The defenders watch the boat shake in the water until the troll at last drowns.
“They will look for a shallow spot and attempt to release the trolls directly into the water,” speculates Lord Ran.
“The best place to wade ashore will be on the forest side of the island at low tide,” predicts Duke Amin.
Ghad Samraet sends his son Terrin and a thousand white goblins to the forest to wait in ambush. King
Fangdor and his remaining men join the goblins. The king explains, “You will need my help. My men have heavy iron spears and the arm strength to penetrate troll flesh.
Duke Amin has guessed correctly. At low tide six ships carrying restrained trolls maneuver to within two hundred feet of the shore. They position the ships over a rocky spit extending out into the channel. The channel beneath is ten to twenty arm lengths deep. On the lead ship, subterraneans force the captive sailors to untie a troll. The troll tries to climb over the ship’s side. The ship capsizes, flinging its crew and captives into the sea. Duke Amin allows the captives to come ashore, while the wraiths are slain by Terrin’s goblins as they crawl out of the water. Fangdor and his men concentrate on the troll. Before it can pull itself out of the water, it already has a half dozen iron spears sticking out of its hide. The troll bellows and swings his cudgel violently but with little effect. It cannot maneuver among the boulders that cover the coast. Fangdor’s men kept thrusting until the beast succumbs.
The ships off shore watch the chaos and adapt. The trolls are guided to the sterns where they climb into the water without overturning the boats. The trolls hold to the sterns while the captive crews row the boats closer to shore. Terrin’s bolters rake the ships with arrows, killing many of the rowers, but the trolls, hidden behind the sterns, are unreachable. Fifty feet from the shore the boats release their trolls.
Five trolls reach the island simultaneously. All five are badly bloodied before they climb out of the water and stand back to back in a circle to prevent the defenders from striking at them from behind. They keep the defenders at bay for thirty minutes. Terrin and Fangdor continue to harass the trolls with spear thrusts until one troll after the other begins to fall, more from blood loss than a single fatal wound.
The momentary elation of the defenders ends when a messenger brings word that more trolls are coming ashore on the other side of the island. The defenders race to where they are needed, but they are too late. They find six trolls defending a beachhead on the rocky shore below the castle. Wraiths and supplies are being ferried to the shore in small craft. Already scores of subterraneans have landed and joined the trolls in defending the beachhead.
Terrin notifies Duke Amin of the situation. Even with a thousand warriors, Terrin cannot overwhelm the invaders. Each assault wave is beaten back by the cudgel-wielding trolls. Terrin decides to give up the beach and fight the invaders as they attempt to ascend the cliff. He orders his goblins to the top of the cliff overlooking the beachhead.
Lord Ran and Duke Amin arrive to appraise the situation. They look down on thousands of subterraneans swarming like ants on the rocky shore below. Lord Ran observes, “They appear to be assembling their entire force before attempting to scale the cliff. They don’t seem to realize that within a few hours the tide will turn and their beachhead will be under water. They should attack now, but they appear unaware of their predicament. They are creatures of the Underworld and appear to know nothing of tides. Let us hope the sailors they hold captive don’t inform them of their peril. We must hold the top of the cliff until the tide comes to our aid.”
The wraiths continue bringing their forces onto the rocky beach beneath the castle without making any attempt to scale the cliff. Queen Fae wants to let her archers disrupt the landing by showering the shore with an occasional volley, but Lord Ran convinces her to wait. “Let them come ashore. When they realize they have walked into a trap of their own making, you can unleash your archers.”
When a force of several thousand is gathered on the shore, the military commanders begin to form their squads and position them for the assault on the cliff. “At least the trolls will not be much of a factor,” predicts Queen Fae. “I doubt they have the nimbleness needed to scale the cliffs.” Lord Ran expects the subterraneans to ascend at the points where time-worn trails have been established. He is wrong. The lead squads of white wraiths spread out and ascend simultaneously along the entire cliff face. Their climbing ability is phenomenal.
The men above are forced to shift into a thin line to protect the entire edge of the cliff. The wind is ferocious and threatens to sweep defenders from the edge when they approach to glimpse the goblins ascending from below. They lob rocks from the cliff, which mostly bounce harmlessly off the rock and never threaten the goblins who plaster themselves tightly to the cliff’s face. The attackers get to within twenty strides of the top before the defenders peering over the windy ledge catch sight of them. The wraiths hold their positions.
“They are waiting for dark,” shouts Lord Ran over the howling wind. “In the dark they will be hard to see. Our archers will have to shoot blindly.” Lord Ran glances at the shore. The tide is coming in fast. Already, half of the rocks are under water. He can see the commanders below have at last discovered their predicament. The squads of wraiths standing on the shore move quickly to scale the cliffs. Soon the beach is gone and the invading army is left clinging to the face of the cliff waiting for darkness to fall. Even the trolls have climbed high enough to escape the surf that pounds the rocks below them.
Duke Amin orders fires lit along the top of the cliff and cauldrons of oil heated. The fires would provide some light for the archers. In the strong wind, the fires burn quickly. A large portion of the fighting force is relegated to fetching wood. The attackers are content to cling to the cliff face while the defenders tire themselves feeding their fires. As dawn approaches, Lord Ran guesses the attackers could maintain their position indefinitely if they chose. He realizes that he made a major blunder in letting the goblins onto the island unchallenged.
Queen Fae appears at dawn with news that during the night a large group of wraiths came ashore on the forest side of the island and are hiding in the woods. Duke Amin sees the danger immediately. “We must fall back to the castle,” he declares. “If we stay here the goblins in the woods will attack, and we will be caught between them and the goblins climbing the cliffs.
A few archers remain behind to keep the subterraneans on the cliff face pinned down as long as possible while the rest follow the duke and back to the castle. The goblins loyal to Ghad slip into their tunnel leading to their hive beneath the channel.
Lord Ran apologizes to Queen Fae for overruling her suggestion to more forcibly harry the subterraneans on the beach. He blames himself for the ease with which the enemy has seized control of the island. In twenty-four hours the enemy has landed several thousand goblins and two-dozen trolls, forcing the allies and several thousand civilians into the castle. The castle is strong, but food is scarce. In a few days they would be starving. Queen Fae observes, “It ain’t over yet. I still have a lot of killing to do before I’m through.”
“I fear,” says Krage to Duke Amin who is standing on top of the broch observing the subterraneans preparing to siege the fortress, “Our hope now lies with Trak.” Krage’s thoughts are on Myrel and Meg who are still in the forest which is now crawling with subterraneans and trolls.
Duke Amin imagines Trak and Lord Lizardthroat somewhere on the mainland, what can they possibly do that would help us?
Chapter 48
You Stand Before God
Inscription on the door to the Earth Spirit’s abode
City of Neu Ardonbrae
Trak and his fellow conspirators follow the deserted back roads to Neu Ardonbrae. Those who haven’t fled to the Isle of Uisgebeatha are hiding in the mountains. Lizardthroat guides Trak and Alrik to the home of his son. When Humock Gutcutter opens the door, Trak recognizes the Captain of the City Police. “Father,” Humock exclaims. “It is good to see you escaped the gallows. You keep strange company, a wraith priest and a humble metal smith.” He relishes the surprised look on Trak’s face. Trak remembers how Myrel and Krage trusted Humock so completely. “What brings you to our fair city?” Humock asks.
“Fair city,” Trak repeats to himself. There is hardly a building left standing.
“We have come to kill Tironock,” Lizardthroat declares. “The moment our family has wa
ited millennia for has arrived at last. Are any of my police left in the city?”
“I can scrounge up two dozen. They will not be happy to join you on a suicide mission.”
“They need only escort us as far as Holy Mountain,” Lizardthroat replies.
Humock queries, “Will I be coming with you, Father?”
“No. From this moment forward, you will assume your real name, Humock Lizardthroat, and wear the Blue Dagger proudly. If I don’t return, lead the family well.”
Humock reflects, “I have wondered if this day would ever come. I have lived as Gutcutter for so long, I thought the name would adorn my sarcophagus. Tell me, Master Smith, what is your plan to defeat Tironock?”
All that Trak will say is, “First, we must find Shenal Ken. She must be somewhere beneath Holy Mountain.”
***
It has been three weeks since Trak left the island. In the hive beneath the channel, Ghad is ready to initiate Trak’s scheme. He hopes that Trak is in place. Ghad and a thousand warriors leave the hive and head via the passages for the main hive beneath Ardonbrae. Their objective is to arouse the hive, not to battle the subterraneans controlled by Tironock, but to draw them out. As his force moves north, he leaves soldiers along the way. Their task is to prepare obstacles in the tunnel that will hinder pursuers and protect their retreat.
Ghad and a hundred of his soldiers complete the journey all the way to the main hive beneath Holy Mountain. The force enters the hive undetected and sets fire to the storage areas. Within minutes of their arrival, they are racing south with a thousand of Tironock’s wraiths in pursuit. The commotion is intended to attract Tironock’s attention; Ghad is counting on it. As Ghad’s fleeing soldiers pass through one of the small laybys built along the way, prepositioned soldiers pull down a wall of rock and block the way. It will take an hour for the wraith pursuers to clear the passage. The attackers are assured of a good head start.
***
Alrik leads Trak and Melkerei to the same fissure where he, Myrel and Meg, had hidden during their rescue of Krage nearly a decade before. The conspirators are hiding in the fissure when Ghad and his soldiers set fire to the hive’s storerooms. The attack wakes the hive. Wraiths swarm through its tunnels like insects protecting their nest. More importantly, the commotion rouses Tironock Kan. Tironock’s presence is felt in the cavern soon after Ghad’s forces attack. He enters the minds of his wraiths, commanding his slaves to pursue the rebels and kill them. When Ghad and his soldiers flee, Trak feels Tironock join the pursuit.
Forging the Half-Goblin Sorcerer Page 42