Toby Neighbors: Crying Havoc

“Send reinforcements to the main gate!” Zollin shouted at the runners who were waiting down the stairs from the tower’s trap door. “At least half a legion. We need to hold the gap in the wall.”

He turned and surveyed the battle. It was now taking place on all sides of the city. Archers were raining down arrows, and soldiers were using long poles to push off scaling ladders that were being thrown against the walls. He took a deep breath and tried to calm the fire raging inside of him. He knew the siege would last a long time, and he was already at his magical breaking point. The Master of the Torr had been incredibly strong, and Zollin knew that he had gotten lucky in the fight. The next time he would need to be more prepared.

“He’s my son, now let me through!” Zollin heard from down below.

Quinn and Mansel came charging up through the trap door, both looking shocked.

“What happened?” Mansel asked.

“The King tried to drug me,” Zollin explained, “and turn me over to the Torr, but the old wizard double-crossed him. I saved the King and his generals, but not before the old wizard tore the gates down. We’ll be lucky not to be overrun.”

“I say let them come,” Mansel said.

“You won’t see much action up here,” Zollin said.

“We’re staying with you, son,” Quinn said. “Look, they need help there on the south wall already.”

Quinn was pointing to an area where enemy soldiers had gained the ramparts in several places using ladders.

“Where are the defenders?” Mansel said.

“Caught off guard, I suppose,” Quinn answered.

Zollin was already delving into his magic. It was like walking through an inferno. His containment field was holding, but just barely.

“I need wine and food, Mansel,” Zollin said.

“How can you think of eating at a time like this?”

“Just get it. Hurry!” Zollin shouted.

Mansel rushed down the stairs as Zollin sent a shock wave of magical power hurtling toward the invaders who had taken up a position on the southern wall of the city. The power was invisible, but the results were undeniable. The enemy soldiers went flying off the wall, knocking their climbing comrades off the ladders as they fell. Yelsian soldiers came running from both directions to secure the wall.

“We need more men on the south wall,” Zollin shouted down the trap door.

“Here comes the King,” said Quinn, who was leaning over the wall and looking down into the castle courtyard.

“He won’t be happy,” Zollin said.

“I should kill him for betraying you,” Quinn said.

“No, that isn’t our place. We’re going to help the city survive and then we’ll figure out the next thing to do.”

“What if the King turns on you again?”

“We’ll deal with that if it happens.”

He began using his magical power to push the scaling ladders off the wall wherever he saw them. The ladders weren’t heavy, but leaning against the wall, especially when a man was climbing up the ladder, made them especially difficult to cast back down.

King Felix arrived on the tower before Mansel returned with food for Zollin.

“What the devil are you doing?” King Felix said.

“I’m saving your city,” Zollin said angrily. He felt his magic on the verge of overcoming his control, and he sagged against the wall, hunger and fatigue finally taking their toll despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

“You had no right,” said King Felix.

“No right to do what, not eat the food you drugged? Or maybe save your life when the Torr wizard betrayed you? Or maybe you mean I have no right to risk my life for this city. Which is it?”

“How do I know you didn’t destroy the gate?” King Felix said. “This could all be part of some elaborate plan.”

“Don’t be a fool,” Zollin said. “I’ve done nothing but help, but I’ll be glad to leave the city and let you fight this battle on your own.”

“No, no, no!” King Felix shouted. “Stay, help us. We’ll deal with all of this madness later.”

“You’re right, we will,” Zollin said.

The attack began to falter after an hour or so. Mansel finally arrived with a large bottle of wine. He also had bread, cheese, and some roasted chicken.

“Sorry it took me so long, but I couldn’t find anyone in the kitchens,” Mansel said.

Zollin tore into the food like a starving man. He started with the meat, ripping off huge chunks with his teeth, hardly chewing at all, and then swallowing it down. He gulped the wine and felt his strength returning.

Reports began coming in to the King that the enemy was pulling back. They weren’t retreating but rather halting their attack. They began moving toward the main gate, which didn’t surprise Zollin.

The King sent a large portion of his soldiers to hold the gate, and Zollin thought it best he go there, too. Mansel was happy to be getting into the action. He wanted to fight, and Zollin knew it was a way for him to deal with the frustration and shame he felt for his actions while under the witch’s spell. They hurried down to the main gate, or where the main gate had once stood. It was completely destroyed, but most of the rubble was there. Commander Hausey was still organizing the defense. He had a dent in his helmet, and blood was trickling down from under it.

“Zollin, it looks like they’re going to push hard here,” Hausey said.

“I expected as much,” Zollin replied. “We need to be ready for them. What can I do?”

“Can you heap this rubble up, so that it makes the entrance narrower?”

“Sort of like a bottle neck?”

“That’s right, and if we can station men on top of the rubble, the enemy will try to break through the center and we won’t have to fight so many at once.”

Zollin was feeling stronger, although his magic was still churning like a forest fire. He let his power flow out and began to levitate the rubble. Quinn helped him figure out how to build up the piles so they were most secure, and, when they were finished, the opening where the gate had been was now wide enough for only five men to pass through walking side by side.

“Do you think they’ll attack?” Mansel asked.

“They should,” Hausey said. “They won’t have a better opportunity. We beat back their attempts to scale the walls. Am I right in assuming you had a hand in that, Zollin?”

“I did what I could.”

“It was a big help. If they had gotten inside the city all would have been lost. We simply don’t have enough men to cover every part of the wall, not now that most of our reserve troops were called in to help hold the main gate. To answer your question, Mansel, I think they will attack again, but they could revert to a siege. If they do, though, we’ll need to find a way to drive them away. A siege would allow us to make this gate stronger, but we can’t fully rebuild it.”

“And if we give them too much time their wizard will recover and nullify the advantage that Zollin gives us,” Quinn said.

“That’s absolutely right. We need to end this, as soon as possible.”

“Can you tell what the wizard from the Torr is up to?” Quinn asked Zollin.

“No, I can’t sense him. He’s got defenses as I do,” Zollin admitted. “What if we could get our heavy horse cavalry out to attack them? Could we disrupt them enough to drive them back?”

“It’s possible, but we would need a way to get the horses out of the city,” Hausey said.

“I think I can manage that. And then, I can use magic to mimic the sound of charging cavalry and disrupt them more. At this stage I think illusion is a better weapon than anything else we’ve got.”

Commander Hausey gave the order for the heavy cavalry to form up at the main gate. Half an hour later, Commander Corlis in full armor rode up and raised his visor.