Richard Tuttle - Web of Deceit

Mistake raced to her hut and strapped on her belt that contained a multitude of knives. She grabbed Bakhai’s bow and quiver and dashed back towards the stockade wall.

Riktor stood on the riverbank helping people into the small fishing vessels and shoving them off into the flow of the Ghala River. He helped old man Copi into a boat and turned to see Plesy staring at the gates.

“Come on, Father,” Riktor said impatiently, “into the boat.”

“I cannot abandon the town,” Plesy said stubbornly. “It has been my home forever and the young men defending it may need my help.”

Riktor shook his head and lifted the old man off the ground. He marched into the cold water and deposited Plesy into the boat.

“The families out in the sea will need your guidance more,” scolded Riktor as he pushed the boat into the flow of the river. “Keep them out of bow range and keep them from getting too scared.”

Riktor waded out of the river and picked up his bow. He turned and ran for the stockade wall.

Karlo furiously hammered long nails through the thin strips of lumber. He took a finished strip and handed it to Lakado, a recent arrival to Ghala.

“Put this on the path to the warehouse,” Karlo instructed Lakado. “Make sure the nails stick up. Return quickly and I will have more for you to place on the path.”

Pfifer, a trapper who had recently moved to Ghala, dragged tables and chairs into the street between the huts. He laid the obstacles in rows and then placed and armed his animal traps behind each row of furniture.

Bakhai raced to the stockade and slid to a halt next to Mistake.

“Who is it?” he asked. “What did you see?”

“It is the Jiadin,” Riktor called down from the platform that ran along the wall. “They are building a fire just outside our bow range.”

Bakhai’s eyes swept over the two-dozen men manning the platform as he asked, “How many of them?”

“Over a hundred,” one of the villagers shouted. “We may whittle that down quite a bit when they try to attack this wall.”

“Okay,” shouted Bakhai, “but remember, as soon as they breech the wall, head for the boats. We can replace the town, but we do not want to have to replace you men. You all have families out at sea depending on you surviving.”

Mistake handed Bakhai his bow and quiver as she spoke softly, “There is a shed over by the river. You can use that for cover when they break through. I will be behind that large tree in the other direction. Between us, we can whittle them down some more. If the traps work, we may just defeat them all.”

“Providing our archers can get most of them before they break through the wall,” frowned Bakhai. “A hundred men is a bit larger than we had planned on. At least we can provide cover for the men as they run to the waiting boats.”

“The wall is strong,” smiled Mistake. “Even if they try to burn it, it will take some time and the men have buckets of water ready for that.”

“Shouldn’t I lend my bow to the men on the wall?” questioned Bakhai.

“No, answered Mistake. “You will need your arrows to protect the retreat of our men. Go get in position. I will climb the tree I will be using for cover and alert you to what is happening with an Air Tunnel.”

Bakhai nodded and sprinted for the old shack on the river side of the town. Mistake turned and ran to the large tree on the forest side of town. She climbed the tree and gazed at the Jiadin army. The Jiadin had built a large fire and were lighting torches. She frowned as she thought of them riding up to the wall under a hail of arrows to try to burn the stockade. It did not seem to be an intelligent tactic for them to use. Her mind raced with thoughts as she tried to figure out what they were going to do with the torches, when suddenly she remembered the remains of Rejji’s village.

The Jiadin had burned every single building in Rejji’s town and it appeared that they were preparing to do the same here. Still, it made no sense to carry the torches when they hadn’t broken through the wall yet. As she was trying to figure out their strategy, two Jiadin riders appeared carrying long poles. Mistake shook her head in disbelief at the thought of the gates giving way to such a feeble attack as being rammed by poles carried by riders. Even as she shook her head, the two riders turned and charged the wall as battle cries rippled through the Jiadin ranks. The Jiadin immediately formed a column and raced after the lead riders.

Arrows flew from the defenders as the Jiadin charged, but the charge was so swift and sudden that many arrows failed to fell the riders. The two poles slammed into the gates and the doors flung open, throwing the locking bar and braces towards the village. The lead Jiadin streamed into the town and raced towards the line of huts, carrying their torches high. The defenders rained arrows down on the horsemen, but some of the Jiadin swerved once through the gates and began climbing the ladders to attack the bowmen. The defenders on the river side of the gates abandoned their positions and hurried to the waiting boats as they had been ordered to do.

Bakhai leaned out of the shed and began to fire his arrows to cover their escape. The defenders on the forest side were blocked from escaping by the steady stream of riders coming through the gates. Mistake jumped down from her tree and pulled a dagger with each hand. She raced towards the trapped defenders and threw a dagger into the back of a Jiadin climbing the ladder.

“To the forest,” she yelled loudly. “Run to the forest and hide.”

Her dagger caught the next Jiadin as he leaped from his horse to the ladder. The defenders ran to the end of the platform and jumped to the ground. Mistake killed two more Jiadin as she watched the trapped defenders run into the dense forest. She caught the scent of smoke in the air and turned to see the first huts going up in flames. She peered through the parade of Jiadin raiders and saw Bakhai firing arrow after arrow as the villagers behind him piled into the boats. She also saw two Jiadin riders converging on him from the direction of the town and knew that Bakhai would never see them coming.

Mistake filled her hands with daggers again and raced forward. She ran towards the steady stream of Jiadin warriors entering through the gates. She tried screaming a warning to Bakhai, but she knew her voice would not penetrate the roar of the pounding hoofs and the battle cries of the Jiadin. Without stopping, she hurled both daggers at the pair of Jiadin just coming through the gates and then ran into the path of their horses. One of the horses reared when its rider fell, but the other kept charging forward. Mistake threw her body forward in a dive between the horse’s legs. She felt the impact on her foot as the horse clipped her, but she managed to roll her body into a ball as she landed on the other side of the horse.

Mistake rolled to her feet and continued the race towards Bakhai. She grabbed two more daggers as she ran and screamed as she saw the first rider approaching Bakhai raise his sword. She hurled a dagger as she sped towards her friend, knowing the distance was still too great for her dagger to be effective. The dagger hit the horse hilt first, but the horse reared and the Jiadin fought to control his beast. Bakhai, alerted to the danger, dove out of the shack and brought his bow up. Mistake, still charging the shack, hurled another dagger at the rider and caught him in the cheek. Bakhai sent an arrow into the second rider and the Jiadin tumbled from his horse.

Mistake ran gasping into the shed and Bakhai swiftly followed her. He looked towards the town and saw the fires flaming from the huts.

“We should leave,” Bakhai said softly. “We cannot save the town now.”