Michael Manning - The Line of Illeniel

“What about the other pouch?” she asked.

“I’ll hold onto this one for now, but if I die before using it you need to claim it quickly. It holds the keys to the bombs beneath the field out there,” I pointed to the ground before us, between the curtain wall and the palisade.

“But that’s inside our line, why?” she said, confusion in her eyes.

“The palisade is a trap. I didn’t have iron but I had the men bury large stones beneath the earth, both inside and outside the palisade. I didn’t tell them what they were for though. They extend out to about a hundred yards from our earthworks. The closest ones are about sixty yards from the walls here. I was afraid if they were any closer they might destroy our walls,” I told her.

She shook her head, “I still don’t understand. Why not put them further out?”

“We had run out of iron. The stones are much larger and heavier. I didn’t have enough time to have the men dig great holes everywhere, and haul stones to them. The further out you go the more area there is to be covered. The only place I could be sure the enemy would be is here,” I pointed down to the area below us again.

“Then why bother building the palisade at all?”

“All part of the deception. The enemy probably won’t commit his men to a head on assault until they have breached our walls. The earthworks give them the impression that we are serious about defending the castle. Once they breach them they may assault us right away. However, if they wait until they have brought down the gate or one of the walls we have to hold them before they enter the castle yard itself,” I stated carefully.

“Why?” she asked.

“I don’t want to use our trump card until they’ve committed most of their men to the attack. We have to wait until most of them are at the walls here before we use it, otherwise we waste our only advantage. So if they breach the curtain wall before that point we have to hold the line here until they commit all their men,” I said.

“You should just let me have that pouch now,” she suggested.

“I’d like the chance to spit in their faces and blow them to hell myself. If I have to die I want to go with a bang,” I smiled wickedly. “You can take them from my cold dead hands if I don’t get to use them.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t talk like that,” she complained.

My heart felt lighter than it had in months. Despite the empty place it felt as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. “If I can’t joke about my impending death what can I joke about? Would you rather I go moping about?”

She laughed a bit, till her tears started again and then she held me. I felt a twinge of pain for her; it was easier to be the one dying. My journey was almost over, but she still had a long lonely road ahead… without me. For the first time since Marc had first given me the idea of lying to her about her ‘condition’ I felt guilty. I hoped she would forgive me someday when the truth finally came out.

They began the bombardment once the sun was fully in the sky. Now that I was free of the bond I found I could sense things at a much greater distance again. When the first stones came hurtling toward us I sensed them long before they arrived. On a whim I spoke a word and swept my hand sideways, striking one of the large boulders from the sky before it reached us. I was amazed at the clarity of my senses. After months being half blind my power seemed easier than ever to use.

“Did you see that?” Marc elbowed me. “One of the stones just went flying sideways. Was that you?”

I smiled. “We’ll see how they like facing me now that I’ve got my kid gloves off,” I replied smugly.

“Your eyes are blue again… does that mean what I think?” he asked.

“Your idea worked beautifully. No matter what else, you have my thanks for that,” I told him.

“I thought so,” he said. “Did she tell you what I told her?”

“Yes, and I appreciate it. I know it must have cost you dearly to say it.”

He frowned. “It didn’t cost me a thing, anyway, congratulations.”

It struck me as odd that he would congratulate me on the day of my impending demise, but I dismissed it as another of his odd jokes. “Just promise me you will make sure she’s alright, once I’m gone.”

His face tightened, “You didn’t have to ask me, Mort. Dorian and I will do everything we can for her, you know that.”

More rocks began falling, striking the palisade and bouncing across the ground behind it. So far none of our men had been struck, but I knew our luck couldn’t hold forever. The enemy troops were advancing now, approaching to within two hundred yards. The onagers were brought up behind them, allowing them to strike the palisade more easily. Some of our archers fired, though they had been told to save their arrows. Most of their shots fell short, and those that didn’t missed their marks.

I raised my staff and with a word I focused energy through it, a line of fire lanced outward and struck one of the onagers. It went up in flames. Repeating the process I began systematically destroying them until none were left. I considered doing the same to the men on the field but I knew I would exhaust myself long before I had made a dent in their numbers. I thought of the other pouch on my belt, the one I hadn’t told Penny about, but I quickly dismissed the idea. It wasn’t time for that yet.

The enemy withdrew to four hundred yards once the onagers were gone. I could still reach them at that range but I didn’t feel the need to tip my hand yet. Things settled into a dull rhythm as both sides waited. I had hoped they might try a premature rush but they seemed content to wait while trebuchet did its work. The only other activity in the interim was the occasional ballista shot. Their crews were disturbingly accurate. Once they had gotten used to the range they began picking their targets carefully. At five hundred yards they missed as often as they hit their mark but when they were successful the result was gruesome. Several of our men were impaled before they learned to stay out of sight.

A deadly stalemate ensued, punctuated only by the thrumming sound of their trebuchet every few minutes. Each time it fired a rock weighing several hundred pounds would come hurtling overhead. The first shots fell short, but they methodically adjusted the machine until the stones were consistently striking the stone curtain wall that surrounded Castle Cameron.

Dorian found me watching the steady destruction from the ground outside wall but within our palisade. “Can’t you do something about that damn machine?” he said.

“It’s too far away,” I answered calmly. “I might be able to misdirect the stones it throws but that would defeat my purpose.”

“You want them to knock the wall down?” he asked incredulously.

“Actually yes, they won’t try a full assault until they have a clear way in,” I replied.

He gave me a suspicious look, “What are you planning?”

“Something big,” I said. “Make sure the men are ready to withdraw after a token resistance at the palisade. Also… is there any way to stop them getting through the gap in the wall if they knock part of it down?”

He grunted, “Yeah, but it involves a lot of dying. I’ve already got them preparing a temporary barricade behind the section that infernal machine is pounding on.”

Another giant boulder struck the wall, sending chips of stone flying. “When they finally charge, I want the archers to keep firing until they’re almost to the earthworks. Once they’re within fifty yards or so they should run for the gate,” I told him.

“The palisade will hold longer than that,” he argued. “We should make them pay for it. Once we’re inside we won’t be able to hold that gap in the wall more than a few hours.”