Michael Manning - The Line of Illeniel

I gave him a serious look, “Would it seem suspicious if we ran for the gate sooner?” I had wanted to preserve as many lives as possible but now I was rethinking my plan.

“Suspicious?” he said, “Well of course! If we just surrender our outer defense and let them head straight to the breach it would be strange. If it were me commanding them I’d think we had either a fool for a leader or a trap planned.”

I drew a deep breath and replied, “Very well. Do as you see best, just try to keep as many men alive as possible.” It didn’t sit well with me that men would die defending ground I had no intention of holding.

Dorian gave me a strange look, “What is it that you haven’t told me?”

“Trust me,” I said smiling.

“Oh no! Absolutely not, you’ve said that before. If you expect me to defend this castle I need to know what the hell you are planning to do.” Dorian set his hands on his hips in a stance that told me he was feeling stubborn.

“We need to concentrate as many of the enemy outside the walls as possible. I think I can eliminate most of them if we can get them to commit to a full assault,” I replied.

“How?”

“Something similar to what we did to them on the road,” I answered.

“You’re telling me that my men are standing on top of more of your bombs?” he yelled.

I tried to quiet him down, “Yes, keep your voice down. If you spook the men we’re done for.”

He closed his mouth suddenly as he realized how loud he had been. After a moment he spoke again, “I’m going out there Mort. If anyone gets blown up I’ll be among them. Understand?”

I nodded. “Just make it look real. Everything is riding on this Dorian. If they don’t fall for this we’ve lost. I don’t have any other tricks up my sleeve.”

“Don’t you worry; it will be so damn real you might think we’re dying out there. The blood that flows won’t just be theirs,” and so saying he turned and left.

The morning went slowly onward. The trebuchet had reduced the upper section of the curtain wall near the bailey to rubble. What remained there was sagging inward and looked as if one or two more good hits would bring it crumbling down. Ordinarily we might have tried to brace it from the inside but we ignored the damage. The sooner it came down the better.

The men behind the wooden palisade looked increasingly nervous. They could sense the impending rush that would come once our defense was breached. Dorian and Cyhan walked among them constantly, doing their best to bolster their confidence.

Penny followed me constantly, refusing to get more than twenty foot away. She’s starting to remind me of a vulture, I thought uncharitably. I could hardly meet her eyes anymore; every knowing glance brought her near to tears.

Through it all the one thing that worried me most was the lack of any sort of magical attack from the enemy. I had already faced two of Mal’goroth’s channelers, so I had a good idea he probably had more. I searched among the enemy constantly with my mind, seeking the dark aura’s that might alert me to their presence, but I found nothing. Even with their limited abilities they should have been able to pick off some of our men if they tried, yet none had. That made me anxious because it meant the enemy might be planning something.

Another great stone went whistling overhead. This one struck solidly at the base of the weakened portion of the curtain wall. For a second nothing happened, and then the wall collapsed inward. An area more than twenty foot wide was open now, with nothing more than a pile of stone rubble to prevent a man from entering. “That should be it,” I said to myself.

Penny tugged at my sleeve, “Don’t expose yourself.”

“I don’t plan to,” I replied. “Do you think it will save me?”

“Just don’t do it, maybe I was wrong, maybe…,” her eyes were wide with fear.

“I’ll do my best, but I’ve learned to trust your visions. Whatever happens… happens,” I told her.

A shout went up from the men along the palisade. The enemy had begun their advance. I left her there and went to stand beside them, watching the approach of the men of Gododdin. “Hold your fire damnit!” screamed Dorian. Some of the men had begun shooting early. “Wait till I give the order!”

The footmen were running toward us across the field, growing closer with each step. The tension in the men around me was nearly unbearable. They held their bows with arrows nocked, waiting for the order to fire. After what seemed an impossibly long time Dorian finally gave the command, “Fire at will!”

Five hundred men rose up and began loosing their shafts. The enemy was only a hundred yards distant now and the steel headed arrows fell among them with deadly effect. Men fell only to be trampled by their companions. More arrows flew and more fell, but the men of Gododdin came on anyway. At fifty yards few missed and now we could hear the cries of the fallen. Still they came on and after one more volley they reached the palisade.

Running down into the ditch men stumbled and struggled to rise. Our arrows were still striking them with lethal effect. Within moments those behind them were climbing up, struggling to get past the sharpened stakes that guarded the mound of earth we stood behind. Their ballistae began firing again, sending deadly bolts three feet in length into the defenders.

The enemy was pressing against the short palisade walls now, the sheer weight of their numbers beginning to push it over in places. The defenders of Washbrook had switched to spears, stabbing at those trying to get past our defense. In the end it was a futile effort. Desperate fights broke out at various points as the flimsy wall collapsed and the enemy began streaming in among us.

“Fall back! Into the castle!” Dorian yelled above noise of the fighting men.

I brought up my staff and began sweeping the enemy near where I stood with lines of fire, clearing the area for twenty feet near where I stood. Stepping up to the top of the earthen mound I looked over the field of men. I reached into my pouch brought out a handful of small iron spheres. Each one was no larger than the end of a grown man’s thumb. With a word and a puff of air I began sending them out to strike various points along the outside of what remained of the palisade. As each reached its destination I spoke again, releasing the energy held within it. Each one blossomed into a small explosion of fire, killing everyone within ten feet of it. I hoped to give the men enough time to retreat.

Arrows fell around me, and some struck my shield, but to no effect. There was little they could do to stop me. I felt an evil laugh bubbling up from somewhere inside as I killed men by tens and twenties. I hardly noticed the flare of purple as the channelers among the enemy suddenly became active.

Penelope Illeniel watched the men streaming past her as the defense began to fall apart. She only had eyes for one man, the one standing madly atop the earthen mound, sending fire and death out to greet the enemy. You idiot! she thought to herself, I told you not to expose yourself. She started to run towards him, to pull him down when a new vision blinded her.

She stood transfixed for a minute, unable to move as her gift showed her the future. It was much the same as before, but now it held a choice, where before there had been nothing but unstoppable fate she could see a new path; one that would lead to a different outcome. She made her choice without hesitation. Blinking she took in the scene around her and began running toward Mordecai once again. I have to hurry! she thought. A hand on her arm stopped her.

“You’re going the wrong way!” Cyhan yelled at her. His grip seemed impossibly strong, especially now that she no longer had the bond.