Wayne Batson - The Final Storm

“You sound as if you have been in there,” Warriant said, scoffing at her cautions.

“I have, Sir Warriant,” she replied. “In the Blackwood this darkness surrounded us. It changes your senses, and evil things lurk there. We were fortunate to have survived.”

“Apologies, m’lady,” Warriant said. “I will stay alert.”

“You mean you still plan to go?” Lady Merewen asked.

“By Kaliam’s leave, yes,” he replied. “We will go in just far enough to find Paragor’s position. My people are stealthy. We will be careful.” He looked questioningly at Kaliam.

Kaliam nodded slowly. “You have my leave,” he said. Then he turned to King Ravelle. “Send a squad to man the gates. Shut them behind as soon as they leave, but be prepared to open them at a moment’s notice!”

Warriant turned and looked at Kaliam strangely. “Gates?” he asked. “Who said anything about gates?” And with that, he nodded to a group of his Baleneers, and to the terror of all, they leaped off the battlements.

Kaliam and the others rushed to the parapet just in time to see them land softly on their feet. The other Baleneers, the ones who still stood high on the walls, turned and grinned.

Kaliam turned to Farix. “I cannot believe they just did that.”

The Baleneers did move stealthily, making swift dashes from tree to tree over the plains. At last, they passed silently into the gloom.

Those atop the walls watched them as if through a veil, until they had gone too deep into the murk for anyone to see them. A great silence settled over the ramparts as those who watched waited.

Then came a sound as if from far away. It was like the echo of screams. And then again, louder and more terrible. Agonized, wrenching screams-some cut short suddenly. Others wailed until a few figures ran out of the gloom.

“The gates!” Kaliam yelled. “Open the gates!!”

Immediately, the triple portcullis lifted, and five knights ran inside. “Close the gates!” Warriant yelled.

“But there were others?” asked the guard.

“Close them now!” Warriant commanded. “The others are dead.”

O f the five who fled the darkness and made it back into the city, Warriant was the only one still standing. The other Baleneers were taken into the barracks for medical attention.

“What happened?” Kaliam yelled. Warriant looked up, a maniacal, angry glint in his eyes.

“Wolvins!” Warriant yelled. “The biggest I have ever seen. They tore my men apart in front of me. I put a bale into the chest of one of the creatures. It bit off the end and kept coming.”

“The Sleepers!” Farix exclaimed. “Sound the alarm! Paragor’s armies are here!”

But out of the shroud, before the bells of Alleble could be rung, a piercing wail arose. It began as a shriek that drove knights to their knees and then lowered to an unearthly rumbling roar that shook the walls with its thunder. From the edge of the darkness a volley of a hundred flaming projectiles soared into the turbulent sky. A hail of arrows followed, fired from unseen longbows. And then thousands of soldiers in dark armor streamed out from the murk. They carried battering rams, tall ladders, and grappling hooks and assaulted Alleble’s walls in a hundred places at once.

The fiery missiles landed beyond the gates, some reaching almost as far as the first fountain. They crushed cottages and small keeps, leaving hot fires wherever they fell. Several landed in the midst of companies of Alleble Knights running to support those upon the walls. Hit by arrows, archers and knights fell from Alleble’s walls into the teeming broods below.

But Alleble was ready for this first attack. Legions of knights within the walls pumped gallons of snowmelt from the enormous vats used days before in the crafting of the walls. Fires were doused as soon as they sprang up, and the knights were ready for ten times that first wave.

And atop the walls, Queen Illaria, King Ravelle, and an infuriated Warriant gave the orders for their teams to open fire. Nock and some of the archers began with their new arbalests. They loosed a first volley of darts-these made from the sturdy timber of the Blackwood-and the enemy’s front line dropped as if a great mat had been ripped from under their feet. The archers were stationed two-deep so that after firing, the second archer stepped forward while the first reloaded. The Paragor Knights raised their shields, but that mattered little, if but to throw off the archers’ aim. The bolts launched from the arbalests hit the enemy’s shields and passed through them as if they were made of paper. And the ground nearest the foot of the castle walls became littered with the enemy’s dead.

The Baleneers focused on the enemies who came with ladders and grappling hooks. They were used to spearing wild game from the high limbs of trees in King’s Forest, so this range made it easy for them to pick off the enemy. They heaved their sharp bales down with great might. Those enemies on the ground blinked and found themselves pinned to the earth with a spear through their chests. Others who were unfortunate enough to be climbing the ladders took a spear in their forged helmets.

The volleys of flaming projectiles continued with little effect. Some hit the adorite walls of the city and did no damage to the walls but caused a great tongue of white fire to flash outward and cling to the enemy while it burned. Paragor Knights fell smoldering to the ground.

For hours, Paragor’s armies clamored before the walls of Alleble, but that was all they could do. Kaliam looked with awe at the new walls erected by Mallik’s folk from the Blue Mountains. The walls proved tougher than anything the enemy had to throw at them. Battering rams shivered and cracked upon them. Grappling hooks could gain no purchase, and slid down to fall upon the heads of those who had thrown them. And with Yewland’s archers and Balesparr’s Baleneers defending the parapets, Paragor’s great siege towers could not get close enough to the walls.

But Kaliam knew better than to relax. He knew only too well that the enemy had a devastating weapon at his disposal. He looked out over the wall into the murky darkness breathed into existence by the evil Wyrm Lord.

“Kaliam,” Farix shouted as he ran up, “what are your orders, my Sentinel?”

“Farix, good. I am glad you have come,” Kaliam said, pointing out into the shadows. “What do you see?”

Farix stared into the gloom. “I see a thousand knights on foot,” he replied. “They have also pendulum battering rams, and siege towers, but beyond that, I can see nothing.”

“That cursed darkness! It hides the enemy’s designs. We see only those within range of a short bow, but what lies beyond? And where are the Wyrm Lord and the Seven Sleepers?”

“Perhaps Paragor is waiting to release them at the time of greatest opportunity,” Farix said.

“Now is the time of greatest opportunity!” Kaliam shouted out in frustration. “The Wyrm Lord in his weakest state razed Clarion to the ground, and together with the Sleepers, they devastated our combined forces in Yewland! By now Paragor has no doubt nursed them back to full strength. Why does he delay?”

Farix was silent.

“We must be ready,” Kaliam said. “Farix, go and find Kindle and make sure he has his force of spearmen near at hand. And see to it that Mallik and his folk fill the turrets should any of their siege engines win through to the walls!”

“Yes, Sentinel,” Farix said, and he vanished down the stairs.

Kaliam stared out over the enemy into the darkness. He paced the parapets until he could bear it no longer. He raced along the wall, ducking into and out of massive turrets, until he came to one of the guard towers near the main gate.