Wayne Batson - The Final Storm

With the gate torn and a wall thrown down, legion after legion of Paragor’s main army entered the city of Alleble. Seven huge yellow-eyed wolvins came too. But they did not press forward like Paragor’s infantry. Rather they stalked behind the legions of Paragor’s Knights, restless, chomping, salivating, wanting to attack, but restrained by an unseen hand. Then the Wyrm Lord perched on one of the towers. He shrieked and clawed at his eye. Then his body shook and it began to wreathe itself in garments of darkness. But he too seemed to be waiting. Behind all of this came one lone, defiant warrior. Standing on the rubble of the wall, he held up a flaming mace.

The legions of knights who had been marching forward saw their master’s sign and suddenly broke into a dead run.

Kaliam had taken up a position with Nock, Mallik, and many of his commanders-and waited for exactly the right moment. Kaliam nodded and Nock launched one flaming arrow into the sky toward the fountains. It was the first signal.

“They are still coming full-bore,” said King Ravelle. “How arrogant they are to think they could just stroll in unopposed.”

Kaliam watched closely as the enemy drew within fifty yards of the palisades.

“Almost there,” he whispered.

“Come on!” Mallik urged.

The clamor of the enemy was like that of a stampede. Paragor Knights spread as wide as the road and were thick all the way to the front gates. They came recklessly, laughing at the wooden palisades before them.

“They will snap like toothpicks,” yelled some of the enemy.

“We will trample them down!” answered another.

“Now, Kaliam!” yelled Sir Rogan.

“Nay! A second more!” Kaliam said.

The enemy knights were twenty-five feet away from the palisades. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten.

“Now!” Kaliam yelled. And Nock released two fiery arrows into the sky.

The very second the two arrows went up, the palisades-the entire length from one side of the road to the other-slammed down. But not flat. These palisades had been fashioned with hundreds of hanging legs that extended when the fence fell and kept the razor-sharp points of lumber at right about waist height.

Moving too fast to stop in time, and pushed from those behind, the first line of Paragor’s infantry, almost five hundred soldiers across, drove into the deadly palisades. In one moment nearly a thousand Paragor Knights died or were wounded so severely that they could not fight.

The horror did not end for the Paragor Knights, for behind the palisades stood the bulk of Alleble’s remaining armies. They had lain in wait, choking all the back ways, alleys, and side streets-the cottages, shops, and keeps. And at the sign of the first flaming arrow, they had poured behind the palisade like floodwaters. The cavalries of Alleble and its allies Mithegard and Acacia attacked.

Warriant gave the signal and his Baleneers began a deadly rain of spears upon the enemy knights. But thousands more-knights conscripted into Paragor’s service, the armies of Candleforge, Frostland, and Inferness-entered the fray. And in spite of Paragor’s losses, his was still the larger army.

Paragor’s infantry-buoyed by the advance of their reinforcements-turned to face their enemy. Shining sword raked against jagged curved blade. Heavy hammer collided with massive blunt club. And bright, twin-edged axe clashed against the arced scythe blade. Greater was the skill of the defenders, but the numbers of the enemy made up for that.

As Paragor’s archers advanced they began to take up positions on the keeps, walls-even the rooftops of cottages. Soon streams of crimson arrows soaked in mortiwraith venom arced overhead and fell among Alleble’s forces. Those hit fell dead in their tracks.

The tide had turned in Paragor’s favor, and the forces of Alleble and its allies began to be pushed back and overrun.

Kaliam was horrified, and he made ready to join the fray. “Look!” Lady Merewen yelled, and pointed toward the sky.

It was three dragons. They flew over the smashed gate, over Paragor, and just over the heads of the enemy army. And Kaliam saw and yelled, “Behold, all of Alleble: the Three Witnesses!” Just at the hearing of the legendary name, the soldiers of Alleble felt a surge of confidence. And they held at the palisades, not allowing even a single enemy to break through and gain the fountains.

Robby was the first to enter combat. He drove into the middle of a regiment from Frostland. The landing crushed many, and at the wish of her master, Splinter lashed her head and tail about until a clearing had been made. Robby dismounted, heedless of the enemy beginning to close around him. He turned and held a hand to the sky. The dragons beneath Paragor’s Deathreapers swooped suddenly as if reaching the end of an invisible chain. Then they began to fly erratically, swerving, diving-even soaring inverted! Most of the Deathreapers could not hold on. They fell out of the sky, flailing violently until they crashed into the city. The now riderless dragons plowed into Paragor’s forces, wreaking havoc upon the army they once served. Alleble’s dragon riders were now in control of the skies above the city, and they wheeled about and dove into the battle as well.

Antoinette leaped down from her steed and held the Daughter of Light aloft. Spidery veins of white lightning crawled across the underside of the roiling clouds, and an intensely bright streak shot down to strike Antoinette’s sword. Sparks flickered and surged up her blade, but by King Eliam’s power, the electricity did her no harm. The enemy would not fare so well. Antoinette charged off the edge of the palisades into battle.

A brutish warrior from Candleforge was the first to challenge her. He raised his massive club, intending to pulverize this young girl in one move. He rocked on his feet and brutally swung his club at Antoinette. But there was a strange flash of white light and a sudden breath of oily smoke. When his vision cleared, he saw Antoinette standing unharmed. As his vision began to gray at the fringes, he saw that his club had been split. It was the last thing he saw before he died.

Aidan drove his dragon steed almost sideways at the ranks of Paragor’s archers. Then he raked his sword across the backs of the archers’ necks as he careened through their ranks. A few turned, but too late. An entire rank of archers went down.

Paragor unleashed the Seven Sleepers. They snarled and bounded into the road, charging the forces of Alleble-heedlessly trampling Paragor’s Knights as they went. A team of Alleble’s infantry slashed at one wolvin’s face, rending and gouging it with angry red streaks, but the wolvin seemed not to feel it. The Seven roamed the road, laying low scores of Alleble’s knights. And at last, they broke through Alleble’s forces at the palisades and charged toward the Seven Fountains.

At Paragor’s command, the Wyrm Lord spread his wings wide and took to the air. He flew beneath the turbulent clouds like a dark blotch of smoke. The firstborn wyrm spewed streams of his lethal breath into the ranks of Alleble’s forces, incinerating dozens and leaving behind scoured trails and charred bodies. Alleble’s dragon riders came at the Wyrm Lord from all sides, but he batted them aside as if they were gnats.

Kaliam turned to the warriors assembled near him. “Stay in teams,” Kaliam said. “No less than three, for none of us alone can contend with a Sleeper or the Wyrm Lord. Mallik, Sir Rogan, and Nock, stay together. Thrivenbard, lead Warriant and Sir Valden. King Ravelle, Farix, and Oswyn, defend the fountains!”

“Now is our time!” Kaliam exclaimed. “Our armies are outnumbered by the enemy! Our odds are grim at best.” Kaliam’s eyes were ablaze, and he stared from knight to knight before he continued.