Rampage, page 39
part #1 of Land of the Elementals Series
His heart was nearly coming out of his mouth, and he didn’t know whether he’d lost his mind standing up to a salamander, but he knew in his heart that it was the right thing to do.
“Did nothing?! She held a knife to your sister’s throat while Karria was being tortured! If she had her way, she’d be killing you right now. So why do you protect her?”
He took another step forward, the ground shattering under his foot and jagged cracks spreading from the impact.
“That may be true, but I won’t judge her for what she would have done. Sure, she may have held a knife to my sister’s throat, but she didn’t kill her. She may have even killed me, but she didn’t! I believe in giving people second chances, don’t you?”
He really hoped his argument would make him back down. If Silver decided to kill Nina, there would be nothing he could do to stop him.
Silver paused and seemed to think for a moment. Then he exhaled mightily, the white aura leaving his body as he began to shrink. His skin tone changed to the usual light orange color, and the glowing purple lines vanished as well.
“You have a soft heart, boy. It will get you killed one day,” he said, bending to fetch his ruined shirt and putting it back on.
Before he managed to close it, Sylvester could almost swear he saw a scar on the man’s chest. A deep, jagged line running over his left pectoral muscle. It was silvery white, as though the wound had healed a very long time ago. He had to wonder who could leave a mark on a monster like that.
“You really should be getting home,” Silver said, walking back to the four of them.
Sylvester looked down then in concern. Kya was still unconscious and Karria was very pale, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Nina shivered on the ground, weeping in terror and relief at having narrowly avoided death.
“There’s no way I can get them all home in time,” Sylvester said worriedly.
Karria definitely wouldn’t make in time.
“Luckily for you, I can get you home without too much trouble.”
Silver then looked Sylvester in the eye, and his voice took on a more menacing air.
“And don’t forget my warning, Sylvester. Should harm befall her again because of your actions, I will be coming for you.”
Karria’s red dagger was placed in his hand, then suddenly his surroundings vanished. A moment later, he found himself in the center of the throne room, back in the palace. He looked around in confusion. Karria, Kya, and Nina were all lying on the ground next to him.
The forest was gone, and so was Silver. Looking up, he saw Blyss and Alvine staring at him with disbelieving expressions, as guards rushed over to them.
He felt a smile creep onto his lips before he collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
53
Arbor looked out over the open plains at the approaching army. He was standing next to Grak, on top of the outermost wall that had been erected almost overnight. There were three such walls, each made of hardwood and around twenty feet tall.
When he’d asked how they’d managed to erect the walls so quickly, one of the dwarves next to him had explained that they’d already been built in advance for just such a situation.
They’d been constructed beforehand and then brought out by teams of horses in sections. They were designed in such a way that the sections could be clipped together, and then long boards were slotted across the inside to reinforce the structure. Hard spikes had then been driven into the ground to hold it all up.
The results were three walls, each over five miles long, and arching inward in a semi-circle. The walls were set up at one-mile increments to give them room to fight and to set traps when they broke through. The gremlins could try and circumvent the walls, but the archers would greatly reduce their numbers if they attempted to do so much as near the wall.
They could retreat and come around in a wide circle, but that would take time. Ramona was hoping they would try and circle around in a wide arc. This way, she could avoid losing any fighters, while buying time for Hord to return with the main force.
Arbor didn’t think they would be so lucky. From the way he was described to him, General Sor’shin wasn’t the type to take the long way, just to spare the lives of some of his gremlins. He would most likely just push until he broke through.
There had been a change in plans, and now they were going to try and hold the walls for as long as possible, instead of using them as breaks. Even now, there were people working on the innermost wall, building it further around, in an attempt to make a full circle.
The gremlin army came to a halt just out of bowshot, and a rider came forward, carrying a white flag. As he approached, Arbor noticed Ramona coming up onto the wall, flanked on both sides by her personal guard. She was dressed for battle, wearing gleaming plate armor from head to toe. Her head was bare, leaving her silver and violet-streaked hair to blow in the early-morning breeze. Arbor could see a steel helm resting under the crook of her arm.
All the soldiers stopped what they were doing to salute as she passed. Arbor stood at attention and began to salute as well, but she waved him off, leaning against the wall and watching the approaching rider.
“Have you ever been in a battle like this before?”
“I’ve only fought in small skirmishes before this,” he admitted.
“Are you afraid?” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Yes,” he answered honestly.
He was afraid, more afraid than he cared to admit. His fists were clenched at his sides to stop them from shaking and his heart was thudding so hard, he was sure the whole world could hear it.
Ramona turned and flashed him a grim smile.
“Good. You’d be a fool not to be.”
Arbor was relieved to hear that. He’d been afraid to answer honestly, as he didn’t want to be seen as a coward.
“Do you think we can win?” Ramona asked in a quiet voice.
He raised an eyebrow at the Co-founder.
“Why ask me? I don’t know anything about battle, and I’m your newest recruit.”
Ramona chuckled lightly at that and looked out onto the plains again. The rider was nearly at the wall now.
“You may not believe it, but I think you are far more important than you give yourself credit for. You have a big part to play in overthrowing the king, and it’s not just me who believes it.”
Arbor’s eyebrows went up in surprise.
“What are you talking about? Barely anyone here knows me. How could anyone believe that a carpenter’s son from the middle of nowhere could be important?”
Grak spoke up for the first time since Ramona had approached.
“She’s right, you know. Look around you. People can feel you’re special. Look how they’ve cleared space for you. They speak to you with respect and deference, despite never having met you before.”
She smiled then, the corners of her lips turning up.
“You are special. The only one who doesn’t see it is you.”
Arbor just shook his head at the two of them.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He wanted to deny what they were saying, but even he was having a hard time convincing himself that they were lying. He’d noticed the stares he’d been getting. The awed expressions on the faces of strangers as they watched him pass.
“I think someone may have spread a rumor that you singlehandedly killed an Infiltrator,” Ramona said in a casual tone, but Arbor could see the corners of her mouth twitching as she tried to suppress a smile.
“I thought you were trying to keep my magic a secret.”
“I was, but you killed the spy,” Ramona waved her hand dismissively. “Besides, your magic would be on display in the upcoming battle anyway, and it will boost the troops’ morale to see such a great warrior fighting with them.”
Arbor shook his head in amazement. Leave it to her to find an advantage in any situation. It was really quite crafty.
The rider stopped in front of the wall and pulled his horse to a halt.
“Hear me, you rebel scum!” His voice boomed out over the Flatlands as he spoke. “I come to speak to you in the name of the great General Sor’shin! Surrender now, and you will be sold as slaves, but stay and fight, and we will kill you all!”
“Shoot him,” Ramona said calmly.
The rider had opened his mouth to speak again when there was a twanging of bowstrings, and the rider was subsequently turned into a pincushion.
The Defiants on the wall cheered as the rider fell to the ground, his black blood staining the parched ground beneath him.
“Was that really necessary?” Arbor asked as he heard horns being blown from across the field.
“It will send a strong message. Also, I didn’t much like the terms the little bastard offered us. I don’t much fancy being a slave, do you?” she asked rhetorically.
Arbor simply shook his head, watching as the sea of red began moving forward, drums pounding and horns blowing.
“Can you see what magic they’ve got on them?” Ramona whispered to him.
This part of his magic was one that they were trying to keep secret. The ability to sense magic was an extremely rare one and could come in handy when fighting enemy Mages.
Arbor took a deep breath and allowed his second Origin to power his vision. The approaching army had a few spots of color, but a lot less than he’d been expecting.
“It looks like there are around a hundred or so Mages, and another few hundred with magic weapons or armor.”
Ramona nodded as though she’d been expecting this.
“Like I said before, magic is a rare thing in this land. It doesn’t matter for which side you fight. A rare resource will still be rare.”
One of the captains approached Ramona then. She was an elf, the leader of the archer contingent under her command. She saluted, then spoke.
“Shall I have my lieutenants give the signal?”
“On your command, Captain.” Ramona nodded and turned to head down the wall. She looked back before leaving.
“Take care of yourself, Arbor. You are very important to me, and I’d rather not see you die in this battle.”
Then she left, her contingent of guards marching after her.
Arbor had to wonder about her last statement. Didn’t she mean he was important to the Defiants?
He shrugged and chalked it up to her being under stress. Turning to look at Grak, he could see her visibly fuming, which was quite impressive given her complexion.
He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him, as though surprised he was still there.
“Why do you seem so upset?”
She opened her mouth to reply, when a loud order went down the line.
“Archers ready!” A loud voice called out, and Grak turned to look out at the gremlin army. They were now almost within bowshot, and they heard a loud creaking, as hundreds of bows were drawn back at once.
“Fire!”
There was a collective sound of twanging bowstrings as the archers fired.
Arbor followed the storm shafts as they arched through the air and came down on the enemy force. He could hear screams of pain as they found their marks and saw the front-line stumble.
“Fire!”
Arbor had been watching the approaching army and hadn’t noticed the archers preparing another volley. He watched the arrows fly again and plunge into the approaching line of gremlins.
“Doesn’t he care about his forces at all?” he asked Grak as a third volley was loosed at the enemy.
“Not in the slightest,” Grak answered back. She looked grim as hundreds of gremlins fell with each volley.
“Maybe we’ll be able to cut them down before they even reach the wall.”
Arbor was becoming hopeful as another volley brought down more of the enemy force.
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Grak said, then threw herself to the ground with a loud curse.
Arbor didn’t have long to wonder why, as the archer near him went down with a shout of pain. Looking down, he could see crossbow bolt protruding from his chest.
Arbor quickly dropped below the lip of the makeshift wall and peered over. The front line of gremlins was nearly at the wall now, and he could see the crossbow-wielding gremlins reloading for another volley.
The archers had time for one more volley of arrows before the gremlins crashed into the wall.
Arbor could feel the wooden floor reverberate as they did so. He saw the archers quickly sliding down ladders on the other side and running to their horses. They would now go to the second wall and wait for the approaching force again.
He heard the rattle of wood and saw the tops of ladders hitting the wall.
“Looks like it’s our turn,” he said, flashing Grak a grim smile.
“Looks that way,” she said, returning the grin.
Then the first gremlin reached the top of the wall. His face had barely cleared the lip when Arbor’s glaive took his head from his shoulders.
Raising his weapon above his head, he roared his defiance. It was now their job to cover the archers’ retreat. They were to hold the wall until they were all safely to the second position. More gremlins swarmed over the wall, and the battle now began in earnest.
Arbor hacked his way through the first few gremlins to come up the ladders, but they were soon on the wall, more and more swarming over the lip by the second. He blocked a sword thrust to his leg and took the gremlin’s arm off, before kicking him off the wall.
He danced back, narrowly avoiding a spear, then sheared the top off the weapon when it was thrust at him again. The gremlin tried to take a step back, but Arbor’s glaive sliced through his chainmail, nearly cutting him in two.
He was amazed at the weapon’s sharpness. Hord had not been lying when he’d said it could cut through almost anything. He blocked another sword thrust with the haft of his weapon, then cut the offending sword in two. The gremlin stared in shock at his stump of a sword. Then Arbor brought the spiked end of his weapon across his face, cracking his jaw and sending him flying off the wall.
He was being careful to limit the amount of magic he was using at any given time.
Sure, he didn’t need to use too much to beat these soldiers, but this was a battle, and he had to pace himself. Otherwise, his body might give out at the wrong moment, and a mistake like that could cost him his life.
He cut through three more gremlins before he heard the horn sound. The archers were at the second wall. He heard the call then spreading down the wall.
“Retreat to the secondary position!”
Arbor looked to his left and saw Grak running over. She was breathing hard, her breastplate covered in blood and gore. Looking down at himself, he could see he didn’t look too much better. His once gleaming brown and green breastplate was now covered in blood and grime, and the smell was almost enough to make him gag.
He pushed down the reflex and examined their surroundings. The wall was clear in their section, but he could see bodies littering the wall in both directions. Looking down, he could see a force approaching, all riding massive hairy beasts that walked on their knuckles and hind legs. They were humanoid in appearance, and he heard Grak cursing silently next to him.
“What are those things?” he asked in concern.
“War apes,” she said, turning her back on the oncoming force and running for a ladder. “Come on; they’ll be over the wall in a matter of seconds once they reach it.”
Arbor took one last look out at the approaching apes. They did look quite imposing. He hurried to follow Grak, sliding quickly down the ladder and sheathing his weapon as he did so.
He had to wonder why he hadn’t come across any other Mages yet, but shrugged, figuring that he’d run into them eventually.
The area between the first and second walls were littered with pitfalls and traps, all set up by the brilliant dwarf engineers, and they had to be careful, dodging around them as they ran.
He could see other soldiers running around him, all heading for the second wall. He was shocked that so few were left. There had been over five hundred holding the wall, but he now counted fewer than fifty running alongside them. Looking back to the wall, he saw the first apes coming over. It didn’t take them long, just a few seconds, as Grak had predicted.
Once they landed on the other side, they were quick to break the support beams, and soon the wall was broken wide open, and a teeming horde of gremlins poured in through the breach.
They reached the second wall a minute later and quickly climbed the ladders. Once they reached the top, the ladders were quickly hoisted up. Grak leaned against the wall next to him, panting and out of breath.
Arbor was a lot better off, due to his magic, and now stared in horror as a massive section of the first wall came crashing down, gremlins spilling over it in a wave.
He took a deep breath, clearing his mind and allowing just a bit more magic to flow to his arms and legs, as the call for the archers rang out once again. They were supposed to hold out for three days, but he wasn’t even sure they would see the next sunrise.
54
Arbor stumbled back, narrowly avoiding an ax strike to the face, then stepping forward, skewered the offending gremlin through the eye. They were fighting on the ground between the second and third wall, trying to hold back a horde of gremlins to give the archers time to retreat.
The sun was already beginning to set, yet there was no sign of the battle winding down. Arbor stepped back and let another person take his place on the front line. Grak handed him a waterskin, and he nodded his thanks, taking a long draft before handing it back.
“How much longer to we have to hold here?” Arbor asked, wiping the blade of his glaive with a rag.
He was getting pretty tired at this point. Magic or not, he’d been fighting for hours now, first on the wall, and now here.
“Another hour or so until dark,” Grak said with a grimace.
She’d been wounded in the fight and had a cloth bandage wrapped around her left arm.
Arbor had been injured as well, and while the breastplate he wore didn’t have so much as a scratch on it, the armor he wore on his arms and legs weren’t as fortunate. He’d lost a bracer on one arm, and a nasty bruise spread across it from where he’d blocked a hammer strike poorly. He also had a shallow gash on the back of his leg. He’d gotten that one when a gremlin had snuck up behind him and tried to slice his leg off. Luckily for him, his magic had warned him in time, and he’d stepped forward right as the gremlin swung, only receiving a shallow cut.
