Tower of Ancients

by Jaeger Mitchells

  “What have you got for me, Harlan?” I asked, jumping off the walkway. Sylvana landed next to me, holding her skirt down with her hands. Why did she have to wear something like that if she was afraid of being seen? I sighed, not able to understand women sometimes.

  “This is a fucking beauty, if I may say so myself. We didn’t have time for more, so we’ll basically have two to three shots tops if we’re quick re-arming the cutters.”

  “Cutters?”

  He nodded excitedly.

  “Look, these two machines shoot heavy leaden balls at tremendous speed, which is further boosted by magic. The balls spread and a thin, almost indestructible wire is spread out. It should be able to cut through anything short of Mithrill.”

  “Oh? And you think it will work?”

  “Hah! When has anything malfunctioned?”

  “Do you want me to start counting?” I laughed.

  He held his hand up and looked away.

  “No, no, you’re right. And no, I have no clue. But it’s the best I could come up with at such short notice. Now, for this beauty right here, it uses those exploding arrows. Look at this piece of fuse. We light it up and launch a batch of arrows. Depending on how far you need them to fly, you need to wait a couple of seconds. Each inch of the fuse is good for about an extra ten feet.”

  “So this thing is a short-range defensive machine?”

  Harlan nodded.

  “Yes, my Lord, it is. It would be too good if we could fire them into the opposing army, but that isn’t happening. Maybe if we had strong long-bows and someone to draw them—then we could do some damage.”

  I grinned, excited by the prospect of being first to strike.

  “How long until you can make me a bow that’s strong enough?”

  “You can use mine,” Sylvana said, interrupting the conversation. “It’s blessed wood and reinforced by Elven steel. It won’t snap unless five of you try to demolish it.”

  “And how far can it shoot?”

  “An ordinary Human could shoot it up to a quarter of a mile with the best possible bow and preparations. I can make half a mile without any real precision. You? Probably a mile.”

  “Not good enough. They’re three miles out.”

  “I can cast a wind spell on it. I don’t know how far it will take the arrow, but we can try.”

  “Please, let me try, but as for you, Harlan, get me a couple of those exploding arrows.”

  “Y-yes, my Lord.”

  I picked Sylvana up and jumped back up on the walkway, took an arrow out from the quiver nearest, and waited for Sylvana’s bow. She placed her hands around the arrow and infused it with what she said was wind magic.

  “Here goes,” I whispered, notching the arrow and shooting. The projectile released with a loud thunk and flew in an upward arc, gaining distance by the moment. At one point it started rising again, gaining extra speed after the spell kicked in. I focused on the blasted thing, but it was hard to see at such a distance. However, I could hear an outcry as the arrow embedded itself in someone’s body.

  “The other arrows are heavier, so you’ll have to pull slightly harder.”

  “I will,” I replied, already curious as to what the effect of the exploding arrow would be like. Harlan ran up to the palisade wall a minute later, carrying five of the arrows, holding them in his hands carefully as if they were his babies.

  I jumped down quickly and took them from his hands, then jumped back up, looking for a fire as Sylvana blessed the arrows. The nearest brazier was only ten feet away so I walked over to the fire-spewing barrel and lit the first arrow, notched it, and shot it at the center formation. The arrow spewed flame as it flew through the air and landed in the thicket of an infantry formation some six seconds later, slamming against the shield of a soldier. The explosion was wild and scattered the men and women who were closest to it. I couldn’t exactly see the damage done and if it had killed them outright or just wounded, but it was more than enough. These things were made to ravage formations and that’s what they were capable of.

  “Do you want to shoot the rest?” she asked. I nodded and held them out for her, then lit them up and shot half of them into the right formation and one into Sarga’s people. More explosions rang out and finally got their attention. Screams resounded from the other end of the valley. Almost immediately a Banshee Wail pierced the air. Sarga was pissed. Had I accidentally hit someone I shouldn’t have?

  “Fuck. I think I made her mad,” I laughed

  “No shit. Did you have to hit her people?”

  “I don’t know. It was an impulse thing. I just did.”

  The beating of drums and the sound of a battle horn resounded and were followed by an immediate march.

  “It’s either do or die!” I yelled as my blood started boiling for battle. “Get those war machines out there and prepare them to fire!”

  “Yes, my Lord!” Harlan laughed madly. I guessed he wanted to see the destructive force of his machines firsthand. He wasn’t the only one excited, though. My blood started pumping and my undead hart almost managed to start beating again after centuries.

  “Archers! In position!” I ordered, handing the bow back to Sylvana. Helena joined us along with Anya and Dimas. Minotaur came running from the tower entrance and stopped right in front of the palisade gate, snorting and swirling his double axes.

  I was met with disapproval from my officers for hurrying this skirmish, but it was either now or in a couple of hours. At least we would have a couple of things playing for us, including their army being tired.

  The enemy infantry was coming ever closer, encroaching like a tidal wave. To my surprise, they hadn’t deployed their cavalry to storm the walls and erect platforms. That was one of the standard approaches when it came to scaling walls. Get in close as fast as possible put up ladders and smaller platforms so once the infantry arrives they can start climbing. No, the cavalry was staying behind. Did they think there would be a chance to use them?

  “Hold your arrows!” I yelled and turned to Harlan. “Get those damn things over here! Anyone not busy with shooting the enemy, go get those explosive projectiles!”

  I cursed myself mentally for having too much fun while picking the enemy from afar. But I wasn’t the only one being stupid today. The enemy soldiers weren’t moving steadily, no, they were full-on sprinting from the start. They would be far too tired to fight with all that gear on once they arrived. What the hell?

  Then I saw the rows behind them slow down as if they could read my mind. The first row kept on charging. Why would they send in—oh no. Then I remembered one of Sarga’s specialties.

  “Pick off the first row chargers! They’re trying to blow the wall up using immolators!”

  “What’s an immolator?” Sylvana asked as she notched an arrow and held the bow steady, waiting for them to come in close enough.

  “They explode when Sarga gives the order. If any of them hits the wall, there won’t be a palisade left!”

  “I’ve got an idea,” Dimas whispered as he leaned in. “I’ll give you one of my two shields and I’ll take the second. Whatever comes in too close, we go in and kill them before they can reach the wall. The Mithril shield should easily be able to withstand the blow and it’s big enough so your body is mostly covered.”

  I nodded appreciatively.

  “Will do. And if we survive all this, I’m going to make you a Warlord, equal in rank to me, brother.”

  Dimas grinned and nodded, offering me his meaty hand.

  “Very well, brother Raziel.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Anya produced the shields from the same magical dome just like before. Once this was over, I would have to finally get to the bottom of this. It’s quite handy to have such a power and way of storing a whole armory.

  I took the offered shield and weighed it in my arm. It didn’t weigh much more than my combined shield and blades, which was good as I would need the mobility.

  “Half a mile!” Hele
na called out and released an arrow. Two seconds later, it struck the head of an immolator causing him to stagger, but he kept on running a moment later.

  “Shit, this isn’t going to work. We need to get rid of them all at once or they’ll fuck our defenses!” I cursed and planted my foot on top of the palisade. “Talk to me! What do we have?”

  The second row of infantry dropped dead as Sarga galloped ahead of them and the third started glowing, then started running again. My gut felt as if a knot had constricted around it, choking me from the inside. That bitch really wanted us gone, well, in that case, I would show her.

  “Fire the exploding arrows at the formations ahead! Dimas, I’m taking the left fifty or so!”

  Dimas didn’t respond but darted over the palisade and started moving. It was time to do the same. The only advantage we had was our speed. We moved multiple times faster than they did. My mind went blank once I stepped onto the battlefield, thinking about one thing only: how to survive this first skirmish.

  The first immolator ran into my sword. A single move and its head was gone. I twisted around and kicked it at the three closest and moved right to intercept three more. The corpse exploded just as it crashed into the three, forming a chain reaction. Flames reached out in all directions as body parts exploded and forced more of the immolators to explode. To my right, the same thing happened a moment after Dimas noticed what I’d done. The stench they released was almost unbearable even for a Vampire. It’s hard to imagine what it would do to a Human’s sense of smell.

  The shield barely held against the onslaught of flame and explosive power as the blastwave struck me. If it had been any smaller, I would be in deep shit. Holding it up, I charged another group of four. My sword sang again, decapitating one of them, but then all four of them exploded at the same time. I barely managed to get my shield up in time to absorb the explosion. The bones and meat showered me, exploding on contact and denting the shield and my armor in various places.

  My arms and body felt like someone had taken a hammer and beaten me almost to death. This was much worse than I remembered from Sarga all those years ago. It seems she has been busy up in the north while defending the borders, busy becoming much stronger.

  “Sarga!” I yelled, furious at the woman. “I’ll rip your fucking head off!”

  I swear, every damn immolator stopped for a moment and then homed in on me. Dimas stopped for a second, not able to understand what was going on, but then darted in, grabbed one of those things and ripped its head off, swung the corpse, and hurled it into a group of over thirty of the things. The head came last as a thank you.

  The massive explosion rocked the clearing and sent me flying for over fifty feet backward. I landed on the grass and skidded to a halt another ten feet and bumps further. What power, what insane power she wielded.

  I shook my head clear just as a green glow enveloped me along with a gust of wind. That’s the best I could describe it. I looked back and saw Sylvana target me with another spell. It hit me a second later and a layer of frost appeared around my shield. I wanted to ask her what it would do, but that would be a waste of time as there were still a good dozen of the bastards running at me along with a second wave that was only two hundred feet out.

  Smaller explosions rang out and were followed by bigger ones. The tempo grew as the exploding arrows hit the immolators, causing another chain reaction that shook the very ground I stood one.

  “Hell yeah!” I laughed, happy to have dealt with the things for the moment. I stood there, waiting for a third wave, but it never came. The infantry picked up again on speed and started moving to meet us.

  “Do we retreat?” Dimas yelled from my right.

  “Of course we do!” I yelled back. “I’m not fighting fifteen thousand enemies just by the two of us!”

  “Oh, and you’re welcome for the save!”

  I laughed, not able to keep it in. He really did save me this time.

  “Save you back later!”

  He nodded turning back and launching himself at the wall. I followed a second later and was up there right after he landed.

  “The next wave is closing in! Just over half a mile!” Sylvana yelled as she took one of the exploding arrows and notched it.

  “We have a big trump card that can kill a lot of them, but it’s pretty close to the wall. It can backfire,” Anya said as she took the shield off my left arm and helped crack it back in place. I didn’t feel the pain thanks to Sylvana’s spell, I was sure of it.

  “Thanks, ladies. Do what you want, but don’t let all of them hit the wall at once. You have my permission.”

  “Sylvana, Helena, do what I taught you earlier. We need to activate the spell and hold it. They won’t see the markings, but we will so once the first few rows have passed, we’re detonating them.”

  “Alright,” Helena replied and knelt beside Anya. Sylvana followed a moment later. I stared at them intently but got a mean stare back.

  “Yeah, yeah. I understand,” I murmured and retreated to where Dimas stood. “Those things were nasty, huh? You hurt?”

  He shook his head.

  “No, not really, but I don’t know what would have happened if they all exploded near one of us. That would have been bad.”

  I nodded.

  “Yeah, it would. That damn Sarga, what the hell is she even thinking?”

  “I don’t know, but I think it’s safe to say she’s on the enemy side.”

  I let out a deep sigh and picked Sylvana’s bow up, notched an arrow, and targeted the Bone Witch. She was pretty far out, but I knew I could make the distance, though hitting her would be a big feat.

  My finger twitched and I released the arrow, my eyes focusing on its trajectory. The arrow flew but fell short about twenty feet. It was enough for her to lift her head up and stare up at me. She lifted her hand, palm toward me, and clenched a fist. Dozens of infantry soldiers keeled over, coughing and twisting in agony. It didn’t take them long to die. What they turned into was something else, though. They became damn skeletons as the flesh burned and dropped to the ground.

  “What a nasty woman,” Dimas hissed. “What the hell is she? A Necromancer?”

  “Similar. She’s far worse in my opinion. She can raise the dead and turn the living into dead, as well as use all kinds of curses and death magic. She’s a frightening enemy, Dimas.”

  “Not as frightening as us,” Sylvana hissed as the three got up. I looked over the wall and saw a line light up. It was so faint that the eye could barely see it. I was about to ask if the enemy would spot it, but then I noticed it was buried into the soil. The three really were smart when they tried.

  “Oh, and we made more of those smaller bombs you killed the trolls with. Worst case we can use them from overhead,” Anya said calmly as she picked a large wooden box out from her magical space and put it down.

  “You guys are lifesavers,” I said, the corners of my lips pointing upwards. I was happy to see more of these little babies, they were really effective against crowds.

  “You better reward us once all of this shit is over and done with,” Helena sneered. “I didn’t sign up for this shit.”

  I nodded and turned back to the oncoming infantry. Two hundred feet. One hundred. The first rows finally passed the line but were met with dozens of exploding arrows, shredding the lines in places where multiple projectiles hit.

  “Hah! Take that!” I laughed, but then immediately regretted it. We had a finite amount of the ammo unlike Sarga and her immolators. All she needed was magical power to exchange for creation of the creatures and there you go, more immolators.

  “Fire! Fire! Fire!” echoed all across the wall. Hundreds of ordinary arrows met the attacker, hitting shields, steel, and flesh alike. Soldiers fell by the dozen, but not nearly many as they should. A second volley struck the enemy and then a third. But then it was already over. The first rows slammed right into the walls, pushing ladders up and climbing them. Archers dropped their bows and started pushing
the ladders over, but they weren’t strong enough.

  “Infantry to the wall! Help with the ladders and climbers!”

  Hundreds of swords and spearmen climbed up to the palisade walkways. I could feel the wood groan under the combined weight, but it would have to hold or we were dead anyway.

  “Now!” Anya snapped.

  Three different shades of orange lit up around the three women, rose into the air, and flew off towards the line. A terrible explosion shook the clearing, shredding the enemy infantry to pieces and engulfing the area in a searing hot flame. I remembered the first time the sisters unleashed hellfire on the Human cavalry and how bad it looked, but this time it was much worse. A coiling fire serpent appeared from the inferno and passed through the first couple of rows before it died out, setting them aflame.

  The attack halted for a single heartbeat as the first rows stopped climbing and the rest stopped moving. I dropped down to stand next to Minotaur and nodded at the gigantic creature.

  “You ready for a brawl?” I asked as I placed my own combined shield on my left arm and strode towards the enhanced and enchanted gate.

  “Whatever you say, Tower Lord.”

  “Tower Lord? What’s that?”

  “It’s the one recognized by the Keeper as the owner.”

  “And you’re the keeper? Great. Don’t die or I’ll lose my Keeper.”

  “Of course, Tower Lord. I will take care to defend everyone in here.”

  Its voice was neutral, far too neutral to my liking, but it was a damned creature, not a Human being or whatever. I was already beyond happy that it could talk at all.

  Renewed yelling and screaming could be heard from the other side, especially now that the infantry was up on the walls. They put up and held their big shields up as arrows dropped from overhead. The enemy archers finally came into range and started laying the hurt down on us, but luckily they didn’t have any tricky projectiles.