Gears of Troy 3

by Daniel Pierce

  “This is good to hear,” I said. “I’m glad to see you’ve settled in so well in such a short time. I will make sure that there are several warriors stationed at your tents to keep you and your family safe. As long as you all stay hidden within your tents, it is likely that the enemy will overlook you during the fight.”

  “Oh, Troy, you have me all wrong, my friend,” Teucer said. “We have a blanket of this wool for such emergencies. My wife and children will stay tucked safely within it, but I am a man who holds his ground. I have a cloak such as these here, as well as that armor you provided me. I will be wearing both and standing guard around my family among any men that you are willing to spare to assist me.”

  “Fair enough. I will not try and dissuade you from protecting your family.” I turned to Linos and said, “Make sure that there are at least ten men stationed around Teucer’s tents, send another ten up to the hill where Helen will be, and then spread 40 archers around the hills on the other side of the town to pick off the invaders like I mentioned. Also, bring another twenty to the dock to man the ships. We will use the three rammers plus three larger ones to hold the cannons and fire at both the enemy ships and the troops riding across the land.”

  “Sir!” Linos saluted me and then rushed off to fulfill his orders.

  “Now we need to decide who will get these cloaks. I will admit that I am biased, but I think they should go to Helen, Caria, Whistler, and either Linos or Scander. The Thirians would be in the middle of it, and it would help immensely for them to be able to get up close unseen, but I also want you women out of sight if at all possible.”

  “I will be riding into battle myself, Troy,” Caria said. “Nothing you can say will keep me from doing that.”

  “Fair enough. Though, I will admit that it seems a bit of a waste to give you a cloak when you’re on horseback. They might have trouble seeing you, but the horse will surely clue them in when they notice something wrong with it.”

  “I would rather Zinni have my cloak,” she said as the princess entered our little group.

  “Cloak?” Zinni asked.

  “Yes—those,” I said, pointing to the clothing still held by Teucer and his daughter. “I will take those from you now. You two need to go back and prepare.”

  They handed me the cloaks and left. No one but me noticed the young woman look over her shoulder and blow a kiss in my direction. I tried as subtly as I could to return her gesture with a wink.

  “Ah,” Zinni said. She sounded exhausted, and I had to wonder how much sleep she had gotten since this whole mess had begun. “Cloaks made of the enchanted wool. Why should I be honored with this protection? There cannot be that many of them and there are scores of people more in need of its protection than I am.”

  “There are four,” I said, “And I offered for Caria to use one, but it would be less useful for her on the back of a horse. I want all of you safe, but you cannot fight, so it might be best that you take one of them and then go to that hill with Helen. She will also be wearing one. How does that sound to you?”

  “Why the hill?”

  I explained my reasoning and that the two of them would be protected by a group of warriors in addition to the camouflage.

  “But how will the enemy be lured to the hill by Helen if she is hidden beneath the cloak?”

  “I would rather her be hidden away than used as bait. She can remove it if we decide that we need to draw their attention to her. I think it is best to have the option.”

  “Fair enough,” Zinni said. “I will join her there, though I must admit that I feel utterly useless in this situation.”

  I laid a hand on her shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, Zinni. There will be plenty of time for you to help soon enough. Speaking of—there will be several dozen troops preparing ships for battle in a moment. I would like you to go over there and explain how the cannons work before you go to the hill. That would be immensely helpful.”

  “Of course, Troy.”

  I handed her a cloak and she rushed off to the docks.

  “All right, so she has one,” I said. I handed one to Helen and then another to Whistler. “And I will give this last one to one of the Thirians when they return.”

  “Why do you not take one, my dear?” asked Helen. Concern was etched in every line of her face. “You are one of the most important people here. You must survive.”

  “I am the leader of this settlement, Helen. I must do what is best for my people, even if it means sacrificing myself. I would not dare wear one of these if it could instead be used to save the life of another.”

  “You are too noble for you own good!” She pressed a fist into my chest as tears welled up in her eyes. She buried her head in my chest as she had earlier and whispered, “I do not know what I would do if you were to leave me. I cannot bear the thought of such a thing.” Her words came through the waves of strengthening sobs.

  I took her firmly in my arms and hugged her once more. “Be strong for me, Love. We’ve been through this before, and we will likely go through it again. Don’t worry for me. Just make sure that you stay safe, and we will see each other on the other side of this war.

  “I hope that you are right,” she said.

  15

  The pieces were slowly beginning to fall into place. Helen rushed to the far end of the peninsula and Whistler went to rally her Slingers, placing them strategically along the hills bordering the town as well as throughout the town itself, spread out, hidden behind buildings and walls. The main wall of the town was a formidable obstacle for sure, but it was nothing compared to that of Illium. Slingers and Thirian archers stood guard along the miniature watchtowers lining it. The chariot riders would either have to dismount or break through the gate to get into the town. Either feat would cost them precious time and allow our warriors to pick scores of them off in the attempt.

  Linos had returned within a half hour of the others leaving and I presented his new battle attire to him. The tall man almost fell over with joy. He could not believe what he was looking at—or rather, what he was hardly able to look at.

  “Troy, this is the happiest day of my life!” he shouted. “Even if I am to die today, I will die a happy man.”

  “That’s good to know, but you better not die with that thing on,” I half-joked. “We don’t want that falling into enemy hands. It would make things a lot more complicated for us.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  “Did you send some of your sea-savvy brothers down to the docks?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Zinni is down there right now showing them how to use the cannons. I expect we’ll make short work of the enemy navy. Where would you like to be during the fight?”

  “Scander and I will be on the wall. Scander likes firing arrows. Me, not so much, but my club will be there when they come over the wall.” He held up the cloak and laughed thunderously. “Now they will not see what hit them.”

  A smile stretched across my face. “May you fight well, brother. This war is far from won, but I believe we have a good chance.”

  “May we feast together when this is over, brother.” He saluted me and put on his cloak. “Scander will be envious of this. I may let him wear it some during the fight, if that is good?”

  “Yeah, it’s yours. Do with it what you want.”

  “Good.” He was grinning as he turned to speed off toward the wall.

  I was left standing alone then, stewing in my plans. I spent so much time focused on telling everyone else where to go and what to do that I had not thought of where I should put myself when the dam began to break, even if I knew what I would be doing. My hands twitched in anticipation. Fight and win, I thought. Simple, when I considered it that way.

  I wanted to use the cannons, but there would be time for that in later battles, I was sure. I did not like the idea of being confined to a ship while my settlement was under siege. The wall seemed like a good place to start, but I was not very good with a bow. I could just do as
Linos was doing and pick off anyone who came close, but I felt that there were other places I could be of more use. Then an idea struck me, and I focused on an overlooked detail that could go a long way in helping us win this battle.

  I quickly made my way over to the docks. Zinni was hunched over a cannon explaining the controls to a handful of Thirians and Trojans. She turned to me as I approached.

  “Zinni!”

  “What is it, Troy?”

  “I want to bring one of the cannons to the wall. It’ll be a lot closer to the action there. The ships will only be so accurate from sea.”

  “I see the benefit in that, but will it not be more easily claimed by the enemy?”

  “Master Erion has perfected the design. I’m not worried about losing one of the six we already have, especially when we can pop out more of them in a day or two,” I said.

  “That is fair, but what if the Thracians take the cannon and reverse-engineer it? Or worse, use it against us on the spot?”

  “We’ll still have five at sea, and the ships can just unleash hell on the enemy if they get control of the cannon. As far as reverse-engineering it, they would have to take it back to their kingdom and spend a great deal of time studying it. At the point, we would have lost the war. As long as we don’t lose, we’re fine. We are in no more danger if they do take it because we would already all be dead. Now, they could turn around and use it on Illium, but the kingdom would have many cannons of their own and blow the Thracians away from a mile off. It’s not a perfect plan, but I am confident that mounting one of these to the wall will go a long way in helping us win this fight.”

  “You are the leader, Troy. If you think it is wise, then it is what we will do,” Zinni agreed.

  I was not really asking for her permission, but it was nice to have her blessing because my people mattered in all things. Especially love and war.

  “All right,” I said, pointing to ten of the men gathered around, “you guys take that cannon and come with me to the wall. Return here afterward and proceed as you were.”

  “Sir!” the ten men shouted in unison.

  They went to grab a cannon that was a little further down the dock and began hauling it away.

  “I want the other five mounted on three of our war vessels by the time these men return,” I ordered. “And when you set out, the three rammers need to take the lead and provide a barrier for the other ships. I don’t want the enemy getting within throwing distance of the rest of our precious artillery. And Zinni, please join Helen as soon as possible.” With that, I followed after the ten men.

  “Mind if I join you guys?” I called to Linos and Scander as I approached their little watch stand.

  The two Thirians turned to me, beaming. I could see the excitement of the upcoming battle welling up inside of them. If I thought the enemy soldiers were eager to taste blood, I had forgotten for a moment that no man could hold a candle to the Thirian bloodlust. The chieftain raised his spiked club to greet me and his right-hand man did the same with his bow.

  “So, you come to join us at the wall, Troy?” Linos said. “This will truly be a glorious battle.”

  “I brought a little help,” I said, gesturing with my thumb toward the cannon. Then I said to the men carrying the thing, “Put it up there with Linos and Scander.”

  “Ooh, this will be a sight,” Linos exclaimed.

  Scander said, eyes wide, “I have heard so much about the power of this cannon, but I have not yet seen it. I am excited to see what it will do.”

  I laughed. “It’s going to make short work of these assholes, that’s for damn sure.”

  Scander reached over and lifted Linos’s cloak a little, saying, “I must admit that I now feel useless next to this and your boom machine. You would not have another cloak or cannon lying somewhere, would you?”

  “Afraid not. We only had a few cloaks to hand out, and the other cannons are on the ship. But maybe I’ll let you have a turn with mine.” I winked.

  The haulers and I heaved the metal mass up onto the platform. My Thirian friends stooped down and assisted them for the last half of the maneuver. They plopped it down on the wooden platform with a loud clunk, and every man let out a sigh of relief.

  “Good job, gents,” I said. “Now back to the docks.”

  “Sir!”

  I began tinkering with the input parameters. I had decided that I was only going to use the energy blast, so I did not bother having the men carry any ammunition. The plan was to set the blast radius to a wide burst to hit as many enemies as possible, like a shotgun. I set it to maximum power, which would force it to use a lot of the heat and bioenergy in the surrounding air, minus the energy in us humans. Such energy requirements would require the air to refill with both heat and microscopic lifeforms before the cannon was ready to fire again. The heat would fill the cold pocket left behind relatively quickly, and the microbes would likely follow a minute or two afterward. I should have plenty of time to fire off several blasts before the enemy even reached us, and with any luck the artillery fire would either give them pause or make them reconsider the attack altogether.

  All we could do from there was wait. At any moment, the foreign troops would come streaming down the hill. The best we could do was shoot and pray. I looked off to the east and saw eight enemy ships sailing toward the docks. Odds were that they planned to land before getting that far, which would allow them easy access to the town without having to get through the gates. Behind me I saw the ten carriers hauling ass back to our warships. They needed to hurry up if they were going to make it with enough time to set out and stop the enemy vessels.

  Down on the dock, several men were pointing to the approaching ships. They were clearly unsure whether they should wait for the other men or set out to head the enemy off. Some of them—between ten and twenty—were boarding one of the larger ships while eight others were climbing into one of the rammers. It seemed as if they might set out ahead of the other four ships and do what they could. That was risky, even with our advanced firepower. The odds would be against them with numbers like that. They could only fire so much before the other enemy ships fired back.

  The haulers seemed to notice the others boarding because they quickened their pace immediately following the movements of those on the docks. The enemy ships were only just beginning to clear the wall then. One of them was close enough to one of the archers stationed at that end for the man to feel comfortable unleashing several arrows on the crew. Another Thirian and a Trojan joined in. My vision was limited from such a distance, but it appeared that at least one of the shots landed well. In response to this, the crew began firing off a dozen of their own arrows. All of these fell short, but it was enough to keep my men engaged. Several more ran up and began adding their efforts to the shootout. This encouraged all of the ships to back away a reasonable distance from the shore and try to find a safer spot to land elsewhere further down the peninsula.

  By the time I turned my attention back to the docks, I saw that the carriers had made it before the manned ships had gotten too far out. The two that were already at sea slowed their pace while the other four ships caught up. The odds were suddenly looking better.

  The three rammers sped forward to create a wall between our allied forces and the enemy. I could hear them shouting even from where I stood.

  “It is beginning,” shouted Linos from under his enchanted cloak. In his excitement, the hood fell back and I was able to clearly see his face. He did not seem alarmed at this, and I hoped that the cloak would still conceal him well enough when we engaged with the enemy.

  He hopped up and down, landing on the flats of his feet, a common warmup routine among his people to get their blood pumping. Seeing this, Scander joined in. Then I thought what the hell and began doing it myself.

  Linos let out a loud whooping sound and all the other Thirians followed suit, jumping and in anticipation for the coming fight. I could hear my heart beating. Hell, I could hear their hearts beating. Things w
ere about to get serious.

  I was about to turn back to the ships when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Whistler. She had snuck up behind me with the stealth of a cat, making me thankful that she was on my side. Despite being out of breath, she was grinning, an expression I had not expected of her during wartime.

  “What is it, Whistler?” I hoped she had some good news to share.

  “Troy, look.” She pointed to the western shore, and I saw four ships sailing in the distance.

  I narrowed my eyes in anger. More ships meant more danger—and more people to kill, unless they were friendly.

  I pointed. “We’ll need to welcome them ashore,” I growled.

  “Of course,” Whistler replied.

  It was then that I realized my mistake. I took note of the sails and her expression, and a sly grin pulled at my lips. “Those are yours, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, Troy. My scouts from the highlands must have been keeping a close eye on the Tracians and set out yesterday. I was worried that they would attempt to travel by land because surely the enemy would overpower them, but they accounted for that. They must have even known that the enemy ships traveled along the straight and not the western side of the peninsula. How fortunate we are,” she said with the air of someone who knows damned well that good planning makes for good fortune.

  “Indeed. I accept your kind offer of strong arms and stout hearts.” The other Thirians had ceased warming up and were watching the Slinger ships. Those close enough to hear the exchange between Whistler and I began to cheer at the news. The others further down both ends of the wall soon began cheering as well once they were able to put two and two together.

  “Where shall I put them?” Whistler asked.

  “Send half of them over here to the wall and liberally spread the rest across the hills with the other ranged attackers. We want to stop as many of the enemies from getting to the gates as possible.”

  “Will do, Troy.” She turned to run off to meet them at the shore but stopped suddenly. “Wait, what is that?”