by RG Long
“One problem,” Wisym said from her place a few chairs down from Ealrin. “The last time we left Lone Peak, it was crawling with Enoth guards, priests, sailors, you name it.”
“Bah,” Gorplin said from his position close to Teresa. “She’s right. We’d be asking for a fight.”
“Why not start there, then?” Ealrin asked. “You’re going to get a fight sooner or later anyhow.”
At that moment, the doors below them burst open and the sound of several feet running came into the tower. Some of the people stood, mostly from Ealrin’s group, and faced the stairs. Three sailors came running up in Death’s Gate colors, out of breath and looking terrified.
“Enoth!” the one in the middle panted.
“Coming here!?” Micah asked, adding a few curses afterwards and raising his sword from the table.
“No! Along the shore. Headed for Lone Peak! A fleet of them. Forty at least!”
“Then to hell with Lone Peak!” Micah said, throwing his sword down. “We’re fortifying the city and leaving them to deal with the empire!”
“They’ll come for you next,” Holve said among the general ruckus that had emerged with this pronouncement.
Micah stared at Holve with ice in his eyes.
“I have a city to defend,” he said. “And lives on the line. Pirate though I am, I prefer not to allow the entire population under my command to die unnecessarily.”
“Then how about leading them courageously?” Ealrin asked.
The room went quiet again and Micah looked as if he was ready to pick up his sword and run it through Ealrin. Even so, he maintained his expression, not wanting to show the judge weakness when he knew strength was needed.
“If Lone Peak falls, so will the rest of Darrion. Easily,” Ealrin said. “If they survive, you may have an ally to push back the empire, at least for a time. If you do nothing, then it only allows the empire more time to build its force and come for you.”
“What you are suggesting is suicide!” Micah replied. “We have ten boats worthy of war. Maybe twelve if we count the poorest of our vessels. What chance have we against a fleet of that size?”
“You have twenty boats,” Thane Ironheel corrected him. “If you go to fight Enoth, I will send our dwarven vessels with you. And they will count as two in the battle. We dwarves have outdone ourselves in the crafting of these. They will offer you great aid.”
“Fine,” flustered Micah. “Thank you for your wish to go and die. But we still lack an army with which to fight.”
“The elves will fight with you,” Elen said, standing from her chair. “We have a grudge to settle with Enoth. Give us weapons and we will fight. The empire will not treat any living thing with the respect that it deserves. We will fight it.”
Ealrin was surprised to see some of the Wood Walkers who came with her nodding their heads. It seemed the attack on both their homeland and Death’s Gate had hardened some of the elves of the woods.
Micah threw up his hands.
“You’re talking two thousand and against tens of thousands!” he said. “There can be no victory here!”
Ealrin remained resolute.
“You have two things that Enoth doesn’t, and won’t, expect. Two things that are to your great advantage.”
“Oh really?” Micah replied, looking at Ealrin with mock curiosity and folding his arms. “And those are?”
Ealrin looked around the room with his hands wide. He knew what he was offering and that a part of it was suicide. He knew that safety meant running away. Fleeing the danger. But he also knew that it had never been in his blood to run from tyranny and injustice when he had the chance to fight it.
“Us, and dragons.”
39: The Mustering of Forces
That next morning, Death’s Gate was a hive of activity. Elves from the woods and from the city were gathering whatever weapon they could find and heading to the docks. Ealrin was surprised at how quickly the Wood Walkers had joined in. Perhaps they had seen far too much damage at the hands of Enoth and knew it was time to stop them?
Or, perhaps, some grudges are just too infused into people.
The dwarves had disappeared into their cavern and not come out yet. Ealrin assumed they were getting things ready, only because he kept hearing loud noises coming from their direction. Gorplin had sent Brendt on with Thane Ironheel. He wanted to stay with the group.
“Brendt’s alright, but he’s a bit of a slow fighter,” Gorplin mused. “There’s always action around this group, though.”
“Can it, shorty,” Silverwolf said, polishing a blade of hers. “Just because you’re around, doesn’t mean I want to hear your chatter.”
Though it took more words and more time, Micah was finally convinced to send his fleet to war. It all rested on two very important details.
“You’re sure she’ll come back?” he asked as they watched Nerashi fly into the distance, in the direction of her island.
“And bring terror itself along with her,” Holve said, nodding his approval. “Now, about that ship.”
“The one your crew was flying like madmen all over the place?” Micah asked. “It’s from Redact. They’ve been dealing with us for ten years or so. Just recently, they began coming in those flying things and using the upper bridge as a dock. That used to go to another tower, but an earthquake toppled it.”
“And the ship’s owners, then?” Ealrin asked eagerly.
Micah looked grave.
“Dead, I’m afraid,” he replied. “Poor luck. We were just about to cut a deal with them. The battle didn’t go in their favor and they only came with a skeleton crew.”
Ealrin was sad to hear that the crew had perished, for more than one reason. But a look of discovery must have crossed his face. Holve saw it, too.
“Redact again,” he said.
“And I know how to fly that thing,” Ealrin added. “That explains a lot.”
“Like why I found you on a beach, nearly dead, surrounded by piles of wreckage from a ship no one saw in the water?”
“Something like that,” Ealrin shrugged, clapping Holve on the shoulder. “We’ll dive into more details about my past later. I haven’t forgotten the present in the meantime.”
Micah looked from one to the other.
“I suppose there’s more to your story than you’ve told so far,” he ventured. “At any rate, if you can fly it, I don’t see why the ship can’t be yours. Especially if you’ll use it to the same effect on Enoth as you did here.”
Ealrin nodded. They had a ship. And it flew.
Felicia came up beside them as they walked along the docks.
“I’m going to learn how to fly that thing,” she said. There was a gleam in her eye Ealrin hadn’t ever caught before. “The seas I can handle. But the air is something new. I’m going to learn how it’s done and be able to sail anything that moves!”
Ealrin chuckled at her enthusiasm. The usually harsh captain was acting a bit giddy and it surprised him.
“If I can remember the right things to say in order to tell someone else how to do it, I’ll gladly teach you,” he said.
“Bah,” Gorplin muttered at their feet. “I, for one, hope we get rid of the thing as soon as we’re done with this fight. Give me good, solid ground to fight on. Not some raft in the sky.”
Whatever reply Silverwolf was dying to get out was overshadowed by a burst of energy that shot out from the group and zoomed off towards a cliff. It exploded magnificently and sent a cloud of dust and rain of rocks down into the bay.
Everyone had ducked and dodged when the burst appeared. Several people on the docks had shouted or screamed as the energy tore through the air. Ealrin himself covered his head and sidestepped the immediate heat he had felt. Turning to see where it had come from, thinking a Speaker from Enoth had appeared in their midst, he instead saw a stunned Blume staring at the spot on the cliffs where the magical bolt had exploded.
“I didn’t mean to do that,” she said weakly.
Ealrin let out an audible breath.
“What was that about?” Silverwolf asked. “You don’t have to show off now that you’re all magical again.”
Blume shook her head and rounded on the assassin. Though Blume was short, Silverwolf wasn’t that much taller than she. Ealrin thought she almost looked intimidating.
“I wasn’t showing off!” she said, pointing a finger at Silverwolf's chest. “And you watch it, or I’ll make sure the next one has a white-haired target.”
“Okay!” Ealrin said, sliding in between the two. “Don’t we need to get to the ship?”
“That we do,” Holve said, motioning to the group. Most of the activity on the docks picked back up after a few moments of people looking around for the source of the blast.
Ealrin hung back next to Blume.
“What happened?” he asked in a low voice.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I was just thinking about what spells and such I’d need to use when we were facing Enoth and that one just kind of...leapt out.”
Ealrin didn’t know much about magic. In fact, if he was honest, he knew next to nothing. But he did know that random spells jumping out of a Speaker unbidden would be a problem.
“Okay,” he said, hoping his voice sounded reassuring. “Just try to keep the next one in, huh? Or at least direct it at Gorplin when he’s snoring at night.”
Blume chuckled, but Ealrin thought he saw a nervous light in her eyes.
“It’s fine,” he said, a little more quietly. “You’re just getting used to having your magic back.”
She nodded bravely and kept walking towards their flying boat.
Ealrin just hoped he was right.
WITHIN TWO HOURS, THE whole of Death’s Gate was loaded into their ships, with Ealrin and his crew in their own vessel as well. Ten ships from the fleet of the pirates were loaded with every fighting man, woman, and elf that could be found. Three of them were crammed with the Wood Walkers, who were glad for the chance to deal Enoth any blow they could.
Meanwhile, a large metal gate that came out of the side of the cliff opened up to reveal five wild looking ships that had no sails, but rather had giant wheels rotating through the water, sending mist spraying as they churned along next to the pirate ships.
“I’ll give it to them for creativity,” Silverwolf said. “But if they make it to Lone Peak in one piece, I’ll kiss the dwarf.”
“Bah,” Gorplin grunted. “You’ll do no such thing.”
He stalked off to one side of the ship and inspected his axe before returning it to its sheath.
“This thing is mad,” Felicia said, attempting to steer the boat with the odd levers and wheel that came as second nature to Ealrin. She was no longer steering them down the coastline, but away from it.
“This one,” Ealrin said, pulling on a lever and correcting their course.
Felicia shook her head and threw up her hands. Urt grunted.
“Odd ship,” he said.
“I’ll learn the bloody thing yet,” Felicia said determinedly. “Give me this.”
She wrest the lever from Ealrin and the ship lurched to the other side, sending Gorplin rolling and swearing into a rail. Blume laughed as the dwarf seemed to float back up to his feet.
“Bah!” he exclaimed. “Don’t handle me with magic unless I say!”
Ealrin sighed despite himself. It didn’t seem like they were headed off to a battle, but he knew there weren’t any other friends he’d rather go with than these.
“It’ll take us two days,” Holve said as the suns rose up from the horizon. “If we’re lucky and fate is on our side, we’ll come on them first thing in the morning.”
“Maybe there will be some Lone Peak left to fight for,” Silverwolf said as she came around and stood beside them.
“There will be,” Blume replied, joining them at the wheel. “There has to be.”
Ealrin sighed.
It was certainly what he hoped for.
40: Defended
Three rows of soldiers stood along the walls, awaiting the approaching elves. The last time this many elves came to Lone Peak, they were welcomed with open arms. Now, they would be repelled with every available means: archers stood ready, machines of war were rolled out into the lower courts, ready to shoot over the walls. Soldiers with long spears prepared to attack any who sought to climb the wall by ladder. Many more defenses were present in Lone Peak, but they weren’t known to the common soldier.
It wasn’t the concern of one. All Bernard wished was that he wasn’t in the back row.
“Can’t believe we don’t do this shortest to tallest,” he complained to the back of the largest soldier he knew. Granted, it was Lincoln, but all the same.
“I offered to switch,” Lincoln replied over his shoulder, “but Kilgore said it would be safe this way.”
“I don’t need protection!” Bernard shot back.
“No,” Lincoln replied. “I think he meant for me and Pumpkin.”
Bernard looked around his friend and saw that, indeed, Pumpkin stood with knives in both hands, right behind the wall’s edge. She was looking left and right, behind and in front. Her teeth were bared and her hands were grasping her daggers tightly. She looked like a wild beast, ready to pounce.
There would be more than enough for her to take on soon enough.
The army of Enoth was marching steadily towards the wall. Bernard wondered if they were going to try to appeal to them again for peace. He was curious if they would send out riders to ask Lone Peak to surrender. No riders appeared to come forward to do so.
And the first round of magical bolts fired from the attacking Speakers washed away any thoughts of meetings between forces in Bernard’s mind. Enoth was here for war.
He was sure there was a command to fire the trebuchets behind given. In the tumult and resounding booms that followed the magical blasts, he must had not heard it. But still, the war machines clanked into motion. Huge chunks of stone that had been taken from any uninhabited houses of Lone Peak began shooting over the walls and into the attackers.
“Brace yourselves!” came the shout of Kilgore’s harsh voice from a little further down the wall. Bernard tried his best not to fall over the back of the wall. The soldiers in front of him, Lincoln being the most easily recognizable, leaned forward into the wall in an attempt to keep their balance.
This continued on for at least half an hour. Parts of the wall defending Lone Peak were smashed to bits along the upper edges. Others remained steadfastly in place. Bernard was feeling weak in the knees from the unrelenting attack.
“I just wish they’d stop!” he shouted over the din of explosions, people screaming, and war machines behind him cranking constantly.
And then they did.
Bernard looked up to see what had happened. He had been crouched down so low that one of his knees was actually on the wall. Lincoln pulled him up.
“Looks like they're ready to come to the wall,” he said, pointing down at the elves who were now just a short distance from them. He was right. Ladders and ropes were being carried in their direction. The Speakers were finished bombarding the walls because they didn’t want to hit their own army.
“Archers!” came the call from Kilgore as men took bows and began to fire at the now in range elves coming fast. The first line saw a few casualties, but the elves’ own archers retaliated now that they were in range. The men of the wall ensured they stood behind the stones in order to protect themselves. Bernard continued to move around Lincoln whenever he could, but found that the large man was always in the spot he wanted to go to.
Ladders came flying at the walls with such speed that many of the soldiers defending Lone Peak jumped out of the way, rather than be smashed with them. Some fought back, trying to throw the ladders down along with those who climbed them. Elves were racing up the ladders with a speed and agility that seemed overwhelming. The men on the walls could do little to discourage them from nimbly flying up to where they stood re
ady to fight.
But they could fight them once they got there.
Two ladders had successfully made contact with the wall by Bernard. Pumpkin was already hard at work. The first two elves who jumped up the wall were thrown down before they even realized they were facing a fellow elf in battle. The look of shock on their faces as they hurtled back towards the earth would have been comical to Bernard had he not been fighting his own foe.
An elf bearing a short blade came bounding at him. Bernard put up his shield and raised his own sword in a defensive position. The two clashed into one another for a few moments before the elf fell to the ground in a heap. Lincoln held a piece of wall in his hands and Bernard noted the new dent in the elf’s helm.
“Thanks!” Bernard said as he returned to the wall to see who was coming up next.
He wasn’t glad for the answer.
More ladders and more elves were coming his way. It seemed the army of elves was going to attack relentlessly until they overcame the wall. Bernard wasn’t worried. The men of Lone Peak were stout, and he knew he was, too. They could withstand this attack if they just kept at it.
At the same moment this encouraging thought crossed his mind, booms from behind him shook the wall as well. He looked back to see what could have made such a noise and saw nothing except smoke rising up from behind the cliffs. From the water.
“Boats, too!?” he lamented as another two ladders clanked onto the wall behind him and Pumpkin jumped into view, daggers flying.
Bernard turned to see the four elves jump onto the walls. Raising his sword up and ensuring his shield was still attached, he jumped into the fray.
41: Collision Course
"Row like your lives depend on it!" the oar master said as his whip went flying through the air.
Serinde knew that it was, in all reality, that her life did depend on how this particular voyage ended. He had come last night to tell them that they were going to war. It was to be their honor to be one of several ships guarding the emperor's own vessel. Serinde wished that it was within her power to steer their boat into the emperor's ship and sink it to the bottom of the sea.
