The King of the West

by Pedro Urvi

  As they were in constant movement, and often at night, it was easier to spend time with Camu and Ona. When Leenbiren was asleep, Camu became visible and Lasgol let him play with Ona nearby. Everything seemed calm, a tense calm which became even tenser when the Rangers sent to patrol the north failed to come back. Gatik did not like this one little bit. King Thoran made light of it, saying that it was probably the result of skirmishes with western rebels who were trying to reach the besieged city. He went on with his plan to take the city with the siege machines. Gatik sent three other Rangers north, this time veteran Specialists: a Tireless Explorer, a Forest Survivor and a Tireless Tracker. They would not be taken by surprise and would return to report.

  One night, it was their turn to keep watch on the area behind the tents belonging to the King and his followers. The whole area was occupied by the Royal Guard and the Royal Rangers, and nobody could come within four hundred paces of it. King Thoran’s tent was easily recognizable as the biggest and most sumptuous. Around it were those of his nobles, of equally good quality. On the other hand, there were two others – triangular, plainer and unlike the others – which caught his interest. These were the tents of the Ice Magi. In one of them lodged Mage Eicewald. He was unmistakable, not just because of his long tunic, hair and mage’s staff, which were white as snow, but because he was as strong as a Royal Guard and his eyes, black as coal, did not match his pale Norghanian face. In the other tent were lodged the other three Ice Mages he had been training.

  Lasgol noticed that all three were fairly young, though in their Ice Mage attire and with their Mage’s staves, they gave the impression of being very capable. He watched Eicewald training them. They spent the entire night practicing a single defensive spell, as far as he could tell thanks to his Gift, though the other soldiers and nobles were unable to so. To them it looked as if the Mages were doing nothing but shutting their eyes, concentrating and meditating. But it was not that simple. Lasgol was able to see the translucent defensive spheres they were raising to protect themselves from magical attacks. Each of the three was inside a sphere which protected him from enemy spells.

  He watched them for half the night, and sensed that the exercise consisted of sending energy to the spheres and keeping them active as long as they could. It was a test of resistance. It also showed that these Magi had large amounts of energy within them. When he focused on trying to perceive their magic, he felt an icy cold climbing up his spine and realized that he was able to distinguish the power of each sphere. Although they looked the same, perfect in shape and translucent, he could feel which one was the most powerful, which one would stand up best to enemy attacks. He found this curious, because he had not known that he could do anything of the sort. But he could not stay watching as long as he would have liked, for fear of arousing suspicion.

  And at dawn of the fourth week of the siege, the attack began. The horns blared, and a thousand soldiers began to place the catapults in position by pulling them on long ropes. Sven ordered all of them to focus on a single wall so that the effect would be more devastating, and they were set up in a row in front of the southern wall and the lower part of the city. Sven sent another thousand men to form a defensive line in front of them. However, in spite of the threat, the forces of the West did not emerge from the city.

  Seeing that Arnold was not taking any risks and was staying inside the city, Thoran decided to begin his attack. First he sent a messenger to the city gate with the promise that if Arnold and the nobles of the Western League surrendered and swore fealty to him, he would not hang them, and they would be able to keep their titles and possessions in the West. Lasgol thought it was strange and suspicious that the King should be so magnanimous toward his enemies. On the other hand, it was the only way to prevent massive casualties. Thoran was impetuous and had an explosive character, but he was intelligent and knew that this would be the least complicated way of resolving the situation,

  Whether he intended to keep his word was another matter entirely. Lasgol did not know of any precedent for this, so that he could not be sure whether or not Thoran would break his word. To keep Norghana united and strong, he was going to need the nobles of the West, whether he liked it or not. Killing them all would not induce the peoples of the West to follow him, rather the opposite. The Olafstone, the Dukes of Svensen and Erikson, the Counts Malason, Bjorn, Axel, Harald and the other nobles were deeply rooted in the lands of the West, and neither their families nor their subjects would accept Thoran as their ruler after a bloody betrayal.

  The messenger received Arnold’s answer without delay. He demanded that Thoran surrender the crown, which was his own by right of lineage, and swear obeisance to him, and the war would end. Thoran and his nobles would keep their lands and titles. The reply deeply displeased Thoran, who ordered the catapults to devastate the city.

  And so, the attack on the walled city began.

  The soldiers who were operating the catapults loaded their weapons with enormous rocks that they had piled up nearby in great pyramidal heaps. Simultaneously, the officers gave the order to launch. The catapults gave out a shrieking noise which ended in an abrupt thud when the missiles were launched. Considering how big they were and the distance which separated the machines from the wall, it took only the blink of an eye for two dozen enormous rocks to strike the southern wall, the battlements and the two defensive towers. The rock wall withstood the punishment impassively as the rocks crashed against it, but they did not manage to break it. The battlements, on the other hand, were seriously damaged. Rock struck against rock, and fragments of stone were hurled everywhere. The soldiers in the battlements and towers ran for protection, but they could not all reach safety and hence became the first casualties of the siege.

  The officers in command of the catapults ordered a second load and a re-calibration of the shot, as several had launched too low and failed to damage wall or battlements. While the soldiers loaded the catapults with the aid of small cranes, pulleys and mules, those responsible for calibrating the machines were trying to maneuver the weights which controlled the launch mechanism. It took them a dozen shots before the catapults were properly calibrated, and then they began a serious onslaught. Pieces of rock, parts of the missiles and parts of the upper section of the wall flew out with every impact.

  The soldiers of the West left the southern wall, to shelter inside the city. The punishment the wall was suffering was terrible, but it was still holding. The missiles flew the short distance to crash against wall, towers and battlements almost simultaneously, so that the destructive effect was even greater. The two towers were still holding, but it was obvious that they would not survive much longer.

  For another whole week, the catapults launched destruction on the defenders. On the third day, one of the towers collapsed inwards. By the sixth, the second one too had fallen, this time outwards. The battlements were destroyed and deserted. The wall, on the other hand, was damaged but still standing. It did not look as if the catapults could break it. The attackers tried to concentrate on a single area for two consecutive days, but the impacts did not succeed in breaching that solid structure. Finally, they destroyed the part of the city’s southern zone which was adjacent to the wall, in order to make it easier to conquer and harder for the defenders to defend.

  On the seventh day Thoran gave the order to take the walls.

  The armies began to move.

  Chapter 40

  While Thoran’s armies maneuvered themselves into position, ready to assault the city, Lasgol took a good look at the Olafstone castle in the center of the battered city. Longingly, he recalled the times he had been there with Egil. He felt saddened by the destruction the catapults had wrought on walls, towers and battlements, as well as on the lower part of the city. War always brought destruction, death and suffering. He knew it, and feared for the fate of the city and its inhabitants who were sheltering inside.

  The Thunder Army, the one which cleared the way for others to follow (as their mot
to said), formed themselves into a long rectangle in front of the southern gate, out of reach of the archers and any possible siege weapons which might have been set up inside the city. They were wary, even though there had been no attempt from the defenders to attack them. Not for the moment – but the situation would soon change. Lasgol knew this with absolute certainty.

  The Snow Army marched in a long column, four abreast. It passed the eastern side of the city, keeping a safe distance of a thousand paces, then took up a close formation facing the northern gate. Like their comrades, they made sure they were out of reach of the defenders, eight hundred paces from the north gate.

  Lasgol and his friends had been given the duty of keeping watch on the northern perimeter. They had been covering a wide area and had found no trace of the enemy. Now they were watching the maneuvers of the Snow Army from a nearby hill. From here they had a very good view of the whole battlefield. Lasgol was surprised by the strategy Thoran had decided on.

  “It doesn’t look as if they’re all going to attack the southern wall, the one that’s been damaged,” he commented.

  “It’s the easiest to climb,” Gerd said. He too looked puzzled.

  Leenbiren nodded. “Or to use to destroy the gate and go in.”

  Ingrid was looking on thoughtfully. “I think Thoran’s generals mean to attack several points at once, so that the defenders don’t just concentrate on defending the walls.”

  “That makes sense,” Nilsa said, wrinkling her nose. “If they all attack the same point and the defenders all defend that point, there’s going to be a major blockage.”

  “And that wouldn’t be good for the Easterners, who need to get in so that the troops can flood the city,” said Ingrid.

  Thoran gave his nobles the order to get their forces into position. The Counts and Dukes of the East moved forward until they were facing the eastern wall. From the militias of each noble house a dozen rectangles were formed, though they were neither as compact nor as well-organized as those of the armies. Each one bore the banners and colors of their lord, facing the wall. Here they awaited the King’s orders.

  At last the mercenaries moved forward until they were standing, facing the western wall. They were unmistakable because of the foreign banners they carried, and in particular because of their appearance, which was very unlike that of the Norghanians. The Nocean mercenaries, sons of the deserts of southern Tremia, whose skin was the color of ebony, caught the eye as something unknown in the north. They wore black and white tunics and coats of mail, and were armed with scimitars and small round metal shields. They were as strong as the Norghanians, or stronger, and their muscular appearance and fierce stares were intimidating. The Noceans had a reputation for being good fighters, skillful with scimitar and curved knife. They were also said to be astute and inclined to be treacherous. In the North it was said that it was not a good idea to turn your back on a Nocean if you did not want to find a knife buried in it. They liked their coin and expected to be handsomely paid if they were needed. In their culture there was a long tradition of war and the use of mercenaries. The Nocean Empire was always involved in internal wars, so that there was a good supply of soldiers and mercenaries. All this made them good fighters, and they were hired throughout Tremia to fight both internal wars like this one, between Norghanians, or external ones.

  Those from the Kingdom of Irinel in the most easterly part of Tremia were unusual in appearance: very pale, almost as much so as the Norghanians, and redheaded. Their hair and moustaches were an intense copper-red, which made them identifiable from a league away. Their faces and arms were almost entirely covered in freckles, by the thousand. They were slender and agile rather than big and strong. They fought with short swords and round flat metal shields. On their backs were harnesses containing a dozen javelins, and these they either threw at the enemy from a distance or held in one hand, in lieu of a short sword, with their shield in the other. Their marksmanship was excellent at a short distance. At less than a hundred paces they were infallible, and a thrown javelin could easily penetrate armor of mail or scales like that of the Norghanians. Their manner of fighting was rather curious, in that they used their javelins almost like short bows at the beginning of each fight, and then either switched to their short swords to finish, or used the javelin again. It was a style of combat which the Norghanians neither understood nor were used to, which gave these mercenaries a significant advantage.

  There were other groups of mercenaries from kingdoms in the center of Tremia, but smaller. Several of these groups looked more like bandits, as far as appearance and weapons were concerned. With coin you could get hold of every kind of armed men, but these might well be the scum of other kingdoms looking for the chance to fight and shed blood for money: thieves, murderers, rapists, and suchlike. King Thoran, like other monarchs, put no restriction on mercenaries like this filling their ranks. In war you had to get hold of whatever allies you could, whatever their origin or character. Of course he did not trust them, and had ordered Sven to keep them under constant surveillance in case they caused trouble or even deserted at the moment of battle – which often happened with this type of group. The King, in fact, had only given them half their pay; the other half would be paid when the war was over – if they survived to collect it, obviously.

  Ingrid was nodding, seeing how the different forces had been lined up. “They’re definitely going to attack all four walls at once.”

  “That’ll complicate things for the ones inside,” Leenbiren said. “They’ll have to divide their own forces to defend them.”

  “It’s pretty clear that the southern wall will fall first,” said Nilsa.

  Gerd nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”

  “Well… if you were Arnold, where would you concentrate your defense?” Ingrid asked.

  “On the southern wall, obviously,” Nilsa said. She was biting her nails in anticipation.

  Lasgol was following Ingrid’s line of thought. “Arnold will have to send most of his men to defend the southern wall, and the other three will be vulnerable to being climbed and captured, because he won’t have enough soldiers to defend them all.”

  “Exactly,” she said. “That’s why they’re going to attack at four points at the same time, with one of them very much weakened. I think it’s a good strategy.”

  Thoran stayed back with the Invincibles of the Ice, a little to the south. The city was now surrounded. A funereal silence hung over it, like an omen of death. Everybody, attackers and defenders alike, was aware of what was about to happen. The horns sounded as Thoran gave the order to attack. The Invincibles of the Ice moved forward to stand in front of the catapults.

  Ingrid frowned. “Shouldn’t we be there fighting with them?”

  Leenbiren shook his head curtly. “No.”

  “Why not?” Nilsa asked. She too had not been convinced by the answer.

  “We’re Rangers. Taking part in battles and conquering cities isn’t our function. That’s the army’s job. We have other things to do. Each of us has to do our own job.”

  “But we can fight,” said Ingrid.

  “Not in a siege. Without armor, helmet and shield to protect you, there’s not much chance of you lasting more than a moment trying to take those walls. You’d be riddled with arrows, or else rocks or boiling oil would fall on you, and without protection you’d have a horrible death. Let the heavy infantry deal with it.”

  “Ouch…” Gerd said, making a face at the mere thought of it.

  “Soldiers train for this type of combat. They know what they’ve got to do. Don’t worry, when we’re needed they’ll call us. Not now. Now they need us to keep watch, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

  Ingrid nodded, but judging by her expression she was not entirely convinced. She knew she could make a contribution, and being on watch did not seem to her to be much of one.

  The Snow Army moved in a long formation which spread along the entire north wall, amid war-cries and howls. The
y were unmistakable, with their white breastplates over chain mail and winged helmets. They were armed with war axes and round shields of reinforced wood, though not swords, and they trod heavily on the ground: men of the North with blond manes, pale eyes and complexion, broad shoulders and strong arms. They were carrying ladders, hooked ropes and long poles. Behind them three great battering rams moved toward the gate in the wall. They were led by General Rangulself, who was barking orders to his men.

  Suddenly a mass of archers appeared on the empty wall. The Snow soldiers roared at the sight and carried on advancing without losing step. The Western archers nocked and aimed, and at an order from the battlements, thousands of arrows fell on the soldiers of the Snow. The attackers raised their shields, without stopping. The arrows hit shields and soldiers, producing the first casualties. The soldiers of the East roared and howled in fury, while the defenders nocked and released again. A thousand arrows fell on the white tide, hitting the front lines in their advance.

  On the southern side, the Thunder Army was moving toward the wall with deafening Norghanian war-cries. Norghanians as massive and strong as the Wild Ones of the Frozen Continent moved forward with axe in one hand and round shield in the other. Brilliant red breastplates, streaked diagonally with white, covered their torsos, which were protected by chainmail of metal scales. As with their fellow-soldiers from the Snow Army, their heads were protected by winged helmets, and they carried ladders and ropes to climb the wall. Three battering-rams were moving to the gate, escorted by a hundred of the biggest warriors.

  The defenders appeared behind the broken battlements of the southern wall. It was so battered that they could barely stand on top of it. While the Thunder Army advanced amid war-cries and roars, a thousand defenders placed themselves as best they could on top of the broken wall. They released against the deafening red-and-white tide of attackers, who immediately raised their shields to protect themselves. They roared even more loudly, and received the next volley of arrows as if they were immortal. The defenders could see that they were causing casualties, but failing to stop the advance of the Thunder Army, which now reached the foot of the southern wall amid cries and shouts. The defenders changed tactics. As soon as ladders and ropes appeared on the wall and the soldiers began to climb, they attacked them with the same rocks they themselves had been hurling at the wall. They dropped huge boulders and pieces of broken battlement on the soldiers, who were crushed under their weight. Helmets and armor could do little to soften the impact, which knocked them from their ladders and ropes. Even so, they kept coming.