The Olvion Reality (The Chronicles of Olvion Book 1)

by Larry Robbins

  “Arm yourself,” I ordered my young officer. “Run back to the last station and sound the alarm. Every other man to Station Six. Now, Boy, run!” He took off in the opposite direction and I moved forward with my sword out in front. I could see the sentry parapet but the glow bulb was dark. In the gloom I could make out shapes on the ground. I pulled my dagger with my free hand.

  When I was close enough to see more detail in the dim light I saw grappling hooks caught on the lip of the wall. Dozens of them. The still bodies of our two sentries lay bleeding on the walkway. I reached the station and peered over the edge. The ropes were dangling but no one was on them. I cast the grapples free and knelt down and put my back to the wall. The officer should be reaching Station Five soon.

  I heard a scuff of soft moccasins on stone. Then muted grunts. Greys. I duck-walked farther along the rampart, keeping low so as not to offer a silhouette to the enemy. More noise reached me. It was diminishing as if the makers of the noise were traveling farther away and downward. I did a quick mental recollection of my position on the wall. Was there anything critical in this location or were we just experiencing a probe to see where we were soft? There were two well- heads three levels below, a forge, several shops, and the food stores…food stores!

  The moment the thought struck I heard the alarm sound. Immediately below me came several showers of sparks as flints struck steel. Torches caught and grew high.

  “Enemy in the walls!” I shouted as loudly as I could. All reserves to the food stores. To the food stores!” Bells started clanging around us.

  Flames erupted in several locations below me. I knew immediately what they were doing. Our single biggest advantage that we had over our inhuman enemy was our ability to withstand a long siege. Sieges were most taxing on those who set the condition. If a walled city had sufficient stores it could sit in quiet comfort for months or even years as the enemy squatted by a campfire eating cold food and swatting hungry insects. But if the food of the besieged was destroyed?

  I waited another fifteen seconds for backup warriors and when they did not arrive I yelled again, “Enemy in the walls, all reserves to the food stores!” Then I sprinted down the steps toward the burning structures beneath me. Our on-watch reserves numbered two hundred warriors who were armed and ready for combat. But these troops were broken up into four groups, each one located in a different spot. I descended the stone stairs to the floor beneath me before encountering enemy infiltrators.

  Two Greys who had obviously been stationed behind the main group of infiltrators as a rear guard, came running up the stairs at me, roused by my shouts. They were both nearly naked, clad only in loin cloths and the thick leather belts they favored for carrying their weapons. Both had swords and one also had a javelin. As I drew near the one launched his javelin. I barely avoided it but the evasive maneuver cost me a sword slash from the other beast. The blade bit along my side about three inches before the thick leather of my vest stopped it. I was quicker than my attacker and was able to impale his wrist with my knife before he could retract it. His partner paid no attention to his scream and swung his sword with both hands, intending to separate my head from my torso. I ducked again and the beast was not able to check his swing. Instead of rending my flesh the blade struck that of his fellow raider and amputated his sword arm. He cried out in agony and fell bouncing down the stairway.

  We both ignored the unfortunate raider’s screams and sized each other up in the dim light. In his eyes I could see that he had never in his wildest nightmares expected to meet a human of my size. He scampered backward, trying to get enough room to turn and run. I ran him down, deflected a half-hearted sword-swipe and buried my dagger deeply into his back. I then tossed him off of the stair steps and continued rushing below.

  By now flames were roaring and jumping from roofs to eaves. I heard animals and people crying out and running. Some of our non-military people were snatching up buckets to fight the fires while others armed themselves with tools and farm implements and charged the raiders in desperate and noble attempts to stop this attack on their city. Most were young boys and older men, either below or above the age of military acceptability. Most of them had died courageously, showing they at least had the heart for combat.

  I met another enemy rear guard on the ground level. There were four this time and all were engaged in fending off the pitiful attacks of our young and elderly. I leapt upon the infiltrators from above and behind, using my weight and size to drive three of them to the ground. They were quickly pierced and skewered by kitchen knives and hay forks. The fourth one saw me and turned to run. A young girl, barely fourteen years by the look of her, swung a sickle into his neck. A fount of blood gushed over her night dress. The doomed Grey raised his sword to take his slayer with him before dying of blood loss. I disabused him of that notion by taking his arm off at the shoulder. He dropped, jerking in the dust.

  I grabbed the young girl by the front of her blood-soaked garment. “Get under cover,” I shouted at her, “You’ve done your part.”

  I don’t know if she obeyed me or not because I was now among the huge warehouses in which our food was kept. The fires lit the area like it was midday. Tons of grain was already burning as well as whole buildings full of dried fruit, vegetables and meats. One well head was burning and the other was smoldering, having been extinguished by our people. The human bodies lying around them gave testament to their bravery. Heat washed over me in waves and somewhere I heard timbers crashing. Cinders stung my eyes as the entire vicinity began to ignite.

  The area I was in was shaped like a large “L”, with a wide avenue that led into a narrower street. Most of the larger warehouses were located on the larger street and most of those were now in flames. The band of Greys had gone rushing from building to building, setting alight everything they could reach. Old buildings and storehouses that were made from dry ancient wood caught quickly and burned fiercely.

  The invaders were now cornered at the end of the narrow avenue which had no outlet and was set up against the interior of the city wall. As I raced around the corner I saw approximately twenty of them. They were turned with their backs to the city wall and were brandishing weapons, preparing to meet the ill-equipped Olvioni citizens who were closing in on them and cutting off their escape.

  I rushed to the front of the mob and yelled for them to stop, fearing for their safety. Some did and others didn’t. About five citizens were cut down before I heard the reserve guard converging on our position. The Greys were going nowhere. The wall was unclimbable and Olvioni warriors had now cut off the only exit out of the blind alley. Store houses burned on either side of them. As a warrior, I admired the sacrifice they were making in order to win their war. As a man I wanted the beasts who had attacked my city dead.

  I now had fifty warriors at my back. A few started to push the citizens back. I stopped them. They had shed blood and lost loved ones while acting as the initial responders to the attack. It was they who kept the Greys from getting to other areas and increasing the damage. And it was they who deserved to be part of the end of this nasty business. I handed my dagger to a lad next to me. He took it and dropped the pitiful wooden rake handle with which he’d been fighting. I shouted at the Greys, asking if they would surrender. They did not understand me. I didn’t care. I signaled the beginning of the slaughter. It was over fast and we lost not one defender but I turned around to see the flames rising higher on either side of us. The heat chased us away from the area. We ran coughing and wiping our eyes. We had been too late.

  The next morning we walked the ruined streets, me Ruguer, Vynn, and The king. Also with us was Joon, one of Brackus’ top lieutenants. Now that the Vice Monarch had fled to safety, Joon was taking his place.

  “Just how bad is it?” I asked. I had black soot marks covering my face and arms. The smell of burnt wood and flesh was all around us.

  King Zander stood gazing at the smoking black walls and skeletons within. His face was framed by sunlight.
He looked over to Joon. The head bean-counter winced and shook his head slowly from side to side.

  “We lost every food storage facility in this district,” Joon said. “And this is the main storage area. The storehouses in the west side were untouched but they are smaller. Much smaller.” He looked at the king. “We lost all of our grain stores. The only things we have left are a few tons of dried fruit and our livestock. We have to start rationing immediately. I’ll have my people take inventory and I’ll have you a more accurate report by tonight. Your Highness, we should put out an immediate notice to cease food distribution until we know what we actually have.” He shrugged as if he didn’t know what else to say. “May I have your leave to get our inspection started?”

  Zander nodded and the small-statured accountant strode away shouting instructions to his staff.

  “I can tell you what he’s going to say,” Ruguer said, pointing at Joon. “He’s going to tell us we will soon be starving. We need to start making plans to take the fight outside the walls.” He sighed and turned to me and Vynn. “Let’s get some ideas on paper. Take a few hours and meet me in my quarters at sundown. Tag-Gar, chase down Gallan and tell him what is happening. I last saw him in the east quadrant. Don’t bother eating dinner, I’ll have food and spirits.” With that he and Zander walked away to discuss the problem at the highest level.

  I left Vynn to find Gallan and to seek out my lady. She was kneeling in the street giving aid to a little girl. The child looked to be no more than six. She had deep burns on both hands. Her little lips quivered as Dwan bandaged her wounds but she did not cry. Tinker sat in the damp ashes in front of the child, her presence serving to distract the child from her pain and losses. Dwan stood and brushed ash from her knees. Her grey trousers were filthy.

  “She’ll be all right”, she said. She lowered her voice. “If only I could say the same for her brother.” The girl was Dwan’s final patient resulting from the night raid. She followed me back to a spirit house located near the castle proper. The shop, like most of the others around it, had opened its doors to feed the warriors and others who were caring for the injured. We took a seat at a hastily-erected table out on the cobbled patio. A tall pitcher of iced water was left on the table along with a stack of cups. I took two and poured us both a helping. Tinker jumped onto the table and examined her surroundings. She, too, was filthy, far from her normal immaculate state. From the patio the full measure of damage could be judged. A low, keening trill, almost like a cricket came from her. She looked at the Olvionis cleaning and pulling what they could save from the ruins of the warehouses. They were black from their hands to their elbows with dark streaks on their faces where they’d wiped at sweat. Since I’d found her that first day Tinker had never cried but now a sadness flowed from her mind to ours which felt very much like tears. The intensity of her grief was almost overpowering. I reached over and poured some of the cold water into a bowl for her to sip and stroked her back.

  Dwan drank deeply of her water and sighed. “So much destruction. So many lives lost. There are almost a hundred dead as of this morning. Many people had homes near the warehouses. I know of at least five more children who will not live past midday.” She took a turn at trying to console Tinker with a few scratches to her nape. “I have heard that a watch officer was at fault.”

  “Not true”, I said. “The young officer had not received that station’s report but it was not so long overdue that an alarm should have been raised. We were on our way to check on them when we saw their grapples on the walls. The attack must have been extremely quick and it was executed at the perfect time. That plus a warning that Tinker sent me bought us a little time and probably got the reserves there in time to confine the infiltrators to the storehouse area. The truth of the matter is that they simply got lucky. They picked the best place to breach the wall, the best time to do it and hit the most valuable storehouses.”

  She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. She, like myself, had now been without sleep for thirty hours. “Are we sure it was luck?” Seeing my arched brows she explained. “There are few secrets in a walled city. Everyone is aware that the Greys are acting in a manner that is not common for them. Until very recently they have acted like little more than barely controlled animals. Now they are making complicated war machines, employing new battle tactics and somehow they knew exactly where to come over the wall? I’m just saying, it is curious behavior for Greys.”

  I finished my water and poured another. “Well, we won’t know the truth, probably ever. Either we’ll defeat them or they’ll defeat us but either way this new behavior will likely go unexplained.”

  Just then Tinker gave out with what I called her “seagull scream”. It was a rude type of screech that usually signified intense displeasure. She turned from watching the cleanup of the ruins and scampered across the table to be closer to us. Then she rocked back on her haunches and stared at us. We waited, expecting her to somehow give us a clue as to what was wrong. I saw her clear reptilian eye shield slide slowly over her eyes. She appeared to be losing her focus. Then we felt it. A flickering of our own sight, growing dimmer and less clear. The sight of the ruins behind our little animal friend dulled and fuzzed out and was replaced by one of the valley. I could feel Dwan slipping her hand into mine, seeking comfort and reassurance. I had received strong signals like this from Tinker before but Dwan never had. I tried to use the connection that Tinker was opening to let Dwan know that she need not worry.

  The view of the valley grew clearer. It was as if we were all in the war room looking out and down upon the valley floor. We could see the enemy camp. Sprawling across the valley, past the bluffs and up into the foothills. Sooty fires burned all throughout their campsite. We saw fur pelts hung up to air out on wooden frames. Burden beasts were still hauling wagons full of grey cadavers, leftovers from their catastrophic earlier defeat, out and away from the tents. Water wagons creaked through the encampment, splashing water with each bump.

  Then we saw the large black tent near the center of the camp. It was the tent that was occupied by their king. The image grew larger. The tent flaps shuddered in the wind but remained tied shut.

  We felt nothing more for a full minute. Then another awareness started to grow within both of us. It was faint and uncertain at first but it was determined to emerge. I felt Dwan’s hand squeeze mine tighter. The message Tinker was sending emerged slowly into our consciousness. Doubt waned and eroded much like a sand castle caught in a rising tide. And then her meaning was there, bright and true and undeniable. And we both knew. Knew beyond a shadow of doubt.

  I had to get Tinker into that tent. Tonight.

  ***

  “No!” Ruguer shouted angrily at me.

  I tried to explain again. “You know she has psychic abilities,” I said. “She warned me on the wall last night and kept the danger from spreading. She has warned me in the past and has always been correct. Now she is telling me what we must do.”

  Ruguer looked at me with an expression of unbelief. “What did she say? Tell me, Tag-Gar, what words did she use?”

  I struggled to explain. “She does not communicate in words, Commander. She uses images, emotions, even smells sometimes. It is almost impossible to explain to someone who has not experienced it.” I wiped hair from my eyes and went to the window wall, pointing out at the black tent below. “Somehow she knows that our success depends on me getting her into that tent. It is something that I must do.”

  “Stars Man! Do your ears not work? I said no. You are a Division Commander. You have valuable information in your head that could severely damage our war plans and put our people at unnecessary risk. We have lost enough for one day. If you insist on putting the poor animal in harm’s way then send some of your people. Your Rangers should be up to the task. That’s the end of it!”

  I was stung by his rebuke on two counts. The first was that I had much respect and admiration for this man as a person and as my commander. Second, I knew what h
e was saying was right. It was reckless and irresponsible and I was one hundred percent convinced that I had to do it anyway. He simply did not know what I knew about Tinker.

  King Zander, Gallan and Vynn all kept their eyes averted from us, embarrassed by my dressing down. Ruguer stalked stiffly over to the table on which he had laid our mugs and spirits. He poured a long draught and downed it. I felt like doing the same. Instead, I pushed my luck.

  “Commander, you know I place the welfare of this kingdom above all else, including my life. But I strongly feel that this is something that is crucial to our survival. With all due respect, Commander, it is something I intend to do.”

  Ruguer closed his eyes and let out a long breath through his nose. He carefully set his mug on the tray and turned to me.

  “Tag-gar, your suggestions and observations have been uniquely helpful to our war effort. Without you and your ideas we would undoubtedly be in a far worse position than the one in which we now find ourselves.” He paused as if carefully considering what he was going to say. He walked back over to where I stood and looked up at me. He stood very close. I was much larger but there was no fear in the eyes of my Commander. “You are hereby removed from your position of Division Commander. Your status as Warrior is also withdrawn. This gathering of warriors has urgent matters with which to occupy our time. You are dismissed.”

  I felt as if he had slapped me. I almost turned my head to look over to the king to see if he would overrule him. But I caught myself. It would not be fair to ask him to second guess his military commander. And Ruguer had proven himself to be an effective strategist since long before the two had ever heard of me. So I did the only thing I could do.

  “Thank you, Commander, Your Highness and my friends, for the faith that you placed in me. Should you need me in any capacity please don’t hesitate to allow me to be of service.” The room was reeking of embarrassed silence. I turned on my heel and left.