"War is full of 'should haves' and 'could haves', private. I'm sure you did all you could, and by the sounds of it, if you hadn't have arrived when you did, the captain was certainly dead. You have given him a fighting chance, and if he came in here, I'm sure the cleric tending him will do as much as humanly possible." Cressida hoped this comment helped the soldier, he seemed like such a gentle young man, and he did seem to relax slightly at her words.
Vik returned a short time later and just looked at Cressida and shook his head. Kade noticed this exchange and seemed to slump where he sat.
"I'm sorry, Kade, it seems Arkadi took the captain before he made it to the infirmary," said Vik, referring to the god of death. Kade acknowledged his comment with a nod of his head, but said nothing; he just slumped his shoulders and dropped his head. A short while later, Cressida had bandaged all his wounds and sent him on his way, bracing for the sad story she would undoubtedly be told from the next wounded soldier.
"I should be out there," Cressida mumbled to herself.
* * *
Kade left the infirmary very glum, with instructions to have something to eat and drink and not to return to the battle until morning at the earliest. He knew death was inevitable in war, and had witnessed it many times, but not to a senior officer. Although he did remember Jethro, that was different, he hadn't seen him die, and he was only a squad leader. He always thought senior officers would be the last to die in a battle. They were promoted for their battle prowess after all, but he realised this was an unrealistic view. They were human too, and still made mistakes and became weary.
He was also aware that Captain Isra was the youngest captain in the army and he had personally disagreed a few times with the decisions he had made, but always followed his orders anyway. He had told the captain after all about his suspicions with the battle ram. Had he done something then about the ram, perhaps the gates would never have been breached. But like the cleric in the infirmary had told him, war was full of 'should haves' and 'could haves'.
He found her quite unusual actually. She seemed to be a very skilful cleric, but thought that she found showing sympathy a challenging emotion to display. He had thought that the nature of a cleric was sympathy. She appeared to be quite calloused in her manner. Nonetheless, he took her advice now, and went to get himself something to eat and drink.
* * *
'Timing can mean everything in a battle', General Kehar had once told him. Captain Hillsworth sure hoped that the general was not dead so that he could tell him about his own exquisite timing. He had sent some men to check on the general, and had not yet heard back from them. Right now, though, he had to get this gate sealed up, and the pikeman he had sent for had shown up just as he and his men had reached the city gate.
Looking at the view outside the gate sent shivers down the captain's spine; the orcs were still so numerous, and more seemed to be filing around from the west. He ordered the pikeman to the front, and told them to seal the gate. Fifty men holding body height tower shields in their left hand, and long sharp pikes in their right marched forward, pushing by sheer force the last few orcs out of the city, and jabbing any courageous enough to charge them with their pikes. A temporary solution, he knew, but these pikeman were well trained and could defend the opening for quite some time, especially if they were to get some more archers up on that wall, which was his next order.
He made his way up to the top of the wall with the small group of archers to get a better view of what he was dealing with. The day was getting late, but the orcs weren't likely to let up while there was a vulnerable point in the wall. Already he could see an orc getting a group of ogres together to charge the pikemen. Captain Hillsworth pointed them out to the archers and told them to concentrate fire on them as they ran in, then he walked further along the wall to consult with the wizards.
"How goes the magical battle" he asked as he approached them.
"It's over," replied Mistress Cali at once. "The shamans we didn't kill have fled the field. That's the last two over there." She pointed to two unusually dressed orcs running away from the walls.
"Do you have any power left between you?" asked the captain.
"It is only us four left, captain, as the others have already departed to get some rest. We have a little power left, and will aid as much as we can, but I fear that won't be much."
"You have already done plenty. Knowing we don't have any magic to fear now will be a huge help to us. Now, if we can just get this gate sealed up again."
"Perhaps the dwarves could help you there, captain. They often have some clever ideas," suggested Mistress Cali.
"Of course," said Captain Hillsworth, slapping his forehead with the flat of his hand, "why didn't I think of that?" The captain abruptly turned on his heels and stormed off, yelling at a soldier on the ground to grab a horse and go tell General Ludko we need a new gate as quickly as possible.
As the defenders once again spread across the northern wall, the orcs went back to their ladders and ropes in an attempt to scale the wall until they could breach the gate again. Captain Hillsworth looked around at the remnants of his men and those the general brought with him, each one looking as haggard as the next. If the orcs continued on into the night, they would not be able to hold them back. He needed a miracle.
Just then a soldier yelled out to him from the ground, "Captain, General Kehar wants to talk to you."
* * *
"New gates, ay?" said General Ludko, when the messenger caught up with him. "Yeah, well its gettin' kinda boring here anyhow. Orcs are skiddatlin' 'round to the north. That must be why, if they know the gates been smashed open. Tell the captain I'll be there shortly and I'll need full access to the timber yards." The messenger acknowledged him and ran off.
General Ludko gathered one hundred of his best builders and engineering minded dwarves and told them to go to the closest timber yard and start preparing some timber for a temporary gate. Taking along his most senior engineer, he set off at a brisk pace toward the northern gate.
"Got a hole ya need filled up, captain?" asked the dwarven general as he approached Captain Hillsworth who was waiting for him behind those currently defending the gate.
"Sure do, and speed is of the essence as you can see," replied Captain Hillsworth pointing toward the gate. "I'll leave it to you, general. I have to go and see General Kehar now. He was badly wounded pushing the orcs back."
"I'll need access to ya timber yards." The dwarven general ordered more than requested.
"Anything you need within the city is all yours, general. Just get that opening sealed up," replied Captain Hillsworth as he mounted a nearby horse and sped off.
"Right, Tilly, get a rough measurement of the gates' dimensions, and then we'll head to the timber yard."
* * *
Captain Hillsworth had been on the way to the infirmary when the messenger told him that General Ludko was coming to see him. He hated wasting any time waiting for the dwarf because, by all reports, General Kehar was in very bad shape, but sealing those gates were the priority. As he approached the infirmary now, he could scarcely believe General Kehar were alive at all. He had seen the sword go into his chest, and watched in horror as he collapsed to the ground right after. But he was alive, and obviously conscious. When he arrived at the doors to the infirmary, one of the soldiers he had sent to see to the general was waiting there for him.
"How is he?" asked Captain Hillsworth as he approached the man.
"It was a very close thing, captain, and still is. The clerics can't be sure he'll yet live. I'll show you to him." The soldier opened the infirmary door.
Walking through the large crowded room, they came to the bed where the general lay. A female cleric was tending him at the time, and so the two men waited until she was finished before approaching closer.
"Make it quick, gentlemen; he is not to talk too much. He is very weak," said Cressida as she went to a bed nearby to see to another soldier.
Captain Hills
worth didn't doubt the cleric's words, although abruptly spoken, as he looked at his friend. He was pale as a ghost, and looked too weak to even lift an arm.
"How's the breach?" asked General Kehar weakly and almost too soft for the captain to hear.
"We have cleared the city, and hold the gates with pikemen. I have General Ludko working on the problem of sealing it more permanently."
"Good," replied General Kehar who now had his eyes closed. "Can't keep holding. Must convince Pilk to attempt earthquake," he continued in a very pained and out of breath voice.
"Earthquake, general? I don't understand," said Captain Hillsworth.
"Time for desperate act. See Pilk."
Captain Hillsworth started asking him to elaborate, but soon realised that the general had fallen asleep.
"Time to go, captain," said a female voice from behind him. "I've got a lot of work to do on the general, and while he's asleep is the best time for it. No back chatting then."
Captain Hillsworth turned and stared at the cleric for a moment, but seeing no reason to argue with the strange cleric, he simply walked off. He had never met a cleric so willing to give orders, despite the rank she was giving them too. She was obviously from another town, as Captain Hillsworth knew all the clerics in Arthea. Getting his mind back to the problem at hand, he set off back toward the northern gate, and, in particular, above it, hoping that at least one wizard remained.
* * *
"All right, lads, we got ourselves a gate to build, and the completion time was two hours ago, so we need to get a wriggle on. Nardo has an idea, so I'm leavin' him in charge. I'll be movin' our squish ramp teams around to the northern wall if any of ya's need me. Now get to work," ordered General Ludko. Seeing what transpired north of the city made him realise that his squish ramps would be much more needed there. It would take a good few hours to get them moved, but would be well worth the effort. He still had a good number of enchanted rocks to send down the ramps, and they were really hindering any orc advance in the west. But the last few hours had seen a massive thinning out of the orcs attacking the western wall, and attacks were few and far between, most attacks not even reaching the walls before the retreat was sounded.
As he reached the western wall, it was obvious that Duke Angus had the same report. Companies were being formed up and beginning to march to the north. The bare minimum of defenders would be left on the western wall, as it became apparent that the orcs' major attack plans were for the northern wall. He told the duke of his plans, and he agreed, so he marched off in the direction of his squish ramp teams.
* * *
"Master Pilk left a few hours ago to get some rest, as I am about to now," said Mistress Cali, when Captain Hillsworth asked after Pilk.
"General Kehar mentioned something about an earthquake and Master Pilk. Do you have any idea of what he might be talking about?" asked the captain.
After a little chuckle, Mistress Cali said, "Yes, I believe I do. Only I wasn't aware that he had told anyone else about it. He swore me to secrecy."
"Well, out with it now, Mistress. The general believes it to be im-portant, so I must know, as it seems I'm now in charge."
"I don't see how it can be all that important. Master Pilk almost killed himself trying the earthquake spell. I was there. He was so sure that he could do it and, well, he kinda did. The ground shook, but directly underneath him instead of where he intended it.
"We were on the edge of the Evergreen Forest, I was further back, making sure nothing disastrous happened. He intended on opening the ground up out in the open, but as the ground shook under him, trees started to collapse all around him. He had exerted so much power that he collapsed where he stood, an instant before a tree landed on top of him. I wasn't quick enough to stop it, and I was dodging falling trees as it was. He had a magical shield in place, and so the tree landed on that instead of him, but if I wasn't there, eventually that shield would have failed and the tree would have crushed him. As it was, it took all of my concentration to move that heavy tree off him. The ground didn't open up, and he decided to give up trying the spell again, which is very unusual for him," explained Mistress Cali. "Seems the earthquake spell shook his confidence, as well as the ground." She chuckled.
"How long ago was that? Could he be more powerful now?" asked the captain, trying to hide a grin, but failing.
"He has mentioned to me that since his confrontation with the large orc shaman, he seems to possess a lot more power, and from what I have observed of him, it's not just some idle boast."
"So he could now have the power?" asked Captain Hillsworth, a little hopeful.
"It's possible; although convincing him to try it may be a challenge, and he'll need a good solid 8 hours sleep before attempting it. He has been gone for perhaps three."
"I'll leave him to his rest then and yours to you. It has been well earned. I'll speak to him as soon as he wakes," said Captain Hillsworth as he turned to leave. Five hours would be the middle of the night. If the orcs didn't let up, could they hold them off til then?
* * *
It had taken a full two hours for the dwarves to relocate their squish ramps, but proved to be very timely for the defenders. The wall had been breached numerous times, and the soldiers were exhausted. With the reinforcements arriving from the western wall, many were able to go and get some rest, but they would be called back to action far too soon. At times while relocating their ramps, the dwarves had to pick up their weapons and help to clear the wall, but now they had them spread out along the wall and were starting to drop the first of the enchanted boulders, causing chaos below. This eased the pressure for the soldiers who had been fighting on and off for hours, allowing them some respite, but the boulders would soon run out.
Below, the pikemen were managing to hold the gate, with a little help from the archers on the wall, but they were tiring and becoming fewer in number, so General Ludko was very relieved some time later when he was told about the completion of the temporary gate.
"It's being pushed here as we speak," relayed the dwarven messenger. General Ludko left the wall to supervise the coming gate. When it rolled into view he was impressed. It was a fairly simple design, as time didn't permit anything too fancy. It was a large, reinforced solid timber wall, mounted on the front of a cart which was counterweighted at the other end with rocks, logs and anything else heavy that the dwarves could find stacked into a large wooden box. Poles protruded from the sides of the cart, where the dwarves were lined up pushing the heavy contraption along.
"Sorry it's a bit rough, general, but I knew you were needin' it quickly," said Nardo as the general approached him.
"It looks fine, Nardo. What's to stop the orcs pushin' it back at us?"
"Once it's in place, we'll smash the wheels off 'n stake it to the ground," replied the dwarven engineer.
"Sounds like it might work. Have the lads keep pushin' it straight at the gate. I'll tell the soldiers to make way at the last minute," ordered General Ludko.
"Right away, general." Nardo walked back over to the mobile wall to spur the dwarves on. General Ludko made his way to the gate, telling everyone on the way to make room, and finally telling the pikemen at the gate that their relief had arrived.
Slowly, but surely, the large wooden structure rolled toward the gate. At the last minute, the pikemen expertly retreated away from the gate as the wall closed in the last few metres. Any orc or ogre trying to force their way through the now small opening were swiftly cut down from the surrounding soldiers. Then with a last, hard push from the dwarves, the wooden wall 'thunked' against the city walls, sealing off the gate opening. Wasting little time, dwarves with large hammers smashed the wheels on the wagon, while others began to peg it to the ground and stabilise it.
"We'll have a hell of a time movin' it after we win this war, general," said Nardo coming up beside General Ludko.
The general just smiled and said, "We'll worry about that when it comes to it. For now, let's win this war." T
he last was said loud enough for all the surrounding dwarves and humans to hear, and with a loud cheer, any who weren't working on reinforcing the temporary gate stormed up the city walls.
* * *
A soldier was waiting right outside his doorway, which startled Master Pilk somewhat as he opened his apartment door.
"Captain Hillsworth would like to see you as soon as possible, Master Pilk," said the soldier right away.
"Captain Hillsworth? Why not the General?" asked Pilk, sensing something out of place.
"General Kehar has been wounded and is in the infirmary."
Knowing that only a serious injury would see the general leave the battlefield, Master Pilk didn't bother to ask if it was serious. The soldier updated him on the proceedings of the battle on their way to Captain Hillsworth. It was a dark night outside, thick clouds covering the light given from the two moons. Orcs being more accustomed to the darkness, dwelling in caves as they did, did not need much light, and the humans not wanting to make themselves easy targets, only had a few torches burning along the wall. So when Master Pilk glanced out over the parapet, all he could see was a field full of dark shadows.
"They have eased up their attacks for now," began Captain Hillsworth as he came up beside Pilk, "A rare occurrence over the last 8 hours or so. I think they are running a little short on ladders and ropes, and the sealing of the gate has disheartened them somewhat, but we have very few rested men, and our numbers continue to diminish," he went on as Master Pilk said nothing.
"Their numbers lessen too, I'm sure, captain," replied Master Pilk fi-nally. "I believe you asked for my presence?"
"I did indeed. I believe we need a decisive blow to turn these orcs away. They have persisted longer than is usual of orcs, and if that persistence continues, they will take this city. Our soldiers need to rest, Master Pilk, as surely as a wizard does, to regain strength. I have been told of you testing a particularly strong spell, with near disastrous results to yourself," said Captain Hillsworth.
Master Pilk's eyebrows rose suddenly and he cut the captain off forcefully. "Who told you of this story, captain, and where are you going with this?"
The Gate - A New Breed of Orc (The Gate Series Book 1) Page 30
