by R A Oakes
“If anything goes wrong, I’m closing up fast,” the gargoyle in charge of the gates said.
“If I feel a breeze against my back, I’ll be unhappy.”
“I won’t close them that fast,” the gargoyle said irritably. “I’ll keep them open for as long as I can. Just don’t push your luck.”
“I can’t promise that. But no matter what, keep these gates open.”
Feeling only contempt for the gargoyles, General Zarkahn and his warriors stepped outside and began walking across the bridge. When out of earshot, one of his men asked, “We’re switching sides again, aren’t we, general?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m fed up with gargoyles. I’d rather die fighting for a king than some rodent like Swarenth.”
“I’m sorry, boys. It seems your general has really messed up this time.”
“Well, we can’t complain. After all, we’ve got a front- row seat at the festivities,” another of his men said smiling. “So, what’s your plan?”
“It’s pretty simple. Just appear to provoke Lord Pensgraft’s troops. When they charge us, we’ll run back to the gates, fighting to keep them open until Lord Pensgraft and his warriors can reinforce us.”
“Do you think Lord Pensgraft will know what we’re doing?”
“I’m sure Carplorthian has spoken to him by now. However, we must get back to the fortification before the gargoyles close the gates.”
“But will all of Lord Pensgraft’s troops know?”
“When they see us killing gargoyles, they’ll get the idea.”
“General, there are hundreds of winged apes behind those walls. We won’t be able to keep the gates open for long.”
“We’ll keep them open long enough.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
General Zarkahn’s warriors looked at him and smiled. This was their general at his best.
From halfway across the bridge, Lord Pensgraft, Captain Jeriana and Lt. Nantaric were watching General Zarkahn’s bold gambit.
“Well, I have to admit one thing, the guy’s got guts,” Lt. Nantaric said.
“Have you already forgotten that General Zarkahn betrayed his master, Lord Stallington, and kidnapped both Genevieve and Dylancia?” Captain Jeriana asked.
“I didn’t say he was trustworthy or intelligent.”
“Lord Pensgraft, when you reach General Zarkahn, what will you do?” Captain Jeriana asked.
“General Zarkahn will be dead before then.”
“But why is such a terrible person doing something so good?”
“Carplorthian says General Zarkahn’s hoping for death with honor.”
“I suppose he’ll achieve it, if he keeps the gates open.”
“Lt. Nantaric, take your men and charge the entrance at my command,” Lord Pensgraft said. “Captain Jeriana, you’ll implement the part of King Ulray’s plan we discussed earlier.” Then, looking back at an imposing figure heading up the regular troops, he shouted, “General Tark!”
When General Tark reached his master, Lord Pensgraft said, “Put at least 50 of your best archers within range of the fortification walls and have them cut down every gargoyle holding a bow. As we storm the gates, I don’t want arrows raining down upon our warriors.”
“Yes, my lord,” General Tark said nodding at his oldest son, Kirnochak, who rode off to do his father’s bidding.
“General Tark, now that the gates are open, we won’t be relying on catapults as much at this fortification. But I want you to shoot a large clay pot filled with smudge-pot oil at the mountainside wall on the right, just beyond the boulder up ahead. That should provide enough smoke to cover what Captain Jeriana’s women will be doing. Then, catapult a clay pot at each side of the entrance, providing smoke to cover Lt. Nantaric’s men but far enough away that the flames won’t block them from getting inside. Next, get 400 of our best troops to back up Lt. Nantaric’s and Captain Jeriana’s warriors.”
“I have the archers you requested, my lord,” Kirnochak said riding up with the bowmen behind him.
Pleased by both his son’s selections and the quickness of his response, General Tark had three catapults loaded and rolled into position with warriors holding flaming torches, ready to light the oil-soaked rags attached to the lids of the clay pots.
“Okay, is everyone ready?” Lord Pensgraft asked.
“Yes, my lord,” they all said.
“For the king!” Lord Pensgraft shouted as his horse reared up on its hind legs.
The mounted archers leapt forward first, got into position and began firing volley after volley at the fortification walls. Seconds later, 100 warrior women and 100 members of the king’s personal guard surged forward, clay pots of oil flying far over their heads towards their intended targets.
General Zarkahn glanced back in disgust at the winged apes, all of whom were still inside the entrance. Looking firmly at his warriors, he said, “Let’s send these gargoyles straight to hell.” Grimly determined and without hesitation, they turned ‘round and ran towards the gates.
After 30 years, the battle to retake Dominion Castle had finally begun.
Chapter 24
Inside Dominion Castle, near the entrance to a secret passageway.
After racing upstairs to the second floor, over 220 humans and 140 tigers looked to King Ulray for directions. “Down the hall, first door on the right,” he said.
Reaching the wooden double doors first and throwing them wide open, King Tarlen found himself entering a giant room two-stories high. “This is a ballroom,” King Ulray told his son. “But it’s the huge table against the far wall I’m interested in.”
“Chen, please hand me that sledgehammer-like mace,” King Ulray said while pointing to a weapons display on the wall.
She gave it to him, asking no questions, just watching Tarlen’s father in action, interested in seeing just how good this legendary king was.
All 12 table legs were secured to the stone floor with metal braces. Taking the sledgehammer, King Ulray knocked a metal rod out of one of the braces freeing up a leg at the head of the table and then proceeded to do the same thing to each of the legs at the far ends.
“The other table legs don’t matter. These metal braces aren’t really intended to hold the table to the floor, at least when it’s level. You could barely move this heavy oak table even if you wanted to do so.”
“What are they for, father?”
“Below the floor, and at the center of the table, is a fulcrum, a spot where the table is balanced with exactly half of its weight on the left and half on the right.”
“So, if I push down on one side of the table…,” King Tarlen was saying when his father cut him off.
“The left side, to be specific.”
“Chaktar, put part of your weight on that end,” Tarlen said to his tiger-brother who was standing to the far left. Upon doing so, that end of the table, and the stone floor under it, sank down while the right end swung up towards the ceiling.
“A giant trap door, father!”
“Well, Aerylln had told me how many people and tigers would be entering the secret passageway, so I had a big enough entrance built to quickly accommodate a large group.”
By now, everyone was in the ballroom watching as Chaktar pushed harder, the left side of the table going down to where the right side was sticking straight up revealing a wide stairway leading to a dark tunnel beneath the castle. Once they were all underground, the table was swung back into place with wooden beams lodged beneath it to keep it level.
Although White Angel 19 had Baelfire, the other ten White Angels each possessed another form of weapon that was proving to be quite useful, Swords of Fire. Spreading themselves out along the line of people and tigers, the White Angels lit up the tunnel by partially unsheathing their flaming weapons. Also, to ensure nothing was lurking in the distant shadows, Flame was out in front shooting balls of fire into the tunnel’s farthest reaches.
“I a
m not scared of the dark,” Flame was protesting.
“I didn’t exactly say you were,” Jewel responded.
“I just like being cautious.”
“I can see every bump in the floor, you’ve made it so bright.”
“I don’t want to trip and fall.”
“Really?”
“And we are underground, you know. I could accidentally step into a puddle of water. I don’t need my feet turning to soggy ashes.”
“Why didn’t you wear boots?”
“I’d burn right through them, you know that.”
Chen, who wasn’t very far behind the two bickering friends, was getting annoyed. “A little less jabbering, please!”
“Is she talking to us?” Flame asked, a bit alarmed.
“No, she’s talking to you.”
“But you were talking just as loud.”
“Not as loud as you.”
“Yes, you were.”
“Were not.”
“Don’t make me come up there,” Chen said firmly, feeling the onset of a headache.
Silence.
Chen sighed deeply and thought, This is why some people don’t have kids, and why those who do go crazy.
After a few minutes of quiet, King Ulray said, “This tunnel will put us right at the front gates.”
“Which are no longer there, sire,” Lord Grenitar reminded him.
“Even so, it’s a good place to make a stand.”
“Why?”
“We’ll block in the gargoyles so they can’t leave.”
“Are you serious? Force them to stay inside the castle walls?” Chen asked almost laughing. “Ummm, sire, correct me if I’m wrong, but we’ll be trapped in with them if we do that, won’t we?”
“Yes,” King Ulray said, enjoying the idea of testing the boundaries of Chen’s courage.
What are you up to, sire?” Chen asked, undeterred, and seeking to plumb the depths of this warrior king’s devious mind.
“Think about it for a moment. How will gargoyles be affected if we take control of the main entrance?”
Andrina jumped in saying, “If we can hold it, we make the gargoyles look weak. But by possessing the gates, we appear strong. It’s psychological. The entrance is symbolic. If we possess the gates, we control the castle. At least that’s what we want them to think.”
“Excellent. And what else?”
“Gargoyles want what they can’t have, just like people,” Gwendylln said. “If we deny gargoyles an exit, then, odds are, that’s what they’ll want the most. We’ll appear powerful simply because we’ll have what they need.”
“Yes, but after getting them off the walls, we’ll want them retreating inside the castle itself, that is, inside the buildings and towers,” King Ulray said.
“Inside a castle that’s alive and bent on revenge,” Marcheto said.
“Exactly.”
“But will the castle continue to help us, sire? Can we be sure?” Corson asked.
“Yes, because Swarenth has committed a grievous error. One that, for a castle with any sense of pride, is intolerable. Gargoyles are unbearable and insufferable in this regard.”
“What?”
Tongue in cheek, King Ulray said, “Notoriously bad taste, inability to coordinate colors properly, and poor choice of décor.”
Everyone burst out laughing.
“But it’s true,” White Angel 19 said sounding horrified. “Didn’t Dominion Castle once represent the very height of artistic achievement? Now gargoyles treat it like a pigsty. I’ve heard Tenacity’s village women say that gargoyle males urinate right in the hallways.”
“There’s another reason the castle will assist us,” Chen said.
“And that would be?” Corson asked her friend while noticing a wicked glint in the black leather panther’s eyes.
Leaning back, Chen pressed her full bottom and supple back against the wall. At first, nothing happened. Annoyed and impatient, Chen shifted her hips a few times grinding against the stones.
A loud moan swept through the tunnel, but it wasn’t one of pain.
Chen squirmed a little more, her lithe, luxurious body writhing against the smooth stone wall. This time, the castle’s response was immediate with another moan filling the passageway, one that was even louder and more prolonged.
“Being that we’re his guests, at least in a way, is it polite to be tormenting the spirit of the elderly wizard whose presence fills Dominion Castle?” Genevieve asked speaking up.
“Maybe not, but I’m just making a point. The wizard’s a man. So, we should handle him like one.”
“Watching you in action makes me glad I’m 74-years- old here in your present time. If I were younger, I don’t think I could handle the pressure of dealing with you,” King Ulray said.
“Oh, 74’s not so old,” Chen purred.
“Really?” King Ulray asked, his eyes brightening, his voice a little hopeful.
“Gotcha.”
“You’re awful,” the elderly king laughed.
“But you loved it.”
“Are men always this easy?”
“Pretty much, if no love’s involved, because love complicates things. But otherwise, wrapping a woman’s arms around a man’s neck is more dangerous than a garrote around his throat.”
“You make my blood run cold sometimes,” the old king smiled grimly.
“I could make it boil just as easily.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.”
“Hey, you two, we’ve got a war to run,” Andrina said. “Break it up.”
“That’s the king you’re taking to, at least one of the kings,” Captain Polaris said looking over at King Tarlen. “Keep a respectful tongue in your mouth.”
“King Ulray’s flirting with my ‘daughter,’ the mother of my ‘granddaughter,’” Andrina said testily. “I’ll talk to him any way I want. Do you want to make something out of it?”
Captain Polaris and 20 members of the king’s personal guard went for their swords. But they were just a hair’s breath behind Chen’s warrior women whose weapons were already halfway out of their scabbards before their master shouted, “Hold!”
Everyone froze, males and females alike. If anything, Chen was a commanding presence.
“It’s nice to see everyone’s on edge, but take that anger and use it against the enemy.”
Both the men and the women heaved a collective sigh of relief. They didn’t really want to fight each other, certainly not inside the cramped confines of a tunnel. But the confrontation was a serious indication of the enormous strain they were all under.
“I’m sorry,” Captain Polaris said to Andrina.
A little surprised by this apology, the warrior woman asked, “Are you truly sorry, or are you just trying to keep the peace?”
“Some of each, I suppose. We need to work together, so from a practical standpoint, I’m sorry. However, I was wrong for snapping at you like that. So, in my heart, I’m truly sorry as well.”
“Apology accepted. But captain?”
“Yes?”
“A second apology, given for whatever infraction, no matter how slight, might not be so readily accepted. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
“Yes, that if it happens again, I’m a dead man.”
“Smart boy. All right, let’s proceed down the tunnel.” However, after only a few steps, she almost tripped, placing a hand against a stone wall to steady herself.
A quiet moan of pleasure whispered through the tunnel, “Ohhh.”
“Listen, wizard, whatever your name is, I’ve also had about enough of your nonsense. Start behaving, or else,” Andrina said speaking sharply to the stone wall.
Silence.
“Okay, that’s better. Let’s move on.”
A few minutes later, they reached a stairway taking them up one level to another stone wall, one being held into place with long, thick wooden beams.
“This wall is tilting slightly forward on purpose,” King U
lray explained. “When we remove the beams, it will collapse outward, and the main entrance will be directly ahead of us.”
Chen’s warrior women lifted and removed the beams, gave the wall a hard shove and everyone watched as it crashed to the ground breaking into pieces. Before the dust cleared, White Angel 19 mounted Zorya and unsheathed Baelfire, boldly stepping into the gaping hole with the other ten White Angels standing on either side of her brandishing their Swords of Fire.
Spreading her giant wings to their full majestic length, White Angel 19 lifted Baelfire high above her head and shouted, “For the king!”
Seeing Zorya leaping forward, King Tarlen thought back to the day Mother Protector had foretold of Aerylln’s arrival, and he recalled the prophecy.
Her name will be White Angel, and she will lead the king’s army to victory.
I only hope it all comes true, King Tarlen thought.
At that moment, White Angel 19 turned, looked at her king and smiled. It was all the reassurance Tarlen needed. With Chaktar on his left and Captain Polaris on his right, King Tarlen attacked his enemy with every ounce of strength he possessed.
And for the first time he could remember, Tarlen was truly happy.
Chapter 25
Dominion Castle. By a window in the throne room overlooking the front gates.
When Swarenth saw the White Angels leading an attack from inside “his” castle, the warlord was horrified. He was further shocked by Flame, the humanoid fireball, who shot past the window leaving a stream of red, orange and yellow light trailing behind her in the nighttime sky. The heat pouring off the woman’s body was so intense, Swarenth jumped back to avoid getting burned.
“What the blazes was that?” the warlord shouted.
“I’ve heard of those two,” General Takanar said.
“Two, there were two of them?”
“If that was Flame, then her companion, Jewel, was probably along for the ride.”
