by P. G. Thomas
Chapter 13
“What did Ramy mean? Korg’s throwing a party?” asked John.
“You remember where they buried him?”
“The septic tank.”
“Well, were going to a crap festival because we’re in over our heads, just like Korg. We’ve never been attacked on three sides, so I need to fly.” Zack checked the street to make sure nobody was around, looked down at one of the wolves, which nodded back. Then he went out of focus, being replaced by a large bald eagle standing on a pile of clothes, and with a few flaps of its mighty wings was airborne. The wolf obediently picked up the pile of clothes, taking them to the house, as the others moved from where they were lying, forming a wall of wolves on the front porch.
The silent Granite Guardians all stared in disbelief, as they had just witnessed the Legend Absent transforming before their eyes.
When John headed to the door, six angry wolves snarled in unison.
“You cannot enter because they will attack you,” advised Nur. “How bad is it?” Lauren, Ryan, Logan, Gayne, and Mirtza were standing behind her.
“They think there may be attacks on three sides.” John, not understanding the Alron reference, repeated what he heard, “Ramy said Korg was throwing a party.”
Nur’s expression turned white, she stepped back inside, “Sam, Hope! TO THE BASEMENT NOW!”
Eric came running around the corner, “John, what’s happening?”
“What do we do now, Kid?” asked Steve, who was following Eric.
He turned to the group in the house, “Stay here. I’ll go with Eric and Steve, and we’ll find out what’s happening. One of the elves said it might be wildlife, so just stay here.” Then Eric and Steve ran towards the east gate with John close behind, hoping they believed his lie.
As they approached the east wall, they saw Gingaar standing between the open gates. Watching the Blood Thorns curl to the sides of the road, they saw three wagons, pulled by the magical fast horses, race towards the town. Once at the wall, the three climbed up the ladder where they found Ramy at the top, listening to various reports.
Steve watched the wagons race into the gate, and as they passed where the garden of suffering started, he could see the Blood Thorns begin to crawl back across the dirt road. Hearing an alarm sound, he looked out, seeing the first trollmare in the distance, and considering how far away it was, he knew it was massive.
A bald eagle landed on the walkway, shimmered, and a naked Zack appeared, “I have multiple sightings to the south, east, and north. Ramy, sons of bitches, some of them are huge, biggest I’ve ever seen. If they make it to the wall, they’ll crash through.”
Ramy, wiping the sweat off of his forehead, watched the giant lumbering trollmares in the distance.
“We have the same coming in from the north and south,” advised Zack.
Ramy turned to the groups that manned the oversized crossbows, shouted to the end crews, “Defend the north and south,” as he pointed in both directions. When the dwarves attempted to change the crossbows orientation, they came to an abrupt halt.
One of the elves stuck his head out from the nearest, “We did not design them for side attacks. They cannot move anymore.”
“Point them forwards,” Ramy turned to Zack, “How many of the big ones?”
“At least two on each side with trollmares riding on their backs, and I saw more that looked like those tunneling ones.”
From the side, they heard somebody scream out, “TROLLMARES IN THE AIR.”
Sitting down on the bench, Ramy lowered his head into his hands, “We cannot beat this many.” When he looked up, all of the color had drained from his face, “If they breach the walls, the slaughter—John, I know that Gayne said not to use the portal bracelets for large crowds because they would not stay open very long, but can we evacuate the children and women to somewhere safe?”
For the most part, even though John trusted Gayne’s judgment, he was unable to say the words that Ramy did not want to hear. Quickly building an image in his mind, he saw the town, the surrounding garden, the lumbering beasts with more trollmares on their backs, and the flying horrors. Superimposing the frontal threats to the sides, he tried to quickly calculate a winning solution, but the rage was absent from Ryan, the sword was mortal, Logan’s forearms bare, and Lauren’s hands were empty. While he had his first cloak, he was uncertain if it still held a charge. He needed them to be like they were before. When together they had stopped an unstoppable army: when they all had magic and were legends. Then his simulation crapped out because that which was, was not. John headed to the ladder, “I’ll,—I have one idea.” Then he raced back to the house.
At the bottom of the wall, Gingaar called up to Ramy, who slid down the ladder, wooden slivers biting deep into his hands. She pointed to the container that the two elves held, “Nur sent Earth Guards to my workshop who have brought my gift for the trollmares: Sweet Release poison,” and the scared Earth Guards held up a mid-size metal pot. “Fill the arrows that we designed for the sleeping potion with this but be careful. Neither touch nor drink it because it is deadly.”
“Thank you, Earth Mother, now back to your house.” He turned to the two Earth Guards, “You drag her back there if you have to. If you do not, I will put you on long distance patrols. NOW MAKE SURE SHE STAYS SAFE!” Ramy turned to his second in charge, telling him about the new poison, and what to do with it, wishing he had more time to explain the necessary precautions that all should understand.
Steve with Eric arrived at the house first, and by the time John, out of breath, appeared, he could tell by the looks that they knew what was happening. He nodded, “It’s bad. They think they may breach the walls.”
“Then should we leave?” asked Lauren.
“Legends don’t tap out,” Eric replied, “John, there has to be something we can do?”
Bent over, breathing fast, he looked to the doorway, “I have one thought. Gayne, go to Ironhouse because we need dwarves. Tell Aaro that Alron is under attack from trollmares. If he doesn’t send help, hundreds of dwarves and more here will be slaughtered.” He knew that Aaro would never let that happen.
Gayne went back into the house, retrieved his satchel, opened the boxes with the envelopes, and withdrew three: Alron, Ironhouse, and his home. Handing the satchel to Mirtza, walking out onto the street, he dropped a stone through the bracelet, entered into the open portal that showed the Ironhouse Mine.
Then the small group heard more alarms sound.
“That’s it. Dwarves?” asked Lauren.
“Mirtza, toss me a gold coin.” Trying to catch it in the air, John had to pick it up from the ground. Remembering when he had changed gold into lead, he repeated the process, and when he looked at the coin, a dull disc was in his hand. “The cloak still has magic, so I can help.”
Lauren glared at him, “You said we were being attacked on three sides!”
“I KNOW!” He checked his anger, realizing he would have to apologize later, “We don’t have any magic. The only thing left—our history, legends. The last card in my deck is moral support. The Bastards might fight better with Logan at their backs. The sight of Eric, I don’t know, he might be able to encourage them. Ryan, maybe he can do the same. It’s all I have, so I’m going to the south wall to see what I can do,” then he turned and raced away.
“The Kid might be right. I’ve seen the way everybody looks at all of you. Look, I’ve seen defeated men win the impossible when motivated, and I’ve seen just as many that should have walked away from a fire fight, carried out in body bags instead.” Steve turned to Eric, “You up there, standing beside them, they’ll fight harder, just say the right things.” Then he turned to Logan, “I saw the way those kids looked at you. You at their back, they’ll find new strengths.”
“SERIOUSLY!” erupted Lauren.
“You don’t leave the field when the opposing side sends out their all-state attackers. We’re legends, we don’t run. I need my armor. They might not se
e me as the Champion right now, so I need to be him again.”
Mirtza walked out, materialized the wagon that held the armor, and helped Eric to dress in the finely crafted dwarven forged metal.
Logan walked out to the street, hearing Lauren call to him. He turned, “I’ll call to Sister, maybe she’ll—” Then he ran down the street, searching for those who were so small, who now had to fight a battle so large.
Ryan looked at Lauren, “Maybe I can...” Then he leaned forward, kissed her forehead. “You can scold me tonight at supper.” Stepping out onto the street, he raced to the gate, and then Steve ran looking for John.
Mirtza handed him his sword, “Good luck, Champion,” and turned towards the house, but the six wolves growled a refusal of entry, so he ran after Eric.
“This is crazy, even crazier than me flying out on that damn mountain eagle. They don’t stand a chance,” blasted Lauren.
Nur looked down, “There legends,” and then her voice went soft. “Maybe—”
“It’s not enough!” Lauren turned to the closest Earth Guard, “What’s your name?”
“Noyce Lightbreeze.”
“Please come here.”
The Earth Guard looked to Nur, who nodded, so he walked over.
Lauren took a deep breath, “Noyce, you’re going to command Mother this day. Command her to tell Sister that her Bastard is in Alron, and that he needs her help to save the innocents.”
“I will not. It is fforbidden.”
“Earth Guard, what is your oath?”
“Protect and serve.”
“Well, from what John has said, you cannot protect the Earth Mothers from what’s on the other side of these walls, so we need magic. While she might be able to ignore me, she cannot ignore you. Command Mother, NOW!”
Noyce looked to Nur, who nodded.
Shaking visibly because of the request, he spoke, “MOTHER, when you first created the Earth Guard, they had one request, which you granted it. You never thought any would demand such. TODAY I BREAK THAT SEAL! Innocents in Alron are under threat. Sister’s Bastard is here, but her gift he does not have. Mother, tell Sister that her Bastard waits for her embrace.” He fell to his knees, his voice a whisper, “You cannot refuse.”
Gingaar with her three protectors, arriving back at the house, had watched the command to Mother, and even though she wanted to know what was happening, her Earth Guards ushered her past the guardian wolves, which parted for her, but refused their entry.
*******
Logan was on the north wall with Horac, Mundi, Tanka, Barq, and Chan. In the distance, two enormous trollmares, thirty feet tall, lumbered through the garden of suffering without any reaction. The appearance of their skin was thick plates, looking like an elephant had mated with a Brahma bull, as their heads were covered with long horns. Logan scanned the young Bastards, who were all visibly shaking. He kneeled, rubbing his forearms, and looked at the five young lads. “All we’re going to do is save the innocents. I know they look scary, but if we work together, we can do this. Where are Vink and Ecoz?”
Horac looked down, wiped away a tear, “They were killed on the wall last night.”
Logan let out a silent scream. SISTER, INNOCENTS ARE DYING. FIND ME. He saw the archer’s fire their arrows, hearing them scream down the line ‘no effect,’ and saw the arrows bouncing off the large beasts. He regained his focus. “I’m going to show you something special, and we’ll work like a team. Their bodies are mainly water, which we can affect, so I want you all to think of really cold things, like ice, really big ice. Rub the blue feather tattoos, and think of—you’ve seen frozen ponds when winter arrives, right?” They all nodded, “We want to make those things freeze just like that, so rub your blue feathers, pray to Sister and concentrate.”
*******
Cresting the ladder on the south wall, Steve saw John looking at two huge trollmares, which stood thirty feet tall in the distance.
“Whisky Tango…SONS OF A BITCH—why don’t we leave, Kid?”
Then they both watched as archers fired, hearing the reports of the arrows deflecting off of the thick skin. If you can’t harm the transport, kill the troops. Steve called out to them, “Aim for the trollmares on their backs,” and then he heard the command passed along the wall.
John tried to concentrate, but before he had a plan, had time to work out the variables. Standing on the wall, looking at the beasts, he felt like a grandmother who had just dropped her last nickel into a slot machine, wrapped in a prayer of hope. Unfortunately, he also knew that prayers made in gambling houses never ended well, and even before this attack had started, his account of hope had insufficient funds.
However, he had to try, so he imagined the head of the beasts exploding, or missiles launching into them, but nothing happened. He thought of the gold coin, how he had changed it to lead, and closed his eyes. Knowing the cloak had magic, he had to find a way to apply it. The gold magic is able to handle complicated requests because it can replicate food and animals. Even interpret mixed signals, like the eight legged horse, but it needs time to think, to understand, but at the atomic level, it’s just basic subtraction or addition. Just protons, neutrons, and electrons; three elements for it to manipulate. I need a simple solution.
*******
Eric awkwardly climbed up the ladder, followed by Ryan.
“Eric, We have no time to relive your glory days. We have problems here, big ones,” Ramy was pointing to the two lumbering trollmares that were halfway through the garden of suffering, and bouncing off of the thick skin, the oversized crossbow bolts.
The elves and dwarves in the crossbow machines stopped, looked up at Eric in disbelief, and one of the dwarves climbed out, “Champion, have you come to help?”
He thought of what Steve had said, turned to the crossbow crews, “Today I come to watch the birth of legends, and I’ve come to watch you win this battle. Last time, you never had time to prepare, but today, the nation of elf, dwarf, and midlander will fight as one.”
An elf shook his head, “No damage do we inflict on the great beast.”
Eric scanned the misshapen creatures, watching them slowly walk forward, and he searched for an advantage. Being dwarf, he had no taste for defeat, “Aim for the knees, between the plates. Wait for it to start moving forward, so there is a gap between the upper and lower, then fire. The bolt will pierce the skin, finding smaller bones and veins. TODAY, YOU WILL MAKE THE RIVERS FLOW RED!”
Ramy looked at the elves, “You heard the Champion.”
The elves started calling out orders. As the crossbows all swiveled, bowstrings were pulled back, and a new bolt fell into place. As the elves sighted the knees, in quick succession, six bolts fired.
Three hit, but before any could cheer, Ramy called out, “Reload, they are still walking. WE KNOW THEIR WEAKNESS, SO THIS TIME, ALL SIX HIT THEIR MARK, OR YOU PAY FOR YOUR OWN BEER!”
*******
Horac screamed out, “Logan, it is not working!”
“Fireballs then and aim for the trollmares on top.”
The five lads cupped their hands together, imagined the balls of fire forming, and launched them. It was their favorite gift, one they had often practiced, which now showed. Fireballs rained down on the trollmares that rode the backs, and in pain, they threw themselves off, rolling to put out the flames, but quickly learned about the garden of suffering.
*******
John, concentrating on the skeletons of the massive beasts, sent the image into the cloak along with the atomic structures of calcium and potassium. Even though the first was an essential requirement for healthy bones, the second was not; lose too much and bones become weak. They were only one atomic number apart, being easier to subtract the necessary elements. He just hoped the target chemical was in their bones, called to the magic, sensed something, and then he tasked it to find the element in the beasts, specifically in the long leg bones.
*******
Six bolts slammed into the struggling huge b
easts, which staggered, roaring in anguish, and fell to their sides. Trollmares on their backs fell into the garden, tried to find cover, but everything they touched caused them to suffer great pain. Then one knocked over a giant hornet’s nest, and the flying insects taking insult to the disturbance, registering their complaints with a stinging vengeance.
When the crowd on the front wall erupted into a cheer, Ramy took control when he shouted, “We are not a Pintar’s yet. Archers, we have trollmares on the ground, and they are still moving. Crossbows, those are not clouds flying up there, so bring them to the ground.”
The elf in the closest crossbow chair looked at Eric, “What would the Champion suggest?”
“You’re elf, and legendary is your marksmanship,” then he smiled, “Hit them in the eye.”
*******
Logan watched the five lads fighting so bravely, whose hands were shaking so badly in fear that it affected their aim. He walked up behind each, placed a hand on their shoulder, whispering support into their ears. Thinking of Vink and Ecoz, he screamed, “SISTER, I COMMAND YOU. LET ME PROTECT THE INNOCENTS. THESE BOYS—THIS IS NOT THEIR TIME,” and then he felt a breeze.
*******
“I can’t take this anymore. I need to know what’s happening.”
Even though Nur pleaded with Lauren, tried to block her way, she gently pushed her to the side, walking past the wolves. Her Granite Guardians, taking to their mounts, formed a tight ring around her.
*******
Ryan was standing on the walkway, looking at the trollmares in the air, and knew he could take out any one of them, if not all. Calling to the rage, it never answered.
When the giant crossbow bolts flew through the air, the large beasts dodged them.
An elf called out, “We cannot hit them.”
Eric turned to the crossbow teams, “Three squads, fire on one. The first bolt it’ll dodge, so make the next ones hit.”
One of the elves looked at Eric, “How do we know which way they will move.”
“When you go hunting for your families, do you ask the deer which way it’ll turn? Or ask the rabbit how high it’ll jump? Do you take food home to your family—or empty promises? Make them turn the way you want.”
