by Peter Last
Together, the three companions started back into the burning building in pursuit of their missing comrades. The building was burning hot by now, and sweat ran down the faces of all three. The integrity of the building had been breached quite a while ago, and with every step, the floor and ceiling creaked, threatening to collapse at any moment. To add to these dangers, smoke filled the air, making it hard to breathe or see more than an arm's length in any direction.
As the three moved through the building, they called out Vladimir’s name, but never received any response. They skirted the outside wall of the building with no luck and then moved their search toward the rooms in the middle. As they moved toward the center of the structure, the smoke lessened and they were able to see more clearly. They searched for what seemed like hours until they convinced themselves that they would never find their comrades. They turned and headed back for the outer edge of the building, but suddenly a section of floor caved in. They headed back the way they had come only to have another section collapse almost underneath their feet. Weaving their way through the halls of the building, they tried desperately to find a way out. The smoke was so thick now that they could not see more than a few inches, and they had resorted to feeling their way through the building. Senndra stumbled and fell. She called out to Lemin and Timothy who immediately moved in her direction. Even using the sound of her voice for direction, the navigation was still difficult.
“What is it?” Timothy asked when he found Senndra. He had tied a cloth over his mouth to help filter some of the smoke.
“I tripped over something here,” Senndra responded.
“Probably just some fallen furniture or something,” Lemin said irritably. “Let’s get going.”
“It’s not just some furniture,” Senndra responded indignantly. “It felt soft, almost like a body.” She groped with her hands through the thick smoke until she found the body over which she had stumbled. “Over here,” she called. “I think it’s Vladimir!”
“Where’s his friend?” Timothy said. He was suddenly on his hands and knees beside her and groping about. Lemin joined the search, and together they explored the surrounding area. After several minutes of hunting, they turned up nothing.
“We need to get going or we’re not going to get out of here ourselves,” Timothy finally shouted over the roar of the fire. “We haven’t found him yet, so I doubt he’s around here.”
“You’re probably right,” Lemin said. He walked in a stooped posture to where Senndra sat on the floor next to the prone body of Vladimir, his head in her lap. Lemin hefted the unconscious body onto his shoulders and started down the hall as fast as he could move. Senndra scrambled to her feet and followed quickly after him, though it was hard for her to concentrate due to the vast amounts of smoke she was inhaling. She was lightheaded and unable to keep track of time. It felt as if she was dreaming, and her brain couldn’t process anything. Suddenly she bumped into Lemin, who had abruptly stopped moving. Through blurry eyes, she could see the elf heave Vladimir through the air toward a wall that appeared out of the smoke. He turned around and grabbed her arm and shoved her toward where Vladimir was lying, and she stumbled and fell to the ground. A loud cracking noise startled her, and she jerked her head around just in time to see a massive beam falling toward Lemin and Timothy. Smoke rolled in, blocking her view of the two men. Suddenly Timothy came flying out of the smoke and rolled to a stop at Senndra’s feet. He sprang to his feet as soon as he came to a stop and turned back toward where Lemin still was. The smoke hid any view of what was happening, and then Lemin broke through the screen. He hurried to where the others were and began to feel along the wall.
“What are you looking for?” Timothy shouted.
“A fireplace,” Lemin shouted back. “We should be able to climb up it and onto the roof of this building. The walls and roof are made of stone, so we will be safe from fire up there.”
Timothy wasted no time in searching for the fireplace as well. Lemin crossed from where he was searching and headed for the wall on the other side of Senndra. On the way past, he tossed a rope to Senndra.
“Take this and tie it under Vladimir’s armpits,” he explained slowly. “That way I will be able to pull him up the chimney.”
Lemin hurried off, and Senndra struggled against her lightheadedness as she tried to tie a decent knot under Vladimir’s armpits. Her eyelids became extremely heavy, trying to lure her to sleep, but she struggled to keep them open. She knew that closing her eyes could mean death, but she was unable to help herself. She had managed to tie the rope under Vladimir’s arms, but by that time, she couldn't manage to keep her eyes open any longer, and she slipped into unconsciousness.
Four
Senndra felt a drop of cold water hit her face and roll off. She coughed and sat up, fighting lightheadedness as she did so. She could feel the patter of raindrops on her cheeks and arms, and the chill jolted her to complete consciousness. Slowly the things around her came into view, and she immediately spotted Timothy and Lemin a few feet away from her. Both were on their knees in the posture that many assumed when they prayed to Elohim. Senndra struggled to her feet and saw that they were on the roof of the building they had just escaped. Vladimir was at her feet, apparently much worse off than she was.
Senndra looked out over the city and saw that, despite the stone walls, the fire had spread to several other buildings. However, as she watched, the sprinkling of rain increased to a light shower, then to a hard shower, and finally became a downpour. The rain poured out of the sky, preventing the spread of the fire and putting out many of the lesser blazes. The larger fires continued to burn despite the rain, though they did so less ferociously than before.
To the south, the dwarves had penetrated the first two barriers and were working on the third. They were pressing the defenders hard, and it was obvious that they were meeting very little resistance. Suddenly a section of the army broke through the barrier and began to attack the defenders, who succeeded in repelling them. Another section of the barrier was breached, and this time the dwarves were able to gain a secure foothold. Quickly the dwarves rushed through the breach and pushed the defenders back to the fourth barrier.
Senndra looked away from the fighting and back toward her comrades. Lemin and Timothy had finished praying, and Timothy was now checking Vladimir for vital signs. He shook the unconscious boy, and after a few moments Vladimir's eyes fluttered open.
“Where am I?” he asked as his eyes searched the area around him.
“On top of the building that we were trapped in only a few minutes ago,” Timothy answered. “We were able to escape up a chimney and onto the roof. Luckily it's made of stone so it can’t be burned.”
“Fire,” Vladimir mumbled. “Yes, now I remember. The house was on fire, right? And we were finding a way out, and…” he stopped talking.
“And what happened next?” Timothy prompted.
“I don’t know,” Vladimir shrugged. “The last thing I remember is starting to look for a way out of the building. After that my mind is blank.”
“Well, to make a long story short, we got out okay,” Timothy said as he helped Vladimir to his feet. “Now we need to meet up with Josiah and the other cadets. Then, if we can get back around to the correct side of the dwarves, we can help hold the city.”
“It’s never going to happen, you know,” Vladimir said as he looked out toward the fighting. “The dwarves will push our men all the way to the south wall. After that, they will be able to kill our army with ease, and they will have access to Magessa.”
“We won’t let that happen then, will we, buddy?” Timothy said.
“And if we don’t have a choice?” Vladimir countered.
“You always have a choice,” Timothy said forcefully. “Always. Right now we have the choice to give up the city for lost and give the enemy access to our country or to defend both the city and our country. Yes we might die in the endeavor, heck we might not even succeed, but that does not remove
the choice.”
Vladimir shrugged. “Well in that case, we might as well attack them right now.”
“Hold on, Vladimir,” Lemin said, coming into the conversation. “I want to attack just as much as you, but I also want to come out of this alive. What do you have in mind?”
“We pull a left flank attack,” Vladimir said. “The left flank is the weakest part of the army, and if we can hit them there, it will throw their army into confusion, at least temporarily. That will give us a chance to get across the next barrier.”
“Well,” Timothy said shrugging, “it’s as good as any other plan, I guess.” He looked at Lemin. “We might as well try it.”
“What about our other options?” Lemin asked.
“What other options?” Timothy countered. “I’ve already gone over hundreds of ideas in my head, and none of them will work.”
Lemin scratched his head and looked at the sky. He rose to his feet and paced back and forth for several minutes before deciding that they would follow the plan.
******
Josiah and his men crouched in the building, careful to give no indication to their enemies as to their location. The clouds overhead made the room almost pitch black, and the recent rain made wearing armor extremely uncomfortable. Sweat trickled down the faces of the soldiers as they waited in complete silence, hoping they would remain undetected.
A lookout crawled back toward Josiah, carefully avoiding the windows. He had stripped off his armor in order to move quickly and without noise.
“Commander, the dwarves have left the immediate area and have pushed the defenders back to the fourth barrier,” the lookout said once he had reached Josiah. “There are a few straggling dwarves, but I don’t think they should present a problem.”
“Troops, the danger has passed. You can get off the ground now,” Josiah said. The cadets rose from their bellies and heaved sighs of relief as they were able to stretch their aching muscles. They slid their drawn weapons into their sheaths and began to talk in low voices.
“Well, what kind of a position are we in now?” Josiah asked the lookout at his side.
“I don’t really know, sir,” the lookout responded. “I couldn’t see the south end of the city very well from where I was.”
“Then go round up the lookouts that can see that portion of the city,” Josiah ordered. “Take a station where they were so that you can see the largest area possible.”
The lookout saluted and moved away, and Josiah sat down to think. There was a possibility, now that the dwarves had moved to the fourth barrier, that he would be able to lead his troops back to the fighting. A tunnel ran from the museum, which sat between the second and third barriers, to a building near the training grounds. If he could get his men safely through the tunnel before the dwarves progressed too far through the city, they would be on the right side of the approaching enemy and could again draw swords against them. That would be much better than lying in a building, sweating and doing nothing.
Josiah was pulled from his pondering by the approach of three cadets who had been on lookout duty. They saluted him, and he saluted back.
“What’s our position in the city?” he asked them. “How far have the dwarves pushed our army back?”
“Well,” the middle cadet responded. He knelt down on the floor, and Josiah and the other two lookouts crouched down in a circle around a map that he was scratching in the floor. “If we’re here,” he made an X, “and the northern wall is here,” he scraped a line, “then the dwarf army is fairly close to the middle of the campus.” He dragged a long, weaving line that represented the stream through the middle of the campus.
“What about the museum? Can we get there?” Josiah asked anxiously.
“Well, I suppose we could get that far,” the scout responded slowly, “but the whole building is crawling with dwarves. They’re working on tearing the blockades off the doors now, but they should gain entrance in a short time.”
“Then we have no time to lose,” Josiah said and rose to his feet. “Stanslaw, gather all of the men together and get them ready to move out. Keep the lookouts at their posts and tell them to give the alarm if anyone comes close.”
Josiah pushed his way through the crowd of cadets and made his way to the stairs. The room at the bottom was so dark that he could see nothing down below. He shrugged and looked over his shoulder. Stanslaw had the cadets in neat, orderly ranks and had switched out the tired lookouts.
“Draw swords,” Josiah said in an undertone. The room was filled with the sound of sixty swords being drawn all at once, and Josiah immediately wondered if his order had been a good idea. He shrugged and headed down the stairs; there was nothing he could do about it now.
The first floor of the building was almost pitch black, with light entering only through the cracks of boards that had been nailed across the windows. The cadets were walking as quietly as possible, but the sound of sixty cadets in armor was hard to hide. Josiah gave up worrying and told himself that the enemy would see them soon anyhow. He felt his way through another dark room until he found the doorway that led out. From the far side of the next room, he could see light filtering through the bottom of a door and headed for it.
“Stanslaw,” Josiah called, and his captain was at his side in an instant. “That door is going to be nailed shut, so I will have some cadets open it. Now listen closely. When we get out of here, I will take the first half of the cadets and you take the other half. Make your way to the museum and fall on the right flank of the dwarves there. I will do the same thing, but to their left flank. Once we have gained access to the museum, take your men inside and I will regroup with you in the room that contains the armor of Jothnial. There is a tunnel there hidden under a large rug near the back of the room. The tunnel runs from the museum to a building that should be behind the barrier that the dwarves are attacking now. If I don’t regroup with you in five minutes, take your men through."
“Yes sir,” Stanslaw responded. He moved away and began to pass the orders down the line. The first four cadets in Josiah’s ranks moved forward to the door. They were burly men and immediately threw themselves into opening the door. The door was nailed from the outside, so the cadets used their swords and whatever else they could find to pry it open. Finally, after several minutes of work, the door gave an inch, and light streamed in through the newly opened crack. The cadets didn’t slack their assault on the door, and less than a minute later had succeeded in opening it.
Josiah dashed past the cadets that had opened the door and burst outside. His brain seemed to register everything at once. Ahead of him he could see a group of perhaps one hundred dwarves assaulting the museum. In front of them was the bulk of the dwarf army still attacking the fourth barrier. Josiah could hear his soldiers following behind him, and off to his right, he could see Stanslaw leading his men at a rapid pace toward the right flank of the dwarves at the museum. Josiah raised his sword and sprinted the last few feet to the unsuspecting dwarves. He swung twice and dispatched two of the enemy. He swung again and continued to press his way to the museum, but his soldiers were faster. Seeing their commander facing the dwarves so bravely, they were filled with a surge of heroism and smashed into the dwarves, crushing all in their path. Suddenly the charge was over; access to the museum had been gained. Now they needed to defend it from the rest of the dwarf horde.
******
“There they go,” Vladimir said. He was looking out over the city from his perch on the balcony. “Looks like Josiah is trying to gain the museum, but to what purpose? He’ll be easily surrounded and killed there.”
“Why he’s there is not the point,” Lemin answered. “The point is that we need to meet up with him and his soldiers.” He jumped over the balcony railing, spun around, and grabbed onto it as he fell. He let go and landed on the ground some twelve feet below. Vladimir followed suit, leaving Timothy and Senndra on the balcony.
“Can you make that jump?” Timothy asked. Senndra could sense som
e concern in his voice and would normally have enjoyed it, but now that she was tired and cranky, she merely resented it. Without a word, she followed Lemin and Vladimir over the railing and landed on the ground beside them. Timothy watched as she took her bow from where it was slung on her back. He shrugged and jumped to the ground.
“What now?” Senndra asked. “Josiah’s men have killed about half of the dwarves, but that still leaves fifty. How are we supposed to get through that many enemies?” She had been watching the dwarves while trying to nock an arrow on her bowstring. Now she looked down and saw, to her dismay, that her bow was ruined, probably in the fire. Lemin did not notice but answered Senndra’s question instead.
“I’m counting on the fact that the dwarves will be unnerved by their recent massacre,” Lemin explained. “If that is the case, we will have a decent chance at penetrating their ranks.”
He took off running, drawing his sword. Senndra slid her arrow back into her quiver and flung her bow away in disgust. She took off after Lemin at a dead sprint, reaching over her shoulder as she ran to draw her sword. She gripped the handle with both hands and let out a battle cry. The dwarves were startled by the sound and swung around to find its source. By the time they recognized the diminutive size of the attacking force, Lemin had already led his small group into the museum. The building, however, was devoid of friendly faces.
Lemin ran toward a door, flung it open, and dashed inside. The other three soldiers followed, taking cover just as a barrage of dwarf crossbow bolts whistled past the door and dug into its frame. Lemin led the way into the interior of the museum, always following the noise made by Josiah’s soldiers. He finally burst into the room that contained the armor of Jothnial. It was a dead end. Lemin prayed for safety as he motioned for the others to hide. With a wall in front of them and a horde of angry dwarves behind, they would need it.
