“I need to know the status of the inner levels,” he declared to the soldier. “Be quick about it.”
The soldier nodded and ran into the castle. One thing the defenders of the Castle of Man had not planned for were ogres. The huge beasts had sufficient power to throw a grappling hook five levels into the air. Now, instead of having to defend the upper levels of the castle just on the inside, where traps and defenses were well laid out, the defenders were forced to man the ramparts dislodging the hooks. If they failed to halt the advance on the outside, defenders below the battlement level would be trapped between two prongs of the enemy.
Lieutenant Montbalm watched as a goblin appeared through a crenel where the hook had not been dislodged quickly enough. He quickly nocked an arrow to his bow and sent an arrow flying into the goblin’s head. The creature’s scream was lost in the roar of the battle as two soldiers rushed to dislodge the grappling hook before another goblin appeared.
“The eleventh level is still holding,” panted the returning soldier. “I doubt that they can hold it much longer, though. The yaki are charging up the narrow stairwells with surprising speed. They can almost make it up a level in the time it takes our men to roll another rock down the stairwell. It doesn’t look good.”
“No, it doesn’t,” agreed the lieutenant. “I need to report to King Devon. Take my place with this bow. I will send more men down from some of the upper levels. Our siege engines up there are mostly worthless now that the enemy is inside our walls.”
The soldier nodded grimly as Lieutenant Montbalm left the battlement and raced up to the roof. When he reached the rooftop, he saw King Devon leaning out of a crenel. Alexander Tork stood near the king. His eyes scanned the trebuchets that were sending tons of rocks down on the pass side of the Castle of Man. The siege engines on the city side remained idle.
“What is the situation below?” asked Alex as the lieutenant approached.
The king removed himself from the crenel and turned to face the arriving officer. Anguish was evident on his face and the king looked as if he had aged years since the day before.
“The situation is not good,” reported Lieutenant Montbalm. “The enemy is scaling the outside of the castle as well as fighting their way upward inside. Currently, we still hold the eleventh level on the inside and the fifteenth level on the outside. Both of those positions are tenuous. I sent men down from the twentieth level to reinforce our weak spots.”
“There is little more that you can do,” sighed the king as Jenneva, Tanya, and the three remaining Rangers approached. “Can you think of anything, Alex?”
“Short of magic,” frowned Alex, “I think Lieutenant Montbalm is doing a good job. We could try using fire glue on the second battlement. It will not eliminate the enemy from attacking the third, but it will slow them down some. The same could be tried for the inner levels, although you would risk harming your own men with the smoke from the fires. I should warn you that our supply of fire glue is severely limited. It might be best to save until the battle has reached a critical stage.”
“A critical stage?” echoed King Devon. “I do not think you appreciate the severity of our problem. It doesn’t get any more critical than this.”
“I think what Alex means,” interrupted Tanya, “is that we should use the fire glue where it will kill the most of the enemy. If we wait until thousands more of Sarac’s people are inside the Castle of Man, the burning fires will kill many more of them than it would now.”
“So you are thinking more of what will be left to attack Tagaret,” sighed the king. “That is what you are basing your actions on?”
“That is a primary concern,” nodded Alex. “That is not to say that is our only concern. We came here to help your people, and that is what we will probably die doing. If this is to be the end, does it not make sense to kill as many of the enemy as possible?”
“It does to me,” interjected Lieutenant Montbalm. “King Devon, you know that I have always been loyal to you and the Castle of Man. Understand that what I am about to say, may cause you to think otherwise, but rest assured that I speak from the heart for the good of all of our peoples.”
“I have never doubted your loyalty, Lieutenant Montbalm,” the king smiled grimly. “You have been like a son to me. Speak your mind.”
“I think we have erred by not allowing our Alcean friends to use magic,” the lieutenant exhaled deeply. “I understand our laws and the reasons for our traditions, but I learned much in Tagaret while I was there. As we have been proven wrong about a number of other things, so to I think, we are wrong about magic.”
“I have been feeling the same myself,” nodded the king, “yet I remain stubborn and faithful to our law. I cannot rule in any other fashion and still be true to my heritage and my country. What would you have me do? Abandon our laws because it is convenient? If my ancestors behaved in that manner, we would not be here today.”
“If you do not reevaluate your decision,” interjected Tanya, “you will have no descendents to utter those very words.”
Alex opened his mouth to rebuke Tanya, but the king laid his hand on Alex’s arm. “Do not quiet her, Alex,” sighed the king. “She is young, and feisty, and has no manners, but her words ring of truth and honesty. Her qualities are to be admired. There is only one way that I can think of to allow your group their use of magic. I should have taken that route when you arrived days ago.”
“No,” shouted Lieutenant Montbalm as he moved between the king and the nearest crenel. “That is not necessary. I forbid it.”
“You forbid it?” echoed King Devon. “Out of the loyalty you just espoused, you cannot forbid it. It is my will.”
“What is this method that you speak of?” asked Tanya.
“He means to end his rule,” Alex said sadly. “I agree with Lieutenant Montbalm. That is not an acceptable method of solving this crisis. What are your laws in regards to magic, King Devon?”
“The laws regarding magic are the highest order of laws in our kingdom,” answered King Devon. “They are enforced by the king and nobody else. As long as there is a king, there can be no use of magic.”
“So you plan to remove the king by leaping to your death?” Jenneva questioned with profound sadness.
“There is no other way,” sighed King Devon. “I am about to be deposed by ogres and goblins anyway. Let me at least allow the rest of you the chance to fight the best you can before you die. I want this common enemy of ours to feel the sting of his victory. Kill as many as you can.”
“I want to be sure that I understand your wishes properly,” Alex said calmly and softly. “Are you saying that you really do countenance the use of magic, but for legal reasons, you are unable to give your permission to its use as long as you are king?”
“That sums up my problem perfectly,” nodded King Devon. “Now, if you will step aside, Lieutenant Montbalm?”
Alex drew his sword and everyone turned towards him with startled looks upon their faces. Alex ignored the stares and held his sword to the throat of King Devon.
“Yield, King Devon,” commanded Alex. “Yield to King Arik of Alcea.”
Lieutenant Montbalm’s face filled with rage and his hand went to his sword hilt. Jenneva gently placed her hand on the officer’s arm to stay his actions.
King Devon started laughing so hard that Alex had to pull his sword back a bit before the king skewered his own throat on the blade. The lieutenant looked at the king as if he had gone mad.
“You are the most unpredictable man that I have ever met, Alexander Tork,” laughed the king. “Remove your sword so that I may kneel before King Arik’s man and swear my allegiance.”
“No,” protested Lieutenant Montbalm. “For thousands of years we have remained a free people. You cannot throw that all away at the moment of our demise.”
All of the siege engines had halted on the rooftop and the soldiers of the Castle of Man began converging on the group surrounding the king.
“I can
and I will,” the king replied defiantly. “Don’t you see, son? My rule is finished no matter what I do. I can leap to my death, I can wait for the ogres to eat me, or I can become a vassal of a great king and help bring death and destruction to my enemies. The choice is very clear to me. Let the death and destruction of Sarac’s forces begin.”
Lieutenant Montbalm nodded and released the hilt of his sword. He held his hand up to halt the charging defenders. With a sigh, he knelt next to the king before Alex.
“I, King Devon of the Castle of Man, swear my allegiance, and the allegiance of my people, to King Arik of Alcea,” the king declared solemnly.
Lieutenant Montbalm repeated the solemn oath, and Alex sheathed his sword. “Rise, subjects of Alcea,” Alex said formally. “Let the destruction begin. Lieutenant Montbalm, please escort King Devon below and clear the rooftop of all defenders. There is no reason the king must endure what we are about to do.”
“No,” King Devon shook his head. “I want to see what this magic does. I have paid a high enough price to witness it.”
“He is right,” agreed Jenneva. “Let us get over to the pass side of the castle. There is little to be done here.”
The group moved to the pass side of the rooftop while the defenders gathered around to watch. Lieutenant Montbalm pulled King Devon to one side so that Jenneva could get by.
“Jenneva is the mage,” the lieutenant announced to the king. “I heard of her skill in Tagaret.”
“And you kept that information from me?” questioned the king. “You are wiser than even I thought. I am glad that you did not mention it. I bet you didn’t know that Tanya is a mage as well.”
The lieutenant’s jaw dropped as Tanya chose the crenel next to Jenneva. “How did you know?” he asked.
“Her ferocious defense of magic gave her away,” smiled the king. “A ferocity that only an adherent could muster.”
Alex smiled thinly while Jenneva and Tanya perused the situation in the pass below. “It is too late to claim victory out of this battle,” he announced, “but the number of beasts charging into the Castle of Man is about to diminish drastically.”
With slight nods of their heads, Jenneva cast a spell into the right bank of the pass, while Tanya attacked the left. For several moments, everyone stood with their breath held. Nothing happened. Slowly, a low rumbling could be heard. The noise increased in volume and tempo until the roar was overwhelming. Far below in the pass, the ogres could be seen halting and looking skyward. The goblins soon halted as well, and the yaki began running in circles, howling at the sky.
The beginning would have been missed by anyone not expecting it, but both banks of the pass began to quiver. Small pebbles cascaded down the steep embankments. Soon, larger rocks began to stir and tumble down the cliffs. When man-sized boulders began to descend rapidly, Sarac’s beasts turned around and ran for the northlands.
The yaki raced with a speed that was amazing. They leaped over goblins and bounded off of ogres as they scrambled to vacate the pass. The goblins chased after the yaki, weaving in and out of the long lines of ogres, in a mad dash to the mouth of the pass. The pounding of the running feet of the ogres would have been a deafening sound at any other time, but the enormous roar of rock tearing itself away from the mountains drowned it out.
It began in slow motion, but it advanced rapidly. Suddenly, the entire faces of both sides of the pass leaned out from the mountains and collapsed into the pass. Tons and tons of rock were hurled into the pass. Great clouds of smoke rose in a brownish cast that quickly blotted out the sun.
“It will take a while before the dust clears,” announced Jenneva, “but I think you will find that the Tor Pass is officially closed to traffic. It will take them some time to get over that rubble.”
“If they have the courage to try,” added Tanya. “Let’s see what we can do to Sarac’s Black Devils.”
“But the pass is forever closed,” frowned King Devon as he followed the Knights of Alcea across the rooftop to the city side of the castle.
“Should anyone be fortunate enough to survive this attack,” offered Alex, “I am sure that King Arik could convince the dwarves to aid you in restoring the pass. There are no better stone workers in the world.”
“Aid me?” questioned King Devon. “This land is not mine any longer. Do you forget so quickly?”
“You have met King Arik,” smiled Alex. “Does he appear to be the type of ruler who would abandon a leader who cares for his people as much as you do? Oh, your title might change from king to something else, but King Arik is not impressed with titles anyway. Let us not worry about what is to come. It is time to ponder, and think of someway out of this trap that we are in.”
“You Alceans are a remarkable people,” the king shook his head.
“Don’t you mean WE Alceans?” smiled Lieutenant Montbalm.
“I guess I do,” smiled the king.
A loud horn blared through the air as the group reached the far ramparts.
“The third battlement has fallen,” sighed Lieutenant Montbalm. “I must get down there and aid my people.”
“Jami,” ordered Alex, “Take your men and go with him. Use the fire glue on the exterior climbers only. Ration it, as we may have need of some later.”
Jami nodded and signaled to Bart and Stan. The four men ran to the stairwell and disappeared down the stairs.
Jenneva and Tanya gazed out over the city of Tor and the forests beyond. “There is not much happening on this side,” commented Tanya as she tossed a fireball down at a dark figure running for the castle.”
The Black Devil barely dodged the fiery projectile. He gazed upward and immediately tossed his own fireball back at Tanya. The fireball streaked skyward, but it failed to rise more than half way up the side of the Castle of Man. Tanya grinned and threw another fireball down at the man.
“His fireball didn’t reach us,” noted Alex. “Does that mean that he is a weak magician? Or is there something about magic that it adheres to gravity?”
“Gravity affects it,” answered Jenneva. “While there are some spells, like the fairy’s levitation spell, that appear to violate the laws of nature, magic is subject to the physical laws. People without magical skills just do not totally understand the laws of nature.”
“Does that pertain to all spells?” Alex questioned with excitement. “What about the spell that the Black Devils use to down the unicorns?”
“It would be affected by gravity as well,” puzzled Jenneva. “What are you thinking?”
Alex turned his head and looked at Bantim who was standing on his shoulder. “Kaz, Yorra, and Frea are on the first level of the castle,” Alex said to the blue fairy. “I want you to tell them to come up here. Be careful of the ogres on the way down, and warn the unicorns of the danger of flying low around the Black Devils.”
Bantam nodded her understanding and leaped over the side of the castle.
“You are thinking that the three of us can escape?” Jenneva whispered to Alex. “That hardly seems fair to the others.”
Alex ignored Jenneva’s comments and peered down at the city of Tor and the forest beyond.
“I want the two of you to make life miserable for any Black Devils in Tor,” he said to Jenneva and Tanya. “I want them so busy trying to stay alive that they do not have time to harm the unicorns. If you have to destroy every building in Tor, do so. Buildings can be rebuilt.”
“You have that look in your eye,” commented King Devon as Tanya and Jenneva began bombarding the town of Tor with magical spells. “I could not help overhearing Jenneva’s words. I have no problem with you escaping, even if the rest of us cannot. In fact, I think it is important for someone to live to tell the story of what transpired here today.”
Alex did not respond to King Devon’s words as he watched the magicians work. Tanya sent a roaring wind through the city of Tor. Anybody that was caught outside a building was swept along the streets and into the forest beyond. Jenneva brought down lightn
ing upon the city. The air crackled and hissed as the lightning bolts slammed into the buildings. As roofs buckled and walls collapsed, Back Devils raced out of the buildings into a waiting windstorm. Street after street of the city of Tor was smashed down and swept away.
“The power of magic is awesome,” commented King Devon. “We may actually win this battle.”
“Not a chance, my friend,” replied Alex. “There are already thousands of Sarac’s creatures inside this castle. There will never be an opportunity for such a wide field of battle as they climb up this tower. With only two magicians, we could only kill so many.”
“Plus the Black Devils have started their routine with fireballs and ice balls again,” added Jenneva as she pointed towards the forest behind the city. “See at the edge of the woods. They are willing to bring down the Castle of Man even with their allies inside.”
“It was a hope,” sighed King Devon as three unicorns swept over the merlons and landed on the roof.
The horns on the unicorns were bloodied and several gashes dotted their bodies. Jenneva and Tanya hurried to the unicorns and began healing their wounds.
Sorry to cause you pain, my friend. I have a difficult task for you, Kaz.
Your sorrow is ill placed, Alex. The ogres that got in our way have more need of it. What task do you require of me?
King Devon stared as Alex and the black unicorn gazed at each other. He knew that some form of communication was going on between them, and he wondered what was being said. Alex turned abruptly away from Kaz.
“I am going down to talk to Lieutenant Montbalm,” he announced. “Let the men on this level relax. There is no longer any need for them to man their trebuchets. They will need their strength later.”
Alex turned and ran to the stairwell. He raced down to the twentieth level and out onto the fourth battlement. He found Lieutenant Montbalm there shouting orders. The three Rangers were using bows to shoot at the increasing number of goblins that were climbing through the crenels.
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