Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles

by A. J. Norfield

  After spotting the nearest ranking soldier, Corza immediately called him over.

  “Commander Lurik! Why’s no one firing back at them? Don’t you have arrows?”

  “No one dared to risk damaging the balloon, sir! Especially with the invasion starting soon.”

  Corza thought on this, for a moment.

  “As they should,” he yelled to be heard above all the noise from the fighting.

  Just then, he saw the doors in the ship’s hull swing close. Corza took charge of the situation, straight away.

  “Have your men clear a way for our horses. We need to stop that ship from leaving. Then, gather some men with additional claw-ropes, and have them secure that ship,” he ordered.

  The commander did not hesitate at all, ordering his men to split a path for the horses.

  With the cargo doors now closed, the arrows were flying significantly less, allowing Corza to lead his small group of men to the bow of the windship unchallenged.

  Grabbing the ropes they had prepped for Galirras from their saddles, the soldiers twirled the hook at the end around it a few times, at high speed, before slinging it over the handrail of the windship. In an instant, six ropes had been attached, as they quickly tied the ends to their saddles. Commanding the horses to slowly move away from the hovering vessel, they began to pull the entire ship back toward the ground. Soldiers, who had been looking for a way onto the ship, jumped at the ropes, increasing the weight and tension on the anchor lines. A couple of them were already on their way up to the deck, climbing along the ropes.

  “Go to the far side,” ordered Corza to the men who came running with more of the claw-ropes.

  Even with the added weight of the soldiers and horses, the initial decrease in height was only short-term. Slowly, the ship started to pull skyward again, as its air sack continuously filled with the green vapors.

  Somewhere in the distance, two deep thumps were heard. Corza knew the sound all too well. It meant help was on its way.

  “More men…get more men up there. Reinforcements will be here soon!” he screamed.

  A soldier, falling from the battle taking place above, barely missed him, slamming into the ground next to him. Another screamed, as he tumbled downward, landing on three other soldiers holding a rope. Another group of men fell on the ground as the rope, unexpectedly, gave way, having been cut from the handrail.

  Corza looked up and saw Raylan looking down at him.

  “Raylan! We meet again. I…” Corza started, but Raylan had already disappeared again.

  Corza’s blood boiled.

  How dare he ignore me!

  “I want them brought down. Get those men back onto the ground. Drag them over the edge, if you have to,” screamed Corza, furiously, at the soldiers around him.

  Right away, a couple of soldiers broke off and ran to the side of the ship. A number of people were fighting along the railing, but they were all wearing Doskovian armor.

  “What are you waiting for? Do it!” yelled Corza.

  The soldiers slung their ropes over the side of the ship. This time, not aiming for the wood, but fishing for people.

  On deck, the hooked claws landed heavily on the planks. Instantly, the soldiers on the ground pulled the rope back in. As the hooked skidded over the deck, friends and enemies alike had to jump out of the way to prevent their feet from being caught. One of the Doskovian soldiers was too late and went face-first into the deck, as his leg was pulled from under him. The other ropes hooked into the handrail, allowing more soldiers to pull the ship down, and allowing them a way to climb up to the deck.

  A grunt made one of the soldiers, with a rope still in his hand, look up. He saw one of the fighters pushed against the handrail, another pinning him against it. The pinned fighter had the unmistakably mark of a slave on his cheek. The soldier made use of the situation, straight away. He quickly threw his claw over the rail, saw it hook on the shoulder of the slave, and pulled.

  The slave, who had just taken a step forward fending off his attacker, found himself being pulled back onto the handrail, hook firmly dug into his shoulder muscle. But the soldier could pull all he want, the slave kept a firm grip on the woodwork, lowering his center of gravity in order to not be pulled over…which made him a sitting duck for attackers…

  Raylan saw the hooks come over the edge. He had lost sight of Corza when they moved to the end of the ship, but he saw—right away—what they were planning to do.

  Up till now, they had been able to fend off the stream of soldiers that successfully climbed aboard. By hitting the ones coming over the handrail quickly enough, only very few made it all the way onto the deck to pose an actual fight. The biggest point of entry was the scaffold, which Harwin now blocked, as the cargo doors had been closed and secured. It was enough to keep them all busy though.

  Gavin and Galen had made a strong team, taking on any new comers on the side, running back and forth on the main deck. Kevhin fought at his lover’s side as Rohan was attacked by two enemies that had managed to climb the bow of the ship. Xi’Lao had come up and currently provided support to them.

  Peadar had joined Marek down below. While Ca’lek and Richard made sure no soldiers made it below deck to attack them. This all left Raylan in a position to freelance all over the place.

  As he spotted the hooks, he sprinted up against the incline to the front of the ship. The hooks caught wood and they felt the ship level itself out, as weight was put on the ropes. Reaching the bow handrail, Raylan kicked a soldier in his face, pushing him back off the rail. To his left, another soldier’s head popped up, so he brought his sword down on him. As the soldier flung his head to the side, in an attempt to dodge the slash, Raylan’s sword cut off his left ear and struck his shoulder armor. The soldier screamed as he, instinctively, grabbed his ear, lost his balance, and fell rearward, crashing into a small group of men. Raylan looked down over the rail and stared directly in Corza’s face.

  “Raylan! We meet ag…”

  It was all Raylan heard. He had no intention of listening to him while his friends were fighting. Besides, he needed to cut those ropes. So, he ran to the other side of the bow and cut another two ropes, picking up the hooks that remained stuck in the woodwork.

  Running back to the main deck, he put one of the hooks in the back of a soldier’s neck as he ran past him. He dove under one of Galen’s giant axe slashes and continued his way to the stern to cut the anchor lines.

  As he was just about to run up the stairs to the upper deck, he saw Sebastian in trouble. A soldier pinned him against the railing, sword against sword. Flipping over the second hook in his hand, he took a step toward them and threw the hook in the back of the soldier’s head. Dazed and confused, the soldier stopped pushing, allowing Sebastian to finally shove him off. After Sebastian cut him down, he made a quick gesture of thanks at Raylan.

  Raylan did not even see the gesture, as his attention was drawn to the hook coming in from behind his friend. Flying over Sebastian’s shoulder, it dug straight through armor and into flesh as the rope was pulled back over the side.

  “Sebastian!”

  Sebastian let out a scream of pain as he dropped his sword and grabbed the hook in his shoulder. He stumbled—pulled backward by the rope—and hit the handrail. Not wanting to fall over, he had to let go of the hook and grab the railing, forcing himself down, bracing his back against the wood. He gritted his teeth as he felt the tension on the hook increase. It burned, painfully, in his muscle.

  Raylan rushed to his friend, trying to pull on the hook as a first reaction, but the rope was pulled too tight. He got up and readied his sword to cut the line, but before he could bring down his sword, two other ropes flew up. He had to dodge them to prevent being caught by the hook himself.

  He recovered quickly as the two hooks caught on the railing. He lifted his sword, when suddenly the entire airship tilted sideways. Raylan slammed into the handrail, barely able to stay on his feet. The other people on deck lost their bal
ance. Most were sliding over the deck toward the handrail; one or two managed to grab hold of something, just in time. Raylan saw an enemy soldier hit the railing and tumble over it. As he followed him with his gaze, the reason for the sudden movement came into view. Two ghol’ms were reeling in a number of the ropes, pulling the airship to one side with their strength.

  “Oh, no…”

  Without warning, Sebastian was pulled over the side by the rope, Raylan had forgotten to cut it. He saw his friend go over, the scaffold breaking his fall halfway, before tumbling to the ground. A number of enemy soldiers were knocked down with him.

  “Hold on, Seb!” he screamed, as he saw Sebastian already scrambling to his feet. He jumped over the rail.

  “Raylan, what are you doing. Come back here!” he heard his brother shout behind him.

  “I have to help him!” he called back. He landed onto the scaffold, pushed two soldiers off, slid in between the wooden poles, and swung himself right next to his fallen friend.

  “Damn him,” cursed Gavin, at his little brother’s foolishness. “Archers! Help me cover them. Galen, get those cargo doors open again. I’ll go get them. Richard, on me.”

  As Raylan’s feet touched the dirt, he barely had time to counter an incoming sword slash aimed for Sebastian’s head. Diverting the blow, Raylan let out a roar as he dislocated the soldier’s elbow with a punch of his armored arm. He cut the attacker down and grabbed his sword.

  “Seb, you with me? Grab this. You need to focus,” yelled Raylan to his friend, as he shoved the sword to him.

  Multiple soldiers were already closing in. Raylan turned his back to Sebastian, ready for the next attack. Sebastian shook his head to get rid of the dizziness from the fall. He took the sword in his good arm and turned to face the incoming attackers.

  The scaffold was somewhat protecting their backs, but they were much more outnumbered here on the ground than they had been on the deck. Raylan had to stand his ground, instead of being able to freely move and dodge the incoming attacks. If he left Sebastian’s side, it would surely not end well for either of them.

  Two spearmen took a stab at him, simultaneously, which Raylan barely sidestepped. One of them got struck in the neck by an arrow, creating an opening for Raylan to move in and strike down the other.

  Sebastian was fighting off an attacker that came in with a spiked club. The short soldier was dangerously fast with the thick club, but Sebastian’s range with the sword allowed him to cut the inside of his attacker’s arm. The club fell harmlessly to the ground as Sebastian quickly stepped in and stabbed the short soldier in his stomach.

  Both Raylan and Sebastian repositioned themselves and, again, formed one front. The ring of soldiers closing in on them was suddenly broken. Two soldiers were felled by arrows, as Gavin and Richard jumped from the lower part of the scaffold onto the necks of three other soldiers, knocking them onto the ground.

  “Quickly, come on!” his older brother shouted.

  Richard dragged Sebastian back with him onto the scaffold, but before Raylan or Gavin could make it back up there, they were cut off by four soldiers on a full attack run.

  Forced back, Raylan and his brother parried off the attackers. As he was fighting, Raylan felt the familiar movements of his brother, more and more. They easily circled past each other, blocking incoming strikes from all sides. It did not matter where the attack would hit, him or his brother…they felt as one…they fought as one. Their sword practice as kids, their weapon training in the army, their experience during this journey, everything was flowing into this one moment where Raylan finally felt equal to his brother…no longer in his shadow, but together facing the world…literally.

  Then, the moment ended abruptly, as they both darted in a different direction to dodge a soldier who was wielding two double-bladed axes.

  In an instant, they had both been isolated, surrounded by a full circle of soldiers. Raylan was closest to the scaffold, but Gavin was being pushed farther and farther away from it.

  “Gavin, hold on I’m coming!” yelled Raylan, as he furiously attacked the soldiers who were preventing him from reaching his brother.

  “Idiot, make your way back to the ship. I’ll be right behind you!” shouted his brother, in reply, as he cut down two reckless soldiers who had come too close.

  But Raylan felt it. Even if they had the upper hand in weapon combat, the odds were not looking good, to say the least. The sheer number of enemies made it difficult to block all incoming attacks. Raylan felt a cut to the back of his leg. Another stabbed his left arm, as a club knocked off his helmet, leaving his ears ringing from the force of the impact.

  He saw his brother not fare any better. A spear scratched his side as it was thrust just below his armpit. Gavin blocked an incoming sword, but another soldier came round with the back end of a spear and hit him directly on his leg.

  “Leave him alone!” Raylan yelled.

  The soldiers were almost upon them both, when Raylan finally felt the link return.

  “Hang on, I’m coming!”

  Before Galirras had even finished his private announcement, Raylan heard his roar descend from the heavens. The dragon came in low, wings pushed back as far as possible to increase his speed. The first soldiers were already knocked over by his hanging claws and tail as it whipped around; but the devastation only truly came into its own, as Galirras threw himself into the midst of the attacking soldiers surrounding Raylan.

  Three enemies were instantly crushed under the dragon’s weight, as Galirras clawed his way through another group of five soldiers. His tail slashed back and forth, knocking down any soldier that happened to be in the way. The dragon pounced onto the double-bladed axe wielder, ripping off an arm and tossing him to the side.

  The ferociousness of Galirras’ attacks drove the soldiers apart, freeing up some ground for Raylan.

  “Hurry, get back to the ship. I’ll take care of the ropes,” said Galirras’ voice, in his head.

  “But Gavin…” pleaded Raylan.

  In reply, Galirras sent out a windblast, knocking over another five soldiers who had been too close. Gavin used the opening to break free of his entrapment and started to fight his way to the scaffold.

  “Now, go!” urged the dragon.

  Finding renewed bravery, a number of soldiers ran at Galirras, spears stuck far out in front of them. Galirras spun around and slashed out with his claws, snapping two spears in half. One soldier threw his spear at Galirras’ back and, briefly, Raylan was afraid that Galirras would end up pierced. But the spear ricocheted off Galirras’ scales and struck down a soldier on the other side of him. Two soldiers with swords ran in to hack away at Galirras’ shoulder. But before they could hit anything, Galirras swung his neck sideways and threw both soldiers through the air, knocking over a number of others.

  At that moment, another soldier saw an opening and thrust his spear on the inside of the dragon’s hind leg. Galirras roared, in fury, as the spear stuck out of his lower flank. The soldier, realizing he did not have a weapon anymore, tried to retreat; but he quickly found a furious dragon left little room for getting away. Hooking his claws in the soldier’s back, Galirras jumped into the air and darted straight up. The spear was worked out of his leg by the movement, and dropped back onto the ground, as he flew higher into the air. He circled around, as he threw the soldier away in an upward arch, and faced the airship. As the wounded soldier plummeted to the unforgiving ground, Galirras boosted himself forward. Flying parallel past the ship, Galirras scraped his claw along the woodwork, cutting every rope attached to the ship. He took the opportunity to snatch up the last two remaining Doskovian soldiers on deck. They had been gripping the railing, so as not to fall when the ghol’ms turned the ship. As he peeled them off the rail, he swung around and threw them down onto the masses on the plaza.

  With a jolt, the ship straightened out and started to tilt the other way, slowly. Xi’Lao managed to cut the anchor lines at the stern of the ship during the fighti
ng, but a group of soldiers had another rope on the other flank side of the ship. Quickly, Galirras sent out a windblast, knocking them over. Now that nothing was holding back the ship anymore, it bobbed freely in the air and instantly started to move again.

  Richard and Sebastian reached the top of the scaffold during all the commotion. Fending off a number of attackers, Richard now eagerly waited for the cargo doors to line up with the scaffold. Galen stood in the opening, ready to assist any of them coming aboard.

  “Jump!” shouted Richard, as he gave a big shove to Sebastian’s back.

  Galen easily caught the wounded ex-slave and saw Richard follow, quickly, by jumping aboard. A number of enemy soldiers came up the scaffold, trying to do the same; but Galen planted his axe in the chest of the first to jump aboard, and Kevhin and Rohan cleared out the rest with their arrows.

  “Raylan, Gavin, hurry up. You don’t have much time!” shouted Richard, as the ship began to rise at an increasing speed.

  On the ground, Raylan looked over his shoulder to see how far Gavin was behind him. His older brother hacked and slashed feverishly, making his way through the enemy forces. Raylan saw the prolonged fighting begin to take its toll on his brother’s endurance. He felt the same for himself, too.

  As Raylan put his first foot on the bottom of the scaffold, Galirras threw himself—for a second time—right on top of the soldiers. It was a slaughter, as Galirras refused to stand still for long, preventing any further painful attacks. In no time, he had directly opened up a path for Gavin to escape through.

  Unfortunately, both ghol’ms had no purpose serving as anchors anymore, as the ropes had now been cut. Galirras saw both dark statues push through the crowd of soldiers, coming straight at them. He fired a windblast, which slammed into the stone ghol’ms, full force. It had no effect at all; both statues continued at him at high speed, forcing him to take to the air and effectively cutting off Gavin from the scaffold.