by Philip Blood
Dono started at his outburst, but then readjusted his aim and let fly.
At Aerin's yell, the white man paused and looked up, just in time to take the arrow in his chest.
Again the building shook with a deep impact, though it seemed unrelated to what was happening down in the square.
The arrow hit with good force from the downward shot, sounding more like an arrow hitting a solid log than a wet human body. It didn't faze the white man, who leaped with raised ax toward Mara.
Mara sidestepped his leap, and her cane tangled in his legs. He stumbled toward the well that had been behind her, and suddenly his movements were of a man in panic. Mara stepped behind the stumbling man and pushed his upper back with the tip of her cane.
He fell on top the short wall of the well. Mara nimbly hooked his ankle with the crook of her cane, which lifted him up and over the edge. His shriek froze the blood of the young watchers on the roof; it was not a yell that a human voice could achieve. There was a splash, followed by more horrible sounds of struggle and shrieks of pain. It went on for what seemed like an eternity, and then something rose out of the well.
A cloud of green haze coalesced above the well for a moment, and then sped off to the east.
Mara watched it go. When all was still, she glanced up toward the roof and pointed to the city wall, clearly telling them to get their eyes back on business.
"What, in Gedin’s beard, was that?" Lor demanded.
Another sound of smashing stone occurred, accompanied by their building shaking again.
No one said anything for a moment.
Lor poked Aerin, "You're the one who has had his nose in all the books, what was that thing?"
"I'm not positive," he tried.
"So guess," Lor demanded.
Aerin took a deep breath, "It was probably a Wraith."
"Wraith... as in the dark spirits that come to steal children," Katek scoffed.
Aerin shrugged, "Lor asked me to guess, don't blame me when I do. Besides, Mara said they are real."
"Why do you think it was a Wraith?" Dono shuddered, remembering the sound of the arrow striking what seemed like wood.
"It's shrieks, I've read that they can freeze a foe with a shriek. You must admit, that wasn't a sound you've ever heard a human make," Aerin noted.
"It was just the well amplifying his voice," Katek stated, though his voice wasn't as sure as it had been.
Right then, the ground shook again, with that same dull impact sound of rending stone.
"What, in Gedin's name, IS that?" Lor demanded.
Dono sounded puzzled. “It can't be an earthquake, it's too regular."
"I don't like this, I don't like this at all," Aerin exclaimed.
Along the top of the wall, men were shouting and Aerin spotted Yearl gesturing for the Guardsmen to get back. Aerin saw Tocor approach the wall and look over the edge. The booming impacts continued, shaking bricks free from the walls of nearby buildings. A giant red hand, with three fingers and a thumb, came over the top of the wall, ripping away the massive stones. A second hand appeared and ripped away more stones. One hand plummeted down to the stone top of the wall, digging into the hard stone with long black fingernails, creating a handhold for the creature that raised itself onto the top of the wall.
Overwhelming fear smote the observers and, as one, their arms and hands raised as they tried to block out the horror before their eyes. Though they blocked their vision, their minds were unable to withstand the thought of seeing the eldritch horror that pulled itself over the massive wall.
Aerin steeled himself to look, but the effort was too great. Peeking from the corners of his wide eyes, Aerin caught a glimpse of hell through the interlaced fingers that were before his face. The Beast's eyes were dark soulless pits, and its wide grin held more long pointed teeth than Aerin thought possible. Black shining horns came out of the sides of its head and sinuously curved around to point the sharp tips forward. Massive bulging muscles rippled under the thick, red, hairless skin of its shoulders, as the tall creature raised itself to its full sixteen-foot height on the top of the wall.
Aerin's eyes locked shut in terror as tears streamed down his face, but through an incredible effort of will, he pried his eyes open for a moment and saw something he thought he would never witness, Tocor was backing away from the creature, retreating down to the square below.
At the quarian's movement, the creature’s eyes locked on him and a long thin forked tongue licked out between its numerous teeth, the tail that emerged from the end of its spine thrashed back and forth with a mind of its own.
The young terrified observers on the rooftop were of the same mind, without conscious decision they backed away and got out of sight of the horror that had come out of their nightmares and into their city.
As they scrambled around the corner of the building, the horrible creature that had risen from some pit of hell spoke. The voice that issued from its throat was that of a thousand tortured human voices all speaking at once in nearly perfect unison. The force of the sound shook the ground.
"It is your time, Lizard Prince," the beast declared.
Once out of the direct line of sight from the creature, the kids were able to function again. All of them were breathing hard as if they had run a five-mile race.
"Gedin help us, what is that thing?" Dono cried.
"I don't know, but it's going to kill Tocor and Mara," Aerin said, remembering his vision of Mara having died. "I'm going for help; you stay here and see where it goes. Lor, make sure you stay up here, no matter what happens!”
Lor smacked him mildly across the mouth with her right hand: “I’ve warned you about treating me like a girl!”
To everyone’s surprise, especially Lor, Aerin punched her in the mouth, which knocked her to the rooftop.
He stood over his friend and pointed at her as he said, “Lor, get this straight, I’m WAY over the thought of treating you like a girl. I am telling you, that if you, not Dono, not Katek, if YOU go to the street you will die. Trust me on this, I've SEEN it.”
Without waiting for his shocked friends to react, Aerin headed over the rooftops toward the Seat of Stone.
After Aerin was gone, Lor got to her feet and wiped a little blood from her lip with the back of her hand.
“I guess you better stay up here,” Dono noted.
Lor glowered at him, “Like hell. Come on, we’re going to circle around and approach Mara’s position from the street. I’ll bet she is going to try and stand up to that... thing.”
"But Aerin…”
“Doesn’t know everything. Are you coming with me?” Lor asked while taking a couple steps toward the neighboring rooftop.
“Shit,” Dono exclaimed, and looked at Katek. “I’ve got to go with her when she gets this headstrong you never know what she’ll do. You coming or staying?”
“I’m not staying alone,” Katek decided, the fear they all felt was still riding just under their skin.
“Then let’s get going, I guess we’re in for it now.”
There was a horrible bellow of a thousand tortured voices from the nearby street.
The three kids felt sudden fear strike and they froze, and then Yearl was there, and his abrupt arrival nearly caused the three kids to jump from the roof.
"Gedin, where did you come from?” Lor said suspiciously, she didn't like the thought that someone could sneak up on her on the High Road.
Yearl was all business. "Mara wants you all away from here, now! You're feeding the Dreadbeast!"
"What do you mean?" Katek asked in confusion.
"I don't have time to explain, I must return to Mara, NOW. Flee these buildings, and get as far from here as you can. GO!” he yelled. It was the first time they had ever heard Yearl raise his voice.
They went, flying over the rooftops in their haste.
By the time they looked back Yearl was gone.
Ten roofs away, Lor slowed. "I'm not running away! How do they know we might n
ot be able to help?"
"Lor, they said we were 'feeding' that thing, I don't know what that means, but I'm sure it isn't good," Katek noted.
"We'll approach slowly and carefully, if we notice anything, we'll fall back if necessary, all right?"
Katek thought about it for a moment, and then nodded, "I'm ready to do battle."
"Has everyone lost their mind?" Dono noted but followed his friends down to the streets.
Aerin arrived at the front gate of the Seat and dropped to the streets. There was a large crowd of people at the gate, pounding on it and screaming.
Aerin wormed his way through the crowd to the front and wondered how he could get through to the Guardsmen.
At that moment the gate opened slightly, just wide enough for a Guardsman to half step out. “You people, get back and stop pounding on the gate! The Guard is already doing all it can!”
“Let us in the Seat, before the monsters get in!” someone yelled.
“They won’t get in, and we can’t fit the entire city inside the Seat. Go to your homes and let us do our jobs!”
Aerin knew the Guard wasn’t going to listen to him while he was just one of the crowd, so he crouched down and suddenly dove in, angling through the door and between the Guardsmen’s feet.
The Guardsman was alert, and too quick to allow anyone past, and managed to reach down and grab Aerin by the belt. The crowd saw him part way in and surged forward.
Cursing, the Guardsman yelled to the men behind him, and they pulled him back in, slamming the gate. In doing so they pulled Aerin in as well since he was attached to the man’s leg with both arms.
As soon as the door was barred and the crowd held safely outside, the man hauled Aerin to his feet and glared at him.
“Now you’re in trouble, boy!”
“I’m here to warn Gandarel of a break in the outer wall defense!”
The man growled at him, “And what makes you think… wait a minute. You’re that boy we’re supposed to... damn... Herold, get over here, this is the lad that Milord Trelic instructed was to have free pass to see him."
The man named Harold stepped forward and looked at Aerin as if he was a turnip. "Indeed, well lad, now tis not a good time to bother Milord Trelic. Come back in a few days and…"
Aerin interrupted the well-meaning guard, "I must see Gandarel, now. I have news about the attack!"
"He says there is a break in the wall defense,” the first Guard explained.
"Lad, leave this business to the Guard, we have already sent the reserves to hold the break," Harold explained.
Aerin shook his head wildly, "No, it's not at the South Gate; it’s in the East Wall! A great beast climbed the wall and smashed the top. Togroths will soon pour in, we must send help!"
Harold frowned, and then looked at the other Guardsmen. "Milord did say he was to have access. I'll go and see if he will see you, or at least hear your story from me."
"Bless you, but please, hurry! My friends are in danger and they are trying to hold them back."
A few minutes later Gandarel appeared, following Harold. More Guardsmen followed behind.
"Aerin, what is this I hear about an attack?"
Aerin quickly explained the situation back by the wall, as best he could. When he told of the red-skinned giant that had scaled the wall, even Gandarel looked skeptical.
"The lad's imagination is getting the best of him," one Guardsman said, but when Aerin tried to defend himself the man quickly added, "It happens, lad, you see strange things in the heat of battle sometimes, especially at night. Shadows, excitement, blood lust, all combine to fog the mind."
"Think what you may, but I know what I saw," Aerin answered.
Gandarel made a quick decision. "Get all my personal Guardsmen together, and have them arm themselves. We head for the breach immediately."
"But , Milord, perhaps we should consult the..."
"This is an emergency, we go NOW! Assemble my men and have my armor and weapons brought out. Bring lit torches."
"Yes, Milord," the man replied and ran to follow his orders.
"Gandarel," Aerin said, "Mara told me that you must not come to the battle. You have to remain within the Seat of Stone."
"I'll do no such thing. I may not be the Warlord yet, but, by Gedin, I will uphold our family's position even so! I appreciate Mara's concern, but it is that of a mother hen. I am nearly a man now, I make my own decisions."
"But..."
"I will lead this counter attack," Gandarel stated with new authority in his voice.
Harold spoke to Aerin and his voice was proud. "He sounds like his father now, the steel in his blood has bred true! The Regent may not have given his blessing yet, but he is already our Warlord!"
The other Guardsmen around them nodded or called out, "Hear, hear!"
Torches were passed out among the soldiers and within minutes, the gates were pulled open. The crowd surged forward for a moment, but the armored Guardsmen pushed them back. Many of those present thought they were coming to disperse the crowd. The panicked people broke like a wave on the hard rocks of the coastline. They turned and fled. The heavily armed elite soldiers were Gandarel’s personal Guardsmen, handpicked from the toughest and best of the border guard. Every one of these men was a veteran of battle. Gandarel led them in a quick march across the city toward the East Wall.
As they marched, the flickering torchlight cast odd shifting shadows on the walls of buildings, and Aerin remembered his vision of uniformed Guardsmen dead on the stones, the scene lit by torchlight. He wondered if he was going insane.
Aerin felt a dark foreboding and wondered who would die this night.
When they neared the east wall the sounds of battle greeted them. The sound of many running feet echoed from around the corner, and suddenly there were Togroths attacking.
Battle was engaged and men died, but Gandarel's Guardsmen were well trained; they were all veterans of border fights against small bands of Togroths. They outnumbered the beasts and swiftly put them all down.
The two boys were at the back of the pack, well defended, and the Togroths did not reach them. When the skirmish was over, they continued around the corner into the square before the wall.
Aerin couldn't believe what he saw. When he had last seen this square it had been from the roof and all except the top of the wall had been as normal. Now three buildings were destroyed, leaving only piles of brick and torn wood. Fires raged in the wreckage, lighting the scene. Togroth bodies lay everywhere, with dead Guardsmen mixed in amongst them.
Around one of the piles of destroyed building the battle was still waging, as more Togroths came over the damaged and undefended portion of the wall.
Gandarel barked orders to his men. "You men," he said, pointing with his arm, "get to the top of the wall; we need to cut off the Togroths reinforcing those within… the rest of you, into the battle!"
Gandarel ran with those headed for the wall while the Guard Captain led the second group into the battle.
Aerin ran with Gandarel. As he passed the dead bodies on the recent battleground, he searched for Mara, or Lor, with fear but he did not see his friends.
Aerin and Gandarel fought beside the Guardsmen. They stabbed at climbing Togroths before they could crest the wall, or pushed ladders off using a poleax they grabbed from the dead body of a Guardsman. The battle seemed to go on forever, but finally, the wall was free of ladders and once again solely in the hands of the humans.
Gandarel left most of his men on the wall and went to see how the battle fared below. They found the battle just over; the Togroths within the walls were all dead. Many Guardsmen were also down, dead or wounded.
Once again, Aerin looked among the fallen for his friends. His heart suddenly leaped into his throat when he saw Dono kneeling by a smaller body.
Like in his vision, Aerin ran to kneel next to his friend, but this time, Gandarel was with him.
As he neared, Aerin saw that it was not Lor, but Katek who was
down. As he arrived Katek sat up with a grin. He had a nasty cut through his right biceps, which Dono was trying to staunch with a rag.
Katek pulled the bandage away and exclaimed in excitement: "I have my first battle scar!"
"Great," Gandarel said in sarcasm. "I think you should try to avoid these things, not revel in them."
Dono pushed the rag back into the flowing blood.
"Where are Lor and Mara?" Aerin asked, still worried.
"I am right here," Mara stated from a few yards away. "But why, may I ask, are you here, Gandarel?"
They looked over to see their imperturbable teacher standing and leaning on her cane.
"I led my Guardsmen in battle, as befits the Warlord of the realm," Gandarel stated strongly.
Mara scowled at him. She looked and spotted Gandarel's Guard Captain. "You, get this boy to safety, he should not be here now."
The Guardsmen came over. "I take my orders from Milord Trelic, not you."
Mara faced Gandarel, "Get back to the Seat..." and here she forced another word, "...please? This whole army is here just to take you! Do not let them win, Gandarel."
Gandarel nodded. "Our work here is done, half of you stay on the wall until relieved, the other half with me, we're returning to the Seat."
"Where is Lor," Aerin asked again.
A small leather bag hit Aerin in the back of the head.
"That's for punching me!" Lor said, and stepped into the torchlight from the shadows. She held a bloody sword in her right hand. "I helped some Guardsmen kill a Togroth!” she exclaimed.
Thunderclouds brewed over Mara's brow. "I thought I told you kids to stay on the roofs? Why is Gandarel outside the Seat? Have my teachings been in vain?"
"We had to come to your rescue, or at least, we thought we should," Lor explained, deflating slightly. "We couldn't find you, but we ran into the Guardsmen fighting the Togroths and helped!" Lor explained.
Gandarel looked at Mara defiantly. "I came on my own authority, as future Warlord. I will not be coddled or locked away like a child!"
"You are still a child, but there is a more important reason," she tried to explain.
