Danaba looked out over the milling mass of enemy soldiers on the pathway across the chasm. They still chanted, still looked expectant. What were they thinking? Surely they didn’t believe that any of the climbing mutants would make it over the walls alive to do anything significant. It bothered him. He was afraid they were seeing something he was not.
Movement on the rampart fifty feet from him caught his eye. He saw off-white robes swirling as Rindu came up the stairs, Sam and Nalia following him.
“Ho there, Danaba Kemp,” Rindu said. “We hear there is trouble on the walls. We offer our service, if it is necessary.”
Danaba had almost forgotten that he had a standing order for a messenger to be dispatched immediately when any attack commenced. If Sam, Nalia, or Rindu were in the keep, they were to be informed of the attack so they could take part in the defense, if needed. The three had requested that it be done. He shook his head, remembering. Apparently they had never experienced sleepless nights from notifications like these. They would soon figure it out.
The general greeted the newcomers and quickly explained their situation. As he did so, two more of the climbers were killed, leaving seven to continue their progress upward.
As he was explaining, a shadow passed over the walkway just in front of Danaba Kemp. He looked up in time to see a number of winged creatures clearing the wall. They must have come from a direction other than the front gate. Everyone’s attention was riveted on the climbers and the enemies gathered just below them.
He watched the first creature, humanoid but with great leathery wings, like those of a bat, soar down toward the ground level, inside the walls. Scanning the sky, he saw five more doing the same thing.
“They’re going for the drawbridge controls!” he yelled. “Take those flying things out.”
The archers who were not in the harnesses swiveled to fire at the mutants, but the creatures were too fast. Their movements were just like the bats Danaba used to watch when he was a child, moving instantly in acrobatic ways to catch insects. One or two arrows grazed the creatures, one even going through the membrane of a wing, but for the most part they were ineffective.
Sam and the others were already moving, running down the stairs at breakneck speed. The first bat mutant had already landed at the door to the little room housing the controls for the drawbridge. Another touched down next to the building housing the portcullis controls. A third was trying to remove the crossbar on the thick double doors.
If something was not done quickly, the walls would actually be breached. If that happened, the force waiting on the pathway might be sufficient on its own to overwhelm the defenders.
There was a sound that Danaba Kemp could not place, and then he watched in horror as the drawbridge came crashing down. It was only seconds until the chanting, roiling mass of enemy bodies stormed over the heavy wooden planking toward the gatehouse.
Chapter 32
Rindu reached the ground first, with Nalia and Sam mere seconds behind him.
“Go and engage the others,” the monk said. “Do not let them open the doors or raise the portcullis. I will defeat this one.” He was heading for the creature in the drawbridge control room.
“I’ll take the portcullis controls,” Sam said as he headed toward the squat, stone block building. Nalia nodded and angled toward the doors where two of the flyers were starting to lift the heavy crossbar from the doors.
The door to the portcullis control building was open, the mutant already inside. Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw the grating start to shudder and then slowly begin to rise. The spikes on the bottom had not yet cleared the holes in which they were seated, but it would only be seconds until they did so. He put on a burst of speed and sprinted through the open doorway. As he did so, he spared a glance at the gates and saw that Nalia had reached her enemies there and was engaging them.
And then he was in the cramped room.
It was a moment before his eyes were able to pick out the dim shape in front of the winch. The sunlight coming in from the doorway illuminated dust motes in the air which he had stirred in his frantic rush. The creature heard his entry and faced him, temporarily leaving off its task to deal with the intruder.
Sam immediately broke Ahimiro into two sticks. The confined space would not allow him to use the staff effectively. As he did so, his opponent came more fully into the light. It was almost as tall as he was, humanoid, with wings that were folded up on its back. The tips of the little horns at the bend of the wings poked up over the thing’s shoulders. Its entire body was covered with short, coarse hair, but the leathery skin underneath was visible. The face, still recognizably human, stared at him with big, dark eyes. Apparently the mutation into a bat-like creature did not affect its eyesight. Other than the human face, it looked like a larger version of the bat-creatures he had encountered in the Undead Forest when he came with the others to infiltrate the Gray Fortress all those months ago.
Sharp claws like talons shot out to tear at Sam’s face. He stepped back into the doorway and slapped the arms away with his sticks. He backed up another step, out into the courtyard, hoping the monster would follow him. It did.
Sam was relieved. His primary goal was to keep it from lifting the portcullis, and he was succeeding in that. Now he had to keep from getting scratched by those filthy claws. He was sure he’d get some kind of infection from even the slightest scratch, let alone being torn apart if a significant blow landed.
In the sunlight, the thing was even uglier. Its too-human face scrunched up in a scowl, and it emitted a high-pitched shriek—almost inaudible—that made Sam’s hair stand on end.
Wings flapped in the air behind him, and he barely had time to roll to the side as another of the creatures passed through the space he had just vacated. Coming to his feet, he faced both of them, the newcomer landing next to its fellow.
The two enemies rushed in, swiping with both claws. One attacked high, using its wings to lift off the ground and swipe downward while the other remained grounded. Sam ducked low and dipped to the side, under the higher attack while slapping one claw outward with his right stick and delivering a powerful downward diagonal blow to the upper arm of the other clawed appendage coming at him. The owner of the arm screamed inhumanly as the blow struck. Sam ignored it as he pivoted and circled out of range of both monsters.
They came at him again, using the same swiping attacks with their claws. At least they were predictable, Sam thought, as he brushed aside one claw with an outward crescent kick while performing a hard block with both sticks in an X position to stop another claw from reaching him.
Turning clockwise, Sam rotated the sticks around the hairy arm trapped within the X, pushing downward and then trapping the wrist while striking as hard as he could on the elbow with his left hand, still gripping the stick. There was a sickening crunch as the creature’s arm broke cleanly. Again, Sam whirled to get out of range as the other mutant swiped at him once more.
Sam kept the bat-creature with the injured arm in his peripheral vision as he faced the other opponent. A couple of quick feints with his sticks, and it committed itself to another swinging claw strike. Sam tapped the claw upward to allow it to go over his head, stepped forward with his left foot, and delivered five rapid and powerful strikes. Right stick to the ribs; left stick to the sides of the ribs on the other side; right backhanded strike to the collarbone, breaking it; left horizontal strike to the ear of the creature, stunning it; and finally a powerful overhand strike that came vertically down on the mutant’s head to crush its skull to finish the battle. All of it was done before the one-armed foe could attack. Sam danced away and spun to face the remaining opponent.
He made quick work of his injured foe, batting aside its one good arm and delivering a straight jab with the stick into its chest, projecting his rohw at the point of impact to crush its chest and end its life.
Looking around, Sam saw several furry bodies sprawled out across the area in front of the gate. Nalia fi
nished off her fourth enemy, and Rindu was standing patiently with four more lying around him. When he caught Sam’s eye, he nodded and began walking smoothly toward him, as if he was out for a pleasant evening stroll. Neither of the warriors had so much as one drop of sweat on them and were not breathing hard at all. Sam was, and his forehead dripped perspiration.
By the time Sam, Nalia, and Rindu returned to the ramparts and Danaba Kemp, the soldiers had cleared the area in front of the gate and raised the drawbridge again. They had used a combination of archers and other soldiers dropping rocks or hot oil onto the invaders. Those of the enemy able to do so quickly retreated across the bridge before others of Danaba’s soldiers used the winch to raise the heavy planking.
“Well,” Danaba Kemp said as they returned, “that was unexpected. It’s a good thing you were here. I don’t think we could have stopped them in time to keep the gates from opening. We would have repelled them, but we would have lost a lot of men to do it.”
“I am glad we were here as well,” Rindu said. “I am glad also that we were able to aid you. I am very concerned, however.”
“Yeah, me too,” Kemp said. “I didn’t know they had flying creatures. I think they made a mistake in revealing them so soon, but it makes me wonder what else they have out there.”
“That is exactly my point,” the Zouy said. “We must be wary. We do not know enough about our enemy to be confident in what he will do.”
“I think I may have a solution to that,” Danaba Kemp said. “At least, a partial solution. Chisin Ling has been pestering me to give her the command of a special unit of soldiers that perform clandestine operations. Apparently she learned of such groups that exist in Telani and fell in love with the idea. She has already developed some tactics that are interesting. I think maybe I will give her a chance.”
Rindu nodded. “Perhaps we can help her with this. The Zouyim and the Sapsyra are adept at quiet movement as well, and Ix is a master assassin. There may be some guidance we can provide.”
“That would be great, thank you. I’ll tell her to come and see you.”
Sam spent the next day teleporting the delegates of the Republic to their homes to check in on their communities. It was tedious and tiring work, but it was necessary, and he was the only one who could do it while Ix traveled each day to find Chetra Dal’s fortress.
Nalia accompanied him, which was nice, but there were many other things he would rather have been doing. At sunset, he met Ix and Ru Wilkes at the teleportation point so he could go back with her to learn their last location. When they finally got back to the fortress, he sat down in the dining hall, tired from his efforts.
“I think I have taken care of the leaders. While we’re waiting for Ix, we should travel to Kokitura so I can learn the location to teleport the Brothers of the Rohw there. They are itching to go and start construction, but traveling there on foot or by wagon with all their tools and supplies isn’t practical.”
“Yes,” Nalia said. “It would be good for you to learn how to teleport there.”
“It’s settled, then,” Sam said. “I already know how to teleport to Marybador, so I can take work crews there to let them start work, but we should probably wait until the spring thaws are complete. I don’t think it’s a good idea to try to rebuild your home when the weather is so harsh.” He turned to Ix. “How are things going with your traveling?” Sam asked.
“Same old thing,” Ix replied. “Make several jumps in a day, get too tired to go on, come back here. We’re making good progress, though. We should be there in a few more days. How about you? What’s going on here? I heard some talk about attacks or something…and some kind of flying creatures?”
“Yes,” Nalia answered. “It is true. There have been several attacks, and the last one utilized mutant creatures we had never seen before, ones that could fly. They were defeated, but we are concerned that they may have other creatures of which we are unaware.”
“That’s not good,” Ix said. “What are we doing about it?”
Sam wasn’t listening to what the women were saying. He was thinking about how they were conversing casually, comfortably. It made him want to smile. They were finally being civil to each other. More than civil. They were actually conversing like equals, though not yet like friends. He thought they would get there, though. Eventually.
“What are you smiling at?” Nalia asked. Sam replayed the last few seconds in his mind and realized they had stopped talking. Both women were looking at him. The commander was studying his bread.
“What?” Sam said, more to stall than because he hadn’t heard.
“Why are you smiling so?” Nalia repeated.
He hadn’t realized he had actually smiled. “Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking of something.”
“I see,” Nalia said, giving him a look that told him she didn’t see at all, but that when she got him alone, she would not be done with him until she did.
“Anyway,” Ix said, “it’ll be soon. I’ll pick you up and bring you there so you can learn the area to teleport us all to Chetra Dal’s fortress. Then we can finish this thing—and him—and be done with it. I think I’m tired of dealing with crazed dictators wanting to rule the world. No offense meant to your uncle.”
“Thanks, Ix,” Sam said, “for everything. I’ll be waiting. The most important thing right now is to keep Dal from communing with the artifacts. The sooner we can confront him, the better.”
“Agreed,” the assassin said. “Let’s just hope we can take the artifacts away from him. Ayim Rasaad was no slouch, and this is her master we’re talking about. It’s not going to be easy to defeat him.”
Chapter 33
Nicole looked up from her seat in the audience chamber. Dr. Walt was still tallying the vote. The method used was simple enough. Each delegate was given two stones, one red and one green. The green stone meant yes and the red no.
Has he counted them yet? Sammy sent to her.
No, he’s not finished yet, Nicole sent back.
It’s very exciting, Max chimed in.
The hapaki had been allowed a vote each since they represented different communities. They had both voted yes.
Yes, Nicole sent, it is. This will be a historic moment if the resolution passes. It will be the start of the new government, the Republic of Gythe.
Dr. Walt and the two other officials for the vote finished their conversation, and the scholar stepped to the podium. He cleared his throat loudly to get everyone’s attention, but it was unnecessary. They had all been looking at him the entire time.
“We have the results of the voting,” he said. “The vote was twenty-seven for the motion and only four against.” He smiled and continued, “The motion is passed. The government known as the Republic of Gythe will be officially formed. We have each had opportunity to read the charter, the constitution if you will, of the Republic, and the vote reflects our approval of that document. Well done, my friends. It is a momentous day despite the turmoil outside our walls. We will now all sign the document.”
All the delegates began whispering to each other, some congratulating their fellows with slaps on the back and clasping of arms. Dr. Walt raised his hands to quiet them once more.
“Friends, as you come up individually to sign the charter, there is one final task we must complete before we adjourn. We must choose a leader, a First Minister, to head the new government and ensure that it operates in the best interests of not only the constituents of the delegates here but also of all Gythe. We have discussed this before, and I expect that many of you have names ready of those you would nominate. Let us begin.”
He turned to one of the officials, the Head Clerk Dorsin Chelam, and said, “Dorsin, please note the names as they are nominated. We will take any who are nominated and seconded, and then we will vote them down to a mere handful before the final vote.”
Raire Gonsh, one of the co-leaders of Patchel’s Folly, raised his hand. When Dr. Walt nodded at him, he said loudly, “I n
ominate Sam Sharp for First Minister.”
Noise broke out all over the audience chamber. Nicole thought most of it sounded like disappointment that the speakers were not able to nominate him first.
“I second the nomination,” Georg Santas said, “and at the same time I nominate Dr. Walt for First Minister.”
The scholar was nodding as he watched Dorsin writing down Sam’s name on the parchment, but his head snapped up as his own name was mentioned. “No, no,” he said, hands up as if to ward off an attack. “I have had plenty of work already with the formation of the Republic. I’ll not take a leadership role. It belongs to better men than me to handle such tasks. I just want to read my books and do my research.”
“I second the nomination of Dr. Walt,” Akila Gonsh said, smiling and shrugging at him.
There were eleven names nominated, but two did not receive seconds, and so nine were written on the parchment. A simple vote, each delegate choosing five names, narrowed it down to the five with the most votes.
“Now is the time to decide who will hold the position of First Minister,” Dr. Walt said. “We have five candidates to choose from. They are, in the order they appear on the parchment, Sam Sharp, ahem, Dr. Walt, Rindu Zose, Nalia Wroun, and Fulusin Telanyahu.” The tall, wiry woman who represented the city of Seamouth nodded as Dr. Walt read the last name.
“The vote is simple. You each have in front of you a small square of parchment and a pen with inkwell. Please write the name of the candidate you would choose for First Minister and, after blotting and drying the ink, fold the paper in half and hand it to Dorsin here. Once we have all twenty-two votes, we will tally them. As with all the other votes this evening, I have not taken part because I am not actually a representative of any community, only of this fortress. Fulusin, you may vote even though you are a candidate.”
The voting only took thirty minutes and then another thirty for the officials to make sure there were only twenty-two votes and to count each and tally them on another piece of parchment.
Harmonic Magic Series Boxed Set Page 126
