“Archers! On the ready!” Lord Turon shouted. short trumpet blasts relayed the message farther down the wall. There were no more than three hundred warriors defending Val. Just under half were trained soldiers. The rest were Val villagers willing to defend their homes. At least Elyar hoped they were willing. There were some who refused to fight. Elyar knew at a different time insubordination like that could get a person flogged or executed. But Val did not have the means nor the time to deal with them. He only hoped their cowardness was not contagious.
The archers stretched their bows and knocked an arrow. They readied themselves, but no one moved beyond that. The army was still to far.
Tensions were beginning to rise. Elyar could feel the little hairs on his neck stand up. Another crack of lightning illuminated the gloomy scene.
The rain had lessened after its initial downpour, but it had not relented. Everything was snow, slush, or mud. What a fantastic combination for war.
Elyar looked around and saw the Ruzur and Sanders had joined them. In all the comossion he had never seen where Kristiana had gone. I hope she is safe. Another crack of lightning. The army was nearly in range.
CRACK! A giant bolt blasted through multiple men as it sailed over the wall. It fell behind the wall leaving a streak of blood and screams. Elyar whiped his head to see what monstrosity had thrown such a thing. There were no machines of war. Then he saw it. Amongst the goblins was a troll holding a massive bow. A gigantic branch with a rope the size of Elyar’s arm. At least that is what it looked like from Elyar’s distance. He saw it knock another arrow.
“Down!” Elyar yelled a few seconds before another, CRACK, ripped a part of the wall off. When Elyar looked he saw that no one had been hurt. But the mental toil this attack was causing might be more devistation.
“Shields!” Lord Turon commanded. A row of warriors quickly switched with the archers to provide protection. The rain kept pouring as another lightning strike streaked across the sky. “Ready your bows!” Turon shouted. This time the archers raised their bows. The army was in range. “Aim!” They pulled the strings to their ears. Elyar could tell how well the men were trained. Each archer kept his arrow just past the warrior’s ear. Close, but safe.
CRACK! Another bolt sent a man flying.
“Fire!” Turing screamed as a hundred hissing arrows flew through the air. Screams broke from the army. Before anyone could ready another volley a return “twang,” sounded from below. Death rained down upon the wall and bellow. Most arrows hit the shields, but some found their target. Men screamed. Pain burst in Elyar’s shoulder. An arrow had slammed into his armor. It had not broken skin, but the force still hurt a lot. Quickly he moved a little more behind the shield in front of him while he rubbed his shoulder where he had been hit. That is going to leave a bruise.
“Return fire at will!” Turon yelled behind his shield. Arrows began flying back and forth. Mostly the arrows coming toward the wall smacked into shields or the defensive structures. But far to often they found a mark. Men yelled in pain, or just fell where they were, dead.
Frustration bloomed in Elyar. He had no bow to attack with and waiting for an enemy to engage with was torture. “I have decided something!” Elyar yelled looking at Jerome and Ruzur.
“What is that, mi Lord?” Jerome grinned trying to not get hit by an arrow.
“I have decided that the only thing worse than reading about sieges, is being in one!” That got a big laugh from the others. But it was short lived. For at that moment a thunderous pound resonated from below.
THUD…THUD…THUD!
Elyar looked up, but before he could say or ask anything, a man
yelled, “Troll at the gate! There is a troll hammering the gate!”
Lord Turon screamed, “Shoot the troll! Shoot the troll!” Arrows started flying toward the gate. A guttural yell sounded as the gate was dealt another round of blows. THUD…THUD…THUD! The archers tried shooting at the thing, but anytime one left the safety of their shield companion, an arrow flew near them, or into them. Elyar was able to get a quick glimpse of what was going on. To his left down below, a giant troll, surrounded by goblins with shields, was pounding the gate. Luckily the gate was strong. But it would not hold out forever.
If that was not bad enough, a new warning sounded, “ladders!” A tr oll below, and now ladders above. What a fantastic turn of events.
“Finally! Something interesting!” Elyar shouted with a slight grin.
He hated himself for thinking it. But he felt useless hiding behind the shield. He knew he still was not at full form, but he needed to do something. It was his fault Val was under attack after all. Any blood would be on his hands. Jerome and Ruzur gave him an exciting look. It see med they too were ready for some action.
A clanking sound hit the wall near him. He had not heard or seen any arrows for a few minutes. Chancing a glance, he looked out and was greeted by a large red smile. A giant red goblin jumped over the wall landing on the other side of Elyar. More started appearing from the ladders across the walls. The one in front of Elyar was nearly a head taller than him with strong steel plate armor. It carried a short sword and shield. There was no helmet preventing Elyar from seeing the evil grin as it rai sed its sword to kill him.
Instinctively, he raised his hand as if he held a sword to bloke before yelling, “koma!” The goblin slashed down at Elyar. The sound of steel meeting steel reverberated through the air as the goblin’s sword met Úrskurður. A grin spread over Elyar’s face as he saw the shock on his opponents face. It quickly recovered and continued its attack. He bloc ked or dodged the attacks. They were ferocious, but not very skilled.
Eventually, he found his opening and whispered, “my turn.” Then in a series of counter attacks he was able to drive his sword into a soft part of the goblin’s armor. The light in its eyes went out as it dropped to the ground. But just like that, another goblin replaced it.
He quickly struck it down to only have it replaced by another. Another deathblow, another goblin replaced him. Over and over again the soldiers of Val struck down the invaders. Again and again the invad ers bounded onto the wall. Blood, gore, and death surrounded Elyar.
His limbs started getting tired. And Elyar’s hurt hand was throbbing. I regret saying I was bored. This is a nightmare. Luckily, where he was weak, his friends made up for it. If he slipped a hand brought him up. When he missed an attack, someone completed it for him. But the same went for the others. He slew those they could not and brought up those who had stumbled. Together, they were unbreakable.
The battle continued to rage all over the walls. Battle horns announced the rise or fall of ladders. Goblins rose and fell from the wall. Arrows flew in all directions. Snow and rain fell from the sky. Lightning shattered the night.
But, no matter where the battle was thick, there was no sign of Lyr.
Where is that coward!
THUD…THUD…THUD! The troll was still battering the gate. Every strategy had failed. Arrows could not break him. They could not open the gate and goblins were guarding the troll. No matter how the dice were rolled, they lost.
“The gate is about to break!” A man shouted from somewhere near Elyar. Fear flashed through him. If they broke the gate they would be surrounded.
“We have to stop the troll!” Elyar shouted.
Jerome yelled back, “and what do you suggest?!” He finished killing the goblin in front of him before turning toward him. Elyar shrugged.
“I have a suggestion. But thee will not like it.” Ruzur said panting beside them. Sanders was no where to be seen. I hope he is ok.
Both turned to the dark man. “What is it?” Elyar hesitantly asked.
Chuckling with a wicked smile that only a man who is ok with bl ood could have, Ruzur said, “jump.”
Another goblin landed from the latter snarling at the group. Simultaneously, they each stabbed it. As it fell Elyar asked, “jump from where? Jump to where?!”
“Each jump down from the wall to attack the troll. From there, thou
fight like the eternal twins are behind thee!”
Elyar and Jerome stood there stunned. “That’s ludicrous! shouted
Elyar.
“That’s amazing!” Yelled Jerome.
They looked at each other. Jerome gave him his best grin. Lowering his head, Elyar mumbled, “I am going to die.” He then raised it with a
roguish grin of his own. “But it will be a tale to tell!”
The wall shuddered again as the troll slammed something against it. The three ran along the wall, slashing and killing anything they met. They passed dozens of men fighting. Some looked fresh and ready to continue. Others looked near death’s door. There were far to many gobl ins as well.
THUD…THUD…! The wall shook.
Soon they were above the gate. Below them they saw a giant forest troll wielding a wicked looking hammer. It had a flat side on one end, and a pointed spike on the other. It was using the spike to rip the door open. There were no ladders near here. The goblins below were not trying to get on the wall. They looked like they were readying themselves to invade once the wall had broken.
Looking at the others, Elyar took a deep breath in and out. Ruzur quietly slit his finger and placed the blood on the tattoo on his spine. He shut his eyes. When he openned them they were blood red. Jerome looked at both, took a deep breath himself, and then nodded. Elyar gripped his sword tighter, flexed his bad hand (which stung a little), and leaped from the wall.
The cold rain and wind lashed at his face for the briefest of moments before he crashed into the troll’s head and began sliding down its body. As panic rushed through him he slammed his sword into the troll’s shoulder to stabilize his fall, Elyar clung with his good hand for dear life. The troll roared in pain and angerly thrashed its arm at Elyar trying to rip him off. It missed him the first time, but the second time it reached over it grabbed his leg and threw him to the ground.
All the air in his lungs rushed out of him as he skidded across the ground. Bruised, in pain, and laying in the middle of enemies Elyar knew he was in trouble.
Ruzur dropped from the wall landing his sword and axe into the troll’s chest. The troll swung his arms to bash Ruzur, but he dropped the rest of the way to the ground before it could. A loud thud sounded as the troll’s fist hit its own chest. Ruzur landed next to Elyar swinging his weapons into the attacking goblins. That gave Elyar the chance to jump up, but unfortunately he was weaponless.
Once on his feet, Elyar had to dodge multiple strikes against him. He tripped one goblin as attacked him. Another goblin jabbed its sword toward his gut. He twisted his body to avoid the blade. Out of breath and fighting for his life, Elyar shouted,”útskúfa!” Glancing toward the troll, he saw Úrskurður vanish from the troll’s shoulder. Ruzur danced around him as goblins tried to kill them. “Koma!” Úrskurður materialized in his hand. Slashing his sword Elyar struck two goblins in front of him. It did not kill them (their armor was too strong for that), but it gave Elyar a chance to open his being to the weave. He felt the welcom ing warmth as he connected his soul igniting his sword.
Some of the goblins took a step back as Elyar’s sword turned red lightning up the area. The goblins quickly recovered from their shock and charged. But they stood no chance against Elyar’s blessed blade. He clea ved through their armor strike after strike.
The troll shrieked as something hurt it. Glancing over he saw Jerome standing on its shoulders with his sword sticking out of its brains. The troll toppled over crushing nearly a dozen goblins. The ones left fled back into the dark.
An odd stillness spread over the field. Dead goblins were scattered everywhere. Elyar looked at the gate. It was still standing, though it was not in good shape.
Breathing heavily, feeling the strain of the battle and his sword, Elyar felt exhausted. Ruzur stood next to him looking around for more things to kill. Jerome, who had fallen to the ground once the troll collapsed, slowly stood up clutching his back. He stretched it out with one hand placed behind him. Elyar heard a few loud pops and then
Jerome looked relieved.
“Now what?” Elyar asked.
“I am not sure.” Jerome replied. “We are kind of stuck I think.” That made Elyar chuckle.
A hand patted Elyar on the chest. He looked at Ruzur as he pointed off into the distance. There, coming out of the fog and rain, a line of goblins was forming. Screams could still be heard from the wall. The battle must still be raging there. Here, out before the gate, Elyar, Jerome, and Ruzur stood before an assembling army bent on killing them. What could go wrong? Elyar chuckled to himself.
A gust of wind passed over the field causing the rain to come down harder. Blasting from behind the goblins, a horn launched them into action. They began slowly walking before they broke into a run. Elyar took a deep breath and gripped his sword a little tighter. I guess this is it.
Behind them Elyar heard a creaking sound. He quickly glanced and saw the gate slowly opening. Or was it falling? Great! Goblins are charging to kill us and the gate we are dying to protect is falling over. Perfect. Elyar turned and struck a pose to fight the goblins. A yell came both from behind and in front. Confused Elyar saw some of the goblins slow or try to turn around.
“Shield wall!”
Men rushed from both sides of Elyar linking their shields together to form an impenitrable wall of steel. He was two rows deep within the formation before he knew it. The goblins holted their retreat to reform their own ranks. Now face to face, both armies readied for a final confruntation. A smile flashed over Elyar’s face. Now this is a weird turn of events.
Elyar heard a voice rise from the opposing army in a language he did not understand. Arrows burst from the back soaring straight at them. “Shields!” Lord Turon screamed. Those within the shield wall thrust their shields above their head forming a dome. The arrows battered the shields as a few shrieks meant some men had been hit.
A horrific clashing sound burst from the front. The goblins must have used the arrow barrage to give them time to charge. The clashing and sounds of war began to intensify as both sides started pushing and stabbing.
A man stumbled in front of Elyar. He replaced him and began stabbing anything that looked goblin. His flaming sword burned steel, leather, or flesh alike. But he could tell they were losing ground. No matter how many thrusts landed they were pushed back. Slowly but surely the Men of Val lost ground.
During the fight a voice yelled from the wall, “the city has been breached! They are in the walls!” Fear gripped Elyar. How did they breach the wall? Where we betrayed? He could feel the army pushing back faster. Some around him began to retreat toward the wall. The man to his right tore his shield away from the front and began running. But an arrow cau ght him in the back of the neck quickly ending his life.
Elyar tried to keep fighting. But knowing that the women, children, and the unarmed were in harms way distracted him. After a few minutes of intense combat, he saw Jerome and Ruzur appear by his side.
“We must retreat!” Jerome yelled. His heart sank. How could they abandon those still fighting? Jerome and Ruzur began dragging him away as others filled in his gap. Many had run, but there were still others fighting. As he turned toward the wall he realized how far they had already retreated. The gate was only a few feet away and getting closer.
“They can hold it here! We need to find Lyrandionus!”
Nodding, Elyar allowed them to pull him away from the fight. As he stepped away another warrior took his place and the fight continued. Elyar had a chance to breath once in the middle of the courtyard. While catching his breath he looked around. The fight on the walls had died down. There were a few skirmashes here and there. Other than that the fight had moved to the gate. It looked like now the gate was the focal point of both armies. But that is not what captured Elyar’s attention the most. Dozens of people were screaming and running away from the southern side of the fortress. Unarmed villagers of Val were running toward the fighting. Now what is going on?
Focusing in that direction Elyar saw why. There, attacking in a mindless horde, was a wall of asheros. Exasperation fell over him. Goblins to the north, asheros to the south. Is this what metal feels like between an anvil and the hammer?