Chapter VI

  The enemy riders used the confusion caused by the earthquake to regroup at a safe distance from the gates of Feldon. As the quake's shaking began to subside, the attackers pressed their advantage. War horns were blown as the enemy surged towards the village.

  Miraculously, the defensive outer walls remained standing. The attackers drove the creatures in their midst onward to the walls as arrows and stones rained down on the beasts from above. The first wave wavered momentarily as it was met with heavy resistance from Feldon's defenders. The assault surged forward again, however, as fiery arrows and molten orbs that exploded into liquid flame wherever they struck were launched from the plain. Soon enough, large portions of the abused village defenses were burning.

  Confusion ran rampant on top of the walls as Aria tried to coordinate the efforts to extinguish the flames. The first of the creatures, some form of half-man/half-wolf, reached the base of the exterior walls and started climbing, using its claws to scale the massive upright timbers as if they were a tree.

  The creature cried out with a howling growl as an archer shot it down from a sentry tower by the gates. The creature's broken body crashed to the ground, flattening one of the insect-creatures as it was trying its own ascent. Inevitably, however, some of the monstrosities managed to scale the ramparts, and the close-quarters fighting grew intense. A stray arrow caught one of the defending archers in the chest, and with a choked scream he fell from the tower to the darkness of the plains below. At the gates, several four-armed giants were hammering at the creaking gates with an iron-tipped battering ram.

  Darius and Aria fought back-to-back, falling into an all-too familiar pattern of attack and defense. The elevated walkway was slick with gore, making the footing treacherous. The fighting increased in intensity forcing Aria and Darius to separate as they were forced to defend against multiple attackers.

  Aria ducked the slashing blade of one of the wolf-beasts as it tried to find a weakness in her defenses. She parried the next slash, following up with a cut of her own. The creature yelped as her sword nicked its side and lunged for her throat, enraged madness in its eyes.

  Aria managed to sidestep the attack and swept her sword in for a finishing blow. The sword swept through empty air as the beast dodged, anticipating her maneuver. The wolf-beast drew a second knife from its belt and came at her again; it’s movements lightning-quick as it dodged every one of her attacks.

  Behind the wolf, Darius had squared off with a large gray skinned nightmare with a long tooth-filled beak and vestigial leathery wings attached to its over-long arms. The pterosaur-man attacked with a large scimitar as it tried to open Darius lengthwise with a vertical cut. Darius blocked, using his great strength to drive the creature back. Around them, fire crackled, glinting evilly in the unblinking reptilian eyes. Darius swept the legs out from under the beast, and it collapsed to the deck dazed, losing its scimitar.

  Darius pressed his advantage, bringing down his sword with a blow that should have split the creature in two. The pterosaur rolled out of the way at the last moment, and Darius’ blade bit deeply into the deck, lodging in the wood for a moment as he tried to pull it free.

  The creature was up in an instant, a knife gripped in its claws. The reptile-man closed the distance in one fluid movement and drove the knife into Darius chest.

  A metallic skittering sound filled the air as the knife-edge glanced off of Darius’ plate armor, snapping the blade. The force of the blow knocked Darius off balance, however, and he lost his footing and fell backwards. Darius hit the platform hard, knocking the breath out of him. The pterosaur retrieved Darius’ sword and raised it in a downward grip, preparing to drive the massive blade home into Darius’ abdomen.

  A throwing knife came flying out of the night and buried itself hilt deep in the beast's throat. It dropped the sword and stumbled backwards, hitting the edge of the wall and falling into the blackness below.

  Looking around, Darius saw Aria still kneeling over the still form of the wolf. A second knife was grasped in her hand, poised for throwing in case it too was needed. Nodding his thanks, he retrieved his sword, and they rejoined the battle, cutting twin paths of destruction through the enemy.

  Slowly, inch-by-inch, the attack was beaten back. The gates had somehow held under the massive battering that they had been subjected to. The last two of the yellow-skinned giants had retreated when Feldon's defenders poured molten tar over the wall, which burst into flames immediately upon impact.

  Aria finished off a coal-black shapeshifter that seemed to silently mock her form with a twisted version of herself, and gazed around.

  "I think that's the last of them." Darius said. "They seem to be in retreat for now."

  With the battle over, the night had grown eerily quiet.

  The larger of the two moons, Olteon was just beginning to creep above the horizon, throwing it’s silvery light onto the plain. The worst of the fires had been put out, and the wounded were being escorted to the healers. The defenders had been fighting for over two hours. The breeze had shifted, and a cold wind was blowing in from the Barrier Mountains to the west. Darius walked over to Aria and draped his campaign cloak around her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

  “Your aim was a bit off today,” he told her jokingly. "You almost missed that lizard-man thing."

  “At least I’m not so slow that I’m ready for the old-folks home.” she shot back. "If you weren't so slow with your blocks I wouldn't have had to save you with my amazing throw."

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  Darius, at 25, was four years older than Aria, and this was a common joke between them.

  Tyrell approached the duo as they quarreled playfully, trying to unwind after the life-and-death tension of the battle. “So, was that it? Is it over?” Aria asked after a moment.

  Tyrell shook his head. “I don’t think so, we only fought the creatures. There's no sign of the horsemen, or the human foot soldiers among the fallen. I think they’re just testing our defenses.” he stared out at the plain, searching for any movement. “I’ll send some scouts out in the morning to see if we can figure out what happened and where they have gone. In the meantime, we’re going to need someone to travel to Falconhome and let the palace know what has happened....”

  Tyrell was suddenly interrupted by a sentry calling out from the east, followed by another from the west sentry tower. “There’s some sort of movement going on out there!” In the pale moonlight, figures could be seen running away from the walls.

  "Sappers!" Tristan yelled in warning.

  Suddenly, twin explosions rocked the village as sections along both the east and west wall burst apart in splinters. War horns sounded as the enemy poured into the village in a pincer from both sides....

  Tyrell reacted instantly. “Take the west side,” he shouted over his shoulder ”and don’t let them get into the village proper.” Calling for men to follow him, he ran to stem the tide to the east.

  Darius dashed down the stairs, Aria trailing behind. Everywhere villagers were either running for cover, or racing to meet the enemy. In the village square, the town bell was again tolling the alarm.

  As they neared his sister’s house Darius was grateful for the knowledge that Rankin had taken his family to the shelter of the town hall. To Darius’ surprise however, Rankin emerged from the doorway as they passed, sword in hand. “This time,” Rankin said gravely as he fell in alongside them, “we both have something to fight for.”

  Ahead, they could see the splintered segment of the western wall. A section twenty feet wide had been destroyed, and the enemy was already coming through. With most of the creatures destroyed in the first attack, the enemy now consisted mostly of men -- mercenaries and rogue Triderian soldiers.

  Several villagers had already responded to the sound of the explosion, and were desperately trying to bar the way, moving hay carts across the breach as a barricade.

  The carts had managed to slow the enemy’s progress, and Darius’ group slammed into the few men that had already entered the village. More of Feldon’s residents arrived from the group that had been guarding the gates, and a line of Archers formed up behind Darius, arrows poised in their longbows, as they awaited the order to fire. “Steady....” Darius called to the longbow men, hoping for a quick end to the hostilities.

  The enemy wavered as they entered the village. The hay carts were making it difficult to achieve the rapid advancement that the enemy was obviously hoping for. Suddenly, however, the carts were hurled aside as two of the yellow-skinned giants from the gates crashed through the breach.

  “Now!” Darius ordered the archers and ran forward, his blade held ready in a two-handed grip. The archers let their missiles fly. A number of arrows found their mark and one of the giants fell, pinning several of the enemy’s troops under its fifteen-foot bulk. The other giant was well prepared, however, and deflected the shots with a shield strapped to one of its four arms. As their champion cleared the way, the soldiers of the enemy crowded through the gap in the wall to engage Feldon’s defenders.

  Half of the archers moved to deal with the new threat of the soldiers, while the other half continued to try to pin down the giant as it tried to advance. The four-limbed creature merely trampled or swept aside anything that tried to assault it.

  Darius hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to stop this creature as it boldly crushed the remains of one of the hay carts below its feet. Off to the right, Rankin suddenly rushed the beast, something small clutched in his hand. Seeing the mad rush of the insignificant human, the giant halted it’s approach roaring a challenge that nearly deafened him. Abruptly, Rankin veered off his charge, lobbing a small orb at the giant.

  The giant raised his shield and the small globe of infernus fruit impacted the leather cover. The over-ripe fruit burst immediately into liquid flames that dripped to the ground as the volatile juices reacted to the oxygen in the air.

  As the flaming liquid hit the ground, the hay that had been scattered around from the carts caught fire, flaring up into a brilliant blaze all around the giant who roared in rage and fear.

  The archers took advantage of the creature’s distraction and rained a veritable hail of missiles down on it. With an impact that shook the ground, the giant fell, eliciting a round of cheers from the villagers.

  Darius, Aria and the other defenders waded into the remaining soldiers as the archers began to regroup, only able to fire at target of opportunity now for fear of hitting their fellow defenders.

  Above the sounds of the battle, a new sound could be heard. A thundering roar was getting louder. Suddenly, a group of mounted soldiers burst through the flames charging straight through the defenders. The villagers were forced to break ranks to keep from being run down.

  The horsemen didn’t stop to do battle, but continued on -- racing for the village square, where the women and children had gathered for shelter.... Easy hostages for the taking.

  Darius and Aria immediately gave chase, Rankin and a number of archers following, leaving the other defenders to finish with the few remaining enemy soldiers. The defenders raced through the deserted streets, unable to keep up with the running horses, but still racing to stay close behind.

  As they turned the last corner, the attackers charge faltered, having found the road ahead barred by a hastily build barricade. Tyrell, having already stemmed the tide of the eastern attack, was in front of the barricade with a handful of pikemen aiming their steel tipped weapons at the enemy horsemen. Archers were scattered along the upper stories of the buildings lining the road. Darius drew his men up behind the horsemen, his own archers closing ranks around them.

  Darius approached the leader of the horsemen, and leaned casually on his massive sword. “General... Halgon, I believe it was.” The general shifted uncomfortably in his saddle as Darius continued. “I believe we have you surrounded. If you would be so kind as to dismount and hand over your weapons, we can discuss the unconditional surrender of your few remaining troops.”

  Cheers broke out from all of the villagers assembled as Commander Tyrell took Halgon and his handful of men into custody.

  After Halgon’s pincer attack failed, most of the few remaining enemy soldiers either surrendered or scattered, vanishing into the night. Temporary barricades were erected to close the holes in the east and west walls, and work crews were already being organized for more permanent repairs the next day.

  A meal was prepared for the weary defenders as the wounded were treated. Darius and Aria had suffered only minor cuts and abrasions, but Rankin had some pretty bad burns from his close proximity to the fire that had taken down the second giant.

  It was well past the two-o’clock watch when Darius was finally able to strip off his armor and head for bed. Elainna had prepared the guest room for Aria, and a neighbor had brought a small cot over for Darius that had been set up to one side of the main room.

  The Council of Elders was supposed to meet in the morning to discuss the situation, and had requested that the duo attend. With a weary groan, Darius lay down on the thin mattress, closed his eyes and gave in to his exhaustion.