Alutar: The Great Demon (47 page)

“Fleeing back to Despair is not appealing,” frowned Colonel Maxwell. “Not only would we have to suffer through the insect attacks again, but I fear what the Federation’s response would be to our return. They might not let us through the portal.”

“Or the portal might not be where it was when we came through it,” added Colonel Hildon. “General Askor was ordered to occupy Tagaret after he conquered it. There was talk of someone moving the portal to Tagaret after we went through. In any event, I do not think there is any going back on this mission. We must attack Tagaret in the morning.”

* * * *

Sergeant Carter of the 38
^th
Corps woke to the sounds of men sharpening their swords and eating the morning meal. He sat up and stretched as he noticed the paleness of dawn taking over the night sky. His friend, Corporal Paulis, immediately noticed his awakening and hurried over to the large tree the sergeant had napped under.

“I don’t know how you can sleep at a time like this,” remarked the corporal as he arrived under the tree. “No one else has slept a wink since the dragon attacked.”

“Well, it hardly attacked now, did it?” retorted the sergeant. “And if it did decide to attack, who do you think it would grab, me under this fine tree, or one of those slackers out there in the open?”

“I hadn’t looked at it that way,” the corporal replied with a puzzled frown. “You should have explained all this to me last night. I could have used a few hours of sleep.”

“Carter,” shouted an approaching captain, “get your men ready to move out.”

Sergeant Carter jumped to his feet and hurried towards the captain. Corporal Paulis tagged along to see what was going on.

“We are attacking?” asked the sergeant.

“That is what the army is here for, Carter,” scowled the captain. “Do you see those distant poles?”

Sergeant Carter gazed eastward and nodded. “I can just make them out, Captain.”

“Our company has been ordered to assemble near the closest one for the attack,” instructed the captain. “Make sure that all of your men are prepared for battle, and send someone to pick up a scaling ladder. Be ready to rush the wall at sunrise.”

The captain did not wait for a response. He strode off to notify the next squad. The sergeant moved quickly to the fire ring and grabbed some bread to quell his unsettled stomach. He had no need to repeat the captain’s orders as all of the men had heard his instructions.

“One of you go and get a scaling ladder,” the sergeant said between bites as he filled his mug with coffee, “and don’t get lost. I don’t want the captain to have a reason to pick on us today.”

The men of Carter’s squad finished their morning meal and prepared for battle. When everyone was ready, Sergeant Carter rose and led his men eastward. All across the broad front of the encampment, other squads were also moving eastward. As the sky lightened, the visibility improved, and Alceans could be seen atop the city’s walls. As they approached their staging station near one of the poles that dotted the plain, Sergeant Carter’s brisk stride faltered. He halted and stared up at the top of the pole. His squad halted as well.

“What is that?” asked one of the men.

“It is a head,” grimaced Corporal Paulis. “These Alceans are barbaric.”

“It is not just a head,” Sergeant Carter said with disgust. “That is the head of General Gattas. One of you get it down.”

One of the men moved forward to climb the pole. Unexpectedly, three arrows soared from the city wall. Two of the arrows slammed into the ground; the third slammed into the soldier who was trying to retrieve the head. The soldier fell to the ground, his dead eyes staring up at the brightening sky.

“Mercy!” cried Corporal Paulis. “They must have this pole ranged. All three of those arrows were close.”

Sergeant Carter immediately stepped backwards a dozen paces and then scanned the plain. His eyes lingered on the two nearest poles, and he nodded in understanding.

“All of the poles are ranged,” he announced. “I suspect that they used these poles for target practice. Move back to me,” he ordered his men.

The soldiers moved back and gathered around their sergeant. Moments later, the captain rode up to the group.

“Your group is in the first wave, Carter,” the captain said. “At the sound of the horn, run like you have never run before. Get up to that wall and start scaling it.”

“What about the siege engines?” asked the sergeant. “Without them we will be decimated.”

“Men behind your group will move forward and shoot arrows at the defenders to distract them,” explained the captain. “The sooner you get your men on top of that wall, the sooner you will be out of the firing zone. Run like the wind.”

The captain moved off to the next squad, and Sergeant Carter spit after him.

“You heard the captain,” scowled the sergeant. “It is either run and climb that wall or die. Do not dally between here and the wall. Give me the scaling ladder. I am more rested than the rest of you.”

The soldier holding the scaling ladder handed it to the sergeant. Moments later, the horn sounded. The squad immediately started running with Sergeant Carter in the lead. All along the broad front of the western wall, thousands of men surged forward, battle cries screaming from their lungs. Before the men had run one hundred paces, sporadic firing came from the Alceans. The arrows were few, targeting only the men carrying the scaling ladders. Sergeant Carter had expected as much. He ran in a random zigzag manner, never letting his strides become predictable. When he was halfway to the wall, all of the Alceans started firing. The sky rained arrows, and all around the sergeant came the cries of those who were struck down. He dared not take his eyes off of his objective or chance being distracted by the sounds of mayhem around him. With a dogged determination, the sergeant raced forward and planted one end of the ladder in the ground. As he struggled to force the top of the ladder against the wall, Corporal Paulis appeared alongside him. They each took a side of the ladder and forced the top against the stone wall. They held the ladder to secure it for the rest of the squad. Three men immediately scampered up the ladder. Only then did the sergeant turn around to look for the rest of his squad.

“The rest are already dead,” Corporal Paulis said. “We are all that is left.”

Before the sergeant could respond to the corporal, the body of one of his remaining men fell to the ground. Sergeant Carter glanced upward to see another of his men falling. The man was already dead, and the Alceans were pushing the ladder away from the wall as the third man tried to climb it. The Alceans succeeded, and the ladder fell backwards, the weight of the man on it helping it fall away from the wall. The Sergeant and the Corporal pulled on the ladder, trying to foil the Alceans’ intentions, but they failed. The ladder crashed to the ground, the climber leaping off at the last moment and tumbling to the ground. Three arrows pierced his body before he could get to his feet. Sergeant Carter grabbed the corporal and pulled him closer to the wall. He dropped to the ground, dragging the corporal with him.

“What are you doing?” whispered the corporal.

“Saving our lives,” the sergeant whispered back. “Lie close to the wall and pretend to be dead.”

“I don’t understand,” puzzled the corporal. “How will this save us?”

“I don’t know,” admitted the sergeant, “but glance along the wall in either direction. Hardly a scaling ladder is in place. General Askor will have to sound the retreat soon, or he will just be sending his men out to die. Maybe after dark we can sneak through the killing ground and get back to camp.”

“What if he sends another wave?” asked the corporal. “We will be called cowards and killed.”

“If another ladder goes up against the wall,” answered the sergeant, “we will climb it, but I am not going to stick my head out there and try to raise that fallen ladder. That would not be fighting. That would be suicide. Be quiet and try to get some sleep. We will probably have to crawl all night to get back to camp.”

“You plan to sleep at the base of the enemy’s wall?” asked Corporal Paulis.

“Do you have a better plan?” snapped the sergeant. “We are stuck here. Make the best of it. Now be quiet before someone up there hears us.”

The corporal knew that no one could hear them up on the wall, but he could not imagine sleeping the day away under the noses of the enemy. Suddenly, the horns sounded the retreat, and the Federation army turned and ran towards the camp. The corporal sighed anxiously and looked at the sergeant. Carter was already asleep. The corporal shook his head in amazement and closed his eyes, figuring that if he was to die this day, he would prefer to do it in his sleep.

King Arik stood atop the center of the western wall as sunrise approached. Queen Tanya, General Gregor, and Barry stood near him.

“They are getting ready,” General Gregor announced softly. “I suspect that sunrise will be the time they charge the wall.”

“I only see three black-cloaks,” noted Queen Tanya. “Do we know if the wounded ones will be part of the attack, or will those be the only three?”

“The fairies reported that two of them were badly hurt,” answered King Arik. “None of those look hurt, so I would guess that we only have those three to contend with.”

“If we can eliminate those three,” mused the queen, “I could use offensive magic to lessen the charge.”

“Use no offensive magic yet,” warned the king. “I want you to retain your strength in case things go very badly for us. A sudden use of offensive magic might break the charge and cause a retreat, but these men have had no sleep. I think we can break their charge without giving away your powers. Is it reasonable to assume that if you use shields to thwart the black-cloaks, but no offensive magic, that they could be led to believe that our mages are weak?”

“It would be a reasonable assumption on their part,” agreed Queen Tanya. “The exception would be if they located me and tried to break my shields. That would allow them to reasonably gauge my power.”

“Then that will be our plan,” declared the king. “If they do discover you as the mage and do stress your shields then my restrictions will be void. Otherwise, just try to limit their usefulness to the Federation.” The king turned towards General Gregor. “There will be no siege engines for our special archers to target, General. Have those men target the Federation soldiers who are carrying the scaling ladders.”

“I have already given that order,” smiled General Gregor. “They will also dissuade anyone who tries to remove the heads on the poles. I must say, King Arik, your use of an archery contest to form the special archers has done wonders for the men’s morale. All of our lads are looking forward to making you proud of their performance today.”

“That is the truth,” beamed Barry, the soldier the king had chosen as his aide for the battle. “While we are all afraid of the coming battle, we are also eager to show what we can do to save Tagaret.”

King Arik gritted his teeth and stared at the young soldier. He had a sudden urge to tell Barry to run and hide until the battle was over, but he knew that it was a foolish emotion to show at this time. He sighed anxiously and tried to smile at the young soldier.

“You remember my orders,” King Arik said to Barry. “I want no heroics from you in regards to saving my life today. As far as you are concerned, I am just another Alcean soldier on this wall.”

“I will remember,” Barry said with a hint of disappointment. “Do not fear for me. I will not die this day.”

Several bows snapped nearby, and the king jerked his head towards the sound. He saw three of the special archers grabbing new arrows from their quivers. He swiveled to view the battlefield and saw a dead Federation soldier near one of the poles. He smiled broadly and nodded to the archers. They beamed with pride and nodded back. Moments later, a distant horn sounded and the charge commenced. Unexpectedly, King Arik hopped onto a crenel and drew the Sword of Heavens.

He held the sword high above his head and shouted, “Death to the Federation! Long live Alcea!”

The soldiers nearby gasped at the sight of the king standing upon the crenel. When he shouted, they shouted back. Within seconds, the battle cry rippled along the wall in both directions.

“Get down, Arik,” shouted the queen. “What are you trying to do?”

The king jumped back down and smiled at the queen. He opened his mouth to speak, but the queen’s attention was immediately diverted by the need to erect a magical shield. Her shield was barely up when it glowed brilliantly from the impact of three fireballs.

“What I was trying to do,” the king answered, “was to give the mages something to aim for. If they concentrate on me, they will not harm the men along the wall.”

“Well, that worked as you wished,” grunted the queen as more fireballs slammed into her shield. “If you want their archers to also target you, maybe you should step up there again.”

King Arik shrugged as he sheathed his sword and readied his bow. He quickly nocked an arrow and started firing at the charging Federation soldiers. He was vaguely aware of Barry in the next crenel firing his bow, but his attention was focused on the charging horde. As the first wave of warriors reached the wall, a second wave of archers advanced, using their arrows to distract the Alceans. Having a stronger arm and a better aim than most of the soldiers, King Arik decided to target the archers and leave the warriors to others. The special archers seemed to have the same idea and soon the second wave had large gaps in it. Several scaling ladders slammed against the wall nearby, and the king dropped his bow. He drew the Sword of Heavens and pulled Barry back from the crenel.

“It is time for swords and poles,” the king said to Barry. “Ready a ladder pole for us.”

The young soldier nodded and moved to grab a long pole used to push the ladders away from the wall. Three ladders appeared in the king’s vicinity, and Federation soldiers started appearing at the top of them. King Arik strode forward to meet one of the ladders, the Sword of Heavens swinging before the first enemy soldier could get off the ladder. He glanced left and right and saw that both of the ladders were being attended to. As he sliced into the second soldier, a ladder pole suddenly pushed past him and caught the top rung of the ladder, but the ladder did not move away from the wall. A third Federation soldier appeared at the top of the ladder, and the king quickly dispatched him. The ladder suddenly moved away from the wall and crashed to the ground. The king turned around to find Barry and General Gregor pulling the pole back.