The Coastal Kingdoms of Olvion: Book Two of The Chronicles of Olvion (43 page)

The incident with the axe-man stole the valor from two more and they turned and fled like their brethren before them.  That left another seven pirates who were loyal to the new council and determined to stop the smaller group of Olvion invaders.  They charged the three warriors with shouts and growls.  Taggart saw Geraar dart out from behind him and engage a pirate holding a large cleaver.  He parried the strike from the man then drove his sword in straight.  When he withdrew it a small rose of red appeared on the pirate’s white linen shirt.  The cleaver fell, and the man watched as the stain grew larger.  The wound was not mortal, but it was serious enough to cause the pirate to slink off to the side, taking himself out of the fight.

Just as Taggart caught another sword strike on his armored forearm Lyyl launched the javelin he’d been carrying.  The missile flew ten feet and pierced the chest of another pirate.  The man fell forward, dead before he hit the ground.  Taggart, after deflecting the sword attack on his forearm, was able to reach out and grab his attacker by the front of his shirt.  He lifted the man off of the ground with one hand and brought him down across his knee.  There was a cracking sound and an expulsion of breath from the man.  He too fell limply to the dirt street.

As was stated before; pirates were not disciplined fighters.  They did not share the discipline that organized military members were taught.  These remaining three pirates, aghast at the ease with which these three handled their mates, turned and ran for safety.

Taggart said nothing, simply jerked his head in the direction that he and his small crew needed to go.  They followed

***

Jo-Dal arranged his forces into three rectangular formations before entering the town.  He was aware that they would be outnumbered, but was confident of their training and the courage of his warriors.  He saw fighters from Aspell, Olvion and Archer’s Gate forming up alongside each other.  Pride swelled his chest.

From earlier conversations with Fauwler he knew that the main body of resistance would lie in the southeast quadrant of the city.  That was where the men who made up the organized Town Guard would be quartered.  The location was strategic, putting the largest body of loyal fighters in a position to defend the Hall of the Council of Captains.  It was in that direction that he directed two of the formations of warriors.  The third would move into the center of the city and guard the main force from an attack by the townspeople as most of the residences were built on the hillsides to the southwest.  It would not be wise to allow their forces to be caught in a pincer movement.  Indeed, such an action was exactly what they were hoping to execute on their pirate foes once Fauwler’s fleet arrived.

The warriors maintained their formations as they moved through the town.  So far there were no real challenges with which to contend.  They were sometimes pelted with garbage from overhead windows, but they endured it without reaction. Their lack of reprisals for those actions seemed to reduce the frequency of the events.

When they were a third of the way into the town they turned onto a wide boulevard and saw hundreds of armed citizens.  They wielded swords, pikes and axes.  They had taken up a position in the middle of a large widening of the boulevard, a market or village square.   They had erected barricades and seemed intent on holding their positions.

Like Taggart before him, Jo-Dal tried to avoid unnecessary conflict. He climbed upon a stack of wooden crates and shouted as loudly as he could manage. “We wish no harm to you or your families,” he shouted.  “We are here to liberate our citizens that your Council has captured and are holding as slaves.  I know that slavery is a disgrace to most of you.  Withdraw and you will not be harmed, but we will not leave here without our people.”

There was much shouting and cursing from the crowd, but Jo-Dal saw several groups detach themselves from the main body and melt away into the intersecting streets.  When it appeared that the people who were inclined to leave had all departed he studied the barricades.  It would be expensive to breach, but his military training told him he could not leave such a large body of hostiles behind.  Even as he watched more armed citizens arrived.  These new arrivals appeared to be part of the town guard.  They were more heavily armed and appeared to be taking over the organization of the barricade.

Jo-Dal knew that he could not spare any more time trying to avoid hostilities.  With a whistle he called up his archers.  They numbered three hundred, and all carried short swords as back-up weapons.  Jo-Dal saw that some in the barricade were also drawing arrows.  He gave the order to launch and three hundred arrows streaked forward.  At the same time approximately sixty more came back their way.  The pirates were fighters, but they lacked the abilities born of constant practice that the warriors possessed.  The bowshots coming from the barricade had a number of missed targets and overshots, but still, they were not entirely incompetent.  Several shafts found flesh in the closely-packed formations of the Olvionis.  Two dozen warriors were struck by the deadly arrows.  Three of them would never get up again.  The others were quickly pulled aside and given over to the healers for treatment.

On the other side of the arrow duel many of the warrior’s arrows were stopped or deflected by the wagons and other materials in the barricade.  The accuracy of the military fighters was apparent, however.  A full fifty of the pirates fell screaming from painful wounds.  As was standard in their training, the archers had targeted the people in the barricade who were also wielding the bows.  Only thirty or more archers were left standing to loose another volley. 

The second volley from the warriors was not quite as effective because the townspeople, having seen the effects of the invaders’ accuracy, had now mostly concealed themselves behind cover.  Still another twenty or so of the town defenders were struck by the deadly shafts.

“Stop!”

A man strode out of a connecting alley.  He marched directly in between the two groups.  Jo-Dal held up his hand to forestall another archer’s volley.  He saw that the man between the two groups was Captain Fauwler.

“Stop this now, please!”  There were shouts and grunts from behind the barricade, but no additional arrows shot forth.

Fauwler turned and beckoned to the alleyway and two more men came forth.  It was Mal and Baynor.  A measure of silence descended upon the gathering.  Fauwler spoke again.

“You all know me.  You know that the new government here has banished me from Kylee.  I don’t know what they told you to justify that action, but I can tell you it was a lie.”

A woman was crouching behind a small barrel.  Another woman was working on an arrow that was embedded in her arm.  “They said you are a traitor,” she yelled, seemingly oblivious to the pain of her wound.  “That you turned against your home.  Against us.”

Several in the crowd shouted in support of her accusations.  The members of the town guard shouted the loudest.

Fauwler waited for the din to die down before he spoke again.  “The truth?  I would not agree to make our home a slave market.  How many among us here spent large parts of our lives as slaves?  Do you not recall that Kylee was the only place where one could escape that life?  Where we could obtain a measure of freedom?  Because of my resistance to such a denial of human dignity I was set upon by four assassins.  Those assassins were sent by Captain Tallun, the Vice-Governor who was instrumental in approving slavery in our home.”

Another man rose his head above an upturned wagon.  “How do we know that you’re telling the truth?”

“Do your eyes deceive you?  Am I not here trying to stop you from being killed?  Is slavery not now an approved activity by our fleets?”

“Yes,” said another man, “but there you stand with a foreign army at your back, come here to invade our Kylee.  That makes you a traitor to your own kind.”

There were more shouts of agreement.  Fauwler waited for them to dwindle.  Behind him Jo-Dal whispered: “We cannot stay here any longer.  While we dither, the town guard is preparing defenses.  Every moment’s delay is costing us lives.”

Fauwler looked out at his fellow citizens. The sting of the word “Traitor” hung heavy on his heart.  “You call me traitor.   I am standing with people who hail from a land where human freedom and dignity are respected.  Where kings are elected by their subjects and held to answer for their behavior.  In this land the people are represented in government, not by privileged nobles but by people elected by their friends and neighbors.  These people you see behind me are here for one purpose.  They seek to recover the women who were taken from their shores and pressed into slavery.  They are risking their lives to protect their citizens.  Would the kings and nobles of our lands do as much for their subjects?”  His question was met with silence.  He continued.  “As for me, I am here to overthrow the new council whose members usurped their positions from myself and other Captains whom you all respect.  You all know Captain Jile.  Did you know he has also been exiled?”  This time there were shouts of disapproval at the popular captain’s banishment. 

“Captain Jile is with me, along with dozens of right-thinking captains.  Together we will sweep the evil of slavery from our beloved Kylee.  Do you really want to die for the right to enslave people like us?  Put them into the same chains from which we all escaped?” 

One of the town guard pirates rose up and yelled out.  “He’s lying.  The foreign army will invade Kylee and imprison us all.”

Jo-Dal stepped up beside Fauwler.  “Our time is up.  You have tried, but we cannot delay another moment.”

Fauwler ignored him and stepped forward determined to try again.  “I give my word, backed by a Captain’s honor.  If the women are returned to these warriors they will withdraw in peace.  They have agreed to open up a trade treaty with our island.  Do you know what that means?  Kylee can finally flourish from legal commerce.  The minerals we have here can be exchanged for goods from our exotic new neighbors.  We can deal with the oppressive kings in our lands from a stronger position.  A position of financial strength as well as military strength.  We can be a bonfire of freedom to the enslaved of our lands.”  Before Jo-Dal could stop him Fauwler stepped forward and walked all the way up to the barricade.  He took off his hat and sword belt, lying them on the ground in front of him.

“My friends, I have been a citizen of a free community for half of my life.  I will not exchange that life for the one that the council has imposed upon our Kylee.  If you think I lie, that I am a traitor, then kill me now.  Kill me then fight against these righteous warriors who seek only to recover their captured wives and daughters.”

One of the town guard leapt up and grabbed a javelin.  He stepped over stack of upturned buckets and raised the weapon, preparing to send it into Fauwler’s body.  Instead, two of the men behind him jumped up and dragged him to the ground. 

Other members of the town guard yelled and berated the townspeople for siding with the enemy.  They were shouted down.  About two thirds of the people at the barricade then simply stood and walked away.  The remaining citizens stood with the town guard, weapons raised and waiting.  Fauwler shook his head and turned to walk back to where Jo-Dal waited impatiently.  He looked at the Warrior Commander and nodded sadly.

***

The sounds of battle drifted into the cellar prison.  The women looked frightened.  Some busied themselves by reinforcing the barricades that they had erected to close off the doors.  Others tried to engage in conversation or played with Pan as a distraction. Tay came back to the corner of the room where Toria and Dwan were still talking.

“We’ve done all we can do to keep others from getting inside.  I hope Tag-Gar hurries.”

Dwan looked at the younger girl.  Though taller than Toria she was leaner of limb, but her image was one of strength and confidence.  She stood and beckoned to the other captives calling on them to cease their activities and gather around.

“I want to tell you something,” Dwan said to Tay and Toria.  She gestured to the other women now circling them.  “I don’t know what is going to happen here today, no one does.   We wanted you to know how much we here in this room appreciate the danger in which you have put yourselves on our behalf.  We are all humbled by your courage.”

The others all indicated their agreement with the sentiment.  There were many hugs and pats on their shoulders.  Tay and Toria stood embarrassed at the attention.  Toria finally looked at Dwan with her emotions plain on her face. She shrugged. “We are women of Olvion and Aspell.  We do not abandon our people.”

***

Tallun and his men weaved their way through the back alleys and paths of Kylee.  There was smoke drifting through parts of the city now. They avoided the areas where the sounds of fighting were heard.  As they walked they saw many of the people running with fear in their eyes.  Members of the town guard were bonding together into groups and preparing to fight.  Tallun was perplexed by the sight of large numbers of townspeople who were wearing red rags around their arms.  Instead of fleeing in fear these people appeared to be calmly walking up into the hills away from the shore.

Tallun had no intention of joining in the effort to repel the invasion.  He intended to recover his inventory of slaves and sail away.  There were many seaside towns and cities where his combined monies and treasures would allow him to live comfortably for the remainder of his life.

None of the seamen following him knew that he had been stashing treasure away in certain parts of his ships.  There were coins painted black and stowed in the bilges of some, precious metals that were molded to look like game pieces and even weapons fashioned from exotic ores.  The capstone of his wealth was under his bunk in the Necromancer.  The rectangular box upon which rested his mattress had a false bottom.  Underneath were scores of invaluable gems.  Yes, the future held a bright prospect for the Pirate Captain.