CHAPTER 56 – THE BEACHES

Axion escaped the harbor district as it continued to collapse. He was completely overwhelmed. The only thing keeping him afloat was riding on Huntross through the fight. He managed to recover a Caliber spear for good measure. Axion could always appreciate the range and dexterity of a spear, compared to a longsword. They retreated into the downtown district and used the cover of the buildings to regroup. Along with Huntross, he led a small battalion of militia into street skirmishes. He knew few faces within the ranks. These men were reserves. They had no idea what to do, so they put the uniform on, and the training kicked in. Galastad, who was also somewhere out there in the chaos, galvanized them and put them to work. Now they rallied behind Prince Axion and helped keep Cipher Casterosi safe.

Underneath the tightest and tallest section of the port’s urban area, his searching finally paid off. He saw his uncle leading a battalion of troops into a fight. Axion broke loose with Huntross in a mad dash toward his uncle. There was no clear front, strictly chaos. His comrades were getting cut down all around the Metuchen knight. The evil started to surround Anilithyìstad.

Axion unlatched his spear and threw it, pinning two darksiders to the ground. He picked up pace and trampled over five more enemies, as he jumped off his horse and landed with a killing stroke right by Anilithyìstad’s side. The two, now back-to-back without a word uttered, kept a constant rotation slicing down any soldier that approached them. Axion’s regiment caught up to him and combined with Anilithyìstad’s response team. Port Caliber militia, Zepathorum guard, and Metuchen cavalrymen all pushed forward.

“Uncle…they have more ships than we have men. I have seen it with my own eyes.”

“You are here, lad. That’s all that matters. We will fight on…together. Yes. like the old days with your father. Come!” Anilithyìstad screamed out as he remounted his horse and Axion remounted Huntross, “Nothing can beat the power of our houses combined.” Anilithyìstad smiled and held his hand out to his nephew.

Axion knew this as what Anilithyìstad and Theomitus used to say to each other on the battlefield because he went to sleep most nights as a child listening to his father regale him with house legends of old, per request of course. Huntross turned to get Axion as close as he could to his uncle. They grabbed each other’s forearms and nodded their heads. Axion felt something right at this moment. A deep tread that traveled through him to the core of the Lion Kingdom. Pieces of his life smashed together carving out his path before him. There was a current to this fight that he would not be aware of right away.

“Reform the lines!”

A dispatcher rushed towards them, “Sir, they are taking the beaches.”

“I sent Mortikahn with a small squad to scout the beaches.”

“We must rush to his aid. We can fortify from there, Uncle.”

“The evacuation of the main street district is of upmost priority.”

“I know this city better than most. I can coordinate at the beach. It is our best option to make a stand. Thanks to Galastad, the procedure is well underway downtown already. If we can hold them at the beach, it will act like a shield for the rest of the city.”

“What about the harbor to the north?”

“We can dispatch another regiment to shield downtown from both sides.”

Anilithyìstad deliberated briefly before letting Axion take the lead with a nod of the head. Axion marched their regiment to the beaches, leaving a small contingent behind to keep their path clear for retreat while simultaneously acting out Axion’s orders. He used civil servants for evacuation protocol in an attempt to spare troops. It was quite a sight to see. In the city’s darkest hour, everyone worked together to retreat to Zepathorum. Soldiers handing over children to scribes, clerics, teachers. Even the judges and prestigents were helping where they could.

The civil servants got them the rest of the way while the militia, royal guards, and Metuchen cavalrymen drew their weapons to combat the rogue darksiders breaking through the fight. The clusters of buildings would prove the hardest to mobilize, not to mention the overspill of people fleeing the harbor. This district would take the longest to evacuate. There was no denying that fact. This meant that the battle would end here. Axion kept that in the back of his mind. Compartmentalize when you can, but don’t start using it as a coping mechanism.

Axion worried it would be near impossible to confine the enemy to one front. The best they could do was hope to distract them enough to pull the fronts together, like a knoll-fly to the light. Axion led his regiment to where the clustered docks of the harbor gave way to the open dunes of the beaches. Just on the other side of the dunes were the huddled houses and neighborhoods. Axion saw his cousin Mortikahn and his men getting people out of their houses. Mortikahn stopped what he was doing when he saw Axion looking over at him. He pointed forward. Just beyond them were ships landing ashore behind those already there.

Axion brandished his sword and turned Huntross into a full sprint. Anilithyìstad pulled off with his own vanguard to cover them as Axion led a wave of soldiers into the pillaging darksiders. They crashed into the preoccupied enemies and scattering them. Anilithyìstad watched as the battle ensued. The side of the beach Axion was on began to take the upper hand. Anilithyìstad mobilized his guard and flanked the remaining enemies between the houses and the dunes.

They wiped them out, converging with Axion’s men and pushing the remaining darksiders back to the shore. As they gained momentum, for a brief second, Axion thought they might have a chance. There were more ships approaching behind the ones which had landed since the first wave was pushed back. Axion had found his line in the sand. He called the banners and set up a forward camp. It was now or never. His numbers seemed to be growing every time he looked around, word was getting out. This was the rallying point. Axion kept an eye on his cousin moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, escorting the beach folk out of the city.

“Axion!”

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Axion turned Huntross around to find Cipher Casterosi on his feet.

“You’re awake.”

“They have my father.”

“How?”

“I must save him.”

“Where are they keeping him?”

“The flagship.”

Axion’s face worsened. He got off his horse and approached Cipher on the beach with the battle raging around them.

“You have seen the flagship of this fleet?”

“And their leader. Axion, if he did not die from what I threw at him then there is no defeating this kind of foe.”

“What did you throw at him?”

“The Ignaleos Cor.”

Axion took two looks at Cipher.

“We are overseeing the evacuation of the city.”

“I must save my father before it is too late.”

“You have no idea where they took him. I found you in a puddle.”

“I can take the secret tunnels to Sea Port Village and infiltrate their ranks from within.”

“Help me clear the beach and I will join you.”

“I cannot delay. Time is of the essence, your highness.”

“Cipher, wait! There is no one, besides you and your mother, that values your father’s well-being more than me, both as a loved one, and an integral cog in this kingdom’s hierarchy. House Casterosi is the crown’s oldest ally. In that same spirit you must agree we are nothing without this city and its people and the bonds we keep to them. Our fathers are not here to stand and fight so we will do so in their stead for the Pride! Are you with me?”

“Yes, of course, my father would want me to fight for those who cannot fight themselves. I am with you, prince. For the Pride!”

“Come! We push forward and take back what is ours!”

Axion and Cipher pointed their swords in the air and the soldiers around them cheered in Caliber pride. They ran together down the long sand dunes for the massing darksiders. Once again Anilithyìstad played the conservative, using his own detail to cover the brazen actions of the prince.

Axion loved running downhill into an enemy line of troops. He lunged himself through the lines, parrying the spears with his sword and rolling into two darksiders, knocking them back. He created an opening in the line of spears allowing Cipher and his men to funnel in. Axion and Cipher cut enemy after enemy down with ease. They were more sailors than fighters. These were not the real foe. Axion tried his hardest to stay one step ahead. Their men rushed past them and regained formation. The spears were down, their ranks were broken. One more push and they could back them up to their own ships. If only it was that easy.

Axion just couldn’t help himself. He kept peering over the fight in front of him to check on the invading ships, more and more landed on the shores as they fought. The enemy numbers bolstered up to match theirs. The shift in the battle sobered Axion’s focus. His men fought sword-in-hand in front of him. They were willing to die for him, for this city. He could not risk all their lives over such a hopeless endeavor.

He had to call them off. The forward camp they were setting up would have to be practically mobile. This was a losing battle. The only way they could win would be by controlled retreating, getting everyone out of the city before the scale tipped entirely for the enemy. It was just a matter of time before the dragon kingdom fleet took the city.

Axion tried to look at it like Mitakahn would. If he could make the necessary distinction between letting the city fall and saving the city folk, both could happen simultaneously. In other words, if they planned to lose they could still save lives. Then he would need to muster the banners of the Serengeti before Zepathorum was surrounded.

That truth hit him like a brick wall. It meant prioritizing the country over the city. These were the kinds of decisions ruler’s dread. All these crazy thoughts rushing through his head and the only two people who could help him make sense of it all were dead or gone. If only Axion had listened to Mitakahn. They would have been ready for this or at least his little brother would be right by his side through it.

Axion called his men back from the brink and defended the camp. Cipher oversaw the last of the beach neighborhood evacuation along with Mortikahn and they returned to Axion and Anilithyìstad asserting their influence throughout the fractured city.

A dispatcher rushed in behind Cipher and Mortikahn.

“Sir, the trebuchets and catapults are ready.”

Anilithyìstad digested the information and gave his orders, “Good. Muster what’s left of Mortikahn’s men for the beaches and aim the trebuchets and catapults at the waters lining the coast-”

“Wait!” interrupted Axion, “This battle is already over. We must think about a different strategy.”

“What will you have me do, nephew?” begged Anilithyìstad.

“Fire the catapults and trebuchets against the bridge.”

“Destroy our own land?”

“The bridge crosses the river to North Caliber. It will cause a blockade and trap them in the bay, buying the rest of the Pride more time. Not to mention lands beyond our kingdom.”

Axion was right and Anilithyìstad knew this. So, he did not hesitate. “Do what your commander has ordered,” said Anilithyìstad.

“All catapults are ready, sir.”

“Let’s make it count. Fire!” screamed out Axion.

A horn blew and then thirty-three other horns blew around the city. Massive boulders and slabs of rock were launched into the rain-bitten air. Axion watched from his horse as the bridge in the northern distance was demolished. The wreckage of the docks was caught by the crumbling bridge and created a dam of splintered wood and fragmented stone.

Axion’s plan had worked. The attacking armada was cut off from the river. Now the enemy only had one choice, to come down with all their might on Port Caliber. A choice that seemed like they had already made.

“Keep firing on the fleet until each site is out of ammunition, then sabotage the catapults, and evacuate the city.”