CHAPTER FIVE

Kogan Keep, Koga

12th Month, 23rd Day, 24th Year, The Quiet Age

The ten of us waited for the portcullis of the Keep to rise and we were on our way. The six guards and Ribvan escorted us off of the castle grounds and into the beginning of the city. As we ran, I could make out the sounds of different citizens panicking and trying to gather their important possessions. We went by a couple who were arguing about what to take with them, a blacksmith who was trying to gather materials by himself, and a woman who sat crying on her knees in the middle of the road. Soldiers were trying to help organize the citizens, but the road was in chaos. Watching the scenes unfold around us, I couldn’t help but worry if the people I was seeing would be alright.

Ribvan looked at the crowd of citizens who had gathered, and turned back to the group. “The roads are too heavily occupied to use as an escape route. We will have to take the alternative path.” The soldiers quickly nodded in agreement, and lead us to an alley that ran behind the street. The alley was a tight fit, and our pace was significantly slowed but we managed to bypass all of the traffic congestion and continued on our way.

“Sir Ribvan can I ask you something? Where is your wife and Helene?” I asked him. He shot me a look like he was grateful I had asked before saying, “I sent the two of them ahead before we left the castle. Knowing my darling Helene, they should have already gotten out by now.” What he said brought some relief to me, but I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t say that statement with the same confidence that he usually displayed. Not wanting to make Sir Ribvan think about his family, I chose to quiet down and the group proceeded in silence for some time.

Eventually, the group came to the last intersection on their way to the back gate. A few soldiers stood in a line and upon seeing us coming, began to get the royal carriage ready.

We stood for a few minutes while the guards finished their preparations. I looked over at Ulan, but he seemed to be staring of into the distance towards the main gate. The moon shone brightly that night, and I could make out the lights of the back gate about half a kilometer from where I currently was.

I was trying my best to count the soldiers on the wall when all the light from the sky seemed to vanish. I glanced upward, and couldn’t believe what I was looking at. A boulder big enough to block out the moon was flying directly at us at a ridiculous speed. I pointed upward, and Sir Ribvan followed my gaze before yelling out as loud as he could. “Scatter!” he screamed as we all dove for cover. I hit the ground on the side of the road and covered my head before looking back. Olan had hesitated, and still stood in the middle of the street. I called out to him, and he seemed to come back to his senses momentarily.

Olan began to conjure a water spell with his left hand and shouted “Raging Waterfall!” at the top of his lungs. A water stream the size of a large serpent flew out from his fingertips towards the flying mass of earth, but it was like trying to stop a moving mountain with a cup of water. The spell splashed harmlessly against the surface of the boulder, and seconds later the giant rock smashed directly into him.

There was a huge explosion, and debris and dust flew about. After the smoke cleared, I pulled myself to my feet and tried desperately to look for any sign of Olan anywhere. Then one of the other soldier’s called me over and silently pointed toward a portion of the impact crater. Sticking out of the rubble was Olan’s left arm.

∞

Using all of his strength, Rhodin slammed his hammer into the hand of a Grogg who had just grasped the top of the wall. After having its fingers crushed, the Grogg lost its grip on the stone and plunged from the top of the parapet. As the monster plummeted, the Grogg smacked off the rocky surface of the front gate twice before crushing a group of ghouls who had just pulled up to the wall’s exterior. The men around Rhodin celebrated, but he didn’t have the time to be proud of himself. Rhodin took off, heading for the next spot where his men were having difficulty.

Rhodin had seen Harston and Beck trying to do the same, so he gathered the best soldiers he had in his command and decided to act like a reserve unit. He would have to hope that his men could hold out until he arrived at their location and eliminated part of the threat. It was grueling work, and despite their best efforts to limit the troop’s casualties the army of Koga had still lost a third of its frontal forces. The monsters had also managed to create a foothold on top of the wall at some point, and Rhodin had to send some of his heavy trooper to that front line to prevent further damage.

The soldiers of Koga had fought hard like this for over an hour, and the fatigue and fear that a person got from fighting like this had begun to set in. The sounds of battle and the cries of dying soldiers echoed through the night. Rhodin regarded his men and tried to judge the soldiers remaining stamina and morale. From what he saw, he figured they could continue like this for another two hours at most. If the situation didn’t change quickly, he feared the city and its people would be completely wiped out.

The enemy had also pulled their own siege weapons into range; and Rhodin could see wagons, cages and catapults lined up in the distance. Some of the cages were empty, but most of them were full with something that Rhodin couldn’t exactly make out from this distance. He watched as the enemy catapults were prepped and loaded and knew what came next. “Take cover!” He yelled as he dropped to the ground with his hands covering his head, but the shock wave never came. Rhodin looked through his fingers and saw the boulders flying over their heads into the middle of the city. The boulders landed in the middle of roadways and on top of houses, utterly destroying them. One rock landed on the tavern where Rhodin liked to spend his evenings off, and he pictured the nice family that owned the place still inside crushed to death. ‘Why are they targeting the civilians?’ Rhodin thought to himself, but he didn’t have long to think about it as a ghoul charged him.

Rhodin leapt backwards to dodge the swing of the ghoul, and two of his men desperately tried to grab and hold its clawed arms while a third soldier stabbed it in the back with a spear. Another guard was snatched up and out from the front line by a Grogg, before being unceremoniously dumped on his head into a crowd of waiting Grells with poisoned daggers. Rhodin could hear the man scream as he was viciously stabbed to death. Rhodin tried to look away but everywhere similar scenes of battle and bloodshed played out around him.

“Sir, a flag has gone up at headquarters!” A muscular heavy trooper Corporal named Elgar with long black hair shouted next to him, and he turned towards the center of the wall where the fighting was the worst. Elgar was right, and a flag had gone up at Sir Ferris’ location that indicated new orders. Rhodin scanned the crowd in front of him, and could see the headquarters’ runner desperately trying to make his way to Rhodin. The runner was a coyote beast-man who had what looked like ten escorts accompanying him. Rhodin watched as the runner’s group slowly became surrounded by monsters and Rhodin could tell that without intervention the runner would not be able to pass on the message.

He gathered some of his best men into a force, mostly picking spear men and heavy troopers from those that were available. He left a spear man Corporal named Glenn that he trusted in charge of the current location temporarily and took off towards the middle of the wall.

Rhodin led his squad back into the thick of the fighting, and through sheer effort created a foothold for the runner to travel down. Even with their actions, the lizard-man almost lost his head to a fiend before one of Rhodin’s men pulled him into the middle of our group where he was located. Most of the runner’s escorts were not so lucky, and all that remained of the ten men who left from the headquarters was the beast-man and one extremely-rugged looking soldier. Rhodin gathered his Corporals around the runner. After catching his breath, the beast-man stood up as straight as he possibly could and delivered the most passionate salute Rhodin had probably ever seen.

“Sir! I have important orders from Commander Ferris that are a top priority.”

“Slow down, soldier and quit it with that salute. It’s making me feel like an old bastard and I don’t need to be a target. Are either of you wounded? What are the two of your names?”

“Apologies, Sir. My name is Wekkes and I am a Lance-Corporal under the personal command of Sir Ferris. The man of few words to my left is Private Raskin Briggs. Neither of us is wounded thanks to your men’s brave and heroic actions.”

The man named Briggs grunted when his name was called but didn’t say or do anything else. Rhodin quickly nodded back and Wekkes continued, “Pellan has commanded that Captain Beck, Squad Sergeant Harston and Squad Sergeant Schwartz immediately proceed to the trebuchet on the Southern Wall. The trebuchets in that location have been overrun, and we have lost access to our strongest siege weapons and best counter to the enemy forces. We have been ordered to retake the wall and recapture the weapons. Once the trebuchet is retaken, Command wants us to resume the launching of projectiles before against the enemy. We can’t leave this position undefended though so you must leave half of your men here.”

“What?! He wants us to abandon our defenses? Is Pellan crazy?” Elgar blurted out from behind me, and I quickly shot him a disapproving look that shut him up. Rhodin couldn’t pretend he understood what Minister Pellan was thinking either but bad-mouthing a commanding officer was a poor decision, even if it was during a battle. Rhodin had met Pellan a few times over the years and he struck Rhodin as being a master strategist. Pellan had always spent time with the soldiers and would occasionally take part in their gambling or drinking activities. It was because of this that Rhodin had determined the Minister to be of reputable worth and could be trusted. Rhodin decided then that if this is what Pellan ordered, it had to have been crucial to the army’s success that night.

Rhodin could see movement from Harston’s and Beck’s units already, and began to issue his own commands to his Corporals. “Alright, I’m going to take five of the spear men and heavy troopers. I also want another ten of the regular soldiers to come with us. Glenn, you will be in charge here on the wall of the remaining soldiers until we return. Do any of you have any experience with a trebuchet?” None of the men responded, but a hand shot up from the back. The hand belonged to one of the newer corporals, a young man named Niko who had only joined the guards recently and had been put in Rhodin’s unit.

Niko was only fourteen years old which made him three years younger than Rhodin. The boy had the dark skin of the Abdallans but also had the light blonde colored hair and facial features of other Nor-Easterners. Niko had an incredibly small stature, to the point where he could barely lift a short sword. Instead he had a dagger strapped to his side that was easier for him to maneuver and swing. His size and care-free personality caused most of the soldiers to disregard him or not take him seriously, and many of the other Sergeant’s wouldn’t allow Niko into their squads when he initially tried to join The Kogan Guard. Rhodin had seen the boy continue to train after being mocked by the other sergeants and thought he was special, so he had chosen to recruit him. In many ways, he reminded Rhodin of how he and Harston had acted when they were his age. Despite a lack of strength, he could move faster than any of the soldier’s Rhodin had. Niko was also crack shot with a long bow, and could hit moving targets more than two hundred meters away. He clearly had intelligence, and had a knack for thinking outside the box. The kid had skills others didn’t, and Rhodin had been glad that he scored such a useful kid for his own unit.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Yes Niko?” I said and the corporals shifted their gaze to give him their full attention.

Niko gulped nervously at the grown men looking down at him before starting to talk, “I think I can do it. I will need help moving the trebuchet and loading it though. Resetting the trebuchets arm too will take the strength of a few of us. This could all be for nothing though if the monsters were smart enough to sabotage the trebuchet by cutting the ropes that attach the counter-weight. We’re operating under the assumption that the trebuchet is still fire able I guess, but it’s quite the risk.” The rest of the soldiers stared at Niko with a look of shock and surprise on their faces.

“Wait what-Oi you little brat, how do you know all that?” Elgar stammered out, and Niko turned bright red.

“Uh well I guess it doesn’t matter now, so to make a long story short my father was the one who designed the trebuchets.” Niko said while laughing and rubbing the back of his head modestly.

“But weren’t all of the siege weapons designed by Minister Pellan himself?” Glenn asked.

“Hold on, are you saying this boy is…” but Elgar didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. Everyone who had heard Niko knew what the implication of his words were.

“I thought Minister Pellan didn’t have a wife or family?” Wekkes quickly added.

“Well my father definitely doesn’t have a wife. I was born a bastard, if that makes things easier for all of you to understand.”

“We don’t have time for this, Niko you’ll have to do the job. Can you handle it?”

“Yes sir. I promise that I’ll do the best I can.”

“Wait sir, there is one more order I must pass on but it’s a secret.” Wekkes calmly stated from the back.

“Well hurry up and get on with it. We don’t have all night.” Wekkes got very close to Rhodin and made sure no one could overhear before carefully whispering the final part of the command. When Wekkes finished Rhodin’s eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously?” Was all Rhodin could muster out but Wekkes just shook his head in confirmation. Rhodin quickly tried to grasp Pellan’s thinking but came up with nothing before turning back to his corporals.

“Okay. I’m also taking Elgar, Wekkes and Briggs. I’m counting on the rest of you to do as you’re ordered. If any other strategies come from Command, try to follow them to the letter exactly.” The few men around him all looked at each other before they gave Rhodin the confirmation he needed with a quick salute. Rhodin gave them a knowing smile and said, “I’m counting on you men. Good luck and good fortune to you all!”

Rhodin thought about the times that they had all enjoyed or suffered together, and hoped that he and the Corporals would all get to meet again someday. After those last words were delivered; Rhodin and his assembled squad took off towards the south wall, running parallel with the other groups from Harston and Beck’s units.

Rhodin heard a shout, and looked up at another flying projectile launched by the monsters. Rhodin realized with horror that the projectile wasn’t a boulder. A massive cage was flying through the air and it was filled to the brim with flesh and limbs. Rhodin could only watch as the cage collided with a barracks building and a cloud of dust kicked up. When the dust settled, Rodin could see the ghouls who had been in the cage running around murdering civilians.

∞

I tried to gather myself mentally, but seeing my brother crushed to death like that shook me to my core. Ribvan must have been able to tell that I was distraught and before I knew it, he had bent down to hug me. The intense feeling of his frigid steel armor that had chilled in the night air helped me recover from my anguish and come back to my senses. I glanced over at Olan. He stood there unblinking, in a state of silence. I thought about how in my entire life, I don’t think I had once seen him be so quiet.

A tear fell from my cheek, and Ribvan wiped it away with the back of his hand. He then stood up, and began issuing orders to the rest of the men. The carriage team had been blown away from the shrapnel of the flying boulder, and the front wheel axle of the vehicle was in splinters.

“Hurry Men! We must get the young lords out of the city! We must get to the back gate now! Regroup and hurry up for god’s sake!”

The men who had heard Ribvan ran around trying to find their scattered equipment. Another soldier tried to do what little first aid he could on the wounded men, and I could see him tying off the knot of a tourniquet on some poor man’s arm out of the corner of his eye. Judging from the amount of blood I didn’t think the man would live, but that didn’t stop the soldier from trying.

A sudden whimper caught my attention, so I checked to make sure Shadow was still okay and glanced at the dagger in my bag. Something internally told me to take it out, so I fastened the sheath to my leg with the leather straps as quickly as I could. While I worked, the soldiers finished their task and Ribvan began to hustle us towards the back gate on foot with no carriage to take us to safety.

The nine of us ran the 500 meters to the gate in silence, and I hoped we had been fast enough to escape. I looked up and watched massive boulders fly over the front gate, smashing into different buildings or roads. I could hear the sounds of people screaming all around me. I thought about how it had been only ten minutes since the bells had rung and we had left the Keep.

In case something happened to the carriage, the backup plan involved a group of horses that would be waiting for us in the stable by the back gate. The soldiers mounted the horses, and two of the knights took the front. The heavy soldiers followed, with Ribvan and the third knight in the next row. This is where the two of us would be positioned. I would be riding with Sir Ribvan while my brother Olan would ride with the third knight. Following up the rear on the last horse was the archer.

The column of horses galloped to the back gate and Ribvan ordered the guards to open the gate quickly. Two of the guards ran into the guardhouse to where the chain that lifted the gate was anchored. There was a brief second of quiet before I could hear the gears slowly turning and the gate started to rise inch by inch. As soon as the gate was the height of the horses, Ribvan ordered the men to depart and we raced out of the city.

We had only gotten a few paces past the gate but something had already alerted the scout. “Look Out!” the scout screamed but it was too late. The two knights in front were hit by a wave of dark colored projectiles traveling at insanely high speeds. They had been struck so fast I barely had time to register what had happened. The two knights fell from their horses and I could see that their expensive high-quality armor had many large fist-sized holes in them.

I looked out in the distance but could only see one person wearing what looked like a very expensive suit. One of the heavy-troopers jumped of his horse and through up his shield. “Go back!” The heavy trooper yelled, while the rest of us tried to turn around. Before long, the same lightning fast projectiles struck him that had hit the knights but the soldier took the brunt of the force on his shield. The shock of the blow knocked him backwards, and he wasn’t ready for the next attack. I tried to look away but knew what was coming. I could hear the sound of the projectiles piercing him to death as we fled back through the gate.

After passing back underneath the gate, Ribvan turned back to the guards who had just opened it for them previously. “Shut the gate, Hurry!” Ribvan shouted.

The men looked confused to see him and at first didn’t understand why we had returned, but they still did exactly as Ribvan asked. Again, a few seconds passed before the gears of the gate activated and it slowly began to lower itself. Ribvan cursed before yelling at the men, “Just drop it! We don’t have time!” Unfortunately Ribvan was right. The two guards released the chain, and the gate dropped towards the ground at a greatly increased pace. Just before the gate slammed itself closed, two giant hands caught the falling metal about a foot from the ground and slowly rose the gate back up. Ribvan turned towards the direction of the gate and then slowly looked upwards at a giant Chimera.

The Chimera roared, and the soldiers around the monster took a step backwards. The Chimera lifted the gate over its head like a strongman at a festival before taking a step inward and letting the gate fall behind it. Now that the monster was within the walls I could see that it had the head of a lion, the body of a boar and a serpent’s tail. The tail lashed out like a whip and wrapped itself around the leg of the nearest guard. The tail tightened and the guard was easily tossed like a rag doll into the gate wall. It reminded me of the way a child throwing around his toys in the midst of a tantrum. The man hit the wall with such force that his entire body exploded into a bloody mess, sending red chunks of armor and clothing flying through the air in different directions. There was a brief pause as the monster turned back to the group and the remaining soldiers hesitated out of fear.

“You Piece of Shit, Die!!!” Olan suddenly shouted while charging the Chimera. I tried to put out my hand to stop him, but couldn’t grab him in time. The last heavy-trooper also tried to step in the way with his shield held high but the Chimera lunged at them. The arm of the monster went through the heavy-trooper; his shield, and Olan with one single violent swing. I felt Olan’s warm blood splash against my skin and I screamed horrified while Ribvan tried to do his best to cover my eyes. The last knight and the scout drew their weapons while other guards who had been positioned on top of the wall came down to surround the monster.

“Take the boy and get out of here, Ribvan!” The knight yelled but Ribvan was frozen in place.

“Run? But Where?” He stuttered out, and I realized that he was stuck in a state of shock. Really though, who could blame him? Everything that they had planned had failed spectacularly.

It was at that moment an idea came to me. “I know where!” I shouted and began to run down the street away from the Chimera much to the confusion of everyone present. I quickly glanced back for an instant as I sprinted and could see Ribvan and the scout following close behind me. They wouldn’t have any clue where I was taking them, so it was important that they stayed close. If the guards were going to sacrifice themsElvish for this opportunity, I had to make it work.

∞

The ghouls’ moment of disorientation quickly passed and they began causing mayhem all around Rhodin as he continued to hustle towards the siege defenses. Every so often he would have to engage one of the monsters that broke through himself, and six ghouls had already personally been felled by his war hammer. The three squads who had been trying to cross the city were now pushed together by the monsters and fought side by side within Kogan Square. He could see the banners of Harston’s and Beck’s squads scattered in different locations all over the middle of the fighting. Rhodin tried to quickly wipe the blood from his weapon’s handle while he took a look around him. “Sir our strategy isn’t working, we’re completely surrounded. We will be utterly wiped out soon.” Wekkes sadly stated and Rhodin knew that he was correct. Even if the guards somehow managed to break through the ghouls, they would be too exhausted to try and take back the siege equipment. Without a certain number of soldiers reloading the trebuchets it wouldn’t be possible to operate either.

Rhodin continued to fight and push towards the back end of the square with his squad when he made eye contact with Beck. Without saying anything, Rhodin knew what Beck was trying to tell him. His expression said it all. Rhodin gritted his teeth, and gave the order that he knew would seal the man’s fate.

“Alright men! Abandon the stragglers, we don’t have time! Get in wedge formation! We’re breaking through!” The soldiers around him shouted in compliance and began to alternate positions. After a few moments, the heavy troopers had successfully maneuvered to the front while the spear men moved to the spaces in between them. The soldiers’ new position created what looked like a make-shift wall of steel with jagged spikes sticking out. Rhodin and the rest of the soldiers switched to the third row and got in a position to push if needed.

“Ready! Onward!” Rhodin cried, and all the men let out a yell simultaneously while rushing forward. The wall of soldiers smashed into the ghouls opposite them, and the monsters we’re sent reeling. A distance of a few metres opened in the separation of space between the two forces from the impact. Rhodin knew he only had one opportunity to make his plan work and gathered his breath.

“Now! Hurry to the trebuchets! Elgar, follow up the rear!” He yelled.

“Yes Sir!”

Rodin made sure he had Niko, Wekkes and Briggs with him before looking towards Harston on the opposite side of the square. He and his men had also managed to separate themselves from the enemy force and were pushing onward through town, just a few seconds ahead of Rhodin’s group.

Beck must have sent Harston's squad as well. Good, we'll need the back-up. Rhodin turned towards Beck’s squad and tried to make out the copper and gallant ore helmet of his superior but couldn’t identify it in all the chaos. With no time left to hesitate, the men rushed to the trebuchets, leaving their Captain surrounded by an army of teeth and claws.

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