Vedientir Page 5

  To the right of the gate, a bit further away from the rest of the men, stood a group having a fiery conversation, but he was too far away to be able to understand them. He recognized three faces among them - Senteus, the captain of the guard who was speaking at that moment, his father opposite Senteus, and Kerkio to their right, whom he was extremely happy to see again.

  He joined them cautiously and they all noticed him and accepted his arrival without stopping their conversation. Kerkio smiled contently seeing him alive and well.

  "Climb. Take a look. There's a lot more of them than you said there would be," Arnos said and Dion immediately ran up the walls to see for himself.

  The road to the Crossroads was bustling with torches, men and horses. It was clear even without counting that there were more than a hundred men there.

  "I'm sorry," he said when he got back from the walls.

  "It's all right. You saw what you saw."

  "Yes," added Senteus. "The scouting party I sent south when you departed reported back an entire army."

  "What's the plan?" asked Kerkio and Arnos responded.

  "We stay inside the walls and hope there's no attack until the morning. Then we'll see their true numbers and coordinate a response with Echa. If they do attack now..." Arnos paused for a moment. "They only have siege ladders. We won't have a problem with that."

  The moment Arnos finished speaking a familiar voice came from the north calling for him, but it was mixed with the sound of beating hooves, so the name was all they could understand. Dion called the rider and waved at him.

  Winded and distraught, Pelin dismounted and joined the group.

  "The Tree," said Pelin but then paused to wrestle with his dry mouth.

  "The Treewatcher sent me to get you. The Tree has closed."

  "The Tree has closed?" repeated Arnos, unsure if he heard correctly.

  "Yes. The path to Echa closed. Suddenly. While people were still going through it." Pelin was taking deep breaths between short sentences.

  "Strange. Why didn't the Treewatcher simply open the Path again?"

  "He tried. Several times, but he failed each time."

  Now Arnos became upset as well. Not only was he still stuck with the refugees from the southern villages, but he lost the easiest way out of the city.

  "Let's go and see what's going on. Dion, you're coming with us."

  The three of them mounted up.

  "Senteus, Kerkio," added Arnos before departing, "you are in charge of the defense."

  Dion thought it strange that father would appoint Kerkio along with Senteus, but said nothing.

  They found the city square overflowing with people, and seeing Arnos, they stopped the three riders.

  "Are we really under attack? What's happening?" These were the questions heard most often.

  "Yes. Don't know why. Don't know by whom, but yes." That was Arnos' answer after which the people quieted down.

  "The men are already on the walls, but I'm relieved to see you armed and in such numbers here but stay here so I can call upon you if needed. I must go now."

  Encouraged, the people cleared a path, and the riders continued west towards the park. They found people there as well. Some were sitting, some were already sleeping and those more inquisitive were standing around the Great Oak.

  As soon as he noticed Arnos, the Treewatcher said "I don't get it" and shook his head.

  "A few people went through and then these two came back from the Tree, confused, and told me they couldn't cross over. I went in there to check and found the Path closed. I tried the spell for the fourth time not long ago."

  He took a peek into his leather purse. "I only have two more acorns from Echa with me."

  Arnos entered the Tree. He had to see it with his own eyes. It wasn't possible that the Tree wouldn't react to the spell.

  "It isn't known that it isn't possible," he corrected himself.

  "Treewatcher," Arnos called him when he exited the Tree.

  "Perhaps there's something wrong with the acorns. Give them to me and go fetch more." The Treewatcher obeyed.

  "I need two men," Arnos said to a group of twelve horsemen from Echa in charge of escorting the refugees and two immediately stepped forward.

  "Go to Echa at once. Take the north road. See if there is anything wrong with the Great Oak in Echa. One of you report back here, the other notify lord Taren of the situation here."

  They rode off and Arnos began checking the acorn, lost in his thoughts. Pelin and Dion argued for a moment or two over something irrelevant but then they also fell quiet.

  It was a while before the Treewatcher returned with a new set of acorns. It was already dawning.

  Arnos gestured for him to enter the Tree so they both did. The Treewatcher activated the spell and tried to open the Path, but again, the light refused to go from his hand onto the Tree to open the Path. Arnos looked around the inside of the Tree, waiting for any kind of reaction to the magic and then he thought he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a change near the Treewatcher. He stared into the darkness in front of the Treewatcher, but now that he was watching carefully nothing was happening. He was starting to lose patience and a thought began brewing in his mind that it was time to give up, but then the darkness in front of the Treewatcher changed. Moved. Arnos blinked and the Treewatcher vanished from the Tree and his scream was cut short.

  Shocked, Arnos threw himself backwards, and hitting the side of the tree was the only thing that kept him from falling to the ground. He could hear Dion calling him from the outside.

  "Stay back!" Arnos shouted, then straightened up and ran out of the Great Oak.

  "Move away from the Tree!" he continued shouting while running away from the entrance.

  He unsheathed his sword and turned to face the Tree.

  "Those of you without weapons!" he called. "Go immediately to the north bridge and run to Echa. Do not delay. All armed men - next to me!" Arnos shouted orders, but did not take his eyes off the Tree.

  The villagers of Lorei, now profoundly scared, started running towards the city, back the way they came. Among disapproving voices and the wailing of a few old women, Arnos also heard swords unsheathing. Dion and ten men from Echa appeared on his left and Pelin with a few unarmed villagers came to his right.

  "Slowly," he ordered and then the entire group started inching towards the tree.

  The sheer sight of what had come out of the Great Oak struck them as an arrow straight through the heart.

  "Nooo," Arnos let out a long painful cry after realizing what must have happened for this thing to appear in front of their eyes.

  Dion was immediately frightened upon hearing his father. Dion looked at him, but Arnos' eyes were far away and Dion thought he saw tears in them.

  Arnos blinked to clear his eyes just in time to see a huge head full of teeth looking at them from the Tree's opening and its two gnarled, muscled arms ending in claws grabbed the edges of the opening.

  Arnos wanted to scream "Impossible!" but somehow he managed to hold it back. He started believing his eyes and only shouted "Back!" to his men.

  He had to act quickly as he saw the men were terrified and that they wouldn't be able to fight this thing off.

  "Dad!" Dion shouted. Arnos looked at him only for a moment, but that was enough.

  "Abandon the western palisades! Now!" Arnos shouted.

  "Bring the men here," he commanded Pelin who was his right-hand man that day and pushed him onto a horse.

  Soldiers began pouring out of the Tree - men dressed in simple leather armor. They carried two flags, but none that Dion ever saw before in his life.

  Pelin disappeared through the western tree line as fast as the horse would go. Arnos pushed Dion behind him to protect him and then swiftly fixed his gaze on the creature for he feared to let it out of sight for too long.

  The slobbery monster was now out in the open, in front of the Great Oak, and the soldiers gathered around him. The tallest of these soldiers was
only half as tall as the warty oversized half-bear with furrowed skin which growled next to them.

  There were soon more than twenty enemy soldiers in front of the Tree and they started moving forward to make room for more that kept coming out from it. The monster followed them and seemed ready to attack Arnos and his men when a huge noise came from the tree line to their left. Out from the tree line stormed Pelin and fifty men from Echa with their blue shields and sharp swords.

  "I need you," Arnos told Dion. "I know you've never used magic and that this is going to be difficult, but we have no time to lose. You need to kill that monster in my stead."

  He extended his hand and gave Dion a black acorn. When Dion took the acorn, Arnos whispered to him "Vlat gromah. That's the spell. Do it!"

  Dion looked at the acorn, his mind was overcome with hundreds of questions, but again he knew this was not the time to ask any. He squeezed the acorn, cast the spell his father whispered to him, and his hand opened on its own and grew heavy. A blinding white light that was in his hand grew quickly. A crackling sound accompanied the growth of light and sparks flew all around his arm. The white shape became elongated and started forming a spear from whose ends small lightnings licked the air.

  "Concentrate!" Arnos's voice was stern. "When you feel the pressure subside, the spell is ready."

  The spear made of light still grew in his hand and each breath was more difficult than the last one. He felt sweat coming down his face and his eyesight began to blur. He shook his head to try and compose himself and the spear of light crackled once more and then stopped growing. Dion felt instant relief and Arnos noticed it.

  "Go on! Use it!" shouted Arnos and pointed towards the monster.

  Dion looked at his father, then at the spear. He weighed the spear in his hand, balanced it. He put one leg back, located his target, raced a couple of feet and threw the spear.

  The spear flew from Dion's hand and immediately it gained more speed and turned into a real lightning. It covered the distance to the target in one breath and struck the monster with the strength of a spring thunderstorm.

  The air around the monster exploded and now broken and lifeless it flew back and fell in front of the Tree's entrance. A group of soldiers around the monster fell dead as well, and all others, both friend and foe, shrunk beneath the roar of thunder that followed. The stench of charred meat and burned hair filled the air.

  One by one, men on both sides got up, but no one attacked. They checked each other's strength, trying to catch breath, waiting for the whistling sound in their ears to subside.

  The men from Echa took formation first. Shield stood by shield in a straight line and the enemy huddled together and started backing away towards the Tree.

  "Ready!" they shouted as one to Arnos and waited but Dion stumbled and grabbed his father's arm to stop himself from falling to the ground.

  Arnos held him.

  "Secure the Tree," he ordered and then focused on his son. The wall of shields went forward.

  "Do you remember the lullaby Daedar sang to you when you were a boy? Sing it now. Sing it aloud or in your head, doesn't matter. Just sing it. That will stop you from falling unconscious."

  Dion was already so tired that he barely understood what his father was talking about. What lullaby? He searched his memories and no lullaby was brought back. Darkness prevailed and he fell to the ground beneath his father's feet.

  The men from Echa cut down most of the enemy and were closing in on the last group which held the entrance to the Tree but another monster ran over them when it stormed out of the Tree. It grabbed the body of the lightning-struck monster, threw it aside, and immediately attacked.

  It clashed with the shield wall and broke it. Three men fell to the ground and the monster trampled one of them, while the other two managed to discard their shields and move away. Twelve of the closest men surrounded it and the rest went forward towards the Tree. The monster quickly received numerous cuts and stabs, but showed no intent of giving up. It threw away four more men, broke several arms, and then another monster came out of the Tree, and then another.

  Three monsters now stood among them, thrashing and biting everyone around them, and even more soldiers started pouring out of the Tree, carrying wooden shields and spears.

  "Fall back!" Arnos again commanded the men from Echa, and then asked for Pelin.

  "Help me get Dion onto his horse!" he asked and the two of them quickly managed to get Dion's unconscious body over the saddle.

  A few spears came flying from the direction of the Tree, but none pierced the shields of the defense, and then a horseman from Echa came from the left in full speed, disregarding the command to fall back. He held his sword high, aiming at the head of one of the monsters. It turned around to face the horseman and immediately received a few stabs from the soldiers around him. It went for the horseman with its claws but the horseman was faster and his sword connected with the monster's head and tore open his jaw and cheeks like a sack of wheat. The horseman continued on, unscathed, leaving the sword stuck in the skull of the dying creature.

  "Back to the city!" stormed Arnos.

  "Riders! Go and send all women and children out of the city across the north bridge. Order the men in the square to form a line at the brook. Sound the alarm!"

  The retreat from the city park began and then the sound of bells came from the distance. The walls were under attack as well.

  The riders were already gone and Arnos, Pelin and the remaining villagers followed in their path. The men from Echa formed the rearguard with their shields. They repelled the enemy successfully and then finally a voice came from the enemy ranks and they stopped. Even the two wounded monsters obeyed the order.

  "Go quickly now!" Arnos told the Echans who could now turn around and run to safety.

  The number of people and torches forming at the eastern side of the brook grew with each passing moment. Arnos crossed the bridge, and the tired Echans crossed quickly behind him.

  The townsmen there were the first to receive orders.

  "Enemy forces are behind us. They seem to be regrouping on the other side. Don't let them cross the brook. Keep this line until the men retreat from the city gates in the south!"

  "Echans," Arnos continued. "Those too tired to fight continue towards the city square. Those who still have strength in them, stay here."

  Echans moved, though not to retreat, but to take on the most demanding point of defense - the bridge. Armed townsmen took positions on the banks.

  "Pelin! Peliiin!" Arnos yelled and searched for him in the crowd.

  The boy ran to Arnos.

  "Pull the men from the city gates. Tell them we are retreating to Echa across the bridge. After you do that, go to the palisades and pull the Echans there back to the square, but tell them to watch their backs."

  Pelin was just about to go when Arnos stopped him.

  "Here, take it. But I want it back after you are done," Arnos told Pelin and gave him his horn. A moment later the horn sounded through the streets.

  "Riders. Spread out and get all the people out of their houses. No one can stay." The ten horsemen that remained went as commanded.

  "Keep this line for as long as you can or until you hear my horn again. I will sound it three times for retreat." Arnos turned and rode off towards the square and then the first line of the enemy came out of the park.

  The road north as well as the entire square was jammed with people, donkeys, and carts.

  "Go, go!" Arnos yelled as he pushed them along.

  "Across the bridge. Leave your belongings."

  Dion woke up, slowly understood that he was slung over the saddle and then slid off the horse to his feet.

  "Are you all right?"

  "What's going on?" Dion asked after he nodded he was okay.

  "We're surrounded," Arnos responded angrily as sounds of renewed fighting came from the west.

  "You," Arnos pointed to a group of people that headed towards the bridge. "Help
Dion. Load all available carts with everything that can burn. Check the yards, check the sheds and take it all to the bridge."

  He looked at his son again and added quietly "Please do that and wait for me at the bridge," but then added more loudly "and take with you all hammers and axes you can find. We'll have to destroy the bridge."

  His attention was now on the riders that were coming on the Southern Road, but his planning was interrupted by a sweaty old man with a torn shirt who came from the Long Road.

  "Lord, the bridge at the park is barely holding and it won't be long before we're overrun. They are trying to cross the brook north and south of the bridge. The brook is full of hewn men and creatures but they keep coming. Echans killed two monsters on the bridge but one crossed the brook and took eight men until they killed it."

  "Arnos," called one of the riders who came from the city gates to let him know they were waiting for further instructions.

  "Fifteen should stay here and wait for the men that are on foot to get here. The remaining thirty - go to the brook, get our men back here."

  Echans from the eastern palisades broke through the houses to the square and Pelin brought back Arnos' horn. Arnos took it, and as he promised, blew in it three times to signal the retreat from the west.

  He looked at the horn trying to grasp and accept the day's events. The city was lost, but he was looking at more than three hundred soldiers who were still alive and were converging to safety from east, south and west and he signaled them to cross the bridge.

  When the last group of soldiers stepped onto the bridge, Arnos did too, and then he signaled the townsmen tasked with the destruction of the bridge that it was their time. They dragged three carts full of hay, clothes, planks, branches, and even a few jars of lard onto the bridge. The carts covered almost half the length of the bridge.

  "Destroy the bridge. They must not cross!"

  It was the last order Arnos gave in Echa Rei.

  A group of men went straight to work and axe after axe, hammer after hammer struck the great wooden bridge over the river Calapis. Planks cracked, got cut or ripped from the bridge and thrown into the river. A hole appeared in the north part of the bridge, big enough so no one could jump over it, and then a few torches flew over it and landed in the carts.