The next morning saw a brilliant sun rise on a cloudless day. The night before but a memory now, pushed to the backs of their minds. Wollfen went out on deck and seeing some sailors mending a sail went over to sit with them. Taking up a needle to help with the sewing, the sailors hastily made room for him, they weren’t really sure what to do. Well he wasn’t making their lives a misery like Madeira would so that was a consolation. After some time on the boat it had occurred to Wollfen that it was a wise move to bond with the sailors too and so made a decision to put aside some time each day with them.
“
So tell me, any of you men have families at home you long to see?”
None of them replied. They were already struck dumb by a sorc, a male sorc at that, sitting and doing menial chores with them. Wollfen decided he would leave talking to them at a later date, maybe in a couple of days.
The morning passed swiftly. It was good to do something different for a change, four weeks on the water without anything to do but think, it had been getting to him he realized.
I wonder if the captain would mind a chat? Wollfen looked to him at the helm, proud of his ship but grudgingly escorting the two of them back to Isogorr. He could see the man would have preferred something more exciting. Wollfen was sure that at some stage of this war he would get his wishes.
He thought about Dark and what she might be doing, hoping one of the others would be able to keep her busy. Knowing Dark, she was sure to try and come after him if the right circumstances came about. He could only hope that it didn’t eventuate. It saddened him to think about how long it would be before he saw her again. There was no doubt that as time went on the feelings wouldn’t subside. He knew deep down he loved her totally.
It was a love like he had ever only felt once before. Wollfen thought back to all those years ago. It was like another lifetime when he had been that deeply in love. And when she had died, it had cut him deep. The pain had helped to drive him away from humanity. He had entered the wilderness and wandered for so many years, the pain an ever-constant reminder of how hollow he really was without her. She had been a spirited woman too, full of energy and wonderment, not given to a life of frivolities. They had shared in all that they had done, all of it being just that more special for being with each other. Dark was the same, they had only been together a year but he knew he had found the one, his soul mate, how lucky was he? Most people went through their lives never finding the perfect partner, he was blessed indeed.
Loranda stood in her saddle looking out over the cliff face. It was a long way down and there was nothing to catch anything falling over that edge. It would be a pretty hard thump at the bottom she thought to herself. Sitting back she looked across at the others. Night and Dark were talking about defenses or some such thing. Vaughn was simply sitting in his saddle, not really paying attention. He really doesn’t talk too much at all. She had tried to chat to him over the last four days to no avail. Maybe he needs to be shocked into opening up? She thought cheekily. Oh she did like to tease and men were so easy to bait too. Vaughn would be no different.
What was he looking at? Loranda followed his gaze. She could see him looking up the mountain range ahead. They had come to the base of the mountains and would be turning around soon to go back, but what was so interesting up there? She gave her horse a nudge in the ribs and got it to draw level with his.
“
So what are you finding so interesting?” Vaughn didn’t look.
“
Shh, listen.”
Loranda sat still and focused on hearing, not what was going on around them but further out. A snap of a twig, a rustle of underbrush, yes she could hear it too. It was still a little ways off.
“
What do you suppose it is?”
“
I have no idea.”
As if on cue a flight of arrows shot in an arc from long range fell towards them. Loranda cried out at the top of her voice,
“
To arms!”
Dark and Night responded immediately. They had already decided a couple of nights before that if they ran into something, anything, they were to take flight. The two of them launched into a full gallop back in the direction they came, directly away from the mountains along the ridge. Both Vaughn and Loranda were immediately behind, the arrows finding vacant ground where they had been standing only an instant before. Vaughn was looking over his shoulder as he rode next to Loranda.
“
Who are they?”
Loranda shook her head.
“
Not who, what, those arrows, their color and markings are of one race only, orcs.”
“
Orcs?”
Vaughn was surprised. He had never seen an orc and by the looks of things he was going to miss out again. He needn’t have worried. They weren’t stupid creatures and a small band of them had moved parallel to the ridge further down as the four of them careered along. Those orcs raced out from the undergrowth to block their path. Dark and Night had prepared though raising their crossbows and firing at them standing in the open. Two orcs went down in shrieks and spouts of black blood. Vaughn looked on, too amazed and shocked to load his own crossbow. He had never been inland in his life.
Loranda on the other hand had her sword out and ready. None of them slowed at the blockade. Dark and Night both ran down an orc each as they hit the line at full speed. The orcs hadn’t a chance to react, there was more cries and wails of pain as the four crashed through.
It was over in an instant. One moment they were in the middle of them with the sound of impact and pain, then the forest was silent again but for the sound of the fast riding horses.
Vaughn looked back,
“
So that’s an orc huh?”
“
No, I was wrong.”
Vaughn looked at Loranda with a questioning look.
“
They were just Keera’s drinking buddies.” She quipped.
Vaughn laughed out loud.
“
Oh, I see.”
Dark turned in her saddle and added her bit,
“
Just make sure you keep away from her. I would hate to see you turn out like that!”
They all laughed as they galloped along. It wouldn't be long before they got back to Port Volarus.
SETBACK
Underlord Thanos stood at the helm of his ship, the Nevacles. It was a cruiser type ship more heavily armed than a Man O War and larger, carrying 150 men though not as quick. He had three in his flotilla and another five Man O Wars. He had a good unit with good men, all battle hardened and tested. This raid they were going on wouldn’t really be much of a test at all, hit some fishing village in a shallow port and return with whatever booty they could get their hands on. Simple enough and he would carry his orders out to the letter, leave no villager alive and burn the town.
They had seen the occasional fishing vessel along the two-day journey, the boats had retreated very quickly and he didn’t think much of it. Port Valderus would know they were coming but it wouldn’t make much difference. Valderus had no real defenses and no way of hurting them so he wasn’t particularly worried. He could see the town now, approximately a mile ahead. A single jetty jutting out into the bay.
“
Instruct the first mate to start the taking of soundings. I want to know if we can sail right in.”
Thanos could see the tide was in and while under normal circumstances larger ships like his own wouldn’t enter the bay, he was hoping it was deep enough while the tide was high for them to dock against the jetty. They would have to be no more than a couple of hours or risk having their ships stranded at low tide. The first mate returned with news.
“
Depth is 80 feet and getting shallow rapidly.” Thanos nodded.
“
Tell me at each ten foot interval.”
The first mate turned and shouted out to the man holding a large plumb bob over the edge of the deck, working out the angle of the rope to how many knots in the rope as he pulled it in. Dragging the weight and just letting it touch the seabed allowed them a good idea of their depth. The man shouted out a sounding at intervals,
“
Depth 70 feet!”
They were less than a mile to the jetty but still a way to go.
“
Depth 60 feet! Depth 50 feet! Depth 40 feet!”
Still they continued on under full sail.
“
Depth 30 feet!”
Two more minutes and they were half a mile off.
“
Depth 20 feet!”
This was going to go close.
“
Call out 5 foot intervals!”
At seven hundred yards the call came.
“
Depth 15 feet!”
Thanos turned to the flagman,
“
Signal for the three cruisers to hold back, the Man O Wars to continue on and that Captain Ephanos takes command of the raid on shore.”
The flagman started waving out to the other ships. This was cutting it very close indeed, those Man O Wars would probably only be able to stay at the jetty for an hour or so, but no longer, when the tide turned they would get stuck very quickly.
Thanos raised his telescope to study the jetty more closely. Three larger fishing boats were moored alongside a few small ones. A couple of them had spotted their own fleet the day before no doubt. He wondered if the town had emptied to the inland areas? It certainly would make his job a lot easier with the time constraints at hand, but then depending on how easily the town fell he may just lay anchor for the next high tide cycle. No point rushing things if he didn’t need to.
There was an unusually large amount of crating sitting on the jetty. Would they trade in that amount of goods here? There seemed to be a wisp of smoke coming from behind some of the stockpiles. Thanos could not have known that the town was now a military garrison or that they had placed catapults and ballistas in strategic positions on the jetty. Hidden behind those crates were a hundred troops heavily armed with cross bows and bows, ready to open fire.
Sergeant Burkhard couldn’t believe his luck, they were sailing right up to them! At a hundred yards his scream pierced the air.
“
Catapults and ballistas fire! fire! fire!” All of a sudden the jetty erupted, flaming pots of oil arced up into the air. They had timed their range to the second. Four pots descended on the Man O Wars and ballista bolts flew into them. The two lead Man O Wars took the brunt of the fire, one taking two direct hits, one pot square on the bow and the second pot smack damn in the middle. You couldn’t hope for more. The sound of screaming men burning and flames crackling immediately filled the air.
The second ship was luckier with only one pot landing but still it was devastating. Ballista bolts were cutting through the ranks of the waiting men on the decks, all trying to avoid being hit. It was a mess on both boats and the first one swung away to the side, burning furiously. The surprise was total and very effective.
“
Crossbows and archers! Fire!”
Now a hundred deadly sharps rained down on the decks of the ships raking then from stem to stern. The devastation was total. The second Man O War was swinging to one side too as a sailor dead and pinned to the ships wheel by a Crossbow bolt manned the helm. Burkhard would have to give the man that fired that bolt a beer afterward.
They didn’t have it all their own way, the three following Man O Wars split up and swung wide, two going to one side and the third to the other. This time they opened up with their own catapults and six pots sailed through the air. Four found their mark, this time it was the turn of Burkhard’s men to burn and die. Two of the catapults were hit and burning, flaming bodies screaming and falling over the edge into the ocean. The sergeant understood their position would become untenable very quickly. Getting two Man O Wars was more than they had hoped,
“
Archers! Fire one more volley, pick your targets and then it's every man for himself!”
Burkhard then turned and ran. All they could do now was get off the jetty. The remaining men were all running with him within the space of less than ten seconds. A second volley of flaming pots hit the end of the jetty but all of his men were long gone and retreating behind the barricaded gates to the town. They were a safe enough distance from the water and none of the ships could fire and hit them. Burkhard looked back down the main street. They had set up another two catapults there in preparation for this very situation.
Captain Ephanos was a very angry man. They had just run into a trap like a bunch of rookies and gotten severely punished for it. He was sure that Underlord Thanos would have him soundly flogged and demoted after this even though he had been under direct orders. Ephanos had to save face and save himself.
“
Get us moored and disembark the men!”
They moved in close, the end of the jetty burning behind them as the men poured on to it and waited to move forward.
“
Move forward to 150 feet of the walls of the town and get the archers to open fire in high arcs to land behind the walls!”
The men all raised shields and moved forward, all chanting in response to their company leader urging them forward with vitriolic barbs spewing from his mouth. At the two hundred foot mark two fire pots sailed over the wall of the town towards the jetty crashing into the rear third of the column of men, fire enveloping them and again screams of agony as most of the ones hit dived into the waters beside them.
“
Archers fire!” Ephanos turned to his lieutenant, “Get three catapults on that jetty and down to within range of theirs. I want their catapults destroyed!”
The lieutenant saluted and ran off barking orders. The troopers surged forward with their archers firing over their heads. They had no idea if it was having any affect. At a hundred feet the troopers stopped and kept their shields up. They had been taking return fire from the town and opposing archers were trading arrows. Two more pots came sailing over. One missed the jetty splashing into the water, the second caught the edge of the jetty and most of the flaming oil sprayed into the water too. Behind the men two catapults were loaded and ready, the third was still positioning.
“
Fire now!”
These men were well trained and had been watching where the pots were coming from, their own pots sailed over the walls and hit home. Burkhard’s catapults were enveloped in fire, they would be of no more use.
“
Ballistas fire!”
There were two small holes in their walls recently cut out and six foot long bolts with steel barbs on the end flew out directly at the troops on the jetty. As they hit their shields the bolts passed right through the first two ranks of men killing them instantly. The troopers manning the enemy catapults had been watching carefully. Upon seeing the direction of where the first bolts came from, they directed the next volley of flaming pots against the wooden walls.
The walls of the town were made of logs of trees stuck in the ground and all were roped together for strength. Against the wilds and raiding thieves they were fine, but against a well-armed enemy it was an entirely different story. Two pots flew to their respective targets and hit the walls hard. A cascade of burning oil splashed out and through the cutouts and then two more bolts came flying out cutting down more of their men. The third catapult now fired at the main gates and added to the fire too, it would only be a matter of about ten minutes before the gates would be able to be breached.
The first two catapults fired another volley at the positions of the ballistas, but it was not having an immediate affect, bolts were still being fired out at their men. The lieutenant directed all catapults to lob their pots directly into the town.
Inside the walls there were a number of dead men and many wounded as the arrows rained down from above but they stood their ground. Burkhard looked about, this wasn’t going well at all. He knew it to be only a matter of minutes before the column of enemy troops charged those burning gates. He made a decision.
“
Fall back into the buildings on each side of this street! Use bows and crossbows to take them down!”
The men all pulled back and withdrew to inside the buildings and waited. Then pots from outside started to crash into the town setting some of the roofs on fire. What should the sergeant do? Burkhard realized he was fighting a losing battle and the enemy would soon take the town, they were much better trained than his men in warfare.
Burkhard had to act, he ordered 100 men to stay and delay the enemy as best as they could. the rest he ordered to destroy what supplies were in the store building and withdraw to the eastern gates. He then took a small contingent and they raced off starting fires in as many buildings as possible, with luck if the fires got big enough they would engulf the rest of the town too.
Outside the lieutenant had noticed that arrow fire from inside had dropped off to nothing. He waited for another minute then ordered the column of men forward.
“
Hit the gates! Take them down!”
The soldiers rushed forward using their shields as battering rams crashing though the burning remains. Inside they were met with withering fire from the hidden archers and 2 dozen men were immediately cut down but still they pressed forward. Inside the walls the troopers realizing it was clear pressed forward against the incoming arrows and bolts. There was little hesitation after realizing where the defenders were. They rushed to the buildings and started battering at their doors to make their way in and take the fight to the archers. It was a costly exercise as men were cut down either by crossbow bolts or by swinging swords as they entered rooms but they were making headway.
After another twenty minutes the town was taken with the remnants of the defenders running for the east. Little did the lieutenant know that the majority were now on horseback and retreating southeast along the inland road. A trooper came up to him.
“
We have captured two men sir.”
The lieutenant reacted quickly,
“
Bring them to that building there and send in trooper Vascala and his men to find out what they know.”
The trooper saluted and left. Turning to another trooper he ordered him to organize search parties to find what supplies they could and organize their return to the docks with them as soon as possible. Now he turned and looked around. There were a great many fires burning he could see, he had a suspicion the supplies were torched. The Captain wouldn’t be pleased at all.
An hour later Captain Ephanos and his three remaining Man O Wars had returned to the rest of the fleet with a small number of fishing vessels. He had left the Lieutenant nailed to a tree for his efforts. The Captain had brought the bad news of no captured supplies and the fishing vessels while seaworthy had all been stripped of fishing gear.
Underlord Thanos was not very pleased at all. They had lost 250 men and two ships for nothing. Thanos turned to his own Lieutenant and gave him strict orders.
“
You will take the Captain here back to his ship, I am making you the new Captain in charge.”
“
What shall I do with Captain Ephanos sir?”
“
Oh, behead him off the side of his ship and feed his body to the fish, now go.”