FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (32 page)

     Orgavian Deffs shook his head bitterly. Convian Genox tried hard to hold back her tears.

     “Exevian, look out to the eastern horizon,” said Orgavian Deffs casually.

     The exevian turned and stared at the growing specs of mould-like masses of battle-hardened Serpentian soldiers and their war equipments.

     “There will be no intercept mission, exevian, because I just do not have the necessary resources. Meanwhile, I command you to get some food and rest. Have your wounds tended to. I am re-assigning you to the defence of this fort. The Serpentians should be here by late afternoon, be ready by then,” ordered the orgavian.

     “Sir, yes, sir
!
” replied the exevian reluctantly, then he bowed and was helped away from the eastern battlements.

     A minvian-ranked swordsman paces up and down the eastern battlements checking the defence preparations done by his soldiers, shouting out orders and making corrections as he goes.
Whoosh!
The minvian utters a restrained shout of pain and collapses onto his knees. The wooden shaft of an arrow protrudes from his neck. His mouth opens wide, gasping for air, but the blood from his veins drowns him slowly yet surely. Tiny spots of bright light appear in his vision, growing evermore brighter and larger. Then everything turns bright before fading out to total darkness.

     “Shadow-archers
! 
Shadow-archers
!
” shouts several of the nearby soldiers.

     Swordsmen crouch behind the parapets while archers draw their bows, scanning the entire area in front and to the side of the eastern wall for their elusive and nearly invisible enemy. Another deep whooshing sound is heard and a Fallsian archer falls off the eastern wall. A hundred arrows are let loose wildly into the area in front of the eastern wall. Then again the deep whooshing sound occurs, and another Fallsian archer falls off the eastern wall. Another hundred arrows are let loose again. Then there is just silence. One by one, the swordsmen get up from behind the parapets. The soldiers seem to be safe, for the moment. They resume their task of preparing for the defence of the border fort.

     Inside the prison building, Ray lay bruised and bleeding. Lance tried his best to tend to his mentor’s wounds. Spirit paced anxiously in his cage, occasionally gnawing at the metal bars to no effect.

     “Escape _ why do you not use your powers to do of this
?
” enquired Lance.

     “Reasons _ there are two of these, the first, is try to prove that we are innocent; and if we are not successful at that, then the second is develop a proper plan before we attempt to escape, as without my Reservers, my powers are limited,” explained Ray.

     Lance looked at the floor in disappointment. Ray laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle smile.

     Spirit was getting very agitated in the cage.

     “Calm _ stay of this, my friend,” said Ray as he looked at the white wolf and tried his best to calm him with hand gestures.

     Spirit sat down, yet he scanned his surroundings in a disgruntled manner. Ray rested his bruised body, but his mind was in deep thought. Lance stared out the barred window, which was placed high up in the prison cell. He listened for sounds and conversation coming through it and tried to make sense of what that was going on. A low rumble sounded in his stomach. Lance was starving. They were given sufficient water but insufficient food, being given meals only once a day. Lance suspected that the reason for this was that the soldiers did not want their prisoners to have enough energy to escape, or even to try.

     At Eastgush, Thorn Sayvion was busy setting up the village defence. People from several nearby villages had arrived the previous morning and were actively partaking in the defence setup as well. The total number of villagers had swelled to 750 men, women and children.

     The village meeting hall was selected as the central point of defence, since it was impossible to defend individual homes. Food, grain, water and medicine were stored inside the meeting hall. All the women and children who had chosen to stay were gathered inside it as well. The village men had built three widely spaced rings of barricade around this building, creating a very rudimentary fortification. These barricades were made of logs, tree branches, furniture and various other materials. Able-bodied men were taught the basic techniques of weaponry. Tips and edges of pitchforks and shovels were sharpened to become rudimentary spears and halberds. Axes, sickles and machetes were made substitute for swords. Even knives and sickles were secured to long wooden shafts to make them deadlier and more effective. A few of the villagers had bows, and a moderate number of arrows were made for them. Those who were to hide in the mountain caves were packing food, water and medicine for their journey.

     Most of the men and even a few strong-willed women were practising to block, slash, cut and stab with their crude weapons, under Thorn’s watchful eyes. By his count, 250 able-bodied men and 50 strong-spirited women were battle-ready to man the barricades.  Another 100 able-bodied men were ready to escort the elderly, the sick, the women and the children to the mountain hideout.

     Those who were to man the barricades were lined up and set into formations, and as Thorn inspected them, he was disappointed to see amongst them a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman of the age 35 who bore a strong resemblance to Salmon Verance.

     “Caramel, what are you doing
?
Should you not be accompanying your parents
?
” asked Thorn, shocked.

     “No, Thorn. I’m staying to fight
!
” replied the blond-haired, blue-eyed woman.

     “Caramel, your parents need you to take care of them. Did we not agree that you and your parents will join the others and hide in the mountain caves
?
” insisted Thorn.

     “No, Thorn
!
You made
that
decision, not me
!
My decision is to stay and fight
!
” refused Caramel.

     Thorn shook his head in frustration. Salmon had warned him long ago about his sister’s character.

     “Your parents need you
!
” said Thorn as he pointed a finger at her parents.

     “My cousin Cod will be with them. I’m needed here,” insisted Caramel.

     “You are needed there
!
” counter-insisted Thorn, rather sternly.

     Caramel said nothing and did not move, but gave Thorn a defiant look instead. Finally, he relented and continued inspecting the rest of the formations.

     Thorn went up to Headman Sheppal, who was helping an elderly villager pack up for her journey.

     “We cannot wait any longer
!
The women and children must make for the mountain caves now, before it is too late. The Serpentians could arrive at any time,” said Thorn.

     “I agree with you, minvian. But what about the people from Bluewell Village
?
They’re not here yet,” questioned Headman Sheppal.

     “Most probably they will never come. Bluewell Village is not that far from here. If they had any intention to join us, they would be here by now. Forget not, their village headman did not give your rider an answer. The women and children must start their journey now. One more thing, Headman Sheppal; just address me as Mister Sayvion or just simply Thorn. My rank was void the very moment I deserted my post at Fort Eastguard,” replied the former Provincial Guard.

     “You’re right, minvian. I’ll get them going now,” agreed the headman as he nodded and turned towards his villagers.

     The midday sun radiates searing heat onto the soon-to-be battlefield. Sweat flows from the faces of the soldiers of Fort Eastguard. The metal of their armour absorbs the heat like a sponge soaks up water. Yet the expression on their faces is not that of discomfort or even fear, but of rage, a rage that comes from the need to avenge the plundering, slavery and murder of their fellow Fallsians.

     The Serpentians stopped 3000 paces from the border fort. Battlelord Constrictor had organised his soldiers systematically into five large columns. Three of these columns were in front while the remaining two were at the rear. The front columns were arranged with swordsmen forward, archers in the centre and Grand Catapults at the rear. The rear columns followed the same arrangement in a reverse order, with the exception of their Grand Catapults, which were moved forward to join the front columns.

     Convian Genox scanned the enemy’s battle configuration carefully, looking for any tactical weaknesses that she could take advantage of. No apparent weaknesses could be found.

     “Five heads in all, three for the main assault with two as reserves. Each head is equivalent to one of our lakes. Each head consists of five jaws, just like how each of our lakes consists of five ponds. Each jaw consists of five fangs, similar to our ponds as each of them consists of five rivers as well. Each of their fang, or our river, is a total of 62 soldiers and is made up of five of their eyes, or our streams. Each eye, or stream, consists of 12 soldiers. 7,812 Serpentian invaders in all, minus probably 1,800 soldiers assigned to advance raiding parties, which makes their number about 6,012 and 50 Grand Catapults. An impressive and formidable force, do you think not, Convian Genox
?
” assessed Orgavian Deffs.

     “Impressive
!
But, we have approximately 1,600 men and women defending this fort. We have 16 Heavy Catapults. We have cavalry, which they do not. And these walls are strong and thick. The ratio is four to one against us, but I am certain we can repel them, sir,” said Convian Genox confidently.

     Orgavian Deffs smiled at Convian Genox.

     “Your confidence is inspiring, convian. But do not underestimate our enemy. This battle may not be ours to win. The loss of Minvian Jussette and her pond has taught me a good lesson. Never assume that everything will go as planned. Always expect the worse to happen
!
So, we need to prepare contingency plans on top of contingency plans. And it is important for us to utilise every option available. We must grab every opportunity that comes our way, indeed, we must create these opportunities; or else all will be lost,” stressed Orgavian Deffs.

     “I understand, sir
!
” acknowledged Convian Genox.

     Battlelord Constrictor scanned the border fort from left to right, as he too, looked for weaknesses that he could manipulate. A scout ran up to him to report his findings.

     “Battlelord Constrictor, I count approximately 1,600 enemy soldiers. They have approximately 500 horses and they placed all 16 of their Heavy Catapults just behind the eastern wall,” reported the scout after bowing to his commander.

     Battlelord Constrictor dismissed the scout with a wave of his hand. A sly smile had cut across his face as he realised the significance of the report. Fort Eastguard had not been properly reinforced
!
The fort’s wall would crack and shatter under constant pounding in the end. It may have taken the Fallsians years to build the wall, but he knew that his Grand Catapult could destroy it within a day or two.

     Battlelord Constrictor turned to look at his men. They were all anxious and eager to kill, plunder and enslave. Greed drove them just as aggressively as it drove him. The time had come for him to take what was his by right
!
And by right meant the ‘right of conquest’. ‘What you can
conquer
, you can
own
’, what a beautiful idea that was to the battlelord. He had no feeling of doubt or guilt. It was his way. It was the Serpentian way. It was never wrong, nor would it ever be, as far as he was concerned. Gold, silver, diamonds, crops, medicine, slaves for the fields and the mines as well as the ones for the bed; it could never be wrong
!

    
Whoosh!
Immediately another minvian falls onto the ground in a pool of blood. Several arrows are let loose in return, but the Fallsian archers are intelligent, or concerned, enough to conserve their arrows for the upcoming main battle.

    
Boom!!!
  A huge boulder crashes into Fort Eastguard’s eastern wall, creating a cloud of dust and debris while sending a shock so powerful, a few of the Fallsian archers and swordsmen lose their footing.
Boom!!!
Another huge boulder crashes into the wall with the same devastating effect.

     The Fallsian Heavy Catapult crews waste no time in reciprocating. They send a few boulders hurling towards the Serpentians. These boulders are smaller than the Serpentians’ and do not travel as far; but far enough to crush and kill a few unfortunate soldiers at the front of the Serpentian formations.