Only a few days on the road and we arrived in Port Vail. The mist of the salt spray rode on the cool breeze throughout the port. Seagulls floated aimlessly riding the current without any care and fish glided across the water, with an unlucky few being snatched up by nets.
Among the ambient noise of the town, I could make out the town crier delivering news about the fall of Helindom and the instatement of Lord General Hailfax as the acting ruler. I vaguely remember that name. He was an older gentleman and lower in the pecking order as far as Lord Generals go. The Black Knight must have really destroyed our military structure that bad if Hailfax is now in charge.
“Pardon me, soldier.” a soft but masculine voice called out to me.
I turned to see a young man, likely in his early forties, dressed in an upper ranked uniform.
“Would you mind pointing me in the direction of the harbor? I’m due to meet my men there in a few minutes and I’m already running late. Don’t want to miss my boat!”
Leaf chimed in, “You’re Lord General Ardmore, yes?”
Shocked a complete stranger would know him by face, he smiled in humility. “Yes, that’s me. How did you know?”
Leaf extended his hand for a shake, “My father Lord Grizzenwald said you’d be my commanding officer for my first assignment at Helingtum and I recognize a Lord General’s attire anywhere.”
Ardmore shook Leaf’s hand with reverence, “Please accept my condolences. Your father was one of the King’s finest. He always had wise counsel to give me whenever I would seek it. I owe that man a great debt for helping me be where I am now.”
At the end of their handshake, Leaf allowed Lord General Ardmore to join us on our way to the harbor.
Leaf couldn’t help but ask how badly the military was damaged during the destruction of Helindom. To Ardmore’s regret, about seventy percent was gone and the only Lord Generals left are him and Lord General Hailfax. Helindom wasn’t the only place attacked on the day of the festival; key forts were blitzed and decimated. Lord General Hailfax is still resuming our assignment because he believes the base of operations for our attackers to be the island Helingtum is on.
“If that were true, how did they manage to trek all the way into the heartland?” I asked.
Ardmore’s face crumpled up as if to hold back laughter. “No one wants to hear it, but I believe it is the cause of magic,” he said. “A corrupt form of magic our lands have not seen in ages.”
I giggled, “Magic? Magic is for fairytales and small children.”
Ardmore shrugged his shoulders, “I know what I saw and the closest explanation I can think of is magic.”
Leaf chuckled along with me dismissing the Lord General’s outlandish theory. We didn’t mean any disrespect but magic didn’t exist, although there were some strange sects of people who worshiped it, believing it to be real. To my knowledge, they were far separated from civilized society.
As we approached the shiphand checking people in, he asked for our names. As we gave them, he gave us a salute. He then gave Leaf and I a foul look.
“I hope the two Squires plan on leaving their horses behind,” he said in a patronizing voice.
“I’m not leaving my horse, not after all the trouble we went through to get him back.” I snapped back.
Leaf leaned forward on Diana, “You heard my friend. Please understand we won’t be parting with them. Is there any room in the hull for our noble steeds?”
The shiphand shook his head, “No. Only officers have the privilege of stowing their horses on our ship.”
Leaf and I looked at Lord General Ardmore with the hope he could say something.
“If I may ask, am I the only one you’re expecting to have a horse on the ship?”
“Yes, sir, Lord General.” the shiphand replied.
Ardmore nodded, “Even in the slightest chance, would we be able to squeeze all three of our horses into the hull of the ship?”
The shiphand was silent; I could tell he wanted to lie, but not to a Lord General, as if to say if it had only been anyone else.
“Well, I believe we could. It’d be a tight fit, but possible if we moved some things. . .”
“Excellent. I knew I could place this important task in your hands!” Ardmore exclaimed, cutting the shiphand off and dismounting.
We dismounted our horses as well and accompanied the Lord General aboard the ship with our steeds in tow. The Lord General went to his quarters while we joined the other soldiers in the barracks. It was a lively scene below deck, you would have never thought our capital had been destroyed a little more than a week ago. There was a lot of rough and tumble, gambling, and leisure about. It dawned on me I didn’t belong here but due to extenuating circumstances I was roped in. It wasn’t my assignment, afterall.
I followed Leaf to a corner “suite” where we could be next to each other. Leaf slept and I swung side to side in my suspended cot lost in my thoughts of home. I want to see Helindom rebuilt but I don’t want the responsibility that goes along with it. Then again, with the Lord Generals in charge, a new generation of rulers will be born and I can live my life of a simple knight. I’ll get to travel, see new places, not be bothered by royal duties, and best of all, I get to stay by Leaf’s side.
The exhaustion of boredom finally set in and I drifted asleep, deaf to the racket of my fellow knights. When I awoke the next morning, it was on the tail end of everyone leaving for breakfast. I put on my boots and shook Leaf out of bed so we could eat. We grabbed our rations and headed above deck.
A circle of soldiers had formed at the bow of the ship. A rapid and violent barrage of clacking rattled the deck. It was accompanied by energetic cheering, shouting, taunting, insulting, and other kinds of verbiage the men could muster. A soldier fell to the deck with a loud thud with his conqueror parading around with his fists in the air. In his hand was a wooden sword.
“Who’s next?” he called out.
I looked at Leaf, who with no surprise, was grinning from ear to ear. I shook my head, chuckling. I knew what was going to happen next.
“Hold my breakfast.” he said to me as he gleefully entered the ring. He picked up the sword left behind by the previous contender and took his stance.
I figured Leaf was itching for a fight because his precious fencing contest at the tercentennial celebration had been destroyed during the attack. For him, it was about proving he was the best swordsman in all Helindom. For his age, he was skilled and was only second to those who are seasoned veterans of the sword.
The cheers fell to silence and for a moment, only the crashing waves against the ship and gulls overhead carried sound.
A careful step to the right, a creep forward there, Leaf sought to win the battle of footwork before the first blade was swung. His eyes locked with his opponent, looking away would leave him open to first blood. One would think they choreographed this in advance, but they lowered their blades to tap each other at the same time while maintaining their stalking prowl around one another.
Light taps became harder taps, harder taps became more frequent taps until they both broke loose in bursts of frenzy. A loud clap rang first blood on Leaf’s shoulder.
“That’s one strike, two more.” the knight chuckled. In his moment of ego, Leaf saw an opening to strike back, scoring a point.
Leaf gave him a cocky smile and bowed. Laughter erupted from the crowd.
“How about we make this more interesting? A Trickle goes to the winner.”
A Trickle was a modest wager. Losing a gold, silver, and copper coin wouldn’t break us, but we’d lose a third of the money we owned. Not much you can buy with a couple of silver and some copper pennies. Leaf gave me a look as if to say he wanted to take the bet. I shook my head in rejection. To no surprise, I went ignored.
“Deal, but first, show me the money to prove you’re good for it.” Leaf replied. His opponent showed him his Trickle and challenged Leaf to do the same who gestured to me to fulfill his wish. Begrudgingly I did and the duel commenced.
There’s something about men when the stakes are high that brings out a completely different beast in them. Every stroke Leaf and his opponent took became more precise, more ferocious, to outright terrifying.
Leaf managed to score his second point with a blow to the hip, but not even a minute later, Leaf took a hard blow to the stomach. He stumbled back gasping for air; the wind had been knocked out of him. Regaining his footing, he charged back into the fight, determined to win. With every new collision between each sword, splinters of wood popped off until final blows were struck and the two swords snapped.
Silence befell the crowd and slowly evolved into laughter.
“Call it a draw?” the knight asked, extending his hand to Leaf.
Leaf shook his hand, “Works for me.” he replied. “My name is Leaf, by the way. Leaf Grizzenwald.”
The knight was taken aback in surprise, “A pleasant surprise. I didn’t know non-nobles could fight as admirably as you. My name is Godwyn Hailfax.”
Leaf too was taken aback when he heard the name. “You’re related to Lord General Hailfax?”
Godwyn was a bit shy admitting his relation “He’s my uncle. He took a liking to me when I was young and taught me everything I know about swordsmanship and being a knight.”
Leaf smiled, “Same with my father.”
Godwyn paused for a moment and with a look of remorse said, “I’m sorry about the non-noble remark. I shouldn’t speak ill of the son of the King’s captain. I met him a few times and uncle never had a bad thing to say about him.” He then saluted Leaf, “You do him and your name proud, Leaf Grizzenwald.”
Leaf saluted back. “Thanks for the exhilarating fight. Even when I competed in the Unification Day fencing contest, I’ve never had this much fun.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. While we didn’t win more money, I was more concerned about losing ours.
“Ok, men, now that we’ve had our morning fun, it’s time to get to work.” Lord General Ardmore said. “Start cleaning the ship.”
He began pointing to groups of men to clean the decks, others the hallways, the rest to care for other areas of the ship. Leaf and I were tasked with tending to the horses. I believe bias was a play here. Leaf gave a good show and it would only be fitting for us to feed and groom our own horses as a reward.
After a few hours of work, our tasks were finally complete. At this time, we were called to the deck to be briefed about our disembarking. Our destination was on the horizon and within the hour we’d arrive there. Our primary task was to reinforce the garrison already stationed at Helingutm. Much of the camp there was in deplorable shape and needed repairs. Once the briefing was complete, we were dismissed to pack our bags and have some leisure time before landing ashore.
The ship docked in the harbor and we went rank and file into the camp. To our dismay, it looked like a warzone. Walls battered and crumbled, tents shredded, countless soldiers lay stretched out wounded. A cloud of gloom hung over the camp; in every man’s eyes was a silent desperate cry for help with only a few being an exception.
As soon as we found our barracks in the camp, Lord General Ardmore put us straight to work repairing and reinforcing the camp. By dusk, new walls were raised, watchtowers erected, and other amenities restored.
Later that night, Leaf and I gathered around a campfire with our comrades and exchanged stories. Marcus, a long time resident soldier of the island, gave his account of what had been transpiring lately.
“Coming here has always been the envy of other soldiers,” he said. “Nothing ever happens. There’s no enemies to fight, not even highway bandits.” he rubbed his chin in dismay. “Then a few months ago, things turned outright strange. It started with us seeing mysterious figures outside of camp; just far enough away to barely tell what they were. They looked like people scurrying around the plains or up on the rocks and it was always at dusk.”
The hoot of an owl interrupted Marcus’ story causing some weaker willed listeners to jump.
“That’s when things became a nightmare. The figures outside camp became more numerous at dusk. They just stood there, staring at the camp. What seemed like eyes were pitch black and soulless. Even in the middle of summer, their glares shot a deep winter chill throughout my body. As the moon would rise, they would let out high pitched howls and disappear into the shadows.”
“And then what?” I asked with violent trembling in my voice.
“They appeared.” Marcus replied. “Monsters the size of the grizzly bear with teeth and claws like a wolf. A terrifying sight to see, even more terrifying to hear their growls and howls in the lonely night. We’ve fended off every wave for the past month but their attacks are becoming more successful. The camp can only handle so much more before it breaks and we’re left defenseless out in the open.”
“Why not move to the old castle?” Leaf asked, “Surely that would provide a better defense than a makeshift camp?”
Marcus grinned, “We thought of that, but the idea was shot down by our old commanding officer. We begged and pleaded but he was insistent on holding the line here. Look at what good it did him; he’s dead now.” he laughed.
“Lord General Ardmore seems to be a more reasonable type. Perhaps we can move camp there after tomorrow?” I suggested.
Marcus wiped his face with a look of skepticism, “I suppose asking the new commander wouldn’t hurt, but I’m not getting my hopes up.” he said.
Through the misty clouds shone the moon. A fully round disc in the sky looked over us accompanied by a diamond mine of stars. I looked up to find the Queen’s Diamond and after a few minutes, spotted it in the northern sky.
“All men to arms! We’re under attack!” a soldier cried out from the wall.
Marcus stood up casually, “Right on time.” he said grabbing his gear and arming up. “Stick close to me kids, and we’ll make it through the night.”
I threw on my chestplate, grabbed my sword and followed Marcus along with Leaf and the other soldiers. Men were rapidly running to their positions and as we approached the wall, the gate to the camp jumped out at us with a loud bang. They were trying to breach the gate.
From the other side, I could barely make out the sounds of growls and howls like a pack of wolves were on the other side.
“If the archers aren’t able to repel the rammers, we must be prepared to clog up the breach.” Marcus said then he turned to the rest of the camp, “We need something to brace this door!”
Whatever the camp could find, rocks, scrap wood, wagons, and other miscellaneous items, they placed against the gate. Lord General Ardmore joined us soon after.
“Leaf, can I trust you to help defend the courtyard should we be breached?” he asked.
Leaf nodded, “Yes, sir.”
Admore grinned, “Good.” he said as he dashed to the top of the wall. “Quickly, bring some oil and fire!” he shouted.
The archers now dipped their arrows in oil shooting fire at our attackers. Cries of pain could be heard from the other side of the wall as the archers hit their marks.
After a few minutes, things began to quiet down. Were they gone? The banging on the gate stopped but nobody moved.
“Stand fast, this isn’t over!” Ardmore shouted.
I’m not sure how long we stood there in the chilling air of the summer knight. Men looked around in fear or wonder waiting to hear a sign the attack was back on. I looked over at Leaf who gave me a smile.
“Exciting first assignment, isn’t it? And here I thought I’d be bored to death.” he chuckled.
“There’s something far deadlier than boredom beyond those walls, boy.” a soldier replied to Leaf.
“Here they come!” I heard someone shout from atop the wall. My head shot towards the gate and it rumbled once again. This time it sounded like heavier strikes greeted the gate and splitters jumped off the planks.
As far as I could tell, the archers resumed their volley but reinforcements may have arrived becoming too numerous to fall.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
This is all I could hear as the gate slowly broke apart. Fear surged into my heart and before I could think of turning to run, Leaf slapped my back and gave me a smile.
“First one to ten kills buys the other a drink. Deal?” he said.
I couldn’t help but laugh at such a ridiculous offer being made in the current situation. This is life or death and he wants to make a contest out of it!
“Enjoy losing your money, Leaf!” I replied.
A few more thumps and the gate broke open only to be cut short by the debris we placed in front of it. A large claw forced itself through the gap trying to wedge something larger behind it. Proceeding the claw came the head of a wolf with crimson red eyes which shone like moonlight. Its mouth bore teeth as menacing as a shark. It stared right at me and my whole body went numb in fear.
“Don’t let them through the gate!” Leaf shouted, rallying the troops to the breach.
We all charged forward stabbing at the creatures that tried squirming through.
A call for retreat was issued; the monsters had overcome the wall. The center of camp would be our fallback point. As we ran, the flood of soldiers followed by monsters caused some of us to be separated from the main group. I was one of those separated. I couldn’t see Leaf among the chaos and our group was smashed into by these beast-like men.
A few of them fell to our blades but their wild movements made it difficult to take them down. The exchange of life was one sided; for every one of the beasts we slayed, we lost two or three of our men.
“Leaf!” I cry, “Leaf, where are you?”
Our defensive circle was rapidly growing smaller. I could feel my heart trying to pound out of my chest. I couldn’t think, all I could feel was cold sweat drenching my whole body, and the cold embrace of fear as death approached me. The world around me became darker and before I was consumed by it, I saw a burst of pure radiant white light jet towards me. As I collapsed, the last thing I heard was Leaf’s voice calling out to me.
When I awoke, it was morning and sitting over me was Leaf but he was transparent like a ghost. I jolted up in shock but was immediately pushed back down from a sharp pain in my side. Leaf put his hands out trying to calm me down, his mouth was moving but no sound came out. Was I deaf?
I tried grabbing his hand but it went through him. What was going on here? What happened to Leaf? Is he dead? Am I dead?
Lord General Ardmore walked up to me with a smile. “Well Izzy, it looks like you’re one of the lucky ones.” he looked over at Leaf. “Sadly, Leaf here is indisposed for reasons I’m not able to explain. He saved the camp, you know. He conjured some mystical light from his sword and hacked those beasts to pieces. After the light faded, so did he.”
I grabbed my wound which had started to bleed again from my attempt to sit up.
“I’d stay off that if I were you.” he said. “Bloody animal ripped through your side as you collapsed last night. You’ll live, but it’ll be a slow and painful recovery. I’ll see you’re sent home for proper rest.”
I tried to explain I wasn’t to leave Leaf’s side, wound or not, I bluffed about being detailed to him to keep him out of trouble. Lord General Ardmore called my bluff by laughing at me.
“Rest here while I figure out a better place for camp. This place is too destroyed to rebuild by nightfall and I don’t think we’d survive another attack.” he said.
I raised my hand and suggested the old castle about a mile away. I explained some of the men think it would be a more defensible position.
Lord General Ardmore thought about it for a moment and nodded with agreement. He made the order to pack only necessities and salvage the wagons for the wounded. Those who couldn’t walk would take priority. The rest of us would form a perimeter to protect the caravan. Of the two hundred men who were stationed in camp, there were about fifty of us left, half of whom were wounded.
I was stretched out next to other soldiers in a wagon with Leaf walking alongside. I closed my eyes and let the summer morning heat bake my helpless corpse. By late afternoon, we arrived at the castle. A new camp was set up with new fortifications. I can’t help but wonder why the Lord General didn’t make the call to retreat from the island. I think our ships were in good enough shape. I wonder if there’s something more at play here?
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