Tales of Cobardon

Chapter XVI

Demzan

He had intercepted Merisa's move, maybe due to the years of training they had had together. He knew it the moment he saw awe in her eyes as Nukaton retold the tales of the Eye and the Tower. This would work as the Tower had no charms against birds. Birds were a key form of communication, most important after telepathy. Thus, the invisible barrier was tailored such that birds could pass through it.

He neared the estimated location of the boundary. A momentary spasm surged through him and then subsided soon. He could see Merisa right in front of him. With a spasmodic flap of wings he darted towards Merisa.

His wing tips morphed into hands, his wings into arms, talons into feet, eagle head to his own. He grew in size, legs stretching out to cover the distance, which had been between his bird form and the ground. His arms swung wide, like a butterfly's wing unfurling foremost out of its cocoon.

His weight knocked Merisa of her feet. He stood upright, while snatching out a dagger - 'dagger of time' - and as it's grip met his palm, time greatly slowed down!

He looked around and saw that at least two dozen other archers had their arrows strung. One archer let his shat go. The arrow was an ant crossing a mile long rod, slow but determined.

He shrugged and danced out of the arrow's trajectory. He raised the dagger and in a strained, hesitant swing brought down the knife to dig it into Merisa's throat. He raised the dagger again and brought it down, gutting Merisa to death.

He spun round, eyes glistening wet, to see an arrow hanging few centimeters from his skin. He flung his arm so that his forearm banged against the wooden shaft of the arrow, knocking it aside.

It was done! He raced to the Tower's base to accomplish his next task, hoping against hope that he would survive the next 100 floors he had to descend.

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Hapem

His thighs were chafed due to the constant beating by the dragon's rock hard skin. Nature has its way, he thought while appreciating the simple beauty of nature. He never had to say to the dragon when to breathe out fire or in truth whenever he said the dragon simply ignored him, acting on her own accord. The dragon swirled in the air like a graceful ribbon and then with a powerful flap of its wings came to pause, flying in front of The Tower. She blasted it with belligerent flames, all clashing and failing against the invisible barricade, created by powerful, ancient charms.

Damn these anti-dragon charms, he cursed! I have to find some way or else The Tower will mean their defeat. He had seen those few hundred skinchangers enter as birds, through the wall. It was an impressive move but not enough. Few hundreds against few thousands was a lost match. Their only hope was that someone among the skinchangers disheveled the impregnable structure guarding The Tower's only entry. A tiny window would be enough but, someone would have to do it soon or their armies would soon become too small to attack in that tiny span of seconds.

Roger had taken 15,000 strong cavalry and a few thousand elephants. The three hundred horse riders of the Eye had held them long enough for the structure of foot-soldiers to form. If only the elephant-riders would have come quicker, they could have put the Tower down. Once the thousands of archers had entered and the structure stayed it was impossible to infiltrate.

Roger had attempted a desperate try to sabotage the structure and had faced major losses. As his army tried to break the structure they were rained by shafts after shafts of vicious arrows - it was futile.

A blaring, squeaking noise echoed as he saw the door the Tower swing open a little. He glimpsed only a shadow passing through the door and then ... the structure broke. The soldiers were baffled and a stream of Rulerstead's cavalry poured into the Tower. It was like watching a well-made plan go devastatingly wrong, except this time it wasn't his plan that was going wrong.