Sons of Ironstorm - Book 4: Griffon's Stand

An Anvil in the Hammer

His uncertainty would've surely returned if KeLarion had also learned of what exactly was unfolding in the Gyren in his son's forced absence. It wasn't an emotion shared by those actually dealing with the Shadow's presence in that old and twisted part of the Hammer Peninsula, however. As he stared out at the seething mass of enemy soldiers that surged towards the walls of battered Quillus, Morgan Galus, war king of Galental, was absolutely certain of one thing: blood would be shed this day. 

A presence at his armored elbow brought Morgan out of his grim thoughts and dire anticipation. He turned just enough to see who it was out of the corner of his eye.

"Any reply to our request for aide from Mamra, general?" he asked quietly even as he returned his eyes to the surging battlefield before them. His armor battered from leading Galentaler knights into battle for over a moon, his helm cradled for the moment in the crook of his arm, the greying but still broad shouldered officer shook his head.

"Not a word, your Majesty. However our scouts report Tjor'riin gathering along Mamra's western and northwestern borders, as well as signs of heavy battle. King Seamus may not be getting your request if dark soldiers are intercepting them."

Morgan let his eyes swing off the battlefield and over the enemy encampment, now pressing close to the fortified town's heavy stone walls with clusters of low, dirty tents that stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see over the coastal plain that surrounded his border capital. To the north of the camp and just beyond his ability to reach them stood the enemy's siege machines; heavy constructs of crudely cut wood and iron strapping that huddled together as they waited for their turn to act. Morgan's eyes narrowed. The machines wouldn't wait long. Soon enough they'd be rumbling forward to renew their systematic pounding of Quillus' walls.

"Or he might have an invasion of his own to deal with," the dark Galentaler monarch rumbled without taking his eyes off the distant siege equipment, speaking out loud the possibility that none of them wanted to consider.

If dark soldiers had indeed invaded Mamra as he suspected, that left only Septus as the only human kingdom in the Hammer untouched by the Shadow. With the Fisher King's stand on the war between Light and Shadow virtually unknown despite a decade long war with Mamra, it was difficult to predict which direction the Septan monarch would turn if he was to come under pressure from the forces surging out of the Gyren's dark heart.

The handsome Galentaler's face abruptly tightened. Speaking of pressure from the Shadow, his beloved nation had withstood more than its fair share in recent days. The push at his border fortresses, and especially against his border capital here, at Quillus, had been relentless for moons now, seeming to strengthen as the weather worsened. They even attacked in the middle of a major squall a tenday ago, using the sleet and wind as cover to hide the sound of their advance until a dark wave rolled over the tops of the walls from siege ladders and moving towers, their platforms filled to overflowing with dark soldiers.

The beleaguered humans had been able to hold their ground then and throw back the attacks, even taking the fight to the enemy several leagues into the field at one point, but at a horrible price. More dead had been sent back to Galental City in boxes than Galental had seen in decades; certainly more than their king wanted to think about. And the only comfort he could take from the continuing siege was the enemy was now appearing to concentrate all their efforts on breaking through here, at Quillus, pulling back from the other border fortresses and relieving some of the pressure. 

That allowed Morgan to pull troops from those other posts and reinforce his people here, stiffening the defense. He only hoped it was enough to hold until Lawrence and his brothers could complete their quests to discover the Weapons of Power and return the Light to the kingdoms of the Hammer Peninsula.