The Radiant War

Chapter 29a

     They both nodded. Amberley leaned closer to the King so he could whisper quietly to him. “They're called crews one and two,” he said.

     “Right,” said Leothan with a rueful grin. “I'll remember that for next time.”

     Another blow hit the door, and the bar finally gave way, the left hand door flying open to admit the Greene Cannon, hanging suspended in the tentacles of three Radiants. They dropped it onto the drawbridge with a loud crash and the creature that had been loitering just outside launched itself forward on its thickest tentacles. There was a thud from ballista two and the bolt flew, flames trailing from its tip. It struck the Radiant cleanly in the buoyancy sacks and it burst into red fire. Leothan’s arm flew to cover his face as a wave of heat swept over them, and when he looked again the other Radiants were already dragging their fallen comrade away by pulling on its trailing tentacles. A second Radiant lurched forward and the second ballista bolt flew, causing it to also explode in flames.

     The two crews hurried to reload their weapons, but the Radiants were already clearing the tunnel again and a third was preparing to enter. Its piping was rising as it prepared to cast a curse, and this time everyone in the hallway would be in range. Leothan knew he only had seconds of humanity left and he decided to make the best use of them. He ran forward to the sound of gunshots as soldiers fired at it and swung his sword as hard as he could at the nearest tentacle.

     The blade cut cleanly through the luminous flesh, spraying him with green blood, and the creature spasmed. The King prepared to strike again, but someone had grabbed his arm and was pulling him back, away from the creature. Leothan shook him angrily off and prepared to make another lunge at the creature, but he stopped, frozen in astonishment at what he saw.

     The Radiant appeared to be having some kind of seizure. Its body had landed on the floor, its tentacles no longer able to support it as they thrashed wildly at the air around it. It looked comically as if it were trying to drive away an attacking swarm of wasps. “What’s wrong with it?” he demanded.

     “Maybe one of the bullets hit its brain or something,” said the member of the Tower garrison who'd pulled him back to safety.

     “We tried that, didn’t we? We decided that their brains were distributed throughout their bodies. Not all in one place, like ours are. Something like that. Isn't that right, George?”

     Ballista crew two, meanwhile, had finished reloading their weapon. “Back away from it!” shouted the Sergeant, and then he pulled the trigger. The flaming bolt flew and the agonised creature burst into flames. The other ballista crew finished reloading their weapon a moment later and prepared to shoot at the next Radiant to try to enter, but the doorway remained empty.

     “Someone tell me what's happening!” demanded the King.

     “Don’t know,” muttered Amberley. He tried to edge his way towards the door to see out, but the flames of the burning Radiant were too hot. Fortunately the fire began to burn low very quickly, and then Machett edged carefully past it along the tunnel until he could see through the open door. “They're leaving!” he said in amazement.

     “What do you mean, leaving?” said Leothan, thinking he must have misheard.

     “They're all up in the sky, all of them! Not just the ones attacking us. All the Radiants in the city! They're all leaving! Fast!”

     Leothan went to join him, stepping out onto the drawbridge, where he was joined by the others. He was right, the King saw to his astonishment. The sky was full of Radiants, apparently gaining as much altitude as they could and summoning a gale to carry them out of the city.

     “What are they doing?” asked Balhern. “They'd won! Why are they going?”

     “Where are the scientists?” asked Leothan as a glorious possibility occurred to him.

     “I sent a man to fetch them. They should be here, in the Tower somewhere.”

     “Did you see them get here?” He turned to Machett. “Did you see them arrive?”

     “Well, no, but things have been so crazy...”

     “We have to get to their lab. Now!”

     He hurried towards the carriages, but Balhern and his men ran to overtake him and the head guard held his hand out for the King to hang back while he checked to make sure it was safe. “Clear,” he said after a moment. “No enemies.”

     The King stared up at the departing Radiants, now nothing more than tiny motes of light, just visible above the wall. The air was fresh and cool and he breathed in deeply, his whole body trembling as the adrenalin rush began to wear off. The carriages were still intact, he saw, although the horses had been unhitched and had long since fled. They would still be in the Tower grounds somewhere, though. It probably wouldn’t take long to find them and get them hitched up again. “Get these carriages ready to move out as soon as humanly possible!” he ordered.

     “The Electric Messiah!” said Amberley as men ran off to obey. “Is that what it is?”

     “Let's go find out,” said the King.