Shadows in the Trees: Book 1

Chapter 59

"I was -- well, I was looking for Vess," he said. 

Rhiannon raised an eyebrow. "She's with Commanders Irmina and Cataleya, discussing strategy one last time. Why?" 

He shrugged. "I don't know. I saw her earlier." 

"On one of your walks?" 

"Yes, my uh -- yes, on a walk," he stammered. For one horrible moment, he thought she knew what he was up to. He waited for her accusations, but she simply stared. He stared back, steeling himself against the panic. 

"Hm," she said finally. "Let's hope she's ready." 

"Ready for what, exactly?" 

"That," she said, pointing to the other side of the rampart. He followed her to the edge, and his stomach dropped at what he saw. 

It seemed his father had grown tired of waiting. Though many of his catapults and his soldiers had been burned to ash this past week in their attempts to charge the walls, his army still seemed boundless as they stood in his father's favored wedge formation just outside the walls. His father's men were still -- too still. A white chariot crouched behind them. 

Julian swallowed. "What is the plan, exactly?" 

"As soon as they get close enough, we dump tar on them. Then we'll shoot flaming arrows." 

"And the foot soldiers?" 

"Kept inside unless completely necessary. We can't afford any more casualties," she said. 

He nodded, trying to hide his disappointment. "Smart." 

He looked to the south. Three chairs were once again perched on the distant hill. 

"Archers! To your stations!" 

Julian took his place next to Rhiannon, a dark, thick mixture and a brazier between them. Rhiannon dipped her arrow in the mixture and he followed suit. The field was still and oddly silent, the only movement the occasional breeze whispering through the grass. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. 

"What are they waiting for?" Julian said. 

"I don't know," Rhiannon murmured. She kept her eyes trained on the army below, tapping her fingers on her nocked arrow. 

A group of soldiers broke off from the back flanks, marching in sync to the remaining catapults stationed behind the chariot. They lined up around something and drug it forward. It looked like a small cottage on wheels, with a large log hanging inside. The tip of the log was a carved stone ram. 

"A battering ram," he said. His heart was beating so hard his chest started to hurt.

"They have battering rams? Why didn't they use them before?" she asked. Nervous whispers carried across the ramparts. 

"They're difficult to make and easily destroyed," he said. "Father only uses them when the catapults fail to do the job."

"It's wood, isn't it?" she said. "It'll burn quickly. We'll be fine." 

"The roof is fire resistant," he said. "They cover it with wet earth so it won't burn." 

"Then we burn the soldiers."

"More will replace them." 

"Elohinian warfare is just so. . .barbaric," she spat, cursing under her breath. "There has to be something we can do to take it down without sending any foot soldiers out." 

"The only enemy that destroyed one while staying within their walls was a small kingdom near the coast," he said. "I remember Father was so angry. They used big hooks, anchors I think, to grab the log and rip it from the chains it hung on -- hey, where are you going?"