The Sceptre of Samnos

Ilandia Part 2

     At around midday three days later, they finally arrived at the official boundary of Ilandia, the fortress city of Fort Battleaxe, which stood on the banks of the river Tarrow. They had known they were approaching it the whole of the previous day, because the mighty tower that stood at the heart of the city was visible from miles away, it's distinctive flat top with its crown of smaller towers being renowned across half the continent. As they approached, they saw that there were flying creatures, made tiny by the distance, flapping lazily around it like bees around a beehive, and when Lirenna squinted her eyes to see better against the bright sky she said they had four legs, as well as the great, spreading wings they used to stay aloft. "I've never seen anything like them!" she said in wonder. "What are they? Pegasi?"

     "Griffins," replied Thomas, grinning with pleasure at her reaction. "They're the city's aerial cavalry. The head and wings of an eagle but with the body, legs and tail of a lion. They make fierce and loyal steeds, but require a lot more training and skill in handling than horses, which they consider a tasty snack. You can't keep them locked up in stables, like you can horses. They have to be free to fly around, or they become totally unmanageable. Only their loyalty to their riders stops them from just flying away."

     The city was surrounded by a wall three times the height of a man and half as wide. Beltharan regular soldiers and local conscripts patrolled ceaselessly along the top behind shield walls on either side. The walls ran perfectly straight between round towers, one in four of which was larger, almost a small castle in itself. As the travelers approached, they saw the protruding ends of ballistae above the shield walls atop the towers, ready to launch poisoned barbs at the siege monsters of an attacking army, even though it had been thirty years since any credible enemy had threatened them.

     The bottom half of the wall was solid, without any cavities or openings, but the top half was hollow, with a wide passage inside within which defenders could move about and shoot out through arrow slits. The city’s four gates were in the upper level, reached by ramps that could be demolished by the pulling of keystones from inside the wall. Shaun and Matthew stared in awe. This was their first visit to a big city and they were amazed by the size and strength of the city’s defenses. The three wizards, though, were aware of how easily an enemy wizard or a war monster could blow holes in them. They knew that the real key to a city’s defence was to have as many wizards inside the walls as outside.

     To reach the wall, they first had to cross the river by means of Battleaxe Bridge, which was guarded on the east bank by a small castle through which they had to pass. Farbank castle was a poor thing compared to the city wall, but it wasn't designed to withstand an enemy attack for long. The main task of the few dozen men who manned it was to cover the retreat of anyone caught on the wrong side of the river in the event of a sudden attack from the east, giving them time to cross the bridge and close the city's gates behind them, whereupon both bridge and castle would be destroyed by means of more keystones, thereby denying the enemy a stronghold they could use as a base of operations. None of this was evident to the travelers as they passed across, though. Most of the defenders were either sleeping in cool shady corners or fishing from the bridge, and the castle itself was full of souvenir salesmen trying to sell little plaster models of Battleaxe Tower to the merchants and refugees passing through.

     Fort Battleaxe lay entirely inside its walls, unlike some small walled towns they had passed in which only the central, richer parts were defended. They entered the city along with a few refugees from the lands to the east, a caravan of merchants from Callinia with their escort, and a small group of soldiers returning from patrol. They were stopped by the guards, who searched their belongings to make sure they weren't smuggling arms, contraband or secret messages and, when they learned that three of them were wizards, they pointed them to a notice fixed on the wall outlining the laws on magic use in the city and the penalties for breaking them. They then allowed them through after making sure that Shaun and Matthew's swords were securely tied to their scabbards with the so called ‘peace knots'. This made sure that drawing the sword was a difficult and time consuming affair, since the difficult knots had to be untied first, and by the time this had been done, the rush of anger that had led to it would hopefully have faded, allowing a violent incident to be avoided.