Dragonsbane (Dragonsbane Duology Book I)

Chapter 52: Blood on the Stones

It was night again by the time the ones carrying torches arrived.

They did not wait; the shrieks shredded the wooden barricades surrounding the gate while goblins fired at the walls as they fell full of arrows.

Ronson was on the walls, directing the defense.

"Fire at will! Do not relent!"

The goblins fell in staggering numbers, but they did not retreat. In fact, more took the places of the fallen in a seemingly never-ending rotation.

Ronson's archers were wearing down, and dwindling in number faster than the opposition. He looked lost, overwhelmed, having never led men before. "Hold!"

The soldiers remained in cover and none rose at his command. The shrieks continued attacking the gate. The goblins fired over the archers on the walls' heads. Ronson was prepared for such a moment, he crawled to the opposite edge of the wall and called down to his soldiers in a row manning readied catapults in the street just inside the city.

"Fire!"

There was some scurrying and then the giant boulders were flung over the wall and they crash landed in the dwarven ranks and rolled, taking out more in the deluge.

The dwarves unaffected did not even wince.

Ronson peered over the wall to see how much damage had been done, and when he did, he jumped for the edge with widened eyes.

"Off! Off!"

The boulders were being thrown back. 

They soared through the air like some sort of cataclysmic comet and crashed into the stones that had never fallen. The ancient rocks crumbled into a massive wall of dust.

For a moment there was silence...

Captain Caladin was able to raise his head. Everything hurt, he wasn't sure what he had landed on to still be conscious but there wasn't time to think.

Out of the storm of dust and debris, creatures lunged into the streets cutting down unsuspecting soldiers standing by.

***

Fomoria was on the outskirts, raising bits of earth and flinging them at the walls, destroying them. Suspended by magic in mid-air. She was about to drift into the fray when she suddenly sensed something, she shifted her head like a dog catching a scent.

Whatever it was, it was back towards Siladrin. Perhaps beyond. 

***

Men and women who had never seen battle before were covered in blood.

The captain was certain he had fractures and microfractures all over but still he fought. Military officers in charge of forces all over the city were being massacred by the creatures scything through the ranks.

Ronson quickly had the thought that he would die upon the stones he was raised. He was recently fifty, had maintained good health and conditioning throughout his time in the guard, but it would all be for naught. The twisted army would rip him apart.

But he wouldn't give into despair and hopelessness.

A shriek charged him and the aging man buried his sword in its mouth as it roared and spewed saliva at first but then blood. The captain swung again, carving into incoming dwarves. He wore the blood on his face like sacred marks. Despite all the devastation, he had to take a moment to realize that there were no fires.

That was a nice change of pace at least.

***

The soldiers defending the castle were overwhelmed in a hurry, and the barricades were no match for the swarm.

When the massive double doors fell, the goblins rushed in and destroyed everything. They weren't looking for royals to kill, those weren't their orders. They only had one thing in mind.

Total annihilation.