James follows along behind, Jiron at his side. When at last they pass through the gate, it shuts behind them.
“That’s the signal,” Delia says when the starburst lights the sky. She sees Ceadric nod and then opens one of the pouches hanging at her belt. Taking out a round object, she places it in her sling and moves to the edge of the river.
The moonlight overhead gives her barely enough light to see the far bank as she takes position. Winding the sling over her head for a second, she let’s the object go and it’s soon lost in the darkness. Holding her breath, as does everyone else there for if it goes into the water their plans are ruined, she silently prays there isn’t a splash.
A second and then two passes without the telltale splash indicating the object went into the water. “Good job,” Shorty says from his position further back.
Everyone visibly relaxes, the success of what they do here at the river is paramount if they are to accomplish their mission. She reaches in and takes out another crystal which had been in with the object she just sent to the other side.
‘ You only have a count of one hundred before they lose power,’ James told her when he gave her the pouch. ‘Fifty for the way across and fifty for the way back.’
With James’ words on her mind, she takes the crystal to the river’s edge. She sets it down three feet from the water and then returns to the others. Mounting her horse, she says quietly to the others gathered there, “We must cross swiftly if we are to be able to return this way.”
“We understand,” Ceadric says. The other’s nods are barely perceptible in the moonlight.
“Very well,” she says and then edges her horse toward the water. When she gets there, she recalls the words James told her would activate the spell embedded within the two crystals. The object she had sent to the other side was a clay encased crystal, so encased to have enough weight to make the journey to the other side. Without the clay, the crystal would have been too light to make it.
“Golden Gate,” she whispers. The crystal on the ground before them flares briefly, an answering one can be seen on the opposite side of the river. Then, a shimmering ‘bridge’ forms between the two sides, ten feet wide and reminiscent of the shields she has seen James use to protect himself from arrows.
“Let’s hurry,” she says as she kicks her horse into motion. She begins silently counting, one…two…three… as her horse steps upon the shimmering surface. Worried that her horse’s hoof might sink through, she braces herself. But her horse steps upon the bridge and quickly passes across to the other side.
Thirteen…fourteen…fifteen… she sits there as the others hurry across, two at a time. As the last one reaches the far shore, she reaches forty-five and says the word to cancel the spell to save its power for their return crossing, “Earthquake.” When James had told her the words of command she commented about how they didn’t relate to a bridge at all. He had chuckled and said they referred to a city back home, San Francisco. That a famous bridge there was called the Golden Gate and the place was prone to earthquakes which destroy bridges.
With the utterance of ‘Earthquake’, the shimmering bridge disappears and the crystals grow dark. Getting down from her horse, she removes another crystal from one of the pouches and places it in roughly the spot where the bridge crystal lies on this side of the river. This crystal will light the way when the word ‘Beacon’ is uttered in its vicinity. Without it, they would be hard pressed to find the exact spot where the bridge lies in the dark.
Mounting back onto her horse, she turns to Ceadric and says, “Now for the catapults.”
He gives her a nod and they quietly make their way to the lights of the enemy camp in the distance. The rear of the encampment is a couple miles away and they ride quickly toward it in silence.
As they near, they’re able to see the makeup of the enemy’s forces as well as the layout of the camp. Behind the palisade is a large open area, currently crammed with soldiers, most likely congregating there because of James. Delia worries for him but sees that his plan is working.
The massive light explosion in the sky earlier has drawn most of the forces away from the rear of the encampment where the siege engines lie. There is still a presence there, but they should be able to handle them.
Twenty catapults and ten long bridges sit at the rear of the encampment. Each of the bridges has a protective covering built over them that will shield the attackers from any arrows fired from the walls by the defenders. The top of the covering is reinforced with leather that looks as if it may have been treated to withstand fire.
When they’ve ridden as close as they dare, Delia and the slingers dismount from their horses as well as Errin and Aleya. Ten of Ceadric’s men, those who had brought bows, dismount as well. Ceadric and the rest wait there with the horses. Should problems arise, they’ll come quickly to the rescue.
Campfires dot the area around the catapults, giving Delia and her group ample light for targeting. From behind her, she hears Moyil quip, “Nice to light the area for us.”
“You know it,” answers Terrance.
“Quiet! Both of you!” she whispers firmly.
If it was broad daylight there would be no way in which they could possibly get away with this. No cover with which to speak of, all of the trees in the area have been cut down either for the palisade wall or the soldier’s campfires. They feel rather exposed there in the moonlight, and if the soldier’s attention wasn’t riveted on the events transpiring by the main encampment, they most likely would have already been discovered.
They make their way quickly and quietly toward the siege equipment, stepping lightly to remain unheard. As shadows in the night, they close the distance until they are within range of their slings. Delia brings them to a halt and gathers them in a close huddle as she talks to them. Ceadric’s archers keep watch around them.
She takes out one of the glass spheres contained within her pack and holds it up before them. “These are filled with oil,” she explains. “Hit each of the catapults with three.” Then glancing to Aleya and Errin she says, “Once they’re covered in oil, light those arrows James gave you and set the oil afire.”
They nod their heads in understanding.
“Start with the bridges,” she says. “Just as we practiced, space yourselves and begin with the one at the far right and work to the left. Be quick, we won’t have much time.” When she sees they understand her, she says, “Get in position.” Then she moves to Hedry, the man in charge of the archers. “You ready?” she asks.
In the moonlight, she can see him give her a grin as he says, “Whenever you are.”
Turning back to her slingers, she sees they’ve already moved into position with a gap of five feet between them. Each slinger’s sack containing the glass oil bombs as James calls them sits before them on the ground. Coming up behind Terrance, she lays her hand on his shoulder and says, “Take your time and aim for the center. They’re big, so if you’re off a little, you should still be able to hit it.”
Terrance glances over his shoulder and says, “I hope so.”
Behind them, three of Hedry’s men place their shields together upright on the ground to form a small wall. Behind that wall, one of Hedry’s men gets a fire going. Next to it, Aleya and Errin remove the specially prepared arrows and place them on the ground next to them. After a moment, a small glow can be seen coming from behind the shields, the majority of the light is being blocked.
Seeing that all is in readiness, she whispers, “Ready!” Taking an oil bomb out of the sack before her, she sets it into the cup of her sling. “Fire at will,” she says and then begins to twirl her sling over her head. Beside her up and down the line, the others take an oil bomb and set it in their sling.
Hedry’s men take position behind the slingers, alert for any enemy soldier that may be in the area. When Hedry was told what they planned to do, he thought it was madness. Surely the catapults and bridges would have guards and scouts in the area in case Madoc’s forces tried just this sort of maneuver. Illan had told him the likelihood of there being enemy sentries behind their lines would be remote. The part of the stream they crossed is impassable except by boat so the chances were good they would be able to sneak right up to them before any knew they were there. And so far, he’d been right.