They arrive just as the last one falls. Illan glances to James and then the sea of dead bodies. “You never do anything halfway do you?” he asks.
“No,” he replies a touch sad. He hates the killing as much as anything, but what else can he do but allow them to kill him?
Off in the distance the glow from where the siege equipment burns is visible. “Looks like Delia and her crew managed to take them out.”
With no more of the creatures to worry about, the light from the Star goes out and Miko puts it back into his pouch. He glances to Illan, “Guess we won’t have to worry about an attack for awhile.”
Just then, horns are heard and they see coming from out of the dark the rest of the Empire’s forces, at least eight thousand strong. Another blast from the horns and they begin moving toward them.
“Back to the city!” Illan cries. One of his men has Jiron behind him on the horse and they race toward Lythylla.
Before they move through the gate of the palisade, James glances backward and scans the battlefield for the warrior priest. All he finds is the oncoming soldiers and the dead, there’s no sign of him. Then they’re through to the other side and racing toward the gates of Lythylla.
When those on the battlements see them ride through the palisade, a cheer erupts and the gates swing open. The pursuing Empire soldiers stop at the palisade when they realize James and the others will reach the safety of the walls before they’ll have a chance to catch them.
Cries of ‘Madoc!’ and ‘Black Hawk!’ resound as they make their way through the gates. Lord Pytherian as well as the other leaders who were present during their initial meeting are there to greet them.
“Unbelievable!” one of the men says. “I heard rumors of what you can do, but I had no idea.”
Illan pulls up to a stop and asks, “Any word from Delia and Ceadric?”
Shaking his head, Lord Pytherian replies, “Not yet. We have riders out in that area and men on the walls looking for them.”
James swings down from behind Illan. “I hope she’s alright,” he says.
Chapter Nine
“Retreat!” Ceadric yells to his men. The press of soldiers is too great for them to break away effectively. Arrows begin flying from Hedry’s men, taking out those pressing Ceadric and giving them a chance to disengage.
The two forces that so recently made their appearance are closing fast. Most are foot though the force to their right has a contingent of cavalry as well. Delia scrambles to get her people back to their horses quickly.
“But there are three catapults that are still serviceable,” Orry states. The rest of the siege equipment is burning out of control despite the efforts of the soldiers that have made it to them.
“Leave them!” she hollers. When they broke off the attack, each grabbed their pack with what oil bombs they had left. James was most explicit in that they must remove all the evidence they can. Of course the shattered remains may give them some clue as to what happened anyway but why help them any more than they have to.
Ceadric and his men, now fewer by half a score, join them as they swing into the saddle. “Back to the river!” Delia hollers. Each realizes the way they came across is the only avenue left if they are to survive.
As they break into a gallop leaving the burning siege equipment behind them, the enemy forces begin forming an arc. “They’re going to drive us to the river and annihilate us against its banks,” Yern shouts.
“Not if we can find where we came across,” Delia hollers back. Two miles to the river with soldiers bent on their destruction behind them, they push their horses to the limit. They manage to maintain a constant distance between them and the cavalry coming up behind. The foot soldiers begin to fall behind.
After several minutes of riding, the river appears before them. “Beacon!” Delia hollers and a half mile away to the right, a light appears.
“There it is!” Devin exclaims.
Unfortunately, the force to their right has already passed the beacon which now lies behind their lines.
“What should we do?” Uther asks.
“Ride through them and kill them all!” Jorry yells with a touch of bloodlust in his voice.
“Ceadric,” she says. When she has his attention she says, “Fall back. Let me ahead.” She takes the lead and leads them on while maintaining a fast pace. From her remaining pouch she pulls one of the two crystals contained within. She moves to set it into her sling when her horse suddenly leaps to avoid an obstacle on the ground and the crystal falls from her hand.
“No!” she cries as the crystal hits the ground. She removes the remaining crystal from her pouch then gets it set into the sling just as…
Ka-Boom!
…the crystal which dropped on the ground explodes in a great eruption, throwing rocks and dirt into the air. Fortunately all their riders had passed the area before the explosion. The concussion wave from the explosion causes a few of the horses to stumble but they manage to correct themselves quickly and continue on.
With the last crystal in her sling, she winds it up and lets it loose toward the approaching cavalry between them and the beacon. “Stop!” she cries to the others and they quickly bring their horses to a halt. Hitting the ground, it lands a good twenty feet in front of the leading edge of attackers.
The approaching cavalry comes toward them rapidly and passes over the crystal lying on the ground.
Ka-Boom!
Horses and men go flying in another massive explosion. “Now!” she cries. “Ride hard!” Kicking her horse in the flanks, she gets it back to a gallop and races through the dead and dying.
Ceadric comes along beside her as they clear the area devastated by the explosion. Before them, no more than a hundred yards away, the glowing crystal beckons.
In the moonlight from above, they see the foot soldiers that had fallen behind the cavalry moving toward them at a run. A third is moving toward the glowing crystal by the bank of the river.
“We’ll hold them off,” Ceadric tells her. “You get your people across.”
“But once we start, there’s only a limited time before the bridge will disappear,” she replies.
“Just do it!” he yells. Then to his men he hollers, “For Black Hawk!”
A cry erupts from his men as they break off from Delia and her band to engage the enemy. “They’ll be killed!” Shorty exclaims.
“Let’s move,” she tells him. She veers to move directly to the light in the distance. It isn’t long before the sound of Ceadric and his men engage the foot soldiers heading for the beacon.
Upon reaching the light, she says, “Golden Gate.” The shimmering bridge once more springs into being. “Now hurry across,” she tells the others. “It won’t last very long.”
As the others move to cross, she takes Devin by the arm and asks, “Can you swim?”
Halting his horse, he turns to her and replies, “Yes, why?”
“I need you to do something,” she says.
Leading his men against the enemy, Ceadric realizes this will probably be his last fight. Sword falling, he takes out another soldier and quickly brings it back around to block the hack from another.
He needs to slow the advance of these soldiers to allow Delia a chance to activate the crystal and get across. With any luck, he and his men will be able to disengage and make it across as well.
They stall the enemy for several minutes then he glances back to the river. Seeing Delia and her group beginning to cross he hollers, “To the river!” As one, his men break off and race for the river. Several were unable to disengage successfully and were cut down before they could get away. Using the light ahead as a guide they race for their lives, which may very well be the price if they fail to make it in time.
As the light draws closer, he sees young Devin standing there with the light held aloft in his hand. He’s waving them to hurry as he shouts, “Twelve…eleven…ten…”