Whoosh!
The oil bursts into flame and the outer edge of the barrier becomes a roaring inferno. Inside, the temperature rises abruptly and sweat begins rolling down their faces. The oil is quickly consumed and they stand there unscathed until the fire dies down. Atop the wall, the men are no longer jeering. They stare down in awe at the fact they are still alive and untouched.
“Holler back up to them, ‘So be it’,” he instructs Jared. Once he has done so, James tells him to walk with him. Reaching into the pouch hanging at his hip, he pulls out one of the four glowing crystals within. He wishes he would have brought more of these but he didn’t think about it when back at The Ranch. Making more is easy, but you need crystals and somewhere to drain power from. He isn’t about to drain the men who came with him, he has a hard enough time grappling with the morality of doing it to his enemies let alone friends.
Tossing the crystal to the base of the wall he says, “Four.” Walking along the base, he tosses down the other three crystals at twenty feet intervals. “Three.” “Two.” “One.” After the last crystal rests by the stone wall, he turns to return back to their lines.
Bolts rain down upon them now as well as stones roughly the size of a man’s head, each are easily deflected by the barrier. Breaking into a run, he and Jared race back to their lines. When they leave the range of the bolts, James cancels the barrier allowing them to make even better speed.
Ke-Pow!
The magic of the four crystals is released beneath a single section of the wall, blasting it up and out.
“Dear lord!” Ceadric breathes as he watches a section of the wall easily twenty feet wide launch itself in the air.
“Watch for falling debris!” Illan shouts and the word is passed throughout the waiting men. Most of the larger chunks fall well short, some of the smaller pieces manage to reach them and men dance aside to avoid being hit. A few either weren’t fast enough or not observant and are struck by the falling debris.
The concussion of the blast knock James and Jared to their knees as it rolls past them. By the time it reaches where the others wait, it isn’t nearly as forceful.
“Hedry!” Illan shouts.
“Sir!” comes the reply as Hedry rides forward.
“Take your archers and kill anything that moves,” he orders.
“Yes, sir,” he replies. With a command to his men, they race forward, bows in hand.
Jared is the first to regain his feet and offers a hand to James. Taking it, they both resume their run back to the lines.
“Ceadric,” Illan shouts. “Take your men and begin securing the interior. After that blast there shouldn’t be much left, most of their men were concentrated up on the battlements.”
“Yes, sir,” he says. Turning to his men, Ceadric cries, “For Madoc and Black Hawk!” With a deafening roar, the Raiders charge forward.
Hedry’s force has already come within range of the walls and has begun picking off anything that moves. A few bolts rain down from above but the crossbowmen up there are soon taken out. By the time Ceadric and his riders arrive, bolts are no longer falling. Hedry gives him a grin and a salute as he races past.
The dust is beginning to settle and the hole that had been blasted in the wall materializes before them. Damn! Ceadric thinks as he sees the depth and width of the crater the blast created. He leads his men toward it. If James had the spot right, they should be at the slave compound.
Slowing their speed, Ceadric leads his men through the opening, staying as far to the side as possible to avoid the crater’s center. As they pass through the wall, the slaver compound materializes before them on the other side. Off to one side several slavers are lined up with crossbows and let loose a volley.
Three of Ceadric’s men are hit and go down. “Charge!” he yells as he and the others race for their attackers. With swords drawn and war cries on their lips, they are a fearful sight.
Losing their courage, the slavers throw down their crossbows and flee across the compound to the gate leading into the city. Cheers can be heard from the slave pens as the slaves held within revel in their captors’ plight.
“Secure the compound,” he shouts to one of his lieutenants. When Hedry and his archers move within the walls, he has them post themselves on the inner wall surrounding the compound. While normally used to keep an eye on the slaves, the walkway will afford them a view of the surrounding city.
The whoosh of a passing crossbow bolt flies within inches of Ceadric’s face. Scanning the area, he finds the window from which the bolt was fired and directs a squad of his men to secure it. Dismounting, the score of men break in through the door to the building and the sound of fighting can be heard coming from within.
“Walls are secure,” Hedry calls from his position upon the wall of the slaver compound.
“And the city?” Ceadric hollers back.
Hedry glances over the wall then turns back. “People are fleeing for their lives but no sign of any soldiers.”
“Keep me posted,” he shouts back.
“What about the city?” one his men asks him.
“We were told to secure the compound,” he replies. “And that’s all.”
“Shame,” comments the man.
Just then James and Illan make their way through the hole in the wall. Jiron and the others remain on the other side to patrol the area for incoming hostile forces. Ceadric rides over to them and salutes Illan. “Area is secure.”
“Good,” replies Illan. “Release the slaves and gather them in the compound.”
“Yes, sir,” he replies.
James glances around at the wreckage the destruction of the wall wrought. One of the pens had been built up against it and now a good portion of it is missing. He feels saddened by the fate of the slaves who had been held within it. All around the compound the bodies of slavers and soldiers lie strewn about. Some were killed when the wall blew, but many show signs of being cut down by Ceadric’s men.
Voices ring out from the walls as the men who are fluent in the Empire’s tongue begin shouting for all slaves who wish for their freedom to make their way to the slaver’s compound. Whether any will heed the call is the question.
“We can’t stay here too long,” Illan says to James. “Another couple hours and the army from Al-Zynn will be here.”
“Don’t worry,” James assures him, “we won’t be tarrying here very long.”
From the surrounding buildings, slaves begin filing into the compound’s courtyard. A rider comes to a stop before Illan and says, “We found their weapons cache.”
“And?” Illan questions.
“Must be a couple hundred crossbows there and several thousand bolts,” he replies. “Not to mention swords and other useful items.”
“Very good,” Illan says nodding. “Begin taking the equipment out and set up an area where it can be distributed to the slaves. Start with the crossbows and bolts.”
“Yes, sir,” the rider says. With a quick salute, he turns his horse and races back across the courtyard.
The city around the compound is in a state of panic. Cries and screams of people reach them as they race away from the scene of the attack. By the time the slaves have been gathered together in the courtyard of the compound, the city has grown silent as it waits to see what they will do.
Atop the walkway running the length of the wall, the men continue to shout the word for slaves who wish their freedom to come. Near the compound gates leading into the city, a squad of Ceadric’s men as well as half a dozen archers, stand guard. A few slaves who heard the announcement arrive and are promptly let through to join the others.
James climbs onto one of the auction platforms with Jared by his side and faces the assembled slaves, or rather, the newly freed. Gazing across them he sees hundreds of faces gazing back; men, women, and all manner of children. He gathers his thoughts as they look up to him expectantly.