The village bell tolled like a broken heart
Every iron stroke punched the air rolled across snow slipped down chimneys and into cellars shook mothers awake and set babies and children crying in waves
Charlotte heard the third clang while she was still in the doorway one boot laced the other flapping her breath a white flag of panic
"Hector! Hector! HECTOR!"
The name left her lips as a prayer and a curse at once She saw him small soot smudged eyes too wide spill from the gateway with Abraham half draped across his back and Mutt skidding to a slick halt Relief cracked her chest so hard she tasted iron
She ran knees punching through drifts and scooped her boy up even though his boots were still searching for balance
"Say something damn you" her voice thick "are you cut? Are you hurt? Say something!"
Hector's teeth chattered "I-I'm just cold that's all They're coming in Lots mom" His voice broke on the last word Charlotte crushed him to her breast she felt his frantic fast thump of his heart through layers of clothes and for a second she forgot the world was ending
Behind her Kardinal burst from the armoury shed his rifle slung beard bristling with frost
" listen to me Charlotte go Inside the cellar NOW! And Take as many the village kids and women as you can and Make sure it's closed well" He didn't wait he hooked Abraham by the collar practically threw the boy toward Charlotte and grabbed mutt and threw him as well
Other fathers And young men were doing the same dragging children like sacks of potatoes kissing foreheads rough and quick then pushing them toward cellars and the houses No one spoke of fear it lived in the tremor of gloved hands and in the way women tucked stray hairs back under kerchiefs with mechanical precision
Comotanos the campaigner whose voice could sand paint stood atop the crates in the square
"Positions! Third section go to the wall second section go to the gatehouse! first section you are reserve You know the drill MOVE LIKE YOU'VE GOT A PURPOSE LADS!"
Men scattered boots drumming boardwalks
Some were still buttoning coats one tripped on his scarf hit the snow rolled up running
They carried axes and rifles and few metiou that resembled repeaters clips of brass cartridges
Charlotte herded the boys and other kids and women through the house door and slammed it shut with her hip and dragged the iron bar across The sound was like a coffin lid She turned breast heaving and saw Abraham's mother Maura already crouched beside the hearth her fingers white knuckled around a carbine
Three other women crowded the kitchen Gerda with her dead husband's pistol Avina's older sister loading a crossbow and milo's mom wrapping extra scarves round toddlers
The cellar hatch stood open a black mouth waiting to take the kids in then Charlotte knelt and framed Hector's face with her hands
"Listen little man my sweetheart you are going downstairs You will keep the smaller ones quiet okay? no questions no hero nonsense Your job is to breathe slow and remember every cuss word your father ever taught you say them inside your head Can you do that?"
Hector swallowed nodded "of course mom you can rely on me" Charlotte eyes teared up and pressed a vacuum kiss on hector's forehead and held him against her chest again "I know you will" she handed him a candle hector's Tears glittered but he blinked them back hard it was Cevver's memories of his past life mother surfacing through hector six year old eyes
Mutt whined pressed his flank against her and hector and Charlotte scratched the Rognarr's chin once gratitude she didn't have time to voice then shoved them both and the other children toward the stairs
As she lowered the hatch her last image was Kardinal's back disappearing into the swirling white when he was outside he raised his rifle calling her name without turning "look after hector Char! And please stay safe!" The hatch thudded and darkness swallowed the whole place went dark the candle flame hector brought down with himself was their only source of light
---
Outside the world had become a snow ball shaken by a vengeful child and the Wind howled down from the ridge driving snow powder so fine it stung like sand Through that veil came the elves but a slow deliberate tide White cloaks billowed and gallou ploughed knee deep furrows their antlers interlocked like advancing spears Their numbers weren't precise human eyes kept losing count at fifty then seventy then a hundred Every time the wind cleared more appeared as if the forest itself were giving birth to these fucks
Kardinal reached the guard tower of Morley Sergeant "well damn it" Morley took out his spyglass and threw it at Kardinal saying "See for yourself Freeman"
What Kardinal looked at through the spyglass made turned his guts into a slush colder than the snow Kardinal and the other men saw Rank upon rank archers and fire casters ice casters Banners of green for the avaloria Queen white for the storm callers He snapped his eyeglasses shut
"How long it gonna take till they reach the walls do you think ?"
Morley spat beetroot juice it was crimson against snow "Ten minutes till bow range Maybe fifteen till they punch a hole you could drive a barn through"
Comotanos walked stomped up his eyebrows and mustache turned frosty
"the Wall guns are loaded and the Ragnarrs kennel's empty those beasts are already scrapping in the outer allys We got maybe 60 fighters who've seen real blood rest are farmers who can hold a handgun and rifles if we staple it to their hands"
He paused his eyes on Kardinal "what do you say Freeman? You know these pointy bastards are better than any of us"
Kardinal's tried to speak He wasn't seeing the past he was watching a future that hadn't happened yet Charlotte's braid snapping in the elves grip Hector's small boots lifted off the ground by white-cloaked shoulders both of them disappearing into a forest that never gave kidnapped people back The vision lasted the space of a heartbeat but it hit like a rifle butt to the chest and left the same purple bruise of certainty whatever happened next it had to happen here with him between that picture and the gate He drew breath that felt like broken glass
"We bleed them on the approach tell the Ballista group to concentrate on their casters break their shields even if it takes every bolt and lead the Rognarrs to screen the gate gap buy time for civilians to dig that ice out of the hinges And somebody go gather the gunpowder barrels If they want Edgawter they'll pay for every splinter we will give them a barbeque party the main dish will be roasted elves"
Morley grinned without humour
"Now we're talking that's the Freeman spirit also Freeman remind about that beer I owe ya if we survive this"
"Like hell I will!" Kardinal replied
---
The Cellar smelled of soil and wine sl and lamp oil Candles guttered in niches dug from clay the shadows jittered across stone walls
The Children pressed together a living quilt of clothes and fear hector put the Candles gutter in clay niches the single room is crammed with every kid the village could possibly shove through the trap door moments ago that Mothers bolted it shut above their heads their boots were thudding across floorboards like distant drums
Abraham sits on an overturned crate and their elbows on knees trying to keep his hands from shaking
Hector crouches opposite Mutt wedged between them lizard chin on Hector's lap tail curled round Abraham ankles
The other littles Avina Milo Gollz Adrian plus two toddlers form a half circle eyes wide breathing in unison like one frightened animal
Cevver-Hector breaks the silence
"So General Abraham how about you remind the troops how you were gonna wipe the floor with these elves Rop + etrip was it? It Sounded real sophisticated"
Abraham flushes "no that was different you dickhead They were supposed to walk into the trap not throw fireball and ice spears at us"
Gollz snorts "Buzz saw beats rope every time bro You brought string to a mage fight"
Abraham shoots him a finger "I don't see you volunteering a better plan you braindeads"
Hector leans in voice low teasing "Come on commander You drew something like little stick figures with arrows and everything Had me convinced you'd single handedly depopulate the elves"
Abraham exhales shakily "Yeah well turns out my art skills don't stop exploding arrows are you Happy now?"
"I'm overjoyed" Hector grins "I'm Just checking the legend's still intact"
Avina elbows Hector "Quit it dork We all shit ourselves and You just happened to face plant first"
Hector wipes a fleck of bark off his sleeve " you are just making up stuff I never happen to fall from mutt upon returning I literally saved Abraham's ass"
Abraham crossing his hands with hmpf! "Yeah well next time don't save me I can menegae by myself!"
"Well You are welcome by the way" said hector
Milo always literal wipes his glasses "So what's the actual plan now? Moms said stay quiet but if they break through we just… sit here?" With that question every children in The cellar goes still Even the toddlers feel the weight of that possibility
Hector's voice drops adult flat
"The plan is We listen If the hatch opens without the password" he taps the pistol tucked inside his coat—"I blast anything that comes down from the stairs the and You lot scatter behind the barrels and the creates okay also there is a another passage behind the the creates behind so when shoot high everybody moves toward the the passage behind those creates is that Clear?"
Heads nod their eyes bigger than candle flames
Abraham mutters "Password's (door's stuck) yeah?"
"Correct Anything else we assume it's those pointy ears "
Gollz whistles softly "great we are all barely 6 and 7 and already running hostage drills our childhood's is so fucked hector"
"Tell me about it" Hector sighs "I don't wanna die again..."
"What was that hector?" Avina's voice with curiosity asked
"Mm-what ? I don't think I said anything "
Above boots creak pots clatter women's voices rise and fall mothers pacing the kitchen loading spare pieces praying the walls hold Down here kids clasp hands press shoulder and wait for the world to decide whether they get to grow up
"I wish my dad had one of those lizards He can't even see in the dark" Hector wiped snot from his own nose then shoved the pistol Kardinal gave him under his belt so it stopped digging his ribs
"I don't think killing an elf would be much of a great deal don't you think that too blla?"
Above the first ballista like thudded through the floorboards Dust drifted down like grey snow it made Mutt let out a low confused whuff but he stayed as a living shield between the boys and whatever might come down the stairs
Every impact afterward seemed to travel straight into the children's ribs
Between shots came the deeper uglier sound of Rognarrs roaring reptile it was like a dinosaur roaring and it rattled jars on shelves
Charlotte sat apart carbine across her knees eyes fixed on the kitchen stair (not the hatch) Each clang of the bell twisted her features a notch tighter
Maura whispered "have You taught your boy to shoot yet?"
Charlotte's answered "I know this might be crazy to you that He's six and he was practicing with his dad everyday and his aim is better than his father that's good enough for such a day like this" But her thumb caressed the hammer and in her mind she rehearsed the steps half cock paper ball ram cap full-cock aim for the centre of the chest same place she'd put a rabid animal down
---
OUTSIDE – SAME MOMENT
An elf raised his bow crystal shaft humming released the arrow and it struck the lead Rognarr dead centre then exploded in a bloom of white fire that flash boiled snow the beast didnt even slow scale blackened it's skin got split red blood steamed it kept walking the elfs smile died the Rognarr simply closed the distance jaws opened bit once hard the way you snap a biscuit head and body arrived on the snow in two separate places
Then it got messy
The raggnars fanned tails whipping arcs of powdered snow where scale met elf shield sparks jumped like grinding steel a gallou lowered its rack and charged a Rognarr met it chest to chest both animals skidding claws and furrowing antler tips snapped on the raggnars fore claws raked the gallous shoulder stripping hide in long wet sheets red blood poured the rider tried to bring his bow across a random Rognar hooked the mans cloak lifted slammed him sideways into a pine hard enough to shake cones loose like hail
For a minute the ditch was a butchers floor steam red blood cracked crystal the wet slap of meat on meat humans on the wall watched in stunned silence
An elf woman in a storm callers cloak drove her staff into the glassed ground veins of frost spider webbed outward locking Rognarr paws in cuffs of ice beasts toppled skidding on their snouts and the fire casters followed sheets of pale flame that didnt cook the scale but it boiled the eyes inside the sockets which made two raggnars reared blind and thrashed into their own handlers
The line wavered
Gallou surged through the gaps thirty of them riders standing in stirrups compound bows drawn they didnt aim at the wall they vaulted the ditch on momentum alone and thundered straight for the half melted gate they actually entered
---
INSIDE THE HOUSE – KITCHEN
Charlotte and the women were in the kitchen when the gallou shoulder smashed through the wall the table skidded across the floor and slammed into Charlotte's hip splinters flew like hornets Maura fired first her pistol barking a hole through the gallou's neck red mist painted the ceiling the beast dropped but the rider came with it boots hitting the floorboards hard he rose with a short sword already swinging Gerda caught the blade on the stock of her dead husband's rifle wood split but the strike stopped she drove the bayonet up under the elf's ribs he folded with a sound like wet laundry hitting stone Avina's sister loosed a crossbow bolt that took a second rider in the thigh he screamed tried to pull the shaft free Charlotte stepped in close pressed the carbine muzzle to his chest and fired the recoil jumped through her arms like a live thing the body of the elf dropped smoking and another elf came through the gap this one carried no blade he raised a palm and the air in front of it rippled the women felt the push a wall of cold that shoved them backward Maura hit the stove breath whoofing out the elf turned his hand toward the cellar hatch the wood began to frost runes crawling like white ants Charlotte knew if that hatch froze solid the kids would be rats in a barrel she brought the carbine up but the elf's shield flared the bullet sparked off useless downstairs Hector heard the shots and heard his mother screaming curses he felt the temperature drop through the floorboards he looked at Abraham at the other kids and the toddlers then at Mutt then he climbed the stairs pistol in one hand candle guttered out behind him darkness swallowed the cellar Mutt followed shoulders filling the narrow stair when Hector pushed the hatch the cold hit his face like a slap the elf had his back turned his shield facing the women Hector put two rounds one into the back of that knee and the other right through the elf's ass that mf screamed and the shield in his hands fell Charlotte saw the opportunity she rushed to finish the job with the butt of the carbine smashing it on the elf nose and face repeatedly that made his face bone crack the elf went down red blood on white floorboards and Charlotte kept hitting the leg "take this and this and this you piece of shit HAAAAAAAAA!!!" BAM BAM BAM "mom stop it's dead" Hector yelled
Outside more hooves more voices the house was breached the women stood among broken furniture and cooling bodies breath steaming eyes wild Kardinal would be coming but not yet Hector looked at his mother blood on her cheek which was not hers he said " look mom We hold here Mutt and I can take the stair you and the other ladies can cover the windows if they want the cellar they go through us first" Charlotte wanted to argue saw the set of his jaw nodded instead upstairs the bell kept clanging and through the broken wall the crystal staff began to sing a low hungry note that vibrated the boards under their boots the happening had arrived and a six year old boy with a lizard was the only bolt left in the lock
Through the smoke and drifting plaster dust a silhouette took shape tall thin white cloak edges fluttering like torn flags Charlotte's finger tightened on the trigger the carbine muzzle tracking chest high her heart a drum against her ribs The figure stepped over the dead gallou and the two elves boots crunching on shattered crockery when the haze thinned she saw the cloak was elf make but the shoulders under it were broad and the walk too heavy It was Kardinal burst into the kitchen rifle dangling useless in one hand his face a map of every nightmare he'd run through on the way home He took in the scene in a heartbeat—red on the floorboards splintered table women breathing like spent horses and in the middle of it his boy with a pistol still raised and a Rognarr standing over him like scaled armour For a second he just stood mouth open no air coming out Then the sob broke raw animal a sound Hector had never heard from his father before Kardinal dropped the rifle crossed the wreckage in three strides and scooped the boy up arms shaking so hard Hector's boots drummed against his coat He buried his face in Hector's neck breath hot voice cracked to gravel "oh my little boy thank goodness I Thought I lost you thought I lost you—"
Hector let the pistol dangle small hands patting the broad back feeling the tremor run right through the man "calm down dad I'm here We are alright We're all here"
Charlotte stepped close laid a blood slick hand on Kardinal's shoulder "We are are okey but our House is cracked but standing I'm glad to see you alive Kardinal" Kardinal lifted his head tears cutting clean lines through the soot on his cheeks He looked at the women Maura Gerda Avina's sister each marked each upright each alive His chest hitched again not grief this time just the aftershock of relief too big for skin He set Hector down and ran rough thumbs over the bruises blooming on the boy's cheek then pulled Charlotte in the three of them forming a small island of heartbeat amid the ruin Outside the crystal staff began its low hungry song vibrating beams in the ceiling but for one breath the kitchen held only the sound of a family counting each other real by touch Kardinal wiped his face with the heel of his hand picked up the rifle and looked at the broken wall where white cloaks still moved beyond the smoke then A scream rolled in from the ridge thousands of throats and iron hooves and the bass thunder of fresh Rognarrs Kardinal's head snapped toward the sound and the crystal staff's hungry song was suddenly drowned by a deeper mechanical growl engines and horses coming fast Outside the broken wall Morely was shoved back by Gallou kick he was wrestling an elf rider still mounted on a bleeding gallou The scout raised a blade to drive it through Morely's collar as the Rider attempted to reach morely
A whoosh cut the air like tearing silk
A stubby steel tube on a horseman's shoulder belched fire the rocket punched the elf centre mass detonated white hot
Rider and gallou exploded into red mist and burning bones on meat chunks thudded across the snow Morely rolled clear his face splashed with gore and screamed skyward
"AHAHAHA TAKE THAT YOU FAGGOTS !!!"
More tubes appeared along the ridge Kragstut launchers short barrelled you could call it cousins of the old M18
Rockets streaked down like comets walking fire through the white cloaked ranks
Each impact blossomed sun bright gallou and elves pin wheeled through the air antlers flaming
Kardinal stared jaw slack
"That's the Fort Crag reinforcements" he breathed
"WE ARE SAVED PEOPLE WE ARE SAVED!!!"
The crystal siege staff screamed pulling light into itself ready to answer the new guns
To be continued♥️