Chapter Five

Siege in the Badlands

Marith and the other adventures crouched on the walls of the town and looked down on the hoard of the gremlin army as they howled and whooped. They let loose wild shots from their guns and a few of them even carried runed battle wands that spat out fire and lightening when they pulled the trigger. Only a few of the gremlins made active shots at the walls defenders who crouched behind the parapet taking stock of the force arrayed against them. Marith ran up to a wall guard who had been hit and quickly healed him. The army had just arrived and was beginning to build up their moral and destabilize the defenders on the wall. Marith looked up at the night sky and wondered how soon it would be till daybreak.

The sheriff walked up next to her and clicked his heals together and levitated slowly off the ground so that he could see over parapet. “Nasty group of savages,” he commented.

“How will we kill them all they outnumber us by so much,” Marith said.

The sheriff shrugged. “We don’t need to kill them all just enough so their moral breaks, I’ve been a sheriff for fifty years now and I’ve served with legions in enough battles to know it doesn’t take as many men as you might think to defend a fortified position. There will be much more casualties on their side then on ours, as long as we can keep the walls up we should be good, carcar can’t fly this high so their calvery won’t be as effective as if we were on open ground.”

“What about the Raku?” Marith asked.

The sheriff sighed, “I don’t know sounds like they are some heavy hitters but you got one of them so we only have the other to deal with. I sent a message by magic to the capital we should receive add in a weeks’ time from one of the legions.”

“Do you think we can last that long?” Marith asked.

“I can only pray to Zizula that we do,” the sheriff replied sinking back to the ground and striding away.

The hordes of gremlins quickly solidified into a cohesive army and they retreated out or range of any attacks and sat in wait. The raku on his black carcar rode up and looked at the walls. He waved his arm and all the gremlins dismounted and pulled long barreled firearms and battlewands from their backs. They sank to the ground and disappeared over the crest of the hill and the long grass. Marith vaguely saw strands of grass and bushes twitch as they crawled forward. There was volley of thunder and several defenders on the wall jerked back. Marith healed two of them but one of them had been hit in the forehead and was past what spells her god had given her.

The wall defenders fired on the hills and the grass was shredded. Patches or red mist rose up where a gremlin was hit. The Raku on his black carcar waved his hand again; two dozen more carcar riders rode up from where they had waited out of site. The Raku waved his hand and they charged howling and firing on the walls. Marith having no idea what the Raku was planning never the less gripped the crossbow she had been given and waited to fire on the Raku, she noticed there was a large pack on his back the dark canvas bulging. The Raku waved his hand and the earth began to shake. Marith stared at the wall in horror wondering if the Raku would be able to bring it down. Even the dwarven cut and built stone of this wall wouldn’t hold up to a powerful extended magical attack.

The Raku didn’t even try. Pillar of earth shot up in front of them then another and another and another creating a ramp of earthen stairs with only a five-foot gap between it and the wall. The Raku led his charge up the ramp. A few wall guards leapt onto the ramp with pikes and braced them in the earth to spear their attackers. The Raku flicked his left hand and made a few series of gestures with his right and the two guards were pushed off the ramp onto the spikes outside the town’s walls. Marith dropped the crossbow and grabbed her Warhammer and ran. Carl and Silla were already there when the Raku landed and swung about it with its two spectral black swords. Carl deflected the sword with his axe and slashed at the carcar’s wing but was parried by the Raku’s sword. Distracted by Carl the Raku didn’t see Silla who cut off the carcar’s head with her short swords. The Raku leapt up and summersaulted off his mount and onto the parapet of the wall while the carcar thrashed about its legs continuing to move. The Raku parried and attacked with his swords and his feet were like the roots of a tree as he stood their implacably on the precipice of the wall.

Marith swung her Warhammer and the Raku cartwheeled farther down the parapet decapitating a wall guard. More carcar riders were riding up the ramp and Herbalt raised his hand and the earth shook and the ramp began to collapse. The raku summersaulted into the midst of a group of wall guards and swung about cleaving through all of them their bodies dropping to the ground. The Raku shrugged off the pack on his back and quickly unfastened it and turned to face the party of adventurers.

“I bring greetings once more,” the Raku said placing his feet together in a V and his hands to his side and bowing to them. “It shall be an honor to finally have the pleasure of dueling and killing such worthy opponents.”

“Pretty full of yourself, aren’t you?” Marith asked gripping her Warhammer tightly.

“We out number you five to one,” Carl growled moving around to flank the Raku.

Two to five,” The raku corrected and the pack behind him shifted and a creature stood up.

It was made entirely of a dark stained wood with thin limbs and a regular sized torso. The marionet turned its wooden limbs creaking and clattering together each part of its limbs connected by a brass hook. Its face was covered by the mask of a Raku and its torso covered by a black upper part of a dogi, but it wore no other clothing and carried no weapons. It too bowed in an identical manner as the other Raku.

“Greetings adventurers, I thank you for letting me assume my destined form,” he said.

Marith felt a chill in her limbs. “You’re the same Raku we killed,” she realized allowed.

“it is as you say honored opponent. Let us settle our disagreement with the blade,” the puppet Raku replied.

“What are you?” Herbalt asked in horror.

“We are as you say the Raku, high priests of Pathaldron and chosen by him to serve his servants the Turashen, our masters. As long as these masks continue so shall we and these masks are without end so we are eternal. I am Vahera,” the wooden Raku replied. “My brother Slaav and I shall face you and put an end to these towns heroes and even if we fail we will return and our brothers with us.”

“We’ll see about that,” Carl replied and swung his axe at Slaav.

The nimble Raku dodged out of the way and sliced at Carl’s neck only missing because the burly dwarf shrugged his shoulder and deflected the attack with his shoulder plate. Marith attacked Vahera and her Warhammer clipped the wooden bodies shoulder, but the hard wood was not so easy to damage as living flesh.

Herbalt blasted at Slaav with a stream of fire but the Raku made a quick gesture and the spell died in the air. “None of that wizard lest two play at that game,” Slaav warned blocking a strike from Silla.

Sel’van backed up and drew back his bow and fired at Vahera but without even turning the Raku swept its sword behind its back and deflected the arrow. Herbalt cast another spell and again Slaav gestured and the spell ended. “Very well wizard you shall see what powers our Lord has given to us,” Slaav said and gestured with one hand and spoke aloud, “Pathera.”

Immediately the air was filled with darkness and Marith’s teeth began to chatter she could hear the distant howling of wolves and growling all around her but all she could see was a black mist of darkness. She stumbled to the side and her foot missed the wall and she fell. Marith barely caught the lip of the wall with her gauntleted hands and looked up at the circle of darkness that was visible above her. She could hear Silla, Sel’van, Herbalt and Carl all cry out in pain. Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself up stood and gestured with her own hands.

“Lumina!” she shouted, and the darkness of the spell was instantly repelled although the biting cold remained. “On my lead,” Marith ordered and stepped forward and struck at Slaav who had just stabbed Carl through the thigh. Not suspecting the attack Slaav was staggered and dazed and Silla quickly followed up on Marith stabbing both of her swords into his chest. Vahera spoke aloud and touched his brother on the back healing some of his wounds but Carl recovering from his own injury lashed out and dealt Slaav a mighty blow to the chest. Herbalt swung down with his staff and there was a crack a flash of fire and the smell of smoke and Slaav fell back. Vahera seeing this ripped off his brother’s mask and leapt over the wall sliding down the fifty of wall to the ground where he began to run towards the gremlin army.

Sel’van fired his bow whispering a phrase of elvish that Marith didn’t understand. Vahera was frozen in place and Sel’van took a coil of rope from his belt and tied it around part of the parapet. “Quickly we need to get those masks, or we’ll be doing this all over again!”

The party slid down the rope and ran toward the frozen Raku who was already beginning to move slowly again. Marith threw her Warhammer hitting the Raku in one of its legs and shattering the wood. The party moved, and Silla ripped the mask of Vahera’ s face.

Now in possession of both masks the party realized that they were on the side of the wall with the gremlins and ducked as a volley of spells and shots went overhead.

“Now would be a good time to run,” Carl said and took off his short legs pumping frantically. Herbalt cast a spell and Carl began to move twice his normal speed quickly outpacing everyone but Silla as the party ran for the town’s main gate. The carcar riders began to hoot and howl and mounted their feathered beasts and took off after the five adventurers. The gates were sixty feet away and closed when carcar were within range of them. The adventures ran in a zigzag pattern dodging the fire from the mounted gremlins.

“Open the gate!” Marith shouted hoping the town would risk helping them.

They closed the distance but still the gates didn’t open and Marith began to lose heart and she felt her legs would give out at any moment. There was a shadow overhead and she looked up to see a brown carcar of a more domestic variety glide down from the top of the wall. Atop the carcar sat the sheriff who jumped off the birds back and touched down on the ground a small cloud of dirt spreading out from his diminutive frame and the brown leather of his coat swishing back to reveal his two battlewands. His hands hovered over them for a moment and then moved in an instant and pulled back the hammers and pulled the triggers as he backed up each thunderous expenditure of a spell bullet knocking another gremlin off their mount to the ground.

“Hope you got a plan miss because this is as far as I thought,” the sheriff said. “Those gates aren’t opening so unless you’ve got something up your sleeve all of us are going to get shot up outside these gates.”

Marith turned and dropped her Warhammer. Moving her fingers in a synchronized series of gestures she began to sway back and forth and then moved her hands slowly over the army of gremlins. “Fesla aid me,” she implored.

Nothing happened for a moment and then the earth trembled, and water shot up and began rushing down the narrow valley catching anything it its path and sweeping it away. Herbalt shouted a word inaudible in the cacophony and a wall of stone shot up in front of them diverting the flash flood as it swept past them and carried the carcar riders off.

The gates of the town cracked open ajar and the five adventures and the sheriff quickly made their way in. Once inside the gates closed and the bolts slid back into place again with a click. The adventures panted but smiled at each other in victory.

“Well adventurers you’ve done your duty and more besides I’ll have a look into what you asked me about and give you all the help I can,” the sheriff said tipping his hat to them and departing.

The sheriff found them an hour later at the tavern. Marith had found herself pushed into the role of the subject of a portrait by a painter and scholar who had persuaded her to pose for him. He had just put the final touches on the painting when the sheriff arrived with a sheaf of papers.

“These are all the records I could find looks like the people your looking for went north deeper into Imperial lands towards the Wild Country. Last they sed they were headed to Tor it’s a town about fifty miles across the River,” the sheriff said handing the papers to Herbalt and shaking each of their hands. “Its been a pleasure working with you, if your ever in town again don’t be afraid to stop by for a drink.”

The adventures thanked the sheriff and then headed out of town. Deputy Jake was waiting by the town gate astride a horse. “Leaving so soon?” he asked Marith.

“I have my duties,” Marith replied.

Jake had a strange look on his face but he knodded to her, “Well, I hope I’ll see you again.”

The adventures left the town and headed North on horseback toward the River Numen and deeper into the Nom Empire.