Chapter 16: The siege of Madukat (1)

The coppered sky glowed as that round and shiny nugget rose from beneath the Sandanphon River to signal a delighting new day for siege and battle. Dawn shone upon Madukat and the city wall seemed to shimmer, glowing like a pile of gold in sunlight.

Soon you will be mine to take, Bloodbeard smirked to himself, drained the last drops of wine that his minions plundered from a local farm houses and smashed the emptied wine pot to the ground in irritation due to his thirst for more wine. The wall of Madukat was as small as an ice corn in his eyes and Bloodbeard reached his hairy hand out to grab it. It was just empty air in the moment, but soon, it would be his, everything inside those walls would be his to plunder and take.

Bloodbeard was a man in the mid of his thirty. He was a giant of a man, monstrously towering over normal men. His arms were long and burly, thick as the trunk of an oak, each carrying a grotesque might that could swing a large poleaxe alone with great ease. His face was twisted with a pinkish claw mark scars that ran through his short broken nose and crooked lips, making him even uglier of a man.

Nobody remembered what Bloodbeard’s original name was, but they knew how Bloodbeard earned his first nickname. Scarface. Bloodbeard’s longtime henchmen would always tell people of a tale of how Bloodbeard was attack by a giant bear while he was out of the camp to take a piss at night. In his drunken fury, he locked himself into a fight that beast while being unarmed. In the end, he snapped the bear’s neck and wore its skin until today as a trophy.

Bloodbeard’s hair was grey and so was his beard, it made people wondered where he got his name Bloodbeard from, and Bloodbeard’s henchmen would tell them of how Bloodbeard had killed a man by ripping his apple off with his teeth and how that man’s blood fountained and dyed the gray beard red.

Bloodbeard squinted his eyes when he saw a henchman of his riding on horseback from the bunch that barricaded the southern gate of Madukat. He rose from his fading campfire, stood and stretched his tired back. A damaged piece of his cheaply made ring mail dug into his skin, itchy, Bloodbeard thrust his hand inside the ring mail to scratch where it itched.

“Master Bloodbeard, message, our spy said that the warden will fake his surrender and offer gold coins to our men and make them betray you,” the messenger dropped off his horse and respectfully reported.

Bloodbeard laughed aloud, his voice booming. His eyes radiated unbridled madden delight. He patted the messenger by his shoulder, prompted him to laugh as well. The messenger sweated profusely and laughed, an awkward laughter, confused and fearful.

“Tell the men to prepare five empty sacks. Find five men who are brave and willing,” Bloodbeard hunkered down to the size of the messenger, still laughing heartily, “Tell them to go inside the city as my representative to negotiate with the warden and fill up these five sacks with gold and trinkets. The moment they are done with the negotiation and walk out of the city gate of Madukat, I will resume the siege. Do not tell them that all the gold and trinkets they swindle from the warden will be their yet. I will tell them myself afterward.”

The messenger looked at Bloodbeard, his eyes darkened in the allure of greed, a crooked smile floated on his lips, “Can I…,” he hesitated. It was painfully obvious to Bloodbeard what this meek looking messenger was going to ask.

“Yes, you can. But remember, do not tell them this news yet. For the moment, this would be a secret,” Bloodbeard shushed and signaled the messenger to be on his way. The messenger scooted away with a floating wide grin on his face.

It was some surprise smalltime rewards and loots like that Bloodbeard given to his minions that earned him their loyalty. The tricks was to rule with a ruthless iron fist while gifting out rewards when rewards due. Bloodbeard was a man who took pride in his cunning just as much as his strength in combat. He did not become the lord of all bandits in Golden Triangle region because he was a brute and ruthless of a man. He did it with the right combination of physical strength and cunning.

In his mind, Bloodbeard secretly amused himself with the thought that the warden of Madukat would be so furious after realized that he was swindled by a bunch of bandits.

Bloodbeard walked to the other side of the hill, his bunch of naked and half naked henchmen were still at it, they had not have enough of that young farm girl they captured since yesterday. One of them noticed Bloodbeard, immediately notified the entire bunch. They dropped that unconscious girl to the ground like a piece of rag, all grinning. The girl’s naked body was full of purple bruises, her face swollen, her crotch drenched in viscous white fluid.

“Master, are you going to join us? May I go and get a bucket of water to wake this whore up to entertain you,” Pilfer nervously rubbed his hands, his crooked flattery grin was the same as always.

Bloodbeard cleared his throat, “One eye, you tell the mages to be ready. I want them to target the inner wall today. Pilfer and the rest of you bunch, go and prepare to raise the masts. The position will be fifty steps away from the first hill.”

And the bunch scattered to execute his order. Bloodbeard looked at the buck naked girl and felt his lust rising. He licked his lips and took off his pants.

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From the information that Moira’s personal guard gathered, Girout has agreed to employ the strategy that the oldest guard captain suggested. He believed that was a most sound and diplomatic solution. What kind of bandit could say no to the allurement of gold and power? Girout and the old guard captain could promise those bandits gold and positions, making them betray Bloodbeard in no time. This plan was the least risky among all the plan proposed by the guard captains. And Moira could only despair over how the best strategy for this city to defend against bandits was to open its city gate and invite bandits to enter.

She hoped that Erik was too pessimistic with his estimation, that this city would fall, she did not want that. While the sky was still dark, he had disappeared into the city with five of his closest knights, searching for blacksmiths to provide them with armor and shields, and the parts for Erik to emulate the dwarven king’s chariot cavalry. While Erik’s working with the smiths, two of his knights would help him to hire mercenaries and fighters within the city wall. The other three were tasked with the job of gathering ox carts or horse carts, “About fifty of them or so,” said Erik. Moira could not imagine what Erik would do with all of those carts and how he would transform them into chariots for his strategy to work.

The old knight Erik served Moira’s father for his entire lives. They literally survived the final years of the Hundred Year war together. Erik was the most trusted person to her father. And yet, her father, the Lord and Marquis of Itos sent him with Moira to the Broken Shore of Neirra without telling either the old knight or Moira of the reason behind that. At first, Moira thought that she was being punished for that one time and once her father was done with this silly punishment, he would recall Moira home. She could remember her father’s words still at times, “Why it is her? Why it must be her?” his voice drown within the howling wind of winter. “Had you tell this with anyone else?” her father grabbed Moira’s magic tutor by her shoulders, his knuckles whitened and the magic tutor feverishly replied, shaking her head, “No, my lord.” Her father slumped on his working desk, sighed, “What should I do with you, Moira?”

That question and that look when her father asked her, Moira could never forget, “What should I do with you, Moira?” they stuck within her head. Nevertheless, Moira flourished in her new environment and she had so much fun in the Broken Shore that she has never really questioned about her father’s motive. She thought that he would one day call her back to Itos, but that day would never come. And now, she would never know why she was sent to Itos.

Dawn came, the Fort city Madukat held its breath as the Southern Gate of Madukat was raised. Moira climbed the battlement of the Great Wall and looked at the raising Southern Gate with ten of her guardsmen followed her. Erik made sure to drill it into these men that they must stick close to Moira at all cost and at all time. And they did, like her own shadow. Erik also warned Moira to stay off the first and the second wall, making sure that she swore to him before he left.

The bandits, five, tiny as ants, poured through the gate on their horses. Girout was right there at the gate to meet them, next to him were the guard captains and twenty city guards stood in attention, halberd in their hands. On the battlement of the outermost wall, twenty to thirty city guard hid themselves, bows and arrows readied.

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The entire city of Madukat shook again. Its walls rattled, its people braced themselves for the horror of flying boulders that were as big as a cattle crashing against the city walls.

Girout and his plan, sounded smart as it was, it did not work obviously. Bloodbeard had no intention to withdraw and his men, bribed with gold and trinkets and position, had no intention of betraying him. This time, the target of Bloodbeard’s siege engine was the southwest guard tower on the second wall. The first ten boulders missed the mark, landed within the first wall or flew over the second wall, crashing the peasant area. However, all the boulders after that landed on their target without much deviation. The entire towers crumbled after being hit by twenty giant boulders. It was a horrifying scene to look at. The moment the guard tower fell, loud cheers were heard from the outside of Madukat. The bandits were having the best time in their lives, jeering and cheering at their latest victory.

Erik was right on the mark all along. Bloodbeard did not even care about the Warden’s response. He kept launching those giant boulders at the city wall, perhaps for the joy of watching sight of the proclaimed impenetrable walls crumble or perhaps to hide a hidden agenda. He had a plan, not that Moira or even Erik knew what it was at the moment.

Moira noticed a row of large masts, the kind of masts that were used for large trading ships, being erected at the bottom of an isolated hill lying at the edge of the sea of hills. There were a group of bandit stationed around those erected masts, probably a few hundreds, unlike Erik who could make an immediate estimation from a quick glance, Moira had no such ability. Moira guessed that behind those masts lied Bloodbeard’s secret siege engine or whatever it was that responsible for launching those giant boulders.

Girout returned to the Warden’s manor, reddened with anger and shame. He tried to trick the bandits with gold and position only to be swindled by them in the end. He talked over with the three guard captain, drawing a new plan to counter Bloodbeard. The youngest guard captain suggested that they should use his plan since Bloodbeard had no intention of moving from his spot. Tonight, he would climb out of the eastern wall with half of the city guards to raid Bloodbeard’s camp in secret, that should put an end to this siege. The Chief Inquisitor from the kingdom of White Winter also supported this plan, sending half of the magic casters under him to aid the brave guard captain in his quest.

When dusk fell upon the gloomy wall of Madukat, Erik returned, bringing with him a cart full of armors, blades and shields and five blacksmiths. The five knights who ran the errand for Erik also returned, they did not reach the target Erik has expected. He told them that they still had at least another day or two, but they had to be hurry up.

Erik did not rest. He instead instructed the men to start working, transforming those wooden ox carts and horse carts into war chariots. He told them that it was a race against time.