15 Years Later

Kieran's eyes shot open. The sound of stone smashing against their castle walls resonated in his head. He could no longer sleep through the pounding, even with how well protected his captain’s quarters were. Sitting up he ran his hands through messy brown hair, and reached over to a small table near his bed where he retrieved an oil lamp. Rising from his bed, he stretched his arms and legs, tense from the sleepless nights. He flipped the latch and removed the items from his trunk to dress. Walking over to his Lamelarr armor, he ran his hands across the blackened steel that glimmered from the lamplight. The reflection of a scar on his right cheek reflected in the steel. Though not as protective as heavy plate armor, it had still saved his life on more than one occasion. This was his preference as it allowed him to move freely. Grabbing his shield, he glanced at the black and red two headed eagle painted on the front remembering the patch on his brother’s shoulder the day he disappeared. Then he threw the guige strap over his shoulder and slipped a mace through his belt before exiting into the outer bailey.

Walking out, he felt a slight icy breeze marking the end of fall. Kieran glanced around a bustling camp filled with soldiers and tents. A lot of the soldiers lived in the outer bailey due to them being overcapacity to defend against the castle siege. Heading down a row of tents Kieran decided to examine how the soldiers were getting on during the siege. Most of the soldiers under his command were sleeping, but some played cards while others chatted around a boiling stew over a fire. Nearby in another row of tents not under his command, a group of soldiers gathered around two men who were fighting. However, before he could intervene, a stout, bald man wearing a captain's uniform bulldozed his way through the crowd. Grabbing both the men by their chain-mail he hurled them to the ground.

“What the blazes are the two of ya doing? If you two want to fight so badly, there's the gate! That’s it, stone duty for the both of ya. Now get those stones up to that there ballista tower, or I’ll be lightin your arses on fire and launching them at the enemy!”

“Yes, Captain Nolan!” “Sorry Captain!” they said as they scrambled to their feet. Slapping their fists against their chests in salute they hurried off.

“Shows over! Get back to your posts!” Kieran shouted as he made his way through the crowd pushing some soldiers out of the away. “Unless some of you want stone duty as well!”

Nolan turned towards Kieran. “Warner? Ain't you supposed to be sleepin?” He walked over towards Kieran and reached out to clasp wrists.

Kieran reached out in acceptance, shaking his head. “Couldn’t sleep because of the catapults. How long have they been at it this time? I don’t see how anyone could sleep with all this noise.”

“You mean the enemy or these dimwitted soldiers?” Nolan snorted. “They’ve been at it for the past four hours or so. Ya think they’d learn by now don’tcha? The damn wall is four meters thick. Gonna take more than some damn rocks to take that down. They can’t tunnel it either due to it being built into the blazin mountain valley.” Nolan moved closer to Kieran and whispered. “Ya know, I think they’re getting desperate now eh. Word is we’ve finally got our reinforcements on the way. I overheard the general a while ago, and they're about two weeks out. If the Dragalian forces intercepted a messenger, they could be prepping for an all out attack.”

“That would be suicide?” Kieran’s tone sharpened. “They have the men for it, but there would be mass losses on both sides.”

“Well, they ain’t got any other option. The only way to get to Brigalia is through this valley or around the mountainside. It would take’m months to move the whole blasted army around the mountain, and they sure as hell aren’t gonna walk their merry arses home. Well anyways, you didn’t hear this from me. Don’t want panic spreading about.”

Kieran nodded. “Yeah, that’s the last thing we need.” He patted Nolan on the shoulder. “Well, if we’re going to fight, might as well not do it on an empty stomach. Care to join me?”

“Kieran you never change!” Nolan said bellowing with laughter. “We’re in the middle of a bloody war and the only thing you can think about is food.”

They headed towards the eating hall on the west side of the castle. The hall was empty because of the hour. Luckily they still had some stew leftover. Grabbing some stew and bread they sat down at the captain's table. A while later as they headed out of the eating hall, a soldier came running towards them.

“Captain Warner, Captain Nolan!” The soldier stopped bending over to catch his breath.

Nolan looked at the exhausted soldier. “Well, spit it out.”

The soldier stood back up straight breathing heavily. “General Colestein needs you at the wall. I’ve been told to gather all the captains sir. He said it was urgent.”

Kieran didn’t like the sound of the soldier’s words. From the way the soldier was in a rush it appeared the attack was coming soon. He rose from the table saluting the soldier. “Excellent work soldier, we will head that way immediately. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes, sir!” The soldier said, as he saluted Kieran and headed off.

While Kieran and Nolan made their way to the castle wall Kieran took the time to admire it. The wall was massive. It had taken almost 9 years to build the stone wall into the mountain valley. He hated climbing the stairs to get to the top. He could still hear the sounds of rock smashing against stone. Looks like they still had not given up on breaking it down. Soldiers were bustling back and forth moving arrows and rocks.

This is not looking good. It will take a miracle for us to make it out of this alive, he thought.

As they reached the top of the wall, Kieran peered out over the edge. The Drigalian army was mobilizing. They had built six Giant Siege towers and started to position some catapults and battering rams. Archers had gathered into sizable groups ready to help push the siege towers along. Men with shields gripped in their hands formed a wall to protect the archers.

“Captain Warner, Captain Nolan. Pleased you could finally join us.” A tall stern man approached. His hair and beard were gray and kept. Though his face had aged with time, there was a fierceness of a veteran soldier in his piercing blue eyes. “From the looks of it you can already see the situation.” General Colestein turned towards the vast army below. “As some of you may already know, our allies are another two weeks out.” he eyed Captain Nolan. “We will forego this battle alone. If Brigalia is to survive this, we must hold them off here and now.” He turned back towards them. “Nolan, your unit is to man the eastern ballista tower, Warner yours the west. Do not, and I mean do not, let those siege towers make it to our castle walls.”

Both men saluted. “Yes, sir!”

Kieran and his unit were at the top of the tower. Everyone was in position. Then loaded the ballista ready to fire. “The second those siege towers are in range we will need to target the wheels. For now, we wait.” Everything grew still and silent except for the wind. Time seemed to crawl as they waited for Drigalia to make their move. They had stopped just at firing distance. Some of their crossbowmen had come forward in front. That was weird. Why are they in the front? That would make them vulnerable. A loud shout abruptly disturbed the silence.

“Loose!” The crossbowmen let loose a volley of arrows. They shot high into the air, too high. They made it high above the walls and started arcing down.

What? That distance shouldn’t be possible with a crossbow, Kieran thought.

“Take Cover!” he shouted as the arrows descended upon them. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t have shields. Raising his shield swiftly he moved over to the edge and huddled up against the wall. Arrows rained down and clattered all around, two of which pierced his shield. He could hear the cries of his men, some were not as lucky. Looking up, he assessed the damage. Two of his men were down and not moving. One had an arrow in his leg, another man with one in his arm. The other two were unscathed. Rushing over, he grabbed the man with an arrow in his leg and dragged him down the stairs. It was bleeding badly. Carefully, he snapped the arrow head off, and pulled it out causing the man to scream in pain. He pulled out a bandage and wrapped the wound tightly. “Keep pressure on this. Someone get him to the infirmary!”

Kieran ran back up the stairs to the other soldier with an arrow through his arm. He repeated the process. “Are you still good to fight?” The soldier nodded. Kieran walked back and peered over the ledge. The army had pushed the siege towers and catapults forward. Now within range he hurried over to assist with the ballista. After they lined the ballista up, he shouted. “Loose!” The bolt flew landing true on one of the six siege towers ripping through the axel causing it to halt.

“Yeah!” They all shouted. While reloading the ballista, another volley of arrows came raining down. They injured no one this time. Turning the ballista towards the next target they were ready.

“Loose!” This time they narrowly missed their mark, plowing through two men holding the shield wall. By this time one of Dragalia’s catapults were ready in position and aimed for them. While reloading, a flaming rock flew just over their heads narrowly missing them. “Loose! They destroyed another siege tower. Seconds later, a huge flaming rock came smashing through taking out part of the ledge along with another soldier.

This time they aimed at the catapult. The bolt came flying towards the catapult as it let off one last flaming rock before being destroyed. One soldier with the arrow in his arm paid no attention to the incoming rock. Kieran shoved the soldier out of the way. The rock missed Kieran but crashed through the floor. The supports holding the ballista broke and came crashing down. Kieran, unable to keep his footing, slipped and fell. Reaching his arm out he grabbed onto the ledge, but the rock broke free and he fell with the rubble into the floor below.. He grabbed his shield that had fallen to his side, and covered his head just in time as debris came raining down upon him. Shoving the fallen rubble away he looked around the room. The wooden structures had ignited, and the fire had spread, smoke filling the air. He started towards the exit but some fallen stones were blocking the way. His lungs burned with the thickening of the smoke, and his vision blurred. Falling to his knees he struggled to stay up.

A bright light appeared before him.

Kieran looked up at the bright light smoke swirling around it. “He...help?”, barely able to cough up the words. His vision grew clouded and watery from the smoke, except for the light shining through. He struggled slowly, crawling towards it. As he reached the light, he fell forward. A tingling sensation enveloped his body as he passed through, and everything went dark. When he hit the ground, it was cold and metallic. The smoke vanished, and he coughed as clean air filled his lungs again.