Chapter XX
Alliances and Friends
Kranz had been taken to the main hospital under heavy guard; he was lying in a deep sleep on a bunk, he struck a solitary figure, in the far corner of a long well lit room next to a window, the sun shone through, which sharply contrasted to the dark deed recently done. The Soldiers posted at the doorway checked the physicians as they came in and out.
The Queen was in a separate room at the far end of the corridor; people were hovering all around removing blood smeared bandages, the Sage had momentarily left for the herb garden, when Achil had arrived, he sat forlornly at her side. Wei stood over her bed. She had survived the attack but was in a perilous condition. Her eyes weakly opened; she reached out took Wei's hand and stammered a few frail words.
“It was not the Elemental that did this; you must make sure the people understand. I recognised the malice behind those eyes, it was Jin, he had taken possession of him, but I was too late to prevent him from doing harm, too late.”
Her eyes closed and she fell back into a deep sleep. Wei was visibly shocked by this news; he had been holding onto the Queens hand, and gently placed it by her side.
“Achil this is terrible,” said Wei. “It was Jin who did this act, and not Kranz. My people are very confused by what has happened here."
"The Queen was not the target I was, she protected me, and was punished for doing so."
"That's possible, everything happened so fast, it was difficult to see what was going on. The thing is, some of my people feel betrayed, but when they here this. Their anger will be directed toward the Mandrake, and especially their vile leader. That an Askalon should do this to another Askalon, is unheard of, it goes against the fabric of my kin, and shows how far Jin has fallen. For such a deed as diabolical as this my people will want justice, and fast.”
“I fear they will have that opportunity,” said Achil sombrely. “What shame is it that befalls us, when we all descend to the realms of vengeance and how will it end?”
“It will end as all things end;” said Wei. “Once they have been destroyed or we’ve been destroyed. You cannot treat with the likes of such a person, or anyone that actively seeks to commit hateful acts. You see some among my people believe it is power they crave, and in many respects the want of it, is a drug, a very powerful drug. But I think it is the fact that they hold all others in contempt, which makes them what they are. They have a strong need to usurp and control other people's lives, and the reason for this is clear to me, it is the fear of not being in control of their own. Instead of fighting their inner demons they are possessed by them, so that there can never be an end to their hate, as once the demon is unleashed, it is a demanding unreasoned foe that makes sense of the senseless and gives belief to the thought that mindless acts, are actually mindful ones. Their blood runs so hot that they become blind to all else, except their own desires. People similar to Jin are always stirred by their victories, they do not have the understanding for nought else. It is quite amazing how each individual in that Mandrake Empire wants the same things that Jin wants. I guess he has managed to craft them in his own image. His ideas are a pestilence that consume all in their path. We must stop him or be stopped by him.”
“And what of the next tyrant, and the one after that?” replied Achil. “Now that the seed has been planted, can it ever be purged or will it flourish forever.”
“Let's just concern ourselves with the one that’s here now, and not any successor,” said Wei sadly looking down upon the Queen, never before had he seen her so fragile. "The Sage is waiting outside, I will ask him to perform a rite that will prevent Jin from possessing anyone else; our enemy will simply then have to find another way to breach your walls."
The Queen looked so distant; Achil’s heart went out to her, as she lay there silently slipping away. Her once strong body sunk into the bed and appeared frail, there was an age to her he had not noticed before. For the first time in a long while he truly felt helpless. Wei excused himself for a moment; he needed to inform the people of Askalon of the Queens last words.
Achil rose slowly, he called an attendant over to sit with the Queen, while he left to check on the unfortunate Kranz. When he reached Kranz’s side, he was in the processes of being revived by the physicians; Agoran and Victor were also by his bed with a look of concern on their faces. Achil noticed that Kranz seemed older, in fact unbelievably; there were flashes of grey to his hair, probably a result of the possession. He quickly explained to those present what the Queen had said.
Agoran and Victor were both relieved and saddened by the news. They noticed Kranz stirring, first his arms then his legs began to move, his eyes blinked open. His lips chapped shut began to open, his voice was hoarse, creaking like the opening of an old door that had rusted shut.
“What happened?” he said in a barely audible voice. “I feel so strange, why am I here?”
Agoran leant forward to whisper in his ear. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
Kranz tried to sit up but could not. The ordeal had left him weak and in some discomfort.
“I remember being in my room trying to work out how best to use the power of an Elemental,” replied Kranz. “Then I must have had a seizure and blanked out.”
Agoran slowly told Kranz of what had transpired since his black out; he looked horrified at first, which quickly turned to embarrassment, as his eyes welled up. They tried to comfort him but he was not to be consoled, he had been the vessel that might have mortally wounded the Queen. He became sullen and turned his head away from them.
Agoran motioned to Achil for them to go outside; he made sure they were out of earshot before he began.
“What do you think?” asked Agoran.
“I think Jin had plenty of time to ascertain what's been going on,” said Achil. “He knows some, if not all of our plans, including the one about our not so secret weapon. Which can only mean one thing; he will be coming, most likely he will try to force our hand. But we have bigger problems should the Queen of Askalon die; who knows what that will mean for the alliance.”
“Well let us hope they are willing to believe it was Jin that made an attempt on her life and not one of us,” said Agoran beginning to pace. “We must bring the new weapon to the battlements before it's too late.”
The two turned and were startled to hear a loud clamouring outside; they quickly went to investigate. It was the alarm, the Mandrake had begun their assault.
Achil shouted to Agoran to get the weapon ready, he would head to the battlements, as he ran he could clearly here the bells ring out across the city. He reached the top of the walls just in time to see the vast army of the Mandrake already lined up, surge forward like a giant wave. Siege engine after siege engine, were dragged to the walls. The Archers steadied their aim and fired a volley down on the legions beneath them. It was not long before one of the mighty siege towers lowered its small draw bridge onto the top of one of the battlements and out flowed Marauders, and the Wrath. This was repeated all the way along the great length of the wall. Achil picked up a small pot of oil and threw it at one of the towers, someone else set fire to it. He looked toward the gate; the Mandrake had finished the ramp and were now bringing up a battering ram and ladders.
Thousands of ropes came flying over the castle walls, the final battle was about to be fought and the fate of the city would be decided by the end of the day. The fighting was at close quarters and highly intense. The Wrath soldiers as soon as they got over the top of the castle turrets began to change form, becoming savage Wolfmen, ravenous ferocious merciless beasts. Achil could see that the Finns were being pushed back and that a breach head was occurring in their lines.
The Marauders had broken through on one turret, driving the Askalons back with a wall of shields, while the Shadow Warriors with their Mead cohorts started to stream out of the siege engines like ants. With chaos all around him and their defences starting to falter, Achil had to think fast. He barked orders to the neare
st Finn Warriors. They then filled an empty barrel with small pots of oil and dried straw placed a lid over it. Turned it on its side and rolled it towards the wall of shields, as it hit them he shouted to some of the Archers with fire tipped arrows to set it ablaze. The blast sent flames over the front column. Then as the fire dispersed Achil with as many Finns as could be spared, charged into the middle of them, wildly slashing, forcing them to retreat back over the walls.
One of the Marauders, a giant of a man, broke free and lunged at Achil, crashing into him and knocking him to the floor; Achil rolled to one side, and was up in an instant. He swung his sword round and into the midriff of another Marauder that had got too close. Still the giant would not give up the chase, he struck two Finns dead with one swing of his sword; he kicked another clear off the battlement, and was at Achil thrusting his sword first one way then the other. It was all Achil could do from being decapitated. And just as his enemy was about to gain the ascendancy he was struck by a string of arrows. It was the Askalons they had seen the danger and leapt to his aid.
The bombardment from the Catapults was also relentless, as though meteors were being fired over their heads, only to crash into the city below. The Rams head had been brought up and could be heard thudding against the castle gates.
Rumours began to filter through that the Queen was dead, as more Wrath surged forward transforming themselves into wild beasts bent on destruction. The King now also fighting on the walls told his personal guard to form up and charge. The Leader of the Wrath swung round his large iron headed mallet bringing it crashing down on the shield of the King, who stood firm, undaunted by the savagery of such creatures. Again the Wrath warrior drew up his mallet and brought it down, this time though the King had jumped clear and the blow missed altogether, smashing into the floor. One of the Kings guards, a mighty warrior nearly as tall as the Wolfman managed to thrust his spear into the gullet of the beast. The foul creature gave out a roar, as the man forced it back over the wall and into the massed legions of the Mandrake below.
The Battle continued, and every time the attackers appeared to break the ranks of the Finns, the Finns with their allies would somehow and with a fanatical fierceness push them back.