The slave pen was organised into four blocks with each holding close to 300 captives. The majority of them being Zephods with a few Janyilids who were kept from the pits for particularly strenuous manual work.
"OK, split up and take a block each," said Dev. "Take them back the way we came in and wait by the treeline out of sight. When we are all back, Jack, I want you to use the stone to hide everyone, I will show you how. Let's get this done."
Jack ran down the corridor, turned a corner and entered his block. The room was gigantic with a dull eerie glow from the many slow burning oil lanterns embedded in the wall behind cages. The was full of row upon row of bunk beds, all three beds high and it appeared that despite the commotion that they were all still fast asleep. Jack walked up to the first bed and shook awake the female Zephod who slept on the bottom bed.
"Hi, I'm Jack. I am here with Dev Pron and others. We are here to free you. Wake up as many others as you can and head out of the building, the gates are open and we will lead you to the edge of the forest." The female Zephod propped herself up on her bed in complete shock before leaping out and starting to wake the others. Jack walked from bunk to bunk spreading the word and soon there was a steady stream of prisoners leaving his block and heading down the corridor to join the others. In no time at all, the whole pen had been emptied and a line of very tired, confused and malnourished Zephods and Janyilids walked silently towards the forest.
Once the last of the captives was safely out of view, Dev, Clevan, Jack and Bafflebod regrouped to discuss the next part of the plan.
"Jack, I want you to stay here and hide these people with the stone. You two will come with me, we are going to try and free the pit fighters. If we can free the warriors, we will have a chance of putting up a fight if need be. There is also one more slave pen nearby and I am keen to get those poor souls out tonight too. Once we have freed this side of the city, I have an idea which may well help us to free the pens on the other side. OK Jack, bring the stone and let's get this lot hidden and safe," said Dev.
The Assault on Vassash
With the escapees hidden and safe for the time being, Dev, Clevan and Bafflebod set off towards the pit fighter cells.
"This is going to be a whole lot trickier. This block is well-guarded both outside and in. Each cell has its own door which we are going to need to unlock, that is going to take some time. Plus, this time we can be seen," said Dev.
The disposal of the four guards and evacuation had not seemed to have raised any alarms in the city and all remained just as tranquil as when they first arrived.
"That is the entrance to the cell ahead. I see just two guards outside, but I am certain there will be at least twice as many inside. We are going to have to dispose of these as quietly as possible. I think one of them is asleep, I will take the other out, just be ready with arrows in case I need help. Stay here."
With that Dev turned back and disappeared down a side street leaving Clevan and Bafflebod waiting nervously in the shadows on the corner. A few minutes passed and Bafflebod saw a shape emerge along the side of the prison complex. Bafflebod loaded his bow, Clevan did the same.
One of the guards was dozing, happily slumped against a stone pillar, the other was standing nearby, busily trimming his finger nails on his sword. Bafflebod watched as the shape turned the corner and emerged behind the standing Brachanid. Bafflebod saw the knife flicker in the moon, the Brachanid did not see a thing. Dev lowered the guards body silently to the floor and moved over to the pillar with his knife raised.
Moments later Dev waved an arm signalling that all was clear. Bafflebod and Clevan stepped out and covered the open ground as quickly and as quietly as they could. When they arrived at the entrance Dev was just finishing cleaning the red from his blade and placing the dagger back into its sheaf on his belt.
They walked to the large metal door, it was unlocked.
"Neither of these have keys. Bows at the ready and just keep firing," whispered Dev. "Ready?"
Bafflebod and Clevan nodded. Dev swung the door open. As they stepped in through the doorway, the path led downwards into the long corridor that Dev was very familiar with. Down they went until the corridor flattened out. A loud shout rang out and in the flickering orange distance shapes moved and rumbled. It was soon clear that those shapes were five Brachanid warriors running directly at them. They began firing. By the time they were on them only two remained, both with arrows extruding from arms and legs.
The first Brachanid swung his mighty black sword directly at Dev. Dev caught the Brachanid's hand with his bow and ducked underneath. The sword came loose and spun dangerously past Clevan's head. The Brachanid's momentum carried him over Dev and Clevan drew his sword and finished him cleanly.
By the time Dev had risen to his feet the second Brachanid was already on Bafflebod, sword raised. With a blood curdling roar, he aimed it at his head and brought it crashing down. Bafflebod froze, closed his eyes and waited for the end. Nothing. He quickly opened his eyes, surprised to still be alive, to see a large powerful hand sticking out of the cell door bars holding the Brachanid's arm by the wrist. Dev swung his sword and the Brachanid fell lifeless and headless to the floor.
"Dat one's got da keysss," hissed the voice behind the door. "Dat one wiv no head."
Dev searched the body and found them. "Stand back and I will release you," he said. The gigantic arm recoiled and Dev quickly unlocked the door and pushed it open. Out of the shadows walked a gigantic Janyilid. His eyes burning red and face covered in hundreds of scars.
The gigantic Janyilid scooped down and picked up one of the black swords.
"My namesss Tanic, I owess you me life," he said in a deep and booming voice.
"And I owe you mine," said Bafflebod still visibly shaking.
"There is no time for this! Tanic, start freeing the others," commanded Dev. Tanic did not need telling twice and ran off down the corridor opening cell after cell. Dev rushed back up towards the entrance and peered, all was still clear.
Bafflebod and Clevan directed the freed prisoners up the corridor towards Dev.
"There isss a weaponsss cupboard by the main door. Makesss sure you grabsss one," said Tanic over and over again as he swung each cell door open.
The cell block corridor was a fearsome sight. Zephods, Janyilids and even imprisoned Brachanids bounded their way towards the exit. Each of them fully battle scarred and full of muscle.
"We have company!" came the shout from Dev at the entrance. Tanic tossed the keys to Bafflebod and sprinted down the corridor, barging all out of his way. When he reached the door, Dev was already outside with a number of his new allies. A dozen Brachanids were making their way directly towards him. One near the back stopped in his tracks and raised his battle horn to his mouth. Dev's arrow struck his forehead before he could breathe a note into it.
The remaining eleven charged. Dev fired on them as quickly as he could, dropping four more before pulling out his sword.
Tanic burst through the door, his black sword held high and his eyes burning with hatred. He brushed Dev aside and ran straight into the pack of Brachanids roaring and flicking his sword with skill and ferocious force. Three Brachanids dropped dead to the floor within a seconds. Tanic ran through and out the other side unscathed. He turned to charge again, but Dev and the other prisoners were already engaged in combat. Tanic walked back towards the melee and threw his blood soaked sword down. The Brachanids were huge, but Tanic was gigantic and his massive arm muscles rippled as he grabbed the first Brachanid and swung him by the neck until the life left him. Another took a swing at Tanic, lightning fast reflexes honed over years of forced hand to hand combat meant that Tanic saw the attack coming from miles away and within a nanosecond he had stepped in and caught his attacker's arm. Tanic laughed and waited for the terrified Brachanid to make his next move. The attack came quickly, but nowhere near quick enough. He pulled the dagger from his belt and lunged it towards Tanic's stomach. Tanic caught his hand, snapped
his wrist like a twig and plunged the blade deep into the Brachanid's chest. The Brachanid gurgled as he slumped dead to the floor.
The others were dead by the time Tanic had finished. Dev nodded at Tanic in admiration of his battle skills. Tanic grinned back, then dipped and retrieved his black sword.
Within a few minutes the entire block was empty and all souls were stood outside. Dev addressed them.
"My dear warriors, you are free. You may use your freedom however you see fit, I have no hold upon you and I will not begrudge those who wish to flee. But tonight we have a great chance to dent the Midnight Army and to bring freedom to even more. I beg you to join and fight with me. My friends Clevan and Bafflebod will take those who wish to join me to the edge of the forest where you will join many more freed slaves. Those who do not, I wish you peace and happiness for the rest of your days."
As Clevan and Bafflebod started to walk off, Dev called to them.
"As you walk back, you will pass a Cara cara pen. Get as many riders on board as you can and take them all, we will need them for the next phase of my plan." He then turned to Tanic.
"I need you to come with me. More slaves need our help, my fearsome friend."
Tanic's menacing grin turned into a smile and the pair set off towards the next slave pen.
Jack sat in the trench shivering and staring at the hypnotically glowing stone in the palm of his hand. A crunching noise from the end of the street made Jack jump out of his skin and he almost dropped the stone. He pulled the bow from his back, loaded an arrow and took aim.
Jack waited, arrow poised and focussed on the large shape which strode into view. Another appeared, then another, a blast of flaming smoke poured from the first shape, which Jack now identified as being a strange gigantic horse-like creature.
"Jack? Are you here?" came the call from the first beast. Jack recognised Bafflebod's voice immediately. He waved his hand across the surface of the stone and strode out to meet his friend and the huge creature he was sat upon.
The group of slaves and warriors welcomed each other, although they remained almost silent, the joy on the faces of all was clear. Some who had been reunited after many cruel years apart, embraced and cried.
Jack ushered all of the new arrivals behind the treeline and again used the stone's powers to conceal everyone.
Dev and Tanic were not too far behind and led the very weary looking occupants of the second slave pen straight towards where Jack and Bafflebod were resting. The sun was beginning to cut through and one by one the faces came into view.
"Dad!" screamed Bafflebod. "Is that really you?"
Bafflebod and his father ran to each other and embraced as tightly as they could, their faces both covered in tears.
Jack looked on and smiled.
The Charge of the Midnight Army
Clevan jumped back on his Cara cara and led the group of brave volunteers out of the forest and back into Vassash. Clevan and Bafflebod had found twenty-six Cara caras in the pen on their way back to the forest, all of which were now being ridden by brave volunteers mainly from the slave pens. Dawn was fast approaching as Clevan and his troops turned another corner and increased their speed.
Clevan shook the Cara cara's reins and struck it sharply with his heels, the huge beast complained then accelerated until it reached its top speed, the others did the same. Blurry eyed Brachanids who had just woken and left their homes were frozen in fear as the group of invaders thundered through the streets.
Clevan shouted at the top of his lungs over and over again, "Death to the Brachanids! Death to the Brachanids!" He swung his sword wildly either side of the huge beast and Brachanids dived out of the way to avoid his blows. The others all followed suit. Together they made a tremendous noise.
Word spread quickly around Vassash that they were being invaded by a large group of warriors on Cara caras. The Midnight Army began to assemble. The first to react was a barracks of over a thousand troops on the same side of the city as Clevan and his men. They quickly dressed, armed and mounted their Cara caras and were off in hot pursuit.
Onwards Clevan rode, where possible the group split up and rode down parallel streets to maximise the panic and noise. They rode past the Dark Tower, waking Siinjid from his slumber. By the time they reached the far south of the city, the group of twenty-six had several thousand enemies riding after them.
It was at this point that that Dev put the next part of his plan into effect. He attacked.
Clevan's diversion seemed to have done the trick. The streets were starting to come alive with confused and frightened Brachanids who were discussing what had just happened. Dev and his army of close to two thousand, desperate ex slaves and freed pit warriors entered the city at the same place they had escaped earlier that morning.
Dev had taken the decision that the majority of the pit fighters should stay with him and attack the city while those less skilled at fighting should lead the diversion.
The city was now fully awake and Brachanids had congregated in the streets to talk about what had happened. As Dev and his troops turned a corner, the Brachanids that were there turned and ran, shouting out in panic warning others as they went.
"No civilians are to be harmed, just those in armour, or those who engage us. Jack, fire up the stone and burn everything," said Dev, Jack did as he was ordered and moments later the empty houses either side of the street were burning fiercely.
On they walked, street after street meeting very little in the way of resistance. Those soldiers who were left behind were either cut down quickly or ran with the civilians for their lives. The majority of the Midnight Army was currently chasing a mere twenty-six Cara caras or busy reinforcing the south side of the city.
By the time Dev's small army reached the Dark Tower all had managed to locate weapons. A group of over a hundred members of the Midnight Army were based at the Dark Tower and were well dug in. As they approached, Dev could see that a large number of archers were busy preparing defences.
Dev signalled the group to a halt just out of the enemy's arrow range.
"The Brachanid will have the tower guarded, this will not be easy, but if we are going to change things, we are going to have to take it. They have a lot of archers in position, no doubt the tips of some of the arrows will be explosive. If we rush them, it will cost us heavily. Jack, stay by my side, we are going to need to use the stone here. Those of you with bows, split into two groups and be prepared to flank them, make sure you take some muscle with you," said Dev.
Jack took up position at Dev's side. "What is it you would like me to do?" he asked.
"Jack, do you know how to summon the power of the wind?"
"I don't," replied Jack.
"Then my friend, would you allow me to use the stone for a few moments?" asked Dev.
"Of course," replied Jack pulling out the stone and holding it out for Dev to take.
Dev drew on the stone with his thumb and it immediately began to glow a mysterious green colour, a strange shadow appeared around Dev for a moment and then faded. Dev began to spin his finger around the white ball which had formed, slow at first, then faster and faster. The ball started to swell in size and shook violently above the stone. It grew to the size of a basketball and Dev pushed his palm through it towards the Dark Tower. Green bolts of light sparked wildly from the stone. As the bolts struck the dusty floor below, tornados the size of lampposts cracked into life and began rolling across the open ground towards the archers at the base of the tower. The five furiously spinning columns of wind tore through the makeshift defences, scattered arrows and threw a number of archers from their positions.
"Full attack!" screamed Dev while sending a huge energy blast towards the already panicked enemy.
Some of the Brachanids began to flee in terror, others were knocked unconscious by the blast, the rest were showered in a merciless onslaught of arrows.
Dev and his troops reached the foot of the Dark Tower. It was silent.
; "Thank you, Jack," said Dev handing his back the stone, "Now we destroy it! Gather up as many of the exploding arrows as you can and bring them to me. Zephods, I want you to dig a large hole here, under the base of the tower."
A few minutes later a huge hole had been dug under the tower and stuffed with all of the exploding arrows they could find, bar one.
Dev led his forces away from the tower towards another slave pen on the east side of the city. Before leaving, Dev placed the last remaining exploding arrow into his bow, pulled back the string, then released it.
Siinjid drew his guards to a halt when he reached the edge of the city. South of Vassash were plains that stretched out of miles.
"We may have been tricked, this looks like a trap. There is very little dust being kicked up by their Cara caras. I would guess there is fewer than fifty riders. With all the ash on the ground, an army would send up a huge cloud. Blow the horn, call our forces back. The city is at risk," said Siinjid to Halknin.
The horn rang out and Siinjid turned his group around and began to head back towards the tower.
A huge cloud of flame and smoke rose up high into the air from the centre of the city, followed by a bang as loud as thunder. Siinjid and his troops watched in horror as the Dark Tower began to fall.
The Long March Home
By the time Siinjid had reached the remains of the Dark Tower, Dev and his troops had released the two thousand slaves from the east of the city.
"There is one more slave prison in the south of the city, but it would be foolish to make an attempt for it. It is with a heavy heart that I walk away from them. We will continue to head east and loop around the city far in the north. We can then head west, pass Waking Veil and onwards. My people have prepared a new tunnel system there, although it is a little small for our new needs, it is a start and hopefully a place we can call home. The Brachanids have been hit hard today and it will take them a long time to recover from this defeat. We must now rebuild, train and prepare. This is far from over. There are still many Brachanid warriors and other cites which will undoubtedly reinforce this one. But if we can get home, tonight has brought us two precious things, time and perhaps more importantly, hope. We have a long walk ahead of us, but take each step at a time and with each, savour the taste of the fresh air, embrace the light from above and welcome the energy that freedom provides. Onwards!" shouted Dev.