CHAPTER 27
THE HIVE
“Ben!” Casey cried again. Louise then realized the three people speaking with the Keeper were Ben, Gabriel, and Hob. It must have dawned on Gob and Nob at the very same instant, for, suddenly, they too dashed by her with Joey and Jenny right behind them. Crying tears of joy (and relief), Louise ran to Ben and swept both him and Casey up into her arms, squeezing them tightly.
“Thank goodness you are okay,” Louise cried. She turned to Gabriel and Hob. “Thank you two for looking after him.”
“No,” said Hob. “You need to thank him for looking after us.”
“What happened?” Amos asked. “Did you save the unicorn?”
Hob at once began to dance and sing, “Ding-dong the witch is dead! Which old witch? The wicked witch. Ding-dong the wicked witch is dead!”
“What is the matter with Hob?” Amos whispered to Gabriel. “Did the witch cast a spell upon him?”
“No,” Gabriel laughed. “It is a song that young Ben Alderman has taught him and I fear that we shall be hearing that song for many years to come. But the witch is dead and the unicorn is safe as well.”
“I wish we had time to tell one another our stories,” Marcus interrupted, “and perhaps we will, sometime in the future. But for now, we need to make plans on how we shall deal with the queen and the hive.”
“What is the news on the hive and the army from Faerie?” Amos asked.
“There are about seven hundred warriors coming through the Merlin Tree right now. It is not as many as we had hoped for, but it will have to be enough.”
“The hive,” Gabriel reported, “is making way overland. They are following the same path you took when you came here and they have already passed the place where the troll attacked you.”
“That does not leave us much time,” Amos remarked.
“All the more reason for us to make haste. We will set up a defensive line of two hundred of our best elfin archers in the fields, so that we may target the hive as soon as it leaves the protection of the trees. We will position one thousand dwarven warriors two hundred yards behind the archers. The dwarven warriors shall be in plain view, while the elfin archers shall be hidden among the grasses. The snakers will be emboldened by their sheer numbers. The dwarves will appear to be outnumbered five to one and the snakers will more than likely charge recklessly into what they perceive to be an easy victory. Once the charge has begun, we will wait just long enough for most of the hive to get out into the open and then, we will stand and start firing. Many hundreds will die in that first charge, but that will not halt the surge. Before the snakers get within striking range, the elfin archers will hastily retreat half the distance to the dwarven army and turn and fire again. This second volley of arrows will be the signal for the dwarven army to advance. The dwarven army should reach our archers the same time as the oncoming snakers. At that point it will be hand to hand combat with sword, knife, spear, and axe.”
“What of the other half of our army?” Hob asked.
“And the seven hundred elves coming through the portals now?” Gob added.
“The other one thousand dwarven warriors will hide from view within the Twilight, until the battle is well under way. Then they will form a phalanx and drive through the center of the battle, dividing the snaker army into two smaller armies. If one thousand snakers are slain by elfin arrows, then there will be one thousand dwarves and two hundred elves against three thousand snakers. When the second dwarven army divides them, there will be two armies of one thousand dwarves and one hundred elves against two armies of fifteen hundred snakers. Much better odds.”
“And what of the queen’s guards?” Louise asked.
“The queen’s guards will be in the rear of the hive with the queen. Gabriel will lead the seven hundred elfin warriors from Faerie up the river and will come in behind them. They will deal with the queen’s guards and keep them out of the battle. That’s our best chance of winning this – dividing their forces and keeping their strongest soldiers out of the main fray.”
“A brilliant plan,” said Hob. “I like it. Gob, you lead the first wave. Nob, you lead the second. I’m going with Gabriel for a swing at the queen’s guards. Who knows, I may even get a swing at the old queen herself.”
“Well, that’s not fair,” cried Nob.
“Yeah,” added Gob. “Why do you get to have all the fun?”
“There will be plenty of action for the two of you,” Amos remarked. “I’m going with Hob and Gabriel as well. Maybe the three of us can focus on the queen, while her guards are engaged in battle. I would like to pay her back for invading my woods and wrecking the fountain at the fairy glen.”
“An excellent idea,” said Marcus. “And look, here comes the army from Faerie. Gabriel, you and Amos and Hob take that army and get started up the river now. You have a lot of ground to cover in order to get behind the queen. Don’t attack until the second dwarven army charges. Then hit them hard.”
Gabriel nodded, then trotted over to meet the approaching elfin army. Amos gave everyone a quick hug, then he and Hob fell in with the army that was quickly filing out the tent door. Marcus then turned to Gob and Nob.
“Our archers should be moving into place. Now would be a good time for you two to get your armies situated as well. Louise, you and the children will stay with us. While the battles are taking place, we are going to attempt to close the portal from Faerie to Pluton. If all our plans go awry, those of us who are able, will escape to our homeland. I know it is not your home, but you and the children are welcome there.”
“Thank you, Marcus.”
“Do not thank me yet. Know this; if we must retreat then the portal from Camelot to Faerie will be destroyed to keep the snakers from defiling our homeland. You and the children will be stranded there until a new Merlin Tree can be constructed and that may be years.”
“That’s okay,” said Joey. “Time does not pass by for us in our world while we are here in this one.”
Marcus smiled. It was a sad smile. “When I speak of years, I speak of decades. It may be a hundred years before we get the portals opened back up. Time may not pass by for you in your world, but it does pass by for you in this world.”
Joey’s face fell as the Keeper’s words sank in. Jenny began to quietly weep and he protectively put his arm around her. Ben and Casey clasped hands and Louise pulled them close.
“Let’s not worry for tomorrow just yet,” said Amos, patting the children on their shoulders. “There are worries enough, for today.”
The morning sun beat fiercely down upon the steel helmet on Gob’s head. At least it was not in his eyes. It had taken him about an hour to get his troops into position. They were lined up, five hundred across and two deep, grim couriers of death, clad with leather and steel, armed with broad axes and short swords. Gob stood far enough in front of the army of dwarves, so they all could see the flag he was holding up. At the right time, he would drop the flag and that would be the signal to charge. He looked over his shoulder at the army behind him. They were all waiting patiently. Behind them, hidden within the strange trees of the Twilight, Nob waited with another army of the same size. Gob strained to see them, but could make nothing out among the dark leaves. Checking the position of the sun, to mark the time they had been out here, he spotted a hawk circling lazily overhead. Eventually, it caught a warm updraft and soared up out of sight.
“Soon, there will be buzzards and all manner of carrion fowl circling overhead,” he mumbled.
As if that were a signal, the snakers appeared. At first, it was just movement in the trees at the edge of the field. Then they came pouring out, like ants from an anthill that has been disturbed. They came and came and kept coming. When they spotted the dwarves, there was much pointing and waving as their ranks swelled and as they milled about on the fringe of the forest. Finally, because of their numbers and the inability of the field to hold them all, t
hey could do nothing but advance. They advanced slowly at first, but as more poured forth from the trees, they began to pick up speed like an avalanche. Gob gripped the flagpole with white knuckles, waiting, waiting. Then an elfin horn pealed out, rising above the clamor of the oncoming snakers and as one, two hundred elven archers sprang up out of the grasses and started raining volleys of arrows down upon the oncoming snakers. The bodies began piling up, but the mass only slowed for a short time. Soon they were surging forward again and for a second time the elfin horn rang out across the field, this time signaling retreat. The elves began to hastily fall back, fleeing toward the dwarves. This encouraged the snakers, leading them to believe they had the elves on the run now. The third and final blast on the elfin horn brought the archers around for another volley of arrows. Gob threw down his flag and one thousand dwarves charged forward with axes in their hands, a battle cry on their lips, and murder in their eyes.
Gabriel, Hob, and Amos led the seven hundred elves from Faerie up the river toward Long Lake. The tall grasses and bushes that grew along the edge of the river, concealed them from the view of the dwarves lined up in the field to their left. The trip up the river went smoothly and uneventfully and they entered the forest unchallenged. Normally an army of seven hundred could not sneak about undetected, but these were elves and they passed over hill and dale, through field and wood, with no more than a quiet rustle in the grass. They continued to follow the river for a couple of miles into the forest and then they turned left, leaving the river behind them. Gabriel led them a mile further into the forest and then, turned back toward the Twilight. He led them unerringly to the rear of the queen’s guard. The queen herself was in the very rear, while her guardsmen were hovering about the edge of the field, anxious to join the fighting that was well under way. Hob crept to the front where he could see the queen. Tall and gangly, she looked more like an insect than a reptile. She was unprotected and nervously pacing back and forth, pausing every couple of steps to survey the battle. She did not like what was taking place. Another dwarven army had just emerged from the Twilight and was slowly, but surely, dividing her army.
Suddenly, from the midst of the elves, a giant bear shot forward, toward the queen. It happened so fast that everyone, snakers and elves alike, stood there with their mouths agape. In an instant the giant bear had snatched up the queen by the back of her neck. The queen screeched loudly and flailed about helplessly. She beat at the bear’s head and kicked her feet to no avail. The bear gave a quick shake of his head and snapped her neck, killing her instantly. The elves stared at the bear with the queen hanging limply from his jaws. The snakers stared at the bear. Hob saw a bee buzzing about the ground, the only living thing that was actually moving in the entire forest. Then, the bear dropped the queen and the forest exploded in battle.
Back on the field, the dwarves had successfully divided the snakers and were hewing them down left and right. The two hundred elfin archers had retreated from the battle, when the second dwarven army began their charge. A couple of hundred additional archers had joined them from the Twilight. They now stood back from the battle, on the side furthest away from the river, steadily picking away at the snakers with their arrows. Although it seemed to go on all afternoon, the battle was actually over in just under three hours.
Gob walked across the battlefield, stepping over bodies, searching for Nob. The dwarves and elves had divided into three groups. The largest group was about four hundred elves, most of them archers who fought in the battle. This group set off at a brisk trot across the field to aid in the fight against the queen’s guards. The other two groups were mostly dwarves. One group was set with the task of helping the injured, while the other group was set with the task of tending to the dead. Finally, Gob spotted Nob across the field, helping an injured comrade. Nob happened to glance up and saw Gob at the same time. He threw up his hand in a signal indicating that he was okay and Gob waved back. Now that he knew Nob was okay, he turned his attention to the forest, wondering how Hob was faring. The elves were almost there. If there were any fighting going on, it was all taking place within the forest. Hob would be fine he told himself. Hob would be fine.
When the elfin archers entered the forest, they found the dead queen lying on the fringe of the battle that was taking place in front of them. Their brothers from Faerie were in hand-to-hand combat with the queens guards, who were madly fighting for their lives. In the middle of the melee, a dwarf sat astride a giant bear, swinging his broad axe left and right and felling the queen’s guards one after another. The bear was a killing machine too, batting them aside with his huge paws and snapping them into with his powerful jaws. The elfin archers formed a line and once again began picking off the enemy with deadly precision. Very soon after that, the battle was over and the snaker invasion was crushed. Now, the grisly task of clearing the battlefield was at hand.
Although everyone was exhausted, all worked into the late evening hours, piling the dead snakers to be burned. There were casualties among the elves and dwarves as well, but surprisingly few considering the size of the battle that had taken place. The elves took their dead back into the Twilight to be transported back to their homeland for proper burial, while the dwarves buried their dead upon the battlefield. They excavated a single grave that was large enough to lay their dead out side-by-side and then piled the broken weapons of the enemy at their feet. Once the dead were covered, the dwarves worked late into the night constructing a cairn with rocks hauled up from the river. The elves helped them build the cairn and by the light of the fire, from the burning snakers, they worked silently, side-by-side, under bright stars which glittered coldly above them.
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