Chapter 11: The Siege of Ylisstol

Lucina clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "We have to defend Ylisstol. Morgan, what's the plan?"

"I need fliers to assess how long it will take for the Risen to get here. That assignment would fall on Cynthia since Pegasi are faster than wyverns. You need to make an estimated time of arrival and the volume of invaders. In the meantime, Uncle Stahl, get your paladins out of the city and head to the west of Ylisstol. You will be our cavalry from the west, but be very quiet and careful. Aunt Sully, get out of the city with your paladins as well. Be our cavalry from the south. Can someone get me a map of the city please?"

Laurent stood from his chair and followed Morgan's instructions. Morgan unfurled the map and tapped the spot where the city was drawn.

"Okay, here goes. What is our goal here? Don't let the city get run over by Risen. The city doesn't have a moat, doesn't have trenches and we're in the middle of a plain. We have no natural defenses and this will make it more difficult to defend, so we defend it by using the city as bait and have our paladins come from the outside and surprise pinch those undead mofos. But we will not leave the city as defenseless piece of meat. Nope. We'll still go with my initial idea of manning the walls with archers. This time, the mages should support them. And then we have our unmounted specialists defend the perimeter. That goes to you people," Morgan pointed at Vaike, Gregor, Yen'fay and after a bit of searching, Kellam. "One for each wall with the bulk of the defense in the south going to Uncle Kellam."

Everyone nodded. "For the paladins, enter the fray when Minervykins screeches thrice. Um… Gerome, can she do that if you command her?"

"Yes."

"Good then. Now let's see, what else… Oh! Aunt Lissa! We both know that we have a surplus of healing staves and potions here, right?"

"Right."

"Also, can you still ride a pegasus?"

"I still can."

"Good. I need you to lead a bunch of clerics who can ride a Pegasus in the battle. That would give us mobility and healing at once. The Falcon Knights would do several jobs. You would be our medics, our communications line, our air cavalry and transportation."

Lissa nodded.

"Okay, the rest of us have to defend the citadel with Lucina, just in case the Risen get in."

"It sounds… er, sound…" Owain said.

"If there are no more objections, then let's roll!" Morgan commanded.

"There they are," Lucina said when she saw the hordes of Risen make their way to the Ylisstol. She rode with Cynthia on Sumia's Pegasus, Daisy. Lucina clung on tightly to Cynthia's waist and urged the girl to fly around the perimeter of the castle.

"Golly! That's a lot! How much do you suppose are there?" Cynthia asked her.

"I don't know. Probably around five thousand. They outnumber us greatly, we have to report to Morgan," Lucina answered. Cynthia steered her Pegasus towards the castle's central beacon where Morgan and a drummer boy stood waiting for them. Near her were Lissa's quadruple duty clerics and a giant war drum.

"Morgan," Lucina began, "We are outnumbered five to one, and the horde will be here soon. Are all preparations in order?"

"Yes, milady," Morgan answered. "We're only waiting for them to be in range." She used Laurent's marvelous invention, a telescope, to see where the horde was coming from. It came from the south as expected. "Ready…" she told the drummer boy as she raised her hand. The Risen were just within firing range of the archers. "Not just yet…" The drummer boy's sweat dropped in anticipation. "Now!"

The drummer boy struck two beats. The archers in the walls let their first volley of arrows fly. It fell on some of the Risen but the horde was just too big for the arrows to make any effect.

"Again!" Morgan commanded and the drummer boy struck the drum twice. A second volley of arrows was let loose. Some Risen went up in purple smoke.

The tactician noticed the enemy cavaliers advancing. "Beat once," and a single drumbeat was heard.

The knights under General Kellam readied their spears and prepared for the oncoming rush of undead horses. Three drumbeats meant 'stand your ground'. The undead horses were spooked by the sudden spears that were pointed towards them. They buckled and let some of the riders fall. Kellam took it as an opportunity to attack the unhorsed cavaliers.

Four beats readied the mages. Five meant they should attack. The mages in the south wall was headed by Miriel. They aimed their magic flames at the cavaliers that weren't unhorsed. Volley after volley of fire balls toasted the undead cavaliers.

It was effective but Kellam's unit still showed signs of weakening.

Six beats stopped the archers from attacking. Morgan issued the command to open the south gates and send in the Falcon Knights to heal Kellam's unit. "Heal them and return," she said. When the fliers came back, Lissa reported that the archers were running out of arrows and the mages' tomes were falling apart.

"Cynthia, send word to the archers in the east to rotate with the south, and to conserve their arrows by aiming only at the barbarians or mages that they see. They should not engage with any armored enemy," Morgan said.

"Aye aye ma'am!"

"Somebody get me Laurent," Morgan commanded. One of Lissa's Falcon Knights fetched the mage. She returned with a winded looking mage who held onto his mother's hat. "Laurent, what is the status of our supplies and weaponry?" Morgan asked him.

"Low. Most of the weapons which can hold against the horde are with our paladins. The city itself only has bronze weapons in reserve for those fighting in the perimeters. As for our arrows, they are getting low, but not at dangerous levels. Our mages are wise enough to pick their targets from the beginning and the ones they are using are the basic tomes," he answered. "I estimate that we can last a day against the horde."

Morgan gritted her teeth. It was still too soon to send in the cavalry. She cannot send a group of people outside the city to get supplies from the nearest village as she doesn't know if those villages were destroyed by the Risen horde too. She cannot send a messenger to either Stahl or Sully to head to the nearest village to resupply their stocks. That would mean spending the cavalry's strength and they might not be there when they were needed.

Cynthia came back from her mission. "I did what you told me but there's some grave news. The wall to the north is falling and Uncle Gregor is… gone. Uncle Vaike's unit is thinning as well. The west is doing surprisingly well, I guess because Uncle Yen'fay has had experience with leading an army. Uncle Kellam's unit seems to be better after the healing."

"What enemy units are fighting in the north?"

"Armored knights and archers. In the east we have mercenaries and myrmidons."

"Ok. Here we go. Send word to Uncle Ricken and Henry. Have Uncle Ricken lead dark knights to the north. Get word to Uncle Henry and have him head east with tricksters to support them. Get Aunt Miriel's mages to switch places with Noire's archers. Then have the mages to the east to focus their firepower there. Go Cynthia, go! Go! Go!" Morgan commanded.

Morgan was getting exhausted. She didn't think that guiding an army would be this stressful. "Ugh! If only we had anti-siege weapons."

A Falcon Knight came with news from the south. Kellam's unit was thinning the cavaliers. All that was needed was to route the enemies there and she can get Kellam to assist Vaike to the east.

The tides of battle turned once more. The enemy cavaliers at the south retreated from the south, but they headed towards the east and assisted their myrmidons. Vaike and Henry were in trouble, and Morgan couldn't spare Kellam's unit just yet. The south gate couldn't be unguarded as a company of Valkyries and sages came and attacked the south.

"If I may," Laurent said. "Why don't we pour boiling oil on the enemies?" He asked Morgan.

"We can't. We have knights fighting at the perimeter. They will be affected too. But I like that suggestion. I will use it when we pull out our knights. Send word to the north wall," Morgan said to a falcon knight. "Have them boil cauldrons of oil and be ready."

Morgan commanded the drummer to strike eight. The air cavalry flew through the air and went south, armed with javelins and short spears. "Attack the magic users at the south, then head east. Ignore the north as there are archers there."

Lucina patted Morgan's back. "You are doing well Morgan. Thank you."

Cynthia returned with more news. "Owain is missing. I think he headed to the north to help his father."

Lissa rode her Pegasus when she heard the news and headed off alone to the north wall to search for her son. "Aunt Lissa!" Lucina screamed, but Lissa was too far away to hear her.

Morgan pulled her hair in frustration. "Gods damn that idiot! He's inexperienced! Ugh!" she screamed.

Owain's heart beat fast when he entered the throng of battle. This was the best time to put his sword hand to good use, especially when his father was sent out to defend the gates.

It was exceedingly overwhelming!

There was so much chaos that he didn't know what to do. All he wanted to do was get the pointy tip of his sword through a Risen's heart but the soldiers in front of him were making a human shield for him when they recognized who he was. He tried to join them, but he was pushed back.

His heart leapt when a mercenary in front of him was pierced by a knight's lance. This was the first death that happened in front of his eyes and the horror of it was forever imprinted in his memory.

Owain was brought back to his senses when a mercenary bumped into him. Now was his chance. He readied his sword, jumped in the place of the fallen mercenary, and engaged the Risen. With two swift strikes, he attacked but those were deflected by the enemy's heavy armor. The undead knight took its spear out of the dead mercenary when he noticed Owain. It thrust its spear towards the young man, but Owain was quick enough to doge. He attacked again, this time aiming for the cracks in the armor, but his reach was too short to get in the armored knight's defense. He had to get closer.

The knight waved its lance in a circular motion in the air and aimed for him. Owain saw the steel head glint in the sunlight as it drove towards him.

This is it. His first battle and he dies in it.

He waited for the impact of the weapon but he was shoved to the side by a horse. "Look out!" he heard someone shout. The lance was deflected by someone on a horse, and when he looked at the rider, he saw that it was his father. Ricken used his strength to push the lance away from his son by using a sword. He was at a disadvantage but he managed to pull through. When he found an opening, he blasted the knight with a fire spell. The enemy evaporated into thin air.

"What are you doing here?" Ricken asked him.

"I came to help!" Owain answered.

"Go back to the citadel. We can handle this," his father told him.

Ricken stood his ground and blasted all enemies who tried to come close to his son.

"I can fight too, father!"

"Not in this area you can't. Go back Owain."

But he didn't listen. Owain stood up, readied his sword, and watched his father's back. The Risen archers let a volley of their arrows lose and the dark knights answered that attack with a volley of their fireballs. The defense wasn't going well. The enemy was overwhelming the dark knights. "Cavalry!" the dark knights shouted, hoping that a Falcon Knight might hear them and report to the tactician.

They pushed back the Risen knights with all of their might, but the lances and the arrows were proving too much for them. The mercenaries couldn't get past the wall of armored undead to get through to the archers, and the dark knights' abilities were spreading thin as they battled two kinds of monsters at once. To top it off, their fire tomes were falling apart.

Owain just stood there, feeling useless. His father did most of the fighting and defending, not just for him, but for his comrades.

"Watch out!" Ricken shouted. He blocked an oncoming arrow that was meant for Owain with his body.

"Father! No!"

Ricken could still fight. He blasted a knight in front of him. At that moment Lissa came with her Pegasus and saw the sticking out of Ricken's shoulder. "Gods! Ricken!"

Another arrow pierced Ricken's body.

Lissa screamed. Her husband was dying right in front of her eyes.

"Lissa… there are archers here," he said. "Take Owain and go."

Lissa raised her staff to heal her husband's minor wounds. Owain wanted to pull the arrows out of his father's shoulder but the moment he made a step, Lissa grabbed him and hauled him up the Pegasus with her. She then flew to the knight who was nearest Ricken, then pierced the monster with her lance. It wasn't enough to topple the Risen knight.

The knight attacked and Ricken shielded his family from it. The lance went right through Ricken's stomach, spraying his family with his blood.

"Ricken!" Lissa screamed.

Ricken took one last look at them and smiled. "Go," he said. Then he faced the enemy. With his last ounce of strength, he made a gigantic wall of flame to separate his family from the battle and used it to burn his enemies. He was able to take a few Risen down, and that last ditch effort thinned the enemy ranks.

The Risen archers let a volley of arrows loose once more. Lissa used her pegasus' speed to avoid the arrows, flew low and escaped with Owain. She looked back and saw three more lances pierce her husband's lifeless body.