Chapter 24
I do not own Claymore
Days later, Sheila watched from her perch atop the mighty cathedral of Rabona as the city guardsmen practiced with their new arbalests.
Each one had a crew of two to operate it.
One to aim and shoot the wrought iron bolts, the other to assist with the windlass in recocking the bow, readying the next bolt and if necessary, defending the primary operator.
At Captain Galk's insistence, all of the arbalestiers were to be trained in all aspects of the arbalest, so that all crewmen would be able to perform any task relating to the weapon.
These men were now at the target butts, shooting bolt after bolt into the targets hanging from the straw bales making up the backstops.
Smiling to herself as she watched the insect sized men below her hard at work, Sheila then glanced over at the other group toiling with two of the larger ballistae that had just been completed.
Her smile began to broaden into a grin as she saw them rapidly manhandling the heavy pieces from tower to tower, quickly setting them up and readying them for use.
Two crewmen were feverishly cranking on the windlass to bring the great bow into battery, then the yard long, wrought iron bolt was dropped into place by another crewman.
The crew then stepped back with spears at the ready, while the shooter aimed the piece and let loose the heavy projectile at a target several hundred paces outside the city walls.
Moments later, they quickly dismantled the ballista into its two major components and scurried to the next tower where they would repeat their earlier performance and shoot another target.
The larger weapon was patterned after the ones she and Teresa had seen among the smaller islands to the east of the big island they called home.
Sheila's calling it a ballista rather than an arbalest, was to designate it as a true, crew served weapon and this new class of weaponry was now being called artillery.
The crewmen were called artillerymen, a moniker they quickly adopted and claimed as their own.
The weapon itself could shoot a yard long, heavy wrought iron bolt some 400 paces and reliably hit a wagon sized target at that distance.
The bolts, weighing several pounds each, could penetrate even the toughest awakened being hide.
Even Riful had opined that she did not fancy getting hit by one of the bolts, even in her awakened form.
Even though it was hard work carrying the pieces from tower to tower, the crews took to the large weapons and enjoyed being called 'artillerymen' and what it entailed.
They would be the heavy hitters, the ones who could kill or maim, an attacking awakened being.
Rabona now had two of the ballistae in service and two more were being readied for issuing to their crews.
They were preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
A major new development came about when Sheila was visiting an alchemist's shop and observed his apprentice laying a small parchment tube on the ground behind the shop.
While she watched curiously, he took a glowing coal in some tongs and touched it to a string sticking out of one end of the parchment tube.
The bit of string began shooting sparks and making a fizzling noise as the apprentice nimbly scurried away.
The string burned into the parchment tube and it vanished with a bright flash and a sharp 'crack' sound, leaving behind only a puff of white smoke and some torn bits of parchment.
He looked over at her and grinned, "How'd you like that!"
She laughed and replied, "Very noisy, what do you call it?"
He smiled and scratched his unruly black hair a moment then announced, "I'll call them firecrackers!"
Sheila chuckled and asked, "What are you going to do with these 'firecrackers' and how do they work?"
The young man looked up at her smiling face and after a moment, asked, "Are you an alchemist by any chance? You don't look like one, but you never can tell by someone's appearance."
She grinned and replied cheerfully, "No, but I designed the ballistae now protecting the city. Alchemy involves chemicals doesn't it?"
"That's partly right, we really explore the possibilities of making gold from base substances and finding a philosopher's stone among the innards of a goat to use in our research." He replied with a boyish grin.
Sheila smiled back and suddenly felt a bit girlish and shy, a sensation that was new to her.
Stifling that feeling, she asked again, "Can these be made larger, these 'firecrackers' of yours?"
He thought a moment and replied, "I suppose so, but I think they'd be kinda dangerous and not something to be setting off around here. Why do you ask?"
Sheila smiled and replied, "Your 'firecracker' has given me an idea to play with. Something to make the big ballistae bolts even more effective."
She grinned and declared, "Tell ya what? Make a few bigger ones and I'll escort you out of town to where we can let them off safely!"
His grin was infectious and Sheila felt her heart skip a beat as he replied, "That'd be great! Meet you here in two days?"
Sheila heard herself saying, "It's a date! I'll see you here in two days!"
They shook hands to seal their bargain and she walked home, her mind all awhirl. Did she just make a date...With a boy?
What kind of a date involves blowing things up, she wanted to know.
Two days later as agreed upon, Sheila met the young apprentice at the alchemist's shop where she had first seen him.
He looked just the same as she remembered him.
Slightly above medium height, somewhat scrawny with pale skin and unruly black hair.
His clothing was more like a monks robes, only even more faded and threadbare with several mismatched patches and repairs, filling in the gaps.
Old leather sandals protected his grimy feet.
An eccentric young scholar was the alchemist's apprentice.
His face was pleasing in an ingenuous sort of way, with bright blue eyes that twinkled as he smiled at her.
He grinned at her great sword and outfit and exclaimed, "I didn't know you were a warrior! Does this make you like my bodyguard or something?"
Sheila smiled at the bright eyed young man and replied, "Yes, I am a warrior and no, I am not your bodyguard. I am armed because we are going outside the city walls and things can happen."
"Fair enough!" He said with a grin.
"Did you make the larger ones like I asked? Asked Sheila.
He smiled and opened his shoulder bag, inside it were several fat parchment tubes all with strings sticking out of them and a small metal box.
"Will these do?" he asked with a grin.
Sheila nodded a yes and they set out for the fields outside Rabona proper.
Passing through the city gates, Sheila exchanged smiles with Sid, Captain Galk's ablest lieutenant.
Slung over one shoulder was his small arbalest, a one handed model that shot a foot long hardwood shafted, iron tipped quarrel.
It was a prototype and he was testing it for the guards.
At least that was the official story.
He smiled at the youngsters and said cheerfully, "Treat her right lad, treat her right." as he waved them through the gate.
They walked about a mile from town and stopped near an old, gnarled cypress tree.
"This oughtta be far enough!" he remarked as he set down his shoulder bag and began fiddling with his small metal box.
Working quickly with flint and steel, he soon had a small fire going to which he carefully added some twigs and small branches from the dead portions of the old cypress tree.
Opening his shoulder bag, he took out one of the fat parchment tubes and showed it to her, It was about the size of a fat sausage and had what looked like dried plaster packed into the ends with a string stuck into the middle portion of the fat sausage, much like a toothpick.
Picking up a burning twig, he touched the string with it and like before, it began sizzling and shooting sparks.
He paused a moment to make sure the string was lit, then tossed it well away from them.
It bounced once and vanished with a bright flash and an ear shattering boom, followed by a puff of air as the concussion from the blast struck them.
Where it had landed was marked by a scorched patch of grass and bits of torn parchment.
The two youngsters looked at each other and grinned idiotically, it had worked!
He set off a couple more of his larger firecrackers with similar results, a bright flash followed by a very loud bang and a puff of air.
Out of curiosity, Sheila suggested they put one inside something.
Looking around they found an old, dried out tortoise shell, its former owner long deceased.
He carefully inserted a firecracker into the weathered tortoise shell and lit the string. Dashing away, he turned in time to see the shell vanish with a flash and a bang, much like the other firecrackers had.
The destruction of the shell was complete, hardly anything remained of it.
Looking at the shattered remnants scattered about, Sheila wondered aloud, "What would happen if we put one of these inside an iron tube, would it burst the tube?"
The young apprentice was about to speak when Sheila said suddenly, "Y'know...I never did get your name and here we are, out here blowing things up!"
He grinned and remarked, "I was about to ask you the same thing myself!"
They shared a laugh over the omission and Sheila declared, " My name is Sheila Ericcson and I am pleased to make your acquaintance!"
He grinned and replied,"My name is Rogar Bacon and I, am very pleased to make your acquaintance!"
As they shook hands, Sheila smiled shyly and said apologetically, "Sorry about not introducing myself earlier, it sorta slipped my mind."
Rogar flashed an infectious grin, "I hadn't noticed actually, you have nothing to apologize for!"
Having formally introduced themselves, Sheila commented, "Now, back to my earlier question, would this compound of yours burst an iron container?"
Rogar looked thoughtful and replied, "I'm not really sure, I only recently developed this compound and am still exploring its possibilities."
He scratched his tousled head and muttered, "My intention was to draw a higher spirit from salt peter. My studies led me to try wedding it to brimstone which improved things still further. On a hunch, I added refined charcoal to this mixture and fully released the latent power within salt peter and here we are today!"
He grinned and said cheerfully, "At first, it would simply flash and release a cloud of brimstone vapors. It was when I accidentally ignited a bit of this compound that was inside a bit of parchment that I saw its potential, the noise was terrific and nearly caused me to go deaf while my right hand was blackened and quite tender to the touch. Later while trying to duplicate my accident, I arrived at this method of use, with the result we're seeing today!"
Sheila froze suddenly and whispered, "Get behind me!"
Slightly confused at her sudden change, Rogar blurted out, "Wha? What's going on?"
Sheila growled, "Don't ask, just get behind me...Now!"
Rogar hesitated in his confusion and a strange voice called out. "Better listen to her, boy. You don't want to get involved in this!"
Three strange warriors were standing there, their leader stood in the middle and had a confident smirk on her face, her brown eyes revealing that she and her fellows were taking the aura suppressor pills to better sneak around near Rabona.
She asked bluntly, "Are you Sheila, a former number 47 in the organization?"
Sheila replied quietly, "And if I am?"
The strange warrior who'd spoken replied, "Then we are here to carry out your execution per organization rules and take your head back with us. The rest of you can lie here and rot for all we care."
"What's going on here, who are these people? Sheila, what is happening?" cried Rogar.
Sheila replied grimly, "Oh, it's just a dirty little secret of the organization Rogar, they kill those who ask too many questions or know too much."
She grinned at the trio of executioners and asked, "Tell me, how long have you three been warriors, and did Lord Dae deflower you all like he did to me and so many others, before me?"
"We have no reason to reply to your questions condemned one. But, since it doesn't matter one way or the other, we became warriors after his revival and were not deflowered by anybody." Replied the haughty leader of the trio.
To their surprise Sheila chuckled and remarked, "I'm not surprised to hear that. After all, he revived Teresa of the faint smile. Why wouldn't they be able to revive him with same technique?"
She grinned evilly and commented, "Too bad they couldn't fix his tallywacker after I had crushed it to jelly with my hand...I've heard he's quite mad about that!"
The squad leader squinted at her and asked coldly, "Do you know the whereabouts of Teresa of the faint smile?"
With a slight shrug, Sheila replied cooly, "I haven't seen her in ages, we drifted apart years ago."
The group leader set her jaw and said grimly, "Enough with the idle chatter...Let's get this over with!"
She reached for her sword handle while saying cooly, "We'll try to make this as painless as possible."
Hardly had her hand wrapped itself around her claymore's handle grip when Sheila made her move.
In a blur of movement, she drew her own claymore and knocked out the two warriors standing on either side of the leader then quickly disarmed her, her blade spinning wildly off into the nearby bushes.
The woman stood very still as Sheila's massive blade hovered near her soft throat, she gulped and whispered, "You're only a number 47, yet you easily defeated us...How?"
Sheila murmured, "I've been on my own for years, did you honestly think I wouldn't have learned a few things by now? Your own overconfidence led to your defeat, not just my skills."
Sheila suddenly turned her great sword on its side and whacked the group leader alongside her head.
Her brown eyes went blank and she collapsed to the ground, alongside her fallen team mates.
Rogar whispered incredulously, "Did you kill them?"
"Naw, I only knocked them out, they'll be fine."
She grinned at him and said brightly, "Let's get back, I've got to report this to my boss!"
Returning hastily to the city, Sheila bid Rogar a fond fare well and hastened off to the great cathedral of Rabona.
She found Miria, Riful, Galatea and Teresa all sitting at a large table with a map of the island all spread out for them to see.
Sheila paused a moment then said, "I just knocked out three warriors who were looking for me!"
Galatea said in surprise, "I had sensed them even with their suppressants, but since they were well outside the city, I was not concerned and felt they could be monitored. I apologize for not mentioning them before."
Miria's silver eyes narrowed and she asked sharply, "Were you outside the city by yourself...Why?"
Sheila quickly recounted her meeting Rogar, the apprentice alchemist and seeing his 'firecrackers' and how they subsequently ventured outside the city to test some of his larger firecrackers away from prying eyes.
The test was deemed successful until the appearance of the deserter hunting party.
The four rebel seniors listened carefully to her account, then Miria, Riful and Galatea all looked over at Teresa meaningfully, whereupon Teresa stood up and came over to stand in front of Sheila.
An instant later, Sheila was seeing stars and she had a splitting headache, right between her eyes from Teresa's middle finger flicking against her forehead.
Staggering back, Sheila couldn't help holding her aching head as Teresa said sharply,"You know the rules. We do not, ever, go out by ourselves, and this is the very reason why. You were very lucky they assumed that since you had been a number 47, you would be fairly weak.
"You think your head aches now? You could've been easily decapitated and your head on its way back to Staph and Lord Dae's pickling jars, or worse!"
A few moments later, Sheila felt her aching head being enveloped in Teresa's strong arms and held against her lush bosom.
"Please be careful, you and Clare are like my own daughters to me and if anything happened to either of you...Well, it wouldn't be pretty."
Teresa led her to a nearby chair, where she sat quietly until her head stopped throbbing.
When she could look around again, she saw Riful smiling wistfully at her and she asked glumly, "Are you going to punish me too?"
Riful shook her adorable head in a 'no' and said quietly, "No, I'm merely your Auntie Riful, Teresa's closer to being like your mother than anyone else here. Besides, she did a pretty good job of it already!"
Sheila absentmindedly rubbed her reddened forehead and muttered, "Yes, she did, her finger flick can be quite instructive!"
She glanced over at Teresa and said contritely, "I'm sorry about what I did today, you're right, I am very lucky. Had their leader been a single digit, my head would be on its way to Lord Dae's chamber of horrors.
"In my defense, I completely forgot about the rule in my eagerness to see Rogar's firecrackers in a larger size."
Miria pondered her remarks a moment and asked, "This Rogar fellow, you say he makes these 'firecrackers' as he calls them? Of what use can they be, other than for making a loud noise?"
Sheila mulled over her question, then replied, "I just have a feeling that large firecrackers could help spread confusion during a pitched battle. Rogar's big firecrackers make quite a loud noise when you're close to one. A few of these going off without warning during an attack, could make all the difference between victory or defeat."
Miria glanced over at her fellow seniors and remarked, "Perhaps we should meet this Rogar and his firecrackers."
She glanced at Sheila and said, "Tomorrow you will extend an invitation to this Rogar and the firecrackers you're going on about so much."
That evening with all the rebels together in one place, Miria announced,"Today, while outside of Rabona with a young man and essentially by herself. Sheila was accosted by a deserter hunting party. Fortunately, she survived the encounter and reported it to us."
Miria looked around at the group and declared,"It may very well be that the organization is planning an attack on Rabona itself and we may have to fight fellow warriors. I myself, believe that the organization will use a horde of yoma and awakened beings, rather than having warriors do its dirty work."
She paused a moment then announced, "In a few days, we will be sending out scouting parties to gather information on the organization's activities. Galatea and Tabitha have been monitoring warrior and awakened being movements as far as they can sense their auras." Clearing her throat she continued,"We need to know more, particularly what is going on in Lautrec. God Eye here has been sensing something deeply buried and at the verge of non existence, yet strangely compelling. That, needs to be investigated!"
Miria smiled and said somberly, "Our days of peaceful existence are coming to an end. We have trained very hard and are in our best possible shape. Sheila here is an example of that...She took out three warriors within seconds, without shedding blood. Something no number 47 ought to be able to do."
Sheila quietly remarked, "Thanks to Clare's patience in teaching me Flora's 'windcutter' technique after I had begged her to teach it to me."
Clare rolled her silvery eyes and muttered, "I thought you'd never catch on. Yet obviously, you learned something of her technique!"
Teresa smiled and remarked, "Sheila was my sparring partner after my revival. I was so weak that even with all my experience and training, I was like a week old kitten, barely able to manage a claymore. We trained for hours every day, even after training was over, we still trained. After we left, we sparred almost daily."
She chuckled and remarked, "The caravanserie that hired us to protect their caravans must've questioned our sanity, as we would spar, even while riding on horseback."
She grinned and said gaily, "Stretch here has become a pretty good fighter, if she took out three warriors without seriously hurting them!"
Sheila's face reddened at Teresa's use of her nickname and Helen grinned crookedly just before Deneve elbowed her and growled, "Don't even go there, 'rubber arms'!"
Even Sheila joined in on the snickering that erupted among the rebels while Helen's face reddened.
The next day Berthold Schwarz, Rogar's master looked up from his studies to see Sheila standing there quietly waiting for him to finish.
"Yes, may I help you? Rogar is busy right now and cannot be interrupted. " He said firmly.
Sheila smiled and replied, "My seniors would like to meet with Rogar at his earliest convenience. The meeting will take place in the cathedral at the top of the south bell tower. Father Vincent will admit him to the bell tower."
She grinned, " Please tell him I said "Hi!"
Berthold nodded and said, "I will relay your message...All of it."
His dark eyes had a slight twinkle as he said that.
Moments later, she was headed back to the cathedral feeling slightly disappointed that she didn't get to see him.
Two days later, Rogar arrived at the cathedral and Father Vincent guided him up to the hiding place of the rebels.
As they exited the stairs at the top of the southern bell tower, they walked past the open door to the private gym and Rogar glanced in to see two nearly naked women, armed with wooden swords, battling it out.
One of them had short, brown hair and the other had very long, flaxen hair confined in a ponytail.
The two of them were circling each other warily, each one seeking an opening for a cut or fending off a thrust.
Rogar couldn't help noticing just how well muscled they were, these women were superb athletes in addition to being formidable warriors.
Sheila greeted him enthusiastically and thanked Father Vincent for guiding him up to their lair.
The priest smiled at the towering warrior and returned to his priestly duties.
Rogar smiled at his charming hostess, "Sorry about not being able to see you when you came by the other day, I was distilling some spirits of aqua regia and couldn't interrupt what I was doing."
"S'okay, I get the same way when I have an idea going, "Go away! Don't bother me, can't you see I'm busy?" Sheila replied with a grin.
Rogar grinned and nodded in understanding, this towering young woman was much like him.
Only she was also a warrior and a fighter, he found the combination to be quite intriguing.
Sheila led him inside the former monks quarters between the two gigantic bell towers and straight to the large kitchen and dining area.
There at a large table sat four women, three of them had the same silver eyes and flaxen hair as Sheila while the fourth and the smallest one, had dark brown hair and eyes.
Sheila said to them, "Ladies, I'd like you to meet Rogar, the alchemist's apprentice I've told you about."
She turned to him, "Rogar, I'd like you to meet Miria, our leader. Galatea, our monitor. Teresa, our training leader and Riful, our mother figure, if I may be so bold as to refer to her as that."
With each name mentioned, the woman in question nodded and Rogar nodded in reply.
Riful looked him over and commented, "These firecrackers of yours, what are they and what makes them so fascinating that our girl genius was willing to go outside Rabona, essentially by herself?"
Rogar smiled at her and replied, "My firecrackers are but one use for a compound I recently formulated by combining the essences of salt peter, brimstone and refined charcoal."
Pausing for effect, he continued, "These elements combined, created a substance that contains within it, the ability to burn quite rapidly as it releases the brimstone element, via fire."
Riful raised one perfect eyebrow and asked, "This compound you're describing... May we see it?"
Rogar grinned and said with boyish enthusiasm, "Yes, you may...Allow me!"
He rummaged around in his shoulder bag and produced three items. A small clay bottle tightly stoppered, a shallow copper dish and a small parchment tube with a bit of string sticking out of one end.
Sheila grinned knowingly at the sight of the parchment tube, but said nothing.
Rogar unstoppered the clay bottle and poured a small amount of a black, granular substance into the copper dish.
He gestured at the black substance and said, "This, is the black powder in question. It looks fairly safe, but within it lies a powerful element and that element, is fire."
He set the copper dish where the four women could inspect it.
"Okay...I see a black powder, why is this stuff so fascinating?" Asked Miria.
Rogar grinned at her and remarked, "Please bear with me a little longer and I will demonstrate."
Rogar moved the copper dish to another table, then he pulled a length of iron wire out of his bag of tricks.
Heating the iron wire in a candle's flame, he announced, "What you'll see next is the powder being burned out in the open."
With that said, he thrust the hot wire into the minuscule pile of black powder.
There was a brief flash and a poof sound, then a cloud of white smoke, rose into the air bringing with it, the odor of brimstone.
"That stuff stinks!" Cried Riful who made a face at the smell of brimstone.
Rogar smiled and declared, "That, is the essence of brimstone being released...Now, watch and see what happens when this powder is burned in a confined space...It's really quite interesting!"
Putting aside his iron wire, Rogar took up the small parchment tube and said, "This holds the same amount of black powder that you saw burned just a moment ago."
Rogar touched the bit of string to the candle's flame and it began sizzling and shooting sparks.
Sheila grinned and he tossed the sizzling parchment tube away from him.
A moment later, there was a bright flash and a sharp 'crack' followed by a smelly cloud of white smoke.
The reaction was a chorus of "What the hell was that" and the large room was suddenly filled with armed women in various states of dress, and all of them had their claymores in hand.
Rogar was startled by the speed of their reaction, at least two of them seemed to materialize right in front of him.
In his astonishment, he failed to appreciate his good fortune in seeing at least one naked woman, even if she carried a monstrous sword in one hand.
The moment passed quickly and the assembled warriors relaxed until the one with short hair and a crooked grin noticed him and exclaimed, "What's he doing here, who is he?"
Miria smiled and said calmly, "Relax Helen, he is a friend of Sheila's and what you heard was one of his smaller firecrackers being demonstrated. Now...Go get dressed, you're probably scaring him!"
Helen grumbled about a well earned bath being interrupted, and how the water has likely gone cold by now and mumble, mumble, as she stalked out of the room in all her nude glory.
The childlike one with the very long, wild looking hair, wrinkled her nose and muttered in a childish voice, "Ew! Stinky, smelly, I don't like this smell!"
She looked at Rogar and declared, "You stinky too!"
The brown haired one with the silver eyes stepped up, took the child's arm and led her out while saying, "Miata! That was not nice. Sorry mister, she says whatever is on her mind."
The warrior with the really short hair and the two swords, remained behind after the rest had returned to what they had been doing before Rogar had let off his firecracker.
She commented, "Now that you have gotten my attention and my hot headed partner has left the room. Just what is a firecracker and how will they help us?"
Miria smiled at her and replied with an observation,"I'm thinking we need to include you in our strategy sessions, Deneve."
She smiled and said as she gestured towards Rogar and Sheila, "I'll let these two explain things to you."
For the next few minutes, Deneve listened as the two of them told of their experiences with his firecrackers and Sheila reiterated her run in with the deserter squad.
Deneve mulled over their remarks then spoke carefully, "So you decided these elements combined into a powder and confined in mere parchment could be useful in defending this city?
"Then Sheila asked about confining this powder in an iron cannister for a more powerful release of the spirits of brimstone...Have you tried it yet?"
She glanced at Sheila and said crisply, "I hope you learned from this, you're very lucky there wasn't a single digit in that squad!"
She grinned and pointed at Sheila's still reddened forehead, "I see Teresa's already dealt with you."
Sheila frowned and muttered, "Thank goodness Helen didn't notice my bruise!"
Deneve gave out a rare chuckle and commented, "About now, she'll realize a man saw her naked and she'll forget all about that mark on your forehead!"
As if on cue, Helen's voice cried out, "Shit! He saw my body!"
Deneve smiled and remarked, "Did I call it?..Now back to you. Rogar was it? Did you look into Sheila's suggestion?"
Rogar smiled and reached into his shoulder bag and a moment later, he held up a length of black metal in the shape of a cylinder.
It was pointed at one end and sharply reduced at the other. "I just got this from the blacksmith near me."
He handed it to Sheila and asked, "Is this what you had in mind?"
She looked the object over carefully, it was the size of a large sausage and pointed at one end, the other end was sharply reduced and looked like a socket for a slender spear shaft.
Rogar smiled and commented, "I was thinking about what you said and had it made to accept a wooden shaft, like a spear's. He put a fuse hole in it near the back end, so the fuse could be lit before it is loosed."
"Fuse?" Asked Sheila.
"Well, the burning string does make a sort of fizzling, fuzing noise, so fuse it is!" He said with a grin.
Sheila handed the iron cylinder to Deneve, who briefly looked it over then handed it to Miria.
Miria turned it over and over in her hands, then asked, "Can you get more of these made for a demonstration?"
Rogar smiled, "I had a feeling you might ask that, so I had five of them made up."
He then pulled out a second one and a slender wooden stick with fins at one end.
He pushed the plain end of this stick into the socket at the base of the iron cylinder and held up a yard long, iron tipped projectile.
"Behold!" he said, "An explosive ballistae projectile!"
Sheila grasped his concept at once and grinned while Miria and the others exchanged puzzled glances.
Sheila cried out, "I get it, your idea is to shoot these at an attacker and have it blow up near or inside them, rather than throwing them and hoping for the best!"
Rogar grinned and replied, "That's the general idea and even if it misses completely, the explosion will cause confusion among any attackers."
Riful spoke up suddenly, "I call for a demonstration, since you have several of these now." She glanced around, "Shall we vote on it? I've already made up my mind!"
Miria declared, "I too, am calling for a demonstration...How soon can we have one?"
Rogar gaped momentarily and said hastily, "I don't have any ready to shoot right this minute...Will tomorrow afternoon be soon enough?"
The seniors all nodded in agreement and Miria declared, "Tomorrow afternoon it is. Meet us here after the tolling of the three o'clock hour."
Rogar bowed and said brightly, "I will be here!"
With that, Sheila escorted him back down the long, spiral staircase leading to the exit.
At the door, they both became rather shy all of the sudden.
Sheila blushed and said shyly, "Thank you for coming...I had fun!"
Rogar blushed likewise and stammered, "M, me too, it was amazing!"
Impulsively, they hugged for the first time.
Rogar's head just up to her chin and he felt himself squeezed by Sheila's powerful arms against her firm bosom.
He tightened his own arms around her supple waist and enjoyed the warm, fuzzy feelings he was experiencing for the first time in his young life.
A few moments later, they separated reluctantly and he all but ran back to his master's shop, while Sheila slowly climbed the long, spiral staircase.
Her mind all awhirl and her young heart, all aflutter for the first time.
The three o'clock hour had tolled when Rogar arrived at the massive cathedral as promised. Slung from his shoulder was a tall, narrow basket holding the five finned projectiles he'd made.
Rogar was a little intimidated when he saw all of the rebels filing out of the door.
Thirteen pairs of eyes, twelve of them silver and one brown looked him over critically.
He had bathed earlier that day, even though his monthly bath was still two weeks away and he wore his best scholar's robes and cleanest sandals.
He'd even attempted to brush his hair, but to no avail, as it clearly had a mind of its own.
He smiled at the assemblage and managed a cheery, "Good afternoon ladies, are we ready?"
He wanted to hide when Helen, the woman he'd seen naked the day before nudged Deneve and muttered, "Is this the guy we saw yesterday afternoon? He looks too clean to be him."
Deneve rolled her silver eyes and muttered back,"Give the boy a break, willya? He's trying his best!"
Captain Galk and his lieutenant, Sid came strolling up and Galk said, "Is everyone ready? Is he here?"
Rogar cleared his throat and said, "That would be me. Yes, I am here and I am ready!"
Galk squinted at him and Sid commented, "I hardly recognized you...You took a bath?"
Sheila squirmed and wanted to come to his defense until Galk remarked, "If we're all here, let's go. We have a ballista all ready to go and the crew is waiting for us."
The group set off at a brisk pace that left Rogar marveling at their conditioning, as he struggled to keep up.
A short time later, they stood along the southern wall looking out over the fields beyond the city walls.
Sheila and Rogar were with the ballista crew while they were readying the weapon for the demonstration.
The rest of the group were admiring the scenery and remarking about the pleasant weather they had been enjoying of late.
With the great bow now pulled back into battery, Rogar laid the first projectile in place and nodded at the aimer.
He grinned back and pivoted the ballista towards a distant target, some 400 paces away.
Rogar called out, "We're ready when you are!"
Galk nodded in reply and Rogar said tersely, "When I tell you...Shoot!"
The aimer nodded that he understood and Rogar lit the fuse.
He watched it burn for a moment then cried, "SHOOT!"
The great bow 'Twonked' and the fizzling projectile flew straight to its target, burying itself in the pile of moldy hay bales.
A moment later, the bales were violently scattered and a muffled 'BOOM' reached their collective ears.
The ballista crew cheered lustily and their crew chief cried, "That was great!"
He clapped the aimer on his shoulder and declared, "Good shooting!"
He called out to Captain Galk, "Hey Cap'n! We want more of these! That really made a difference, sir!"
Rogar and Sheila exulted in their success and impulsively hugged right in front of everyone, then hastily separated, their faces blushing profusely.
Helen spotted this and commented to Deneve, "Looks like Stretch is kinda sweet on him!"
Deneve elbowed her and muttered, "And you'd best not tease her about it, even a warrior can fall in love for the first time."
Helen shrugged and muttered, "He'd better not break her heart."
Deneve raised an eyebrow and whispered, "What about you and that Sid guy?"
Helen smirked and whispered back, "A girl's gotta have a little fun, now and again."
Miria whispered hoarsely, "Quiet, you gossipy old hens!"
The rest of the warriors smiled to themselves, several of them had enjoyed the company of men, since taking up residence in the holy city of Rabona.
The ballista crew quickly readied the weapon for the next shot and a new target was chosen. Rogar laid the next projectile in place and lit the fuse while the aimer stayed on target. Roger cried, "SHOOT!" and with a loud 'Twonk!' the shell was on its way.
The chosen target suffered the same fate, the shell buried itself among the moldy bales and a moment later, they were violently scattered with an accompanying boom.
Again, the crew cheered their success while Rogar and Sheila smiled shyly at each other.
A third target met the same fate as the first two and Captain Galk remarked cooly,"We'll be running out of targets at this rate, I think we've seen enough for today."
He gave the signal to cease shooting and a collective "Awww!" went up from the ballista crew.
Seeing their targets exploding was a lot more exciting than merely poking holes in them.
After the demonstration had ended successfully, Captain Galk commented, "Assuming the worst, I'd like to see each of our ballistae supplied with at least twenty of these shells in addition to the plain, wrought iron bolts."
He looked at Rogar and asked, "Can you supply enough of that 'black powder' of yours to fill forty of those shells?"
Rogar looked thoughtful for a few moments then he smiled, "Yes, I can supply that much powder and the fuses, if you can supply the shells."
Captain Galk smiled and remarked, "I can have the armorer make the shells, he works with sheet iron to make our armor. These shells should be easy for his men to make."
The two of them shook hands and the deal was made.
Rogar would supply the black powder and fuses and Captain Galk would have the shells made.
That evening Rogar and Sheila were sitting in a small tavern in the city, they were celebrating his contract with Captain Galk and the success of their efforts.
Rogar had some money from his contract and after he had given most of it to his disbelieving master, he'd asked her if she would like to grab a bite with him.
While he ate a hearty meal, he marveled at Sheila's birdlike appetite.
A few bites from a beef joint and a small fowl's leg, and she was sated.
At his curious look she said quietly, "All of us warriors eat like this, we require little food or drink and can easily go a week or more without either. Also, we can regulate our body temperature and adapt to the climate we're in."
Rogar finished his bite of food and remarked, "That's pretty incredible, is this a part of you're being a half yoma?"
"Yes, it is...Can we change the subject? It's getting a little too personal." Replied Sheila quietly.
"Sorry..."
"S'okay, you didn't mean any harm, you were just curious." Remarked Sheila.
Sheila walked him back to his shop and in the doorway, they hugged for a long moment and shared their first kiss.
It was a bit clumsy and messy as it was the very first for either of them.
Sheila walked home with her head in the clouds.
She had kissed a boy for the first time and she gently touched her well formed lips in disbelief.
She had just kissed a boy!
She found herself grinning like an idiot, much of the way back to the cathedral, her young heart all aflutter.
To Sheila's dismay, Miria suddenly decided that they all needed more training at the remote location they had near Rabona.
And so, the rising sun saw them heading to the secret location in twos and threes.
The cardinal rule being, never be alone outside the city of Rabona.
Even Riful joined in, saying she could use the exercise as a reason to join them.
Borrowing a claymore, Riful quickly demonstrated that before she became an abyssal creature, she was a number one.
In fact, she was the youngest warrior to ever attain that exalted ranking.
With a smile on her adorable face, she offered to spar with anyone who cared to cross swords with her.
Sheila, naturally stepped up and soon, was struggling to stay abreast with her tiny opponent.
Riful cheerfully wove a steel net around her, pinked her numerous times and all the while, gave her advice on how to avoid getting into the situation she was in.
Her soft voice, barely audible above the din of their swords clashing at high speed.
After getting pinked in several vital areas, areas where if Riful had been serious, Sheila would have been killed.
Riful stepped back with a smile and said, "You're actually pretty good with that blade, far better than your ranking would indicate. I'd rate you as a number 12 or 13 capable of holding off a low single digit in a pitched battle."
She grinned, "Now go rest up a bit before you find another sparring partner."
Sheila went to go rest while Yuma took her place in sparring with the tiny abyssal, playing at being a warrior again.
Like Teresa, Riful was also very good at evaluating an opponent's skills and taking advantage of her observations.
This time, she was applying that uncanny skill in giving advice to the younger and weaker warriors among the rebels.
Even poor Clarice, the incomplete warrior, bravely stepped up to spar with Riful, after she was finished with Yuma.
Riful smiled at her brown haired opponent and said gently, "I won't go easy on you, you realize?"
Clarice bravely held up her claymore and said through gritted teeth, "I don't want you to go easy on me, I want to learn how to be a better warrior!"
Riful smiled and replied cheerfully, "That's the warrior spirit!"
Then she went after Clarice, stopping only to let Clarice retrieve her sword or pick herself up from where ever she had landed.
Meanwhile, Teresa sparred with Miata almost continually, while Helen, Deneve, Cynthia and Tabitha sparred amongst themselves.
Miria and Galatea being nearly equals in power, sparred mostly with each other and when Riful was free, Galatea approached her with a smile and an upraised sword.
Riful smiled as she sparred with Galatea and she commented between flurries of sword play, "You are definitely a number three and a powerful one at that! I can see now why you gave Dauf such a hard time back then, perhaps I was a bit too hard on him? Your skill at reading youki is very impressive, you would've made a good ally!"
Galatea merely smiled and replied, "We are allies now, all of us!"
Riful laughed, a clear, girlish laugh, coming straight from her heart."You're right, we are all allies now, won't Limt be surprised to see me!"
By the time it was nearly dark, they were all nicely tired and Cynthia had gotten plenty of practice in reattaching severed limbs and healing broken bones.
They were warriors and had trained very hard that day, even Riful commented, "You guys train pretty hard, I don't recall ever training this hard back in the day."
Miria replied, "We are preparing for the worst and it's better to bleed a little here in training, than to be killed out there in actual combat."
To Clarice's mortification, Miria said about her, "Even Clarice is far stronger than she was when she first arrived. And I would not hesitate to go into battle with any of these warriors at my side."
Helen lay on her back during all this and stared up at the twilit sky, she muttered to Deneve, "Right now, I wanna drink, no, make that two drinks...Better yet, three drinks!"
Deneve merely rolled her eyes and looked over at a tired Miata being held by her surrogate mother, Clarice, still flustered by Miria's comments about her earlier.
They returned to Rabona much like they had left.
In twos and threes, thirteen ghostly rebels, known but to few outside the city of Rabona.
That night, Miria announced that three scouting parties were to be sent out in two days. One party for each cardinal direction.
Helen and Deneve were to head back south and assess the destruction caused by Isley's passing, it was figured that any stray abyssal feeders would have returned to the organization by now with their target now dead.
Clare, Cynthia and yuma were to head towards the Lautrec region, while Teresa, Sheila and Riful were to head north.
To this, Riful muttered, "Brrrr, I hate the cold!"
Miria and Tabitha would remain in Rabona with Galatea, Clarice and Miata.
Miria looked the group over and said, "If any of you have any unfinished business here, you might want to settle it before leaving."
While she had not directed her comment to any one warrior, Sheila somehow felt she was being addressed by her remarks.
Sheila left their hiding place right after the 6 o'clock hour had tolled, it was a sunny morning and the day promised to be a warm one.
She went straight to Rogar's shop where she found him outside under the awning, carefully measuring various ingredients with a balance beam scale.
Two of the powdery substances were already in the clay mixing bowl and he was measuring out the third, the refined charcoal that gave his compound its color and its name, 'black powder'.
He smiled at her and said cheerfully, "You're bright and early, what's up?"
She smiled at the young man and said quietly, "I am leaving tomorrow on a scouting mission and don't know how long I'll be gone...Is there anything I can help you with?"
Rogar thought briefly and said, "I'm sorry to hear that and I hope you'll be safe...Yes, there is something you can help me with, you can help mix this!"
He pointed at the mixing bowl, "Stir this really good, when everything is a uniform color, let me know and we'll add the next two ingredients."
Sheila took up the bowl and a wooden spoon and began stirring while Rogar continued grinding up bits of charcoal into a powder.
The nature of the work was very grimy and before long, both of them needed a bath...Desperately.
When she had stirred the ingredients very thoroughly, she showed the mixture to him and he grinned, "Looks pretty good, now we can add the distilled water and charcoal."
"Distilled water? Why distilled water?"
He smiled and replied,"The ingredients need to be their purest and distilling the water is the only way to purify it. Plus, the mixture is very sensitive to any undue stimulation, like from a spark or an open flame.
"The water dampens it for safety's sake."
Sheila understood his reasoning and it answered why he was outside under an awning rather than inside, under the roof and working by candle light.
The amount of powder they were making could likely flatten the place, if what she had seen at the demonstrations, was any indicator of its potential.
With Sheila still stirring the brimstone and salt peter mix, Rogar slowly added the charcoal and distilled water until she was now stirring a thick, black goop.
Leaving her to continue stirring, he quickly laid out several shallow trays and placed brazen sheets over them, these sheets were pierced with innumerable tiny holes.
Taking up a handful of this goop, Rogar vigorously rubbed it across the brazen sheet, forcing the black goop through the tiny holes in the sheet and forming a layer of the granular mixture in the shallow tray.
He repeated this process over and over until the goop was all gone and the shallow trays were all filled with the granules formed by the goop, as it was forced through the tiny holes in the brazen sheets of metal.
The filled trays were then placed on the roof of the shop to dry in the warm air and sunlight.
Next they lugged a couple of buckets of water from the water fountain and cleaned up Rogar's equipment before putting it back inside his shop.
Inside the shop, Sheila glanced around and asked, "Where is your master?"
Rogar shrugged and replied, "He usually leaves when I make my black powder, I guess he thinks I'll blow the place up. I'll go get him when I am finished here."
He grinned at her and said cheerfully, "If your friends think I'm grimy, wait'll they see you!"
Sheila glanced at the small bronze mirror on the wall and gaped.
Even in the imperfect bronze surface of the hand mirror, she could see how grimy she had gotten while helping him.
She laughed and cried, "Is that me?"
She stood there making faces at her reflection and saying, "I'm so dirty! I can't go back looking like this? They'll wonder what I'd gotten myself into this time!"
Rogar smiled, "You've never seen a mirror before? You have seen yourself in the water before, haven't you?"
She replied, "Oh gosh yes, I've seen myself plenty of times in the water. I've just never seen myself in a mirror before."
Rogar smiled and said softly, so only she could hear him."The mirror's image is but a poor reflection of you. Its image fades besides your image. Like the moon's light is but a reflection of the sun's glory, the mirror's image is but a reflection of your glory."
He blushed freely after having revealed his poetic and romantic side to her.
Sheila smiled shyly at his remarks and replied softly, "No one has ever said anything like that to me before."
Clutching her hands together at her firm bosom, she said quietly, "There is something I long to do with you but I am not pure... That was taken away from me long ago, before I could fight back."
Rogar smiled at her, "You're pure to me, and that's all that matters."
They embraced and held each other tightly until he gasped and whispered hoarsely, "You're so strong!"
Sheila relaxed her arms slightly and murmured, "Sorry, I hope I didn't hurt you too badly."
They kissed slowly and tenderly at first, each of them reveling in the warm sensations growing between themselves.
Sheila reluctantly broke off the kiss and whispered, "I want to take a bath first, I want to be clean for you and you for me...Bathe with me."
Rogar smiled, "Here? Right here in the shop?"
Sheila grinned mischievously, "Why not? Your master won't come back until you fetch him, what better time than right now?"
He laughed and said gaily, "you're not one for wasting time, are you?"
Sheila grinned at him and replied,"I've made up my mind and you're the one."
"But, I'm so scrawny compared to those soldier guys...Why me?" Wailed Rogar.
Sheila grinned, "Stop arguing with me and strip!"
Moments later, Rogar found himself standing naked before his goddess.
He was painfully aware of how scrawny and pale he was compared to the heroic girl who stood towering over him by a head and had a lithe, athletic build.
Sheila was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and they were both naked, he prayed he would never wake up from this incredible dream he had to be having.
He found his eyes drawn not to her wonderful bosom, but to the fine scar that ran from her pubic tuft all the way up to her soft throat and the scholar in him asked, "Do all of you claymores have a scar like this?"
She nodded a yes in reply, then she asked,"Where is your bathtub?"
Rogar pointed at a washtub and said, "That's it right there, I'm afraid."
Sheila frowned and muttered, "I was hoping for a bigger one, I guess it's true what they say about men and their living with organisms."
Rogar decided he wasn't that curious about her remark.
They compromised by standing together in the tub and pouring water over themselves between latherings and scrubbings.
Rogar couldn't believe how firm Sheila's body was and how soft her skin felt as he lathered her up before the next rinsing.
He shuddered when her hands lathered up his manhood until he lost control and ejaculated powerfully, his body quivering from the incredible orgasm that nearly overwhelmed him.
She smiled at him and murmured, "I guess I don't know my own strength."
He clung to her and whispered, "I couldn't help it, you have no idea of how beautiful you are to me...I love you Sheila Ericcson."
She smiled slightly and murmured, "And I, love you, Rogar Bacon."
She easily lifted him in her shapely arms and not bothering to towel off, carried him to his crude bed.
There, in that rickety and creaky bed, they made love, again and again and again.