Heroes of Magic and Might
Chapter 35 – Or you could surrender

"You do good work wizard. This is very nice."

"Glad you like it."

Boren hefted his new weapon, testing the weight of the big, spiked club, properly called a goedendag. The ox had his mallet slung over one shoulder; no comment made; none was expected.

"Where's the naga?" Harry asked.

"Thought I saw her over by those weapons crates you brought back," said Boren, shouldering his weapon, fully satisfied.

"I am here," the hissing serpent tongue, though now speaking the common language, slithered into his ear moments before cool skin brushed past his neck.

"Find something you like?" he asked, dismissing his urge to shiver at the reptilian coolness of her embrace.

"I like this smith of yours," she said, releasing him so she could display her weapons. "It was clever of her to make four of them."

The weapons she held, because he wasn't sure 'sword' was the right word, were about a foot and a half at the furthest edge, an edge which curved and arced to a point which pointed inward. The blade was shaped like an odd C with the point looking to be designed for hooking.

"You know how to use these?"

"Of course. These are the traditional weapons of my people."

"Really?" huh, the more ya know.

"Harry! Harry!" the frantic owl called, winging to his quickly outstretched arm. "There's a party of riders breaking away from the army. They're coming this way."

It was starting.

"You three head for the gate. I'm going up to the wall."

Tossing the owl into the air, he disappeared and reappeared inside a small circle at the back corner of the wall closest to the tower. He'd set it up as an apparition spot so he wouldn't apparate into anyone.

The first to notice him nearly leapt out of his shaggy hide. The second merely gave an annoyed twitch of the eye.

"Good trick you've got. Bet that could take you pretty far."

He knew what the grouchy old witch was implying. He tried to ignore that he'd considered it not that long ago.

"And what good would that do me when someone's trying to invade my hard-won property," he replied, earning him another annoyed eye twitch.

He might have tried for a third, but heavier matters deigned spare her the aggravation when a loud voice called out.

"We want the wizard! Bring him out, and we will let you live!"

"Tch! Sure they will," the old witch growled.

"You don't think they would?"

"I wouldn't bet nuttin on it I'd care about losin," she said.

He didn't disagree, though he did wonder why she thought that. It began to dawn on him, his own experience may not have been unique, excepting the bit where he escaped.

"They're still too far out to shoot at," she said glaring past the crenellation to the advance party who sat proudly on their fine black horses awaiting a reply.

"Spose I ought to go down there," Harry said.

"You can't be serious."

Resisting a joke about his godfather, because it wouldn't have been funny since she'd never met him, "Can't hurt to try and reason with them."

"Yes it bloody well can. What do you hope to gain?"

What did he hope to gain?

"Insight," he decided.

Not giving her another chance to argue, or harangue him for his reckless bravado, he vanished from the wall and reappeared ten feet from the trio of horses who understandably started at his sudden appearance.

"Good morning," he greeted. "Lyraka, nice to see you again."

"It'll be nice when I see you hauled before my mother and whipped till we can see your bones," the Ashe woman seethed, once she had her horse under control.

"I think we have different ideas of what can be considered 'nice'. But anyway, you wanted to see me. Here I am. What can I do for you?"

The Ashe stared at him disbelieving, rage burning behind her eyes to the point of insanity, quenched with the closing of the lids and cooled with several long deep breaths.

"For reasons beyond my understanding," she said, "my mother wishes your return. I was elected to carry out the task of retrieving you."

"You drew the short straw, huh?"

And… third twitching eyebrow. Harry wins.

"It is my great honor to perform this duty for the glory of our queen Boudica," she said in a manner that made it all too clear the hands gripping her horses reigns desperately wanted to be gripping something else, and it was soooooooo close too.

"You keep squeezing like that your gonna pop something."

Yet he kept antagonizing her.

"Yooouuuu! Will come with me… nooooooow." The simple, albeit drawn out sentence, was growled through teeth clenched so hard they looked ready to crack.

The other Ashe waited behind her, a younger female and, by merlin they did exist, a male Ashe. He looked especially nervous, perhaps on account of being the closer of the two and most likely to get hit by the fallout of whatever Lyraka would do when she finally lost her temper.

Harry was rather curious to find out.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I've just moved in you see. I can't just go galivanting wherever I please now. I've got responsibilities."

Despite her proximity to danger, the younger female, dare he believe it, giggled. It happened quickly, blink and you miss it, but it was there. He was sure of it. So was Lyraka judging by the foul look she threw the girl.

"If you wish to be responsible, then know you 'will' be responsible for their deaths. We will kill all of them, slowly, painfully. But, you could spare them that."

Good cop, bad cop, a classic ploy, does not work when the same person is the good cop and the bad cop.

"You know, I would. Really, I would, but you see those green guys up there. When they heard you were coming, they were all excited for a chance to kick your ass. I just… it's not in me to deprive them of that. What kind of boss would I be if I took that away from them? You understand, don't you?"

No, no she didn't. Her face said as much without the mouth ever having to open.

"I will enjoy making you whimper like a little dog."

Her horse reared when she yanked on the reigns and started back to her army, but not before Harry could get in one last dig.

"So, does that mean you don't want to surrender?"

Back at the wall before you could blink, he could still hear her furious scream.

"Ahhh! It's like having Snape around, but with tits," he mused, conjuring a horrible image he mercilessly tried to banish as he trotted down the steps to the small group waiting just inside the gate.

"What did you say to her?" was the first question, which came from Gabby.

"Not much," he lied. "Seems her mother sent her out here to get me. She's a bit tense about that."

"I shouldn't wonder," said Bill. "Ashe are a matriarchal society. Her mother, whoever she is, is probably a very influential person among their people. It will reflect poorly on the mother if her daughter fails. They're very cutthroat, the Ashe."

Yet more information it would have been good to know before. The learning curve just kept angling up, and up, and up.

"What now?" asked Boren.

"Open the gate to half," he said, looking at the kobolds in charge of the gate. "Bill, I want you on the lever. If it looks like they're going to get through, shut it."

"But, what if you're still out there?"

"Shut it."

The small man didn't like that, there was mutiny in his eyes, but it never got to his heart. He nodded; reluctantly, he nodded.

"Gabby, you go upstairs, help with the defense on the wall."

"Are you sure. Maybe I should be on the lever. Bill's a better fighter than I am. He could do more on the wall."

"She's right about that."

This he knew, which is why, "I need Bill down here. If any of them do get through, he has a better chance of getting away than you do. And you have a better chance of getting through this with a lot of other bodies between you and them," he said, pointing to the shuffling force as the first attackers formed up into ranks.

She saw this, but still, "I want to help."

"You have helped," he said.

But not enough to her mind, he could see it in her posture, the obstinance. He was saved when two of three witches appeared, followed by Cherry, still hauling his pack around, and Heddy riding on Nanny's hat.

"They're lining up," said Nanny, which they could all see.

Harry nodded, "You headin up?"

The witch nodded, disturbing the owl who clung desperately. "You bess come with me miss. I can use as an extra hand. Don't know what good this one'll do," she said, making a rude gesture at the fairy.

"Take her with anyway," said Harry. "I don't want to see you down here. You understand."

Understand, she must have. If she didn't, she wouldn't have looked so put out and tried to yell at him.

"You know I can't understand you, and even if I could, you're not going to change my mind. Go with Nanny and Gabby. Keep that safe," meaning his pack. "There's dangerous things in there, not to mention a good amount of food we're going to want later… provided we're still alive," he mumbled the last bit.

Not quietly enough. The fairy dropped the pack to the floor and flung herself at his face, crying her tiny little eyes out.

"Oh, come on now. Don't do that," he said, trying to comfort the tiny girl but in the end having no choice but to hand her off to Gabby.

The half-goblin looked like she might try the same stunt but for the plump witch who snatched up his pack and whisked them away before she could act on the idea.

"You always this popular with the girls?"

Harry just shrugged. He could fully admit he was a bit clueless when it came to the opposite sex. Just when he thought he had them figured out they'd throw him another curve ball and it was back to square one.

"They're strange creatures Boren. Strange, strange creatures."

"Ehem! As one of those creatures I really must protest," said Kali.

"Maybe oughta wait till later," said the ox head, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand.

"Right, invading army. Let's go." Whew! Saved by the horde.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Boren.

"The undead are our first line," said Harry.

Rosebud had armed all her zombies and the four skeletons with the most simple and brutal weapons she could pull out of Gabby's armory. Axes and maces and war hammers, oh my. They would put the unnatural strength of the simple undead to its maximum effect.

"How do we know they won't attack us?" said Kali, tongue flicking furiously, unable to see but hardly unaware to her surroundings.

"We stay behind them," said Harry. "They have instruction to kill anything coming from that way," the tree line, "but I don't see any reason to tempt fate."

"You mean more than we already are," said Boren with a chuckle, a weak chuckle that died in his throat when they got a good look at what they were facing.

"Good grief," said the ox head.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. He hadn't gotten all that good a look at the army when he'd been riling up Lyraka. It was humbling, seeing so many bodies lined up and waiting to hurl themselves at him. Bah! He'd feel humble later.

"Kali, I want you on the left side. Boren and, and… huh." Embarrassing. "You know, I don't think I ever caught your name big guy," just told you to come and fight for me. "What am I supposed to call you?"

To his dismay, the ox minotaur just shrugged. To his greater dismay, so did Boren when he looked to him.

"We were ordered not to talk to each other," he explained. "Spose they didn't want us plotting together."

Sensible, if not frustrating. "Do you not remember your name? I gotta call you something."

"Whatever."

The ox's apathy, while present since he'd woken up, began to worry him. He was trusting the big bruiser with his life. And for the first time, he was having serious second thoughts about that. Putting them aside, because what choice did he have, he wracked his brains.

"Alright, how bout I call you… Charlie!"

"M'kay."

It wasn't much, but at least he didn't say no.

"Well alright. Charlie, you'll be center right while Boren will be full right. I'll be serving as mobile support once they get to us."

"Won't take much to get past them zombies," said Boren. "It's all open plain here, cept them bits of rock poking out. Don't remember them being there before."

"I did those yesterday when we tried to get in," said Harry. "Speaking of which."

Drawing his wand, he went to work pulling up several short walls extending back to the gate and narrowing toward them before fanning out again to gently surround them on either side.

"You move the earth?" the snake girl hissed nervously.

"It's called transfiguration," said Harry. "I didn't move the earth, just changed the shape."

"Couldn't a made them any taller," said Boren. "Those ain't gonna stop anybody."

A four-foot wall was a minor obstacle easily overcome. Even a child could climb over it. "I don't intend for it to stop them," and to emphasize his point, he raised up a six-inch block running from one end of the new bottle neck opening to the other.

They trio looked at him, or in Kali's case turned her face his direction. He just smiled and imparted that ancient bit of wisdom, "Watch your step."

The battle was soon to start. Horns blared and orcs squealed in bloodthirst anticipation. Lyraka rode up and down the lines rousing the crazed humanoids till they could stand it no longer and charged.

They passed the first cover, then the second, without issue. The arrows began to fly by the time they hit the third and as bodies fell, they found some sense and ducked under the makeshift shields. Those further back crowding into the first two while those further forward filled the two nearest their objective.

Arrows and stones rained down but to no effect against the heavy stone. They thought they were safe. A thought that was dispelled when one suddenly squealed in pain, only to be joined by others. Those barely under cover stared in horror as spikes grew out of the inner wall and punctured those hiding beneath.

The smarter ones ran when the stone began to shake. The slower ones made it just far enough to avoid being fully crushed when the cover that had saved them from the arrows slammed down with murderous force, killing anything beneath it in a bone breaking, blood squeezing press.

The orcs were stunned, which made them easy targets, which un-stunned them very quickly. Down on ground level, Boren chuckled, and Charlie shook his head at what they'd just witnessed.

"I smell blood," said Kali. "Lots of blood."

"You are full of surprises wizard," said Boren, a man who could appreciate a good spike.

"I thought about just getting rid of them earlier, but then I thought, maybe I'll do this instead."

"Good grief."

He hadn't meant it to be funny, the big ox, but Harry couldn't help but laugh. It would be the last time that day. The elation of success quickly faded as new ranks were formed and the next round rushed forward into a hail of arrows and stones.

This time, with nowhere to hide, there only choice was to run, so they did. They hit the undead line who swung their weapons with lifeless savagery, cutting and smashing orcs to bloody chunks, paying no heed to their own injuries, mindlessly carrying out their instructions, kill.

The line was staggered, and they were not fast. Orcs quickly began to slip through and thus fell to mallet, spike, and blade. For his part, Harry would have little recollection of that afternoon later, remembering only a long stream of fear, fury, body parts and blood while Boren screamed "GODENDAG!" with every swing of his weapon.

The night was long in coming.