An: I don't own Twilight/Eragon/Ranger's apprentice
Chapter 12
Emmett 2
Wpov
"So fire - arrows, good/bad your thoughts Edward" I asked
"Well, as they explode on impact, they could work but you'd have to get them in the right spot" he answered
"Fire - arrows,...are you small fries going to be able to handle them" said a familiar voice
"Horace, what are..."
we were interrupted by a roar, I watched as Edward ran out to Bella
"He seem happy" Horace said
"You have no idea, anyway what are you doing here" I asked
"I'll tell you after we eat" he said
"Yeah I'm hungry myself, and careful, for pity's sake! stop pounding me with that giant leg of mutton you call a hand! you'll break my spine, you oak!" he had thrown his arm around me and was pounding on my back in greeting.
"Oh, did big brute of a warrior damage the delicate the little ranger" then we burst into laughter
After we got Edward to leave Bella in the forest we went to the inn and Horace led us to the bar as he spoke "mistress, he may look like midget" looking at me "but he has an appetite like a giant"
After food and drink were served we got down to business.
"So, they thought you two might need a grown - up to look after you so they sent me along with Bella, I got to say traveling with her is different" Horace said
"Yeah, anyway Horace the evil that is in this fief is not from Malkallam, but from the Volturi and castle Macindaw"
Edward said "I don't think this is the place to discuss this" country folk were very curious "let go and we'll fill you in on the details on the ride back"
"So you plan to assault the castle" he replied "Will you have no idea how and I don't think Edward does either"
"No, I don't, but you do don't you" Edward added
"I know the theory, but I've never done it and I really don't know how with a dragon"
"So how do we do it?"
"To assault a castle you need siege engines,like catapults, mangonels and trebuchets,(An: real machines look them up they are cool!) that throw rocks and giant spears and dead livestock at the defenders and of course Bella can help with this"
"Dead livestock?" I interrupted " why would you throw dead livestock at the walls?"
"You throw them over the walls to spread disease and lower the defenders' morale" Horace told us
I shook my head "I don't suppose it does much for the livestocks' morale either"
"Forget the livestock, you also need plenty of ladders, and as far as numbers go, Sir Rodney always felt you needed at least a three - to - one majority"
"three - to - one"Edward asked
"You see, the defenders have all the advantages. They've got the high ground. They're concealed behind the walls so you need to draw as many of them out as possible away from the place, so somewhere like Macindaw has about thirty men?"
"Yes, that sounds about right"
"So we'll need about a hundred and five may be less because of Bella, then we can fake assault on two sides and draw most of the defenders away from the real attack"
"That way they don't know if it's a real attack" said Edward
"So who do we have?are they trained? do they know one end of a sword from the other?"
"Yes,but we have less than three - to - one Horace" I said
"no matter. I'm sure we can manage. so, how many exactly..."
"counting the four of us" I asked
"Yes, I think we'd better count the four of us. how many?" Horace said raising his eyebrows
"Twenty - seven" I said looking away fearing the worst
"What are you crazy! even with a dragon it cannot be done"
"Well we are going to find away" I told them both
"Yeah and I'm going to help you" said Horace with a shake of his head
"Horace, you really are like Emmett" and with that we laughed
An: like Emmett, Horace is an idiot in a lot of things but not with his job or in helping hi friends
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