Lydia leaned close enough to Drake to speak into the mirror. “If you were commanding the kromians, is there any reason you would have a tower unguarded?”
“I don’t see any reason to do that,” Sky said over the mirror. “Even without rarities, the watchtowers are highly defensible. Surrendering both towers and allowing us to retake the high ground unopposed makes no tactical sense, especially given how easy it is to reopen the bay.”
“Unless it’s part of their trap,” Drake agreed. “What if Prince Varnath rigged the towers to blow once we retake them?”
Sky cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is ‘blow’ a phrase from your world?”
Drake sighed. “What if they rigged the towers to explode?”
“I don’t know how they would do that,” Sky said diplomatically. “But, I can see how that would be bad. Perhaps they’ve left another trap inside? Poison gas?”
“I forget you guys have that here.” Drake looked toward the distant stone tower again. “I guess it could be gas. Either way, if they want us to take them, we might not want to.”
“We have little choice,” Sky reminded him. “Lord Proudglade and Lord Brightwater’s forces cannot attack until they know they will not be assaulted from above. We must retake both towers and lower the nets before they can assault the mouth of the bay.”
“Right,” Drake agreed. “Just like Prince Varnath wants.”
“There are no visible kromians in the bay. Even if some are hiding in the coral, they can’t be numerous. And while there could be a whole army hiding beyond the chains and out to see, that will be an issue for Lord Proudglade and Lord Brightwater to solve.”
“So we’ll have to take the towers... cautiously. Either way, since you guys don’t have a Nicole, I guess we won’t know if yours is empty until we actually assault it.”
“I’ll take an empty tower over one filled with angry kromians,” Sky said. “I also appreciate the update. Is there anything else you wish to discuss before we move out?”
“I suppose not. Stay safe, Lord Skybreak.”
“You as well, Lord Gloomwood.” Her face vanished, replaced by his and the clear blue sky behind him.
He tucked the mirror into the pack hanging off his shoulder, then looked to the tower. “I’m not changing the plans for our approach. I don’t care if it takes all day, we’re not charging in blind.” He looked to Rosen. “Give your men the order to advance. Nothing’s changed.”
“Yes, lord!” Rosen said. He walked back to his men. “Company, advance!”
The forward ranks of the capital guards formed a line with shields up and began to advance up the rise leading to the tower. As much as Drake wanted to go with them, it wasn’t the manor lord’s job to personally retake that tower. He was supposed to watch and command. It made him feel like a coward, ordering others into battle, but that was his job now.
He watched nervously as the first company of capital guards, about thirty in total, marched along the rise toward the tower with their shields all close together. It wasn’t exactly a phalanx—their shields weren’t quite big enough for that—but between their ferrocite armor and shields, they should be relatively safe from kromian arrows and blow darts.
Cresh and five zarovians, including Korrag, marched just behind the advancing capital guards, ready to provide muscle if it came to a fight. The rest of the surviving zarovians had formed an honor guard around Drake and his battle maids. They would also join the battle if the capital guards got overwhelmed, though that was unlikely with the tower empty.
The second company of capital guards were all archers, and it wasn’t hard to spot Sachi and Robin among them. He’d given Sachi command of the whole company of archers, a fact that had thrilled her greatly. As for the archers... they seemed less enthused.
A shout from one of his zarovians announced the return of Marissa, Samuel, Gaby, and Carl. He’d send the four of them to coordinate with Sky’s folks, with Carl and Gaby assigned to protect his mother and Samuel. If they were here, it suggested Sky were on the move.
Marissa hurried over to where he stood with Lydia and Emily. “Lord Skybreak’s group has begun their assault. They should be almost to their tower by now. Have the kromians launched any counterattacks?”
“Not yet,” Drake said. “According to Nicole, they fucked off and left the tower empty.”
Marissa’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Tell me about it.” He glanced to the bay again and spotted their reinforcements. “Either way, we’ll know soon enough. Our backup just arrived.”
Three barges were now creeping toward the mouth of the bay on oar power, slim dagger-shaped vessels that rode high in the water. Dozens of oars rose and fell on each side like the legs of a caterpillar. These weren’t sailing ships, but war barges, the only seaworthy ships Lord Brightwater and her people had been able to repair and armor up since the attack.
The barges looked well protected. Each was filled with soldiers to fight off kromian boarders and archers to launch arrows at their enemies, as well as numerous people from Proudglade and Brightwater manors who had rarities similar to those of his own people. High armored slats rose on either side of the boats like a battlement on a castle wall.
As selfish as it might be, Drake was glad to be on dry land. The kromians didn’t just fight better in water. They lived there. While the armor the capital guards wore would protect them in a battle on ships, it’d take them to the bottom of the sea the moment they fell in. Not fun.
Tense moments passed as the first company of capital guards finally reached the first watchtower. They formed up as Cresh stomped to the forefront, carrying his massive axe: Blood Woe. Drake had never seen it used in battle until today. This should be fun.
Still no attack. Still nothing from the tower. Though Cresh was a tiny figure in the distance, he dwarfed all those around him. When he swung Blood Woe hard enough to literally disintegrate the reinforced oak and steel door on the tower, Drake heard the crackle of destruction all the way across the bay.
It must be deafening to those nearby. That was some axe!
Cresh, unfortunately, was too big to actually fit inside the tower. He stepped back as the first group of capital guards bravely charged inside, shields raised. More tense moments passed as Drake waited and worried. He hated that this world had no radios or other comm equipment in this world. He was lucky he and Sky had their magic mirrors.
After far too long, a single soldier emerged from the tower. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry, so it seemed they really hadn’t found any kromians inside. Drake couldn’t make out the man’s expression from here, but he didn’t miss when a single zarovian turned and made his way through the gathered lines. As soon as he was clear, he ran.
Zarovians moved fast on open ground. They weren’t as fast as Sachi, but still faster than he would be, especially in armor. Once the zarovian got close enough for Drake to make out his orange-yellow skin color, he recognized Korrag. He was glad the zarovian was safe. Barely panting from his run, Korrag reached Drake and his party.
“Report!” Drake ordered. That was the sort of thing he said now.
“Tower empty,” Korrag said.
“Surprise!” Nicole added loudly... and with what could be charitably described as weapons-grade sarcasm.
“Are they lowering the nets?” Drake asked.
“Gears gummed,” Korrag said. “Everything broken. Cannot lower nets.”
Drake ground his teeth. “So that’s their game.”
“Yes,” Marissa said. “Rather than attempting to hold the tower against a force that would eventually defeat them, they simply destroyed the mechanism for lowering the net. If the same is true in Lord Skybreak’s tower, it seems we will have to cut the nets after all.”
“Leaving it impossible to close the bay afterward,” Drake agreed sullenly. “I hate how much sense that makes. We either stay inside and starve, or willingly remove the one defense we have against kromian invaders so they can enter the bay whenever they wish.”
He reached into his pouch and pulled out the mirror, but it only showed his face. Most of the capital guards who’d gone to the tower, as well as his zarovians, were already marching back, leaving a token force to hold the tower... for what good that would do. With its mechanisms destroyed and all the ballistas that covered the bay below burned, the once mighty watchtower overlooking the Alicean Bay was now little more than a landmark.
Soon, Sky’s face appeared in the mirror. “I have some bad news.”
“The kromians gummed up and wrecked the net mechanism?”
“Yours too, then.” Sky sighed. “It seems the rest is up to Lords Brightwater and Proudglade. All we can do now is support them from here.”
Drake looked to Lydia. “Pass an order to our archers to form a line along the cliff. I want them to be able to shoot anything that threatens the barges.”
“Of course, lord.” Lydia hurried off to speak with Sachi and the archers.
Drake looked down at Sky. “Let’s keep this mirror open until the operation is over.”
“Agreed,” Sky said.
Emily visibly pouted on his other side. “Oh, I am going to kill those kromians!”
Drake glanced at her. “Weren’t you planning to do that anyway?”
“Yes, but now, I’m going to kill them more.”
With both watchtowers retaken and not a single casualty, Gloomwood Manor’s part in the effort to re-open the bay was done. Lord Brightwater and Lord Proudglade’s barges had a few people tasked with destroying the complicated network of chains that made up the nets that stretched across the bay. Drake didn’t know how long that defense system had taken to set up, but he knew it wasn’t going to be easy to replace.
Even if they could haul in several kilometers of net chain without losing it to the sea, they’d have to once again thread it up through the cliffs to the watchtower mechanisms. It wasn’t going to happen anytime this month, or possibly anytime this year. That would leave the bay open to future kromian attacks and even invasions from other lands.
Most of his force had returned to their original positions by the time the first of the slow-moving barges reached the nets. The other two remained in the middle of the bay with their manor lords, people with powerful rarities, and archers waiting to attack anyone who came for the crew designated to cut the chains. Drake was actually getting bored when a massive spout of seawater burst from the “throat” of the bay, between the boats and the capital.
He stared in disbelief as a thick stream of seawater gushed at least ten stories or more into the air, like a geyser the size of a small tornado. Where was that much water even coming from? The bay was swirling around the gusher, but the water wasn’t being sucked up.
“Oh gods,” Marissa whispered. “A sea gate.”
Drake felt a chill as he remembered the teleporter that dumped a load of fish people on Lord Blackwater and his thralls at the Chamber of Council. “Oh, shit.”
More spouts burst all across the bay, some near the barges. These were relatively tiny in comparison to the huge gusher at the throat of the bay, but Drake caught a hint of wet blue-white forms through the rising spray of the smaller spouts. The kromians had hidden sea gates, artifacts that allowed them to teleport from one place to another, in the coral.
Now, they were using those sea gates to pour into the bay behind the barges, trapping them between the chain nets at the mouth of the bay and the kromian attackers. There was nothing Drake could do to help the people on the barges from here, not personally, but he wasn’t just going to have his people sit on his hands. He looked to Sergeant Rosen.
“Order your archers to shoot those assholes!”
As Sergeant Rosen dashed off to his people, Drake realized then he hadn’t even needed to give the order. A first volley of arrows sailed upward from where the archers had assembled along the rise. It was easy to spot Sachi at the forefront. She’d taken the initiative and ordered her company to start peppering the bay with arrows. Good.
It might be time to start tossing meteor kabooms.
Lydia leaned close enough to Drake to speak into the mirror. “If you were commanding the kromians, is there any reason you would have a tower unguarded?”
“I don’t see any reason to do that,” Sky said over the mirror. “Even without rarities, the watchtowers are highly defensible. Surrendering both towers and allowing us to retake the high ground unopposed makes no tactical sense, especially given how easy it is to reopen the bay.”
“Unless it’s part of their trap,” Drake agreed. “What if Prince Varnath rigged the towers to blow once we retake them?”
Sky cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is ‘blow’ a phrase from your world?”
Drake sighed. “What if they rigged the towers to explode?”
“I don’t know how they would do that,” Sky said diplomatically. “But, I can see how that would be bad. Perhaps they’ve left another trap inside? Poison gas?”
“I forget you guys have that here.” Drake looked toward the distant stone tower again. “I guess it could be gas. Either way, if they want us to take them, we might not want to.”
“We have little choice,” Sky reminded him. “Lord Proudglade and Lord Brightwater’s forces cannot attack until they know they will not be assaulted from above. We must retake both towers and lower the nets before they can assault the mouth of the bay.”
“Right,” Drake agreed. “Just like Prince Varnath wants.”
“There are no visible kromians in the bay. Even if some are hiding in the coral, they can’t be numerous. And while there could be a whole army hiding beyond the chains and out to see, that will be an issue for Lord Proudglade and Lord Brightwater to solve.”
“So we’ll have to take the towers... cautiously. Either way, since you guys don’t have a Nicole, I guess we won’t know if yours is empty until we actually assault it.”
“I’ll take an empty tower over one filled with angry kromians,” Sky said. “I also appreciate the update. Is there anything else you wish to discuss before we move out?”
“I suppose not. Stay safe, Lord Skybreak.”
“You as well, Lord Gloomwood.” Her face vanished, replaced by his and the clear blue sky behind him.
He tucked the mirror into the pack hanging off his shoulder, then looked to the tower. “I’m not changing the plans for our approach. I don’t care if it takes all day, we’re not charging in blind.” He looked to Rosen. “Give your men the order to advance. Nothing’s changed.”
“Yes, lord!” Rosen said. He walked back to his men. “Company, advance!”
The forward ranks of the capital guards formed a line with shields up and began to advance up the rise leading to the tower. As much as Drake wanted to go with them, it wasn’t the manor lord’s job to personally retake that tower. He was supposed to watch and command. It made him feel like a coward, ordering others into battle, but that was his job now.
He watched nervously as the first company of capital guards, about thirty in total, marched along the rise toward the tower with their shields all close together. It wasn’t exactly a phalanx—their shields weren’t quite big enough for that—but between their ferrocite armor and shields, they should be relatively safe from kromian arrows and blow darts.
Cresh and five zarovians, including Korrag, marched just behind the advancing capital guards, ready to provide muscle if it came to a fight. The rest of the surviving zarovians had formed an honor guard around Drake and his battle maids. They would also join the battle if the capital guards got overwhelmed, though that was unlikely with the tower empty.
The second company of capital guards were all archers, and it wasn’t hard to spot Sachi and Robin among them. He’d given Sachi command of the whole company of archers, a fact that had thrilled her greatly. As for the archers... they seemed less enthused.
A shout from one of his zarovians announced the return of Marissa, Samuel, Gaby, and Carl. He’d send the four of them to coordinate with Sky’s folks, with Carl and Gaby assigned to protect his mother and Samuel. If they were here, it suggested Sky were on the move.
Marissa hurried over to where he stood with Lydia and Emily. “Lord Skybreak’s group has begun their assault. They should be almost to their tower by now. Have the kromians launched any counterattacks?”
“Not yet,” Drake said. “According to Nicole, they fucked off and left the tower empty.”
Marissa’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Tell me about it.” He glanced to the bay again and spotted their reinforcements. “Either way, we’ll know soon enough. Our backup just arrived.”
Three barges were now creeping toward the mouth of the bay on oar power, slim dagger-shaped vessels that rode high in the water. Dozens of oars rose and fell on each side like the legs of a caterpillar. These weren’t sailing ships, but war barges, the only seaworthy ships Lord Brightwater and her people had been able to repair and armor up since the attack.
The barges looked well protected. Each was filled with soldiers to fight off kromian boarders and archers to launch arrows at their enemies, as well as numerous people from Proudglade and Brightwater manors who had rarities similar to those of his own people. High armored slats rose on either side of the boats like a battlement on a castle wall.
As selfish as it might be, Drake was glad to be on dry land. The kromians didn’t just fight better in water. They lived there. While the armor the capital guards wore would protect them in a battle on ships, it’d take them to the bottom of the sea the moment they fell in. Not fun.
Tense moments passed as the first company of capital guards finally reached the first watchtower. They formed up as Cresh stomped to the forefront, carrying his massive axe: Blood Woe. Drake had never seen it used in battle until today. This should be fun.
Still no attack. Still nothing from the tower. Though Cresh was a tiny figure in the distance, he dwarfed all those around him. When he swung Blood Woe hard enough to literally disintegrate the reinforced oak and steel door on the tower, Drake heard the crackle of destruction all the way across the bay.
It must be deafening to those nearby. That was some axe!
Cresh, unfortunately, was too big to actually fit inside the tower. He stepped back as the first group of capital guards bravely charged inside, shields raised. More tense moments passed as Drake waited and worried. He hated that this world had no radios or other comm equipment in this world. He was lucky he and Sky had their magic mirrors.
After far too long, a single soldier emerged from the tower. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry, so it seemed they really hadn’t found any kromians inside. Drake couldn’t make out the man’s expression from here, but he didn’t miss when a single zarovian turned and made his way through the gathered lines. As soon as he was clear, he ran.
Zarovians moved fast on open ground. They weren’t as fast as Sachi, but still faster than he would be, especially in armor. Once the zarovian got close enough for Drake to make out his orange-yellow skin color, he recognized Korrag. He was glad the zarovian was safe. Barely panting from his run, Korrag reached Drake and his party.
“Report!” Drake ordered. That was the sort of thing he said now.
“Tower empty,” Korrag said.
“Surprise!” Nicole added loudly... and with what could be charitably described as weapons-grade sarcasm.
“Are they lowering the nets?” Drake asked.
“Gears gummed,” Korrag said. “Everything broken. Cannot lower nets.”
Drake ground his teeth. “So that’s their game.”
“Yes,” Marissa said. “Rather than attempting to hold the tower against a force that would eventually defeat them, they simply destroyed the mechanism for lowering the net. If the same is true in Lord Skybreak’s tower, it seems we will have to cut the nets after all.”
“Leaving it impossible to close the bay afterward,” Drake agreed sullenly. “I hate how much sense that makes. We either stay inside and starve, or willingly remove the one defense we have against kromian invaders so they can enter the bay whenever they wish.”
He reached into his pouch and pulled out the mirror, but it only showed his face. Most of the capital guards who’d gone to the tower, as well as his zarovians, were already marching back, leaving a token force to hold the tower... for what good that would do. With its mechanisms destroyed and all the ballistas that covered the bay below burned, the once mighty watchtower overlooking the Alicean Bay was now little more than a landmark.
Soon, Sky’s face appeared in the mirror. “I have some bad news.”
“The kromians gummed up and wrecked the net mechanism?”
“Yours too, then.” Sky sighed. “It seems the rest is up to Lords Brightwater and Proudglade. All we can do now is support them from here.”
Drake looked to Lydia. “Pass an order to our archers to form a line along the cliff. I want them to be able to shoot anything that threatens the barges.”
“Of course, lord.” Lydia hurried off to speak with Sachi and the archers.
Drake looked down at Sky. “Let’s keep this mirror open until the operation is over.”
“Agreed,” Sky said.
Emily visibly pouted on his other side. “Oh, I am going to kill those kromians!”
Drake glanced at her. “Weren’t you planning to do that anyway?”
“Yes, but now, I’m going to kill them more.”
With both watchtowers retaken and not a single casualty, Gloomwood Manor’s part in the effort to re-open the bay was done. Lord Brightwater and Lord Proudglade’s barges had a few people tasked with destroying the complicated network of chains that made up the nets that stretched across the bay. Drake didn’t know how long that defense system had taken to set up, but he knew it wasn’t going to be easy to replace.
Even if they could haul in several kilometers of net chain without losing it to the sea, they’d have to once again thread it up through the cliffs to the watchtower mechanisms. It wasn’t going to happen anytime this month, or possibly anytime this year. That would leave the bay open to future kromian attacks and even invasions from other lands.
Most of his force had returned to their original positions by the time the first of the slow-moving barges reached the nets. The other two remained in the middle of the bay with their manor lords, people with powerful rarities, and archers waiting to attack anyone who came for the crew designated to cut the chains. Drake was actually getting bored when a massive spout of seawater burst from the “throat” of the bay, between the boats and the capital.
He stared in disbelief as a thick stream of seawater gushed at least ten stories or more into the air, like a geyser the size of a small tornado. Where was that much water even coming from? The bay was swirling around the gusher, but the water wasn’t being sucked up.
“Oh gods,” Marissa whispered. “A sea gate.”
Drake felt a chill as he remembered the teleporter that dumped a load of fish people on Lord Blackwater and his thralls at the Chamber of Council. “Oh, shit.”
More spouts burst all across the bay, some near the barges. These were relatively tiny in comparison to the huge gusher at the throat of the bay, but Drake caught a hint of wet blue-white forms through the rising spray of the smaller spouts. The kromians had hidden sea gates, artifacts that allowed them to teleport from one place to another, in the coral.
Now, they were using those sea gates to pour into the bay behind the barges, trapping them between the chain nets at the mouth of the bay and the kromian attackers. There was nothing Drake could do to help the people on the barges from here, not personally, but he wasn’t just going to have his people sit on his hands. He looked to Sergeant Rosen.
“Order your archers to shoot those assholes!”
As Sergeant Rosen dashed off to his people, Drake realized then he hadn’t even needed to give the order. A first volley of arrows sailed upward from where the archers had assembled along the rise. It was easy to spot Sachi at the forefront. She’d taken the initiative and ordered her company to start peppering the bay with arrows. Good.
It might be time to start tossing meteor kabooms.
