In total, four days passed on the Deepflow River as we wound our way upstream to the south as quickly as we could. We couldn’t go full speed on a one hundred and fifty-foot-long ship because of some of the bends in the river. If we ran aground, there was no one to help us, which had consequences for Stonekeep. We did it in eight-hour shifts with Mira and me on one team and Bran and Elle on the other. We alternated piloting as well, so we could stretch our legs and such things. When we sailed at night, the moonlight was bright enough only for part of the time, depending on the angle the river was flowing relative to the trees, so we had to move at a quarter speed when it wasn’t safe. The Deepflow River got its name for a reason, though, and we made the journey safely thus far.
At the change of shift, Bran told us we had passed Blackrock early in their watch yesterday. A quick check of the navigation table showed us we’d be nearing Stonekeep soon. It was late in the day and late in our piloting rotation. Bran and Elle were asleep at the moment “in separate quarters.” They were always careful to stress that, but neither Mira nor I ever checked.
Mira was in the captain’s chair, and I was on spyglass duty when we came around a bend and suddenly found ourselves two hundred yards away from a naval blockade of five ogrish galleys at anchor before us. We were going pretty fast at the moment, trying to get to Stonekeep before the siege started.
“Quick! Pull the lever for the super sneaky stuff!” I suggested.
A war horn blew on one of the ships. Too late. Beyond the five-galley blockade, I could see ships filling the river farther than I could see with Stonekeep Castle rising in the background. There was no smoke beyond the usual cookfires coming from the city yet, which was a very good thing. We were keeping an eye on the navigation table, but Stonekeep was still a way off and we hadn’t expected ogres to set up five galleys to ambush river traffic. Because we didn’t know what we were sailing into, we hadn’t really developed a plan for what we would do once we got to Stonekeep, except to get in and find Mordon’s helm to activate the defenses of the castle, whatever those were.
A very vile curse came from Mira. I didn’t know that one. Very inventive. “Too late! What do we do?”
Mira yanked the speed lever back to the slow reverse setting. I was already grabbing up my helm, strapping it on, then donning my gauntlets as I thought. I picked up my shield, but no good plans came to mind. The ogres and goblins were already swarming the decks of the galleys, raising their anchors, and they were extending their oars into the river. They would be on us quickly, and we were already in bow range, which we discovered the hard way. Bran and Elle hurried up the stairs, already armored, as arrows started plinking against and skittering along the deck.
“All right, then,” I said. “We can’t run from this, but I think I can handle those five galleys.”
“We definitely can’t handle all those ships up ahead, no matter how many T.U.R.D.s we have in the hold,” Mira said.
“There’s almost no one putting oars in the water. I’ll bet there aren’t any slaves in those galleys, so I’m going to light them up,” I said, setting the Pirate King’s glasses down. “From there, I’ll whoosh myself to the riverbank and get to the castle somehow. I can make it work. You all have to go back down the river, or the fleet will take you.” We could see the fleet stretched all the way across the river from where we were.
Elle seemed to see the lack of options. “Here. Use this,” she said, handing her shield to me. I saw the sense in that, too.
“That may be the difference between life and death, Elle. Thanks,” I said.
“I have a trick for you too,” Mira said. She took a pinch of wool out of her belt pouch and said a magical phrase paired with a mystical gesture. I could feel some magic take effect but couldn’t see what it was. “It’ll last for about thirty minutes.”
Bran grinned. “It’s a definite improvement,” he said.
Catching a reflection of myself in the window, I looked like an ogre. I stuck my tongue out at him, but as we were staring death in the face, none of us felt like laughing. The galleys were moving towards us now. I thought of my family and of the other families that would share a terrible fate if this horde took Stonekeep.
“Wish me luck,” I said.
“Don’t die, idiot,” Mira said. She was already turning the Unseen Blade sharply.
Without waiting for any further comments and knowing already that I couldn’t transport myself from the inside to the outside of the cabin, I went up the ladder, through the hatch, to the upper deck as arrows were raining down. Fixing my gaze on the leading galley, I sought a spot that was unoccupied and found one near the back of their ship. I focused my will, seized as much power as I could from the source, then transported myself over to the rear of their vessel. I was in luck. The ogres and goblins on board had no idea I was there. The roaring ogres had heavy armor on, and even the goblins were wearing chainmail, but I thought I could still kill them just with the concussive power of my attack. I focused my will and hurled the most powerful ball of fire I could conjure directly above the group gathered in the prow. It exploded with great force, hurling flaming corpses in every direction, blasting off the entire prow of the galley, and setting fire to half the deck. The force of the blast staggered me.
Collecting myself, I focused on the galley to my right and hurled another ball of fire into their rowing deck, which I could see was full of ogres. The center of their galley blew into a thousand pieces, setting the front and back half of the vessel aflame and taking on water. I did the same to the ship to my left, and I knew there would be no survivors. I could hear the war horns back at the fleet and spared a glance back at the Unseen Blade. Mira had gotten it turned about, and suddenly the ship seemed to disappear. She must have thrown the sneaky lever. Because I was looking right at the ship when it happened, I could see that the ship wasn’t really gone, but somehow the background behind the ship seemed to be painted on the ship itself. Very clever, that Pirate King was. Enough gawking, I chided myself. They would be safe, and this ship was definitely not a safe place to be. The flames were moving towards me quickly, and the galley seemed to be taking a nosedive into the Deepflow River, which would make me slide right into either the flames or the river. Neither was a good place to be while wearing plate armor.
The galley on the far right had seen where the balls of fire had come from, and the archers were sighting down their bows at me. I really didn’t want to face everything on that deck, so I figured I’d see how good this shield is. I had gotten so used to casting a shielding spell when threatened, it took an act of will to not do so now. They loosed their arrows, and I made myself small behind the shield. Arrows rained down all around me, but I only heard tiny little taps as arrows hit the Reflector. I peeked over the top and saw some arrows arching right back over the water to strike the archers who fired them. They cried out in pain, which would give me the distraction I needed. I focused my will on their galley and hurled a ball of fire into the group of archers, blasting them in all directions and setting the ship on fire. I thought they may be able to recover from that, so I threw another one into the center of their rowing deck. The center of the galley blew apart, sending flaming debris in all directions. Then I focused on the ship to the far left of me, which was trying to turn away from the vessel I was on, and I blew them to bits. I didn’t see any ogres or goblins struggling in the water, which reinforced the notion that swimming was not really an option.
Seeing that I was on board the last of the galleys and that the ship was on fire and going down fast, I thought now would be a good time to abandon ship. I found a spot on the riverbank and transported myself over to it. Getting my bearings, I turned, then hurled another ball of fire at the ship I was just on to make sure as many ogres died as possible. It was worth the pain. The ship blew apart with a resounding boom and sank rapidly.
I studied the situation. I was close enough to see the galleys near Stonekeep, but not close enough to see what was really happening. The trees were thick on this bank, so I thought I would have the best vantage point from the western side and a little further south. It would probably be swarming with goblins, but I couldn’t see them now, and they may have seen my current position. I had to risk it. I focused my will and drew power from the source, then whooshed myself to the spot I saw a moment before. I slid a little bit on the rock, but regained my footing. Then I looked towards the city.
The ogres had made a bridge of ships all the way across the river, which they had already used to move their horde across to the eastern side. The fields closest to the city were littered with corpses, and the docks were burned to the waterline. Stroks were circling everywhere. I couldn’t see any ships in Stonekeep’s harbor. Beyond that, I couldn’t see much because the galleys were blocking my view. Now that I thought about it, that bridge of ships blocked pursuit of the Unseen Blade with the exception of a dozen or so warships on the northern side of it closest to me. A couple of those warships were even now getting underway to pursue my friends. I couldn’t tell yet how many more ships they had on the other side of their makeshift bridge.
I focused on the second closest ship, and transported myself right into the middle of their deck. Not the best plan. A goblin ran right into me and bounced away, hitting the deck with a yelp. Four of its friends turned and jumped back from me, thinking I was an ogre. I had a few seconds, so I brought up my shield, then hurled a ball of fire into the center of the rowing deck of the closest galley to my friends. The ship exploded in flames. There were surprised shouts all around me, and I realized I had screwed up. I should have hit them with a concussive blast right after whooshing there to give myself some more time. The ogre closest to me swung a greataxe with all its considerable strength, which I blocked with the Reflector. The axe went straight back into its own face, which clove the top half of its skull off and sprayed blood everywhere. Desperate to correct my mistake, I focused my will and loosed a blast of concussive force all around me, smashing the nearest ogres and goblins off the deck.
Having learned from my mistake, I turned to the next ship in line and whooshed myself over to their deck, then smashed everything around me with a wave of force. Then I hurled a ball of fire at the ship I had just left and blew it in half. That worked much better, I thought. I repeated this process ten more times, sinking the last of the pursuing ships and ending up on the stern of one of the galleys in the makeshift bridge. Looking at the chaos around me, it seemed none of the attackers knew what to do. Some ogres roared and pointed at the flaming ships, and some pointed at either one shore or the other, but the goblins just ran snarling in whatever direction the ogres closest to them were pointing with their wickedly curved shortswords out. The ships making up the bridge had relatively few troops on them, and I could see the galleys upriver were nearly empty of sailors. This was too good to pass up. The ogre I appeared to be must have had a very evil grin on his face. No nearby goblins would approach me.
I could see what looked like a command tent on the edge of the woods surrounding Stonekeep’s fields. The siege weapons were being slowly constructed close to that tent, and there were human troops with the colors of Fellton there, looking in the direction of the burning galleys. Fellton’s soldiers? So Fellton and Grunbar were in league? That answered the question of how the ogres got here so quickly and easily. They’d pay for this, I vowed.
Time was short, and nearby ogres started giving me the evil eye. I picked a spot on the furthest galley upriver and thus furthest away from the burning ships. It was a really long jump, but I thought I could make it. Steeling myself for the pain, I transported myself there. No one saw me arrive, it appeared. Getting my bearings and planning my route, I took stock of my situation. I was unhurt, but the magical power I was channeling was already taking a toll on me. I wasn’t sure I could destroy the whole fleet. Then I thought about all the coastal settlements these ships could raid and the misery and death that would be the result. I firmed up my resolve and decided I would end this menace here and now or I would die trying.
I seized as much power as I could hold, then starting hurling flaming death at every ship in my line of sight. It really hurt. I was careful not to block myself onto a ship that was completely surrounded by other burning ships, and I slowly worked my way back to the bridge of ships. The goblins on the galleys around here tried to get a sail up, but their rowers and guards must have all been ashore laying siege to Stonekeep. They were completely unable to get out of the fire trap this river had become.
The enemy had not been idle in this time, though. They had put as many archers as they could on the galleys making up the bridge, and they were firing at anything that moved, even their own kind. I was tiring quickly, and the Reflector didn’t protect my back. I tried to position myself carefully, lest I take an arrow in some gap in my armor. My armor was good, but it wasn’t impenetrable. As I worked, every now and then an arrow would be flung back to strike its owner. When the other archers saw that happen, they would fire in my direction automatically. They must think that someone was shooting back at them. Well, that would work in my favor also, as long as I didn’t get hit in other places during the process.
I worked my destruction back to the line of tethered ships slowly but steadily. They must have realized the danger, because they had already unlashed several ships closest to Stonekeep’s shore, and they were slowly drifting downstream. The entire bridge of ships was being dragged that way with the current. My limbs felt like I had multiple stab wounds, and my head was killing me, but I knew I was physically able to fight.
Turning my attention to the galleys that were floating furthest downriver, I seized as much power as I still could hold. I hurled balls of fire at ship after ship, and though my attacks were not as powerful as they were when I began, it was enough. As night settled in, I finished off every ship making up the bridge one by one. I was in really bad shape now and I doubted my ability to channel much more magic without some serious consequences. It felt like this would kill me. I had ended my attack standing on the riverbank opposite from Stonekeep, and I could hear the men on Stonekeep’s walls cheering at the burning of the ogrish fleet. I could see the command tent and the siege weapons, and knew I had to do something about them.
I was parched. I knelt by the river and took off a gauntlet so I could get some water. As I was about to cup some water in my hand, I noticed I could see my own reflection. There was no telling how long I channeled magic after that illusion had faded, but the illusion had worked well while it was active. I was pretty sure that some ogre would have swatted me off the deck at some point if not for Mira’s quick thinking, and I made a mental note to thank her later.
I couldn’t leave the siege weapons intact, and the command tent was an extremely tempting target. I thought of what Kromwell’s father had done to Juleen and Fay, and how Kromwell had learned to imitate him. Kromwell could not be left alive. With the hope that Kromwell was in that tent, I gathered my resolve and focused on what I needed to do next, but thinking was difficult with this much pain. No one else could do anything, though. It was up to me, whether I was able or not. I knew what failure meant, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t at least try.
The human troops of Fellton had made a defensive formation close to the siege weapons using a stack of tree trunks with a line of heavily armored pikemen on each side and archers in the center. They had about two hundred men there, I thought, and they looked like they were waiting for an attack from the river. There were ogres and goblins swarming the area like ants, and some were moving toward the human formation to join forces. I had to work quickly. I looked for a place to whoosh to where I could get at the command tent, and especially the siege weapons, but decided that there would be no easy way to do this. I had to deal with Fellton’s troops first.
The most inactive place I could see was about a hundred feet to the side of the tent. I thought about activating my shielding spell against the archers, just in case, but I thought it would be less effort on my part if I used the Reflector wisely. I seized as much magic from the source as I could hold, then I whooshed myself over to the place I needed to go. Before they realized I was there, I hurled a ball of fire into the archers, to devastating effect. Then I hurled two stunning blasts of lighting that exploded in the midst of their pike formations. They cried out in shock and pain as countless lightning bolts shot through their armored ranks, stunning them in a large radius. Then I hit each formation of pikemen with the strongest ball of fire I could conjure. Men were blown in all directions as the fire engulfed them. By that time some of the archers on the fringes must have seen me, because they loosed their arrows right at me. Being only a hundred feet away, it was an easy shot. Or so they thought. I held the Reflector in front of me, and a large number of arrows pinged off of it and hurtled right back at their originators. Just like that, all but a few of the archers were now dead. The soldiers that survived broke formation and fled towards the nearest ogres. I hurled two more balls of fire at the fleeing pikemen and decimated their ranks before they could do much of anything.
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Before I did anything else, I had to take a shot at the command tent, even though I doubted it was occupied by now. I focused my will, which was very difficult now, and seized a bit more power, forming it into a ball of fire that I hurled into the side of the command tent. It wasn’t the best I could do by far, but it was everything I had in me. The tent went up in flames, but not very powerfully so. Unfortunately, there were no people inside, just field furniture and a couple of chests, the ruins of which hit the ground and smoldered in the field. I moved closer to the remains of the tent to get a better shot at the siege weapons. Gritting my teeth, I managed to hurl another ball of fire at a couple of siege towers and a battering ram that were close together and almost complete, and they erupted in flame. The engineers themselves were already long gone, but it would be a while before they could make new ones. There were more piles of components scattered about the area, but with reinforcements coming quickly, I was about out of time, and frankly, out of energy. I put my hands on my knees to catch my breath for a moment. My armor seemed to weigh a ton, and my headache pounded in time with my pulse.
Something caught my eye. One of the chests from the command tent was laying on its side and the lid was ajar. I could see the glint of gold coins in the setting sunlight, and I laughed weakly. If I couldn’t kill all of their troops, I could at least make sure they didn’t get paid. Maybe some would desert, which would make the defense easier for my comrades. I jogged over and closed the lid the best I could, then lifted it. It was pretty heavy, more than a single man could hold, but I managed with the little magic I had left to strengthen me. The goblins were charging me, and were only a few seconds away, but I could see the firelit walls, since I had manned those walls myself, I was very familiar with them. With my best effort, I focused my will on safe spot on the wall and whooshed myself there just before the ogres and goblins swept into the area. The spot I chose had no one looking at it, as everyone was focused on the chaos outside, but I didn’t want to waste time. If I could make it from one end of the armada to the other, I knew I could make it to Stonekeep Castle’s roof, which I could easily see from here. I whooshed myself to the roof with one try. I couldn’t help but feel a little proud of myself, but that didn’t help the shaking fit I felt coming on. I looked around, focusing on feeling the cool breeze and solid stone under my boots. The familiar golems were in their usual places next to the portal and next to each of the strange little towers with the hollow adamantine icosahedron sculptures on top.
The chest was getting heavy already, so I activated the portal and stepped inside. I closed the portal after me just in case of hidden danger as I walked away. Better safe than sorry. I set the chest down against the wall close by. The illusion of the sunny, blue flowered meadow was still on the circular walls. I staggered a bit as I walked to the right until I found the circular room with the white flowered meadow, then activated that portal. I stepped though to find myself in the golden gilded marble halls of the Lord’s level. There was something I had to do. Rather than going straight through the golden double doors straight ahead of me, I turned to the right and went around to the double doors at the end of the corridor that was guarded by two lethal looking adamantine golems. I gave the golems the commands to attune to me, then carefully approached the doors. They took no hostile action towards me, and I was incredibly relieved. I couldn’t transport myself anywhere within the castle, and I didn’t have the strength to fight one of the golems, much less two. I spoke the command words that the Pirate King gave me for the doors, and they opened inward.
Inside was a very comfortable looking living area with wood paneled walls. It could hold a lot of people, as the room was around fifty feet on each side with a dining area in the right rear corner of the room. There were very comfortable sofas and chairs in this room that were nicely made, but not in an outrageous way. They were tasteful rather than garish or gilded everywhere. There was a door to my left on the same wall I entered on, a door through the room on the left-hand wall, and a ten-foot-wide hallway going to the right just before the dining area. I tried the door to the left and found it to be a smaller twenty by twenty sitting room with a door to my right as I entered. Not seeing anything interesting here, I tried the door on the right to find a study with three doors. The first door on the right led to a bedroom with a bed that had plenty of room for two. There was a chest of drawers in here and some other typical bedroom furniture with a door opposite. Hoping that this was a bathroom, I tried the handle and found it to be so. I was very relieved, and when I used it, I was even more relieved.
Having taken care of that necessity and being aware that time was short, I quickly explored the other areas of the lord’s suites. The hallway on the right of the suite entrance branched to the left. There were a total of seven bedrooms in in these two hallways, all of which had their own bathrooms. That was a luxury I hadn’t experienced yet for any length of time. The largest bedroom was obviously for the lord himself, and because it had a lot of personal items in there, it felt wrong for me to be there. I didn’t see the helm, and everything else was unimportant, so I moved on. Across the hallway from the lord’s bedroom was a study filled with books on every wall. Inside, there were two desks facing each other with a stuffed armchair behind each one.
What immediately caught my attention, however, was the helm sitting on one of the desks. I had never seen anything like it. The helm was made of adamantium with gold gilding in a decorative pattern. It had slits for the eyes and some for the mouth. What was very striking about it, however, was the gems that encircled it. There were gems of every type and color, and they were all of a uniform shape and size, each about an inch in diameter. Each gem had a tiny glimmer of light inside and rotated in midair around the helm above the brow where a crown would go. I counted them and found that there were twenty-one gems slowly revolving. I was sure that it was a significant number, as there were twenty-one known worlds. The helm was brilliant and breathtaking in its beauty.
Approaching, I reverently picked up the helm. I could feel the power in it. It was strong. Equally strong as the throne, which was the strongest magical item I’d ever seen. I thought twice about putting it on, but I trusted what the Pirate King told me about its importance. I concluded that there was no alternative if I wanted to end the siege of Stonekeep, so I took my own helm off and put the new one on. My vision changed. Things were clearer and colors became a little more vibrant. Also, as I walked out of the suite, the doors opened before me without my having to open them myself. As I walked past the golems, I could feel a little mental tug towards them now. I paused, standing close by and looking at the golem on the right, and I knew I could command it. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did. With a thought, I had the golem salute me, and it did so with ease. Using the magic of the helm didn’t cause me any pain, too, thank God. I couldn’t handle any more. Concentrating a bit deeper, I could feel all the golems in the vicinity, and deeper still, I could feel all the golems in the castle. There were thousands of them. That was it. This is the solution the city needed.
Walking to the throne room, I passed the seemingly inert golems as the golden doors opened before me. The light that shone forth from the throne was no longer amber, but blood red, and I stopped in my tracks. It must have changed to red with the imminent threat of the army laying siege to the city. Knowing I had to act quickly, I climbed the three steps to the dais, set the shield to the side, then took my seat in the throne. In times before when I used the throne, it felt like I had to struggle to make it show me what I wanted to see. With the helm on, a single thought would show me what I wanted to see with very little effort, and I knew I could choose to either display it for everyone standing around the throne room or keep it to myself.
The first thing I thought of was what Mira was doing, but I couldn’t see her, and only got white mist for a picture before me. So, the Unseen Blade was protected against scrying magic as well as transportation magic. Handy. I knew the ship was on the river, so I quickly scanned the river northwards from the city to make sure they were all right. I found the ship a safe distance away with no signs of pursuit and breathed easier. I couldn’t force my gaze into the ship itself, but I could change the point of view to just outside the windows. I could see Mira pacing in the control room, while Elle piloted the ship and Bran used the spyglass, hoping to see something in the darkness. That reminded me that goblins and ogres preferred to operate at night, which reminded me of the siege itself. I mentally kicked myself for not thinking of that first. I must have been really tired.
I concentrated on the area outside the keep itself, and I instantly had a bird’s eye view of the whole city. I couldn’t help but look at where father was, and as soon as I thought of him, I beheld him on the firelit walls with Elric and Darek beside him. He was squinting into the darkness, studying the formations of ogres and goblins who were gathering large rocks for a catapult close by. I widened the view and could see all the enemies surrounding the city. The ogres and goblins didn’t use fires at night because they could see perfectly in the dark like the Terrans could. The darkness usually hid their movements, too, as I had learned from hard experience in the cave ambush. The darkness couldn’t hide them from the throne, though. I could see everything. The fields had been stripped of all food and were all trampled by the ogres’ iron shod boots, and I knew times would be tough for the city, assuming we survived the siege.
From what the Pirate King said and wrote, I knew I had two big tools at my disposal. I had the golems of the Adamantine Legion, and I had the defenses of Stonekeep, whatever those were. When I thought about the defenses, though, I was shown the icosahedron sculptures on the tops of the towers on the keep and the walls of the upper city. From my control of the helm, I knew what they could do now, too. The castle’s defenses were terrifying, even considering the kind of destruction I could hurl around by myself. I could feel every portal in the keep and where most of them led, but some were still unknown. I knew how to deploy the golems, though. I thought about strategy for a few minutes. When I was sure of my course, I activated all of the golems on the second floor of Stonekeep, about one thousand, two hundred of them, and gave them orders to move out of the castle, out of the upper city, and to the various gates in the lower city.
As they marched through the portal leading to the first level, I commanded the really big golems standing in front of the adamantine doors to move aside, and for the doors to open. I could see the shocked faces of those few who were still inside the castle when those doors opened after more than a millennium of being securely shut. Those soldiers and retainers scrambled into other corridors as the golems thunderously marched past.
I could do more than one thing at a time, so I looked for Warleader Goodman. He was in a richly appointed room, which appeared to be in an estate in Mithram when I brought the view outside. I noted that I could see his true nature when I had this helm on. He was definitely a Xerith, and he was sitting next to Captain Safarac, who was also a Xerith. When I thought of their treachery, I made a mental note to find out what they were doing there in Mithram and then do something violent at my first opportunity.
I turned my attention to my mother for a moment. She was in a tent in the marketplace helping the wounded. There were many women of the city there, including Samirah. I thought of Bethan then, and found her at home with all the kids. The golems were approaching the various gates of the lower city, so I made sure the gates to the portal room on the first floor of Stonekeep were securely closed. The portals would not work for any of the soldiers, but I didn’t want anyone to get any ideas.
The ogrish forces were assaulting the walls and men were dying, but I waited until the golems were near the outer walls and in the formations I wanted them in before I activated the icosahedrons on top of the keep and the inner walls. Those who were close to the golems and were marveling at them suddenly had their attention ripped away as the useless sculptures everyone had ignored for the last twelve hundred years started to activate. At first, a glowing light appeared in the center of each of the hollow twenty-sided shapes. That light grew in intensity and sent arcs of lightning curling around the sculptures. They started to thrum with power and made a loud sound that seemed like half thunder and half a buzzing growl that rose in pitch as the turrets gathered energy. The forces both inside and outside the walls looked at them in growing fear, and rightly so.
I sent the first blasts of arcane energy into the far edges of the ogres’ encircling encampment. The power of the blasts was immense. The ogres caught in the center of the explosions simply turned to ash immediately, their armor and weapons reduced to glowing fragments hurled through the air. With dozens of the turrets firing at once, there was a tremendous boom that rattled windows through the entire city. Each explosion was powerful enough to strip trees of their leaves a hundred feet away, and blew massive craters open in the earth. Then I hit them again. And again. I worked my way inward, herding the enemies closer to the walls, killing thousands of the invaders in the first few volleys.
As I was doing that, I caused the golems to climb the stairs to the walls near the gates and simply leap over the outer city walls. The golems started landing in the midst of the terrified invaders. I knew their range and capabilities now, and I commanded them to kill anything outside the walls. The golems used their axes, flames, and lightning attacks with devastating effect. Very shortly, the ogres and goblins were caught in a shrinking killing field with nowhere to run. When the surviving ogres approached too close to the golems and the walls, I stopped the bombardment with the turrets and let the golems do their bloody work. Between their ability to slash with their axes, blast foes with streams of fire and shoot stunning blasts of lightning, the ogres and their goblin servitors didn’t stand a chance. The golems were indestructible to any weapon the attackers had.
There was no mercy in my heart. Just pain. Everything in me wanted to make sure this never happened again. Not just for what I personally went through, but for the sakes of everyone in Stonekeep, living, dying, or dead. The slaughter was immense. From time to time, the goblins naturally grouped up around fleeing ogres, and I blasted every group of them with the turrets. I didn’t relent until every attacker within sight of Stonekeep was killed on the battlefield. Only then did I deactivate the turrets.
I was expecting cheers and celebrations and such from the soldiers on the walls, but there was none of that. Everyone on the walls was huddled down, crouched behind the crenellations and covering their ears. There was only fear and stunned disbelief, it seemed, even from my father and brothers. They didn’t open the gates for the golems when I marched them into formation on the roads into the city, either. I had one golem at each gate walk up and knock politely, then step back, and finally the guards got the idea. They still didn’t open any of the outer gates for the blood drenched golems, though.
I thought for a minute, then reviewed all the portals of Stonekeep again. I found two in the central chamber on the first floor that didn’t have a set destination and realized what they were for. Then I caused those portals to open to points outside the city and commanded all of the golems to march back inside the keep and back to their original resting positions. Once that was done, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and sagged in my seat. My headache was making my eyesight blur, it was so intense.
Out of curiosity I looked for Kromwell. He was astride a huge steed with horns and lots of armor in a small company of ogres, goblins, and a few Fellton soldiers riding hard to the west. Because of my fatigue, they were out of my reach for now, but I vowed he would get his comeuppance. Perhaps I should let him go to ground to see what he does. That may tell me what was really going on and who was behind all of this, but at the time, I didn’t have the mental energy to do anything.
A stray thought about Sergeant Doornail showed me that he was marching back to the barracks in the castle in Stonekeep with the other members of my talon. I thought of Mira again and saw her with Bran and Elle standing on the upper observation deck of the Unseen Blade. They had anchored in the river downstream a couple of hours north of Stonekeep. I wished I could communicate with them, then I remembered that I could open a portal there by using the throne in conjunction with one of the portals in this room. I decided that I would sleep on the ship tonight and worry about the aftermath later. I didn’t have the energy to return Mordon’s helm to the desk where I found it, so I took off the helm and left it on the arm of the throne. Using the throne, I opened a portal onto the deck of the Unseen Blade, then struggled out of the throne and staggered through. I made sure the portal was closed after my arrival, then stumbled towards the cabin. Bandit saw my arrival and alerted the others. Bran, Elle and Mira came down the stairs and out the cabin door quickly.
“Jeron! Are you all right?” Mira asked. I staggered and Mira grabbed an armored arm to steady me.
“We could hear it from here! What happened? How’d it go?” Bran asked.
“Is Stonekeep well?” Elle asked.
“Everything’s fine,” I said as I rubbed my throbbing temples. “The fleet’s burning, and their army’s scattered. Stonekeep’s safe. In the chaos, I may not have completely destroyed the fleet, so be careful of survivors trying to get back to sea.”
Mira gave me a hug, our cuirasses scraping together. It wasn’t a proper hug, but it kept me upright. She must have known how unsteady I was.
“You look awful,” Mira said. “Here, let me help you.”
Mira led me the last few steps into the room I used on the ship and helped me out of my armor. Bran and Elle ascended the stairs to the command room. I was more exhausted and in more pain than I had ever been, but I took consolation from the fact that we had made a huge difference. Bran, Elle, Mira, Bandit, and I had saved Stonekeep from a horrible fate. I didn’t even have the strength left in me to take my boots off. With my gambeson and other garments still on, I collapsed onto the bed and was asleep in seconds, completely spent.
